Chapter 57 Foresight and Preparation

Inside the red Ferrari, after driving around the Xinlin industrial area, Zhuang Daoyuan finally understood why Tang Qiang had chosen this company first.

Xinlin possessed a vast expanse of unused land that held immense potential for utilization.

"Huanhuan, my family's company is planning to take on all kinds of small cap orders. Are you interested in registering a brand and selling them in your live stream room?"

Zhuang Daoyuan kept sending messages to various micro-influencers he knew. There were a few internet celebrities he had coveted for a long time without finding an opening, and now he had finally seized the opportunity.

He had not taken Tang Qiang's negotiation with Xinlin very seriously, as he had never considered Xinlin a competitor in the first place, which was why he hadn't accompanied Tang Qiang upstairs.

Before long, Tang Qiang pushed open the car door and got back in, rubbing his wrist with a sullen face.

"How did it go?" Zhuang Daoyuan asked with a grin.

"They have no idea what they're going to face in the future, so naturally they refused to agree to the eighteen million acquisition offer."

After getting into the car, Tang Qiang continued to clench his fist tightly before slowly releasing it to test the flexibility of his wrist.

"That punk..."

At the mere thought of Wei Lin's fierce gaze and terrifying strength, a sudden sense of unease crept into his heart. He had never underestimated Wei Lin's capabilities, yet recently, Wei Lin kept springing surprises on him, giving him the illusion that he didn't know Wei Lin at all.

"With that frame and muscle mass of his, how on earth could he beat me in arm-wrestling?" Tang Qiang simply could not fathom it.

"A toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit. Missing out on this village means missing this shop—that describes that little boss to a T," Zhuang Daoyuan scoffed coldly. "Once we start choking them off at the source and leave Xinlin with no orders to process, they'll be the ones crying and begging us to buy them out."

"By then, if they still want an eighteen million buyout, they'll be dreaming!"

Big fish eat small fish; business competition was just that bloody and cruel. In Zhuang Daoyuan's view, once Qifeng prepared to adjust its strategy to monopolize the small-order market share, companies like Xinlin that relied on small orders to survive would have no way out. They would either go bankrupt or be acquired by Qifeng—there was simply no other path left.

"With me here, they won't successfully deliver that order from Fenglin either."

Tang Qiang cracked a grin, his teeth glinting with a chilling, ruthless malice. "We want the small orders, and we won't let go of the big ones either. As long as Qifeng is in Linjiang City, all other companies will simply have to close down."

Zhuang Daoyuan burst into loud laughter. "Those who submit thrive, and those who resist perish. Business is just that simple."

...

Back in the meeting room that Tang Qiang had just vacated, An Yuntian and the others stared at Wei Lin in utter shock, still immersed in profound disbelief.

This kid had actually beaten Tang Qiang in arm-wrestling?

In terms of muscle mass and body weight, Wei Lin was clearly at a huge disadvantage compared to Tang Qiang. How on earth had he won?

Not only had he won, but Wei Lin had pinned Tang Qiang's hand down, rendering him completely immobile, before declaring with resolute and even fierce determination: "Xinlin is not for sale!"

Wei Lin's overwhelmingly dominant attitude seemed to plant a reassuring anchor in everyone's hearts, banishing their panic.

"Don't worry, everyone. We will never sell Xinlin, and Xinlin's future is only going to get better and better!"

"As for Qifeng's acquisition attempt, don't read too much into it. Just go back to what you were doing."

After Wei Lin offered words of comfort to the group, they gradually dispersed from the meeting room, leaving only An Yuntian behind.

"Uncle An, I've had plans to build my own brand for a long time, and now I'm ready to start pushing for it."

Once the others had left, Wei Lin spoke up. "Inverse Demon will be the name of our own brand. I registered the trademark long ago, and I'll find a company to design it in the next couple of days."

"You should know how difficult it is to build a brand from scratch, Linzi. Do you know something we don't, which is why you're in such a rush to launch your own brand?" An Yuntian asked.

"Uncle An, I have the confidence to make the Inverse Demon brand a success. Do you believe me?" Wei Lin asked in a deep, steady voice.

An Yuntian fell silent for a moment, then nodded and said, "At this point, I'd believe anything you do!"

After a brief pause, he added, "You even beat Tang Qiang in arm-wrestling, so why wouldn't I believe you?"

"Damn it! Seeing you press his hand down onto the table and leave him completely unable to move was just too satisfying!"

"To be honest, neither your old man nor I was ever a match for Tang Qiang in that department. We never beat him even once."

The more An Yuntian talked, the more excited he became, completely oblivious to the massive crisis that was about to befall Xinlin.

...

At noon, Wei Lin ate a full four large bowls of rice in the company cafeteria. Before today, paired with three dishes and a soup, he would have been stuffed to the absolute limit after just two bowls.

"Strength and appetite seem to be directly proportional."

Wei Lin finished off the tomato and egg soup, looked at his empty tray, and finally felt the hunger dissipate. He was now completely certain that the fourth round of biological evolution had brought him an explosive surge in strength; otherwise, his appetite wouldn't have skyrocketed so drastically.

It was precisely because the feeling of growing stronger was so visceral that he had dared to challenge Tang Qiang at his specialty—arm-wrestling—and genuinely beaten him flat out!

"I don't know what my current limits are across the three major lifts, but after four rounds of metamorphosis, I might finally be able to match that freak Wu Feiyurt in strength on the basketball court."

"The next time we play, he won't be able to muscle me out. Once he loses his advantage in strength on the basketball court at Feiyu Center, won't Wu Feiyurt just be ground into the dirt by me?"

"It would be an absolute waste not to put such formidable strength to good use."

"Combat? The fighting ring."

Wei Lin suddenly recalled the long-vacant fighting ring at Like Fitness, along with the unassuming striking coach. It felt like that might be the ideal place to unleash his immense strength.

...

After lunch, Wei Lin took a half-hour nap, and upon waking up, immediately began meditating.

Following twenty minutes of meditation, Wei Lin splashed his face with cold water, feeling refreshed and noticing that his mind was exceptionally sharp.

"That order from Fenglin cannot afford any mishaps. If Tang Qiang puts pressure on Zhong Xiaowei, then I'll have to guard against Fat man Zhong as well. If you dare to play dirty and stab me in the back at a critical moment, Fat man Zhong, you're going down with them!"

After pondering for a moment, Wei Lin made a phone call.

"Brother Ji, is your company busy right now? Can you help me manufacture a batch of goods?"

"Roughly how many? Are the quality requirements high, and when do you need them?"

"They're for export abroad, so the quality requirements are relatively high. I need them before December 15th, and about 50,000 units should do."

"50,000 units is no problem at all!"

"Brother Ji, please keep this batch confidential for me. I don't want local competitors to find out."

"We're in the same province, just different regions. If you don't want local competitors to know, I can have one of my branch factories in another province handle it."

"Thanks a lot, Brother Ji! I'll send you the blueprints in a moment! As for the unit price, let's make it 10 yuan!"

"10 yuan? Wei Lin, you don't need to be so polite with me. You helped me out back when I was busy. Between you and me, 8 yuan per unit is plenty, and I'll still turn a profit."

"Thank you, Brother Ji!"

Wei Lin hung up the phone with a relaxed expression.

After a moment of contemplation, he dialed Lin Nanxi's number and cut straight to the chase: "Help me design a brand trademark. I need it right away. Two words: Inverse Demon."

"I can have it for you tonight," Lin Nanxi agreed readily.

She had never been approached by Wei Lin in her professional field before, and seeing him come to her for official business, she was beyond delighted.

"How much do I owe you? I'll transfer it to you right now," Wei Lin asked.

"A fee? Wei Lin, between you and me, why are you even talking about a fee for such a small matter?" Lin Nanxi said huffily, "I'll pull overtime tonight and have the design drafts ready for you before bed!"

"Well... alright then," Wei Lin helplessly hung up the phone.

...

At 1:40 PM, at a Starbucks in Linjiang City.

Zheng Zehui arrived twenty minutes ahead of the agreed time, holding a portfolio containing information on the internet celebrities signed to his agency. He smiled and said, "President Wei, which one of them has caught your eye?"

Without beating around the bush, Wei Lin stated directly: "Gluttonous Little Pig, Traveling Brother Pang, Big Zhuang Teaches Fitness, Makeup Little Mu, Uncle Cang the Photographer, and Chef Dabin. Brother Ji, I'm ready to invest in all six of these artists under your agency."

Zheng Zehui was startled. "How do you want to structure this?"

"Bundle all six of them together and sign a three-year contract. For the first year, my side will pay a signing fee totaling 1.8 million, but they are only permitted to sell my products and no other goods whatsoever."

"Aside from the signing fee, you can take an additional 20% commission on the unit price of every single product sold."

"After the first year, the annual signing fee of 1.8 million remains unchanged, and the commission stays the same. However, aside from my products, I will also allow them to promote and sell other goods, provided that my products remain their primary focus."

Wei Lin laid out the proposal he had planned out long in advance.

Without even ordering a cup of coffee, Zheng Zehui listened intently to Wei Lin's cooperation terms. Seeing that Wei Lin remained silent for a long moment, he finally asked, "President Wei, you aren't joking with me, are you?"

The six influencers under his agency currently brought him a total annual revenue of only about 1.6 million through live-streaming sales—falling short of even the signing fee Wei Lin was offering. Based on that alone, he wouldn't be losing out.

On top of the signing fee, Wei Lin was still offering him standard commissions on every batch of goods. Wasn't this a guaranteed profit?

"I'm not joking. I even brought the contracts with me. If you think this is acceptable, Brother Ji, we can sign right now," Wei Lin said with a bright smile. "I'll wire the first year's signing fee to you next Monday, and the contract will take effect starting next Monday. How does that sound?"

"President Wei, can I ask you a question?" Zheng Zehui inquired.

"Please go ahead."

"Why are your terms so generous?"

"Because I'm a hardcore fan of all six of them, and I'm betting that they can become major influencers!"

Zheng Zehui: "..."

In the self-media industry, micro-influencers becoming top-tier celebrities was entirely a matter of luck. Sometimes, even after pouring massive amounts of traffic into them, the promoted influencers would still end up losing money. As a professional, even he wouldn't dare make such a bold claim; otherwise, he would have made a fortune long ago.

"Let me ask you one last question, President Wei. Are you certain you want to stake your bets on these six?" Zheng Zehui asked seriously.

"I'm certain!"

"Then... it's a deal!"

...

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