Chapter 401: No Lashou Network at the University

Lu Feiyu quickly came back with ice pops. The three squatted at the door, sucking on them and watching the new female students come and go. You couldn’t call it sleazy, but they certainly didn’t look like good guys.

Dong Wenhao and Lu Feiyu hadn’t developed the thick skin of Jiang Qin. The strange looks from the new students left them feeling uncomfortable, but Jiang Qin wouldn’t let them leave.

“What are you shy for? If someone looks at you, just look back!”

“Okay, boss.”

After hearing this, Dong Wenhao immediately looked back. The moment he did, he ended up making eye contact with one of the new students he looked at.

Jiang Qin, munching on his ice pop, smiled and thought how these two were always in charge of online content and lacked social skills, or as they say, had thin skins. Hence, he had a sudden idea to use this opportunity to toughen them up.

Because only with a thick skin can they face the scrutiny of others when standing alone in the future.

This is what you call talent cultivation.

Jiang Qin also told them to get new students’ QQ numbers. If it was girls’ numbers, they needed to obtain five to pass; for boys’, two would suffice.

“I’m planning to open browsing rights for Tonight’s Top News by mid-next year, remove academic restrictions, and make it an independent forum. Feiyu, you need to prepare well. This is a crucial part in our strategic plan later.”

“Okay, boss. I will do my best to manage this section well.”

“Alright, go get those QQ numbers. I’m going to check out Zhihu’s stall.”

Jiang Qin stood up and walked towards the school with his hands in his pockets, a bit oblivious to who his competitors were.

The start of the new semester isn’t much significant to society, but for Jiang Qin, it means a lot.

As Zhihu and Pintuan are targeting university towns, frankly speaking, the start of the semester is like the holiday season for campus business.

Therefore, Zhihu started setting up booths in various university towns the day before. The tables were covered with colorful brochures and precise, delicate Q-version maps of schools.

The site also had personnel in blue vests, known as “Zhihu Friends,” who were distributing brochures to new students and guiding those unfamiliar with the environment, trying to win their affection for Zhihu first before the students could develop a liking for the campus.

Additionally, Dong Wenhao’s content team used this time to start navigating discussions about “new student enrolment.”

For instance, which cafeteria served the best food, which barber shop was the best, and a top-ten list of things most needed after entering school.

Additionally, they gathered so-called “campus top ten rumors,” “campus gossip special,” “campus moral pits guide,” as well as “college cold facts” and major differences between college and high school meant to habituate freshers to visit Zhihu during the monotonous military training phase.

Honestly, these new students’ mindset still lingered in their high school days.

Regarding what college is like and how to live independently, ask ten people, and nine would have no clue.

Especially with the sudden shift from home, some struggle to adjust is inevitable.

And Zhihu provides both practical and emotional value in helping them integrate into their new learning environment.

This proves to be an extremely effective method, as within just a day, the registration and daily active user count on Zhihu started to climb rapidly, even faster than during their online campus beauty contest.

Of course, these online discussion areas and offline colored pages are part of soft advertising, with half of the content containing subtle Pintuan marketing materials.

Like under a post introducing a barber shop, there would be a discount coupon link…

By gathering traffic through Zhihu and seamlessly integrating it into Pintuan, Jiang Qin’s team had become quite proficient in this industry chain.

Therefore, even though some group buying websites have targeted the university market and made quite a noise, they ended up unable to do much besides sensing the opportunity.

Other than the iconic blue vests of Zhihu, there were also many yellow vests that were quite flashy. These were promoting staff, the unbeatable personnel in ground promotions, also known as “invincible bread men.”

Coordinated with Zhihu’s offline booth, they often helped new students and their parents with directions, carried luggage, and distributed bottled water, all to gain favor in the earliest days of school.

Zhihu: A campus forum used by university students nationwide.

Group buying on Pintuan saves you worry and even more money.

Maybe new students can’t remember where their dorms are yet, but within half a day, they’ll have memorized these two ad slogans.

Aside from these advertising efforts, Pintuan recently took down generic discount vouchers from their platform to cater to the new semester, teaming up with Xihan Heqing and other deeply associated merchants for targeted discount campaigns.

What does targeted mean?

It means concentrating traffic to specific stores or products and requiring local merchants to place Pintuan and Zhihu promotion boards according to Pintuan rules.

If the traffic of ten people is split among ten stores it’s insignificant, but concentrated on one store, it definitely highlights the flourishing business of Pintuan.

From dorms to school entrances and even the external business district, Zhihu and Pintuan envelop the area like a vast net, building tall walls, aiming not to let a single new student slip by.

According to a recent marketing report from Burger King, ever since they started collaborative marketing, their market share has increased by 1200%, with this quarter’s pure profit exceeding their total previous investments.

Thus, this isn’t just Jiang Qin’s victory but a great triumph for the entire Linchuan business community.

Many native Linchuan brand owners are discussing whether to make a Fortune God statue of Jiang Qin and place it in their homes for worship.

“What are these little characters on the pages, maps, and necessary items?”

“Those are the Q-version anthropomorphic images of Pintuan and Zhihu, representing the good friendship between Zhihu and Pintuan. Inspired by the Haier air conditioner I just installed at home. The whole design and modeling were done by Xuemei. Nice, right?”

“Isn’t that you and Feng Nanshu?”

At the promotional booth on Linchuan’s main campus, Gao Wenhui, who specially came to help, is holding a campus map and points to two little characters in the lower right corner with a skeptical expression.

These two characters, both in Q-version, one was a boy in blue shorts and shirt, and the other a girl with a ponytail wearing a pale yellow dress. Despite being stylized, many details seemed familiar, like hairstyles, expressions, a dog, and a dummy.

Even small accessories like watches, jade bracelets…

These details all hinted at who these two hand-holding characters represented.

Feng Nanshu, upon hearing this, looked curious, then leaned over for a closer look. Her eyes sparkled with moisture.

Meanwhile, Song Qingqing, Jian Chun, Jiang Tian, and Cao Guangyu, Ding Xue, Ren Ziqiang, Wang Linlin, and Zhou Chao all came over.

The new semester had just started, they had nothing much to do in their dorms, so they came over to help. Now, seeing who Gao Wenhui was pointing at, they each made their guesses.

“It’s definitely them!”

“Do you even need to ask? That watch, so ostentatious, I could never forget it.”

“Envious…”

Jiang Qin didn’t hide it: “The original characters are me and Feng Nanshu. Just because Zhihu and Pintuan’s relation is like ours, good friends, right?”

Gao Wenhui looked up at him: “That doesn’t seem right. Saying Pintuan and Zhihu are just friends doesn’t fit. In everyone’s mind, Pintuan and Zhihu are basically one and the same.”

“Aren’t you scared of diabetes with all this sweetness?”

Right then, two new female students came over, flipping through a brochure, whispering to each other.

“What’s the relationship between Pintuan and Zhihu? I’ve seen their logos together all day.”

The more knowledgeable new student said, “Oh, you’re asking about this? These two sites are part of the same company.”

Jiang Qin chuckled, noncommittal, then looked around at the new students roaming the school, seeing their naivety and innocence, as well as their curiosity and aspirations.

Times often don’t seem fast while being lived, but looking back, he realized his training period had already lasted three years.

“Time does fly! It’s already my third year, and I still feel like I haven’t learned anything, haha.”

Jiang Qin grinned, not the least bit embarrassed.

Cao Guangyu spat at him: “The classes you’ve attended in three years don’t even add up to the length of one small film.”

Ding Xue gave him a stern look: “What small film?”

“Uhh, ‘Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf: The Tiger Roars.’ Have you seen it? I didn’t watch it during the holidays but caught it recently.”

After meeting Cao Guangyu’s parents, Ding Xue’s attitude had noticeably changed and she started to have a bit of a housewife’s air about her, which Cao Guangyu quite liked, reflecting the old saying: for every Jack, there is a Jill.

Also, Ding Xue really hadn’t expected Cao Guangyu to be a rich second generation, feeling somewhat dizzy about it even now.

“Let’s go, it’s afternoon. Let’s go have lunch together, my treat.”

“…”

On Jiang Qin’s side, they went out for lunch, while in Pudong, Shanghai, another meal determining the group buying market’s direction was underway.

This meal included two key figures: the market manager of Nuomi, Chang Jian Song, and the market manager of Lashou, Kang Jingtao.

Chang Jian Song was rather unknown, as Nuomi’s marketing path had been very bumpy, and they still hadn’t established a strong base, so his talent remained largely unutilized.

But this time, attacking Shanghai, Chang Jian Song shone, showing his skills fully.

Kang Jingtao had long been famous in the circle of group buying websites, having led the defection of Xu Wanshi and stealing the Suixin team from Shanghai during the market’s boom.

The two met here to discuss the division of the Shanghai market.

As a gap in the Shanghai market had opened, and both their websites had successfully entered, now was the time to consider future strategic plans.

As market operations are costly, their first step was to burn through Suixin’s existing market. If they didn’t divide the regions specifically, they might end up burning each other’s resources without impacting Suixin much.

“I’ll take Area A; we’ve already signed many merchants there.”

“Alright, you do Area A then.” Chang Jian Song nodded.

Kang Jingtao pointed to another area: “Area B is as prosperous as Area A; you handle that one.”

Chang Jian Song thought for a moment then, in a modest gesture, waved his hand: “Give Area B to you as well, and Areas C. We’ll take Areas D, E, and F.”

“Oh?”

Kang Jingtao was surprised, as the regions Chang Jian Song chose were not as bustling as the ones he was letting go, which startled him.

Why do group buying businesses rush for first-tier cities? Because only highly prosperous markets can support the business model.

Thus, business districts in first-tier cities became fiercely contested territories. Yet here was someone seemingly uninterested, which even made a schemer like Kang feel somewhat guilty.

“Brother Chang, are you sure?”

“I… I’m sure. We’ll take DEF; you handling ABC is probably better than us.”

Kang Jingtao clicked his tongue: “That feels a bit too humble, doesn’t it?”

Chang Jian Song waved his hand: “Let’s settle it then. Mr. Kang, don’t be too kind to us.”

“Well… in that case, I respectfully agree.”

After Kang Jingtao finished speaking, he murmured to himself, lamenting how strange it was. When did Nuomi become so easygoing? Opting for ordinary rather than the best.

While Chang Jian Song also had his thoughts; damn it, ABC stuck in the middle of the four biggest university towns, surrounded by skilled thugs… You guys go ahead.

Lashou Network hasn’t operated in the Shanghai market, but Nuomi originated from there.

Seeing Kang Jingtao smirking as if he got a bargain, Chang Jian Song quickly added, “Mr. Kang, once you’ve chosen, it’s settled. No regrets from either side.”

“Yes, yes, no regrets, absolutely no regrets.”

Consequently, the next day, staff from both websites began their promotional activities, focusing on specific districts.

Chang Jian Song concentrated on smaller markets, and with ample funds, his plans unfolded smoothly, swallowing a network of Suixin Group’s merchants in just three days.

But…

Not so smooth for Kang Jingtao.

What’s the group buying model? First, sign up merchants in the designated area to build an online marketplace, followed by attracting consumers through flyers and ads.

His marketing team reported difficulty outside of targeting major shopping malls and housing districts; other merchants, especially the recently popular Burger King, joined together in publicly boycotting Lashou Network.

Other thriving brands like River Hotpot, Xitian, Qing Pepper Grilled Fish, Zero Hour Convenience Store, Vena Hotel, and Fresh Harvest Mr. also showed resistant attitudes.

Linchuan brands, initially made popular through Zhihu, are concentrated around university districts. Hence, Lashou Network faced immediate setbacks at the start.

Fine, if they don’t sign, they don’t sign.

But does Suixin Group really have such influence among merchants in Shanghai?

Kang Jingtao pondered long but couldn’t figure it out and decided to list existing merchants first to get operations moving, as he came with direct orders to show progress to headquarters.

But he faced public backlash.

As per a frontline marketing agent, while distributing flyers, just reaching a school gate led to severe scolding.

How can I tolerate this? I’m from Lashou Network, the big brother of group-buying sites, and then we were just floored.

“Mr. Kang, they said, ‘Upcoming university, LaShou forbidden.'”

“?????”

Kang Jingtao’s temper flared: “Who? Who hit?”

“I saw their ID badge, it’s 24Coupon.”

Kang thought to himself, this is bizarre, I’ve heard nothing of 24Coupon expanding here in Shanghai. They’re supposed to be competing with WoWo Network in the southern market. Where on earth did these thugs come from?

Five days later, Chang Jian Song claimed another significant victory, devouring four minor markets, while Kang Jingtao faced setbacks at every turn, unable to make headway.

At this point, Kang Jingtao realized the potential issue.

Damn it, Chang Jian Song was too cordial, relinquishing three economically prosperous markets to me. Could he possibly know something I don’t?