Chapter 53: Conflict

Monopoly is like a nuclear bomb; it is immensely powerful as a bargaining chip. Because of this, Di Ye's expansion plan progressed very smoothly. Starting from the morning of the tenth day of the first lunar month and ending on the evening of the twelfth, he successfully opened 30 branches at a rate of 10 per day.

Of these 30 branches, only the storefronts in popular areas like Qingyun Road and the Municipal Government were rented with money. The rest of the branches at the entrances of various residential compounds were almost all established by cooperating with the landlords; not only did he not spend money on rent, but he even earned a franchise fee in return.

Di Ye did not want to ruin his reputation, so the deposits and franchise fees he collected were not high. Furthermore, he signed contracts on a monthly basis, minimizing the risk. On top of that, VCD rental stores did not require renovation; they only needed to hire one clerk, put out a movie catalog, and hang up a Yingfeng sign, so they were very popular. By the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, he no longer had to go around looking for locations; landlords would take the initiative to come to the Flagship Store to seek cooperation.

The rapid expansion of the branches not only solved the problem of the inconvenience of renting discs but also boosted the reputation and popularity of Yingfeng, making the promotion of giving away a VCD Player with a package deal even more explosive. Consequently, under the repeated urging of Di Yongchang, Di Ye called Xia Jianwu on the afternoon of the thirteenth day of the first lunar month and ordered another 2,000 CD Players and the corresponding Decompression Cards.

"Big Brother! You've sold so many modified CD players in bulk; how am I supposed to sell my own VCD Players next month?"

"Hey, hey, hey, don't go around calling me Big Brother; I can't afford that honor."

"Forget calling you Big Brother, even if I called you 'Grandpa' I'd do it in a heartbeat. In short, just take it easy and leave me some scraps to drink."

Di Ye heard the anxiety in Xia Jianwu's voice over the phone and asked, "Things aren't going smoothly on your end?"

"Smoothly, my foot. I want to set up an independent factory and create my own brand, but my dad insists on having Panda Electronics buy a stake and using the Panda brand, saying it'll sell better. We've been arguing about this for three days and still haven't reached a conclusion. Besides, the few management and technical talents I had my eye on, who had agreed to resign with me, have all gotten cold feet now..."

After Xia Jianwu vented his frustrations for a few minutes, he changed the subject and said, "There are two key problems now: one is the supply of the Decoding Chip, and the other is the startup capital. As long as these two problems are solved, the rest can be easily resolved."

"Capital is not a problem. You just get the supply of the Decoding Chip sorted out first."

"Give me a straight answer: exactly how much do you plan to invest? And when?"

"I'm going to Jinling on March 1st, and I'll decide based on the situation then. At the very least, I'll invest 2 million, and at most 5 million. Is that straight enough for you?"

"There's a 3-million difference in there; how is that straight?"

Di Ye held the receiver, shaking his head and smiling.

The 7,000 CD Players purchased from Panda Electronics had an ex-factory price of only a little over 400 yuan each, yet they were sold externally for 600 yuan. After deducting the bribes for Wang and other relevant personnel, at least 100 yuan per unit went into Xia Jianwu's pocket, helping him earn 700,000 yuan—more than enough to build a small factory. Yet this guy was still constantly crying poor, clearly trying to play the pig to eat the tiger.

Di Ye had no interest in running a VCD Player company. If Xia Jianwu wanted to use this method to seize the initiative, then let him have it. So he said, "I'll go to Jinling on March 1st to see the situation. If you're short on money, I'll put in more; if you're not, I'll put in less. Anyway, you're in charge of the factory, and I'll assist."

"You're certainly at ease."

Xia Jianwu stopped while he was ahead and didn't probe Di Ye any further. Instead, he said, "I have two friends who want to go to Yuncheng tomorrow to inspect the disc rental chain stores. They'll also bring over the luggage my little sister needs for the start of the semester. Can you help host them and give them some pointers? No problem, right?"

"No problem. Didn't you say earlier you were coming to pick up Fangfei to go back for the Lantern Festival?"

"I'm so busy I can't even touch the ground; where would I find the time for the Lantern Festival? Just let my little sister stay in Yuncheng; it's almost time for school to start anyway."

"Will your dad agree?"

"He's busier than I am; he's long forgotten he even has a daughter in Yuncheng."

Di Ye chuckled and said, "That's too fake. Fangfei calls home every night to report that she's safe."

"You know full well why I'm saying that. My little sister is too naive; she lets things slip even when reporting she's safe. If I hadn't helped cover for her, my dad would have already gone to Yuncheng to beat you up."

After Xia Jianwu finished speaking, he sighed softly and warned, "Host my two friends well tomorrow; don't let the cat out of the bag."

Di Ye touched his forehead, wiped away non-existent cold sweat, and said, "I'll be waiting for them at the Flagship Store tomorrow."

After ending the call with Xia Jianwu, Di Ye hosted a shop owner who had come to discuss a franchise. When he finished signing the agreement and saw him out, he saw Huang Zongshan driving up in a Jinbei Van.

"Brother Di Ye, busy?"

"You got your driver's license that fast?"

Huang Zongshan was very respectful toward Di Ye now, not as cocky as before, and his hooliganism had faded quite a bit. He explained earnestly, "I learned to drive last summer vacation, but I just never went to take the test. I went to a driving school two days ago to have an instructor retrain me, and I passed the exam on the first try."

"Driving isn't a game; be careful."

Di Ye gave a casual instruction, tossed him the cigarettes he used to host guests, and asked, "How is Bi Wanxi doing now?"

"His body is fine; the doctor said he'll be better after resting for a while. It's just that he has no spirit; he's been lying in bed staring blankly and barely even eats."

"Did you find out who beat him?"

Although Huang Zongshan was not yet 20, he was a veteran smoker. He skillfully lit a cigarette and said, "It was a guy nicknamed Ren Datou. He opened a dance hall over by the Chemical Plant. Rumor has it he's backed by someone and has a lot of influence; even the local police station doesn't dare mess with him."

If his surname is Ren, then it must have been instigated by Zhong Rongke's mistress, Ren Yinglian...

Di Ye and Bi Wanxi were only casual acquaintances and had no intention of avenging him. Asking about this was just a precaution to prevent someone from stabbing him in the back. Now that he had figured it out, he didn't take it to heart and said, "Give me the car keys; I'm going to the Department Store Building to buy some things."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"No need, go to the store and chat with your sister for a while."

Yun University started the semester on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month. Di Ye had two young women in his care and certainly wouldn't be living in the dormitory after school started. So, when he went to inspect branch locations the day before yesterday, he took the opportunity to rent a two-bedroom apartment near the school. Now, he was stealing a moment of leisure to go to the Department Store Building to purchase daily necessities.

The interior of the Jinbei Van was very spacious and could hold a lot of things. In addition to buying bed sheets, quilts, pots, pans, and other daily necessities, Di Ye also bought sports equipment like dumbbells, basketballs, and badminton rackets to prepare for working out. After all, he had to take care of two young women; he couldn't afford to be in poor health.

By the time he finished shopping and returned to the Flagship Store, it was already nearly 5:00 PM. After parking the car at the entrance, Di Ye immediately noticed something was wrong, because through the display window, he saw everyone gathered in the business area, with no one in the reception area watching movies.

"Damn! It's nine-to-one that some new Shareholder has come to cause trouble."

Di Ye grabbed the badminton racket he had just bought and walked into the store. He heard a woman in the crowd shouting aggressively: "You little slut! You're just a worker, I'm a Shareholder! I told you to take the money out, and you actually dared to refuse? You've really turned the world upside down..."

"Everyone get out of the way!"

Di Ye shouted, tapping the table beside him with the badminton racket, making a *bang-bang-bang* sound. He drove the onlookers away, walked up, and saw Ren Yinglian wearing a mink coat, carrying an LV Handbag, standing arrogantly in front of the cash register, pointing at Huang Ya, who was guarding the cash box, and cursing.

Huang Zongshan was standing at the entrance of the cash register, blocking the passage with his body. There was a clear red mark on his face; he must have been slapped by Ren Yinglian. Seeing this, Di Ye frowned and asked, "Miss Ren, what are you doing?"

Ren Yinglian didn't know if her emotional intelligence was extremely low or if she was just used to being flattered, but she didn't notice Di Ye's anger at all. Instead, she treated him as a helper and said in a commanding tone, "Manager Di, you've come just in time. Hurry up and fire this little slut! I told her to give me 100,000 yuan, and she actually said she didn't have it, even though I clearly saw there was a lot of money in the cash box."

Di Ye's expression grew even colder, and he mocked, "Miss Ren, do you want me to call the police to send you to prison, or call an ambulance to send you to a psychiatric Hospital?"

The previously quiet crowd of onlookers immediately burst into laughter.

Ren Yinglian was furious. She threw a tantrum, cursed a few nasty words, and then pulled a Big Brother out of her Handbag. While dialing, she said, "I get it now, you and this little slut are in cahoots, betraying your own! I'm calling Old Fan right now and having him come here to make the call."

Di Ye swung the badminton racket and sneered, "Don't call Old Fan; call Ren Datou or Manager Zhong. Let them come and save you, otherwise, you won't be leaving this store today."

Ren Yinglian's IQ was worrying; she didn't even catch Di Ye's obvious threat and instead became even more arrogant, shouting, "You just wait, I'm calling my big brother over right now, and then we'll see who gets their teeth knocked out!"

"Fine, have him come. We'll see who ends up with their teeth knocked out."