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  Chapter 185: Bringing My Girlfriend to Dinner

  TL: Etude

  The day after the Lin business ba ended, a heavy snowfall bhe ey of Lin.

  Streets and buildings were engulfed in a vast expanse of white, blurring the liween sky ah.

  The temperature, which had just begun to rise in the previous few days, plummeted once again, as silently and uedly as money disappearing from a pocket, leaving people fused and unprepared.

  “Damn it, I’m already broke, and now I’ve gone and bought an MP4 pyer. My hand doesn’t even feel like my own!”

  “I’m never looking at Zhihu’s product reendations again. Everything I see, I want to buy. It’s dht haunting!”

  “They call me family, but their as are more ruthless than enemies!”

  “There are upsides, though. I tried buying a phone online for the first time, worried all day, but it turned out to be brand new and unopened, and even a hundred bucks cheaper!”

  “I’ve bought three down jackets from the oore already. For the same price, the quality is way better than in small shops!”

  “…”

  At the Wanzhong Mall’s cargo department, Ma Liang was busily loading goods into a truck, his expression tense.

  He was uhe watchful eyes of He Yijun, the big boss, and Yue Zhu, the sales manager, standing right behind him.

  He thought he had been caught embezzling fuel money and whether to fess and hope for leniency, but his hope for a lucky break kept him silent.

  It felt like getting an iion when you have a cold, with the beautiful nurse aiming the needle but never actually iing it – an excruciating anticipation.

  But what Ma Liang didn’t uand was that his position wasn’t signifit enough to ersonal atability from the big boss.

  In other words, if it had been about the embezzlement, he would have received a termination notiot a personal visit from He Yijun and Yue Zhu.

  He Yijun was actually there to observe the process of online orders being shipped.

  “It seems we’ve uimated the spending power of college students.”

  “Yeah, especially after the ret offlis. Our online sales are nearly matg our offline sales,” Yue Zhu remarked somewhat amazed.

  He Yijun crossed his arms: “Jiang Qin is really something else.”

  “Boss He, are you praising or critig him?”

  “Praising, but… it also represents fear.”

  “Huh?”

  He Yijun took a deep breath: “Have you ever thought, if not just Lin, but the whole try adopts online sales, how will malls like ours survive?”

  Yue Zhu looked surprised: “Wouldn’t our sales be even higher then?”

  “But what if he starts w directly with manufacturers? Online sales without middlemen mean much lower prices. Would we still be able to sell our products?”

  “Boss He, that’s impossible, isn’t it? Could Jiang Qin really expand his busio that extent?”

  He Yijun smiled and shook his head: “He went to the Lin business ba with me st night. I told him not to ask for business cards from uess what he did?”

  Yue Zhu shook her head, a hint of fusion in her eyes: “He asked for them?”

  “No, he set up a card dispy at the ba hall entrance, beled ‘Lin Business Elite Showcase’. Even I couldn’t help but put in one of my cards. He got everyone’s business cards without making a sound. Isn’t that ing?”

  “…”

  He Yijun’s smile faded: “Notify all department managers, we’re w overtime this weekend to discuss mall reform. We ’t just rely on sales to survive.”

  Yue Zhu’s expression turned serious: “Boss, what are we going to do?”

  “Jiang Qin is ung a new service, ‘group buying in-store’. He’s sending me a dot about it. We’ll follow his strategy to determine our reform dire. Otherwise, our pure retail mall will iably be left behind by the times.”

  “We’re going to reform our strategy based on a college student’s ideas?”

  Yue Zhu found this exaggerated.

  Even if he’s a star student, what does it matter?A student who hasn’t even graduated, how he have the power to scare the boss into immediate reform?

  But what she didn’t know was that He Yijun had already keenly sehe ge in the air, aware that if it wasn’t Jiang Qin, it would be someone else.

  Just like that online au website owner Mr. Ma, it’s said he has already started shifting from a C2C to a B2C model, with astonishis.

  Ohis sales model bees widespread, it will surely unleash a fury like no other.

  In such a sario, the retail industry, especially those in the mid-market, will fapreted impacts.

  Why would ers bother visiting a mall, where they might get overcharged, when they get factory prices delivered right to their doorstep?

  Initially, He Yijun hadn’t thought much about this. It seemed too distant from his owy.

  But when Jiang Qin appeared before him, with his tinuous clever tactics, He Yijun realized this wasn’t just a matter of a star student showing off. It was the st of a seismic shift in the era.

  Relying on a college student’s development project to reform one’s vast mall.

  Yes, this sounds impusible.

  But if one day it bees pusible, and we haven’t reformed, it will be too te.

  “Please, Jiang, help me bee rich…”

  He Yijun couldn’t help but ugh.

  It was just a joke from st night, but now it seemed increasingly real.

  Damn, how uny!

  “Hello, Mr. He, I’ve already sent you the project proposal,” Jiang Qin’s call came through to He Yijun’s phoen mier.

  “Thanks a lot, Mr. Jiang,” He Yijun responded with vigor.

  Jiang Qin said no thanks were needed but then expressed fusion: “Why do you need my project proposal? ‘Group buying in-store’ doesn’t quite align with your mall’s business.”

  “I want to learn from it.”

  “You’re being too modest now. I’m just an ordinary college student. If anyone should be learning, it should be me learning from you.”

  He Yijun paused: “Mr. Jiang, when we first met, I always thought you were ostentatious, presumptuous, the kind who wants the whole world to know about their brilliance.”

  Jiang Qin smirked: “I’m still like that!”

  “No, you’re not. In fact, you’re the most humble person in the world. You have treasures in your belly, but you’re not willing to spill them.”

  “Mr. He, what’s gotten into you? I’m a bit scared.”

  He Yijun chuckled on the phone: “Just kidding. But I have another matter. Are you free this Saturday? Bring yirlfriend over for di my pce.”

  Jiang Qin’s mouth twitched: “Why does this feel like a setup?”

  “It’s Manqi. She’s been nagging to meet her ‘sister Nanshu.’ Plus, I have something I’d like to discuss with you. How about it?”

  “I suppose I have no choice but to obey. I’ll definitely bring my good friend along.”

  “??????”

  After hanging up, Jiang Qin couldn’t help but feel a chill run down his spine, prompting him to open the closet and pull out the b he used on Christmas Eve to ward off the cold.

  For some reasohought he could still smell the soft, elegant st of the little rich dy.

  No, that’s nht.

  After putting on my bottom line, I’m no longer a mere mortal. I ’t have anything to do with worldly desires!What st? It’s all an illusion!

  Jiang Qin took a deep breath, trying to calm his mind, but the more he ihe sweeter the st seemed, trapping him in a vicious cycle. This made him involuntarily recall the gift from Christmas Eve.

  “Boss, why is your face so red? Do you have a cold?”

  Wei Lann, passing by with a cup of steaming hot water, couldn’t help but ask.

  “It’s nothing, maybe just the heating. Our uy’s heating system is really good. ime President Zhang visits, I’ll definitely praise him.”

  Jiang Qin casually cued a mention of Zhang Baiqing, his expression as calm as a gentleman, not a hint of panic.

  Then, he opehe drawer beside him, spread out the business cards he had collected st night, and picked out a few from smaller pahat seemed easier to deal with. He hahem to Wei Lann and Tan Qing.

  “I’ve studied these a bit. These small business owners should be easier to iate with. You guys start with a background check, and then we’ll take them down one by one.”

  “Are these also members of the Lin erce Association?” Wei Lann asked, pig up a business card to examine.

  Jiang Qin nodded: “Yes, but they are more on the lower side. They attehe ba looking for partnerships as well. You don’t have to be too cautious; sider it a practice run.”

  “What if the practice goes wrong?”

  “Then it means they are destio be left behind by the times.”

  Jiang Qin unscrewed his thermos, g the remi the bottom – ‘My husband, drink more water’ – and silently moistened his throat.

  The ‘group buying in-store’ cept was something he had been pting for the past half month. Sihe winter solstice milk tea card promotion, the gears had been slowly turning.

  In other words, even without the Lin business ba, he would have eventually pursued this dire, though it would have involved more detours. The sudden occurrence of the ba had simply accelerated his pns and provided a unique opportunity.

  Business is like that – many opportunities and challenges e without giving you enough time to prepare.

  So, do you take them or not?Of course, you do. Even if it’s overwhelming, you dive in.

  However, the current scale of the group buying initiative is small. In the eyes of the real big bosses, it’s just a toy, g both the strength and credibility to be persuasive.

  Therefore, Jiang Qin decided to start small.

  A toad should first settle for a small swan before dreaming of a kun, a mythical giant fish. He’ll talk about the tter after the new year.

  By then, he pns to take over the Normal Uy and the Uy of Sce of Teology, rapidly expand to the surrounding business districts, stand tall like a Jin (a mythical toad), and use his talent for smooth-talking to quer bigger challenges.

  This shouldn’t be a problem.

  Once Lin bees his stronghold, he pns to dismantle Zhihu, package the group buying initiative, and expand outward.

  Jiang Qin picked up a pen and quickly jotted down a few key words on a stiote, attag it to the top frame of his puter.

  “Wenhao, how are things going over at the Uy of Sce of Teology?” he asked.

  Dong Wenhao looked up: “The busihere has stabilized and is catg up with the initial iment. It’s progressing twice as fast as at our uy. We should be able to recoup the operational costs before the holiday break.”

  Jiang Qin smacked his lips: “Tell them not to rush. They should be steady and careful. Why push the pace so fast? We don’t want to give Director Hu a heart attack during the festive season.”

  “They get scared over making mooo?”

  “He doesn’t care whether we make money or not; he’s just afraid we’ll run so fast that we lose our shoes.”

  EtudeTranstions