Chapter 411: University Students’ Group Buying Representative

Because of the Group-Buying Food Festival, it’s no longer a secret how many group-buying websites there are in the university town. Thus, new ID badges were created, rendering the old ones obsolete.

Only now is the situation becoming clear.

What the hell, nine sites fiercely competing. It’s all just a play!

Whenever they used to get beaten, they felt puzzled like the nine group-buying sites were all brothers from the same school of martial arts, using fists before legs and then holds. Now I get it, they’re not only coached by the same person but also by one company.

On September 23rd, Jiang Qin took an afternoon flight to Shanghai, smiling as he saw the employees with new badges.

The group-buying logo is really striking, eye-catching and full of vitality.

“Boss, shall I book a hotel for you?”

“Aren’t they providing food and lodging? No need for a hotel. High-quality sleep just needs a simple freeloading.”

Jiang Qin toured the Shanghai branch and then let Tan Qing drive him to a hotel fully booked by Lashou Network.

Some hotels look ordinary, but without any cost, they feel like five-star experiences.

“Boss, will I need to accompany you tomorrow?”

“There’s a reception tomorrow? Then come with me. It’s a chance to meet people since you’ll be dealing with them once our service starts.”

Tan Qing thought for a bit: “Group-buying has a meeting tomorrow too, so I’ll go directly to the reception in the afternoon.”

Jiang Qin nodded, pulled an invitation from his pocket, which was all creased after being in his pocket for the flight.

He smoothed it out and then got out of the car to check into the hotel and then headed to the second-floor buffet.

Lashou Network wanted to show off its scale and had invited many websites, so the buffet was packed.

These people, typically in business suits and professional smiles, greeted each other as though they were long-time friends, engaging in invisible networking even before the conference started.

Jiang Qin slowly made his way to the drinks area, took a tall glass, and filled it with apple juice, posing it as champagne.

Besides drinks, there’s little alcohol, wine but no champagne. Jiang Qin held his glass with pomp.

A social butterfly even came over asking, “Bro, where did you get the champagne?”

Jiang Qin smiled mysteriously, keeping silent.

After dinner, Lashou Network’s staff arrived at the hotel and gathered everyone on the first floor to exchange their invites for entrance tickets for the next two days.

Jiang Qin also met other university entrepreneurship teams such as EliteNet, University Excellent Product, Yi Tuan Net, HiBuy Group…

They all knew each other from an entrepreneurship contest at the beginning of the year.

Where there are people, there’s drama, and those who like to stir things up, so right after dinner, a bunch of university student entrepreneurs called Jiang Qin out for a midnight snack.

The official reception hosted by Lashou Network is tomorrow, while the exhibition is the day after, featuring the hottest online shopping sites. The student entrepreneurs decided to make their mark tonight!

“When I started the website, it cost me 76,000 yuan. I didn’t expect that within six months I’d have invested an additional 430,000.”

“Over 400,000 yuan is terrifying. Guo Feng must be the biggest spender among us!”

“I remember Sister Yaqian also put in fifty thousand, right? And didn’t LaShou put in another two hundred thousand for you guys later?”

“Brother Feng, Sister Yaqian, and Wen Chao here are the pioneers of our university student group buying.”

“Not exactly pioneers, but we’re some of the few who’ve made it this far.”

Under the night sky, not far from the hotel, a seafood stall bathed in orange light was surrounded by a bustling crowd and neon signs flickering in all directions. The market’s lively atmosphere permeated the area.

As representatives of university student group-buying, fifteen people gathered around a plastic round table, discussing mostly three individuals.

Guo Feng, a second-year master’s student from a key university in the south and the founder of EliteNet, who won a bronze at the university entrepreneurship contest.

Song Yaqian, a senior at Yanjing University, a tall beauty with long black hair and the founder of HiBuy Group, winner of the silver award.

And one named Zhang Wenchao who graduated as a master’s last year but started his venture in college, so he’s regarded as a student entrepreneur too.

Interestingly, Zhang Wenchao was once famous in the news as a prodigy from a small northern town. He finished elementary in three years, junior high in one year, and high school in two years, so although older, he’s about the same age as everyone else.

“Sister Yaqian, are you representing the student market at the conference the day after?”

Song Yaqian, dressed in a black sweater and pants with her sleek black hair, looked cold yet elegant. “Yes, I might need to speak for everyone and talk about the group-buying market in college towns.”

Zhang Wenchao sighed, setting down his glass. “I won gold at that contest, but in the end, Yaqian outperformed me.”

“It’s not that I’m doing better; it’s mostly about having a geographical advantage.”

Song Yaqian smiled slightly, explaining, “Kyoto is LaShou’s business area, and it was luck that I caught a fast ship. If you were in Kyoto, LaShou might have chosen you instead.”

Guo Feng, who was listening, whispered, “Yaqian, is LaShou looking to acquire your HiBuy Group?”

“They’re interested, but it’s not time yet. New competitors keep popping up in Kyoto, trying to take over the college market. LaShou’s funding might be to compete with them.”

“That’s possible. After all, who would allow others to snore beside their couch.”

As they spoke, everyone at the table showed a look of envy, glancing at each other with a touch of sighing.

Running a group-buying website as a student isn’t sustainable because you can’t always have enough funds, and there are limited growth avenues. The best outcome is to sell to established sites like LaShou, Nuomi, or Suixin Group.

To put it another way, they were riding the wave to create these websites with the intention of selling them eventually.

But wanting to sell doesn’t mean others want to buy. So, someone like Song Yaqian who secured a godfather early is especially envied.

Moreover, Lashou Network is currently the top group-buying giant, wealthy and generous with offers. Having such a backer allows Song Yaqian to rest easy, performing better than the rest. That’s the advantage of having a godfather.

Take this networking event, for example. The student market isn’t usually a priority, yet because HiBuy received LaShou’s investment, Song Yaqian easily got a speaking slot. It’s quite a visible platform.

Eventually, everyone had pretty much spilled everything they had inside.

So, eyes at the table then shifted to Jiang Qin.

“Brother, which school are you from?”

“Jiang Qin, third year at Jizhou Vocational College.”

Jiang Qin grinned and peeled a shrimp shell into his mouth.

Hearing this, there was a slight pause among everyone, followed by awkward laughter, no longer making an effort to keep him involved, thinking he was just an academic loser possibly sneaking into the gathering.

What’s sneaking in?

It means someone who didn’t receive an invite but used connections to get one, aiming to glitz up for selling his site at a higher price.

Seeing the demeaning looks, Jiang Qin didn’t say much but peeled another shrimp, thinking the bill for this gathering hadn’t even been settled yet. If he showed off now, he’d surely end up footing the bill.

With that money, better to treat the three guys in his dorm to a meal.

True enough, when the gathering wrapped up, it was Song Yaqian who took care of the bill. As the saying goes, heavy lies the crown, you played the part, now you pay the part.

After leaving the seafood stall, they walked towards the hotel, passing by an Xitian Milk Tea Shop. Song Yaqian suddenly stopped, offering to buy everyone milk tea.

“Do you guys have this shop at your school? We have one, and it’s really popular. Didn’t expect there’s one in Shanghai too.”

“Xitian, huh? A new branch is being fitted out at our school as well.”

“This milk tea brand is really popular in our northern city. There are two near my home.”

After speaking, Song Yaqian asked everyone what flavor they wanted. Since rose taro is Xitian’s signature flavor, most chose that.

When it was Jiang Qin’s turn, he nonchalantly ordered the most expensive one.

Home of ‘little rich girl’ selling the priciest.

Song Yaqian smiled helplessly and ordered him a very expensive freshly made fruit tea.

Tea was handed over by Guo Feng, but as he reached for it, Guo noticed the Patek Philippe on Jiang’s wrist, looked puzzled, and acted a bit oddly.

“Tastes good?”

“Not bad at all, no wonder it’s popular.”

Song Yaqian elegantly sipped hers, turned and asked, “Where to next, folks? Back to the hotel?”

Zhang Wenchao stretched lazily. “Not often we’re all together, why not hit a bar?”

“Sure, the reception isn’t until tomorrow afternoon. Staying out late tonight won’t hurt, we can sleep in tomorrow morning.”

Since his rebirth, Jiang Qin has avoided staying up late for health reasons. He waved goodbye, deciding to head back to the hotel to sleep.

Everyone else felt Jiang didn’t quite fit in. No common topics, a bit dull. So they didn’t insist he stay, merely exchanging pleasantries and advising him to take care on his way, before going their separate ways.

When a social gathering winds down and someone leaves suddenly, the topic usually shifts to that person.

Because everyone had played their part, discussed everything there was to discuss, they now turned to discussing the person who had left. Otherwise, what else is there to talk about to avoid an awkward silence?

“That guy earlier, kinda funny. Ordering the priciest milk tea…”

“Third-year at a vocational college, it’s the first I’ve heard that’s considered university…”

“Hey, he was wearing a Patek Philippe.”

Hearing this, faces contorted trying not to burst out laughing.

Coming from a vocational college and ordering the priciest milk tea, that Patek Philippe must be a fake.

In such cases, wearing a knock-off to boost one’s image isn’t unusual, but a fake Patek Philippe stretches it. Couldn’t he have picked Cartier, Omega, or Longines?

Those are believably expensive because everyone here could scrape together enough to buy one, but a Patek Philippe? Not just any student, even genuine businessmen rarely dare wear one.

“Oh, about tomorrow’s reception, everyone make sure to wear a suit. I heard a lot of investors will be there; clinching one could set us up for good.”

“Right, chasing investors is what tomorrow’s all about,” agreed Guo Feng.

Talking, they reached a bar and with a burst of music, entered a world of lights and magic.