Who Would Fall in Love After Being Reborn?

TL: Etude Translations

“Hello everyone, leaders of Linchuan City, and seniors from all walks of life, my name is Jiang Qin, a completely ordinary nineteen-year-old entrepreneurial college student.”

“In the first half of this year, by sheer luck, our group-buying initiative achieved some very ordinary successes, which granted me the opportunity to stand here and boast about myself. In reality, I am extremely anxious and fearful inside.”

“I don’t consider myself a successful person; I am just a lucky individual who caught the internet wave.”

“Retail and service have always been the most traditional industries, existing since ancient times. But when combined with the internet, it transformed into group-buying.”

On August 5th, the 15th day of the sixth lunar month, a Wednesday, a symposium on optimizing industrial structure and promoting industrial upgrading officially commenced in the Linchuan City Government Conference Hall.

The conference room was filled with uniformly outstanding entrepreneurs from Linchuan, ranging in age from their thirties to fifties, all sitting upright with radiant party badges on their chests, looking serious and focused, sometimes nodding, sometimes shaking their heads, sometimes frowning, sometimes astonished.

However, the person speaking on the stage seemed very young, his face even carrying a hint of youthful naivety, looking no more than eighteen or nineteen, the very image of a college student.

But young as he might be, he controlled the room impressively.

Even with Linchuan’s top leaders sitting in the front row, he remained unfazed, speaking with clear articulation and controlling the pace of the meeting.

At that moment, everyone’s attention, including that of the waitresses serving tea and water, was focused on him.

“Yueyue, why is your face so red? Did you fall for him?”

A ponytailed waitress couldn’t help but whisper.

“Nonsense, I’m just embarrassed to death. When this Mr. Jiang arrived, I thought he was our new colleague and asked him to adjust the microphone for the speaker. Everyone around was laughing at me.”

A waitress with a bun hairstyle in the southeast corner bit her lip, her cheeks burning red.

“Ah? And you didn’t get scolded?”

“No, he was quite polite and even asked me to call him by his nickname, Azu.” The waitress’s cheeks reddened even more.

The ponytailed waitress chuckled softly: “Actually, it’s not your fault. Mr. Jiang looks so young. Who would have thought he was a big boss specially invited by the leaders?”

“It’s not just about looking young, he is really young. I heard he’s just turned nineteen.”

“Ah?”

“You know about group-buying, right? That group-buy website that was advertised all over the city recently. I heard that’s his college entrepreneurial project.”

As the waitress with the bun hairstyle spoke, she gazed at the young man speaking confidently off-script on the stage. Suddenly recalling how he had smiled warmly like the sun, softly saying he was there for the meeting, her heart raced uncontrollably.

Added to his unfazed demeanor and elegantly confident speech, the waitress found herself irresistibly attracted, her legs in silk stockings rubbing together unconsciously.

Meanwhile, Jiang Azu’s voice continued to fluctuate, filling the entire conference room.

“Television seeks ratings, advertisements seek exposure, and the new play of commerce in the internet era is essentially about the conversion of traffic.

Why do I say Zhihu is the world’s number one?

That’s because Zhihu itself is a carrier of traffic. It has popularity, spreadability, and entertainment value. In other words, it’s a huge funnel that can channel all the internet’s traffic onto our plate. ŔÀＮÔВËṦ

And in the future of the internet era, traffic is as valuable as gold and silver.

You all must know, there’s a roast duck shop in Linchuan that’s really popular now. The owner even drives a BMW now, but six months ago, he was struggling to pay rent.

What caused this change? It’s because he earned the title of Linchuan’s No.1 Roast Duck on our group-buying platform.

In fact, this roast duck shop is in an obscure location with unimpressive decor, but why did it suddenly become so popular? It’s all because of that title, a guide for traffic, proving that good wine no longer fears the depths of the alley.

I know that many of you here are working on your own brands, tirelessly improving service and product quality, but feel helpless about expanding beyond Linchuan.

In this era, outsiders hardly succeed in preaching, because people from other places only consume brands they’ve heard of, resulting in local brands struggling to survive outside their hometown.

For example, Mr. Liu of the fast-food chain, who uses the best oil and freshest patties, has an outstanding taste. Yet, after half a year of expansion, six of his stores outside Linchuan closed down.

We have great products, but can’t distribute them widely, mainly because the deep alley dilutes the wine’s fragrance.

You can think of your brands as that roast duck shop. What do we need the most right now?”

He Yijun slapped his thigh: “Is it traffic? It’s traffic, right? It’s like a revelation!”

Jiang Qin nodded: “Mr. He is right. What we need most to expand beyond Linchuan is traffic, a top-tier flow that can make consumers nationwide aware of us.”

“I get it now. No wonder Mr. He left group-buying to promote Zhihu. Actually, what Mr. Jiang really wants to do is traffic business?”

“He Yijun figured it out. Truly a business elite.”

He Yijun humbly waved his hand: “Figuring it out isn’t the skill; the real skill is coming up with it. When I decided to reform Wanzhong, I was actually inspired by Mr. Jiang. To me, you seem to have the ability to foresee the future, even clearly understanding the future direction of business. And my bet was right.”

Liu Xiliang, the owner of Burger Emperor, couldn’t help but speak up: “Does Mr. Jiang mean to say, as Zhihu expands nationwide, this traffic will easily help us break regional barriers, making our brands well-known to the masses?”

Jiang Qin looked at him: “Mr. Liu is correct. I hope everyone can join me in nurturing Zhihu, gather the nation’s traffic in our hands, and then channel it to each of your brands. In the future, when one of us in the Linchuan Business Alliance prospers, we all prosper.”

“Linchuan Business Alliance?”

“Just like the Zhejiang and Chaoshan business groups.”

“We don’t have such an organization, do we?”

“We didn’t until now, but today is a fortunate day. With the Linchuan city leaders and veterans from various industries here, if everyone agrees, the Linchuan Business Alliance starts from today.”

“…”

As these words fell, the entire conference room fell silent, everyone exchanging glances with expressions that flickered between brightness and darkness, profound and unfathomable.

Anyone in business knew about the concept of the three major business groups. Even the TV series “Family On The Go” was essentially about the story of the Zhejiang business group. These kin-related merchants have always been closely united, supporting each other, flourishing together.

A careful examination would reveal that many of the wealthiest individuals actually emerged from these three major business groups.

Their ability to accumulate wealth so rapidly, even to the extent of enriching generations, was essentially due to the principle that ‘many hands make light work.’

Today, Jiang Qin, leveraging the industry upgrading meeting and the topic of the internet era, directly proposed the concept of the Linchuan Business Alliance, which indeed aroused aspiration.

The Linchuan city leaders were even more excited. They felt that if this Business Alliance really took off, it would be hugely beneficial.

Achievements in governance were a minor matter; becoming historically renowned was also a possibility.

“Mr. Jiang, I must remind you that Linchuan already has its own Business Alliance.”

“I know. Every New Year’s Day, members of the Linchuan Business Alliance gather to chat, drink, and vow not to return until drunk. They even talk about selling cotton shoes in Africa. It’s quite good.” Jiang Qin’s tone was mocking.

Mr. Zhao, who spoke, coughed, thinking it might have been better not to have spoken.

“I see no one shaking their heads, so let’s take it as everyone’s consent. Is that okay, leaders?”

The chief leader of Linchuan nodded: “I think this proposal is good. Let’s have the government take the lead in establishing the Linchuan Business Alliance. Our first task will be to help promote Zhihu.”

Jiang Qin was so moved he was nearly in tears: “You trust me so much, leader?”

“The internet era has arrived, and the industrial landscape is constantly changing. We need someone with vision and scope to lead the way. As Mr. He said, if Mr. Jiang really has such foresight, you are undoubtedly the best person for this.”

“If the leader trusts me so much, then I will be a pathfinder for everyone.”

The chief leader of Linchuan turned to the others: “Linchuan is an industrial city with rich mineral resources, which has always been our advantage. However, with the upcoming tightening of policies, adjusting the direction of industrial upgrading and development is crucial. But I won’t force everyone to join; it’s entirely voluntary.”

Liu Xiliang nudged Zhao Linghui, who owned a Western restaurant: “Old Zhao, what do you think?”

Zhao Linghui lowered his voice: “There’s a lot of bluffing involved.”

“Why?”

“According to Jiang Qin’s idea, all of us Linchuan merchants band together, help him build Zhihu, and seize nationwide traffic. But what’s the conversion rate? I’m not confident.”

Liu Xiliang nodded: “I feel the same.”

Zhao Linghui took a sip of water and continued: “I spent millions on TV ads recently, and it barely made a splash. Even if Zhihu really takes off, what capacity does he have to convert all that traffic to us?”

“Huh?”

“What’s up?”

Liu Xiliang suddenly pointed at the screen: “Look at that.”

Zhao Linghui looked up and saw four big characters on the PowerPoint slide – Nongfu Spring.

They were familiar with this brand, the current hotshot in the bottled water industry, especially after changing their slogan last year, which skyrocketed their success, becoming one of the most classic advertising cases in history. However, both Liu Xiliang and Zhao Linghui were clueless as to why this brand appeared in Jiang Qin’s presentation.

“I know everyone still has doubts, wondering even if we grab the traffic, how to successfully convert it remains a question, fearing poor results.

So, please look at this case.

To be honest, I wrote this marketing advertisement. It’s quite ordinary, but the effects seem pretty good, right?

So I mean, if we have the traffic and create a similar marketing ad, wouldn’t it be easy to flourish nationwide?”

Zhao Linghui: “…”

Liu Xiliang: “…!”

…

Azu is the nickname that fans gave Daniel Wu, since Daniel Wu’s chinese name is Wu Yanzu. They took the “zu” part and added an affectionate “A” in front, just like how we say “Old John” in English.

Nongfu Spring is four characters: 农夫山泉. If you guys forgot, in Chapter 18, “On July 22nd, browsing financial news, he noticed that Nongfu Spring was seeking a new slogan, offering a reward of 300,000. Jiang Qin emailed them, “We don’t produce water; we’re just nature’s couriers,” and left his phone number.”