444 He Desheng, the Expert at Bargaining

Most people online were debating about how only a thousand cell phones were available for sale. There were many complaints.

"I've seen many resort to hunger marketing, but this is the first time I'm witnessing a company be so open about it!"

"That's right. Others prepare tens or hundreds of thousands of cell phones even if they're employing hunger marketing. Yet, this company is only preparing a thousand cell phones. It even gave the impression that their cell phones were 'extremely popular' during the news conference. It's a trap for sure!"

"Even the audience at the news conference was probably hired, right?"

"I don't think it's just the live audience. The reviewers were probably paid as well!"

"The manufacturers could have allowed scalpers to order the cell phones in advance, so that they can act like the cell phones 'sold out on the spot'. The scalpers would then raise the prices of the cell phones. That'll be the perfect plan! They're colluding to cheat fools; the manufacturer and the scalpers would profit!"

"They're engaging the help of scalpers!"

"Forget it, forget it. The cell phone's obviously not really for sale. Please, don't tell me news about it anymore!"

"Let's watch and see. The company will continue to employ hunger marketing for the cell phones for sure. Each time, they would only sell a thousand cell phones and act like they ran out of stocks. That would create the illusion that everyone's fighting for the cell phones, so that its high price can be justified.

"Once they prepare adequate stocks, people would quickly realize that the cell phones weren't worth the price after all. Then, the company would collapse at once!"

"Many people must be coming to their senses now, right?"

"Don't say that. I can trust Tengda's reputation. What's more, Vice President Chang has already said this… they're trying to manufacture more stocks as quickly as they can. They'll sell two thousand cell phones tomorrow."

"Haha, two thousand? They're manufacturing two thousand cell phones as quickly as they can? Are you kidding me? And you dare to deny that this is hunger marketing?"

Pei Qian's heart filled with warmth as he read those comments.

Indeed, consumers were bright. They understood what was going on!

Remain this way. You have to remain this way! As long as your precious suspicions remain until the end of the month, I will take you as my benefactors!

Buzz… Buzz…

Just as Pei Qian was thinking, his phone started vibrating. Pei Qian picked it up and saw that it was He Desheng.

"Eh? Is this about the 'Top Student, Come Quick' app?"

Pei Qian quickly accepted the call. He had already instructed He Desheng to spend all the money that he had earned earlier! Had He Desheng completed his task?

"Boss Pei, we've bought the 'Top Student, Come Quick' project back! We have all the shares!" He Desheng sounded excited. "That's right. We've also hired the man who was in charge of the project at Xude Education. We didn't even have to poach him. He was fired!"

Pei Qian was stunned. Did everything really go that smoothly?

They got the shares just like that?

If his memory served him right, Xude Education had only bought the 'Top Student, Come Quick' project less than a month ago.

Yet, He Desheng had gotten it back so quickly. He must have spent a great deal, right?

Pei Qian could not curb his excitement. "How much did you spend?"

He Desheng answered, "Boss Pei, we spent more than five million yuan!"

Pei Qian, "?"

Just five million yuan?!

They had earned fifteen million yuan from the sale of their shares before. They even kept the last twenty percent.

Now, they had gotten everything back for less than one-third of that sum?

Was Xude Education sick in the head? They had spent over forty million yuan on the shares before, and they were only selling them for five million yuan now?!

Couldn't you have asked for more?! Huh?!

Hearing no response from Boss Pei, He Desheng thought that the former was unsatisfied with the price. He quickly tried to explain himself.

"Boss Pei, this price is already very low.

"When Xude Education bought the project, it spent a lot of money organizing events. For instance, it forced its own students to register and sell lessons on the application. However, the company soon went under fire, and the project collapsed!

"What's more, the project could not generate profits. Its value was falling by the day!

"Many members of Xude Education's higher management became very unhappy with this investment. Conflicts arose, and a few members of the higher management took the opportunity to revolt. They forced those who had decided to acquire this project out of the company and abandoned the project altogether…

"After they abandoned it, the project could no longer draw on Xude Education's resources. Thus, it steadily deteriorated until it became an unsalvageable mess.

"To avoid incurring more losses, Xude Education decided to cut it off completely. It was just as well that we had 20% shares in the project, and we had the right of first refusal. That was why Xude Education approached me first.

"Of course, they proposed a high price at first, in an attempt to cheat me.

"Yet, how could I be cheated? I had been in charge of the project the entire time. I know it inside-out. With just a couple of sentences, I shut them up!

"At that moment, they thought about selling the shares to others. That was why I hinted that I knew the project too well. I only had to leak a bit of information to make sure that nobody would buy their shares for a high price!

"Thus, after several negotiations, they lost their patience. I slaughtered the price and offered five million yuan!

"I made it very clear. The project is only worth that much now. If they wanted to delay it any longer, they would not even have gotten five million yuan!

"If we waited longer, we may have gotten a lower price. However, I thought that you were in a bit of a rush, Boss Pei. I didn't want to hold you back. I guessed that the price was good enough, and so I finished the deal.

"Oh, that's right. The man who was in charge of this project at Xude Education took the blame for the entire situation, together with the other members of higher management. That was why he was fired. Boss Pei, I remember you saying you wanted to poach him. That's why I contacted him and invited him over.

"If you want to meet him, you can do so at any time!

"That's about it. What do you think, Boss Pei? I dealt with it all quite decisively, right?"

Pei Qian had no idea what to say.

"You did… really well," said Pei Qian sorrowfully and through gritted teeth.

At the other end of the line, He Desheng smiled, embarrassed. "Don't mention it, Boss Pei. You had clear directions. I was just doing as you told me. That's how I achieved those results!

"If you didn't keep some shares on hand and instruct me to buy all the shares back, I would not have thought about doing this!"

Pei Qian, "…"

Alright, it's my fault again. We've already bought them back. What else can I say?

Pei Qian grieved for a while and then said, "Tell the man in charge to meet me at Dream Realization Ventures at 2 PM. I want to see him."

He Desheng replied, "Alright, no problem, Boss Pei!"

After hanging up, Pei Qian felt worried. He could not tell that He Desheng was that good at bargaining.

However, that was the most useless skill in Tengda Corporation!

Still, since they had already obtained 'Top Student, Come Quick'—the mess of a project that could keep incurring losses—back, he now had a bottomless pit. He could probably lose the ten million yuan again sooner or later.

Yes, that was still better than failing to get the shares back!

…

At 2 PM in the afternoon, Pei Qian arrived at Dream Realization Ventures. He Desheng and the man in charge were already waiting there.

"Hello, Boss Pei!

"Boss Pei, this is the man who was in charge of the 'Top Student, Come Quick' project in Xude Education. His name is Yu Pingan.

"This is Tengda's Boss Pei."

He Desheng introduced the two men.

Pei Qian grabbed Yu Pingan's hand and shook it. "Hello! Thank you for coming."

Pei Qian looked very honored to meet Yu Pingan. Xu Pingan felt overwhelmed by Pei Qian's favor. "Boss Pei… I… Don't mention it."

Pei Qian sized him up. He looked honest and obedient. He was probably the type to mess things up silently.

"Come, have a seat.

"Let's be upfront with each other. I want you to keep working on 'Top Student, Come Quick'. We will pay you according to Tengda Corporation's standards, and you'll enjoy various benefits as well. How does it sound?" Pei Qian asked expectantly.

Yu Pingan looked even more overwhelmed. "Boss Pei… I… I won't let you down for sure!"

Pei Qian nodded, satisfied. "Hmm, what are you planning to do?"

After some thought, Yu Pingan said, "Xude Education's higher management is stupid! They were blindly working on the project! They insisted on forcing people to register and even added advertisements for various classes on the application. The entire application became foul!

"Once I take over, I'll get rid of all of those stupid things once and for all!

"I'll restore the 'Top Student, Come Quick' application to its pure and original form, and I'll regain the users' trust!"

Pei Qian did not say anything.

Xu Pingan is doing a good job of shifting the blame as much as he could. However, if he really undid what Xude Education had done, wouldn't the application revert to its original problematic form?

That wouldn't do. I would have earned ten million yuan for nothing, then.

The current situation has to remain. Don't mess it up for me!

Pei Qian pondered for a moment and said, "That's inappropriate. Leave the application as it is. Don't get rid of anything inside, understand?

"Of course, that doesn't mean you should add new functions either.

"Let's seek stability first. At a time like that, inaction is better than any move."

Yu Pingan was stunned. He subconsciously looked at He Desheng.

He Desheng frowned and whispered, "What are you looking at me for? Over here, we follow whatever Boss Pei says, regardless. Don't overthink and don't ask too much, understand?"

Yu Pingan quickly nodded. "Yes, yes. Boss Pei, I'll do as you say!"

Pei Qian nodded, satisfied. Yes, Yu Pingan looks obedient and honest, and he has a good attitude as well. He'll probably be the next Lu Mingliang with some nurturing.

It would be perfect if he could do whatever Pei Qian asked of him well and incur losses without causing anyone to suspect anything!

"Alright, that's all for now," said Pei Qian. He stood up and got ready to leave.

He Desheng quickly said, "Boss Pei, there's another thing!

"There's still close to ten million yuan in the company's bank account. What do you think we should do with this sum…?"

Pei Qian, "…"

Pei Qian had intended to spend all the money on 'Top Student, Come Quick'. However, He Desheng had ended up slashing the price and obtaining all the shares for five million yuan.

The rest of the funds were sitting in Dream Realization Ventures' bank account. That was probably embarrassing for an investor…

Pei Qian felt sorrowful. Should he pour all of the money into 'Top Student, Come Quick'?

No, it had not been easy for the project to reach this state from what it was before. What if Pei Qian made it popular again by pouring so much funds into it?

He could not be careless before ensuring that the project would incur losses.

Should he use the ten million yuan to manufacture more cell phones?

It was an option, but Pei Qian had to see how well the cell phones were selling tomorrow before making a decision. If nobody was buying them, he could consider manufacturing more stocks. If they were sold out, then he would have to rule out this option.

Even after much thought, Pei Qian could not find a project that would still continue to fail if he invested this sum. Thus, he had no choice but to say, "Leave it first. Remind me in two days."

He Desheng quickly nodded. "Alright, Boss Pei."

After walking Boss Pei out, He Desheng began to assign tasks to Yu Pingan. From today onwards, Yu Pingan would officially be in charge of the 'Top Student, Come Quick' application.

"Er, I have a question," Yu Pingan finally said after some hesitation.

He Desheng asked, "Yes? Go ahead."

Yu Pingan chose his words carefully. "Boss Pei said not to add or take away anything on the application and to maintain its current state… does that include all the advertisements for Xude Education's courses?"

He Desheng smiled. "What do you think? Since Boss Pei said to 'maintain its current state', he means we should do that as much as possible."

Yu Pingan looked pained. "But… there are many advertisements for Xude Education's courses on the application. It won't be right for our application to advertise their courses! Xude Education would probably not let us use their content as publicity either. If we keep all information related to Xude Education, we might run the risk of getting into legal trouble."

He Desheng pondered for a while and answered, "Yes, that's true. Still, we have to do as Boss Pei says.

"How about… we keep the spaces and replace the advertisements with a few from Tengda Corporation's other businesses? We can replace them with content that is related or somehow connected to the application.

"That way, we wouldn't be getting rid of any functions. We'll be fulfilling Boss Pei's requests and avoiding legal trouble. That's killing two birds with one stone."

Yu Pingan nodded. "Yes, that's what I was thinking! I'll do that, then!"