Chapter 490: Let the Bullets Fly for a While

“What’s the situation with the managers in Longgang, Luohu, and Futian?”

“They’ve agreed. I’ll push them again tomorrow, then come over to sign the labor contract and be done.”

“Mr. Song, you truly are a talent.”

Song Xiong was reclining on the massage chair, smiling at his sister who was massaging his feet: “Mr. Kang, you are my benefactor.”

Kang Jingtao waved his hand: “It’s a mutual achievement between us.”

“Now that it’s all said, let me be frank. I’ve been wanting to quit. What big business can one do with a student? That’s just absurd.”

“Mr. Song, you hit the nail on the head. Doing business as students is indeed ridiculous.”

Kang Jingtao picked up a bottle of foreign wine from the table and poured him a glass: “However, I heard their original plan starts tomorrow with daily promotions. Please keep a close eye on it for me, Mr. Song.”

Song Xiong didn’t take it seriously: “Group-buy doesn’t even have a manager now. Are you suggesting those clueless managers lead?”

“That’s true. But if you could bring us a batch of promotors, that’d be great. I hear the tiers within their promotors vary? If you could recruit some top-tier ones, the headquarters might even give you an extra reward.”

“This…”

Song Xiong hesitated for a moment and then shook his head with some resignation: “All the promotors in Shanghai were laid off by you. I really can’t do it.”

Kang Jingtao patted his shoulder: “It’s okay, Mr. Song. I know you’ve tried your best.”

“Glad you understand.”

“Let’s switch to a more entertaining activity. Just foot massages are boring.”

As he spoke, Kang Jingtao pressed the service bell.

Hearing the bell, Song Xiong sat up and saw the door pushed open, then a bevy of ladies entered, dressed in cheongsam, black silk, white silk, business attire… like a flock of birds.

Seeing this, Song Xiong instantly got excited, as if he had a rocket in his pants.

That’s what life should be like!

After working with the group-buy for so long, he had never seen such a scene. They are all adults; pretend to be gentlemen.

“Mr. Kang, would you like to choose first?”

“I won’t be polite then.”

Kang Jingtao scanned around and eventually pulled the one in the cheongsam aside. They laughed and entered a small room next door.

Fifteen minutes later, Kang Jingtao sat on the bed, tapping his fingers and occasionally checking for noises from the opposite room. The lady with the skills toyed with her phone out of boredom.

It had been ten minutes since they were done, yet the boss refused to let her leave. Rich people have so many quirks.

Little did she know, in such a situation, whoever leaves first loses. It’s a man’s war!

Ten more minutes passed, and Song Xiong was starting to get restless.

Twenty-five minutes—how could Mr. Kang be so fierce? It can’t be that he’s also waiting, could it?

As he muttered, his phone rang. It was the manager from Longgang, saying that Manager Guan had called him to the office.

Song Xiong was dismissive, feeling that some things, like an arrow shot, can’t be saved once released. Even if they realized something was amiss, they could do nothing about it.

LaShou Network promised him triple salary and an extra half a million. Any fool would know what to choose.

“Let them ask whatever they want. Just act dumb and confused.”

He instructed over the phone, then noticed the door across open, so he didn’t hang around and walked out, praising Kang Jingtao for his vigor, both lauding each other as brave warriors.

The two ladies also emerged from the room, exchanged glances, giggled, and then swayed out.

“Mr. Kang, shall I… head back then?”

“Sure, Mr. Song, no need for me to see you out. Take care.”

Kang Jingtao watched Song Xiong drive away, then stepped out of the secluded courtyard and turned back to look at a group-buy advertisement at the bus station, his expression slowly becoming serious.

In fact, LaShou Network’s market has already significantly shrunk, especially after losing the Shanghai market. The previous team was still idle, not needing that many hands.

But still, he needed to poach.

Because a real business war isn’t just about effort. The most important part is to trip up the competition.

Simply put, even if an action is of no profit to oneself, as long as it severely damages the opponent, it’s also a kind of victory.

What’s crucial is that group-buy has been too formidable. From settling in Shanghai in November to the website upgrade in April, it has begun dominating other sites in just half a year.

At this rate, no one can stop their pace in unifying the market.

So, Kang Jingtao wanted other sites to know that group-buy isn’t invincible. Even if he has many tricks, pulling away his people strips him of effectiveness.

He was sure, if this plan in Shanghai succeeded, other sites would follow his lead. One scoop at a time, dig group-buy down to being utterly resourceless.

Then everyone would jointly attack, taking down the strongest first, leaving room to slowly compete.

Thus the saying, “The tall tree catches much wind.”

Kang Jingtao lit a cigarette, took a couple of puffs, stamped it out under his shoe, and hailed a cab back to the hotel.

The next day at noon, the weather was quite nice in Linchuan. The sky was azure with a few clouds floating around. Even though the temperature had risen, the blowing wind wasn’t too hot.

Jiang Qin drove to the women’s dormitory of Linchuan University’s School of Finance to take Feng Nanshu shopping for a new little tiger.

Gao Wenhui and Wang Haini also clamored to go, saying they hadn’t been shopping in a while and hopped in the car without a second word.

Once at the mall, the three girls started shopping while Jiang Qin received a call from Guan Shen.

“Boss, I’ve asked them all, Chen Changpeng, Wang Yue, Meng Fansen…and a few others who grit their teeth and won’t say, about nine in total, seem planning to quit.”

“Who is the manager closest to LaShou Network’s business area?”

“Jiang Tao and Pan Dongzi.”

After hearing that, Jiang Qin grimaced: “Even our own people? Damn, how shameful! How could they be blinded by money? Spit!”

Guan Shen: “…”

“Oh, right. What terms did LaShou Network offer them?”

“Double salary.”

“Tell them the company can’t lose such rare talents right now. I’ll offer them triple salary.”

Guan Shen hesitated for a long time: “Triple salary? Are you serious?”

Jiang Qin squinted and grinned: “Of course not. Do you think I, being so stingy, would give out triple salary? What a joke!”

“Ah, this…”

“These two managers are stationed closest to LaShou Network. It’s a risky spot, LaShou might offer them quadruple salary. That’s the best I can do for them.”

After speaking, Jiang Qin felt moved by his own nobility as a people’s entrepreneur.

Guan Shen’s voice came through again: “What if LaShou Network really offers them quadruple salary?”

Jiang Qin pressed his lips together: “Then I can only wish them well. But before they leave, let’s call them for a meeting under the pretext of settling last month’s salary. I’ll call and stir their emotions a bit.”

“Alright, boss. Also, there’s something from Manager Xu that needs reporting. Shall I hand him the phone?”

“Sure, give it to him.”

Xu Kaixuan’s voice quickly appeared: “Boss, I’ve touched base with a few managers and supervisors from LaShou Network, had a chat with them.”

Jiang Qin smiled: “Efficient. What’s the result?”

“Some people really are thinking of jumping ship.”

“What terms did you offer them?”

Xu Kaixuan cleared his throat: “I didn’t dare offer anything, boss. Didn’t you tell me to just ask? What if I offered something and they accepted on the spot? I’d get punched for joking.”

Jiang Qin laughed: “So what did you say?”

“I told them they are valuable talents and to go back and think it over, to come up with their own price. Successfully freed myself!”

“Well done, Kaixuan!”

“But boss, what do we do now?”

“Let the bullets fly for a while.”

After hanging up, Jiang Qin licked his face and entered a lingerie shop, then saw the little rich girl rushing past with a shopping basket.

“Wait, what’s in your basket?”

“?”

Feng Nanshu stopped and handed over the basket obediently.

Inside were all thin lace items, nearly transparent, and some tied together by strings—just thinking about it felt restraining, plus there were body-hugging and cut-out ones… Jiang Qin was utterly shocked, his mind running wild.

“Let’s not buy these…my dear, I’m a young college student, I can’t handle even a little…”

Feng Nanshu pointed at Wang Haini: “These were picked by Haini for me.”

Jiang Qin took a deep breath, pinched her cute cheek: “Put these sinful things back. Let’s buy the pure cotton little tigers like before. Be good.”

“Wow, Mr. Jiang, you sure are bossy!”

“What’s wrong?”

Wang Haini wrapped an arm around Feng Nanshu’s shoulder: “You’re even controlling what kind of underwear your friend wears?”

Jiang Qin was at a loss for words for a moment, then turned to Feng Nanshu: “Are you listening to me?”

“I listen to you the most.”

“Nanshu, he keeps saying he’s just your friend, so he can’t control what underwear you wear.”

“No way, whatever brother says goes, right?”

“You…husband slave!”

Feng Nanshu suddenly puffed up her cheeks: “Wang Haini you meanie, keep talking like that and I’ll be happy!”

Jiang Qin: “?????”

In the end, Feng Nanshu listened to Jiang Qin, and those sinful items were bought by Wang Haini, who even threw a challenging look while paying.

Jiang Qin chuckled, thinking he had no right to control what underwear she wore.

The four then “casually” found a restaurant owned by Mr. He, dined there, and not long after they finished eating, Jiang Qin received another call from Guan Shen.

As expected, upon receiving the news, Kang Jingtao was alarmed. He felt Jiang Qin deliberately kept Jiang Tao and Pan Dongzi at high cost to counterattack LaShou. But if a head-to-head confrontation really happened, they had no chance. So, to eliminate future problems, he truly offered Jiang Tao and Pan Dongzi quadruple salary.

Then it couldn’t be helped. Jiang Qin shrugged, “We’re poor. Can we really keep them by force?”

Thus, Guan Shen, following Jiang Qin’s instructions, accepted their resignation applications and settled last month’s salary, then called all those managers together, turning on the speakerphone.

“Hello managers, I’m your boss, Jiang Qin, just an ordinary college student.”

“I know many of you haven’t even seen me, but it’s okay. Even so, I wish you the most sincere best.”

“You were all soldiers under me, growing with group-buy.”

“A benefactor saw your merits and offered richer terms. Even I feel proud for you.”

“Like Chen Changpeng, only a manager for half a month, right? Getting double salary—that’s LaShou Network’s recognition. Don’t let them down.”

“Of course, the proudest are Jiang Tao and Pan Dongzi, getting quadruple salary. Damn impressive!”

“You are all managers, a lot of you even came before Jiang Tao. I hope you can learn from them. Why can’t we get quadruple salary?”

As he finished, everyone’s face showed astonishment. Everyone stared at Jiang Tao and Pan Dongzi with eyes wider than the bulbs in the conference room.

“Boss, that’s too low. Those who only got double salary won’t they go to LaShou and slam the table? And Jiang Tao was brought up by Meng Fansen himself. If it were me, I couldn’t accept it.”

“The ancients didn’t worry about scarcity, but about unevenness. How did we get from there to here? Let the damn bullets fly a little longer!”

I haven’t slept for a whole day and night. I need to faint a bit. If there’s any mistake, I’ll correct it after I wake up.