Chapter 525: Acting Foolish Together

Ever since Group-Buy started its national promotion, it has persisted in spreading by word of mouth, indeed sparing in its ad placements without any formal spokespersons.

It was not until they started a joint promotion with Alipay that they embarked on a real advertising campaign.

Therefore, everyone at Group-Buy took this advertisement shoot very seriously.

Since, as the boss’s logic goes, if something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.

So, in addition to contacting Hua Ying Entertainment to finalize a spokesperson, Dong Wenhao and Wei Lanlan also approached several advertising planning agencies.

After discussions with various parties, a brand called Light Years Marketing caught their attention.

This company is quite famous in the industry, having produced many popular ads, including some for Dianping, showing they understand the group-buying sector too.

Consequently, both parties set up a meeting to discuss things face to face.

The planning manager from Light Years Marketing, named Dai Fei, specialized in the Group-Buy project, was 27, sporting a black suit jacket with a skirt, her long hair draped over her shoulders, looking stylish and competent.

The attire was quite uncommon, giving off a very avant-garde vibe.

“Good to meet you, Mr. Dong, Ms. Wei, I’m Dai Fei, the planning manager from Light Years Marketing.”

“Hello, Manager Dai, please take a seat.”

Settling into the conference room at Group-Buy Headquarters, Dai Fei observed, “I’ve reviewed the ad requirements for Group-Buy and will do my utmost to provide the best plan for your company.”

Wei Lanlan nodded, “Our boss is very selective, and for Manager Dai to say this is perfect.”

“That’s our duty.”

“Let me give you a tour and also discuss our corporate culture with you.”

“Okay.”

Wei Lanlan got up first while Dong Wenhao spoke with Dai Fei about the origins of Group-Buy, as well as the current state of the company and numerous advertising needs.

It was not until 5 PM that Dai Fei and her two assistants left Group-Buy to return to their hotel.

Meanwhile, Hua Ying Entertainment had also identified several stars for Group-Buy, sent over candidate profiles for selection.

Once the selection was approved, they’d coordinate a time and place for Group-Buy representatives to conduct interviews and finalize partnerships.

Proceedings on both sides progressed smoothly, but online discussions about Tuanbao Net and 24Coupon’s debacle continued, with their impact increasingly widening.

The primary reason was the exposure of past group-buying scandals alongside this incident.

At the industry’s peak, the number of group-buying sites was over six thousand. The rapid emergence and disappearance within two years inevitably led to numerous disputes.

For instance, a makeup group-buy site collected millions in membership fees before declaring bankruptcy.

However, they did leave a refund option, informing users they could reclaim their membership fees.

Yet whenever users accessed the refund link, they were always queued up. Indeed some did get their money back, but they were few.

At such a pace, that site could have easily started another business, gone bankrupt again, and taken more money.

However, occasional successful refunds gave consumers a glint of hope, so there wasn’t much uproar initially until the Tuanbao Net incident got unearthed.

Besides such tricky maneuvers, there were numerous cases of merchants having funds withheld and customers unable to use their coupons.

With Tuanbao Net as a typical example, flipping through past cases made it seem as if the group-buying market was on shaky ground to consumers.

“Jiang Qin, I see that group-buy sites have been having issues lately.”

“Actually, those issues have been there for a while, just becoming public now, not really news.”

“How’s Group-Buy doing now?”

“It’s a bit affected but okay. Group-Buy’s scale is large and its business chain long, as stable as an old dog.”

In the school office, Jiang Qin discussed this while playing chess with Zhang Boiqing.

Dean Zhang was quite the fan of Jiang Qin, playing his interviews in the school cafeteria daily, making Jiang Qin more renowned than the dean himself, sparking rumors that Linchuan University was practically Jiang Qin’s…

Hence when group-buy sites fluctuated, he was even more nervous than Jiang Qin.

After all, this dog was their entrepreneurial star from Linchuan University. If Group-Buy faced an issue like Tuanbao Net, it would surely affect him too.

But by Jiang Qin’s demeanor, there wasn’t much anxiety, which reassured him considerably.

“Even if it goes bankrupt…”

Jiang Qin suddenly shifted topic, “I could still make off with three villas.”

Zhang Boiqing hurriedly waved his hands, “No, no, no, I’m too old for this. You keep doing well, please don’t mess up.”

“Not interested in the villas? Alright, it’s your move.”

“Forget it, I’m not playing anymore.”

Zhang Boiqing put down his chess piece, “You’ve been stealing my pieces all along.”

Jiang Qin raised his eyebrows, “When did I ever steal your pieces?”

“I might not notice one or two, but you’ve taken seven! Do I look blind?”

Jiang Qin threw the piece he had just picked up back, exclaiming, “Not fun,” and then turned to leave the office for his class.

The classrooms for the third and fourth year were close but not together. Jiang Qin thought for a moment before heading to the fourth year and sitting next to Feng Nanshu.

Since it was all the same for sleeping, why not sleep anywhere…

At the moment, Feng Nanshu was listening to Gao Wenhui and others gossiping and brightened visibly when Jiang Qin walked in though her expression remained coldly serious while she sternly hummed, “Brother.”

Jiang Qin mimicked her, leaning to whisper, “Sister,” his warm breath tickling the little rich girl, causing her to shrink her head unconsciously.

At this time, the terms “dry sister” and “dry brother” were quite popular.

Non-related men and women harboring feelings for each other but not at the stage of dating, or one already having a partner, liked to use these terms—it was ambiguous and thrilling.

Some even enjoyed this feeling, lacking an actual partner but surrounded by a crowd of “dry sisters.”

Feng Nanshu had been calling him “brother” since her first year, though Jiang Qin seldom called her “sister.” Suddenly doing so obviously pleased the little rich girl.

“But Jiang Qin, I am not a sister; I am a sister-in-law.”

“You are silly.”

“I am older than you, call me sister-in-law quick.”

Feng Nanshu was rather bold today, seemingly a tad too eager to tackle spanking.

This probably had to do with a sense of safety. Typically, without it, one might not even dare speak loud, but with confidence, one becomes bolder.

“Call you what, sister! Say, brother.”

Feng Nanshu pursed her lips, “Brother…”

Jiang Qin pinched her cheek, staring into her eyes for a long while, thinking this bold ghost probably knew she wouldn’t be left behind.

“I’ll take a nap first. Wake me when class ends.”

“Au.”

Feng Nanshu nodded, handing him her jacket.

Gao Wenhui was engrossed in gossip, unnoticed Jiang Qin’s arrival, only realizing he had come to the fourth year and was already peacefully asleep.

“Why are you here? Accompanying your wife to class, huh? No, get up and sleep properly!”

“I didn’t even see how this jacket came on me, I’m seriously sugar-deprived lately!”

Jiang Qin, without opening his eyes, made a “scram” gesture with his mouth then shifted his position and fell back asleep.

When he opened his eyes again, the lecture was still ongoing, and Feng Nanshu sat there, a dazed expression on her face, scribbling over her textbook line after line.

No need to ask, she was definitely writing his name, for Jiang Qin’s name was like a study speed bump for her.

She often thought of him during classes, unable to absorb anything else, just writing his name repeatedly.

During his third year, when Group-Buy was rapidly expanding, Jiang Qin would travel for over a month, making Feng Nanshu’s textbooks virtually filled with his name.

But looking over them, Boss Jiang suddenly felt something amiss.

The little rich girl would pause after writing three characters, indicating she wasn’t writing his two-character name, but a three-character one!

Jiang Qin’s expression instantly became serious as he moved closer.

Jiang Ai Nan, Jiang Ai Nan, Jiang Ai Nan…

The little rich girl had written these three characters at length in her textbook, then sat staring blankly with a pen in hand, her entire being feeling a silly breeze, quite foolhardy.

“My good friend is broken, keeps thinking of having my babies.”

Jiang Qin muttered under his breath, then yawned.

Feng Nanshu was daydreaming. Finding Jiang Qin awake, she quickly closed the page filled with Jiang Ai Nan, covering up her bold heart righteously.

After these two afternoon classes, it was time for dinner, and Jiang Qin accompanied Feng Nanshu to the hostel for a meal.

In the cafeteria, two unknown children, a girl and a boy, each holding a pinwheel about three or four years old, ran back and forth in front of the window, leaving both in silly awe, forgetting to eat their meal.

Jiang Qin previously lacked any fondness for kids, but for some reason, just watching them scurry around somewhat intoxicated him.

Feng Nanshu, too, seemed deep in thought, her gaze following the little ones moving back and forth.

Gao Wenhui stared for a while then couldn’t resist nudging Wang Haini sitting next to her.

“Look, these two fools act alike.”

“That’s called resembling a married couple.”

Jiang Qin snapped back to reality, coughing before picking some braised pork from Gao Wenhui’s bowl and feeding it to Feng Nanshu, his expression somewhat solemn.

Honestly, he was somewhat tempted to inquire about the tuition fees at Xiangti Villa’s international kindergarten.