ith your meager achievements!"Upon hearing this, Xiao Yaxin sneered inwardly. "Deputy director Hmph, I wonder if he can hold onto his position for long! This unit could collapse at any moment due to Z...Chapter 54 Pursuit
The campus consumption magazine founded by Ren Guangdong had achieved a resounding success in its first campaign at Rong University. The number of pages, which initially started with eighteen, was expanded to twenty-five, and the monthly advertising cost surpassed fifty thousand yuan. They already had eighty fixed clients for advertisements. The magazine was also rapidly expanding, starting to take up top positions among consumption guide magazines in several key universities.
During a phone call with Su Can, Lin Guangdong mentioned, "According to your strategy document, we've begun implementing plans to further expand our market. However, the magazine is already quite influential; students at Cai University, Ke University, Rong University and Jiao University are collecting our consumption magazines and selling them for between three to five yuan each. This really shows some intelligence as the discount meal coupons listed in these magazines certainly aren't worth that price."
Su Can smiled and said, "Teacher Lin, you're doing well,"
"Please don’t call me Teacher Lin anymore; I can no longer be your teacher in this aspect. You should teach me instead. Your plan document was excellent, and collaborating with the student unions of major universities as you suggested has proven to be very beneficial. Now, some colleges are actively reaching out to us hoping to publish their recruitment advertisements on our magazine."
"Oh right, there's another matter. Not only Rong City Daily but also Ge City Commercial News Group have sent people to contact us and hope to acquire us. We need to set a price."
Lin Guangdong fell silent for a moment before bringing up this issue. Of course, these traditional media companies in Rong City viewed their campus consumption magazine as merely an insignificant publication that had risen by chance, but Lin Guangdong naturally wouldn’t tell Su Can about this.
Su Can pondered for a moment and then said, "Try to stall them. On the side of our advertising clients, we'll introduce a six-month contract system. We need to accelerate our expansion的步伐要快一些了，很快這一塊就會有許多同業崛起，我們所要做的，就是要走到他們的前麵。”
“還好是蓉城日報，蓉城商報集團可是有著不低的背景，後台就是如今的蓉城市長。亦有著省報業集團的脈係，若是惹惱了目前這個巨頭，小小的菠蘿傳媒自然接受不住這樣的摧殘，隻怕上麵政策變個調子，在目前環境下的校園雜誌就辦不下去。自然要哄一手，拖一手。”
“實在不行的話，你們就給他們這個數。”蘇燦說了個價，林光棟都嚇了一跳，覺得匪夷所思，要是按照蘇燦的說法報上去，他已經可以想象得到負責和他們談判人的嘴臉，恐怕會覺得他們菠蘿傳媒瘋了吧。
而事實上林光棟的收購報價的確讓對方笑了起來，更放言覺得菠蘿傳媒太過狂妄。如此好的收購機會，買的不是他們這群人，而是他們的這個創意，足以讓林光棟一躍衣食無憂，和從前那個在二十七中體製內遊走每個月拿著微薄工資收入的教師截然不同的人生。
而他則白白放棄了這個機會，看著對方刻意甩手而去的背影，原本對這些報業集團來人麵前表現出一臉悵然的林光棟在最後一刻又笑了起來。
一切都是意料之中的事情，讓對方意識到他們的不自量力和狂妄，任由得看著他們放棄被巨頭收購的機會一條路走到黑，這樣反到無視他們，遠比形成正麵對手樹立強敵要聰明得多。想來這家報業集團將忽略這個行業的前景而不再對他們感興趣，等到他們崛起的時候，對方想要插手，也就無能為力了。
林光棟不由的對那個隱隱遙控這一切，將對手心理把握得如此之好的高中生蘇燦生出了一種奇特的感覺，他的思想內容，根本就不像是高中生，若不然。他仍然是以高中生的身份，隻是將眼前的這一切，當成是棋局，冷漠應對，詭誦拚殺。
人生如棋。
Corrected version:
Su Can pondered for a moment and then said, "Try to stall them. On the side of our advertising clients, we'll introduce a six-month contract system. We need to accelerate our expansion. Very soon, many competitors will rise in this field, and what we have to do is get ahead of them."
Dealing with Rong City Daily was still manageable, but Rong City Commercial News Group had considerable backing; its patronage included the current mayor of Rong City, as well as ties to the provincial press group. If they provoked this giant, little Pineapple Media would certainly be unable to withstand such a disaster. Any change in policy from above could make it impossible for campus magazines like theirs to continue under the current environment. Therefore, they needed to placate and stall them.
"If all else fails, give them this figure," Su Can suggested a price that startled Lin Guangdong with its audacity; he could already imagine the expression of incredulity on the face of whoever was handling negotiations for the other side. They might think Pineapple Media had gone mad.
In reality, Lin Guangdong's acquisition offer did indeed make the other party laugh and proclaim that Pineapple Media was overly ambitious. Such a good opportunity to acquire them wasn’t about buying a group of people but acquiring their innovative concept, which could enable Lin Guangdong to leap from his former life as an underpaid teacher at No. 27 Middle School to one where he would be financially secure.
He had let this chance slip away and watched the other side turn their back on him deliberately, showing disappointment in their faces when they first arrived. In the end, Lin Guangdong couldn't help but smile again.
All of this was within his expectations; making them aware of their own limitations and arrogance would allow them to watch as the other side missed out on being acquired by a giant because of it. This approach ignored them rather than directly facing off against them, which was much smarter. It meant that the press group in question might overlook the prospects of this industry and lose interest in Pineapple Media, leaving no room for interference once they had risen to prominence.
Lin Guangdong couldn’t help but feel a sense of bewilderment at the high school student Su Can who seemed to control everything from behind the scenes and understand his opponents' psychology so well. His mindset did not appear like that of an ordinary high school student, for he treated every situation as part of a chess game, responding coldly while tactically fighting.
Life is like a game of chess.
Towards the end of the month, Su Can also started to spend more time reading. Recently, he had been busy writing plans for Lin Guangdong's magazine and Shushan Stationery Factory, as well as signing off on product design copyrights for the factory. Due to this scattered focus, even though he had already pre-studied all third-year high school content, there were still many gaps.
During his final review before the exams, he once again picked up these books.
He soon immersed himself in Su Dongpo's "Ode to the Red Cliffs," Laozi and Zhuangzi's "Free and Easy Wandering," Wang Zian'an's "Preface to Tengwang Pavilion," the brown pages of physics on simple harmonic motion, and mathematics on Euler's formula.
Later, Su Can heard some things about Gong Jun. The junior police station in the West District had forcibly detained individuals who turned out to be children of the district-level party committee government. When they released these people, everyone from Dageng Construction was arrested. Although their opponents did not dare do anything openly, after that, water supply to the West District Police Station was cut off at times.
The police officers encountered resistance when trying to carry out tasks and even had difficulties getting fuel for their cars, so they eventually had to go to a gas station in the North District to refuel before returning.
Gong Jun must have anticipated such consequences back then when he decided to deal with those children of officials.
This made Su Can feel more positively towards Gong Jun. At the same time, thinking about Zhao Lijun, his heart warmed up as well. Zhao Lijun's confidants were also people who would not back down no matter how much resistance they faced at crucial moments.
In this world, there are always some people who do not just exist for selfish reasons. In their hearts, there are certain principles or something called righteous indignation that might seem foolish to others.
At school No. 27, things were starting to clear up. With the poem "When Life Deceived You," Su Can's name and his involvement in that suicide event began entering the vision of students at No. 27 High School.
Hence, many fragmented events that had recently caused turmoil at No. 27 High School started to connect in the hearts of numerous students.
The transfer student who offended the school's chief flower, Sun Man, and was exposed by the school TV station; the anonymous student who made a stunning debut on the school journal 'Morning Flower'; the person who took into custody not only high-ranking official’s son Zhao Chengyan but also those from an arrogant sports college near the school; and even that man during the inter-class break of Period Two, who rescued a jumping female student with a string of classic sayings.
These events were pieced together as belonging to Su Can, Class Three Grade Zero-One, occasionally shouting on the sports field during PE class and commuting daily like any other ordinary student without drawing much attention.
Su Can looked out at the bustling crowd in the schoolyard during break time, feeling somewhat awestruck. "The gymnasium gathering for PE was late today, so by the time I wanted to buy a bottle of mineral water after the bell rang dismissing class, this place was already packed with people. It’s clear that No. 27 High School has many students."
Su Cen simply sat on the edge of the flower bed, staring blankly while waiting for this group to disperse and reveal a space he could slip into. "Many people saw him, whispering among themselves and pointing at him, talking noisily about something."
Someone approached him; Su Cen looked up, revealing Zhuang Zhiyu, Zhang Xian, Zhang Feifei, Wei Chao, and the rest of them. In the previous incident with Zhao Chengyan, they had suffered losses, and Zhang Feifei had even reminded Su Cen to be careful about Zhao Chengyan secretly causing trouble for him. However, Su Cen completely turned things around against them.
It must be noted that although their family backgrounds were all decent, after all, they were only high school students. Even if there was a conflict and a fight broke out, based on their connections, they might be able to get help from upperclassmen. Zhao Chengyan managed to recruit students from outside sports schools, which was already quite remarkable.
"You're sitting here daydreaming all by yourself I haven't seen you around lately!" Zhang Xian sat down next to Su Cen and sized him up; he was currently the most talked-about male student at No. 27 High School.
They felt somewhat uneasy, as they previously threatened Zhao Chengyan together, out of some resentment from before. When Zhao Chengyan's backer Zhao Lu left, this group had been looking down on him for a while now and used Su Cen to take their revenge. However, nobody knew that Zhao Chengyan actually had a hidden network at Jianyang Sports School, resulting in them suffering losses.
After being ambushed by Zhao Chengyan, they couldn't help but direct their anger toward Su Cen, believing everything was his fault and that it caused this circle to suffer.
Naturally, they now treated him with extreme caution.
Su Cen simply responded with a mild "hm," having long since forgotten about Zhao Chengyan's affairs, unaware of their current anxieties.
The group exchanged glances; in fact, from the moment they discovered Su Cen online to when they walked over here, they had gone through a mental struggle.
"When should we get together and catch up We're all friends," Zhang Feifei said, knowing that her cold treatment of Su Cen back then was due to harsh words. She continued, "Forget about any unpleasantness in the past; I'll just buy you some drinks later as an apology!"
Those familiar with Zhang Feifei knew how difficult it was for her to say something like this. But recently, because of the suicide incident, almost everyone knew about Su Cen, and they were also present at the scene back then. During private gatherings afterwards, they admired him greatly, so they didn't feel uncomfortable with Zhang Feifei's lowered stance.
Su Cen smiled and said, "I've been busy studying lately; exams are approaching soon. Let's wait until this period is over."
The group heaved a sigh of relief, knowing that Su Cen didn't lose faith in them due to the Zhao Chengyan incident.
They then realized how insightful Wang Weiwei had been when reminding them to establish contact and get to know Su Cen. This boy truly deserved respect; just the fabricated story about Li Lei and Han Meimei, along with reciting Pushkin's poetry to save a suicidal girl, was enough for Zhang Feifei and others to boast about it to their out-of-school friends.
"Oh right, what do you guys need I'll go buy it. Su Cen, are you waiting here until fewer people are around because I'm doing the running errands today for everyone. What do you want" Wei Chao's attitude made a complete 108-degree turn, being the first to ask Su Cen.
"Mineral water." Su Cen took out a fifty-yuan bill and handed it to him. Xuan smiled and said, "No need to be polite this time. If anyone wants anything, I'll treat everyone."
Wei Chao blushed. He knew that last time he deliberately excluded Su Cen, in this matter they wanted him to chip in money as a way of indicating that he didn’t belong to their circle.
The others hurriedly gave Wei Chao eye signals.
"Alright!" Wei Chao took the money and rushed into the crowded shop.
Sun Man disregarded her ladylike demeanor as she squeezed into the shop. After getting out, she straightened her striped skirt and stepped on her gray edge canvas shoes, giving off a somewhat pure cotton girl's vibe. As she walked out, she saw Su Cen daydreaming.
Previously, their two classes had PE at the same time. Back then, she and several friends watched him running on the playground, drenched in sweat. Now he was sitting outside the shop on a flower stand under the canopy of a large tree. He seemed to be lost in thought, contrasting sharply with his previous dynamic presence. This transformation left Sun Man slightly stunned.
From Su Cen's clear gaze, Sun Man felt as if she could see an indescribable loneliness within him. It was as if the surroundings suddenly fell silent, leaving only him standing out prominently and clearly. This kind of loneliness wasn't apparent on the surface but could be sensed in specific situations, much like how she often woke up groggily from a daze and saw the scattered light under the large tree with Su Cen sitting alone.
Sun Man seemed to understand why Su Cen waited every day at this school for Tang Wu to finish class so they could eat together. He was so close to her, showing melancholy and sorrow through his clear and pure gaze. Perhaps it revealed the loneliness he felt in a school that was a focus throughout the entire province and even nationally.
When classes were over, Sun Man went up to Tang Wu's desk. Never having seen such actions from Sun Man before, Tang Wu stopped her idea of going out and moved her books aside, seeing Sun Man leaning on her elbows with her palms supporting her head, gazing at her intently with clear eyes. This made Tang Wu slightly surprised; Sun Man had never acted this way or shown such closeness.
"Tang Wu, do you know what kind of girl Su Cen likes"
"If I were to pursue him, what aspect should I start with"
Looking at Sun Man in front of her who didn’t seem to be joking and was earnestly looking for advice from her, a strange force without any hindrance struck Tang Wu's heart. For an instant, her heartbeat deviated.
The leaves outside the window were deep as they crossed this timeline, bringing the end-of-term exam period of second-year high school.
Today’s update was delayed, I apologize to everyone in advance for the notice.
I thank 不望匹 at the tribunal's fourth giant, Dark Night Wolf "Maple Spirit Double Moon Meat Bun Striking Dog". The guys in his dorm were full of energy and could lay down a long corridor filled with saliva about their knowledge or strategies.Their conversation ranged from Asimov, whose large number of created...