Chapter 343: Jiang Qin Faces a Setback

“Jiang Qin headed to Hangcheng early this morning.”

Inside a villa in Sheshan Manor, Shanghai, Qin Zhihuan visited his aunt’s house and reported Jiang Qin’s movement to Hangcheng.

As Qin Jingqiu had anticipated Jiang Qin’s secret preparations for group-buy expansion, she wasn’t surprised by his sudden trip to Hangzhou.

If they want to expand group-buy service nationwide, solving online payment issues is an unavoidable challenge—it’s do or die.

Without online payments, managing an expanding group-buy network becomes difficult; transactions are hard to finalize, potentially leading to failure in Linchuan.

From the information Qin Jingqiu has gathered, several community group-buy websites exist, but those involving online transactions are stuck in their initial cities.

What Jiang Qin needs to do is to find a breakthrough opportunity for the group-buy business.

“Zhiheng, you’ve been working hard these days, eat some more.”

“Thank you, cousin. Thank you, cousin-in-law.”

Qin Zhihuan nodded, obeyed, and had a few more bites. After filling up, he said goodbye and left the villa.

As soon as he left, only Qin Jingqiu and Feng Shihua remained, both of whom put down their chopsticks and exchanged a glance.

“I think Jiang Qin is moving too fast,” said Feng Shihua.

Qin Jingqiu hesitated, “Alipay can’t get a financial license and is in a predicament. This situation benefits our group-buy; they must negotiate cooperation now to secure future promises and avoid being controlled.”

Feng Shihua thought for a while: “Let’s not even discuss if the state will acknowledge and support the existence of third-party tools, dealing with Alibaba is also tricky; they are adept at sizing up people.”

“Yes, Jiang Qin will definitely face a setback trying to connect with Alipay.”

Feng Shihua and Qin Jingqiu were quite clear: the group-buy is confined to Linchuan and too small to be noticed by the firm in Hangzhou.

From their perspective, without Feng Nanshu’s connection, they wouldn’t be interested in the group-buy given its scale and scope.

Jiang Qin, weary from travel, is likely to return empty-handed.

After all, Alipay has many potential partners to choose from—they can afford to be selective.

Indeed, as Qin Jingqiu predicted, when Sun Zhi met with the previously contacted representative, the willingness to cooperate wasn’t significant.

The group-buy, a university student’s startup from a second-tier city, is something they’ve encountered many times.

Frankly, in this financial clampdown phase, whether such a startup can survive another year is questionable.

Many internet companies start in a rush betting on a single opportunity but fail to hold out until funding becomes tight.

Previously just a healthcare product lecturer, Sun Zhi’s persuasive talk wasn’t much use in formal business negotiations, making him feel overwhelmed.

“Mr. Sun, we regret not reaching an agreement after your long journey.”

“Okay…”

Carrying the prepared group-buy cooperation plan, Sun Zhi left the meeting room and took a cab back to his hotel with a sullen face.

Thus ended the first meeting between the group-buy and Alibaba, with Jiang Qin not showing up.

Normally, Sun Zhi would first establish a cooperative intent before the boss, Jiang Qin, appears to engage in-depth with senior management, finally cementing the deal.

But they couldn’t even cross the initial threshold, so there was no need for Jiang Qin to appear.

On the morning of October 5th, just three minutes after their first contact was rejected, Qin Jingqiu and Feng Shihua received the news.

Although expected, the uncle and aunt’s faces turned sour.

Extremely fond of Feng Nanshu, this affection naturally extended to Jiang Qin. Seeing him rejected, they surely felt snubbed.

“Jiang Qin is probably stuck between a rock and a hard place now,” Feng Shihua sighed.

“Usually, a poor first contact means no need for a second,” remarked Qin Jingqiu.

“Should we help?”

“Jiang Qin is smart. If we help and the other party’s attitude changes drastically, he’ll know about my mother-in-law status.”

Qin Jingqiu hasn’t figured out how to impressively appear before Jiang Qin and didn’t want to reveal herself too soon.

In her imagination, her appearance would be stunning, something that could surprise Jiang Qin, but unknown to her, someone as sly as Jiang already knew of her presence.

“So, we leave it like this?” Feng Shihua asked, arms folded.

“Jiang Qin is young. A bit of hardship isn’t bad; too smooth a path isn’t either. If he truly wants to continue on this road, he should know this is just the beginning. More similar challenges await.”

“Right…”

“I hope Jiang Qin isn’t too upset now, or else my Nanshu will be upset too.”

Sighing, Qin Jingqiu picked up some documents from the table to attend to her company’s business, considering the matter with Jiang Qin and Alipay concluded.

Meanwhile, in a hotel in Hangzhou, Jiang Qin thought deeply after hearing Sun Zhi’s report.

While the group-buy stirred interest in Linchuan, being pursued by local brands as if it were a treasure, garnering reputation and wealth, it revealed its insignificance once outside Linchuan.

But he understood, seeking cooperation is like this; you can’t make someone interested, thus can’t get what you want.

“Boss, when do we leave? I’ll pack up.”

“We’ll leave once the cooperation is finalized.”

“Ah?”

Jiang Qin leaned on the windowsill, pondered for a while, then pulled out his notebook from his computer, opened Word, and typed a title.

Linchuan Municipal Government and Linchuan Business Group’s Strategic Cooperation Plan in the Internet Era.

He then typed a subtitle.

Implementing Alipay’s Commercial Popularization and Brand Cooperation in Linchuan Area.

Following this, he copied the content from the group-buy strategic cooperation plan as is, modified some paragraphs, and added some new content.

For instance, a recent user growth chart from Zhihu and parts of a Linchuan brand’s initial marketing strategy.

The content about group-buy cooperation he moved to the back.

The text was largely unchanged, but with modifications and rearrangements, it suddenly became a new and very different cooperation plan.

Damn, it was as if the plan was hastily patched together.

In this document, Jiang Qin transformed from a struggling group-buy founder into a representative holding massive user and business resources.

He originally didn’t want to reveal this much, as presenting more implies giving more away, but there was no choice; if a small group-buy isn’t appealing, he had to up the ante.

The fact is, the group-buy’s scale is small, but the users and brands he holds are very real.

Jiang Qin typed briskly, then paused: “How much money should I offer?”

“Ah?”

Sun Zhi paused, thinking, is the boss ready to pay for cooperation? That’s rather humbling.

He always thought of his boss as unbending and formidable. No cooperation? Fine, fortunes can change, don’t bully a young poor man!

But that’s business; every advancement might follow a demeaning process. Earning money while standing tall isn’t that easy.

Three minutes later, as evening approached, Jiang Qin handed the newly revised cooperation agreement to Sun Zhi to send to the other party’s email.

In the following time, the three in the room waited until the fiery sky gradually darkened, the horizon slowly blurring into the night.

At eight o’clock at night, Sun Zhi’s email suddenly received a reply. The content made him pause slightly.

“Boss, they sent a location, asking to have dinner with you to see if you’re available.”

“I am. I’m quite hungry too.”

“…”

Under the rich night sky, Hangzhou’s main road bustled, its varied neon lights painting the city brilliantly.

Some say the start of the night is also when time rushes toward the dawn. In an instant, the sky shifted, revealing a hint of dawn.

On October 6th, the last day of the National Holiday, Qin Jingqiu got up early and arrived at the office. After working all morning and planning to rest, her secretary called to inform her that Qin Zhihuan had arrived.

“What’s up, Zhihuan?”

“Jiang Qin left Hangcheng at noon today. It seems he was in talks with Alibaba?” Qin Zhihuan was somewhat unsure.

Qin Jingqiu nodded, “He sought cooperation, but it didn’t go well. I thought he would hold on a bit longer. I didn’t expect him to leave the next day, but being decisive is also one of his strengths. Persisting in a hopeless cause isn’t worth it.”

“But from what I understand, they’ve reached a cooperation agreement.”

“Impossible. Are you sure about your information?”

Qin Zhihuan pursed his lips, “Really. My friend is at Alibaba now. He said Jiang Qin signed a contract this morning and even received a deposit. Oh, and he sent me a photo of them together.”

Qin Jingqiu was stunned for a long time, struggling to comprehend.

Jiang Qin was seeking cooperation with the group-buy without promising pay, which already seemed fortunate, how did he even receive money from Alibaba?

“Let me see the photo.”

“Here it is.”

Qin Zhihuan took out his phone and handed it to Qin Jingqiu.

In the photo, a woman in a blue dress was shaking hands with Jiang Qin. Both were beaming with bright smiles.