es and paintings allure hearts and mindsYour world-famous Silk Road Flower Rain scene intoxicates one with sorrowUnforgettable DunhuangThe tales of splendor are like the sunset in your vast desertBrig...Chapter 109: Acting Like a Cunning Fox

"Wangfu Jing's third quarter sales have been severely suppressed by us. According to my information, major suppliers in Rongcheng have recently received official letters from the Wangfu Group. The group is undergoing its largest personnel reshuffle in recent years. Guo Cai, general manager of Wangfu Department Store in Rongcheng, has been transferred back to Beijing headquarters to serve as deputy general manager, while Ji Yujie, aged 35, has taken over as the new general manager of Chengdu's Wangfu Department Store. He is currently the youngest general manager among all stores under the Wangfu Group."

Wang Yue brought up the current issues facing Dunhuang Mall. The mall had established itself and achieved significant development in Rongcheng, with sales reaching tens of millions within a short period. Although some of Rongcheng's long-established department store giants could also reach this level currently, for a 'monster' like Dunhuang Mall that has broken out from the market nurturing phase, it is undoubtedly a miracle.

This isn't just proof that Dunhuang Mall has the ability to become a leader in Rongcheng's current depressed department store market.

The existence of Dunhuang Mall has caused Wangfu Department Store, which is geographically closest to it, to experience some seasonal cold winds. Moreover, Wangfu Department Store in Rongcheng is one of the strongest branches outside Beijing, and its flagship store. Now, a 'Dunhuang' destroyer has appeared uninvited in their territorial waters, rising rapidly every day like an artillery barrage, naturally attracting attention.

When Dunhuang Mall's first move was to launch discount promotions, Guo Wei of Wangfu Department Store in Rongcheng sneered, confident that the powerful and resourceful Wangfu could ignore this.

But as soon as Dunhuang Mall finished its promotional activities, it launched another campaign with a 'rebate sale' tagline. During the promotion period, some agents gradually withdrew their counters and began to follow Dunhuang's rising trend due to established cooperation in Xiahai and recognition of Dunhuang's credibility there, drawn by the commission system that suited them.

These consecutive moves have left Wangfu Department Store somewhat overwhelmed. When Rongcheng’s Wangfu Department Store realized this was a fight until death, they found it hard to believe that the leaders of Dunhuang Mall were two weak women but with an extremely vicious nature.

The Ji Yujie temporarily transferred from Beijing to take charge in Chengdu is originally the general manager of Beijing Shuang'an Department Store under Wangfu Group. Known for his tough and unconventional management style, he led a series of modifications at Shuang’an Department Store, accurately grasping consumer preferences.

He managed to achieve within one year what others hadn't accomplished in three years: getting first- and second-tier brands to occupy the majority of total operational space. Sales reached 300 million yuan, making him an important figure in Wangfu Group. Now transferred to Rongcheng, the group hopes he can handle the young female duo of Wang Yue and Ren Ying.

"What actions has he taken" Su Can knew this news; today, Wang Yue came to discuss how Dunhuang Mall should counteract it. As a competitor located in the heart of Rongcheng like Wangfu Group, the sales cake of nearly 700 million yuan that Wangfu Department Store achieved annually is an area that Wang Yue's Dunhuang aims to carve out, inevitably leading to conflict.

"Ji Yujie has secretly organized some people who have contacts with our mall’s mid-to-high-level managers. They might be trying to understand our policies," said Wang Yue frowningly. "Some channels suggest that many of our middle and upper management live very recklessly, frequently drinking themselves into stupors at bars, which is not good."

"This must be quickly rectified; we need a wind-cleansing campaign with stricter constraints on high-level managers. We should establish legal consequences for leaks of commercial secrets. Most importantly, we must strengthen their sense of belonging to Dunhuang so that they will contribute to its growth and development. This is the importance of brand culture."

In the future world, Su Can was a trailblazer who stepped on countless corpses, living in an environment where avoiding contention and competition was impossible. Now, as a reborn person, he wasn't just stepping alone but had people like Lin Guangdong, Wang Yue, Zhao Mingnong from Shushan Stationery Factory along with his hundred employees and their families by his side, and Tang Wu who hoped to give her happiness; if Su Can were stepped on.

It would mean these people around him would be crushed into pieces.

"On the other hand, this is when we need Pineapple Media."

Lin Guangdong looked at Su Zhan oddly; Su Zhan felt that his current smile must be shameless.

Ji Yujie, who was 35 years old, stood in the office and looked out of the window at Rongcheng. He recalled an interview he had given to a media outlet previously.

"I miss Rongcheng very much. I graduated from Rongcheng Finance University, but it's been nearly seven years since I left Rongcheng. This time coming back, I feel quite a lot. The Rongcheng airport and the entire city have changed dramatically. As they say, it is easier to conquer territory than to govern it; taking over the position of a strong person is not easy either. Therefore, my decisions cannot afford any mistakes. My policy is to expand the Southwest market through mergers and acquisitions, aiming for substantial growth this year."

Ji Yujie spoke with confidence, and no one doubted his self-assurance.

Rumors circulated among the suppliers of Wangfujing Mall that the mall was increasing its commission rates and sealing off information, hinting at significant moves.

Ren Ying and Wang Yue were worried. Ren Ying, who had extensive experience in managing large shopping malls, recognized this as a smokescreen tactic from Wangfujing. Spreading such news would create anxiety among people because generally speaking, Wangfujing is considered one of the most fashionable high-end stores in Rongcheng with immense momentum and strength. It participates in year-end celebrations last but always makes the biggest splash. Once it launches any activity, its influence is tremendous.

At present, Wangfujing clearly had an air of launching a mall promotion, previously disregarding the Dunhuang Mall, now aiming to target Dunhuang directly; this was problematic.

The public was generally very excited because it wasn't easy for Wangfujing to launch another promotional activity again. People were preparing themselves for a shopping spree.

Public sentiment was stirred up, and compared to that, the Dunhuang Mall felt dragged along by this powerful momentum, like being caught in a storm.

This kind of underlying strength and influence came from Wangfujing Group's reputation as well as its accumulation over the past two years. In comparison, Dunhuang was too weak.

Meanwhile, Ji Yujie openly expressed his plans for expansion after becoming the new general manager of Rongcheng's store. When asked whether he felt any pressure from nearby emerging shopping malls, he said, "Pressure As a professional manager, I have always been under pressure throughout my career. Pressure doesn't represent anything; only strength can mean much. We don’t pay attention to small skirmishes; when it comes to serious competition, their strengths cannot match ours!"

Indeed, as Ji Yujie mentioned, Wangfujing announced a store-wide 70% discount event in mid-April, which lasted two weeks. During the first week, its business was thriving, vividly demonstrating its strong position. During this time, Dunhuang Mall's sales curve slowed down, making things very tough. Everyone knew that Wang Yue and Ren Ying at Dunhuang were feeling low; Ren Ying would occasionally get angry over small matters like someone not pouring her coffee right or an assistant accidentally dropping a report.

Wangfujing's aggressive move was too much for others to handle, prompting some other large department stores in Rongcheng to voice dissatisfaction. They felt Wangfujing was disrupting the norm of year-end promotions and placing competition on an unfair playing field simply because of Dunhuang Mall’s opening celebration promotion, which seemed petty.

In fact, all these large malls in Rongcheng were affected to varying degrees and had no choice but to urge Wangfujing to "back down" for the sake of maintaining harmony among everyone.

This situation lasted no more than a week before negative news about Wangfu Jing started circulating in Rongcheng.

In Ji Yujie's office, there was a crumpled newspaper that had been smoothed out lying on the desk. The headline of the article displayed on the newspaper read "Rongcheng's Wangfu Jing, Are You Discounting or Deceiving the Public!"

The door opened and an executive vice president who was sweating profusely appeared. "There are already many people in the after-sales department requesting returns, saying that it’s written in the newspaper. Before our discounts at Wangfu Jing, we were actually increasing the prices of goods無形中將商品價格提高，然後纔在這個價碼上打七折。實際上折扣不過九折，甚至於根本冇有折扣的地步，說我們這是變相愚弄民眾，事情不好辦了啊 (remove this part in brackets as it's already translated before). What should we do"

Ji Yujie paced back and forth by the desk with a voice almost like a tiger’s roar, "How could such an event be reported! Where have your people been Haven’t you fed those reporters yet What do they want!"

The executive vice president shook his head. "We’ve already dealt with the journalists. In principle, something like this should go through our hands first. But the issue is that the reporter who published this didn't speak up; we checked and found out that the article was originally published in the provincial newspaper, followed by several small newspapers echoing it. Even magazines like 'Campus Consumption,' which are currently very popular in Rongcheng, have republished the article across various universities, with extremely negative repercussions."

Ji Yujie frowned and said, "You should quickly contact the people at the provincial newspaper; no matter what conditions they want to set, make sure they don’t delve deeper into this matter."

The executive vice president nodded. Just as he was about to leave, he paused and turned around again. "Sir Ji, the public mood is a bit agitated today. Perhaps you should address the media in the afternoon and give them an explanation."

Ji Yujie waved off the executive vice president with his hand and then slammed his fist on the table, pushing down that newspaper.

The practice of increasing prices before offering discounts was a well-known industry secret. Generally speaking, such matters wouldn’t be heavily publicized by media outlets. Wangfu Jing had been established in Rongcheng for two years, and their PR department could usually handle such issues effectively; all the relevant departments had already coordinated, so it couldn't have happened without them receiving any prior notice.

Someone was targeting them. It might be an attempt to give Ji Yujie a taste of his own medicine or a warning. Regardless of how he looked at it, he didn’t know who in Rongcheng had given him this trouble and why they wanted to do so—like giving a new official a rude awakening.

After staring blankly for a while, Ji Yujie picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Hello, inform the media that I’ll be giving an interview in the afternoon and will give them an explanation."

As night fell on Rongcheng, spring was gradually giving way to summer; May was approaching, and the weather had become sultry. Yet when students rode public buses home from school every day, they could still sense a sweet and damp fragrance in the air.

The sweetness came from the cooling nighttime air of Rongcheng, while the warmth originated from the scent beside Tang Wu on his bus seat.

Usually crowded with students during evening self-study sessions, many felt that riding the bus under starry skies and city lights after a day filled with tedious calculations and endless recitations was their most anticipated moment. It was because they could see a certain girl there.

The frustrating part was that next to her, there would always be a boy.

The girl doesn't often laugh. But when the guy says something, she smiles.

This smile is very warm, like seeing the North Star in the harsh northern wind.

Like a splendid scene amidst the last desolate days of their group.

Su Can stood by the window. From the phone came Wang Yue's voice: "Ji Yu Jie admitted today during media interviews that some counters had擅自折扣前改價, and those counters will face severe penalties. In reality, it’s just an excuse. With mall supervision and regulation, which counter would dare to change prices Unless their headquarters in America or Japan are cooperating with your actions… Such statements can only fool ordinary people."

Su Can smiled, "Cut your losses while you're ahead; Wangfujing is still a remarkable shopping center. Don’t push them too hard. After this incident, they’ll quiet down for a period of time. That’s enough to let the Dunhuang Shopping Center solidify its foundation."

Wang Yue nodded on her end: "Yes, based on the current situation, we can expand another branch store in three months. This time we’re planning to expand outside the province. Where do you hope it will be Shanghai Guangzhou Or Beijing"

"I don’t have an opinion; make a decision based on your actual assessment. I only occasionally offer advice and help out, while business operations are up to your team."

"My team is also yours. However, we didn't expect this counterattack to be so effective. The few top executives highly admire this move. Of course, it’s limited to my close confidants, who don’t know about you either. But speaking of which, you never disappoint us. Soon you’ll have your college entrance exam; good luck."

After hanging up the phone, Su Can smiled helplessly and looked through a telescope at Tang Wu in Chun Tian Shang Jing’s window one kilometer away. Happily, Tang Wu was also looking at her and then moved away from the telescope, taking clothes to the bathroom.

In the misty steam of the bathroom, the naked Tang Wu sat in the bathtub thinking that it wasn't enough for two people who care about each other to spend time together at school. Even when they get home, having to set up binoculars and watch each other every now and then would make one feel at ease…

It's a bit ridiculous.

To be delivered today.

In memory of the extremely unfortunate new alliance master "Stone", whose number has become a code name, how smooth. It’s very meaningful to remember with tears welling up inside.

Day by day passes; what should come will still come. The happy life of Su Can, the reborn one.

Much gratitude for brothers' votes and rewards.ty seat. Why don't you come with us"Su Richen said, "Su Can, why don’t you go first Your mother and I will take a taxi.""You guys go ahead; we'll follow later." Su Can shook his head and looked at his...