Mr. Ma's shock and the influence of the Beauty Series

"The Penguin Company clearly has no connections, no powerful backers. How could it have so much clout? Wait... could its sole shareholder be...?"

Ximen Wentian had a vague inkling of the reason. In disbelief, he rummaged through his files.

Beneath a large stack of documents, he found the intelligence he had sent people to gather on the Penguin Company.

He opened the report and carefully read through it, item by item.

Before long, he found a name and a piece of information he had hoped not to see.

The Lin Group, registered capital: one million yuan. Sole shareholder: Lin Chao Ci. Registered business address: Haikou City.

"No wonder that address and name looked familiar! Fuck! It really is the Lin Chao Ci I know. At first, I just thought it was someone with the same name, so I glanced at it and forgot all about it. And now..."

Ximen Wentian truly had no words for his misery.

What rich heir started a business with less than ten million in registered capital?

Even among the heirs of powerful families, Lin Chao Ci's background ranked near the very top.

Naturally, Ximen Wentian knew who he was.

Who could have imagined that someone from such a wealthy family would be so frugal and low-key?

Had Lin Chao Ci announced his identity from the start, Ximen Wentian would never have dared provoke him, even with ten times the courage.

"Secretary, tell Director Wang and the others to stop targeting the Penguin Company immediately. Restore its water, electricity, and internet right away... And prepare a few substantial gifts for me. I need to visit the Penguin Company in person!"

Not every privileged heir was a brainless brute.

Once they realized their mistake, they would stop in time to keep their losses from growing.

Ximen Wentian had inherited the Ximen Family's talent for apologizing at the speed of light.

Half an hour later, he arrived at the Penguin Company to meet Mr. Ma and offer his most heartfelt apology, his attitude utterly sincere.

He also handed over a check for one million yuan as compensation for the losses incurred during this period.

When Mr. Ma received his apology, he was stunned for quite some time.

A "big shot" who could casually suppress the Penguin Company until it had no way to fight back had been subdued by Lin Chao Ci just like that.

Mr. Ma gained a much deeper understanding of Lin Chao Ci's influence and background.

At that moment, Mr. Ma was immensely glad he had agreed to accept Lin Chao Ci's investment. With such a powerful backer behind them, who in the country would dare target Tencent?

After days of worry, Mr. Ma finally relaxed completely. As soon as Ximen Wentian left, he called Lin Chao Ci back.

"Brother Lin—no! Big Brother Lin, you're incredible. Truly incredible! That big shot who could crush the Penguin Company on a whim was dealt with in just a few words from you..."

"It was nothing. As long as the company operates legally and follows regulations, I guarantee that no one in this country can touch the Penguin Company!"

"Oh, and Big Brother Lin, Ximen Wentian of the Ximen Family wants to visit you in person to apologize and admit his mistake!"

"Heh, there's no need. Not every nobody is qualified to see me! Tell him that if he doesn't cause trouble, he won't get into trouble!"

After witnessing the power of Lin Chao Ci's connections, Mr. Ma immediately changed how he addressed him, going from Brother Lin to Big Brother Lin.

Although Mr. Ma was older, the words rolled off his tongue naturally. He did not feel embarrassed in the slightest; if anything, he felt rather proud.

If a few words could win them such a formidable big brother, surely 99.99 percent of the people in the world would obediently go along with it.

Lin Chao Ci understood what he was thinking but did not point it out. He chatted with him a little longer before hanging up.

Over the next few days, Lin Chao Ci shifted his focus to opening up new markets.

The pie was only so big. There were only so many people in Haikou City who could afford clothes from the Beauty Series.

If Lin Chao Ci wanted to make more money, he needed to expand his market and his marketing efforts.

Lin Chao Ci specifically had Fang Miaoke recruit a batch of salespeople. After giving them some startup funds and sample garments, he sent them to places all across the country.

There were three reasons for doing this.

1. To seize market share. Businesspeople were greedy. When they saw how much money the Beauty Series made, they would naturally grow envious. Even without the rights, and despite the risk of being sued, they would still take their chances on producing knockoffs.

But if Lin Chao Ci captured all the market share ahead of them, the clothes they copied would be worthless.

2. Businesspeople had an eye for opportunity. After seeing how popular the Beauty Series was, some would certainly come to discuss agency rights or distribution deals. That would bring in substantial working capital and make his next round of investments easier.

3. This was still a period of mass layoffs. Countless workers had been dismissed, and millions of families had lost their source of income. Lin Chao Ci wanted to hire more workers and expand his factories as soon as possible.

He would help as many as he could, at least ensuring that most of them had food on the table.

As for any salespeople who failed, that did not matter. With hundreds sent out, Lin Chao Ci refused to believe that every last one of them would return empty-handed.

If just a few succeeded, he would have a safety net and break even.

If a dozen or so succeeded, he would make a hefty profit, and the plan would be a success.

If dozens succeeded, the Lin Group would expand at a terrifying pace.

This approach would also help him identify talented, exceptional people who could make sales even under such poor conditions.

With further training down the line, a few of them might truly become outstanding figures.

Lin Chao Ci's strategy proved extremely successful. Over the past few days, businesspeople had been coming to the Lin Group one after another to seek cooperation.

By casting his net whether there were fish or not, he had successfully caught quite a few businesspeople with a keen eye.

They had all recognized the value and potential of the Beauty Series.

Some wanted to become regional agents, some wanted to buy tens of thousands of garments to take home and try selling, and others wanted to explore partnerships with the Lin Group.

With so many people coming, it was fortunate that Lin Chao Ci had asked Fang Miaoke to recruit a team of business representatives in advance, specifically to negotiate with them.

Lin Chao Ci knew the value of the Beauty Series, so he set a very high price for regional agency rights.

For an ordinary county-level city, the fee was 500,000 yuan a year, plus a 20 percent share of sales revenue.

For a prefecture-level city, he asked for even more: two million yuan a year, plus a 25 percent share of sales revenue.

For a provincial capital, it was 3.5 million yuan a year, plus a 30 percent share of sales revenue.

As for major first-tier cities such as Magic City, Imperial City, and Guangcheng, Lin Chao Ci had no intention of finding agents. Big cities were the most important places for building the brand's reputation.

Such crucial territory could only be entrusted to himself if he wanted peace of mind.

Lin Chao Ci had thought that with agency fees set so high, no one would volunteer to be a "sucker" anytime soon.

Yet, to his surprise, there really were a few "suckers" who hesitated after hearing the price but ultimately chose to work with him.

Before visiting the company, these "suckers" had all asked around Haikou City about sales of the Beauty Series.

They knew that the Beauty Series had brought in over ten thousand yuan in sales within its first hour of release, and over one hundred thousand within eight hours.

The brand had enormous potential, and the clothing designs looked good, too.