AUBTN -Chapter 135 The Business Plan

Shen Jue raised an eyebrow, a hint of interest flashing across his eyes.

Membership system? Points?

These terms were unfamiliar to him, but he could clearly sense the confidence—and… disdain—within Su Hewan’s inner thoughts.

“Money is really so easy to make…”

Yu Qing slumped back in her chair and let out a soul-deep sigh.

“If I’d known earlier, I wouldn’t have studied acting. I should’ve studied business administration instead. In this era, that would be a complete dimensionality reduction strike!”

Su Hewan nodded in full agreement. “Exactly. Whether it’s cosmetics, food, or entertainment, just using a few modern marketing tricks would bring in money hand over fist.”

The two girls exchanged a glance.

In that instant, sparks of mutual understanding about making money crackled loudly in the air.

Men? Power struggles?

How could those compare to the fragrance of silver clutched firmly in your own hands?

During the latter half of the meal, the two men clearly felt themselves being ignored.

Just moments ago they had been secretly competing over who got to peel shrimp for whom. Now, they could only watch helplessly as their respective girls huddled together, whispering endlessly about things like private traffic, monetizing product promotions, and beauty influencers.

By the time they returned to Yuyuan Garden, the night was already deep.

But Su Hewan and Yu Qing had no intention of sleeping.

Inside the study, the lamps burned brightly.

Yu Qing stood with one foot planted on a grand chair, waving a wolf-hair brush dramatically as she passionately sketched on a sheet of fine xuan paper.

“Wanwan, look! This is my concept!”

On the paper were several stick figures standing on a platform, holding oddly shaped objects. Beneath them was a mass of tiny black dots—representing the audience.

“Ancient livestream selling!”

Yu Qing’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

“We don’t need phones, and we don’t need the internet! We already have ready-made stages! We can rent a theater, or even build a platform right on the street! I’ll handle the performance and hype up the atmosphere!”

“Just think about those noble ladies and young misses. They hardly ever step outside and are bored to death. As long as I perform a little and say this rouge is used by a princess from the Western Regions, or that face cream is the same one used by palace concubines, won’t they go crazy buying it?”

Looking at the utterly chaotic doodle, Su Hewan’s mouth twitched slightly.

But she had to admit—Yu Qing had hit the key point.

“This is basically live product promotion.”

After thinking for a moment, Su Hewan picked up a brush and wrote several neat characters on another sheet of paper:

Yuyan Pavilion Business Plan

“Marketing alone isn’t enough. The product is the core.”

Su Hewan pointed to herself.

“I studied history. I’m not a traditional medicine specialist, but I’ve memorized quite a few ancient medical texts, especially imperial formulas. Things like Yurong Powder, Seven-White Cream, and various medicinal cuisine recipes—I can recreate them, maybe even improve them.”

“And I can invite Imperial Physician Li to collaborate. Using modern extraction concepts, we can turn those herbs into essences, facial masks, lipsticks…”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Yu Qing slapped the table excitedly.

“We can do blind boxes! Put different shades of lipstick into boxes and let them draw randomly! Whoever gets the hidden ‘Empress Red’ shade will be the chosen one!”

Su Hewan’s eyes lit up.

“That’s a great idea. Use the gambler’s mentality to increase repeat purchases.”

In their minds, they could already see banknotes drifting down from the sky like falling snow.

“But…”

After the excitement faded, Yu Qing suddenly deflated.

“We don’t have any startup capital. Renting a shop, buying materials, hiring workers—everything costs money.”

Su Hewan raised an eyebrow and smiled, her gaze drifting toward the deep night outside the window.

That direction led to the courtyards where Shen Jue and Lu Yan were staying.

“Don’t we already have ready-made angel investors?”

The next morning.

Lu Yan had just finished practicing his blade techniques. Still dressed in his training outfit and not yet changed, he was blocked at the door by Yu Qing.

“Commander Lu~ Lord Lu~”

Yu Qing clutched the piece of paper that looked like a ghost’s scribbles—her so-called business plan—in her hand. A fawning smile hung on her face, and her voice was so sweet it was almost sickening.

Lu Yan paused mid-wipe as he dabbed the sweat from his forehead. Goosebumps instantly rose all over his body.

“Speak properly.”

He said coldly, though there wasn’t much impatience in his eyes.

“Hehe, well… I just happen to have a big business deal I’d like to discuss with Lord Lu.”

Yu Qing slapped the sheet of paper down in front of him.

“Lord Lu, look! This is a business model absolutely unprecedented in this era! As long as you’re willing to invest just a little start-up capital, I guarantee that within half a year, our product will sweep the entire capital! Every noble lady will go crazy over it!”

“When that time comes, you’ll be the man behind the richest person in the capital!”

Lu Yan lowered his head and stared at the crooked stick figures drawn on the paper, his brows tightly furrowed.

What exactly was this supposed to be?

Some kind of cult ritual?

But then he heard Yu Qing’s inner shout:

【Give me money! Give me money! This young lady wants to start a business! I’m going to get rich! Once I’m rich, I’ll keep ten or eight pretty boys as my personal companions… pfft pfft pfft, can’t let him hear that. Anyway, making money is the only real truth!】

Keep male concubines?

Lu Yan’s face instantly darkened.

But he quickly grasped the key point—she wanted money.

Without another word, Lu Yan turned around, took a brocade box from the shelf behind him, and placed it on the table with a bang.

He opened it. Inside was a thick stack of silver banknotes, along with several property deeds.

“Take it.”

Lu Yan spoke concisely.

Yu Qing froze.

“Th-this is…?”

“Fifty thousand taels in banknotes, and the deeds to two shops on East Street in the capital.”

Lu Yan said calmly, as if what he had just handed over wasn’t a massive fortune but a few scraps of paper.

“If it’s not enough, go withdraw more from the bank.”

Yu Qing’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

【Holy crap! Is this what it feels like to be doted on by a domineering CEO? Is this the legendary ‘take it and spend it however you like’? This is… this is amazing!】

“I keep hearing people talk about that Director Shen, but from the looks of it, you’ve probably taken quite a lot yourself, haven’t you?” Yu Qing muttered under her breath, her eyes gleaming.

“What did you say?” Lu Yan didn’t catch it.

Yu Qing immediately put on an innocent face. “Nothing, nothing!”

But the next second, the actress within her flared up again.

She abruptly pushed the brocade box back toward him, her face filled with righteous dignity.

“Lord Lu! You’re insulting me!”

Lu Yan: “?”

Yu Qing lifted her chin proudly, her eyes shining with the radiance of what she called an “independent woman.”

“Although I love money, a gentleman acquires wealth by proper means! What I want is investment and cooperation—not charity! I want to rely on my own hands to carve out a piece of the world!”

【Actually, I really want to accept it! My heart is bleeding! But no, I can’t. Wanwan said that if I take the money, I’ll lose my backbone. If we argue later, I won’t be able to stand tall! For the sake of being able to scold him righteously in the future, I absolutely cannot take this money for free!】

Listening to the tug-of-war in her mind, Lu Yan couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Fine.”

He pushed the brocade box back toward her again, his gaze deep.

“Then consider it a loan from me. With interest.”

Meanwhile, in the study at Yu Garden, the atmosphere was far more serious.

Su Hewan sat upright at the desk, several sheets of densely packed data analysis charts spread out before her.

Shen Jue sat across from her, holding a cup of tea, watching her with great interest.