Starting from a Bar to Sign Internet Celebrities

Chapter 462: Chapter 253: The New Era Has Finally Arrived

It’s a well-known fact: you might get drunk off five bottles of a certain liquor anywhere else, but at a nightclub, you could probably down ten and not even be tipsy.

To put it simply, while the base liquor is supplied by the brand, its alcohol content is often diluted.

You could call it fake liquor, but it’s exclusively supplied to nightclubs.

There were quite a few such breweries in Coastal City.

The three breweries Wang Yuan found were all being sold out of necessity for various reasons.

Chen Jincheng spent the afternoon with Wang Yuan inspecting the three breweries. None of them were small-scale operations.

Wang Yuan had already hired people to inspect them, and there were absolutely no issues with the hardware.

As for the minor details, Chen Jincheng didn’t want to get bogged down in endless negotiations. That could take who knows how long.

The price, however, involved a lot of back-and-forth. Ultimately, the deal to acquire the three breweries, including their production licenses and client resources, came to a total of 60 million.

Once the terms were agreed upon, Chen Jincheng signed the contracts with all three parties directly. As for the subsequent handover procedures and other related matters, he could just leave Wang Yuan in charge.

All he had to do was wire the money.

By the time they returned to the Soda Company, the sky had already gone dark.

Chen Jincheng then instructed Wang Yuan, "Once the breweries are fully handed over, I’ll transfer another 20 million to the company. You need to overhaul the production lines as quickly as possible and purchase the materials to produce our Soda. As for the packaging design, logo, and all that, I’ll send them to you later."

The production of Soda is different from other alcoholic beverages. It relies on formulation, not brewing. It’s made by selecting a base spirit—like grain alcohol, whiskey, or brandy—and then combining it with additives like granulated sugar, fruit juice, and Alana, as well as food-grade chemicals like citric acid, sodium benzoate, tartrazine, and artificial flavorings.

And of course, the most important raw material: water.

The amount of water added is also a key factor in judging whether a Soda is authentic or counterfeit.

An authentic case costs over 40 yuan to produce. A counterfeit case can be sourced for a wholesale price of 25 yuan, or even as low as the teens, all depending on how much water has been added.

A case of Soda that costs just over ten yuan is basically just a soft drink with a splash of alcohol.

’So, since Soda doesn’t exist in this world, I can also make a nightclub-exclusive version. Just add more water, and I can still make a quick fortune.’

If he didn’t do it, other counterfeit liquor producers would soon do the same.

Even back in his original world, legitimate brands did the same thing on the sly.

The biggest problem, ironically, was that the formulation for Soda wasn’t difficult.

That was why, in his original world, various other Soda brands had popped up to compete for market share within just six months of the drink becoming a sensation.

’That’s why I’ve already applied for a patent on the Soda formula. Even if someone reverse-engineers it, they won’t be able to use my exact recipe for production. They’ll have to find substitute ingredients, which should buy me some more time.’

What he needed to do was seize the market as quickly as possible.

And to seize the market, the output from just these three breweries would definitely not be enough. He had to keep acquiring more. At a minimum, he needed to reach a production capacity of over 50,000 cases per day.

This was why his initial calculations had called for a 300 million yuan investment.

So, he added, "Besides getting the Soda into production as soon as possible, you also need to keep acquiring more breweries. If there aren’t any more in Coastal City, go scout some out in Lin City."

"Yes, Boss!" Wang Yuan immediately answered, his face full of drive.

His boss had entrusted him with such a huge project; of course he was going to do it well.

After giving Wang Yuan his instructions, Chen Jincheng had to consider another problem: funding.

His current capital would be completely drained just by acquiring and maintaining production at the three breweries.

’So, I can have Sister Hong push Penguin to speed up the payment for "Little Dimples," but that’s still not nearly enough. I’ll have to stick to the original plan: get a loan through my connections at the promotion association and borrow some more from Lin Hao.’

With these thoughts in mind, Chen Jincheng took Wang Yuan and the new hires from the Soda Company out for dinner at a nearby restaurant. It was a chance to let the employees know who the boss was, but more importantly, to boost their confidence.

After all, their boss was a huge internet celebrity. Psychologically, that would always give the employees more faith in the company. He did have a certain celebrity effect, after all.

You could tell just by seeing the employees, who couldn’t resist taking out their phones to film him.

Chen Jincheng made a point of saying, "For now, the company is just the people in this room. However, we’ve already acquired three breweries, and follow-up investments will be as high as 300 million. Once everything is on the right track, I’ll give everyone a big red envelope."

His words certainly motivated the employees.

Especially the part about a 300 million investment and a big red envelope.

One employee even joked, "Boss, I recorded that on my phone! You can’t go back on your word now."

"That’s right, Boss, I got it on video too," someone else chimed in.

Chen Jincheng laughed. "Then hold onto it as evidence. If I don’t follow through, feel free to post it online and expose me."

Just as he was speaking, a call from Sister Hong came in. "Boss," she said urgently, "quick, look at the new announcement Tiao Yin just posted."

Hearing the urgency in Sister Hong’s voice, Chen Jincheng immediately opened the Tiao Yin app. The very first video that loaded was an ad for a new feature Tiao Yin was launching.

A smile spread across Chen Jincheng’s face as he read the announcement.

The 2.0 era had finally arrived.