Chapter 434: Unstoppable Force

The evening sun began to set in the west, gradually permeating the heavy clouds with a slanted glow, sketching a clearer outline than during the day.

Jiang Qin and a few management members from the division went to a well-known local restaurant for a meal with group-buy coupons from LaShou.

Pop—

A muffled sound as a beer bottle cap was popped off.

Holding a bottle opener with the group-buy logo, Jiang Qin opened beers for everyone, surprising the employees around him.

“You can drink a bit more tonight, and it’s okay to sleep in a bit tomorrow.”

“Boss, I’ll do it myself.”

“No, no, let me do it. I just love opening beers.”

After opening beers for everyone, Jiang Qin put down the bottle opener and urged everyone to be at ease and forget formalities; just enjoy the meal.

Recently, everyone’s been quite tense, whether playing cards or dining out; it’s all about cooling off to avoid overheating our brains.

After dinner, as the lights of Shanghai were lit, they formed a long line, merging into the neon-lit areas.

Walking back to the division from the restaurant, they passed through a busy commercial district in Yangpu and gradually stopped to take in the bustling night scene.

Ye Ziqing was the most conflicted among them.

Half a year ago, this area was serviced by Suixin Group, but it was taken by LaShou and eventually ended up with the group-buy team.

Back then, the battle to defend Shanghai was tough; it drained them, but seeing what the group-buy team achieved today showed her a new way to do group-buy business.

Seeing the chain brands at the group-buy online food festival, Ye Ziqing realized that LaShou was going to suffer a significant loss.

Indeed, they suffered huge losses and didn’t even know where to put their efforts.

It felt like a dike in a raging river sprouting countless gaps, and with only a basket of stones, you wouldn’t know where to start plugging.

At that moment, Ye Ziqing felt that if the group-buy could stabilize the situation, LaShou would be out of moves.

But then a deep cooperation agreement surfaced, and she realized that being out of moves was not an option.

“You don’t fight me, and we can coexist peacefully, right?”

No, I want to fight you!

“You’re not willing to step back, and I won’t stop. Come on, bite me and see who’s sharper!”

Consequently, all of LaShou’s divisions faced severe impacts.

From the start to the end of this half-month breakout battle, LaShou never once had the initiative.

LaShou, previously like a hungry wolf, now behaved like a meek sheep, letting the group-buy pluck away its wool wave after wave. This stark contrast was truly shocking.

Most amusingly, five days ago, the group-buy launched a pre-heat event for the food festival, only for LaShou’s official site to post a food festival banner two days later before quietly taking it down again.

Ye Ziqing had always seen LaShou as a towering, mighty mountain, but now it seemed in a pitiable state.

“Mr. Jiang.”

“Hmm?”

Ye Ziqing turned to him, “What were the initial planning steps for the group-buy’s strategy?”

Jiang Qin, hands in pockets, replied, “End of ’09.”

“Had you anticipated the current situation back then?”

“No.”

Jiang Qin shook his head, “But no matter the situation, being poor was a certainty. You might think, wow, Jiang Qin is so cool, even handsomer than Daniel Wu. But honestly, it’s just because we’re poor.”

Ye Ziqing: “…”

“Being poor, we can’t afford a price war like you can. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even get a chance to show my hand, so I have to be sneaky and think about how to get the most out of little money and pick the best times for our moves. That’s all we can do.”

Jiang Qin sighed, “This is what you rich folks forced out.”

After hearing that, Ye Ziqing felt conflicted inside, “Is this how the group-buy market works?”

“No, this is just the beginning. Group-buy secures a city by being one step ahead, but conspiracies alone won’t clinch the final victory.”

“So, how should we proceed?”

Jiang Qin took a deep breath, “Next, we face them head-on. It’ll be a bare-knuckle brawl, let’s see who’s truly fierce like a tiger!”

Hearing this, Ye Ziqing fell silent, her expression thoughtful.

Seeing this, Tan Qing couldn’t help but sigh behind her, thinking to himself, the boss has fooled another one.

The group-buy’s path has been all about hanging on, moving from one survival tactic to another—talk of straight fights and tiger-like fierceness are just fantasy, dear sister; you lose if you take it seriously!

He’s always soft in front of his wife, yet claims they’re just friends. How could his words be true?

The boss would prefer to wear an invisibility cloak, follow everyone, and pick up gear while watching the drama. That’s more his style.

Just then, Tan Qing’s phone vibrated; it was a call from Wei Lanlan.

Seeing the boss still fooling Ye Ziqing, Tan Qing didn’t interrupt and moved to a corner to take the call.

A while later, Jiang Qin was still explaining to Ye Ziqing how to fight tooth and nail, leaving her utterly shocked, when Tan Qing interrupted.

“Boss, it’s Sister Lanlan on the phone, she has something to report.”

“What is it?”

“Something fun…”

Jiang Qin walked over to Tan Qing and moved to a corner to take the phone, a slight smile forming as he listened.

Wei Lanlan, now in charge of Linchuan Business Group and the Golden Silkwood Fund with Xu Yu handling brand marketing and financing, had been managing the fourth and fifth round strategic plans.

She had just received calls from brand partners and was quick to report to Jiang Qin.

“Our branded stores in Shanghai received activity invitations from LaShou?”

Jiang Qin coughed, pretending to be surprised, “That’s unexpected. Go ahead and pick some suitable brands to agree to, preferably from other regions.”

After hanging up, Tan Qing stood beside him, looking bewildered.

“What’s wrong, boss?”

“LaShou changed their strategy to use high-traffic stores to impact our food festival. The brands from Linchuan were all selected. So sneaky!”

“?????”

Jiang Qin handed the phone back to Tan Qing, “They’re trying to attack me with my own weapons? How devious. Is this what real business warfare is like? It’s scary.”

Tan Qing’s mouth twitched, “Boss, at this rate, they’ll be left with nothing.”

“What do I care? I didn’t pick them, did I? How can this be blamed on me?”

“But didn’t you arrange for some traders to come to Shanghai before and said you’d help them set up? You definitely left a trap.”

Jiang Qin looked at Tan Qing, “I dug the pit, but I didn’t force them to jump. Besides, I’m the boss of the group-buy but also a member of the business group. I have to plan for its future, how could I let them not cooperate with others just for the sake of group-buy?”

In fact, business groups and associations are common across the country, some even formally structured.

Generally, these industrial and commercial alliances are led by the government, more for show than practical effect.

However, Linchuan Business Group, transformed by Jiang Qin over a year, now dared to take collective action, which no one expected from a social organization.

“Alright, let’s wrap this up and get some sleep. You can come in by ten tomorrow.”

“Okay, boss.”

“…”

The following morning, the food festival continued while LaShou’s large-scale promotions officially began.

Initially, they wanted to replicate the group-buy’s food festival to strike a fatal blow in their field, but finding themselves unable to match the exclusivity, they switched to hosting a lifestyle festival instead.

What’s a lifestyle festival? It has everything.

They hoped to use stores with the ability to attract crowds to boost sales in the surrounding areas, thereby halting group-buy’s penetration.

Unfortunately, investing 1.2 million in such a chaotic market didn’t stir up any trouble. Aside from boosting the involved stores, they failed to impact group-buy’s operations.

During this time, Robin frequently visited the Nuomi station, inviting Chang Jian Song from Nuomi to join forces.

“Come on, let’s take him down together. Afterwards, the world will still be ours.”

Nuomi asked, “Why should I?”

“Oh, you’re out of money, and now I suddenly have some?”

“This sniping attempt is doomed to fail. I didn’t request funding; I’m not touching this hot potato.”

“You’re currently topping the group-buy sites. Barring any surprises, once you secure a major backer for the final round, you’ll definitely turn around and target me, since I’m closest to you.”

“If that’s the case, it’d be better to watch group-buy take over the Shanghai market and make their financing a bit tougher, carving out a path for myself, right?”

“What friends? In this market, there are only interests!”

On December 22nd, the Winter Solstice, light snowflakes began to fall in Shanghai.

At this moment, group-buy’s market share in Shanghai had surpassed 30%, making it the legitimate third place in the city.

Most importantly, the user experience and merchant quality of group-buy far exceeded those of LaShou and Nuomi.

While you might not lose out on price using other sites’ group coupons, some stores’ services leave much to be desired, with photos often not matching the actual offerings. You pay less, but it could lead to frustration.

With group-buy, such issues are less likely to occur.

All sites in group-buy used speed to achieve initial success, but as time went on, quality gradually began to win out.

Group-buy’s progress had slowed, but LaShou’s operating areas continued to shrink, like a curse tying it down.