Chapter 260: The Boss’s Identity Can’t Be Hidden Anymore
TL: Etude Translations
As the photo transfer reached eighty-five percent, Jian Chun’s memory card was full once again.
In 2009, the memory capacity of mobile phones was quite limited, and with high-resolution cameras producing large-sized photos, it was normal for the memory card to run out of space. Moreover, Zhuang Chen, being the perfect gentleman he was, took a lot of pictures, making the issue more prevalent.
“Chun Chun, there are too many photos of you and Jiang Qin to transfer. Let’s just send them by email,” someone suggested.
Biting her lip, Jian Chun replied, “Then let’s delete some of the old photos.”
Zhuang Chen opened his eyes wide in disbelief. “Didn’t you say that those old photos were precious memories and that once deleted, they can’t be recovered?”
“There are some that aren’t so precious,” she reasoned.
“...”
Zhuang Chen silently operated the device, deleting the old photos from the memory card to make room for her new pictures with Jiang Qin.
Jian Chun, overjoyed to receive the photos, started scrutinizing each one on her phone, enlarging them to see every detail.
She didn’t realize that Zhuang Chen had intentionally darkened Jiang Qin’s skin tone in the photos. She thought to herself that men with bronze skin truly looked the most handsome.
Seeing Jian Chun’s upturned lips, Zhuang Chen felt a wave of melancholy. He pursed his lips and cast a gloomy gaze out the window, glancing around aimlessly.
He remembered reading in a book that looking into the distance when feeling extremely down could be therapeutic.
Hmm?
What’s that dazzling thing?
Zhuang Chen snapped back to reality and realized the bus had already entered Linchuan city center without him noticing. The streets were filled with bright yellow posters of Pintuan, like a yellow tidal wave.
Meanwhile, other students on the bus also noticed this scene, peering out the windows with surprise in their eyes.
If Pintuan were just a school enterprise, many would subconsciously regard it as a minor endeavor, unprofessional and casual.
It’s like your eight-year-old cousin winning a local chess tournament. You’d think he’s good, but only at an amateur level.
But when he progresses to national level competitions and wins, you’re stunned. Is this really the skill of an eight-year-old?
Just like now, when they saw that Pintuan, which started in their school, had silently spread throughout the city, their astonishment grew exponentially.
Damn, who can expand their business citywide in a year? You call this a student venture? Even my dad couldn’t do that!
Thinking this, everyone involuntarily turned their eyes towards Jiang Qin, seated in the third-last row.
He was playing with a Chinese finger trap, a thick, dark rope that looked like shoelaces from Feng Nanshu’s boots.
“Damn it, too pretentious. Fuck!” Zhang Guangxu was infuriated, pounding his fists against the seat in front of him.
It was one thing for the class’s three beauties to boost his image, and him showing off subtly over the phone was bearable. But now, the entire street was elevating his status. Was there no justice left?
“The fuck’s your problem!?” Zhou Chao, seated in front of him, suddenly turned and cursed.
Zhang Guangxu was instantly enraged. “You dare curse at me?”
“So what if I curse you? You’re randomly smashing things. I almost got a concussion. Want me to tell Jiang Qin you bullied me?”
Zhang Guangxu wanted to retort, but remembering Zhou Chao was Jiang Qin’s roommate, he eventually shut his mouth.
People weren’t blind; how could they not see it?
Thus, after the final round of Wanzhong’s marketing, many media outlets had already started gathering information, seeking the identity of Pintuan’s boss.
When an unknown person wants to hide, no one can find them, except maybe loan sharks. But when a famous person tries to hide, even a dog could find out who they are.
Especially since Jiang Qin had previously appeared in Linchuan Youth Daily, though the report was about Zhihu, his name was the same. Comparing this with the information from the Bureau of Industry and Commerce, the identity of Pintuan’s boss was clear.
Chen, the director of Linchuan TV Station’s People’s Livelihood Program, was baffled after reviewing the background information. Is this what they call a freshman?
And Jiang, the editor-in-chief of Linchuan Financial News, thought to himself, is this what they call nineteen years old?
Young, in school, a university entrepreneur, balancing work and study, stimulating citywide consumption.
All these factors excited the media practitioners in Linchuan, as Jiang Qin’s life story was too legendary. That’s why Wei Lanlan was harassed daily.
“Boss, so are you going to accept the interview? Those journalists are waiting for my response,” Wei Lanlan asked.
Jiang Qin pursed his lips. “Prepare a list for me, and I’ll study it first.”
On June 17th, the 25th day of the fifth lunar month, Jiang Qin received the list of interview invitations compiled by Wei Lanlan.
Facing these invitations, he couldn’t refuse, as for a businessman, media resources and business reputation often go hand-in-hand. Moreover, these invitations were from official media in Linchuan.
In this era, people learned about the world through television news.
When the media speaks well of you, even if you’re utterly vile, consumers will believe you’re good. And when the media speaks ill of you, even if you’re noble and upright, people will suspect you have ulterior motives. That’s why TV shopping ads were so popular.
For this reason, many businesses hoped to maintain a good relationship with the media. In other words, if you didn’t want to expose yourself too soon, you had to have a valid reason and couldn’t outright reject their offer.
“Hello? Director Chen from the People’s Livelihood Program? I’m Jiang Qin.”
“Yes, Pintuan is mine, and I’m very grateful for the interview opportunity. I’m truly honored, but...”
“But it’s exam week, Director. I’m Linchuan University’s ‘Star of Learning’, emphasizing both entrepreneurship and academics, focusing on both grades and performance. If I don’t do well, I really won’t be in the mood for interviews. How about we reschedule?”
“Yes, Director, I come from a scholarly family. My mother is quite a renowned talent in my hometown, and my father often writes couplets for others during the New Year. If I don’t perform well, I’ll get a beating when I return home.”
“Oh, we can postpone it? Thank you so much!”
“...”
“Hello? Editor Jiang from the Financial News? I’m grateful... I’m really sorry... Yes, the ‘Star of Learning’!”
After a long time, Jiang Qin put down the phone, having managed to stabilize the media. He also made a good first impression on both parties with his smooth-talking skills, but he knew this was only a temporary solution.
Even without an exclusive interview, Linchuan TV and newspapers would still report on him from a third-person perspective.
It couldn’t be hidden anymore; the fact that he was wealthy was about to be exposed.
Sure enough, the next evening, Linchuan TV introduced him in the local news segment.
He was an ordinary college student, a businessman from a scholarly family who, in just half a year, had founded Pintuan, stimulating the Linchuan market, providing high-quality services to consumers, and promoting the upgrade and transformation of the Linchuan business district...
“Boss, why the long face?” Su Nai, returning from dinner, saw Jiang Qin’s expression of gastric pain.
Jiang Qin sighed, “You don’t know, your boss is about to become famous.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om