Chapter 33

“However, your real task is to help me secretly craft this longbow.”

Without a doubt Li Zhicheng made Lin Qian feel excited. But in addition to her excitement, she hadn’t yet completely submitted to this man she admired, and was still thinking straight.

“But…” She hesitated. “You’re sure now’s the time?”

Under the bright light, with his deep eyes, Li Zhicheng stared at her closely.

“Umm. Any questions?”

His low breath softly tickled her ears.

“Revenge is a dish best served cold.” She looked him in his cold eyes. “Although New Bori took up our mass market, Vinda just got a firm foothold, dealing with the retail giant New Bori right after the competition with SMQ finished. Isn’t it too… too…” Arrogant? Presumptuous? Impatient? That was the right word.

“Are we being a little too impatient?” she asked, putting it nicely.

It really makes sense. Even though you, Li Zhicheng, are a great genius, I still think you need to be practical and keep a low profile.

Staring at her, he remained silent for a few seconds.

“You think I’m aggressive?”

She hesitated. “Aren’t you?”

Sitting closely, his arm once again rested on the couch behind her back. They stared at each other, with him looking down and her looking slightly up. They were clearly having a serious discussion about business, but every inch of their bodies, and every breath they took created chemistry between them.

“No.” He suddenly lowered his head and gently brushed his lips against her cheek—it happened so quickly that his lips were there and gone in an instant.

Thump, thump, thump. Lin Qian’s heart pounded.

She could still see his dark eyes gazing at her even though their lips were no longer touching. Lin Qian turned her head to the side, avoiding his eye contact—the cheek he kissed was still red and hot.

Thought my brother said he wouldn’t act so hastily.

Had she misunderstood Lin Mochen? After all, he was also a grown man. Did the term “hasty” mean something more intimate to them?

Then his voice suddenly began again. Just like the other kiss, this was natural and effortless, with no explanation required. “You were wrong about one thing. Vinda is resting easy for now, and SMQ might not be able to come up with a sub-brand as competitive, but New Bori can.”

Stunned, Lin Qian looked up at him.

Though his voice was low, every word he said was vital and left a mark on her mind.

“New Bori will come up with a completely different new brand no later than the second half of the year, shutting out Vinda and leaving it with zero or even negative profit.”

Lin Qian felt her heart sinking. He was right. New Bori was very competitive; the financial group behind it branched out to areas including real estate, finance, industrial manufacturing and so much more. Focusing on the bigger scale, despite losing everything on this particular brand, they could still knock down Aida as well as occupy this new market. A sustainable plan would always make a profit, so why not? No one could compete with New Bori’s bold schemes or ability, and along with Ning Weikai’s cunning and arrogance, they were very likely to succeed.

“So before that happens,” he said in a low voice, “We should get rid of them first.”

…

Aida’s recently-popular subsidiary company had opened up a new marketing department.

Despite the normalcy of the news, it was overheard by both Chen Zheng and Ning Weikai.

Chen Zheng just sneered at the news.

The rule of marketing had always remained the same: compete until there was only one survivor left in the end. Perhaps Li Zhicheng’s first trap had worked, but the competition in marketing wasn’t about clever, temporary tricks—it required true ability.

And that was what SMQ had been best at over the years.

Rumor had it that Xue Mingtao had held some meetings with his staff, inspected the shops, and even had some spies in SMQ. It looked like they were getting ready for a fight with SMQ.

Good, we shall see.

At this stage, it didn’t occur to Chen Zheng that he’d already started seeing people like Xue Mingtao as his direct competitor. He also didn’t realize in the slightest that he had been overlooked by Li Zhicheng and Lin Qian.

Yet it was a different situation in New Bori’s president’s office.

Ning Weikai’s assistant, Yuan Ling, handed him over a report. “Lately the conflict between SMQ and Aida has been pretty aggressive. Aida even started a special department. Here are the department functions and the list of staff members.”

After flipping through some pages, Ning Weikai grinned. “Concerning our preparation for the new brand and bringing down Vinda, do you think that soldier pretending to be weak would realize?”

Yuan Jun was caught off guard.

Ever since the fight with Vinda, the term “the soldier pretending to be weak” was used by the president to refer to the well-known Li Zhicheng in the industry.

“Yes,” he replied.

Ning Weikai nodded. “So he must have a solution. Under the calm guise, and with an air of pretension, he’s even sent his trusted employee Lin Qian to start a marketing department. Huh.. so fake. He must have a plan for me, ready to set me up somewhere.”

Yuan Jun smiled. “It’s not easy to set you up, sir. But you can’t let him get away with it. President Ning, should we put more pressure on them in the market to find out?”

After some consideration, Ning Weikai shook his head. “Not necessary. We shall just wait.”

Glaring at the blue sky outside the window, he calmly continued, “Think about this. If an elephant is in a fight with a sheep, would the elephant chase after the sheep? There’s a possibility it could fall into the sheep’s trap. So, of course, he’s going to wait for the sheep to go under his feet and then step on it. ”

…

It was a nice and sunny Saturday with only a few light clouds dotting the bright blue sky. Early in the morning, Lin Qian was exercising in her bedroom when her phone started to ring.

“I’m downstairs,” Li Zhicheng said, short and brief.

Huh?

With her phone in her hand, Lin Qian walked to the balcony. She saw under the morning light and through the shadows of the trees on the sidewalk that Li Zhicheng was leaning against his car, holding his phone and staring up at her.

“Come down, I’ll take you on a hunt for the longbow.”

The weather was still freezing, a light layer of frost soon started to appear on the car’s windows.

Li Zhicheng wore the same outfit he’d worn in America, but his dark grey fleece had been traded for one in off-white. His eyebrows looked extra striking on his sharp face. Hands on the wheel, his fingers were long and slender. With less soldier-like coldness, the vibe of a noble rich son coming from him was becoming stronger.

Lots of women loved to look at men’s hands, and Lin Qian was no exception. The color of his hands was slightly darker than the rest of his skin, and they were strong and slender at first glance. But if terms like “beautiful,””delicate,” and “handsome” could be used to describe hands, his would be described as handsome, delicate, nicely proportioned, slender, and strong. But upon closer inspection, she could see that the backs of his hands were lightly scarred. At the knuckles and the webbing between the thumbs and index fingers, the scars were deeper.

But presently, instead of guns or military bags, it was the future of a company he was holding. And… Perhaps her own hands at some point.

Lin Qian thought of something and then she then turned to him. “The fleece… you didn’t get multiple ones in different colors, did you?”

Holding the wheel, he took a steady turn. “Yeah, a few.”

Lin Qian was speechless.

She had heard that when it came to clothes they liked, some men would buy a dozen of every time. As a decisive soldier, it made sense that he would as well.

“You don’t like it?” he asked quietly.

Despite it being such a simple question, she could feel the butterflies in her stomach again.

From the tone, it was clearly a “girlfriend question.”

“No, I just think it’s interesting,” she replied honestly.

He stared at the traffic ahead. Lin Qian watched his handsome profile. He said to her, “I’ve never had a woman pay attention to this stuff for me.”

Lin Qian hummed. She turned her head and pretended to look at the buildings outside.

The idea of taking “baby steps” with him now meant allowing their feelings to develop.

Once the romance started, it would be spotted everywhere. A conversation and a slight movement could give it away—a glance, or a prolonged hug could also reveal their relationship.

But romances tasted sweet and smooth. Like a wide and bright stream of water, slowly filling in your heart and submerging you bit by bit.

An appropriate relationship—could it make men more manly and women more feminine? In the end, would they become more attracted to each other?

A few days ago, the brief kiss from him, had it been… a spontaneous urge?

Li Zhicheng took Lin Qian to Chun Du Street. The biggest shopping center in Lin City was located here, and its departments for New Bori, Aida, and SMQ were also the biggest in the whole country.

Before they left the car, Li Zhichen took out two hats. One was for him, and he put the other on her head. Lin Qian realized that they were going to do some market research so they needed to keep a low profile. She copied him by lowering the brim of her hat and stuffing her loose shoulder-length hair under it. She then looked up at him. “I’m ready.”

Crap. The brim of her hat was too low—she couldn’t even see his face, just his chin.

Then she heard his voice from above. “You sure you can see the road?”

Embarrassed, Lin Qian lifted the brim of her hat. Her eyes were able to meet his, and they also stared at her from under the brim of his hat. His eyes were calm, deep and quiet, the same temperament as the day they had first met.

Yet at this calm and ordinary moment, she abruptly realized something. Because of his identity, she had been ignoring his subtlety.

Seeing her face and eyes under the brim of the hat, Li Zhicheng’s eyes expressed more stillness and intensity.

With such a brief and intense gaze, Lin Qian’s heart missed a beat.

“The hat was from my high school,” he said quietly. “It looks good on you.”

Although it sounded plain, she could feel the butterflies in her stomach again.

Why did this feel so intimate even though she was just wearing his old hat?

The day happened to be the Lantern Festival; the shopping center was filled with people as the spring sales had just begun. The music playing was fast-paced and the crowd was bustling.

Li Zhicheng took her straight to the top floor on the elevator; it was jammed with people and he held her shoulders, keeping her between his arms. Lin Qian had to admit that she was enjoying it.

She thought about how for years after her brief and dramatic relationship with Ning Weikai during university, every time she went shopping she was either alone watching the affectionate couples or she was with her girlfriends watching the affectionate couples. Always watching people share chemistry.

In the past she had always felt very sturdy standing against the crowd—however it moved around, she remained still.

In comparison, she could tell that with someone like Li Zhicheng right next to her, the other people in the crowd no longer pushed her around like they used to. If someone squeezed by her, they’d avoid Li Zhicheng’s hands. When a person turned around, seeing they were a couple, they’d stop pushing them and would even leave them some space. They were trying to avoid any physical contact with the intimidating Li Zhicheng’s woman.

Lin Qian thought that this was probably a normal physiological reaction.

But even as the result of a normal reaction, this tiny amount of special treatment was able to bring someone the secure sense of happiness—more than money, power, or anything else.

The door to the lift opened and they were on the floor of outdoor brands.

Lin Qian was slightly amazed. Li Zhicheng let go of her shoulders, and the two of them shared eye contact. In a low voice, Lin Qian asked, “Are you… planning to make outdoor gear?

Li Zhicheng avoided answering the question; he looked ahead. “Have a look first.”

Nodding, Lin Qian followed him around and they visited the departments one by one. They obviously had to start at the renowned international brands, and they were also on sale. But the majority were 10 to 20 percent off—only a few products went as high as 50 percent. But they had already attracted a lot of customers.

In terms of popularity and sales volume, the most successful brand was New Bori’s “Long Journey.” There were a lot of admirable aspects about New Bori contributing to their current success. New Bori was the only domestic company that largely covered the outdoor area. They sponsored the National Mountaineering Party and hired sports celebrities for endorsements. Although not cheap, they were more affordable than international brands.

Their department was bustling. Almost everyone around rushed to purchase outdoor backpacks and shoes at a large discount. The consumer group was made of all sorts of customers, including the elderly, middle-aged individuals, teenagers in shirts and jeans, and mothers with babies.

But because New Bori’s specialty was bags, these were sold the most.

Leaning on the railings outside, Li Zhicheng and Lin Qian observed the busy shop.

He asked in a low voice, “Do you remember the article from the magazine I had you read?”

Lin Qian had to think for a moment. “I do.” That had been in his office after the battle against SMQ. They had read an authoritative professional magazine and had discussed the results of the top ten best bags from 2013.

Ranked at number one had been a casual bag from New Bori.

Number two was an outdoor bag, also from New Bori. It was one of the most sold items in the department at the moment.

Although it was just a review article, it also reflected the current market structure. New Bori took up the majority of the market in the area of casual bags, and also outshined the others in the outdoor bag area.

“Hmm.” Li Zhicheng stared ahead. “Let’s kill two birds with one stone by getting rid of these two main brands from New Bori at once.”

Instantly frozen, she looked into his eyes only to meet their bottomless darkness.

“How?” she asked, slightly raising her voice.

Without responding, Li Zhicheng gestured for her to follow him. When they reached a relatively large and quiet empty corridor he stopped walking. Looking at the New Bori department down the hall, he asked her, “What’s special about their customers?”

Following his gaze, Lin Qian quickly answered, “Although it sounds quite helpless, the majority of their customers are just ordinary people, not outdoor activity junkies.”

Li Zhicheng gave her a side glance.

She hesitated. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No,” he said. “You said exactly what I’m thinking.”

Lin Qian cheered up slightly.

It was true. The professional athletes and extremely outdoorsy people usually went for international brands—including her and Li Zhicheng. But products like New Bori’s were more preferred by people on a budget, and ordinary individuals were attracted by the name.

Perhaps they would never be involved in an outdoor activity, but the idea of possessing some stylish outdoor gear made people proud. The quality of outdoor gear was also better than that of normal products.

“Who are the customers of casual bags?” Li Zhicheng continued.

“They’re just completely ordinary people.”

Why is he asking me these questions?

What does this have to do with the longbow we’ll work on?

Hold on… Did he mention killing two birds with one stone?

Then Li Zhicheng whispered in her ear, “What we’ll be working on is a longbow that has the quality of outdoor gear, a price around the same as casual bags, an impeccable exterior, and the best value on the market. The brand must be registered overseas, targeting the normal urban residents.”

Even though he only spoke a few brief sentences, Lin Qian’s heart started pounding.

The creed of a bagging company was to begin with categorizing the products, then specializing and perfecting them, and then building the brand’s budget.

Outdoor bags were about specializing in professional and outdoor areas, improving the current technology, and working painstakingly hard in order to compete with the international brands. But the results usually didn’t turn out the way they wanted.

For casual bags the goal was to have many styles, for them to look pretty, and for the company to be constantly coming up with something new. The quality of casual bags just needed to be good enough for daily wear. These two types of bags were very different.

Even though someone had tried to bring the outdoor functions into casual bags, he was just dabbling, just playing small. He would never reach the standard. After all, the public believed the majority of Chinese people were just curious about the outdoor brands. The demand from the market wasn’t that great.

Yet Li Zhicheng dared to ignore all this.

It never occurred to him to follow the law of “trying to specialize and perfect the products, increasing the company’s competitiveness.” He also clearly didn’t plan to spend a lot of money on the pursuit of fame or high-endness.

He also never thought of following the consumers’ current habits, regardless of the cities residents’ gradually increasing consuming capacity. Also, not many people asked for the casual bags to include outdoor functions. But he really wanted to introduce a new type of product that didn’t exist in the market (at least not in an influential brand). Or to call it…. “City Utility Bag?”

If they were to strongly promote these type of bags, it meant guiding the consumers’ demand, and exploring their potential demand, rather than following the consumers’ lead.

But the idea was also very practical. Just like he said, the bag could be waterproof, light, stylish, durable, made overseas, and affordable… and also defined as an urban casual bag, but would anyone really buy it? Would it attract the consumers from both of New Bori’s brands?

She had no idea what the market would be by then. Maybe nobody would show any interest in their new brand and it would end up failing miserably. Or maybe… was it possible to distinguish themselves right away, and become the dark horse of the whole market?

Looking up at him, Lin Qian spoke out of nowhere, her voice almost sounding raucous. “Boss.”

She called him “Boss” instead of other names, just like before.

“Boss, the concept is excellent, but also very risky,” she continued. “Do you know how difficult it is to make a perfect bag like that?”

Li Zhicheng’s stood straight and cold beside her and stared down at her slightly red face. “Yeah. It’s difficult—extremely difficult.”

The two stared at each other for a moment. In a thick voice, he continued, “So are we doing it or not?”

Feeling the blood rush to her face and ears, she replied, “We are.”

I won’t look around, and I won’t hesitate. The road ahead of us is bumpy and rocky, but you’re aiming high. What else can I say?

During the lows, I’ll keep going and work harder by your side. During the highs, we’ll enjoy the success together.