Fang Yuan’s words only made me stop in my tracks, but I did not turn back to look at him again. However, from his words and actions, I sensed a deep feeling of desolation after being humiliated by the mundane world. He was not happy, otherwise why would he feel insecure and argue with me about the right and wrong of worldly matters? If in the past money made him feel powerless, now it was life itself. His real tragedy lay in the fact that after painstakingly obtaining everything he wanted, he suddenly realized that these things could not fully satisfy him. Therefore, he could only continue to endlessly pursue fame, fortune, and wealth to fill the emptiness inside, making him even more pitiable.
Moreover, the world would not forever accommodate him, because the world itself is contradictory. The more people he had trampled upon to achieve his current success, the more people wanted to step on him in return. That’s why there is the saying about divine justice and retribution. At least I believe that Vincent Group’s brilliance will not last much longer; eventually, it will reveal its true nature and give another group, who have been quietly waiting and enduring, a kind and beautiful ending.
Yes, I do not want to divide people in this world into absolute good or bad. I only want to talk about whether their motivations for living are good or evil. Because every person who comes into this world is like a piece of pure glass. It is fate that throws us into the big dye vat of society, transforming us with time and making us products of our environment.
Just imagine, if Fang Yuan had been born into a family like Cao Jinfu’s, would he still do these things? No, and there would be no need.
Of course, this is not to blame society and the unfairness of fate. I only want to express that people can go astray and become confused, but they must always uphold the last line of moral integrity in their hearts. This bottom line will preserve a pure land in our hearts, allowing us to be upright and kind people.
…
Because sufficient groundwork had already been laid, our company and Angel’s group completed the integration efficiently. On a morning at the end of spring, we officially signed the investment agreement with the outside world. This also meant that, following Zhang Yixi, Angel had also entered into an actual cooperative relationship with me. This couple was an interesting phenomenon: one followed me in pursuing commercial sentiment, while the other directly assisted me in commercial battles. Sometimes, the fate between people is indeed so mysterious. If it hadn’t been for my chance encounter with Angel in Xitang two years ago, it would be hard to imagine what the current situation might be…
After Angel completed her investment in our project, Yang Youqi officially announced that she would become the lifelong image spokesperson for our website, and Leyao also kindly participated in this highly anticipated signing ceremony…
When these two actresses, who were both endorsing several luxury brands, attended our ceremony together, it greatly enhanced our determination to enter the luxury goods market and generated a lot of buzz for us…
Afterwards, I seized the momentum and discussed with Yang Youqi’s team, then quickly arranged a heavyweight concert tailored specifically for her and our project. Yang Youqi truly treated this project as a career she was determined to devote herself to, so she used a lot of her personal connections to invite many top artists from the industry to perform as guests at this concert.
Thanks to the professional and standardized operations, combined with Yang Youqi’s tremendous popularity, the venue, which could hold thousands of people, was packed, and attracted extensive attention and coverage from major mainstream entertainment media. As a result, this concert brought Yang Youqi both fame and fortune, while our already-operational website also gained significant exposure. This high-density exposure quickly translated into website traffic, making its effectiveness no worse than traditional advertising campaigns. This saved us a large amount of advertising costs, and the investors also gave high recognition for this marketing activity that fully utilized the celebrity effect…
Subsequently, we conducted another “hunger marketing” campaign, collaborating with a luxury brand and a top designer to create a limited-edition handbag. Later, Yang Youqi brought this handbag to many high-end events. We also used our own “Fashion Bar” magazine, which holds great authority in the fashion industry, to generate extensive coverage and publicity. Soon, this limited-edition bag became a hot commodity. Eventually, only 1,000 units were sold on our online platform. Despite the exorbitant price, they were all snapped up within half an hour of the pre-sale launch… The success of this event fully demonstrated that the acquisition of “Fashion Bar,” a prestigious magazine, was a very typical example of precise marketing. Once again, I gained a good reputation within the industry.
As our success grew, it came at the expense of our competitor, Vansen, since we were in the same category of websites. We later obtained Vansen’s recent sales data, which showed that compared to before we started our business, their sales this month had sharply declined by 30 percentage points. This placed unprecedented pressure on them, forcing them to increase their advertising investment to salvage the declining sales. However, in the top echelons of the fashion industry, our professional reputation was stronger than theirs, and this was something that advertising could not reverse. Because we had saved a significant amount of money that would have been spent on advertising, we instead invested it in developing our website model. In terms of user experience, our mall was more user-friendly, and our sales promotions better met the needs of our target consumer group… We mercilessly played the role of a latecomer who eventually overtook Vansen.
At the same time, we were also preparing to establish our own luxury brand on the website under Yang Youqi’s name. I had already contacted several renowned international designers and reached preliminary agreements for further collaboration. Indeed, I did not want our website to become merely a sales platform; I aimed to maximize profits and then give back to my investors and Yang Youqi, who had placed unconditional trust in me…
By this time, it had already transitioned from winter to midsummer. Our company held a celebratory banquet for this phase of achievements on this night, and I, on behalf of the company, invited all the investors, as well as a group of entertainment industry friends represented by Yang Youqi and Leyao…
Before the celebration banquet began, I delivered a half-hour speech. I was truly grateful for their strong support, which had helped me realize many difficult commercial ambitions and contributed to my rapid rise in the business world…
Yes, in the year and a half since Mi Cai left, so many things had happened, and I had gradually matured through a series of commercial battles. At this moment, I had a group of allies who could fight alongside me in the business circle, as well as enemies I must defeat… I really enjoyed this feeling, but I also hated it because the loneliness amidst the noise was something no one could understand. Every day, I received dozens, even hundreds, of calls—some reporting work, some inviting me to events, and others for business meetings. Unfortunately, none of them were related to Mi Cai… In the blink of an eye, we had not seen each other for another six months… I remember one particularly painful night when I thought of her, looking at everything she had left behind in the room, smoking and crying bitterly!… And how agonizing this emotion was, only those who have experienced it can understand!
The celebration banquet ended near midnight. I had a little to drink and felt slightly dizzy as I walked and chatted with everyone. When we reached the hotel entrance, I suddenly saw Fang Yuan’s Audi A8. At that moment, he was sitting inside the car. Seeing us come out, he opened the car door and approached me. At this moment, everyone instinctively stopped walking because people in this circle knew at least something about the unresolved feud between Fang Yuan and me.
Fang Yuan ignored those unfriendly gazes and said to me in a low voice, “Let’s find a place to have something to drink. There’s something I want to talk to you about.”
“Forget about having a drink. If you have something to say, just say it now…” I said and then signaled to my friends behind me, hoping they would go back first. I didn’t need them to stand up for me. In my opinion, all the grudges were between Fang Yuan and me, and eventually, there would be a resolution.
Everyone gradually left, and only Fang Yuan and I remained at the hotel entrance. I said to him, “Everyone has gone. If you have anything difficult to say, just speak freely.”
Fang Yuan nodded without further ado and replied, “I came to you this time hoping to seek an opportunity for cooperation… Zhao Yang, I think at this stage, we should not waste our resources on mutual conflict… We both studied marketing planning, and you must understand that at this point, it’s most important for us to join hands to expand the market and change consumers’ purchasing habits… In China’s luxury market, 90% of consumers still choose to buy in physical stores, while we only have 10% of the market share. Why should we waste our energy fighting each other?… Therefore, changing the disparity in market share with physical stores is what we should really focus on. I believe that for a successful businessman, the awareness of cooperation must be greater than the awareness of competition… What do you think?”
I smiled and said, “Your point is absolutely correct, but I can’t bring myself to trust you as a person. Cooperation awareness is certainly important, but the choice of a cooperation partner is even more critical… Therefore, I cannot accept your cooperation proposal… If you feel that Vansen’s market space is being increasingly squeezed by us, making it difficult to operate, I think you could come talk to me about being acquired. That is something I would be very willing to accept… Then I can integrate the two online platforms and further seize the physical sales market, eventually forming a monopoly on the online platform. That would be quite good!”
Fang Yuan looked at me, his eyebrows furrowed tightly. Finally, he said, “Zhao Yang, if you insist on fighting to the bitter end, I won’t be afraid of you… But…” Fang Yuan couldn’t bring himself to say what came next, and I wasn’t sure what he was going to say either. So, my gaze never left him, but in the end, he didn’t say anything more. He simply nodded at me, ending the conversation, and then walked directly to his car parked not far away.
I watched his retreating figure without any expression, but I understood in my heart: his proposal, in the grand strategy of the entire luxury market, was completely beyond question. But the mistake was that we could never again join hands to face a third party. There had to be a winner and a loser between us, otherwise I wouldn’t have targeted his group by entering the same field with such precision.
…
This summer, Yan Yan gave birth to their first daughter for Qin Yan. On this morning, I took advantage of a rare day off to visit her at the hospital. At that time, Qin Yan was at home preparing breakfast for her, and only Yan Yan and I were in the room.
I placed the health products I had bought on the cabinet next to her bed and smiled, asking, “Where is our little flower (the child’s nickname)?”
Yan Yan gave me a happy smile and replied, “You came at a bad time; she was just taken away by the nurse.” As Yan Yan spoke, she peeled a fruit for me.
I took the fruit from her hand, looking at her tired appearance, and sighed, “Giving birth is really not an easy thing for women. How do you feel physically now?”
“I’m fine. Once I finish my postpartum rest, I can return to work. These days, all the affairs of the advertising company have been handled by General Manager Chen Jingming. I feel really guilty because your side is the main business. I hope it doesn’t affect you!”
“It’s okay. At this stage, the company has sufficient personnel and a very efficient team, so General Manager Chen still has the capacity to manage your advertising company. Just rest assured and take care of yourself. There won’t be any problem!”
Yan Yan nodded. Her expression suddenly became complicated, and after a long pause, she said to me, “Zhao Yang, there’s something I need to tell you. Before I gave birth to little flower, Fang Yuan approached me once… He wanted the Vansen Group to form a comprehensive partnership with Sima Advertising. I had already refused him once before, but he didn’t give up… I don’t know if he later bypassed me and directly approached General Manager Chen to discuss it!”
I replied with a serious expression, “He probably didn’t. If he had, General Manager Chen would have informed me immediately… Yan Yan, you did the right thing by refusing him. Because the Vansen Group is already in decline due to their investors in Europe being preoccupied and their domestic online mall being fiercely attacked by us. At this time, Fang Yuan seeking cooperation with Sima Advertising aims to tie us commercially, so he can play the emotional card with us. You know this is what he excels at, and it’s a despicable motive. Therefore, under no circumstances should you give him such an opportunity…”
Yan Yan lowered her head in silence. After a long time, she looked at me and said, “Zhao Yang, we both hate Fang Yuan, but we shouldn’t be biased against his motives in this matter. Even if he facilitates the cooperation between Sima Advertising and the Vansen Group, when you really want to target Vansen, will his emotional card still have any effect on you?… I think he just simply wants to help Sima Advertising.”
I didn’t understand from what perspective Yan Yan was viewing this matter, but her leniency towards Fang Yuan made me feel very dissatisfied. Because when it comes to being hurt, she was the one most deeply wounded by Fang Yuan. She should have had some awareness. So I said to her with a stern face, “Let’s not talk about this matter anymore, okay?… No matter what Fang Yuan’s motives are, Sima Advertising doesn’t need his help now… We have the ability to make Sima Advertising a top-tier company in the industry. Don’t you have that confidence?”
Yan Yan looked out the window and remained silent for a long time before finally nodding at me… However, I was really worried that she still had lingering emotional attachments and inclinations towards Fang Yuan, because that was truly too dangerous!
It was only when later on, Qin Yan and the nurse brought little flower into the room, and I noticed Yan Yan’s expression when she looked at the baby, brighter than blooming flowers, that I finally felt relieved. I believed that Yan Yan, now a mother, would definitely figure out the priorities in life!
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