Helping Beautiful Women Become Stronger, I Have a Love System

99: Chapter 99 begins the attack on the stars.Before knocking, he adjusted his expression and put on a respectful smile.

”President Zhang.” Su Hongliang pushed the door open and entered, seeing Zhang Wei standing by the window with his back to the door.

”You’re here?” Zhang Wei turned around, his face livid. ”Have you heard? That brat Cao Kun actually started a company. He even called it Shining Radiance; it’s clearly aimed at our Xingchen!”

Su Hongliang quickly closed the door and walked to the desk. ”President Zhang, don’t let it get to you. He’s just a clown; he won’t be jumping around for long.”

Seeing Zhang Wei’s expression soften slightly, Su Hongliang struck while the iron was hot: ”Besides, that kid Cao Kun is too young; he doesn’t understand business at all.”

”I heard he’s giving employees a base salary five hundred higher than the market rate, and he even gave everyone a two-thousand-yuan red envelope at the opening. How much money is he burning? How much of a fortune does he have to burn through like that?”

Zhang Wei sat back in his executive chair, fingers tapping the desk. ”You mean...”

”He’s overextending himself!” Su Hongliang said decisively. ”Attracting people with high salaries and benefits is one thing, but without a stable source of business, the capital chain will break in a few months.”

”When the time comes and he can’t pay salaries, so what if those employees took his two-thousand-yuan red envelopes? They’ll run when they have to!”

Zhang Wei pondered and nodded. ”That makes sense. However... Ji Guangli isn’t a fool. Since she chose to follow Cao Kun, she must have some confidence.”

”No matter how capable Ji Guangli is, she’s still just a woman.” Su Hongliang’s tone carried disdain. ”She was probably just tricked by Cao Kun’s sweet talk. Besides, even if she has the ability, one can’t make bricks without straw. Without clients, can she just conjure up business?”

These words spoke right to Zhang Wei’s heart.

He recalled the scene of Cao Kun barging into his office and embarrassing him in public, and hatred welled up again.

”You’re right. That brat Cao Kun just doesn’t know his place. Just wait and see how I deal with him.”

”President Zhang is wise,” Su Hongliang flattered him. ”Our Xingchen has been in Zhongzhou for so many years and has deep roots. An upstart like Cao Kun might manage some petty tricks, but if he really wants to fight us, it’s like an egg striking a stone.”

Zhang Wei finally showed a smile. ”Hongliang, you’re the one who understands me. Now that Ji Guangli is gone, you need to step up in the Sales Department. Do a good job, and after a while, the position of Sales General Manager will be yours.”

Su Hongliang was delighted, but he feigned trepidation. ”President Zhang, my ability is limited, I’m afraid...”

”Don’t be modest.” Zhang Wei waved his hand. ”I know your capabilities. Go on, manage the Sales Department well, especially keep a close eye on those major clients we have. Don’t let Cao Kun find an opening.”

”Don’t you worry!” Su Hongliang patted his chest. ”I’m keeping an eye on the clients, especially President Long from Xuefen Food. I visit every week, and the relationship is maintained very well.”

Zhang Wei nodded with satisfaction.

Cao Kun, you just wait. I’ll make you regret this.

Zhang Wei was there fantasizing about Cao Kun’s miserable state.

Little did he know.

Not only had Cao Kun stolen his home, but the company was about to be stolen by Cao Kun as well.

...

In the first week after Xinghui Company opened, Cao Kun and Ji Guangli formulated a clear strategic policy.

Instead of expanding to new clients, they would specifically target and poach the existing clients of Xingchen Advertising.

Monday morning, Xinghui Company conference room.

Cao Kun, Ji Guangli, Zhang Fangfang, Liu Chaopeng, and the newly recruited Business Department Manager, Wang Lei, sat together.

Wang Lei was a veteran whom Ji Guangli had poached from the industry, and he knew the client resources of the advertising industry like the back of his hand.

”This is the list of Xingchen’s top fifty clients that we’ve compiled.” Wang Lei distributed the materials to everyone. ”Sorted by cooperation amount, the top ten clients account for 60% of Xingchen’s business volume.”

Cao Kun glanced at the list, and Xuefen Food was prominently featured.

”Start with the clients ranked eleventh to thirtieth.” Cao Kun tapped the table. ”These clients have a medium business volume, are relatively price-sensitive, and their relationships aren’t personally maintained by Zhang Wei, making them easier to sway.”

Ji Guangli added: ”The pricing strategy will follow what we decided before—a 5% markup over cost. As long as we don’t lose money, it’s fine. We want to send a clear message to the clients: for the same quality of service, we are cheaper.”

”But President Cao, we’ll have almost no profit this way,” Wang Lei said with some concern.

Cao Kun smiled. ”Manager Wang, at this stage, our goal isn’t profit, it’s market share—specifically the market share we snatch from Xingchen’s hands.”

In fact, Cao Kun didn’t expect this company to make money at all.

He just wanted to take the opportunity to deal with Zhang Wei.

Soon, the work plan was finalized.

After the meeting, the newly assembled machine that was Xinghui Company began to run at full speed.

...

Wang Lei lived up to his reputation as an industry veteran. He first targeted a clothing brand called ’Elegant Rhythm’ that had been cooperating with Xingchen for three years.

This company spent about 2 million annually on advertising with Xingchen, mainly for e-commerce page design and offline promotional materials.

Using his previous industry connections, Wang Lei contacted Elegant Rhythm’s Deputy Marketing Director.

At their first meeting, he directly brought Xinghui’s quotation list.

It was 18% lower than Xingchen’s current contract price.

”Manager Wang, this price is indeed attractive.” Elegant Rhythm’s Deputy Director flipped through the quotation. ”But Xingchen has worked with us for three years. To suddenly switch companies, I’ll need to explain it to those above me.”

”Understood.” Wang Lei was well-prepared. ”This is a preliminary proposal we’ve made for your company. You can compare it with the designs Xingchen has done for you recently.”

”We promise that for the same price, the design quality will be at least one level higher.”

”Furthermore, we can offer a three-month trial period. If you’re not satisfied, the cooperation can be terminated unconditionally.”

Such an almost zero-risk proposal was hard to refuse.

A week later, Elegant Rhythm agreed to give the next quarter’s promotional projects to Xinghui as a trial.

When the news reached Xingchen, Zhang Wei was in his office losing his temper at Su Hongliang.

”Elegant Rhythm is gone? What happened? Weren’t they always satisfied with our service?” Zhang Wei slammed the table.

Su Hongliang’s forehead was sweating. ”President Zhang, it was Xinghui poaching them. Their quote was too low, almost at cost...”

”At cost? Is Cao Kun crazy? Why start a company if he’s not making money!” Zhang Wei roared.

”I expect they just opened and want to use low prices to break into the market.”

Zhang Wei calmed down and narrowed his eyes. ”He wants a price war? Fine, I’ll play along. Tell the Business Department that we can appropriately lower prices for key clients. I want to see how long Cao Kun’s little bit of capital can last.”

However, Zhang Wei underestimated Cao Kun’s determination.

Over the next two weeks, Xinghui successively took four more of Xingchen’s clients, including a chain catering brand with an annual cooperation value of 1.5 million.

Unease began to surface within Xingchen.

In the breakroom, several salesmen gathered and whispered.

”I heard that at Xinghui, the base salary is 500 higher than ours, and the project commission percentage is also higher.”

”More than that, they gave everyone a 2000-yuan red envelope at the opening!”

”I was the one handling the Elegant Rhythm case. Three years, and just like that, it’s gone. My commission this month is going to be a lot less...”

”I heard Xinghui is still hiring. Maybe we should...”

”Keep it down! If Manager Su hears you, you’re finished!”

These discussions inevitably reached the ears of the management.

Zhang Wei was forced to call a general staff meeting to stabilize morale.

...