Chapter 36 Starbucks Invitation
The little girl wanted to slap Zhang Hao's hand away in disgust, but Zhang Hao immediately poked her with his other hand. She was already in despair, and had to accept her fate as she was at the mercy of others.
However, Zhang Hao, who always wants to take her with him wherever they go, makes her feel more at ease than April Clark. It's not that April Clark gives her the feeling of a bad person, but that April Clark is very rational after no longer having excessive maternal love. She doesn't have too much extra care for her, just treats her like an ordinary stranger. At this time, Zhang Hao seems particularly good.
After thinking about it, she decided to go back to her father, so she said, "My name is Lelene Isabel Schultz, and my father is Howard Schultz."
The little girl was very proud when talking about her father's name.
Finally knowing the name of this little Lolita, Zhang Hao is at it again.
He reached out and rubbed the little girl's head and said, "Lelin, what a nice name."
Although she would occasionally go off track, the smart little Loli looked at Zhang Hao in surprise, but didn't say anything. Her surprised look quickly turned into disgust, but she couldn't struggle and could only accept her fate of having her head rubbed.
"where is your house?"
"I won't tell you."
“…”
"I can give you my father's phone number. If you help me call him later, I will pay you back for the phone bill."
"I can still afford the phone bill. Is anyone answering your home phone at this time?"
"My dad's secretary has a cell phone."
"...Rich second generation..."
"What is a rich second generation?"
"It's the kind of people whose parents are rich and have good luck, like you."
“…”
After some casual chatting, not long after, April Clark came out of the interview classroom with a happy face.
Seeing April Clark's expression, Zhang Hao smiled and said, "April, you must have passed the interview, right?"
"Well, I was admitted to the City College School of Cinematic Arts!" April Clark trotted up excitedly and hugged Zhang Hao.
She was indeed very happy. April Clark was very grateful to Zhang Hao for applying to USC with her. Because the interviewer asked a question about their relationship, she answered honestly that they were classmates and lived in the same apartment. But this might be one of the reasons why she was admitted despite her ordinary test scores and art exam scores.
Although she wanted to learn how to repair cars at first and had no interest in acting in dramas, after realizing last summer that it was impossible for her to enter the professional tennis world, she listened to her mother, studied hard, and studied acting. After all her efforts, she succeeded and is really happy.
After the hug, Zhang Hao said, "To celebrate your admission to university, I will treat you to a meal tonight. You can choose any restaurant."
"Then I won't be polite... By the way, let's call the police and send this little sister to the police station."
"She said she remembered her father's cell phone number. Let's go give him a call..."
"Lelin!"
Just as the two were discussing how to deal with the little Loli they had encountered by chance, a middle-aged man with a hooked nose rushed up with a shout.
The little girl who was rolling her eyes while listening to the conversation between the two poor students heard the voice, turned around and saw her father running up, and rushed over excitedly: "Daddy..."
Zhang Hao and April Clark were frightened by the roar at first, and their first reaction was to be alert, but when they saw the little girl also shouting "Dad" and rushing over, they breathed a sigh of relief.
After looking at each other, Zhang Hao understood what April Clark meant and said to the little girl, "Le Lin, since your father has found you, we'll leave first. Bye..."
After saying that, Zhang Hao prepared to leave with April Clark.
Both of them have already seen that the little Lolita's family background is not ordinary, but neither of them took the initiative to make friends with her. It is really unnecessary for him.
At this time, the hook-nosed Jewish middle-aged man, who had just come out of his shock and joy, said to the two men, "Wait a moment, sir. You are Aix Zhang, right?"
The two stopped and Zhang Hao responded, "It's me."
No one recognized Zhang Hao, and the two of them didn't feel anything, so it wasn't surprising that someone recognized him.
"That's great. I'm a big basketball fan, and so is my son. It's a pity that he didn't come to Los Angeles with me this time. Can I invite you to have lunch with me? Thank you very much for helping me take care of my daughter. I also want to chat with you about the NBA..."
…
Howard Schultz had good reasons to invite them to lunch. He was a loyal basketball fan, and they helped take care of and protect Howard Schultz 's daughter...
This is a headache for people who do good deeds. Sometimes they do something good out of convenience, but the other party insists on thanking them. They don’t do good deeds for the sake of benefits, they just do it out of convenience, and it is difficult to refuse.
But it's just a lunch, so it's nothing.
Moreover, Howard Schultz was not lying. This handsome middle-aged man knew everything about each NBA team, and he could even tell a lot about the players of the New Jersey Nets.
He really knows a lot about the NBA.
If Zhang Hao wants to chat, he is quite talkative. And unlike Pierce who is just a chatterbox, he is the type who can find things to chat about.
But Howard Schultz is more talkative and can find topics that the other person likes from the conversation. He is an experienced middle-aged man.
From the conversation, Zhang Hao learned that Howard Schultz is the sponsor of the American men's basketball team in next year's Atlanta Olympics. USC is the school with the most Olympic medals among its students in the world. In next year's Olympics, almost 20% of the athletes in the US Olympic team will be students at the University of Southern California. He came here to discuss cooperation with the school.
As they were chatting, the little girl suddenly interrupted and asked, "Dad, is he good at playing basketball? Better than Kevin?"
Howard Schultz laughed and said, "Your brother is just an amateur player who is good on the streets. Axel is the best high school basketball player in the world. He has already entered the NBA."
"No wonder he is as tall as a telephone pole, it turns out he is an NBA player." The little girl didn't expect Zhang Hao to be so powerful.
The lunch time was generally pleasant. Howard Schultz did not take Zhang Hao and April Clark to a particularly high-end restaurant as that place was too distant. Instead, they came to a family restaurant with delicious food. The environment was like a family dinner and the atmosphere was relaxed.
It was time for dessert after the meal, and Howard Schultz's secretary packed a few cups of coffee and brought them to this family restaurant. They were not high-end coffee, but coffee from the Starbucks coffee chain that Zhang Hao and April Clark usually bought. Most of the drinks were priced at US$2.8, US$3.8, and US$4.8. It has become the most popular coffee shop in the United States. Drinking coffee has become a habit for Americans because the price of coffee is similar to that of other beverages.
Feeling that they had talked enough, Howard Schultz said to Zhang Hao, "Aix, this is my family's coffee. I plan to open a chain of coffee shops in China, specializing in making and selling coffee to Chinese people. I want to find a partner, and I would like to invite you to join..."
Starbucks, Howard Schultz...It was only then that Zhang Hao remembered the last name Schultz.
Howard Schultz, the big boss of Starbucks, a group with a market value of hundreds of billions of US dollars in the future!
Zhang Hao recalled carefully. If he remembered correctly, at the beginning of the new century, this big boss bought the Seattle SuperSonics, an NBA team where Starbucks is headquartered...
He also remembered a report that O'Neal regretted entering the NBA. Because he was popular in college, Starbucks wanted to cooperate with him to open chain coffee shops in black communities. O'Neal did not think that black people would be willing to buy coffee, so he refused. Because in the 1980s, there were still a large number of black people asking, "Why is coffee black? Is it discrimination or does it mean that white people are drinking black people's blood?" Then in just two or three years, Starbucks were everywhere in black communities in the United States because of their cheap prices and sales were better than those in white communities.
Looking at the Jew in front of him, Zhang Hao knew that Jews would not do anything without profit. After a moment of silence, Zhang Hao asked, "Why are you looking for me? I'm just a poor student who just graduated from high school."
Starbucks just went public three years ago and has been a bull stock with a soaring market value ever since. Now ordinary people, even NBA players, would be ecstatic when they hear that Starbucks has found them to cooperate. Howard Schultz knows that O'Neal has been regretting seeing groups of black people buying coffee in the past two years. Now is no longer the time three years ago when it was not yet listed. He did not expect Zhang Hao to be so calm.
For Zhang Hao, making money is of course important, but it is not the most important thing in his heart. The most important thing is to survive, so he can stay calm when encountering such things.
Howard Schultz smiled, thought quickly, and said, "Let me tell you straight, we need a representative who is well-known and topical in China to work with us. Of course, we have many options, including Chinese entrepreneurs and Chinese celebrities.
But in addition to fame, we value character more. To be honest, Aix, if you agreed right away, I would be hesitant, but you are very calm. I think you are a good partner.
And, most importantly, you have a good heart. When you met a lost little girl, you didn’t bother to help her, but insisted on helping Lelin find her parents before you left with peace of mind..."
Do you value character more? Zhang Hao thinks the first two sentences are the key points. It is because he is famous and treats this matter calmly that the character mentioned later is so important.
Zhang Hao is weighing the pros and cons, thinking about what kind of risks he needs to take... According to his future memory, Starbucks will one day become the most famous coffee chain brand in China, and even become Starbucks' largest market outside the United States, but there will definitely be risks, and he doesn't know if there will be any trouble.
Seeing Zhang Hao's silence, Howard Schultz certainly didn't know what Zhang Hao was thinking. He thought that he had the same idea as O'Neal three years ago, that most Chinese people would not buy coffee. Howard Schultz had learned about China and knew that Chinese people were more fond of drinking tea.
"Axel, you don't have to answer me in a hurry. You can think about it first. This is my business card, Tony..." Howard Schultz handed a business card in front of Zhang Hao, then called the secretary's name.
The secretary took out two gift boxes that she had bought when she went out to get coffee.
"You must accept the gifts. They are two cell phones. It will be more convenient for you to contact me when you want to. This is a thank you gift for taking care of Lelin." Howard Schultz's tone this time was one that could not be refused.
It was reasonable for the CEO of a listed company to give a small gift to thank them for helping to take care of his daughter. Zhang Hao and April Clark looked at each other, nodded, and accepted the gifts. Even if they didn't play in the NCAA, they could accept the gifts.
…
After that, we stopped talking about the company and returned to the topic of basketball, such as predicting when the lockout would end, talking about Zhang Hao's playing style in the new season, and so on... After that, the lunch was over.
Howard Schultz sent a car to take Zhang Hao and April Clark back to the apartment.
After the car drove away, April Clark finally couldn't help it: "Axel, why don't you agree to his request! Cooperate with Starbucks!"
When they talked about this at the dinner table before, April Clark didn't dare to say it or ask. Now that there were no outsiders around, she finally said this.
"I didn't reject him either." Zhang Hao responded, and after organizing his words, he said, "I also want to make more money, but I have to consider many things.
I know our country better. Don't be fooled by what your news says about how fast our country's economic growth is. But I know that our country is just growing fast. A 100 yuan growth of 10% is far less than a 10,000 yuan growth of 1%, right?
So there is no need to rush this matter. Schultz is probably not in a hurry either. It is just still in the preparation stage.
Also, if I want to discuss this matter formally, I need to make preparations, hire someone to do market research, find a suitable agent, and a lawyer. Schultz certainly won't care about the little money I earn. What he wants is not my investment, but my identity as a Chinese and my identity as China's first NBA rookie.
If he wants to open a company in China, he must cooperate with the Chinese. He might even find someone to take responsibility and take on potential risks... Even if there are no problems with these, we won't get any benefits from this in the short term, so there's no need to rush..."
Listening to Zhang Hao's words, April Clark, who had also just graduated from high school, did not expect that Zhang Hao had thought so far.
However, April Clark never thought that Zhang Hao was stupid... because Zhang Hao had good test scores, so even though Zhang Hao was depressed before, they could still play together, although it was usually the more mature April Clark who took care of Zhang Hao, Pierce was talkative , and Zhang Hao was taciturn and loved to stab others out of the blue.
After hearing Zhang Hao's analysis, April Clark's regret for Zhang Hao gradually faded away. Obviously, Zhang Hao thought much further than she did and had his own preparations.
There is no need to worry about that.
On the other side, in a villa in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Howard Schultz gathered his closest partners to discuss the development of the Greater China market.
Among them, the cooperation with Zhang Hao was mentioned.
Seeing that Howard Schultz seemed to really want to implement the decision to enter the Chinese market, Howard Behar, the newly-designated president of Starbucks' North American region, asked, "Are you serious? China is so poor, and the per capita income in their capital is only over 100 yuan. Is it necessary to pay so much attention to it? A large country does not mean it can make money. Didn't you try the Soviet market, and you failed there?"
