Chapter 503: No Need for Bloodshed

In the cool room 207, three big guys sat on the carpet, leaning against the sofa, cramming together to watch Chao and his junior chat. The more they watched, the more interesting it got.

This junior even knows about the NBA, especially about some of the stars. She knows them like the back of her hand.

Jiang Qin and the others were amazed. “Chao, you’ve found a gem! How did you find a junior with such matching interests?”

“She just said it’s been really hot lately. How should I reply? Is saying ‘Yes, it is’ okay?”

Jiang Qin glanced at him, “Just tell her the library is quite cool. Ask if she often goes there.”

Zhou Chao was puzzled, “Why?”

“Then you can legitimately ask her to go to the library to cool down, dummy!”

“Oh damn, right!”

Jiang Qin’s face twisted a bit, “That’s the trick. When you want to ask a girl out, just casually chat about places. If she’s also interested, you can ask if she wants to join.”

Cao Guangyu touched his chin, “I think a library date is a bit low. It doesn’t showcase Chao’s charm. It’d be better in some romantic place.”

Ren Ziqiang shook his head, “But the library is too crowded, and too romantic a place might seem too obvious. The cafeteria is more natural.”

“?”

Jiang Qin’s eyebrows shot up, “Nonsense, the library is perfect. It has ‘golden houses’ and ‘beauties’. The library is my Grand Temple!”

Zhou Chao thought about it and glanced at the three sisters-in-law sitting by, watching TV, then chose the library.

Cao Guangyu slapped him lightly, “Why didn’t you listen to me?”

Chao coughed, “I feel like among the three of you, Jiang has the highest stature at home. I’ll learn from Jiang. Besides, he and Feng Nanshu met in the library.”

“Isn’t my family status high?”

“Brother Cao, do you remember how you sulked all night after arguing with Ding Xue, shouting about breaking up, but then you got up at six the next morning, dressed up neatly, and went to apologize to her?”

Cao Guangyu spoke earnestly, “Taking initiative to apologize doesn’t mean a lower stance. It’s about being accommodating to your girlfriend, a sign of a good man. When couples fight, someone has to step down first.”

Zhou Chao looked at him, “But that night, when you came back, I noticed your hat was all red.”

“????”

Jiang Qin and Ren Ziqiang leaned on each other’s shoulders and laughed foolishly, filling the room with their laughter.

Meanwhile, Ding Xue seriously approached Feng Nanshu, “Nanshu, if you want to be with Jiang forever, make sure he buys a bed to put here and often tease him.”

Jiang Qin turned sharply, “Buy a bed for what? Ding Xue, teach something good!”

“I only teach this stuff. Who asked you to bother my Cao all the time? It’s bound to get you in trouble one day!”

Feng Nanshu: “?”

By late afternoon around 5 pm, seven people who had only had lunch began to feel hungry and went to the cafeteria together.

Ding Xue had experiments to do, Chao went to play basketball, and Jiang Qin was taking Feng Nanshu out for a dog walk in the evening. Their dog Fugui, funny enough, couldn’t even keep up with an electric bike.

By evening, when they returned to their dorm, Chao was laying on his bed, holding his phone and beaming foolishly, his expression like an infatuated fool, tossing and turning, with certain body parts restless due to nowhere to place them.

After a night, Jiang Qin finally realized how much Chao had suffered when he and Feng Nanshu crossed the line of friendship, tossing and turning like a whirl ascending to heaven.

Damn, wouldn’t that push the slats of the bed out through a big hole? Was I like that too?

College students are damn as tough as iron. You can’t soften them a bit!

The next morning, with dawn spreading across the sky, the manager of the Kyoto station, Yao Shengdong called to report on work.

The pace of group-buying was steady, and in just a week, they managed to establish a sales network around the university town and several key business areas.

They didn’t rush to continue expanding but began optimizing the distribution routes and adjusting the order of deliveries.

“We have now set up twenty-three pickup stations, covering over fifty-one communities.”

“The channel supply is quick, but we’ve been short-staffed lately and plan to hold an open recruitment.”

“There seems to be some trouble inside Lashou Network. A senior executive resigned recently, probably due to uneven distribution.”

“Dianping, on the other hand, is doing well. They’ve started more flash sales.”

Jiang Qin then returned to room 207, opened the door, kicked a box inside, thanked the person on the phone for their hard work, then took a pothos out of the box and placed it on the windowsill…

At this stage of group-buying development, literal cutthroat competition has become a thing of the past.

Making money doesn’t always mean you have to eliminate your competitors right from the start.

Jiang Qin’s current strategy is still a variant of the rural-urban surround. He doesn’t specifically target any competitor as it only makes enemies, not gains.

What he does is to first devour the easiest targets, then circle back for the tougher ones once the momentum is built.

Just like when he entered Shanghai; his combination punches never thought about which website to hit, but how to do well in the market. Once the market thrives, competitors naturally dwindle.

Dianping tried making a move in Shanghai too. Everyone back then thought the handsome boss of group-buying who could’ve debuted as an idol panicked and personally came to fend off Dianping’s invasion.

In reality, he was only focused on launching GIS services and spreading community group-buying, never even bothering about what Dianping was up to.

As for Dianping’s retreat, it was solely because they couldn’t withstand the power of the market positions that group-buying had laid out.

So, for Jiang, reacting aggressively towards competitors is always a last resort.

What’s the best strategy then? It’s to wear down the opponents during the development phase and casually pick up equipment lying around.

“We still need to continue the in-store discounts. We don’t vie with Dianping or Lashou directly, but we let customers know we offer the same.”

“Understood, Boss.”

“Also, if Dianping rolls out big discounts, we could hoard some coupons, buy supermarket vouchers for eggs, and use dining coupons for team building.”

“Of course, wouldn’t forget our corporate culture. I might forget my last name but not this!”

Pleased, Jiang Qin hung up the phone, took a small spray bottle and misted the lush pothos by the window, then moved the sofa and the coffee table, swapping the old beige carpet for a new, more stain-resistant black one.

Finally, he pulled two picture frames from the box, hesitated, and then placed them on the coffee table.

The photos, provided by Lu Xuemei, were one of him and the little rich girl staring at each other in the snow, and another of them walking through a golden autumn maple forest.

Once these frames were displayed, a homely scent immediately filled the air.

Jiang Qin smacked his lips, thinking, does this feel so vivid? The vibe of living quarters was overwhelmingly strong.

“Good thing I was prepared…”

Jiang Qin reached into the box and pulled out a framed calligraphy piece, unrolling it to reveal two bold, ink-saturated characters for ‘friendship’, which he then hung on the rear wall.

Still missing a bed…

No, no more beds needed.

With a bed, that fragile layer of friendship might truly be punctured, and then there indeed may be a bloodshed.

After tidying up, Jiang Qin brewed some tea, sat on the sofa, and spaced out for a while with the adorable crystals of friendship scampering around endlessly in his mind.

“This is bizarre…”

In the second week of changing the business model, community group-buying continued to expand, and user volume kept doubling.

Trucks bearing “Daily Specials, Group-buy to Your Home” drove back and forth in the city, becoming extremely popular in communities that were inconveniently located and far from major supermarkets.

Simultaneously, group-buy’s in-store strategies for single-category products and promotional discounts were being ramped up.

This meant that despite already having a large user base, group-buy led various stores or chain brands to be instantly overwhelmed with orders when targeted for concentrated marketing.

Dianping and Lashou, on the other hand, faced a dilemma: they had countless outlets, but their user base was dwindling.

Their volume was impressive and their business area broader than that of group-buy, but once spread too thin, they weren’t flourishing. Indeed, they couldn’t match the drawing power of group-buy focusing on a single sector.

On the 20th afternoon, Qing Flower Pepper Grilled Fish publicly announced its break with Dianping and officially joined group-buy.

By the next night, this restaurant chain was overwhelmed with orders, with all eight city branches packed until 10 p.m.

Today’s Headlines, meanwhile, saw its user base soar mainly because in the news sector, this ‘subjective to death’ content platform had no rivals. Just a sprinkling of ads was enough to fuel rampant growth.

Also that night, the local headline blast: Qing Flower Pepper Grilled Fish breaks away from Dianping, explodes with orders on day one of joining group-buy, queues stretching far.

Ever since this news broadcast, several outlets and brands called group-buy’s branch offices, seeking to join the third phase of promotional listings.

Particularly several chain restaurants, who even had their regional managers place calls to group-buy for consultations.

“Trouble…”

“The market’s becoming unstable.”

Chen Jiaxin stared at the list of new stores joining group-buy, murmuring to himself.

This list had many outlets that were top eats according to Dianping’s standards in Kyoto. Seeing how Qing Flower Pepper’s citywide stores were booming, they immediately decided to join in.

At this rate, group-buy might conquer the entire Kyoto market effortlessly, without spending a dime.

They weren’t here to wage war, nor to squabble with Dianping or Lashou. By dodging the two giants’ joint efforts and steadily expanding offline, then using the offline accumulated user base to nourish online activities, they were already in a positive cycle.

The critical issue was, the pace set by group-buy, they just couldn’t disrupt.

Plainly put, you know what they’re doing, but you’re powerless to stop it.