Chapter 460: The Eve of Revenge

Winter break flew by and the Spring Festival was nearly upon us.

During this time, the group-buy market underwent drastic changes with fierce competition intensifying.

On January 26th, the Little New Year in the north, Wowo Group announced successful funding of 150 million yuan, starting its expansion into northern regions.

Meanwhile, Dianping received 200 million yuan from Tencent to compete for Kyoto’s territory alongside Lashou Network, while also rapidly penetrating secondary and tertiary markets.

At the same time, Xihan Heqing’s business in these lesser tier markets revived, aided by the momentum of Dianping.

After New Year’s Day, under Jiang Qin’s direction, Pintuan’s activities slowed as many branches busied themselves with upgrading to version 3.0 of the business loop.

A rapid membership increase among the four major first-tier and forty-two second-tier cities soon broke the million mark.

The customer flow generated by group-buying was then transformed into internal community members, locking in their regular consumption and continuously developing it.

Concurrently, Mr. Xianhui upgraded his services offering free home delivery to nearby residential areas, which significantly boosted member loyalty.

Throughout this phase, Xihan Heqing and Pintuan remained distinct entities, with half the brands never collaborating with Pintuan.

These brands were mostly third to fifth round partners, lacking in stores and weak foundations.

Jiang Qin did not admit them to Pintuan but instead arranged for them to join competitor sites to better ride on the coattails of success.

“Boss, brands that withdrew from the strategic partnership plan have been calling lately, wanting to join the sixth round.”

“Tell them we’re too busy before the New Year; we can discuss further afterwards.”

“Additionally, the funds from the Eight Great Kings have been transferred into Pintuan’s account.”

“Great, I’ll call them later to express my deepest gratitude to my Eight Great Kings.”

After ending the call with Wei Lanlan, Jiang Qin stretched lazily and smiled slightly looking out the window at the night.

Having money, means, and damn good looks made him unstoppable.

At that moment, the voice of Mrs. Yuan Youqin suddenly echoed from outside, calling him downstairs to buy soy sauce—a distant shout from the kitchen but thunderously loud.

A powerful boss secretly guiding a market worth nearly billions yet couldn’t escape the task of buying soy sauce for his mother.

With a sigh, Jiang Qin grabbed his jacket, hurried down to the Ruyi Supermarket, and bought a bottle.

Ruyi Supermarket had been around for a while, practically starting up when everyone moved here; the owner, a dry-smoking old man Jiang Qin had to call Third Uncle.

Clouds of smoke filled the tiny supermarket, like a fairyland under Third Uncle’s puffing.

“Third Uncle, how much for the soy sauce?”

“Forget it, no need; just fourteen yuan and fifty cents. It’s not worth much.”

Jiang Qin twitched the corner of his mouth. Only Third Uncle would say no need but still mention the exact price.

He pulled out his wallet and handed over a ten and a five: “This is a small business, and you still need to smoke and drink, Third Uncle. It’s even more necessary to support locals.”

With a chuckle, Third Uncle accepted the money: “Your words are always pleasant.”

“I also happen to look pleasant.”

Without a follow-up, Third Uncle handed over a litchi-flavored lollipop: “No need for change, give this to your wife; she loves these, always coming down to buy them.”

“?”

Jiang Qin paused, realizing why his trash can was always full of candy wrappers. He’d thought her sweetness was natural; that naive rich girl seemed innocent but was full of schemes.

She’d become quite familiar in the neighborhood too. Recently, they bumped into Auntie Caifeng from Building Five who invited Feng Nanshu for a sugar triangle treat at her place.

And there’s Grandma Wu across, whose little granddaughter, a first grader, always calls her Sister Lanshu and wondered who the uncle next to her was…

Jiang Qin pocketed the lollipop: “Third Uncle, who told you she’s my wife?”

“She… she told me not to say, better not to ask. Third Uncle isn’t one to spread rumors.”

Chuckling, Jiang Qin wrapped in his down jacket, returned home, handed the soy sauce to his cooking mother, and found the rich girl assisting her.

He pulled out the lollipop and sneakily pinched her lips into an ‘O’ shape, then turned and left.

Obliviously, the rich girl watched him leave, not knowing why, but feeling he seemed happy tonight.

“Jiang Qin, don’t go yet; I forgot, we’re also out of salt. Could you run again?”

“Mom, I’m busy with work. Let the rich girl go.”

“How can she go? It’s dark outside, and Lanshu is unfamiliar with the place.”

Laughing, Jiang Qin thought to himself she knew more people than him and the whole neighborhood likely knew she was his wife by now!

Rumors really were more fearsome than tigers. At this rate, how could friendship remain untarnished?

Donning his jacket again, Jiang Qin bought a pouch of salt for three and a half yuan. Third Uncle, like a game NPC, gave him another lollipop, claiming his wife loved them.

“Third Uncle really knows my weak spot…”

He ran back upstairs, barely placing the salt down before his phone in his pocket vibrated intensely.

Pulling it out, he saw Tan Qing had called thrice before this, likely unheard due to his thick down jacket.

Jiang Qin pressed the phone to his ear and tossed a peanut to the rich girl as he left the kitchen.

“Boss, Lashou Network announced; they’ve entered a deep cooperation with Alibaba and secured 300 million yuan.”

“Deep cooperation? How deep?”

“Not sure, but we may now be the soft target in Shanghai’s market.”

“Any moves from Lashou?”

“They acquired five third-tier group-buy websites today, taking over their teams. Their active staff count has just exceeded five thousand.”

“With both money and manpower, Lashou seems ready for a major play. We can’t have issues in Shanghai; reveal our funding news too.”

“Will do, boss!”

Hanging up, Jiang Qin couldn’t help but purse his lips, musing Lashou Network must have gone mad these last two months, now with the largest funding, they’re bound to erupt.

Indeed, on the very night the funds were confirmed, Lashou’s Kyoto headquarters immediately convened a city managers’ meeting with leaders arriving from all over to attend.

The year was ending; revenge and grievances were to be settled!

At the meeting, Lashou’s owner Wu Bo named three targets.

Dianping, currently Lashou’s biggest competitor in Kyoto, was also eyeing expansion into Shanghai. Lashou planned a comprehensive strike against them.

Another was Nuomi, a long-standing rival since its inception.

It might not be the biggest threat, but certainly the most stable since it had never lost through its first three rounds of funding.

Lastly, Pintuan.

Wu Bo had casually mentioned it while discussing recent market losses in Nuomi and Shanghai.

Nuomi had secured 150 million yuan; Dianping 300 million; but what about Pintuan? A site grown through opportunistic tactics, its methods were daunting yet in this war of group-buys, only money mattered, making Pintuan negligible.

Wu Bo instructed Yang Xueyu to immediately overhaul the Shanghai market, driving Nuomi away and dealing with opportunistic sites like Pintuan all at once.

He even mispronounced Pintuan’s name thrice, revealing his disdain.

But everyone understood their boss’s arrogance was no issue; sites like Pintuan wouldn’t secure funds in the third round as these were high-stakes games.

Investment was a matter of trust.

Like in a marathon, no one trusts a cripple to win.

Even if Pintuan deployed its full tactics, that only mattered when others lacked funds. Now? Sorry, those tricks are useless.

The night of the city manager’s meeting, Yang Xueyu stared at the ceiling, sleepless, and Robin felt the same.

During the two-month funding drought, every capital observed, every site negotiated, and they were bullied too often.

Pintuan’s presence bullied them, its New Year promotions bullied them; once Nuomi got its funds, it too treated them as pushovers.

Now, with funding secured, the exhilarating sensation of the eve of revenge rendered them wide awake.

Thus, the pair arranged a meeting and went out for drinks.

“I managed Shanghai’s market without funds, every step was tough, but your perseverance has finally paid off. Taking down Nuomi isn’t far off your rise to a higher position and wealth.”

Robin uncorked a bottle and passed it to Yang Xueyu.

Taking the bottle, Yang Xueyu poured a drink: “I plan to first remove Pintuan’s thorn.”

“Why?”

“The boss thinks Pintuan is nothing without money, but… it remains a shadow in my heart. I must ensure it can no longer pose any threat.”

After some thought, Robin spoke: “If you can crush Pintuan within half a month and take over its deeply cooperative merchants, you might just strike Nuomi fatally with minimal cost.”

Yang Xueyu nodded: “With ample funding this time, half a month is enough.”

“Jiang Qin… he’s a genius. If he were managing Shanghai’s market, Nuomi wouldn’t stand a chance. If you can bring him on board, don’t let him go. Nuomi’s probably eyeing him too, likely to offer a huge amount.”

“I understand. Once Pintuan’s fire is extinguished, I’ll propose an acquisition. We can’t let Jiang Qin slip to another site; his threat is too great.”

Robin nodded, then posed a question: “How much do you think Jiang Qin is worth?”

Holding his drink, Yang Xueyu pondered: “I think he’s worth 300 million.”