Chapter 64: Change

"Sister, this Zheng Yingyong has a very complicated background and is ruthless in his dealings. Sooner or later, there will be trouble. In the future, don't have any contact with him."

"You know full well that this person is dangerous, yet you still get mixed up with him?"

Di Ye and Di Yan left the Post and Telecommunications Bureau office building together and walked toward the Yingfeng Flagship Store, saying as they walked, "I need to keep him steady, sell the Yingfeng shares for a high price, and then use the internet access service business to lure out people of a higher level; only then can I shake him off."

"What do you mean?"

"Yingfeng deals in pirated discs, which isn't suitable for people with official backgrounds to run, so it requires Zheng Yingyong to manage it on our behalf. But internet access service is a proper high-tech industry, open and aboveboard, very suitable for the children or relatives of officials to run. If done well, it can even add to the official's political achievements, so Zheng Yingyong won't be needed anymore."

After Di Ye explained, he spread his hands and said, "If I can cooperate directly with the master, why would I need to get mixed up with the servant?"

Di Yan was greatly surprised; she tilted her head to look him up and down and said, "Little brother, I don't believe you could figure out these twists and turns on your own. Who taught you?"

"It really was something I figured out myself. Sister, computers are a part of information science, and information is the foundation of how society operates. As long as you know everyone's needs and everyone's interests, many things become very simple; there aren't that many twists and turns."

"Don't talk to me about computers; I didn't study that."

"There are Selected Works of Mao in your office bookcase. If you take the time to read 'On Practice' and 'On Contradiction' in them, you'll understand. The former discusses how to correctly acquire information, and the latter discusses how to correctly analyze information. Combine the two, and you will be invincible."

Di Yan felt her worldview had been impacted and questioned, "I read those two articles in high school; they don't talk about these things, do they?"

"Theoretical things depend on how an individual applies them. Newton's three laws didn't say how to build rockets and cars either, but aren't they everywhere now?"

The two chatted all the way to the Yingfeng Flagship Store. It was already past 5 o'clock, and the store employees had all gone off duty. Only Li Ailing and Huang Ya were still there, sitting in the brand-new reception area watching a movie.

Di Yan hadn't been over for several days. She looked around the Flagship Store and saw that the messy posters on the walls had been torn down and repainted. The second-hand sofas, tables, chairs, and office supplies had also been replaced with brand-name items of a unified style, and the overall layout had been adjusted, giving it a fashionable and high-end feel.

"Sister Ling, you really have good taste; it looks much more comfortable now."

"Actually, Manager Di came up with the ideas for the layout; I just ran the errands to purchase everything."

Li Ailing was more enthusiastic than when she had first joined. After exchanging pleasantries with Di Yan with a smile, she led Di Ye to the office area and reported, "The company currently only has 2,500 VCD Players left in stock. Manager Fan said he found a new supply channel and can provide another 5,000 units. Do you want to accept them?"

It was already February 16th, and with only one week left until the "Treasury Bond Incident" on February 23rd, Di Ye pondered for a moment and asked, "Has there been any change in the number of packages handled in the last two days?"

"It's still the same scale as before: 300 lottery spots and 200 group-buying spots every day."

"When can Manager Fan supply the goods?"

"He said he can supply them starting next Monday, 500 units per day, and can add more if urgently needed."

Di Yongchang had already washed his hands of it, and the studio the two had partnered in had been taken over by Fan Dazhi, who clearly intended to continue following Zheng Yingyong. Di Ye was no saint and had always respected others' fates, so he instructed, "Tell Manager Fan to wait until we've used up our 2,500 units of stock before supplying more, to avoid disputes during future repairs and exchanges."

"Okay."

Li Ailing had a good sense of propriety. These past few days, she would proactively communicate with either Huang Ya or Di Ye regarding all matters, big or small. After agreeing, she took out a business card and said, "Someone came by today to promote discs. The selling price is also 15 yuan each, but you can order by phone, and they offer free delivery within 3 days. It's more convenient than sourcing from Guangdong Province."

Di Ye took the business card and looked at it. Seeing that the landline number left on it was the area code for Jinling, he couldn't help but frown. Because Jinling was very close to Yuncheng, if a pirate factory appeared there, discs would pour in endlessly, and Yingfeng's monopoly would soon end.

Li Ailing had only joined Yingfeng a few days ago and didn't know the tricks of the trade. Seeing Di Ye's grave expression, she thought they had encountered a scammer and hurriedly asked, "Manager Di, is there a problem with this person?"

"It's not that there's a problem with the person, but that the company's business is about to have a problem. We've always advertised that a disc costs 25 yuan, and adding the travel expenses to Guangdong Province, the cost is at least 30 yuan. A movie is two discs, totaling 60 yuan, so renting for 10 yuan is a great deal. Now, if they find out a movie only costs 30 yuan and can be delivered to their door, the 10-yuan rental fee will seem too high."

Li Ailing thought about it and realized he was right; her expression also became grave. She suggested, "Should we proactively lower the rental fee?"

"That's the only way."

Di Ye walked to the calendar on the wall, checked the date, and said, "There are only 29 days in the first lunar month this year. Next Monday is the 21st of the first lunar month. Starting that day, let's launch a new campaign called 'Eight-Day Conclusion', lower the rental fee to 8 yuan, and increase the daily package quota to 800. Tell Manager Fan to supply the goods early."

"Is an 8-yuan rental fee still a bit high?"

"8 yuan is just for a lucky number. We'll offer another 20% discount on-site, making the actual rental fee 6.5 yuan."

After giving his instructions, Di Ye turned to Li Ailing and said, "Sister Ling, school officially starts next week. I won't have time to come to the store to help; this campaign will depend entirely on you."

"I will do my best."

Di Ye was the type who yielded to soft persuasion but not to force. Seeing Li Ailing's good attitude, he reminded her, "For the previous VCD Players, my dad checked every single one carefully, so the quality was guaranteed. Now that he has washed his hands of it, you need to be more careful when inspecting the batch from Manager Fan to prevent quality issues."

"Okay, I'll arrange for someone to check them one by one."

"After inspection, you must stick a label on the machine that is different from the previous ones, so it's easier to distinguish who is responsible..."

At this moment, Zheng Yingyong walked into the store carrying a three or four-year-old boy. He handed the child to Li Ailing and greeted Di Ye with a smile, "Manager Di, you really are full of surprises! I always thought you were just an ordinary university student, but I didn't expect you to be a genius who was specially admitted to a doctoral program by Yun University."

"What kind of genius am I? I've just read a few more foreign books than others."

"That's still very impressive. I heard you wrote software worth millions of dollars in just a few days?"

Wealth moves the heart. As soon as Zheng Yingyong said this, Di Yan and Huang Ya, who were teasing Li Ailing's son, turned their heads to look at Di Ye in unison. Di Ye laughed and explained, "That was just a wild estimate based on similar foreign products; no one actually knows if it's worth that much."

Zheng Yingyong clicked his tongue in admiration. After inquiring about the Browser for a while, he said, "Manager Di, I'm a rough man who hasn't read many books. I don't understand what that internet access service actually does. Could you write a report for me? I'll find someone to study it."

"No problem, I'll write it this weekend and give it to you next Monday."

"Manager Di is so straightforward! How about we have a meal together tonight? My treat, to congratulate Manager Di on being admitted to the doctoral program."

Yun University was a key university, and the University President's administrative rank was equal to that of the mayor, but it belonged to the education system and had limited influence on the local government. Therefore, Di Ye asking him to communicate with the city about the internet was just a lead-in. His real goals were two: first, to test the relationship between Zheng Yingyong and Executive Vice Mayor Wang Beilin; second, to elevate his own status through the University President to attract Wang Beilin's attention.

Now, Zheng Yingyong's reaction proved that both goals had been achieved. Therefore, Di Ye didn't want to continue playing along with him and declined, "I just received my doctoral qualification this afternoon and haven't told my parents yet. I have to go home for dinner tonight. Let's wait until tomorrow or the day after when I'm free to invite Manager Zheng for a few drinks."

"That's great news; you should indeed go home and share the good news with your parents. I won't hold you up then; we can meet tomorrow or the day after."

The news of the doctoral admission made Di Yongchang very happy. He took the whole family to Fenghua Building, the highest-end restaurant near the residential area, for a big meal. During the meal, he poured and drank by himself, finished half a bottle of white liquor, and almost got drunk.

After returning home from dinner and waiting for Di Yongchang and Zhang Xiuzhi to fall asleep, Huang Ya handed Di Ye a Bank Card and said, "There are 15 million here. When do you plan to make your move?"

"Start building the position next Monday, settle on Thursday."

"In that case, I can transfer another 8 million or so in funds to you before Thursday."

Di Ye hummed in agreement, pulled Huang Ya into his arms, and promised, "Xiao Ya, don't worry. The two of us will never work for free for any rich woman in this life."

Huang Ya didn't say anything, just stamped a seal on his face.