Chapter 385: You

In March, the weather was warm one moment and chilly the next.

One moment the sun shone warmly; the next, a fine rain wove through the air.

Bronze bells beneath the eaves clattered wildly in the spring breeze, their sounds sharp and urgent, while rain slid down the city wall’s battlements, soaking into the blue stone slabs in layers of dark ink.

Pedestrians on the street quickly opened umbrellas; those without them hurried forward or ducked into roadside shops.

Wang Bin stood at the entrance of a beef soup shop, his mood as foul as the weather outside.

Although KuaiPao was the leader in the group-buying industry, in this small county of Chunshen, it was still unwelcome.

He had visited over a dozen restaurants along Beijie; every owner’s reply was the same: “Never heard of it,” “No cooperation,” “Not interested.”

In an era when group-buying and food delivery had yet to take off, nearly all food vendors relied on handing out flyers offline, surviving solely on flavor and loyal customers.

What the hell is KuaiPao!

You want to take 5% of turnover right off the bat?

Pure fantasy!

How much does it cost to hire a few part-timers to hand out flyers each day?

“This is nothing like I imagined!”

Wang Bin frowned, pulled out a pack of Huangshan cigarettes, lit one for himself, and took a deep drag.

“Young man, you’re dressed in a suit and polished shoes—aren’t you in real estate sales?”

The beef soup shop owner, a bald middle-aged man, smiled warmly and struck up a conversation.

“No, I sell insurance,” Wang Bin replied irritably.

“Heh, you’re pretty sharp,” the owner caught on—he was clearly lying.

“Bro, just joking,” Wang Bin sighed, offered him a cigarette, and spoke weakly.

“Can’t sell houses?” The owner took the cigarette but didn’t light it—he clipped it behind his ear.

Fuck!

Wang Bin muttered under his breath, glancing down at his outfit.

Does this really look like real estate sales?

For this new job, he’d spent eight hundred yuan buying a suit from Hailan Zhi Jia.

“Bro, I’m the business manager for KuaiPao,” Wang Bin couldn’t hold back anymore—he revealed his true identity.

“Chen Yan’s company?” The owner’s eyes lit up, pressing eagerly.

“You’ve heard of it?” Wang Bin’s face brightened.

“Are you recruiting for group-buying or delivery?” The owner nodded, as if he knew everything.

“Group-buying, bro—you really get it!” Wang Bin grinned, leaning in eagerly.

“Whoa! What’s that look for? I read newspapers and books regularly!” The owner rolled his eyes.

“My apologies! Bro, your shop doesn’t seem busy—interested in joining KuaiPao?” Wang Bin asked flatly.

“Now I get why you looked so down earlier—your talking skills are this bad? You’re lucky no one punched you.”

The owner scowled, firing back sharply.

Since Chunshen bordered Zhoulai, its most famous snack was beef soup; locals both inside and outside the city trusted only time-honored establishments, leaving new shops like his abandoned.

Wang Bin smiled awkwardly, realizing his mistake, and apologized repeatedly.

The owner waved it off, seemingly unconcerned, and asked directly: “How much do you charge?”

“Five percent commission. For example, if KuaiPao boosts your sales by ten thousand yuan, we take five hundred as a tech service fee,” Wang Bin said, holding up his hand to gesture.

“Reliable? I’ve only seen KuaiPao mentioned on Toutiao,” the owner asked again.

“There’s a beef soup shop in Lucheng that had no customers at first—only twenty or thirty bowls a day. Guess how many they sell now after joining KuaiPao?” Wang Bin’s eyes darted as he made up a story.

“Fifty bowls?” The owner guessed casually.

“Five hundred!” Wang Bin declared loudly.

He got his job at KuaiPao purely through his mouth—he lacked emotional intelligence, so he made up big lies.

During his interview, he’d bragged to Wang Tianming that he was head of the student union and president of the College Entrepreneurship Alliance.

In Old Wang’s eyes, this guy had too thick a skin—not putting him in sales was a waste of talent.

“Total nonsense!” The owner didn’t believe him—but his lips curled upward involuntarily; he was tempted.

“There are over a hundred thousand KuaiPao users in Chunshen, but only dozens of merchants signed up. Once you’re online, your business will explode.” Wang Bin kept pushing.

“My shop mainly sells beef soup and beef noodles—big bowl eight yuan, small bowl six yuan, hand-made flatbread one yuan each,” the owner rubbed his hands, smiling broadly.

Five hundred bowls a day!

He’d make a fortune!

“Try two combo meals: big bowl of beef soup plus one flatbread for 6.9 yuan; small bowl plus one flatbread for 4.9 yuan,” Wang Bin tentatively suggested.

“No way, too much loss,” the owner shook his head.

“Fine, whatever—I’ve got another beef soup shop ahead,” Wang Bin remained calm, speaking indifferently.

The owner’s brow furrowed instantly—he feared a competitor joining group-buying would steal all his customers. He asked cautiously: “What if I raise the price by one yuan?”

“How about lowering it by one yuan instead? I’ll throw in a free flash sale,” Wang Bin countered.

… The owner fell silent, then turned to glance at his thirty-square-meter dining area—could he handle it?

“The promotion isn’t urgent—let’s try it first. But I can only serve three hundred group-buying customers per day,” the owner finally said.

It was a family-run shop—he’d die of exhaustion if he tried making five hundred bowls a day.

“No problem—we can set a redemption cap in the backend,” Wang Bin grinned, relief flooding him—he’d finally closed his first deal.

Next, he pulled out a standard contract from his bag and had the owner sign it.

After finishing, he helped the owner activate the merchant backend, briefly explained the menu functions, and outlined the cash withdrawal process.

“Boss Zhou, our KuaiPao staff will come this afternoon to take product photos,” Wang Bin reminded him before leaving.

“Manager Wang, thanks so much—let me treat you to lunch? It’s already noon, eat first before you go,” Boss Zhou invited warmly.

“No thanks—company policy. I still need to return to stamp the contract and arrange the launch process,” Wang Bin declined firmly.

The rain had stopped; the streets were wet.

“Alright, then, you go ahead,” Boss Zhou saw him to the door.

Wang Bin clutched the contract and hurried to Shidai Square. As he entered a rice-with-stewed-pork stall, he saw Wu Xingyu looking miserable and Wang Tianming calm and composed.

“Bro Wang, Ah Yu,” Wang Bin sat down heavily and shouted to the owner: “One pork head rice bowl—extra pork and green pepper!”

“Got it! Just a moment!” the owner replied.

“Bing, how many deals did you close?” Wu Xingyu asked eagerly. “One,” Wang Bin held up one finger.

“Big Head, you lost—lunch is on you! Boss, add two chicken legs for me!” Wang Tianming gloated.

“You bet I’d close a deal?” Wang Bin glared.

“Don’t worry, I won’t forget your contribution—I’ll give you one chicken leg,” Wang Tianming grinned.

“Ah Yu, what about you?” Wang Bin turned to Wu Xingyu.

“Zero,” Wang Tianming smirked teasingly.

“Bro Wang, I used all the script the company taught me—why won’t any owners join group-buying?” Wu Xingyu scratched his head, looking frustrated.

“Which shops did you visit?” Wang Tianming asked.

“Wuyuanzi Old Goose, Zhuangyuan Snacks, Juhongsheng, and Yitong Shouge,” Wu Xingyu replied.

“What do you think, Ah Bin?” Wang Tianming ignored Wu Xingyu and turned to Wang Bin.

Along the way, Wang Bin had slowly figured it out: the dozen or so restaurants, internet cafes, and KTVs he’d visited were all long-established shops, thriving on loyal customers alone—they had no need for extra traffic.

So when he talked about online traffic, customer acquisition cost, reputation accumulation, and management efficiency, they just thought he was talking nonsense.

Only merchants with mediocre or failing businesses would actively seek cooperation.

“These shops are all doing very well,” Wang Bin said succinctly.

“What’s wrong with good business?” Wu Xingyu, still confused, asked instinctively.

“In Lucheng or Jinling, we’d target big, successful merchants first—but in a small county, the model is different. Most merchants rely on loyal customers. We need to make them compete,” Wang Tianming analyzed calmly.

“Compete?” Wu Xingyu frowned, not quite understanding.

“For example, there are seventeen KTVs in town. Any merchant on KuaiPao will see a 30–40% increase in daily orders.

There are only so many customers—they don’t fall from the sky. Other KTVs’ business will suffer. Then they’ll have no choice but to join group-buying. Once all KTVs are on, we make them compete on price.”

Wang Tianming spoke with a sly grin.

“Bro Wang, genius!” Wu Xingyu suddenly understood, eyes wide, and gave a thumbs-up.

Wang Bin got it too—he’d focus on small and medium merchants in the afternoon, making Chunshen’s business owners realize that joining KuaiPao meant big profits, and build the platform’s reputation later.

Wang Tianming, eyes half-lidded, listened to their praise, a faint smile spreading across his face—he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

On the third morning, Chunshen’s first batch of merchants welcomed their first group-buying customers.

Outside Zhou’s Beef Soup Shop on Beijie, a long line formed.

Outside Tongxing Biscuit Shop on Nanjie, the scene was equally packed—customers filled both inside and out.

At the KTV named “Alibaba” at the crossroads, business never paused from noon to 1:30 a.m.

Though the county’s user base was small, population density was significant.

Besides, most county residents had no car loans or mortgages—they spent money more freely than white-collar workers in first-tier cities.

As soon as KuaiPao’s group-buying launched, with few merchants but many users, every business boomed.

Wang Bin gradually noticed that owners who’d previously ignored him now treated him with courtesy.

They began seriously listening to his group-buying data analysis, even asking proactively about KuaiPao’s promotional policies, their eyes gleaming with greed—utterly different from their earlier refusal.

On the other side.

Pei Yi sent Chen Yansen a video conference invitation with the first-day data from ten county-level station sites.

“Old Pei, you underestimated the spending power of county users,” Chen Yansen teased.

Previously, Pei Yi had led his team to expand wildly across the country but hesitated to enter the county market, convinced that county users’ incomes were too low to support group buying and food delivery services.

“Boss, this data truly exceeded my expectations.”

Pei Yi let out a dry laugh, answering with slight embarrassment.

“For data on consumption power in the county markets of East China, North China, Central China, and South China, you can get a report from Liao Wei—Yun Su did thorough research when setting up their express service stations,” Chen Yansen said, his amusement fading into seriousness.

“Understood, Boss,” Pei Yi nodded.

“By the way, I approve your proposal to appoint Zhang Xuhao as General Manager of the Food Delivery Division. Tell him he won’t be short on bonuses or stock options,” Chen Yansen added.

“Got it,” Pei Yi replied immediately.

After giving his instructions, Chen Yansen ended the call.

In his eyes, Kuai Run’s growth rate, though fast, wasn’t fast enough.

The potential of the group buying and food delivery markets was enormous—they should be creating far more jobs.

“Tap-tap-tap!” A knock came at the door.

“Boss, the monthly video meeting for the Eastern European market starts at three, ten minutes from now. Zhou Zong is in Room A4 on the eighth floor.”

Chen Jie walked in, wearing a houndstooth pencil skirt and a light gray blazer over a cream-colored chiffon blouse, through which her pale skin was faintly visible.

Chen Yansen gave a slight nod and stood to leave.

Seeing this, Chen Jie followed closely behind him—writing meeting minutes was part of her daily duties as his assistant.

One minute later, Chen Yansen took the elevator to the eighth floor and entered Room A4.

“Boss!” A chorus of greetings rose from the room.

Chen Yansen glanced around; besides Zhou Shouzhi, the room held the regional marketing director, after-sales supervisor, and channel director for Eastern Europe.

“Begin.”

After taking his seat, Chen Yansen instructed Zhou Shouzhi.

The strip lights above illuminated the LED screen; as the video conference connected, market leads from Poland, Ukraine, Romania, and seven other nations appeared one by one.

“First, each of you summarize your market performance—three minutes per person,” Zhou Shouzhi began.

He understood his boss’s preference: no long-winded reports.

“In February, Belarus’s total sales reached 159,000 units, with a target completion rate of 106%—27,000 online and 132,000 offline, capturing an 8.9% market share.

The best-selling models are the Qingcheng D1S (already hardware- and ecosystem-adapted), Orange D1, Orange C2, and Orange C3, which together account for 26.1% of sales. Competitors are primarily Apple, Shanxing, Fly, and Nokia…”

The Belarus market lead reported slowly.

Though monthly sales of 159,000 units may seem modest, they’ve already placed the brand fourth in the local market—only Shanxing, Fly, and Nokia rank higher, with Apple trailing behind Orange.

(End of Chapter)