Chapter 141: A Trap in Every Sentence

On a weekend morning, the northern wind blew again.

Jiang Qin, with Dong Wenhao and Wei Lanlan, headed to Wanzhong Mall in downtown.

Wanzhong Mall’s owner, He Yijun, was a portly middle-aged man with a big belly and gruff manner. He hoped Jiang Qin could collaborate with Wanzhong Mall for a seasonal promotion aimed at students.

He Yijun had sharp business acumen. He was the first merchant to approach them for advertising during their promotion at the University of Science and Technology.

In fact, he was the wealthiest boss they had met so far on the Zhihu forum.

“CEO Jiang, I’ve heard a lot about you. Didn’t expect you to be so young. They say you’re a college student, I didn’t believe it at first, but it seems true.”

Jiang Qin beamed and shook his hand. “You’re too kind, Mr. He. Compared to you, our little forum is just small-time.”

He Yijun laughed, looking at Dong Wenhao and Wei Lanlan. “And who are these two?”

“Director of Content, Dong Wenhao. Director of Marketing, Wei Lanlan. The pillars of our forum. Usually swamped, but I asked them to put aside their work to join me here for Wanzhong’s promotion.”

“Two directors, I’m honored! Come, let’s go to the meeting room.”

Dong Wenhao and Wei Lanlan exchanged glances, thinking the boss was exaggerating. Weren’t they just team leaders for content and marketing?

Look at that, two sentences and they’re already directors.

But you had to admit, director sounded way cooler than team leader.

Jiang Qin noticed their puffed-up posture and couldn’t help but laugh. He knew Mr. He probably didn’t believe they were directors since they were just college students with youthful faces.

But as the saying goes, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

Moreover, would the client really help boost their titles if they didn’t claim it themselves?

After a while, Wanzhong’s marketing manager, a young woman named Yue Zhu, joined them.

“CEO Jiang, here’s our plan. During the promotion, we can offer a minimum 60% discount in the clothing area, 80% for others except the cinema. It’ll last a month, requiring comprehensive promotion on your forum – banner ads, native posts, second-level pages. Give us a quote, CEO Jiang.”

Jiang Qin extended his hand. “One hundred thousand.”

Silence filled the room after his words.

Yue Zhu laughed awkwardly. “CEO Jiang, you must be joking. Our overall profit may not even reach one hundred thousand for this promotion.”

“Miss Yue, this is the most reasonable quote after careful research.”

Hearing this, Wei Lanlan couldn’t help but swallow hard.

Truthfully, they only learned about visiting Wanzhong Mall half an hour ago.

Research? The boss was clearly bluffing.

But one hundred thousand did seem excessive, considering their most expensive ad slot was only thirty thousand.

Although Wanzhong’s requirements were extensive, one hundred thousand was too much.

“CEO Jiang, your homepage banner is only 29,999 RMB, right? The other ad slots don’t seem very valuable.”

“Then what’s Wanzhong’s target price?”

Yue Zhu glanced at He Yijun, who nodded, before speaking. “Based on our calculations, fifty thousand is most appropriate.”

Jiang Qin nodded. “Alright, fifty thousand it is.”

“Huh?”

Yue Zhu was stunned before realizing. “CEO Jiang is really straightforward… First time I’ve seen someone negotiate like this…”

Jiang Qin waved his hand, taking out a document from his bag. “Fifty thousand is fine, but I’d like you both to take a look at the new service we’re about to launch.”

He Yijun put down his drumstick, leaning in. “Group-buying platform entry letter of intent?”

“Official trial operation starts in December. If Wanzhong is interested, you can give it a try. We’re looking for the first batch of partners.”

“Group-buying… Honestly, I’m not too optimistic about it.” He Yijun shook his head.

Jiang Qin pushed the document forward. “Entry is free. You sell a product, we take a commission. If it doesn’t sell, you don’t lose anything. Plus, if we cooperate, your promotion fee is instantly reduced by fifty thousand.”

“That’s true.” Yue Zhu was tempted, since it meant saving half the cost.

He Yijun gave Jiang Qin an odd look. “CEO Jiang, how did we save fifty thousand?”

Jiang Qin cleared his throat. “The one hundred thousand promotion fee, sign a cooperation letter of intent and it’s half off. Isn’t that saving fifty thousand?”

“We never agreed to one hundred thousand. How can you say we saved fifty thousand? You’re switching concepts!”

As he finished, Yue Zhu’s expression froze as she realized she almost got tricked.

The one hundred thousand was his asking price, not the final deal. Their target was originally fifty thousand. How could that be considered saving money?

This college student was so young, yet every sentence was a trap.

After being exposed, Jiang Qin didn’t seem embarrassed, instead grinning. “Anyway, that’s the market price. If we can’t cooperate, I’ll stick to one hundred thousand. But free entry saves you fifty thousand, isn’t that a steal?”

“…”

Before coming, Jiang Qin had already calculated that Wanzhong Mall’s promotion would cost at most seventy thousand. So he didn’t come for the promotion fee but to find partners for group-buying.

If he negotiated the cooperation properly, Jiang Qin would be at a disadvantage in status, easily manipulated by the other party.

But if he let Wanzhong think they were getting a good deal, the chances of cooperation would be much higher.

It was all a ploy. The same thing with different wording could lead to completely different results.

“Fifty thousand.”

Jiang Qin extended his hand, waving it in front of them. “Instantly saving fifty thousand, what are you hesitating about? To be honest, the fifty thousand you offered is also the bottom line, with room for negotiation. But I won’t quote any higher, fifty thousand it is.”

He Yijun rarely met such an interesting young man and couldn’t help but smile. “Alright, I don’t lose anything anyway. Let’s see how CEO Jiang handles this.”

“Thank you for your support, Mr. He!”

“But we won’t sign the letter of intent. I need to have my team collectively review it first.”

Jiang Qin pursed his lips. “Isn’t that a bit much?”

He Yijun looked at Yue Zhu. “Our marketing manager Yue has been doing this for five years, yet you almost tricked her in just two sentences. I can’t sign that letter of intent without reviewing it.”

“I’m an honest person, Mr. He.”

“Honest people dig the deepest traps!”

Jiang Qin laughed. “Alright, review it then. We’ll launch the group-buying platform anyway.”

He Yijun nodded, looking at his secretary. “Fang, book a table at Juxian Building. I’ll treat CEO Jiang to lunch.”

“No need, Mr. He. I need to attend an award ceremony this afternoon.”

“Award ceremony?”

“Let me be frank, Mr. He. I recently won first place in Linchuan University’s inaugural campus-wide academic competition, becoming the first-ever ‘Scholar Star’ in Linchuan’s history. The award ceremony is this afternoon, so I don’t have time.”

Hearing this, He Yijun and Yue Zhu both looked up in surprise.

Linchuan University was the best 985 university in Linchuan. First place in the inaugural campus-wide academic competition, the first-ever ‘Scholar Star’ – that prestige was immense.

A second ago, He Yijun had lost fifty percent of his trust in Jiang Qin.

Someone who spoke in traps, how trustworthy could he be?

But upon learning Jiang Qin was Linchuan University’s first-ever ‘Scholar Star’, some of that lost trust transferred back to him.

Older businessmen who generally lacked higher education tended to revere universities, especially prestigious ones like Linchuan.

He Yijun figured if Jiang Qin ranked at the top academically in Linchuan, he probably wasn’t a con artist.

“Then the award ceremony is certainly more important. Lunch can wait, I won’t keep you any longer.”

“Thank you for understanding, Mr. He. As the first-ever winner, many would be disappointed if I didn’t attend.”

“Yes, university awards are indeed important. I understand.”

After a while, the trio left Wanzhong Mall and had pig’s trotters noodles at a nearby food street.

Only then did Wei Lanlan and Dong Wenhao dare confirm that the promotion was never the boss’s goal – his aim from the start was group-buying cooperation.

Also, that ‘first-ever Scholar Star’ bit was so awkward. They were cringing while the boss calmly uttered it without even blushing.

“Boss, didn’t you feel awkward when mentioning the Scholar Star?”

Jiang Qin raised an eyebrow. “Why would I? First-ever, first place, campus-wide – which part was false?”

Wei Lanlan paused. “I guess none of it.”

“Exactly. Plus, Mr. He isn’t from Linchuan University, how would he know the ‘Scholar Star’ is just a random award? I said it to boost our credibility for group-buying, using Linchuan as an implicit endorsement of our trustworthiness.”

“I thought tricking Jiang Zhihua was the final step of the whole scheme… never expected you could reuse that trick…”

Jiang Qin peeled a clove of garlic. “Tricks are about effectiveness, not quantity. Whether awkward or not, it works.”

Dong Wenhao extended his hand. “Boss, give me a clove.”

“You’re so arrogant, you won’t peel garlic for the boss, yet you want me to peel it for you?”

Jiang Qin grumbled as he slapped the peeled garlic into Dong Wenhao’s hand, starting to contemplate the group-buying launch.

Tan Qing had already secured food merchants from the pedestrian street for the food section. With Wanzhong in the mall section, they mainly needed retail vendors for the lifestyle section.

Truthfully, college students didn’t have much money. Buying clothes was already a big deal, with most daily expenses going towards food, snacks, and drinks.

Especially when group-buying just launched, it would be hard to gain enough trust.

To put it bluntly, students might buy soda but rarely phones on the platform.

So in the initial monetization phase, food and retail would actually be the main group-buying sections.

“Boss, I want another clove of garlic.”

“??????”

“I don’t know why, but the garlic you peeled has this capitalist aroma.”

“Get lost.”