Chapter 145: Advantage
By mid-December, Su Can met with Lin Guangdong.
"Unlike Beijing's periodical distribution channels, which vary in quality and each serve different masters, Shanghai is also rather different from Guangzhou's chaotic market. Local periodicals aren't particularly developed here, but distribution is. The distribution market has moved beyond the initial stage of competition, and competition is very orderly. That order also means this dynamic competition has reached a relative equilibrium that's difficult to disrupt from outside. But Tan Wen can do it by relying on the reputation he's built in the industry. He has connections everywhere." Lin Guangdong drove to Nanjing University, where Su Can had been waiting for some time, and motioned for him to get in. Then he began analyzing the situation for Su Can.
Tan Wen was well known in Shanghai's periodical industry. He had first made his name as editor-in-chief of Oriental Daily and deputy editor-in-chief of China Information Industry News, then served as director of the Shanghai News Office. Afterward, he had transferred to a central state-owned enterprise in Beijing, taking a senior executive position at a company involved in media. Who would have expected him to make such a sudden splash after returning to Shanghai? The Wenzhou Books Company he founded had swiftly poured large sums into consolidating some of Shanghai's smaller distribution channels and acquiring cross-shareholdings among the major distributors, rapidly expanding his influence.
"That puts our every move within his grasp. At the slightest sign of anything happening, the distributors tipping one another off would be enough to give us trouble." Lin Guangdong looked very frustrated. Several of his business plans had already been preempted by the other side. Judging by the situation, Tan Wen's alliances were mostly aimed at putting pressure on Pineapple Media. Although they had not forced Pineapple