Who Would Fall in Love After Being Reborn?

TL: Etude Translations

The nature of group buying and Zhihu were different; the former was about selling goods, while the latter was about social networking. Which one was easier to promote?

Without a doubt, it was Zhihu.

To promote group buying, one must try to change everyone’s consumption habits during a period when the trend hadn’t yet arrived. This was like swimming against the current, time-consuming, and laborious.

But Zhihu already possessed a trending attribute. It was a forum-based social network gathering quality content. And in this era, open social circles were still the most popular form of socializing among young people.

Thus, instead of strenuously promoting group buying before the trend arrived, Zhihu was a channel that could easily blossom nationwide.

In business, the strategy wasn’t to push a boulder uphill, which was not only exhausting but also risked being hit by falling rocks. The best method was to climb to the top of the hill and casually roll a stone down; it would reach the destination on its own.

In other words, while all the capital was waiting, as long as he could quickly gather the university city market through Zhihu, once the trend appeared, group buying could roll down the hill of Zhihu’s popularity, even avoiding much of the business competition.

Hiding one’s capabilities was not for seclusion but for a striking reveal.

However, Ye Ziqing is quite interesting. She may genuinely love this project, so she wouldn’t mind the gains and losses.

Jiang Qin planned to observe for a while and interact more with this senior sister. When the time came to need people, he will morally coerce her!

What? I have no morals?

Haha, what does that matter?

Moral coercion doesn’t require the coercer to be moral, only the coerced needs to be.

“By the way, when are you going back to Jizhou?” Jiang Qin looked at Feng Nanshu.

“Tomorrow morning.”

Jiang Qin silently calculated his schedule: “I’ll probably stay for another two or three days to handle some miscellaneous tasks.”

Feng Nanshu looked around and then whispered, “There seems to be no one around; we could watch a movie first.”

“You’ve said what I wanted to say. What should I say now?”

“Say, ‘little rich lady, come here and let me hug you.’” Feng Nanshu seriously instructed him.

As the day turned to dusk, the twilight was half bright and half dark, patchy, with a lone wild goose flying across the sky, crossing the last gleam of light before night.

“Howl’s Moving Castle” had just finished playing, the progress bar gradually reaching the end, then the music stopped, and Storm Video Player automatically switched to the black standby page.

Sitting in Jiang Qin’s arms, Feng Nanshu casually stretched out her hand, seamlessly switched the just-finished movie to the next one while Jiang Qin was distracted, pretending she had been watching this one all along.

Such small actions, she was really good at them, just like sneaking sips of Jiang Qin’s drink.

“Finished watching, right? Let’s go, I’ll take you back.”

Feng Nanshu spoke indifferently: “It’s not over yet. Look, the movie has just begun.”

“Feng Nanshu, do you think I’m a fool?” Jiang Qin looked at her seriously.

“I’m not looking at you. I want to focus on the movie.”

“Actually, I also like watching movies with my best friend, but I have social engagements tonight.”

“Then will you drink tonight?” Feng Nanshu suddenly turned to look at him, her eyes moist.

Jiang Qin immediately understood what the little rich lady was thinking: “No drinking, and I’m going to the city’s Juxianlou. Even if I drink, you can’t ride to the city to pick me up.”

“I think I can try.” Feng Nanshu’s tone was serious.

“You are quite confident, but I disagree. Go back and sleep well tonight. When you return to Jizhou, I’ll take you to the cinema to watch a real movie.”

At night, with the lights just lit, Jiang Qin sent the little rich lady back to her dormitory and then drove to Juxianlou for a banquet, meeting Wang Peixiang of Vienna Chain Hotels and Zhang Qiao of Hongjin Restaurant and Entertainment.

Since the start of the group buying campaign in the city, Jiang Qin had been hiding behind the scenes and had not met these business people.

This appearance was precious as Jiang Qin’s first.

“Mr. Jiang, finally meeting you in person, truly a young talent.”

“Mr. Wang, Mr. Zhang, you are too kind. I’m just an ordinary college student. If you don’t mind, just call me Azu.”

Jiang Qin shook hands with both while taking his seat.

Vienna and Hongjin Restaurant and Entertainment were not native enterprises of Linchuan. They had businesses in other provinces and cities, and their headquarters were located elsewhere.

Wang Peixiang and Zhang Qiao were not the real bosses but more accurately regional managers.

Their meeting with Jiang Qin was actually under the directive of their head offices, with a purpose beyond just a meal. They wanted to inquire if Jiang Qin had any plans to expand group buying nationally.

If so, they were ready to invest money and effort, with the only requirement being to become the chief partners of group buying.

After experiencing two impressive marketing campaigns of group buying, the increase in customer flow in Linchuan was truly astonishing, making the management at the head offices eager for more.

Frankly, current advertising, whether on TV or the internet, can’t match the targeted effectiveness of group buying.

So, if group buying had a national expansion plan, these two enterprises wanted to ride the wave.

Jiang Qin pondered for a long time. He initially thought to use the tactics he planned for Ye Ziqing on them but then felt it wouldn’t work.

He had no business dealings with Ye Ziqing, but it was different with Vienna and Hongjin. There will come a day when group buying will surge unexpectedly, and then he will indeed need to form strong alliances with these national merchants.

Because for an O2O platform, merchants who can provide quality services are the lifeblood of the entire platform. Without quality merchants in the early stages, everything is just empty talk.

Therefore, Jiang Qin didn’t give a definite answer and only mentioned that everything about group buying is still in the planning stage, promising to inform them as soon as there’s news.

After dinner, Wang Peixiang and Zhang Qiao escorted Jiang Qin out of the restaurant and watched him drive away, exchanging glances.

“This Mr. Jiang, despite his young age, I can feel a very strong presence from his words and actions. It always makes me want to invite him to dinner, quite mysterious.”

“It seems that ambition isn’t confined to the old. But why does he insist on us calling him ‘Azu’?” Wang Peixiang was somewhat puzzled.

Zhang Qiao crossed his arms: “Azu is probably his nickname. It sounds friendly, like he’s trying to be approachable.”

“Sounds reasonable…”

The next morning, after sending the little rich lady off, Jiang Qin arrived at 208. Wei Lanlan, Tan Qing, and Dong Wenhao, who had returned from their banquets, reported to him about their meals.

Their experiences were similar, involving businesses in other provinces or those wanting to expand their businesses elsewhere, looking to ride the momentum and expand their reach.

This indicates that Linchuan’s news has gradually begun to impact the business circle.

For some partner merchants, they see a brighter future through group buying and are eager to get on board, hoping to soar higher.

Dong Wenhao and the others didn’t reply on the spot because they also knew the importance of merchants for group buying, so they brought the issue back for Jiang Qin to decide.

This was the benefit of not letting Lu Feiyu go.

If Old Lu had gone, he might have slammed the table and said, “No more promotion, our boss said no promotion, and that’s final. Everyone go home and sleep!”

Look, what an honest and trustworthy journalist.

“Boss, how should we respond?”

“Actually, this is a good thing. Having national chain enterprises seeking cooperation with us can be the best wealth group buying can have in the future.”

Dong Wenhao stroked his chin: “But, our original plan was to promote Zhihu, and isn’t it better for group buying to keep a low profile during the dormant period? Saying ‘no dogs allowed’ in the news and secretly colluding with major enterprises behind the scenes will definitely attract attention.”

Jiang Qin patted the table: “Still, think about the essence before considering the problem. What do they want?”

“They want to ride the momentum and make big money.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Right, they don’t care whether the momentum is created by group buying or Zhihu. If they want to ride the momentum, Zhihu can do it too.”

Wei Lanlan seemed to understand: “Before group buying, Zhihu’s initial monetization function was forum advertising, which was not bad, just not as direct as group buying.”

Jiang Qin nodded: “Correct, if we don’t want to lose partners and also don’t want to expose too much, then we tie them to Zhihu’s chariot. We can offer a discount, but at least the coverage is broad, and the speed is very fast.”

“Promoting group buying with merchants may require a new promotional plan,” Dong Wenhao pondered.

“The business department doesn’t have summer or winter breaks, and the working people are always on the road. Let them handle the new plan, and Lanlan, go coordinate this afternoon.”

“I’m very worried about my post-graduation career life.”

“Hm?”

Wei Lanlan giggled: “I’m just joking, boss.”

“Alright, meeting dismissed. I don’t want to delay your time home. I’ll give you two days off during the trip as compensation. Goodbye.”

Watching the boss’s departing figure, the three exchanged glances, thinking what the hell, isn’t the trip supposed to be during the holiday anyway, why give two more days off? The boss must be confused from being so busy recently.

In the following three days, Jiang Qin was busy from morning till night.

On the first day of the month, he organized a team-building event with the Wanzhong division, deepening familiarity with the employees of the business and marketing departments.

After all, they are the vanguard of cross-provincial business, and their importance must be emphasized.

On the second day of the month, he was invited to attend a commercial conference organized by the Linchuan city government, discussing a comprehensive upgrade of Linchuan’s industries.

At the conference, many Linchuan business leaders were curious about Jiang Qin, inviting him for meals, foot baths, and more.

Despite Linchuan’s market not being highly prosperous, the businessmen were really wealthy. Jiang Qin, lowering his stature, went to every invitation, almost wearing his feet out.

“Mr. Jiang, this is Director Qian, he has many mines in his hands, and he even invested in two TV series last year.”

“Come here, Mr. Sun, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Jiang of group buying, the youngest member of our Business Alliance so far.”

“Little sister, stop singing that love song, play ‘Borrow Five Hundred More Years from Heaven’, let me show Mr. Jiang my singing skills!”

“See the iron hooves clanging, traversing thousands of miles of rivers and mountains~”

“Mr. Jiang, I specially came from the neighboring city. I want to open seven or eight chain convenience stores in Linchuan. Mr. He of Wanzhong is an old friend of mine; he asked me to borrow a light from you for a cigarette.”

In the splendid business KTV, Jiang Qin, in his suit and shoes, shook hands in all directions, mingling with Linchuan’s businessmen, not falling short at all.

Many wondered, this young man is barely twenty, but his temperament is surprisingly mature. To this, Jiang Qin just smiled, not speaking.

Who would know that under a skin as handsome as Andy Lau and Leslie Cheung, hides an old man who has experienced the vicissitudes of life at forty?

And he’s also Linchuan’s first Star of Learning, which is downright shocking when said out loud!

…

Azu is the nickname that fans gave Daniel Wu, since Daniel Wu’s chinese name is Wu Yanzu. They took the “zu” part and added an affectionate “A” in front, just like how we say “Old John” in English.

Andy Lau – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Lau

Leslie Cheung – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Cheung