Chapter 176: Encroachment! He’s Nothing

Chapter 176: Chapter 176: Encroachment! He’s Nothing

"Why should I?! You’re the one asking me for a favor!"

Su Qingci’s brows furrowed.

"If you can’t do it, then don’t talk to me about favors. My favors aren’t that easy to claim."

Jiang Fan wasn’t falling for her act.

"Fine, today it is! I’ll call my mom right now."

"I’m calling in this favor, and when it’s time for you to pay me back, I hope you don’t chicken out."

Su Qingci pulled out her phone and made the call.

"No problem."

Jiang Fan agreed readily.

"Mom, are you at the lab? The Ruxue Company sent over a batch of samples that need testing."

"Could you please help out and get the results today?"

The moment the call connected, Su Qingci became a completely different person. The fierce woman from before was gone, replaced by someone with a high, cutesy voice like a sweet young girl. It was enough to give Jiang Fan goosebumps.

"Okay, thanks, Mommy! Love you!"

She even cooed into the phone at the end.

Jiang Fan’s face scrunched up in a cringe.

’God, how jarring was that?’

"Jiang Fan, what’s with that look on your face!"

Su Qingci immediately bristled, her cheeks flushing slightly.

She had been so caught up in their argument that she’d forgotten Jiang Fan was standing right there and slipped into her usual "on the phone with Mom" persona.

"It’s nothing, nothing."

Jiang Fan shook his head vigorously.

"Did your mom say when the test results would be ready? This morning, this afternoon, or tonight?"

Jiang Fan quickly changed the subject.

"My mom said around three or four o’clock."

"However, you can already start setting your plan in motion now."

Jiang Fan and Yin Ruxue exchanged a glance.

"President Yin, any pointers?"

Seeing him ask, a slight smile touched Yin Ruxue’s lips. "I wouldn’t dare call it ’pointers,’ but... ’Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.’"

"You can start by letting them get a little crazy. I’ll contact the finance department and have them get ready."

Having navigated the tides of the business world for so many years, she naturally knew the best way to handle any given situation.

"Why do we need to get the finance department ready?"

Jiang Fan didn’t understand this point at all.

’Logically, shouldn’t we be hiring a massive online mob to blow this whole thing up?’

’Then Fengming Group would be too busy putting out fires, and we could seize the opportunity to gobble up all the market share in the Celestial Dragon District.’

"You don’t understand. The Celestial Dragon District is already in the bag. Once this is exposed, it’ll be impossible for them to hold onto any market share. This crosses a fundamental line in our industry, and no customer will tolerate it."

"What we need to do is maximize our gains from this situation."

"How do we maximize our gains?"

After she posed the question, Jiang Fan thought for a moment, then shook his head.

He genuinely didn’t know.

"By devouring their stock."

"This scandal is huge, but with the resources of Fengming Group and the conglomerate backing them, they’ll definitely be able to resolve it."

"But their stock price is guaranteed to plummet. That’s when we’ll have a large sum of cash ready to buy up their shares..."

As Yin Ruxue explained, Jiang Fan nodded.

"So we can get a foothold inside their company?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Yin Ruxue shook her head. Even Su Qingci let out a scornful smile.

"No company will tolerate a rival holding any of its shares."

"So, after they get this situation under control, they’ll have to find a way to buy those shares back from us."

"But do you think the price they’ll have to pay to get it back will be the same as the price we bought it for?"

"One of us will be in a position of power, the other will be desperate. How could the price be the same?"

Hearing this, Jiang Fan wanted to shout, ’Fucking brilliant!’

’So there were this many twists and turns, so many hidden strategies.’

He felt that if he tried to start a company and compete against a mind like Yin Ruxue’s, he’d be eaten alive so fast he wouldn’t even have his shorts left.

’Seriously, how is her brain even wired?’

"Alright, I get it now. I’m heading to the stores."

"Okay. Let’s split up."

Su Qingci got into Yin Ruxue’s car and headed straight for the office. Jiang Fan, on the other hand, went to the First Mall to check on their store, then drove to five other malls.

He visited every single one, confirming that the situation was more or less what he had expected.

In every mall in the Celestial Dragon District, they were getting crushed by Fengming Group.

This time, however, Jiang Fan wasn’t worried. All afternoon, as the girls started their shifts, he just drank tea, played games, and scrolled through videos, looking for all the world like he had given up.

This even took Li Fengming, his rival, by surprise.

The Xuerong Group stores had practically no customers.

Or rather, so few it was pathetic—maybe only a handful of customers a day.

And those were only drawn in by the looks and figures of the salesgirls.

Then, unable to resist their silver-tongued persuasion, they’d end up buying a set or two.

It was nothing like the Fengming Group’s stores, which were constantly packed with people.

Not only had they built up their reputation, but they were also selling plenty of products.

He had an iron grip on the Celestial Dragon District’s market share.

But why wasn’t Jiang Fan worried?

’Did he chicken out?’

"Boss, Xuerong Group has already given up. Should we increase our discounts to stimulate sales even more?"

The vice president standing beside him said with a sycophantic smile.

"Stimulate sales? He’s already given up. There’s no need. All the customer traffic is already here with us."

Li Fengming was still very bottom-line oriented.

He would never spend a dollar and a half on something he could solve with a dollar.

"But if we invest a little more, we can capture an even larger market share."

"Wouldn’t that squeeze Xuerong’s room for survival even more?"

Hearing this, Li Fengming fell into contemplation.

He wasn’t thinking about the other details right now. All he could think about was... how he could viciously rub this victory in Yin Ruxue’s face.

"Fine. I’m putting you in charge of it. Increase our investment."

"I want to see the best possible results in the shortest possible time."

The mere thought of that moment excited Li Fengming. With a grand wave of his hand, he approved the proposal.

And this vice president was no ordinary man to have climbed to his position.

In just two short hours, he pushed through all the procedures and rolled out the new promotions.

It was simple and direct: buy more, get more free.

This drove up product sales and further expanded their market share. Word began to spread that Fengming Group’s deals were bigger and better than ever.

This made everyone at the Xuerong Group stores frantic with worry.

"Fan, why aren’t you worried?"