Chapter 33

Chapter 33

There was finally some exciting and big news for the students’ union after many years – a competition had commenced:

Parties involved: Chen Hansheng (freshman and class president of Public Administration Class 2) and Zhou Xiao (deputy officer of students’ union external relations committee).

Mission: Attract sponsors for the freshmen party

Location: Yiwu Business Center of Jiangling University Town

Judges: Zuo Xiaoli, Qi Wei, and other officers of the students’ union; the group of freshmen who had played witness

The competition was a sudden event that had culminated due to the egos of two students’ union officers and a freshman.

Although the students’ union was meant to serve the students, it had been tainted by a large number of bad bureaucratic habits. The governing body was not big, and its governance style was very bad.

Zhou Xiao might have been close to Zuo Xiaoli which was probably why the latter was willing to stand up for the former. But the other officers could not be bothered.

The freshmen, on the other hand, were unusually united. Wherever there was oppression, there would be resistance. And there was nothing wrong with that.

“The sponsors of the event are all in the Yiwu Business Center. I don’t think there’s a need to ask every single one of them. It’s a waste of time and energy. Why don’t we just randomly assign a merchant to each of the participants and see who can get a higher sponsorship?” Zuo Xiaoli, the vice president of the students’ union, announced the rules at the student activity center.

Zhou Xiao agreed. Although it was ‘random’, they already knew which merchants were familiar with and close to the external relations committee, and those who weren’t. So Zuo Xiaoli should act accordingly.

As expected, Zhou Xiao was assigned to a barbershop that had just opened as it still had the remains of firecrackers and confetti at its entrance, and was owned by a young man in his twenties. Chen Hansheng, on the other hand, was assigned to a stationery shop that was owned by a middle-aged man in his forties.

When Zhou Xiao heard the assignments, he smugly wondered if there was a real point in the competition. The shop he was assigned to had just opened, so it definitely needed publicity. Young people were easy to talk to so just a casual conversation should get them a few hundred dollars in sponsorship.

As for the stationery shop owner, he was rich, but he was also stingy. Moreover, he was in the wholesale business and did not have much interest in retail, so there was no need for excessive publicity.

This was Zhou Xiao’s chance to redeem the honor that he had previously lost.

Zhou Xiao excitedly pushed the glass door of ‘My Show’ barbershop open. The owner beamed with happiness as he had initially thought that the crowd of students outside was going to be his new customers. But after hearing Zhou Xiao’s purpose of visit, his face gradually turned cold.

“We have just opened and business has not been very good either.”

The barbershop owner was very reluctant to be a sponsor. Yiwu Business Center was the hunting grounds for sponsors by all university external relations committees in Jiangling University Town. Sometimes, several waves of students would approach the merchants in a month.

“It’s precisely because you have just opened that you need publicity. Our team is going to hold a freshman party soon. If you sponsor a banner to be put up at the event, the freshmen will be able to see it. If you sponsor a little gift, that will boost your publicity at our university.”

This was one method to persuade sponsors. It was one of the easiest but not the most effective, which meant it was usually meant to be used for smaller sponsors.

Chen Hansheng was also present but he simply observed while lighting a cigarette as Zhou Xiao and the owner, Tony, talked it out.

Qi Wei stood next to Chen Hansheng and shook her head with a sigh. “This is the reality of external relations. Getting sponsorship is basically like begging. But it’s a great way to develop communication skills. This owner may actually be one of the easier ones to talk to. The stationery shop will be even worse.”

Zhou Xiao was so engrossed with the thought that Zuo Xiaoli had his back that he forgot about Qi Wei, his direct supervisor. As such, his failure would result in the failure of his committee, not just himself.

Chen Hansheng continued to observe silently despite Qi Wei’s words.

Half an hour later, Tony finally relented. He agreed to sponsor a two hundred-yuan banner and a three hundred-yuan haircut coupon as a prize at the freshmen party.

“Thank you, thank you.”

Zhou Xiao bowed respectfully at Tony but his ego was about to fly sky high. Tony, on the other hand, looked cold and indifferent as he barely responded.

“That was difficult, but at least we succeeded.”

Zhou Xiao took a deep breath as his expression changed from modesty to arrogance. Then, he looked at Chen Hansheng provocatively.

Chen Hansheng threw away the cigarette butt and walked directly to the stationery store. But little did he expect an incident to occur from the get-go.

The stationery store owner was talking to his neighbor at the door. When the former saw Zuo Xiaoli and Qi Wei walking over, he closed his glass door without another word.

Qi Wei was a little embarrassed and angry. Zuo Xiaoli had deliberately chosen this kind of shop for Chen Hansheng. His intention to bully others was too obvious.

Zhou Xiao secretly wished he was the owner of the stationery shop so that he could make Chen Hansheng kneel.

“I’ll help you get started. The rest is up to you.”

Qi Wei took the initiative to open the glass door and said “Hello, Mr. Feng. I’m here to disturb you again.”

“If you really feel that you’re disturbing me, then don’t come.”

The owner of this stationery store was called Feng Jihua. He was in his forties, balding, wore glasses, and had pretty high cheekbones. One could tell just by looking at him that he would not be an easy person to deal with.

In the face of Mr. Feng’s sarcasm, Qi Wei embarrassedly said, “We will be having a freshman party and wondered if you would like to sponsor it.”

Feng Jihua took out a thick account book and slammed it on the counter, prompting Qi Wei to immediately shut up.

“It’s not that I don’t want to. But I also have a lot of loans that I have to deal with. I don’t have the money to sponsor you,” said Feng Jihua as he flipped through the account book and took out an IOU.

A students’ union official complained in a low voice, “It’s the same thing again. Every time we approach him, he would take out his IOU to shoo us away.”

But Chen Hansheng understood the situation quite well. He was a businessman after all. If one did not have the money, why would they be willing to sponsor others?

However, since they were in a competition, Chen Hansheng knew how sneaky the d*mn Zuo Xiaoli had been to set up such a trap. He already knew from before that Feng Jihua would not be a willing sponsor.

“Well, since university students are quite capable, how about this? If you help me settle my debt, I’ll sponsor your event.”

Feng Jihua stared at the students. The students were indeed capable. But they lacked the social skills so he knew they would not be able to succeed.

Zhou Xiao was the happiest here. He signaled Zuo Xiaoli to quickly announce the results of the competition. He couldn’t help but prepare to attack Chen Hansheng.

Chen Hansheng noticed how excited Zhou Xiao was becoming as he walked out and asked, “Mr. Feng, are there any businesses nearby that owe you money?”

Feng Jihua had been feeling quite proud of himself for the response he had given earlier and wasn’t prepared to receive a question from one of them. When he threw out his trump card, the students would simply retreat in the face of difficulties. It was rare for someone to dare ask.

“You plan to help me collect the debt?”

“My abilities are limited but I can settle things for you by this afternoon,” said Chen Hansheng.

Feng Jihua sized up Chen Hansheng. He was tall, big, and not ugly at all. However, there was an unruly confidence in his demeanor.

“There is one nearby.”

The stationery store owner, Feng Jihua, flipped through the account book and looked up something. “It’s the fruit store across the street.”

“Where’s the loan slip?” Chen Hansheng asked.

“That’s the problem. At the time, there were two copies of it, but the one I kept was lost. After he found out, he refused to admit that there was a loan. Otherwise, I would have asked it back long ago,” said Feng Jihua.

Chen Hansheng started to think, and then asked, “How much does he owe you?”

“2,500 yuan.”

Chen Hansheng nodded. After pondering for a while, he suddenly shouted, “Yang Shizhao, Shaoqiang, Zhu Chenglong, wanna come?”

“What’s there to be afraid of?”

“Hansheng, don’t doubt my loyalty.”

“Class President, your word is my command.”

With that, he strode across the street to the fruit store with his gang. The other students also followed curiously. Only Zhou Xiao was left with Zuo Xiaoli “Shouldn’t I be the one to win?”

Zuo Xiaoli had originally thought that he had a 100% chance of winning. Now that something had gone wrong, he impatiently said, “If you ask me, who the f*ck am I going to ask?”

…