Chapter 122: A Good Idea

The room fell utterly silent.

Everyone wanted to hear what good idea Wang Qiang had come up with, especially Old Yao. He was always looking for ways to gain an advantage over Wang Qiang, but several attempts had ended in failure. This time, he was being asked to put up forty thousand yuan for only a thirty percent share, and he was not pleased. In Old Yao’s eyes, Wang Qiang was young and, aside from his ability to obtain merchandise, did not seem particularly shrewd in everyday matters.

“You have an idea?”

“One that can build our reputation without blowing our own trumpet?”

To be honest, Old Yao did not quite believe it. Still, his interest had been piqued. He wanted to judge how deep Wang Qiang’s cunning ran by examining the proposal, then decide whether he would need to be more restrained if they became partners.

As for Old Zhu and the proprietress, they had not given it much thought. Once they heard that Wang Qiang had an idea, they simply wanted to know what it was and whether it could work.

“Xiao Wang?”

“Tell us.”

“Yes, what’s your idea?”

All three questioned him, including the proprietress, who was sitting outside the door.

Old Yao cautiously added, “Forget about advertising in newspapers or on television. I don’t think that’s practical.”

“We’re running this little business and you want to advertise in newspapers and on television?” Old Zhu sneered at him. “Do you think Xiao Wang would be stupid enough to suggest something like that?”

When Wang Qiang remained silent for a long while, the two of them began bickering.

The proprietress shouted at them, “Stop arguing and let Xiao Wang speak.”

In fact, Old Zhu and Old Yao had both been wondering how they could realistically make a name for themselves. But the idea had only just been raised, and neither of them had yet figured out what to do.

The two men stood on opposite sides of the matter. Old Zhu’s first reaction was simply to hear Wang Qiang’s proposal, while Old Yao, feeling that he had been taken advantage of, instinctively wanted to determine from the idea whether Wang Qiang was truly clever—and whether he might be able to get the upper hand later.

Wang Qiang had no idea what Old Yao was thinking. Even if he had known, he would not have cared. Even if they became partners, he would remain wary of Old Yao.

As for building their reputation, Wang Qiang really had thought of something.

In later years, the internet would often be filled with promotional articles and armies of paid commenters. Those promotional posts would pretend to judge a product or company from the perspective of an impartial third party.

The verdict would invariably be favorable.

Then the paid commenters would fan the flames, proving that the promotional article was objective and truthful.

That was where Wang Qiang had gotten his inspiration. Since they could not praise themselves, they could have other people praise them instead.

Human psychology was a strange thing. If someone told you that he was incredibly impressive, you would probably think he was an idiot. Who went around praising himself? But if someone else told you that there was a truly remarkable person, you might start wondering whether that person really was as capable as claimed. One person might not convince you, but what if several people, one after another, all told you the same person was extraordinary? You would probably believe it to the tune of sixty or seventy percent.

Sixty or seventy percent was enough. The goal was merely to make people come to them and investigate.

Wang Qiang believed that, with the advantage of his low supply prices, he would certainly be able to win over some of those who came to inquire.

In truth, the tactics of promotional articles and paid commenters had existed since ancient times, only in different forms. The saying that three people repeating a rumor could make others believe there was a tiger in the street expressed the same principle: use public opinion to spread a story. Once enough people repeated it, even a falsehood could be believed—let alone something supported by the fact that he really could obtain large quantities of inexpensive merchandise.

So he said gently, “The idea I have will require everyone to put up a little money. Not much, though. I estimate that a thousand or so yuan should be enough for the whole thing.”

“A thousand or so is no problem,” Old Yao said distractedly.

Indeed, if they could attract a large number of customers, a thousand yuan was nothing. They would earn far more than that. Old Yao, however, was still pondering whether he ought to behave himself.

Wang Qiang paid no attention to his thoughts. He lightly tapped the table to draw everyone’s attention, then said solemnly, “If we want to establish a reputation, we have to promote and package ourselves. Our greatest advantage is that we supply Cheng Weihong and the others, and our prices are lower than what many merchants on Qiujiang Road pay for their goods. If we want to build our reputation, the first thing we need to do is make the other merchants on Qiujiang Road aware that Cheng Weihong and his associates have obtained cheap merchandise. That will arouse their curiosity.”

What he said made sense.

But how were they supposed to let the other merchants know that Cheng Weihong and the others were getting their goods cheaply? And how would they learn that the goods came from them?

Old Yao’s brows drew together slightly. Wasn’t that precisely the difficult part?

Old Zhu and the proprietress could not understand what Wang Qiang was getting at either, but they listened intently.

Surely they could not really go to Qiujiang Road and shout about it, as Old Zhu had suggested. No one would believe them that way. If they openly praised their own goods, they might only become a laughingstock.

Old Zhu’s expression twisted with uncertainty. He looked at Wang Qiang and said, “Xiao Wang, it won’t do any good for us to say it ourselves...”

Wang Qiang snapped his fingers and nodded at him. With complete seriousness, he said, “Brother Zhu is right. First of all, we can’t take the initiative to advertise ourselves. But at the same time, we have to take the initiative to advertise ourselves. Sounds contradictory, doesn’t it?”

The three of them laughed. They thought Wang Qiang was being ridiculous, going around in circles and playing word games. Old Yao was practically opening his mouth to tell him to stop joking when Wang Qiang’s next words suddenly opened their eyes.

“So I came up with an idea. We spend some money to hire people to promote us around Qiujiang Road. Ideally, they should be merchants who do business there. They can spread the word that Cheng Weihong has teamed up with a powerful supplier. I don’t need to explain what happens next, do I?”

The three of them stared blankly.

When they failed to respond, Wang Qiang assumed they had not understood and added, “There’s no use in praising ourselves. But what if other people praise us? All it costs is a little money. What do you think?”

No use praising themselves?

Paying other people to praise them?

Wouldn’t every other merchant, upon hearing that someone had cheap merchandise, desperately try to find out who the supplier was?

Old Zhu, who had not understood before, suddenly spoke up. “This idea...”

Wang Qiang asked, “Is it no good?”

No good?

How could it possibly be no good?

How else could they make others aware of them? This was exactly how to make others aware of them.

All three of them could not help laughing bitterly. Only now had they realized that promotion could actually be done this way.

For a moment, everyone stared at Wang Qiang’s face, thinking that the young man was far more devious than he looked. Who would have thought he could come up with such an underhanded idea?

Old Yao could barely contain his excitement. He nodded repeatedly. “Excellent. Excellent. Excellent.”

He said it three times in succession, unable to suppress his enthusiasm. He could already imagine how many people Wang Qiang’s idea would attract and how much money they would make.

“You wouldn’t know what to do until someone told you, but now that you’ve explained it, I understand. I’ll think about how to bribe a few people to promote us.”

The proprietress called from outside, “But how are you going to bribe them...?”

Old Yao gave a chuckle. “How hard can it be to bribe someone? There’s only money that isn’t offered in sufficient quantity. There’s no one who can’t be bought. Leave this to me.”

He was visibly excited.

Old Zhu blinked. “So you agree to join us? What about the forty thousand yuan...?”

“Of course I agree. After saying all that, how could I refuse?” Old Yao rolled his eyes at him. “I’ll put up forty thousand yuan for a thirty percent share. I’ll give you the money tomorrow.”

Old Zhu grinned. “You said it yourself. Don’t go back on your word.”

Then he glanced at Wang Qiang with a suggestive raise of his brows, as if to say, You really are something.

With the matter settled, everyone went off to attend to their own business.

When Old Yao reached the doorway, something seemed to occur to him. He suddenly turned around and looked at Wang Qiang.

At first, he had wanted to join only because he knew Wang Qiang could obtain merchandise. Now he understood that the young man was remarkably quick-witted. If he wanted their cooperation to continue, it would be best not to try anything underhanded—for the time being.