Chapter 295: You Think This Can Get Me Drunk?

“President Jiang, so accomplished at such a young age! Old Li must toast you.”

“Nineteen years old, that’s incredible! To be honest President Jiang, when I was nineteen, all I could think about was breasts and thighs, nothing else.”

“President Jiang, are you sure you don’t want to expand the group-buy service further? Seems like a shame.”

“Everyone take a break first, let me toast President Jiang. How about it?”

Amidst the toasting and drinking, the night deepened. Jiang Qin already showed signs of intoxication, directly stating he couldn’t drink anymore. Before the others could persuade him further, he collapsed onto the table with a thud.

Seeing this, the bosses at the banquet exchanged glances, thinking he likely said what needed to be said in his drunken state. Since he didn’t mention continuing to promote group-buy, he probably wasn’t blowing smoke.

Therefore, they were left with only two choices.

One was to take the government-led opportunity to join forces with Zhihu for national promotion.

9 The second was to forgo this chance and continue conservative development.

Each choice had supporters, roughly split half and half.

Those choosing to join believed in Jiang Qin’s ability, feeling that since he grandly announced plans to promote Zhihu in the second half of the year, it was no empty talk.

The other half had personally witnessed group-buy’s two impressive campaigns and had full confidence in the project. However, they hadn’t seen Zhihu’s ability to attract traffic and lacked assurance.

They still looked down on the college student market, always feeling broke students had no money to spend. Even if they joined Zhihu, the effects would be minimal.

“President Liu, what do you think?”

“Let’s discuss it at tomorrow’s meeting. I can’t make up my mind right now either.”

“What about you President Wang?”

“To be honest, cross-city promotion has always been very time-consuming and laborious. If we do it ourselves, it may not be as good as him doing it. Since we have this opportunity, whether it’s group-buy or Zhihu, I want to give it a try.”

“President Zhao, why don’t you say a few words too?”

“I deal in high-end brands with high costs and prices. But Zhihu targets the college student market. This group has very low spending power and isn’t our target market.”

Just as they were talking, Jiang Qin suddenly raised his head, let out a burp, then used both hands to push himself up from the table. He staggered towards the door, nearly knocking over a trash can on his way out.

Seeing this, President Liu, President Wang and President Zhao all stepped forward to support him but were waved off by Jiang Qin.

“Let me tell you a secret.”

“What secret?”

“Zhihu is the world’s best.”

Jiang Qin said mysteriously, then stumbled out of the hotel.

He had just left when He Yijun arrived. After looking around and not seeing Jiang Qin, his expression couldn’t help but show some confusion. He found an acquaintance to ask.

Only then did he learn that Jiang Qin had just been toasted in turn by a tableful of people. After getting drunk, he left by himself.

Damn, what toasting in turns, it was clearly force-feeding alcohol! He Yijun saw through the truth of this drinking session at a glance.

They couldn’t understand why Jiang Qin wouldn’t continue such a promising project like group-buy and insisted on doing Zhihu instead. They were afraid this project was a smokescreen and also worried he would choose to pause midway through promotion. So they felt uneasy and couldn’t make up their minds, wanting to get clarity by taking advantage of his drunkenness.

After all, even if group-buy temporarily couldn’t achieve online real-time payment collection, its potential still couldn’t compare to a social network like Zhihu that was difficult to monetize.

The more they couldn’t grasp Jiang Qin’s way of thinking, the warier they felt and the more cautious they were, always unable to decide.

In their view, the “in wine there is truth” method might allow them to understand Jiang Qin’s true thoughts.

But over a dozen people taking turns to liquor up one person, this truly wasn’t humane.

He Yijun had benefited quite a bit from Jiang Qin during the reforms. From the perspective of closeness, he would definitely stand on Jiang Qin’s side. So after drinking a couple of cups, he left the hotel citing discomfort.

The midsummer night was a bit sultry, definitely not a comfortable temperature. He Yijun exited the lobby and got into his car, preparing to leave. But before he could start the engine, there was a knock on his window.

Before He Yijun could ask who it was, he found his car door pulled open. Jiang Qin sat down as if nothing happened, even saying long time no see.

The air was silent for three seconds as He Yijun’s expression looked like he saw a ghost.

【President Jiang can’t hold his liquor, after a few cups he passed out, nearly walked into the women’s restroom.】

【President Jiang got drunk, he even knocked over a trash can as he left.】

【President Jiang couldn’t even walk straight, nearly ran into that waitress by the door. Luckily she dodged quickly.】

He Yijun’s mind echoed with the words of those Linchuan bosses. Looking at the unperturbed man in front of him, his heart was full of questions.

“Weren’t you drunk under the table?”

“Drunk under the table? Nonsense! None of you in Linchuan can drink. The cup mouths are smaller than damn one yuan coins. Who can get drunk? You look down on us Jizhou people too much.”

He Yijun was dazed for a moment, “So you were pretending to be drunk?”

Jiang Qin grinned, “They wanted to know if Zhihu was a smokescreen to decide whether to get on board. I also wanted to know what they were worried about to prepare talking points for tomorrow’s meeting. So they thought getting me drunk would make me spill the truth, I also felt I had to act drunk to hear the truth from them.”

“Holy shit, you’re really sly!”

“Can’t help it if you’re not sly, honest people can’t do business! Wouldn’t they be conned left and right?”

He Yijun felt this was indeed the truth, “Now that you’ve drunk and played drunk, what’s your next step?”

Jiang Qin folded his arms, “At tomorrow’s meeting, I’ll try my best to persuade them to join in. President He, please help me play along then, let them know that tying themselves to Zhihu definitely won’t be a loss.”

“I can cooperate, but what’s in it for me?”

“Didn’t you want to take over a mall in the neighboring city? I’ve already prepared the money for you. You just need to give me some shares later.”

He Yijun was silent for a moment, “You’re not trying to win unilaterally again, are you?”

Jiang Qin smirked, “I’m giving you cold hard cash, and you’re still afraid I’ll cheat you?”

“Alright, I’ve already drafted the share subscription agreement. Once you have the money ready we can sign the contract. But you’re about to start national promotion, which is a money-burning affair. Do you really still have spare cash?”

Jiang Qin narrowed his eyes and smiled, “Linchuan’s leaders hope our local brands can band together to make it big. They pushed me out as the vanguard, so as long as we tie ourselves together, we share weal and woe. It’s not too much for me to spend their money on promotion, right?”

He Yijun laughed at his logic, “You can be so righteous about spending other people’s money? No wonder you can get rich!”

“President He, you should know I’m speaking the truth. If they spend the same amount on promotion, they definitely can’t achieve the results I can.”

“That’s true…”

He Yijun was the earliest Linchuan tycoon to cooperate with Jiang Qin. When others were still marveling at how quickly group-buy rose to prominence, only He Yijun understood that group-buy’s ascent absolutely could not be separated from the traffic pool cultivated by Zhihu.

Without this traffic pool, it would be very difficult for group-buy to just devour the Linchuan University district market. It definitely couldn’t be completed in two to three years.

Similarly, if he could get Linchuan’s businessmen to band together and invest funds into Zhihu, providing it with sustenance, then this traffic pool would grow bigger and broader.

Then, all of Linchuan’s local brands could be like group-buy, using this traffic pool to achieve a meteoric rise nationwide.

Just like Wanzhong Mall back then, if not for those two brilliant marketing campaigns, who knows if it would have fully recovered by now, still struggling at subsistence level.

One plus one equals two is not business, at most it’s opportunistic trading. Only when one plus one is greater than two, greater than three, or even thousands, tens of thousands – that is business.

“Tell me, how should I cooperate with you at tomorrow’s meeting organized by the Linchuan municipal government?”

“Do you remember when you were interviewed by Linchuan TV, you commented about me, saying my vision was very long-term, as if I could foresee the future, always anticipating things that hadn’t happened yet and preparing fully?”

He Yijun froze for a moment, “I have some impression, but how do you remember it so clearly?”

“That was praise for me, how could I not remember it clearly?” Jiang Qin smirked.

“Makes sense. But why bring this up?”

“I need President He to repeat this while drawing on his personal experiences.”

After hearing this, He Yijun nodded, his expression gradually turning pensive.

He really wanted to know, when exactly did Jiang Qin think of this step? Was it when group-buy began city-wide promotion? Or when he was interviewed?

If it was during city-wide promotion, then this person was terrifyingly formidable. Because the hardest part of doing business was not the energy to surge forward, but the willpower to quit while ahead.

And if it was when he was interviewed? Then that was even more frightening.

Because that would mean he had been casting bait all along, constantly angling, and you could never figure out his ultimate goal.

“President He, I’m here. See you tomorrow.”

“Alright President Jiang.”

Jiang Qin opened the car door and got out, striding back to his fifth floor room. But after knocking a few times, he didn’t hear any response. So he went to the front desk for a spare key card. He found the little rich girl already asleep face down on the bed, currently mumbling in her sleep, seeming to call out his name.

Damn little devil, you’re really pushing it, trying to have a baby!

Jiang Qin turned off the TV, then took the key card for the adjacent room from her pocket and quietly exited.

Tomorrow’s meeting was very important and might determine if he could be filthy rich in the second half of the year. So he needed to rest well tonight to be in top form.