HPDBC Chapter 41 There's more to this than meets the eye.
Chapter 41 There's more to this than meets the eye.
Business battles in novels and TV dramas are usually very exciting.
On one side, they strategize and plan; on the other, they counter each move.
It's either an extreme brainstorming session or a top-level intellectual duel.
However, real-world business battles are often quite simple.
There were instances of people breaking into the other company's premises to cut off the power and water money trees.
Some people stay up all night to scratch car seats and steal batteries.
Even worse, some have brought several burly men to seize the company seal during shareholder meetings.
Zeng Cheng's colleagues also used a simple and brutal approach.
First, call the relevant departments to report the fire hazards at Zeng Cheng's place.
Secondly, there was another report—claiming that Zeng Cheng's companion gaming service was skirting the law.
Third, they paid a group of young, blond-haired thugs to cause trouble.
Thankfully, these competitors only know low-level tactics. If they knew high-level methods—like coming over and pouring boiling water on my money tree or cutting off my power—I'd be completely helpless and would have no choice but to surrender.
Zeng Cheng had anticipated that competitors would cause trouble after the arcade became popular, and he had already prepared a response plan.
[Reporting me as a fire hazard? Sorry, I anticipated your prediction!]
Before opening, Zeng Cheng had the fire department come to inspect the premises, and all the necessary permits were in order.
He even reported the other side – to be honest, you guys are the ones who really pose a security risk.
As for skirting the line, she didn't show her chest or her buttocks, so what's the point of skirting the line?
The relevant departments cannot possibly intervene.
As for the young punk coming to cause trouble—General Zeng's approach is to use carrots and sticks.
Strike one group, recruit another; divide and conquer.
First, send the most aggressive ones to the police station—Zeng Cheng's father, after all, is the deputy director of the subdistrict office in Jinghu District, a position at the level of a section chief. He has connections at all levels, so it wasn't difficult for him to do this.
Then he treated a few people with brains to a big drinking session.
During the drinking session, Zeng Cheng displayed his emotional intelligence to the fullest, winning everyone over in just one meal and turning them into "good buddies".
We're practically brothers, how dare you come and ruin your little brother's show?
The brothers should visit the other arcades more often.
So, a couple of days later, the owners of these arcades came to Zeng Cheng looking dejected and asking for a truce.
Otherwise, you can't outmaneuver others with your tricks, and they have connections too. If you don't back down, you'll ruin yourself.
And so, President Zeng's first "business battle" after his rebirth was won in an exceptionally simple way.
As August progressed, the prospective college students had long lost the excitement of receiving their university acceptance letters and began to feel empty.
After all, no matter how much fun you have, it's hard to squander the nearly three-month gap between the end of the college entrance exam and university registration.
Humans are creatures that seek pleasure when they feel empty.
One day in early August, early in the morning, Qi Jiahao started making a fuss in the class group, calling on classmates to have a get-together and find a place to have some fun.
Jiahao's call to action was met with a lot of support from the class—everyone was bored.
The details of the gathering were determined after discussion.
In the morning, I'd find a teahouse to play cards; at noon, I'd eat skewers; and in the afternoon, I'd go to the most popular arcade in Dezhou right now.
Zeng Cheng's series of combined strategies for operating the arcade have indeed yielded remarkable results.
This newly renovated arcade is now a symbol of fashion and trendiness, and is very popular among young people.
Apart from Li Xingzhi and Xiao Qian, none of the other students in the class knew that the owner of this arcade was Zeng Cheng.
Mu Jiajia offered her opinion.
[@Senior Vice Head Teacher and Class Monitor of Class 6, Grade 12, are we really going to the arcade this afternoon? I heard it's super popular right now, with long queues to get in. And the sun's so strong today, I don't want to be waiting downstairs like an idiot.]
Many female students began to second the agreement.
Girls still love beauty after all.
Qi Jiahao remained silent for a moment before choosing to act pretentious.
Don't worry, everyone. I can use my connections to try and make sure you don't have to wait in line!
The truth is he has a gigolo relationship; he's just used to putting on airs.
So he said "as much as possible" instead of "guarantee," which shows that our Jiahao is very good at the "art of language." No wonder he always gets the highest score in the class in Chinese exams without fail.
Mu Jiajia spoke again.
[@Senior Vice Head Teacher and Class Monitor of Class 6, Grade 12, what does "as much as possible" mean? Do we even need to queue? If you don't give me a clear answer, I'm not coming to the gathering today.]
This remark once again drew agreement from the girls in the class.
Like Mu Jiajia, they didn't really believe Qi Jiahao's words.
Seeing that the party was about to fall through and that he would lose his once-proud influence in the class, Qi Jiahao cursed Mu Jiajia in his heart.
[Why are you always undermining me lately, Mou? You were always targeting Zeng Cheng before! Speaking of which—what's Zeng Cheng been up to? He hasn't been heard from at all this summer. And his accomplice, Li Xingzhi, has vanished without a trace too…]
As Qi Jiahao thought this, he couldn't help but let his imagination run wild—could these two brothers have been tricked into joining a pyramid scheme?
Haha, if that's really the case, shouldn't we set off fireworks to celebrate?
At this moment, Li Xingzhi popped up in the class group chat.
[Classmates, if you really want to come to the arcade this afternoon, I can take you in. Just call me when you get there.]
Qi Jiahao quickly retorted after seeing it.
【@缒闏こ尐姩う, Li Xingzhi, what gives you the right to say that? Do you have stronger connections than me?】
Several other students also joined in with their questions.
Li Xingzhi only replied with "You'll know when you get there," and then went offline.
Actually, he really wanted to show off.
[Attention everyone! This is the hottest and trendiest arcade in Texas, and its owner is none other than Niu Hulu Zeng! I, Guarjia Li, am just the second-in-command, holding a whopping 5% stake!]
But Li Xingzhi held back.
As Cheng Ge once said—pretentiousness is a disease that needs to be cured!
Li Xingzhi, being a straightforward guy, had much greater credibility in the class than Qi Jiahao.
Mu Jiajia was the first to speak.
【@缒闏こ尐姩う, Li Xingzhi, I believe in you!】
Mou already had a guess.
Li Xingzhi's ability to make it possible for people to skip the queue is likely related to Zeng Cheng.
I didn't think Zeng Cheng was the owner of the arcade.
How could Zeng Cheng possibly come up with an investment of several million?
She guessed that Zeng Cheng might be a minor shareholder of the arcade, and therefore had certain privileges.
When Li Xingzhi saw Mu Jiajia's speech, he felt very comfortable and even had the first of the three great illusions in life - Mu Jiajia actually spoke up for me, could she like me?
Other classmates subsequently seconded the motion.
Xia Ning, who hadn't spoken in the class group for a long time, suddenly typed three words.
I'm going too.
The class beauty's speech successfully drew out many lurkers, who all expressed their desire to attend today's gathering.
Xia Ning has always held this position in the class, with an absolute large following.
What started as a small team-building activity with only about ten participants has grown into a large event that most of the students in the class attend.
At 2:30 pm, after playing cards and eating skewers, the group of students arrived at the arcade under the scorching sun and were all taken aback.
Despite the scorching sun, there was a long queue of at least a hundred people outside the arcade!
They were all dumbfounded.
I knew this arcade was popular, but I never imagined it would be this popular.
A boy wearing glasses lowered his voice and asked Qi Jiahao, "Class monitor, do you know who the new owner of this arcade is? It's amazing! How can they make a business like this? How much money do they make every day?"
"this--"
Qi Jiahao would never admit that he didn't know.
"Of course I know, but how could I reveal it without this big shot's permission?"
The bespectacled boy shrank back: "Class monitor, is it really that serious?"
"Heh, you think it's that serious just because you say so? There's a lot more to this than meets the eye!" Qi Jiahao continued to put on airs. "Don't ask how deep the water is—I'll just put it this way: those who understand will understand, and those who don't will understand after thinking about it more. But just keep it to yourself and don't go around telling everyone. So you get it?"
Glasses Guy: "..."