Jian Wei smiled at me for a while before finally saying, “I knew it all along; I just needed to push you a little, and you could definitely do it.”
Not knowing how to respond to her words, I simply closed my eyes and leaned back in the office chair. My nerves had been overly tense today, and I needed this kind of method to relieve myself.
A faint scent of perfume drifted into my nose, and I knew Jian Wei had come to my side. To avoid her continuing to say things I didn’t know how to respond to, I steadied my breathing and deliberately created the illusion that I had already fallen asleep.
“Don’t pretend. Shouldn’t you inform Mi Cai about this latest news now?”
Caught in the act, I opened my eyes, yet I still had an indescribable concern. Finally, I said to Jian Wei, “The more I think about it, the more inappropriate this feels. After all, the customers of Poly Department Store are innocent. Leaking their information now will inevitably bring disturbances to their lives.”
Jian Wei was silent for a moment before she said, “Yes, this is indeed somewhat inappropriate. However, being in this industry, I must tell you that many companies now share customer information. For example, the decoration companies we collaborate with exchange customer data with real estate companies, training institutions, and even banks. Moreover, the national legal system is not yet sound, and the regulatory efforts are insufficient. Therefore, it can be said to be a leak, or it can also be seen as resource sharing between businesses. For instance, 4S stores will push their customer information to cooperating insurance companies, but can you define this as a leak? So who hasn’t received one or two inexplicable advertisements in their life? And consumers generally don’t care. The reason why the recent leak incident at Zhuo Mei caused a crisis is because it was deliberately manipulated, amplifying the negative effects of this event, which you should understand very well.”
I still felt uneasy in my heart and remained silent for a long time.
Jian Wei continued, “Such incidents in the business world are really too common. Just as Wei Ruli said, this kind of behavior is an ordinary means in commercial competition. If we don’t direct the blame towards Poly Department Store now, it’s likely that in the next stage, Poly will use this incident to completely defeat Zhuo Mei… Zhao Yang, you need to understand that there is absolutely no Sky City you are pursuing in the business world, nor is there a crystal-clear path for you to walk. You must adapt to the cruelty of the business world, or you won’t go far on this path.”
I pondered, perhaps this is what they call focusing on business matters. While pursuing something, people also lose something else, and such gains and losses must be weighed by yourself to determine if they are worth it…
…
The next afternoon, the PR team led by Wei Ruli efficiently obtained the customer data of Poly Department Store and artificially amplified the negative effects after the data leak, causing a huge sensation in the industry. Just two days later, two high-end shopping malls simultaneously leaked customer data, triggering various speculations from both insiders and outsiders. Some said it was due to competition between the two malls leading to this mutual damage event, while others analyzed that it was due to the weak security awareness and insufficient emphasis on user information confidentiality and management by the two malls, resulting in such data leaks. In short, the water was completely muddied, and Zhuo Mei finally got a chance to catch its breath…
As the event continued to develop, with the guidance of Wei Ruli and Sun Rui’s PR team, public pressure increasingly shifted towards Poly Department Store. Because Zhuo Mei had been steadily outperforming Poly during its years of operation in Suzhou and was now preparing for an IPO, distancing itself from Poly, it had no reason to create such an event to harm Poly. On the contrary, Poly, which had always been in a weaker position, had sufficient motivation to target Zhuo Mei with such an event. The subsequent leak of Poly’s customer data was merely Zhuo Mei’s tit-for-tat retaliation. Of course, this was only public speculation, and no one had direct evidence to verify the truth of these guesses…
Under public pressure, Poly Department Store held two press conferences in the following week to clarify the situation, while Zhuo Mei never publicly responded to the incident. As a result, public skepticism towards Poly grew stronger. By this time, Zhuo Mei had already taken the opportunity to prepare a compensation plan for users whose information had been leaked in this incident before Poly did.
In this compensation plan, besides monetary compensation, customers were once again upgraded in VIP privileges, and for an entire week, the largest promotional event since the mall’s opening was conducted to reward consumers.
Originally, such a data leak could have led to a significant loss of VIP customers. However, since Poly Department Store, also a high-end mall, experienced the same information leak, and Suzhou’s other mid and low-end malls could not meet the consumption demands of these customers, there was almost no loss of Zhuo Mei’s VIP customers.
On the contrary, because Poly was constantly struggling to cope under immense public pressure and only presented its compensation plan after Zhuo Mei, it appeared insincere, causing some VIP customers to switch to Zhuo Mei. Moreover, during the week of the large-scale promotional event, Zhuo Mei achieved unprecedented sales success. Thus, this PR crisis not only did not result in a loss of customers for Zhuo Mei but also severely damaged its competitor Poly Department Store. Ultimately, through the large-scale promotional activities, Zhuo Mei achieved its own sales success, leading to an unexpected outcome.
…
This was a night for celebration, and I was also on the guest list. However, this celebration banquet for Zhuo Mei was hosted by Chen Jingming on behalf of Mi Cai, while Mi Cai herself was in the United States making final preparations for the IPO. Feedback from the U.S. side indicated that this PR crisis had not negatively impacted Zhuo Mei’s IPO. On the contrary, Zhuo Mei was recognized as a group with crisis management capabilities, adding to its chances of a successful IPO.
At this celebration banquet, Chen Jingming also honored his previous commitment by handing over the signed advertising space transfer contract from Mi Cai to Jian Wei, who gladly accepted it. This marked the end of this PR crisis with an almost perfect conclusion.
After the banquet ended, I did not leave immediately but instead discussed the subsequent effects of this incident with Chen Jingming.
During our conversation, I asked Chen Jingming, “Director Chen, after this incident is over, should Mi Zhongde refrain from creating any further unfavorable factors for Zhuo Mei’s IPO?”
Chen Jingming smiled casually and said, “Even if he wants to create them, he is already powerless. Although this crisis wasn’t explicitly exposed, the board members aren’t fools—they know it must have been Mi Zhongde’s doing. He has already lost the trust of the people, and his control over Zhuo Mei is weakening more and more. Meanwhile, Mi Cai, who is far away in the U.S., is already close to taking control of Zhuo Mei.”
“Close to gaining control? What do you mean by that?”
Chen Jingming paused slightly before saying, “Actually, the Zhuo Mei board already has plans to weaken Mi Zhongde’s power, but… the young master of Blue Map Group, the largest investor in Zhuo Mei, Weiran, hasn’t expressed his stance yet, so the matter has been put on hold. However, the fact that Mi Zhongde’s prestige in Zhuo Mei is getting lower and lower is already an undisputed fact.”
His answer surprised me greatly, so I asked further, “How could he not have taken a stance on weakening Mi Zhongde? After all, this is extremely beneficial to Mi Cai and the IPO!”
Chen Jingming shook his head and said, “I really don’t know much about this. Perhaps because Mi Cai still considers her blood relationship with Mi Zhongde and his contributions to Zhuo Mei over the years, she hasn’t decided to go all out against him, and Weiran, as Mi Cai’s most steadfast ally, has also held back.”
I thought about it and felt this was indeed a reasonable explanation, so I nodded in agreement.
…
That night, I returned to the old house where I had lived with Mi Cai for a long time. Around 11 PM, she called me in the midst of her busy schedule, and of course I knew she was thanking me, even though we didn’t need that between us.
With my longing for her, I quickly answered the call and asked before she could speak, “How are you feeling now? Can you relax a bit?”
Mi Cai smiled lightly and said, “Yes, thank you very much for this time, and also thank Jian Wei and her PR team.”
I earnestly replied to her, “Actually, there’s absolutely no need to say thank you, especially to me…”
“Exactly, we shouldn’t say thank you to each other, so I’ve said before that you are the dad who was sent to protect me and Zhuo Mei, and I feel very safe with you.”
Mi Cai’s words filled my heart with joy and a sense of achievement. After a long while, I asked her, “You’ve been in the U.S. for almost two months already. When will you come back?”
“There are still a few final procedures to go through, and then I can return home and wait for news.”
Mi Cai’s answer finally allowed my mood, which had been suppressed recently, to completely relax. I sighed, “Is this the moment when the clouds part and the moon shines through?… I’ve really been waiting for this day for a very long time!”
Mi Cai laughed and asked, “Do you remember you said that once your career is somewhat successful, you would marry me?”
“Yeah, I’ve always remembered…”
“Then can you tell me about your current career?”
With a slight sense of accomplishment, I replied, “I’ve already acquired Leyao’s bar and CC’s music restaurant, and the two inns in Xitang are also generating high profits. It will soon form a profitable system. When I have enough confidence, I will find channels to raise funds and then embark on a path of rapid development. At that time, I should be considered to have achieved some success in my career, right?”
I don’t know whether Mi Cai was serious or joking as she replied, “Isn’t it a bit too late to consider your career as somewhat successful only at that time?”
“How come I feel like you’re somewhat eager to get married, hoping that I would achieve success in my career right away and start a married life with you?”
Mi Cai seemed a bit embarrassed, so she didn’t respond immediately. During her silence, another call came in. I took this opportunity to give Mi Cai some time to stay silent and switched to the incoming call, only to find it was an unfamiliar number I had never seen before.
Confused, I answered the call, and a voice that sounded familiar came through, getting straight to the point: “Zhao Yang, right? This is Weiran. I’m in Suzhou now. I’d like to meet you tomorrow; I wonder if you have time?”
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