Chapter 430: Let Me See How You Plan to Win

In the evening, a few stray snowflakes drifted down from the long gloomy sky. These flakes seemed hesitant, unsure whether to fall further, unlike the bold snowfall in Linchuan.

Before everyone could react, the snow stopped.

Jiang Qin opened the window to look outside and muttered to himself, “What’s going on? I was just about to reach out.”

After all, Shanghai is in the south, so a little snow is normal here.

At this time, Sun Zhi returned to the branch office with a group of field promoters, immediately removing their work badges and placing them on the indoor heater.

They discovered that the north is colder than the south, something well known, but northerners really can’t handle the cold like southerners.

“Boss, we’re back.”

“How did it go?”

“Just as you predicted, LaShou and Nuomi are silent. There were rumors about an event but now there’s nothing.”

Unable to help himself, Jiang Qin smacked his lips: “It’s critical now, still no fight back? Looks like Shanghai is really short on funds.”

Jiang’s metaphor, while raw, perfectly summed up the situation in coarse terms.

He had hoped to see LaShou and Nuomi resist, to add a bit of excitement for himself but…

Never mind. No resistance? Well, those with experience know that one can still get excited alone!

“Sun Zhi, take the field crew to LaShou’s site, get some coupons and go out for a meal. You’ve all worked hard lately, eat more, don’t save LaShou any money.”

“Okay, boss.”

“And I thought I was being cautious by not showing our hand too soon. Seems I worried too much.”

Jiang Qin watched Sun Zhi and his group leave, murmuring to himself.

If LaShou and Nuomi heard this, they’d be spitting blood.

Everyone marvels at your pace and you say you’re still holding back? Any faster and you’d be airborne?

Jiang Qin turned to Tan Qing, “Let’s drop the cautious play. Let’s rapidly expand our operations and stabilize the current market.”

Tan Qing nodded, then asked, “What about the secondary and tertiary markets?”

“Shrink our front, let go of some unnecessary markets. Hold back on aggressive tactics, show slight weakness so they don’t feel too disadvantaged. As long as our strategic marketing continues, we won’t lose a city or a pool.”

“Understood.”

After a pause, Jiang Qin added, “But don’t make it too fake. Tell them to resist when necessary, otherwise, the enemy won’t get excited.”

Tan Qing nodded, thinking to himself that from the beginning, they pretended to be weak, always complaining about lack of funds. The boss constantly emphasized that they were just naive college students unable to achieve much.

Such an obvious lie, yet people believe it. Now, they’re all going to be trapped.

But then again, even Tan Qing himself hardly believed it.

Three years ago, they just found a stable, well-paying part-time job at school. The operations weren’t that large, just within the school’s domain.

Yet, in a blink, three years had passed, and they had taken two college entrepreneurial projects nationwide, standing equal to real businesspeople.

It’s not that everyone intentionally underestimates group-buying; it’s just that such college students as their boss are too outrageous.

Probably once group-buying wins the final trophy, the whole nation will misunderstand what college students are capable of.

Are all college students able to do business?

No, not really. We’re just as naive and foolish as your prejudices.

At this moment, Jiang’s cellphone vibrated persistently in his pocket. It was a call from Ye Ziqing.

“Hello, senior sister. What brings you to call me?”

“I heard about group-buying’s actions in Shanghai. Impressive. I almost forced you to make a move before, glad you didn’t listen to me.”

Group-buying in Shanghai made such bold moves, just like Suixin Group, facing off against both LaShou and Nuomi.

The predatory, aggressive stance and nearly perfect strategic deployment of group-buying sharply contrasted with the awkwardness and dragging of Suixin Group previously.

Ye Ziqing claims she doesn’t care about group-buying, but every time she thinks about this, she feels uneasy.

The boss, Jiang, a college junior, has once again used aggressive tactics to prove the gap in their insights.

She realizes that the drive Jiang displays is exactly what she wants to become, a goal she’s never achieved.

When evaluating opponents, people always consider their age, assuming those without experience are unreliable. Jiang’s initial strategy to appear weak was exactly because he was still a university student.

What can a student do?

That’s what the old Ye Ziqing thought, and it’s what LaShou and Nuomi still think, but eventually, everyone will realize they were wrong, sooner or later.

“Thanks for the praise, senior. I just took advantage of timing. Plus, everyone sees me as the younger brother, right? They cut me some slack, bringing warmth in this cold winter, making me feel blessed, like the girl selling matches.”

“…”

“If you ever need more people on your end, senior, just let me know.”

“We’re alright for now, thanks for your concern though.”

Jiang Qin politely ended the call like a gentleman and then called his remaining staff to play cards.

Hearing this, Ma Yubao and Yang Shuai, old staff from Room 208, were taken aback, thinking the boss was getting carried away without direct supervision by his wife.

Great, this was their chance to win back some previously docked pay.

“Boss, how much are we playing for?”

“I’m feeling good today, let’s go with ten bucks.”

Jiang Qin pulled up a chair: “But we’re playing differently today; losing is winning, winning is losing. Usually, everyone tries hard to win, now let’s try hard to lose. Isn’t that interesting?”

Ma Yubao: “Awesome…”

Yang Shuai: “Just say if you want to reclaim some wages…”

Most staff at the branch weren’t familiar with how sly Jiang Qin could be.

Take Xu Kaixuan for example. He found the rule quite interesting and pulled over a chair.

In the end, Jiang Qin won a fortune, leaving everyone dumbfounded.

However, after more than an hour of card games, Jiang Qin’s phone lit up again. It was another call from Ye Ziqing.

Looking at the caller ID, Jiang Qin frowned slightly and hesitated before answering.

“Junior, can you show me how exactly to handle the national market?”

“Well…”

The tumults of group-buying sites are no secret. A simple online search reveals news. For more details, Ye Ziqing could also ask Cui Yiting or Zhou Zhenhao.

But her calling twice today clearly shows her intentions.

She wants to join group-buying, to return to Shanghai.

Jiang Qin threw down his cards: “I’m quite poor right now, back-pay for the branch office is two months overdue. I mostly live off reclaiming wages from card games, we’re barely scraping by at home.”

Ma Yubao: “…”

Yang Shuai: “…”

Ye Ziqing pondered silently, “I don’t need a salary or a contract. I can bring a few people who’ve worked the Shanghai market before. Even if it’s just to help with field promotions, you’ll eventually need us for the Shanghai plan, right?”

Hearing this, Jiang Qin held his breath.

Free service? And no strings attached?

Damn, this is an overt scheme! Which entrepreneur could resist such a trial?

“Senior sister, although I’m quite poor at the moment, once my website starts making money, I promise I’ll pay back everyone’s salary!”

“Thank you, boss…”

“Thank Professor Yan instead. He’s always worried about you, afraid you’ll get trapped in your old ways.”

“The teacher really does understand my stubbornness.”

In the arrival hall at Shanghai Airport, Ye Ziqing, holding luggage in one hand and hanging up the phone with the other, stepped outside, silently watching the sparse snowflakes fall.

Indeed, she had flown to Shanghai this morning and had been sitting in the arrival hall until evening.

She wasn’t sure why she came, but hearing about group-buying rampaging through Shanghai, she couldn’t suppress her impulsiveness.

Call her naive or laughable, but she is truly an uncalculating idealist.

In this city, she lost terribly and decided to mature to thirty before fleeing back to Linchuan to be an outsider. Last month after her birthday, she realized her body had returned, but her heart had always remained here.

She knew she couldn’t win, no matter how hard she tried, but she still wanted to see how others could.

In recent days, she truly witnessed what lightning strategy and turning tides meant, yet she still couldn’t understand how Jiang Qin planned to win.

So she came, whether for her ideals or discontent, she wanted to witness the course of history.

Coincidentally, just as Ye Ziqing arrived in Shanghai, another person from Tianjin branch, Song Yaqian, voluntarily applied and was transferred here.

Luo Ping knew his younger brother Luo Bin was currently troubled, and in his view, Song Yaqian, representing the college student group-buying demographic, was similar in age to the youthful boss of group-buying. Perhaps she understood the college student mindset better and could assist his brother.

Backing way up, even if she couldn’t help, some intern work wouldn’t be a problem.

If Song Yaqian knew Luo Ping’s thoughts, she’d have to laugh. If I understood all this, why would I come here? I’m here precisely because I don’t understand!