The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 449 It's none of my business how I eat (Bonus chapter for Li Shulin, the leader)
Time: The 23rd day of the rest period, with only one week left before the next time travel.

Mina licked a chocolate-flavored ice cream while holding an untorn one, and excitedly ran upstairs to Hu Biao's office.

Why? The temperature in the capital city during the day has already reached over 30 degrees Celsius, making it feel extremely hot and humid.

If it had taken any longer, the ice cream she brought to her brother-in-law Hu Biao on her way to Deyuelou would have almost melted.

Just as the person was about to rush into the office, they abruptly stopped in their tracks.

And in a very short time, this girl successfully changed her expression and posture, making her look quite elegant.

There's no way around it! It seems her brother-in-law has some important guests and matters to attend to.

There was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, who, despite the sweltering heat, still wore a handmade suit, shirt, and tie impeccably.

He was now standing at the door, seemingly saying goodbye to Hu Biao.

Oh, right! The middle-aged man was accompanied by a young female secretary who was at least an 80 out of 100 in appearance and figure, and whose makeup and clothes were quite exquisite and appropriate, carrying a briefcase for him.

It could be said that every pore on the bodies of these two individuals seemed to exude an air of sophistication.
Elites, business people, large companies.

However, after glancing at Mina out of the corner of his eye, the middle-aged man focused his attention back on Hu Biao, who was seeing the guest off, and said with unusual sincerity:
"Mr. Hu! I hope you will take a closer look at our proposal and consider our suggestions. If you change your mind at any time, please contact me immediately and I will definitely visit you again."

Or you could contact my secretary, Julie; after all, you're both young and would have more in common.

The words had barely left her lips when the female secretary, supposedly named Julie, immediately began to sway her body and speak to Hu Biao in a coquettish tone:

"Oh dear! Even if Mr. Hu hasn't changed his mind, he can still contact me at any time."

We're all young people; even if we don't talk about work, we can go to a bar together for a drink and chat about life and relationships.

Faced with the couple's enthusiasm, Hu Biao replied calmly, "Okay! If I really change my mind, I will definitely contact you, Mr. Zhou."

As for drinking with Miss Zhu, forget it. I'm notoriously bad at it, and I don't want to embarrass myself.

After saying that, he made a gesture to see the guest off.

Two minutes later, Hu Biao, who had escorted the couple to the front door, returned to his office on the second floor. He saw an ice cream on the table, opened it without hesitation, and started eating.

It's just that his sister-in-law, for some reason, bought the durian flavor, which made him a little uncomfortable.

Mina, who had been holding back for a while, immediately pressed for an answer:

"Who are they? They even said, 'You can contact me anytime.' Their 'green tea' vibe is so strong that you can smell it from miles away."

Upon hearing Mina's question, Hu Biao almost burst out laughing like a pig.

However, after swallowing a bite of ice cream, he still answered his sister-in-law's question:
"Oh! They come from a venture capital firm called 'Watermelon Capital,' which is said to be quite powerful and well-known in the industry."

They came to visit because they believe our Deyuelou has considerable investment value.

They argued that this expansion strategy, which only allows for the opening of two branches per month, was too conservative; they were willing to invest venture capital to accelerate the expansion of branches.

Why bother with standardized and procedural operations?

We aim to have at least 80 branches in major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen by the end of the year; and we plan to make further investments in the next two years to open branches in more cities.

The ultimate goal is to list directly in the port city three years later.

After eating Hu Biao's food, Mina had no doubt that her brother-in-law would eventually make a name for himself in the catering industry.

But the speed, the scale, and the promising prospects still left Mina quite dumbfounded.

Hu Biao, an outsider at 'Watermelon Capital,' doesn't know this, but she, as the CFO of a large company, doesn't know it either?

It is obvious that this is a relatively low-profile but quite powerful venture capital firm in the Greater China region, which has successfully incubated and operated many companies to go public.

With their combined skills and Hu Biao's expertise and recipe, Deyuelou had at least a 70-80% chance of listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange three years later. So, this guy who often squatted in the back kitchen alley, smoking a 12-yuan pack of Shazi cigarettes, had a very high probability of becoming a chairman of a company, the founder of a listed company, three years later?

This was something that poor Mina found hard to accept.

******
After being stunned for about ten seconds, Mina immediately asked a series of questions:

"It seems you're unwilling to accept such a good offer. Why is that? Is it because their conditions are too harsh, or is there some other reason?"

There's another matter; have you discussed it with my sister?

"No, their terms sound pretty good. They're willing to invest 20 million in the first round, and promise to invest at least 100 million more in the two subsequent rounds before the IPO, only requiring that they get at least 10% of the shares before the IPO."

Hu Biao answered calmly, but it was precisely this composed expression that made Mina want to punch him.
"The reason I didn't agree to their request is simply because I feel that my personal qualities are completely insufficient to handle such a large situation, and I need to reflect and learn for a period of time."

They also didn't want the development of Deyuelou to be interfered with by others.

As for this matter, I haven't discussed it with your sister, but I believe Annie will support my decision; because even if things develop normally, the future scale of Deyuelou will not be smaller than that of a listed company.

After hearing these words, Mina finally realized what was happening.

When we first met, my brother-in-law, who only had two small shops in Majuqiao, had actually developed at an astonishing speed.

Today, it has developed quite well.

As for the point that 'Hu Biao is doing quite well,' Mina soon gained a clearer understanding of it.

Before she could ask any more questions about the details of the cooperation request from 'Watermelon Capital', a walkie-talkie on the desk started crackling with static.

Immediately afterwards, the familiar voice of the lobby manager, Ling Lanfang, rang out: "Boss, boss! Did you hear that?"

"I heard you. What's up?" Hu Biao replied, picking up the walkie-talkie.

Ling Lanfang: "A self-media person from 'XX Restaurant Review' came to the front desk. They said they wanted to do a show about our private kitchen dishes, which would definitely help us increase our reputation and make our business better."

Therefore, they hope we can provide a table of top-class private dishes, preferably arranged within the next two days.

In addition, according to industry practice, we need to pay 3 yuan in labor fees.

What a coincidence! Mina saw a video of 'XX's store visit' this morning, and it seems the person is quite famous.

Hu Biao directly asked a crucial question: "Ask them how many fans they have."

"More than 320 million." Ling Lanfang, who already knew the answer, answered without hesitation.

Upon hearing this, Hu Biao had an idea: "Tell them that Deyuelou welcomes regular meals, but the private dining is already booked for three months from now, and you will need to write to us to wait."

After saying that, Hu Biao released the call button and muttered to himself, "Only three million followers, and who knows how many of them are zombie followers, yet they dare to come here and act like big shots?"

"Eat it or don't, I'm not going to serve you anymore."

"Brother-in-law! How many followers does a social media influencer need to eat a free meal at Deyuelou?" Mina asked casually.

After thinking for a couple of seconds, Hu Biao answered confidently: "Except for a girl with 92.7 followers, the others must have at least ten million followers."

This answer almost made Mina curse.

Because the so-called "girl with 92.7 followers" is actually her cousin Annie! She was sitting here quietly eating ice cream, not bothering or offending anyone, so why was she suddenly forced to eat dog food?
Then, Hu Biao asked a rather presumptuous question that finally broke the girl's defenses completely:

"Mina! Why is it that I eat ice cream by biting it and I've already finished it, while you're licking it little by little and you're still not finished?"

"Get out! What's it to you how I eat?" Mina finally snapped.

(End of this chapter)