"Where exactly are you talking about, the place where no one drinks coffee?" Monet asked curiously.
Paul pointed eastward and replied, "Asia! Although I've never been to Asia, I've heard that it's several times the size of Europe and has a population more than ten times that of Europe. What's even more unbelievable is that people there never drink coffee! Can you imagine that?"
"Are you saying you want to open a coffee shop in Asia?" Monet guessed.
"Exactly, to be more precise, I want to open a coffee shop in the largest country in Asia, which is Qing China. Just think about it—even if people there only drink one cup of coffee a day, and we make just one cent profit per cup, that's a hundred million cents, which is one million dollars! I can become really wealthy!" Paul envisioned.
Monet shook her head and corrected, "First of all, as far as I know, Qing China has already been overthrown. Secondly, opening a coffee shop in such a distant place seems quite risky. Plus, you're unfamiliar with the area and don't even speak the local language."
Before Monet could finish her sentence, Paul interrupted, "Tony, you've misunderstood. I never said I'm going to Asia to open a coffee shop. There's a company called Ruimei Coffee that's planning to do that. And they have a much bigger plan than mine. They want to open a chain of coffee shops in all the major cities in Asia. They're currently seeking investments, and I'm considering investing too!"
"Alright, even if you don't have to go there personally, there's one thing I know. The reason Asians don't drink coffee isn't because they've never tried it; it's because they simply don't like it. Their dietary habits are very different from ours, and even the way they drink tea is distinct. If you have time, I'll cook some Chinese dishes for you, and you'll see the differences!" Monet patiently advised.
Unexpectedly, Paul countered, "Tony, while I might not know China as well as you do, and I definitely can't cook Chinese dishes, one thing you've got wrong is that the habit of drinking coffee can actually be cultivated. Don't believe me? Just go to Chinatown. They have coffee shops there too. Maybe not as many as in other neighborhoods, but it proves that Chinese people can embrace coffee!"
Paul's retort left Monet without a response, as this was indeed a tangible fact. Even though coffee wasn't a major beverage for Chinese people by 2021, there were still quite a few coffee drinkers.
While Monet's mind was wandering, Paul continued, "There's a marketing story you might not have heard. It's about two shoe salesmen who visited an island where nobody wore shoes. The first salesman thought since the locals didn't wear shoes, there was no market. So, he left. But the second salesman believed that if they could cultivate the habit of wearing shoes among the islanders, it would create a huge market out of thin air."
"The same principle applies here. Even though Chinese people never drank coffee, we can cultivate the habit of coffee consumption. Once they develop this habit, the market becomes ours. And I believe the reason Chinese people don't drink coffee might be that they simply never had the chance to try it. Before they signed treaties and opened their ports to the world, they hadn't even seen steamships or cannons, so how could they have possibly tried coffee?"
Upon hearing this, Monet inexplicably felt like she had heard this theory somewhere before. Upon careful reflection, she suddenly realized that this was none other than the infamous theory of the "Lucky Coffee" that caused an uproar before her time travel.
Honestly, from a certain perspective, Monet admired the owner of Lucky Coffee. This guy was simply a commercial genius. Just by using Paul's theory, he managed to dupe numerous investment institutions in the United States. He went on to wildly discount and even give away coffee to Chinese people, like a heroic figure robbing the rich to help the poor.
Moreover, when they were expanding initially, domestic investors who wanted to invest in Lucky Coffee were all rejected. That's because from the very beginning, they were targeting the American market to exploit. Strangely, the Americans bought into it. Perhaps their white supremacist beliefs were deeply ingrained. In their eyes, if we love coffee, how could you Chinese not like it? You just haven't tried it before, or you've tried it less. As long as I'm willing to spend money in the early stages to make you drink more cups, you'll definitely fall in love with this beverage that we Westerners can't live without.
Actually, it's quite odd. Take East Asia for example—Vietnam and Japan and South Korea are very accepting of coffee. There are even authentic French-style coffee shops all over Saigon, Vietnam. My personal favorite, G7, is also produced in Vietnam.
However, in China, the coffee industry never quite took off. Despite the numerous Starbucks stores and high revenue, it's mostly seen as a social space. People have many reasons to visit Starbucks, but drinking coffee doesn't even make it into the top three. For instance, buying a cat-paw cup to show off on social media, resting there while shopping due to Starbucks' prime locations, or even like me, spending an afternoon typing inside while sipping a cup of coffee.
Therefore, despite Paul's grandiose words, Monet persisted, "Paul, no matter what, I still find this matter highly unreliable. I won't invest myself, and I hope you don't invest in this project either, because the probability of success is just too low!"
Unfortunately, at this point, the already fervent Paul was simply not receptive to Monet's advice. And that's not entirely surprising. Without firsthand experience, it's indeed difficult to convince these white people who are arrogantly confident about the East.
Yet what Monet never anticipated was that shortly after arriving home, Mike actually came over to talk to her, saying, "Tony, I just found out about a great opportunity to make a fortune!"
Hearing these familiar words, a sense of unease suddenly washed over Monet. She quickly intervened and asked, "Wait a moment, you're not going to tell me you want to open a coffee shop in Asia, are you?"
"Huh? How did you know?" Mike asked in astonishment.
"Because our neighbor Paul just told me about it!" Monet replied casually.
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