Chapter 480: The Stifling Encounter

At eight in the morning, the city was bathed in brilliant sunlight, spring bringing a vibrant sense of vitality.

Yang Xueyu got dressed and stepped out of his room, ready for breakfast. That’s when he saw the iron lady of the public, Chen Jiaxin.

She was sitting in the Hilton’s restaurant, poring over a book related to map services while simultaneously working on her computer, tapping away with a focused and stern expression.

Judging by her current state and the dark circles under her eyes, she must have pulled an all-nighter. Yet, her eyes were bright and cold.

Yang Xueyu grabbed some food from the counter, initially not wanting to disturb her but after hesitating, he joined her.

“Morning, President Chen.”

“Good morning.”

Chen Jiaxin typed rapidly before looking up at Yang Xueyu. “I now understand what the map service from the group-buy means. I underestimated the pace of tech development.”

Yang Xueyu paused. “Have you been reading all this time?”

“To understand the competitors, you need to keep learning. I sacrificed my sleep for it.”

“No wonder Zhang Li is in high spirits today…”

“?”

Yang Xueyu coughed lightly, “So…have you thought of a solution, President Chen?”

Chen Jiaxin closed her laptop, “Concerning the tech gap between the public and the group-buy, I have thought of some mitigation strategies.”

Yang Xueyu was surprised. “Could you share them?”

“We could collaborate with chain stores for targeted marketing. Their numerous branches in every area mean that vouchers purchased from the public can be used everywhere, eliminating the need for a map service. Although we can’t provide route guidance immediately, we can reduce the geographical scope.”

“Reduce the area?”

Chen Jiaxin nodded. “Divide by business districts, add a new filter for public like near Lujiazui, Xujiahui, or even the Oriental Pearl. It shrinks the shopping radius and focuses on key commercial districts. Avoid the hard-to-find shops, and let customers judge their proximity themselves. This reduces reliance on maps while also offering bigger discounts to outdo the group-buy.”

Yang Xueyu thought it over. “President Chen, this indeed sounds feasible. At least it could hold us over till we upgrade our map services.”

Chen Jiaxin massaged her temples, “That’s great. How long will this take?”

“Not long. We can work on it gradually as we update the zones. You… thought about this all night? I thought you had given up.”

“I always believe there are more solutions than problems. There’s nothing in this world that can completely defeat us.”

After speaking, Chen Jiaxin took a deep breath. “Let’s start tomorrow then.”

Yang Xueyu hesitated before speaking again, “President Chen, I believe your plan could indeed outperform other group-buy websites, but perhaps not the group-buy itself.”

“Why?”

“You might not be aware, but Jiang Qin has a food festival brand, and many chain brands in Shanghai are their partners, making it hard for us to target these chain stores specifically.”

“…”

“Also, many popular stores in key business districts have deep cooperation agreements with them.”

Chen Jiaxin was silent for a long time, finally showing signs of fatigue. “This Jiang Qin… what kind of person is he?”

Yang Xueyu sighed. “A formidable one.”

“Formidable…”

“When I was at Lashou, I always felt suffocated by his tactics, and he never misses his mark.”

Chen Jiaxin furrowed her brow. “I read that he’s only twenty-one?”

Yang Xueyu nodded.

“Could he just be a front, pushed there merely for show?”

“Not likely. If you met him, you’d understand. Despite his young looks, he exudes a suffocating aura.”

Chen Jiaxin found Yang Xueyu’s look genuine but couldn’t imagine how someone so young could strategize at such a level.

She was herself known to be domineering, feared mostly by her employees. But frightening a competitor? She couldn’t quite grasp the experience.

By the next day, however, she began to understand the stifling feeling Yang Xueyu described.

Because the head of post-sales called, reporting a surge of complaints from customers unable to get coupons, cursing and questioning the fairness of the promotion.

Additionally, the finance department reported a sharp increase in costs for certain supermarkets while user numbers continued to decline.

“We called those supermarket owners, but they were evasive, seeming to know something but unwilling to disclose.”

“?”

Chen Jiaxin sensed something off and immediately sent Zhang Li to investigate. When he returned, he looked bewildered.

“It’s the group-buy people. They’ve been loading up trucks with the items they need from our partners every morning!”

Hearing this, Chen Jiaxin felt a rush of dizziness and staggered. The suffocating feeling described by Yang Xueyu now overtook her.

Yang Xueyu stood by, silent for a long time before a bitter smile appeared on his lips. “Just like him…”

After a while, Chen Jiaxin, now composed, sat back down. “Is there no law in this?”

“Technically, it’s not illegal,” said Zhang Li, looking embarrassed.

Yang Xueyu spoke up. “Now we need to figure out why they’re doing this. Simply to undercut us, or is there another motive?”

“What other motive could there be?”

“Jiang Qin likes to play a combination. I’m afraid this is just the beginning.”

Hearing this, Zhang Li didn’t hesitate and went out to follow up on clues.

Of course, clues were easy to find, as nearly every community in Shanghai now had group-buy promoters, some called Big Bear, others Mantou…

Meanwhile, at the entirely demoralized Lashou portal, Xiaolin, monitoring the group-buy website, shook and broke into a sweat.

“So that’s how they use their group function. It’s over, over, over…”

“…”

Lashou, Public, and Nuomi had all cut back on street promoters, even reducing their marketing staff significantly, making them slow to respond to offline feedback.

Only after group-buy ran its daily specials for three days, maximizing user engagement, did they realize what Jiang Qin was up to.

They were consolidating all consumer power in Shanghai on a community basis.

Particularly the so-called group leaders who quickly integrated into everyone’s daily life under the guise of “living in the same community, we’re all family.”

Their investigators witnessed group-buy’s yellow-jacketed staff delivering goods to immobile elderly while also helping neighbors throw out trash.

Map services coupled with community group buys continuously challenged retail norms.

With road guidance and home delivery, no other site could compete in Shanghai anymore because the moment your discounts stopped, customers would naturally flow back to group-buy.

After all, while your site might offer financial incentives, continuous discounts weren’t sustainable, making service the ultimate advantage.

“We can’t master map services overnight, but we can learn from their community group buying!”

“This approach is low cost and highly effective, better than just burning money. Everyone, this is our opportunity!”

Robin immediately called a division meeting to share his plans.

After hearing this, Wu Peng was startled. “Who…who will do it?”

“Don’t we have street promoters?”

“Do we still have them? Headquarters said once the market was nurtured, street promoters were no longer needed. Didn’t we let them go after the New Year?”

Robin was taken aback, then remembered. “Can’t we hire them back? Those grassroots employees don’t find jobs easily. Aside from us group-buy companies, who else needs so many people?”

Wu Peng gave him a look and squeezed out a smile. “President Robin, you forget easily, don’t you? Those people were all picked up by the group-buy after they left us.”

“…”

At that moment, the whole meeting room fell silent. No one else wanted to speak.

When group-buy first started, they focused just on university towns, avoiding the costly battles. Once everyone else had burnt through their funds, they stepped in.

Later, everyone received financing. After spending three days and nights drafting plans to crush group-buy, they themselves announced successful fundraising, sending everyone’s plans into disarray.

Subsequently, as everyone started poaching staff to cut costs, they hired them all. Today, those street promoters nurtured from scratch were proving invaluable for group-buy, establishing their community group-buy model.

Cui Yiting took a deep breath, leaning back in her chair, reflecting on much.

“I just wanted to make a little money…”

“The national market is too crazy. If you get involved, you’re left with nothing. I dare not.”

“My goal now is just to study hard and aim for a postgraduate recommendation.”

Remembering that meal where Jiang Qin seemed unambitious, and then thinking about his current upheaval in the business sea, Cui Yiting pressed her dry lips together, feeling speechless.

“What should we do now? Find another batch of people for street promotions?”

“Forget it, let’s just lie down and accept it.”