Started from Hong Kong Island

Chapter 202 [Reputation and Influence]

The newsstand owners were naturally delighted and agreed to the newspaper's initiative to make concessions, and promised to vigorously promote the Prayer for a Good Harvest newspapers to their customers. After all, the main news of all major newspapers is the same, the difference is that the Prayer for a Good Harvest newspaper can make them get higher profits.

After hearing that the unsold newspapers of the day could be recycled at 5% of the price, the newsstand owners began to treat Qinian Newspaper as the 'client's dad'. You have to know that the daily sales of newspapers are different. Sometimes if the number of orders is small, the profit is not high, and sometimes if the number of orders is too large, the newspapers cannot be sold and they have to bear the loss themselves. Therefore, the newsstand owners have always ordered less rather than more, so as to maintain the profit within a reliable range.

Generally speaking, every line of business is difficult to do, especially for grassroots distributors who are engaged in time-sensitive business.

Some greedy bosses even asked whether the two best-selling magazines under the Qinian Newspaper would also have the same distribution plan. Of course, the contact person of the Qinian Newspaper did not curse "human greed" and just smiled and replied "No such notice for the time being."

The next morning, a new edition of the Qi Nian newspaper was published and distributed to various newsstands in Hong Kong city (its influence in the New Territories was very limited, with only ten newsstands). The distributors worked hard to promote the Qi Nian newspaper to customers, and the effect was obvious.

Although its sales volume on that day could not catch up with famous newspapers such as Sing Tao Daily, Oriental Daily and Ming Pao, it had improved by several places and snatched away a lot of sales from tabloids, ranking 9th in Hong Kong newspaper sales.

Qi Nian Newspaper
At 9 o'clock in the evening, He Qijun received a statistical data sheet from the business department. When she saw the bright red number at the bottom: 41734 (copies), a blush appeared on her face.

"We've finally exceeded 4 sales. This is our first goal. I thought it would take a year to achieve it." He Qijun excitedly ran to Li Wendi's side and showed Li Wendi the eye-catching number.

In fact, the Oriental Daily, which ranks first in newspaper sales, has a sales volume of more than 14 copies, and the average is close to 14. In comparison, the number of 4 copies is really too shabby, but it is a milestone for Qinian Newspaper.

"It's just the beginning. What? Are you satisfied?" Li Wendi said jokingly. Newspaper sales mean influence. You don't have to make money, but newspapers cannot ignore sales.

"How can you be satisfied? Do you know how many Yuanhe newspapers are sold?" He Qijun asked Li Wendi seriously.

Li Wendi shook his head and pretended to look at He Qijun with anticipation, which made He Qijun really enjoy it.

"6.4 copies!" He Qijun continued, "This number made Grandpa celebrate. Our Qi Nian newspaper has only been published for less than two months. To have such a result is far better than Yuanhe Newspaper."

Looking at He Qijun's proud little face, Li Wendi was also very happy. Although he didn't think much of the number 4, it was also a good start.

So, the two chatted for a while, and Li Wendi suggested that he treat them to a midnight snack as a celebration.

Who knew that He Qijun, adhering to the principle that happiness is better shared than happiness alone, called out all the people in the newspaper office and said, "Your boss Li is treating everyone to a midnight snack to celebrate the newspaper sales exceeding 4 copies."

The employees naturally shouted "Long live Boss Li", and then treated Li Wendi to a big meal. The employees all knew that Li Wendi was a new tycoon in the real estate industry. He had a lot of money but not a lot of things, so they ordered abalone seafood without any hesitation.

Soon, the marketing plan of Qinian Newspaper appeared on the desks of the bosses of major newspapers. These bosses scolded Qinian Newspaper for being dishonest and secretly changing the profit distribution convention. This made it really difficult for them to do their job because they were not Qinian Newspaper, which could make huge profits from "Handsome" and "ON!". They just lived on the meager profits from newspapers.

Now that they are being treated this way by the Qinian Newspaper, if they follow the Qinian Newspaper, their profits will be reduced by 50%. If they do not keep up, their market share will be squeezed. Although there are many peers to share the burden, who is willing to give up their original profits?

"Damn Qinian Newspaper! Aren't they afraid of becoming the public enemy of the industry? No, we need to contact our peers to sanction this troublemaker."

Many colleagues in the newspaper industry share this idea and want to maintain the original status quo rather than allow the Qinian Newspaper to collapse.

After discussions with many colleagues, it was finally decided that the Newspaper Union would step in to warn Qinian Newspaper and ask it to quickly revise its profit distribution plan.

When Li Wendi received the union mediation letter, he took a quick look and found that the problem was that the profits allocated to the newsstands were too high.

But he didn't care at all. The union was just a place for peers to cooperate and coordinate with each other, and it had no binding force on the newspaper. If Qi Nian Newspaper wanted to stand out in an already mature industry, it could only break the existing rules. Otherwise, it would be very difficult to make a fortune in the rules set by others.

Moreover, Li Wendi did not change the wholesale price of newspapers without authorization, he just reduced the profit ratio of the newspaper, and the relevant departments of the Hong Kong government cannot interfere.

Li Wendi is not afraid even if he offends all his colleagues, because he can afford the losses of Qinian Newspaper.

However, He Qijun was a little worried. "It would not be good for us to offend our peers and the union. How about we get back every penny of profit?"

"Qi Jun, going back on your word will have a very bad impact on the reputation of the Qinian Newspaper. If we really agree to the union's request, we will lose the trust of all the newsstand owners, and the Qinian Newspaper will have no room for development in the future." Li Wendi continued, "Those people are hoping that we will do this, so that they don't have to retaliate."

"You mean we have to go ahead with it?" He Qijun said with raised eyebrows. She certainly knew what the situation would be like if she lost the support of the newsstand owner.

"What do you mean by daring to do it? Don't we have any profit now? Do we need the approval of the union to publish our publication? Do we need the support of our peers?" Li Wendi said with a smile, "In any case, the Qinian Newspaper is still the Qinian Newspaper. It's just a matter of offending some insignificant people."

He Qijun opened her eyes slightly wide, it seemed to be the case. To put it bluntly, the union was just a tool for those people to suppress their peers. For the Qinian Newspaper, the union's deterrent power was not that great.

"Okay, then we'll continue publishing and see what they do next."

Li Wendi smiled cunningly, "If they are causing trouble, then we will do the same. Disperse all the people in the sales department and find more newsstand owners for the newspapers. I want to further squeeze their living space."

You want to make money, but I only want influence, no profit is necessary.

By the fifth day, fellow newspapers were already furious, but they were unable to do anything to the Qinian Newspaper.

Send people to smash the Qinian Newspaper?

Don't forget what Li Wendi, the second boss of Qinian Newspaper, did before. Once it is found out who is responsible, I'm afraid they will just have to 'hurt each other'. Wouldn't that mean other colleagues will get the advantage for nothing?

Unite? Then who will take the lead? If Li Wendi takes action against the one who takes the lead, wouldn't that be asking for trouble?

So they were all ready to admit defeat, only to find that the sales of the Qi Nian newspaper had reached 7 copies, ranking among the top ten newspapers in Hong Kong.

Moreover, many readers began to recognize the Qinian newspaper. Unless they were more willing to make concessions than the Qinian newspaper, they would still be no match for it. So they thought, "The Qinian newspaper will not be able to hold out for long. When it can't, they can just add insult to injury and everything will naturally return to the way it was before."

Unfortunately, Li Wendi is not like them. He is not so greedy and does not necessarily want to make money and gain influence. Gaining influence is already enough to meet his requirements.

The registration for the Miss Hong Kong pageant is about to end, and many women who want to be famous are getting ready, hoping to change their fate through the selection.

Huang Lixin was a little tempted, because she didn't know how long she could stay with Li Wendi, and she had no chance of becoming a regular employee.

She is both beautiful and intelligent, so naturally she doesn't want to be a mistress all her life. If she could become a movie star (not possible in current TV dramas), she wouldn't have to worry about Li Wendi's mood.

However, she was also worried that she would fail. Besides, Li Wendi had already said, 'If she participates in the Miss Hong Kong selection, their relationship will end.' She would lose a lot then. So she wanted to find a way to have the best of both worlds and planned to persuade Li Wendi to let her participate so that she would have doubly guaranteed protection.

(End of this chapter)