Counter-Bet All In, Villa by the Sea!

At nine-thirty on Friday morning, Zheng Haifeng gathered the entire team in the small conference room, handing everyone a printed sheet. The marketplace side was pressing for answers.

"Long story short, the marketplace wants to expand its 3C accessories lineup for the fall. Every category has to submit recruitment targets and plans by Monday." He tapped the paper with his pen cap. "You've all seen our results from the first half of the year. We pitched six major brands to the marketplace, spent nearly half a year negotiating, and got one in. The other five are still haggling. This time, management wants something that can actually be implemented. Let's hear it."

Zhou Bin was the first to speak again.

"Supervisor Zheng, I have the most say in this. I was handling four of those six." He spread his paper across the table. "Major brands are slow to enter the marketplace, sure, but they bring prestige. We should keep stacking the list with big names. I say we go through those general distributors again and loosen the terms a little. We can definitely bring in another two before the end of the year."

"Before the end of the year again." Zheng Haifeng did not look up.

"Big deals can't be rushed." Zhou Bin smiled. "Anyway, you can't go wrong copying big brands onto the list with your eyes closed. If we let those little factories into the marketplace, what makes it any different from the market downstairs?"

Several of the old hands in the group nodded along. Their points were all about the same: play it safe, avoid mistakes.

Zheng Haifeng's pen cap turned toward the door. "Xiao Lin, haven't you been looking into new sellers these past few days? Tell us what you think."

There was no avoiding it.

Lin Fan ran through the deal in his head. He already knew the answer to this round with his eyes closed. He had watched the marketplace's future unfold from beginning to end in his previous life. Speaking up would hand him two straight hits for free, and with Zheng Haifeng backing him in the group from now on, Zhou Bin would have to think twice before trying to push him around again.

There was practically no risk anyway, so he might as well say it.

"My view is the opposite." Lin Fan spoke up. "We can keep the major-brand list, but we can't make major brands our main direction."

Everyone in the room turned to look at him. Zhou Bin's face was the first to darken.

"Why?" Zheng Haifeng asked.

"The numbers are right there. We negotiated with six companies for half a year and got one. That means major brands don't think much of the marketplace right now. They're doing perfectly well offline and are afraid coming online will mess up their pricing. We can talk for another half-year and get the same result." Lin Fan opened his notebook. "But on the other side, the factory sellers who've rushed in over the past two months have inventory, competitive prices, and volume. All they lack is a legitimate platform. Open a path through the marketplace threshold for them. Make them pay a deposit and assess their shipping and after-sales service. They'll fight to get in, and within three months, we can fill every slot."

"Fill every slot?" Zhou Bin laughed. "Xiao Lin, what do factories know about service? They can't even staff customer support properly. Once after-sales blows up, all the complaints will land on our team. Who's taking the blame then?"

"That's exactly why we need thresholds," Lin Fan said. "The deposit holds them down, the assessments keep them in check. Those who can't meet the standards don't get in, and those who do get in won't dare act recklessly. That's much more reliable than begging major brands to come through the door."

"Easy to say." Zhou Bin leaned back in his chair. "Supervisor Zheng, let me put this on the record: the marketplace is a place reserved for brands. Putting factory goods in there means lowering our own status. If we really submit this direction and something goes wrong, don't say I didn't warn you."

The conference room fell silent. Everyone looked to Zheng Haifeng.

Zheng Haifeng stared at the first-half list for a long while, tapping the pen cap twice against the table.

"Six approached, one admitted. No matter how prestigious they are, empty slots are still empty." He looked up. "We'll write it up according to Xiao Lin's direction. Put the major-brand part at the end as a supplement. Xiao Lin, give me two pages before you leave today. Explain the reasoning clearly. Zhou Bin, I've noted your opinion. Put that in too."

After the meeting broke up, the workstation area was abnormally quiet. Even the keyboard clatter had softened.

Lin Fan returned to his seat and kept working. He had written more than a hundred two-page reports like this in his previous life. He would not even need to delay lunch.

The real show would be in the afternoon.

A little after two, Zheng Haifeng was called upstairs for a meeting of category supervisors. When he returned at three-thirty, he had several pages of meeting minutes in hand and spoke right in the middle of the work area.

"Listen up. The policy for fall seller recruitment has been set upstairs." He gave the minutes a shake. "Lower the threshold. Open a green channel for factory-type sellers who can deliver volume. Deposit plus assessment system. No need to force the issue with major brands; those willing can come aboard."

He paused, then turned toward the corner.

"Xiao Lin, it's exactly the same as what you said this morning. Hurry up with those two pages. Send them directly to me once you're done."

A small uproar broke out in the office.

The people who had nodded along with Zhou Bin that morning now looked at one another, and not one of them said a word.

Zhou Bin stood by the water dispenser holding his cup. His hand froze halfway through getting water, and he did not press the button for a long time.

Lin Fan kept his head down and typed as though he had heard nothing.

He knew every word on those meeting minutes by heart. When this policy had come down in his previous life, he had been sitting in this same row of workstations. Back then, after reading it, he had only thought it had nothing to do with him and casually closed it. Who would have imagined that seventeen years later, the same sheet of paper could become his stepping stone?

He remembered the direction perfectly. He just had not expected it to land so quickly. He genuinely could not remember the exact date the document had been issued. What luck—an easy gift.

He heard the chatter in the break room loud and clear when he went to get water that afternoon.

"Twice already. Monday's time, maybe he just had a sharp eye. But today? He said it in the morning, and it came true that afternoon. Can that still be a guess?"

"I think he has someone above him feeding him inside information ahead of time."

"What inside information? He's just a fresh graduate. I think he's just uncanny."

Uncanny.

Lin Fan walked back with his cup, turning the word over and over in his mind. He would take that reputation.

If the people in the group thought he was uncanny, then from now on, leaving work on time, keeping to himself, quietly poring over data—it would all make perfect sense. Odd people did odd things, and no one would ask too many questions. That layer of skin was more useful than anything.

As long as no one looked in the direction where the truth was hidden, that was enough.

Near quitting time, Zhou Bin walked over and slapped an old Nokia onto his desk. His face showed no particular expression.

"The duty phone. Keep it on twenty-four hours a day. Watch it closely over the weekend. If something happens, you're responsible."

"Don't worry, Brother Bin."

Zhou Bin remained standing there, as if he wanted to say something else. In the end, he only said one thing. "Not bad, Xiao Lin. You've been hiding your talents well."

After he left, even his back looked stiffer than usual.

Lin Fan turned the Nokia over for a look. Full battery, full signal. Great. This phone would be taking a trip with him over the weekend.

When he got home that evening, he shipped the orders first. There were twenty-two today, four more than yesterday. After wrapping the last package, he went downstairs and withdrew three thousand yuan in cash from the ATM. Back in his room, he counted it twice, put it in an envelope, and tucked it into the deepest part of his backpack.

He had already checked the train schedule during the day. The first train from Hangzhou to Yiwu left at six-forty the next morning.

Everything in his backpack was neatly arranged: three thousand yuan in cash, the duty phone, a charger, and a small notebook for recording prices.

Before lying down, he set his alarm for five-thirty and went over tomorrow's lines in his head once more.

Once he arrived in Yiwu, the name Lin Fan would be put away. If the factory people asked, the shop belonged to the Ma family, and he was Manager Ma.

Tomorrow would be the first time he used that title.