Chapter 242: Success is Not Coincidental

After Li Dong's comforting words, Qin Yuhan's mood improved a lot. 

During the car ride, Li Dong didn't press her with more questions. 

When they got out of the car and Li Dong looked up at the sign in front, he finally understood what Qin Yuhan meant by "losing money."

**Dongyu Dessert House**

Li Dong found that Qin Yuhan's naming skills weren't that impressive. It seemed that the family liked to use personal names for their store names.

After observing for a while, Li Dong asked, "Did you open this?"

Qin Yuhan nodded, her face slightly reddening.

Li Dong stood at the entrance and glanced inside. The store wasn't large, but it was arranged very warmly.

Of course, this warmth was relative. The pink wallpaper wasn't to Li Dong's taste, and it was unlikely many men would appreciate it.

However, since the dessert business is primarily targeted at women, this kind of decoration wasn't surprising.

The environment was fine, and the location wasn't bad either.

The only shortcoming was the lack of customers. The store had a dozen tables, but almost all of them were empty.

In business, the environment doesn't matter much, and the location isn't crucial. What's fundamental is customer traffic.

Without customers, no matter how good the environment is, it's useless.

Li Dong finally understood why Qin Yuhan was losing money. If business continued like this every day, it would be impossible not to incur losses.

After looking around, Qin Yuhan led Li Dong into the store.

Several young girls who were chatting saw Qin Yuhan and Li Dong and immediately greeted, "Manager, you're here."

"Yuhan, have you eaten yet?"

"Sister Yuhan, is this your boyfriend?"

"..."

Qin Yuhan and the girls chatted and laughed, while Li Dong frowned slightly.

Of course, the frown was only momentary. Li Dong quickly put on a smile.

He sighed inwardly, wondering how Qin Yuhan could not lose money with the way things were. 

No matter the business, employees chatting together and treating it as a norm, even in the presence of the boss, is a major problem.

Moreover, while it's beneficial for a boss to get along with employees to build a sense of belonging, there should still be a hierarchy.

From the way they addressed Qin Yuhan, it was clear she didn't consider herself as a boss. Employees calling her by name indicated a lack of authority.

These thoughts flashed through Li Dong's mind, but seeing Qin Yuhan happy, he relaxed again.

It was just a small shop. If it lost money, so be it. The important thing was that she was happy.

Though he didn't understand why Qin Yuhan wanted to open a shop, since she had that intention, Li Dong would support her wholeheartedly.

A dessert shop, even if it lost more, wouldn't be as much as Li Dong earned in a day.

As he thought about this, someone behind him suddenly said, "Li Dong, when did you arrive?"

Li Dong turned around to see Qi Fangfang and the others standing at the door, stomping their feet to keep warm. When he turned, Zhang Mengmeng sweetly asked, "Brother Li Dong, are you here to celebrate Christmas with Sister Yuhan?"

Li Dong smiled and replied, "I just got off the plane and happened to catch Christmas."

Qi Fangfang noticed he wasn't dressed warmly and asked, "Is the weather in Pingchuan not cold? Beijing is freezing, I don't even want to go outside."

"It's okay, not as cold as Beijing," Li Dong replied.

After chatting for a while, Qin Yuhan had sent away a few of the girls and came over.

Seeing everyone standing at the door, she quickly said, "Let's go inside."

She then called out to the girl at the counter, "Yuan Yuan, two cups of double-skin milk, one cup of papaya sago, and one cup of mango milkshake, all hot."

Turning to Li Dong, she asked, "Li Dong, what would you like to drink?"

"Anything, I'm not picky."

"How about coconut milk?"

"Sure."

"Yuan Yuan, one more cup of coconut milk."

"Okay!"

As they talked, they found a place to sit.

As soon as they sat down, Qin Yuhan asked Qi Fangfang and the others, "Aren't you supposed to be studying? Why are you here now?"

Qi Fangfang answered, "We haven't seen you all morning, so we came to check. Didn't expect Li Dong would be here. If we had known, we wouldn't have disturbed your time together."

Qin Yuhan gave her a sidelong glance and ignored her.

Li Dong, not taking it to heart, asked, "When did you open the store?"

Mentioning the dessert house made Qin Yuhan's expression dim slightly as she replied softly, "We opened in November."

Li Dong laughed and said, "Oh, you kept it a secret. Were you planning to surprise me?"

Qin Yuhan pouted and said, "I originally wanted to surprise you, but later…"

Li Dong knew what she meant. It had probably been a failure, and she felt embarrassed to bring it up.

The reason she told him now was likely that she couldn't hold on any longer, feeling distressed and wanting someone to talk to.

Li Dong comforted her with a smile, "It's okay if you're losing money. What's there to be upset about? In business, you either lose or make money. No one can guarantee they'll always make money."

Qin Yuhan sulked and murmured, "You've never lost money."

She had been so eager to compete with Li Dong.

But reality was harsh. Seeing how easily Li Dong made money, she felt she could do it too, thinking she might even open branches throughout Beijing like Li Dong.

However, the results were disappointing. Not only did she not make money, but her initial capital was almost depleted.

Li Dong, understanding her competitive spirit, quickly realized what she was thinking and shook his head, "There's no business that only makes money and never loses. I'm not a god; I've lost money before."

"Really?"

Qin Yuhan was skeptical, feeling Li Dong's words were just to comfort her.

Not only did she doubt him, but Qi Fangfang and the others did too. Qi Fangfang asked curiously, "Li Dong, have you really lost money?"

Li Dong responded irritably, "Of course. Do you think business is so simple? Money doesn't just come easily. Such luck doesn't exist."

"So you've lost money too…"

Hearing Li Dong speak seriously, the girls couldn't help but murmur.

Li Dong was speechless, thinking, what are these girls imagining?

As if it's unbelievable for me to lose money, do they really think of me as a god?

Of course, to be fair, Li Dong hadn't really lost money. He was referring to the current price war. Losing money was a side effect; Li Dong's real goal was to make more money.

However, to comfort the discouraged Qin Yuhan, Li Dong didn't mind shattering his own myth.

Just as the girls were still processing Li Dong's words, a staff member brought over several drinks.

Li Dong took a sip of the coconut milk and nearly spat it out.

Looking at the still-present staff member, Li Dong cleared his throat and said, "It's so cold, didn't you heat it?"

The staff member sweetly smiled, "Sorry, brother-in-law, the heating machine is broken. We're waiting for someone to come fix it."

Li Dong's mouth twitched, feeling speechless. This business was really something—only with customers would there be a chance of making money!

The heating machine was broken, and they couldn't think of any other solutions? Microwave, hot water—weren't these options?

If even the boss is treated like this, one can imagine how the other customers are treated.

In such cold weather, only a fool would want to drink cold drinks. Li Dong shook his head in his mind.

Seeing Qin Yuhan about to drink, Li Dong quickly stopped her, "It's too cold, don't drink it."

Qin Yuhan smiled and put the drink down, not drinking any more.

Qi Fangfang tested the temperature and frowned, "Yuan Yuan, haven't you found someone to fix the heating machine yet?"

"We've already called, but the technician said the road was icy in the morning, so they can only come in the afternoon," the staff member explained with a look of grievance.

Qi Fangfang shook her head and didn't say more. Zhou Yue, however, was displeased, "Then complain about them. This lousy machine has broken down several times in less than three months since we bought it!"

Seeing her angry, Qin Yuhan quickly said, "Forget it. It's not easy for them. The roads were indeed icy this morning."

With Qin Yuhan backing them up, the others stopped pressing the issue.

Li Dong also felt speechless. This boss was too lenient, clearly losing money.

But he didn't mind. If he had money, he could be this casual. He let Qin Yuhan handle things however she wanted.

While he didn't care, Qin Yuhan did. She looked troubled again and said, "Li Dong, do you think I'm just not cut out for business? Less than three months since opening, I've lost 20,000 yuan after earning only 2,000 to 3,000 in the first month."

"Only 20,000?"

As soon as Li Dong's words fell, Qi Fangfang and the others almost burst out laughing.

What do you mean "only 20,000"?

Is it really

 okay to act so smug?

Seeing the girls staring at him, Li Dong chuckled awkwardly, "Didn't Yuhan say she lost over 100,000 yuan? Now it's only 20,000, so it's still a gain."

Qin Yuhan shot him a glare and said, "Is that how you calculate it?"

"Besides, I did lose over 100,000 yuan. I got scammed when I first opened the store. The machine vendor sold me a bunch of equipment I didn't need. The machines were too big to fit in the store, so I had to rent a small warehouse for them. It drove me crazy!"

"Exactly, people are so deceitful!"

"Yuhan was naive, believing whatever they said. If it were me, I'd definitely check things out personally."

The girls chatted about the dishonest machine vendor who had long disappeared.

Li Dong felt speechless. How could they get scammed? It only showed how naive they were.

You only have a small dessert shop, and they got you large ovens and a cake production line. It was obvious they were setting you up.

He was too lazy to discuss it further with them. Li Dong casually picked up the menu on the table and took a look.

After glancing, Li Dong was utterly shocked.

If this place wasn't losing money, it would be a travesty!

A cup of apple juice: 16 yuan.

A cup of lemon juice: 18 yuan.

...

Just looking at the prices of the juices, Li Dong was stunned. This was 2005!

Moreover, Dongyu Dessert House targeted students. A cup of juice costing more than ten yuan or twenty yuan—who would buy that?

And that's not all. The menu also had some health-oriented stewed dishes.

These were even more expensive, with prices ranging from 70 to 80 yuan per serving. Were these girls treating money like dirt?

Even if it's Peking University, it's just a school, not a high-end community. Which student would come here for stewed dishes?

Aside from everything else, Qin Yuhan and the others had targeted the wrong audience for this dessert shop.

Li Dong shook his head inwardly. Even students from prestigious schools, without any experience, couldn't expect to succeed overnight.

Success isn't incidental. Apart from people like himself, only a few can steadily step onto the path to success.