2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 409 The Flash Group, which desperately needs trolls

From the continuous rain in early April to the gradual warmth in the middle of the month, Tan Jincheng spent his time in Luzhou and Yicheng.

Even if we consider the leisurely time after the Mid-Autumn Festival in 04, this was the longest period Tan Jincheng had spent in Anhui Province after going ashore.

The phrase Tan Jincheng quoted during his interview with Anhui TV, "If you didn't cultivate virtue in your past life, you'll be born in Huizhou," is quite fitting for him, as it's difficult for his family to have a proper reunion throughout the year.

If it weren't for a stroke of luck in this life, Tan Jincheng would still be selling boxed lunches with Zhang Xupeng right now, and there would be no way he would have brought his mother and sister to live with him, let alone have a girlfriend.

In fact, even in their previous lives, Tan Jincheng and Zhang Xupeng were doing quite well. Even though things changed for them later, Tan Jincheng was not short of money. He was able to get 200 million yuan from Zhong Guoping, so how could his life be bad?

In fact, both of them are capable of bringing their parents to live with them, but their parents are unwilling. They are used to living in Yicheng and are living a good life after retirement, so why should they go to another place to suffer?

Many young people who go out to work want to bring their parents with them, but they don't have the means to do so. In reality, they haven't enjoyed any of the benefits of rapid economic development.

Although Tan Jincheng's TV interviews may have been a bit boastful, it would actually be pretty cool if he actually fulfilled all his boasts, like another big-mouthed fellow villager of his.

Speaking of Da Zui's experiences, they were truly miserable. Although he was from the same hometown as Dong Jinggui, his childhood was much harder than Dong Jinggui's. In an interview, he revealed that he almost starved to death when he was a child.

Tan Jincheng believed this. He had heard the elders talk about it when he was a child. In the past, begging for food during the off-season was a traditional activity for people in Anhui Province.

Big Mouth is indeed annoying, but what's impressive is that he's actually come true on all the promises he's made. That's impressive in itself. In another year, he should be back in China to head Huawei's mobile phone project, right?
The company was preparing to negotiate with foreign investors to sell its 49% stake in its mobile phone business, but the sale ultimately failed due to the financial crisis and the foreign investors' aggressive price-cutting.

Thus, Big Mouth had his chance to shine. By now, Big Mouth is a very powerful figure. He single-handedly developed the European business of Chrysanthemum Factory and is currently the head of the European region.

After experiencing this public opinion storm, Tan Jincheng also began to pay attention to some big names who were well-known in his previous life, starting with the head of the entire public relations department, as external public relations are very important for a company.

In the early stages, because it was a makeshift operation and not very large, even though Tan Jincheng knew the importance of public relations, he was too lazy to pay attention to him. After all, it was a small company, and no matter how much you smeared him, you couldn't get very far, and no one would care.

The experts are right about one thing: because of Tan Jincheng's autocratic style, if Tan Jincheng were to say something wrong in front of the media, it would severely damage the company's image.

This is where the importance of public relations becomes apparent.

Tan Jincheng couldn't confirm who was targeting Flashspeed, nor could he confirm that the opponent was operating in the shadows and that unless some methods were used, it would be impossible to find out. However, Tan Jincheng didn't want to use such methods.

The left and right sides didn't have any real impact on Flash, and Tan Jincheng retaliated fiercely. These so-called experts are now notorious on the internet, which has also affected their real-life lives and work.

Most importantly, through this counterattack, Tan Jincheng showed those behind him his true colors, revealing his fangs. When young people get angry, they don't care about martial ethics at all; they'll bite anyone they can't let go.

This approach of ignoring your attempts to undermine me and relentlessly attacking your weaknesses seems to demonstrate a willingness to fight to the death, forcing some potential backers to reconsider.

They're just after money. If they manage to bankrupt a company in the process, Tan Jincheng won't be the one who suffers. He's got nothing to lose anyway, so what's there to be afraid of?

Youth is often a disadvantage for Tan Jincheng, but at other times, it can also be his protective shield.

After Tan Jincheng finished communicating with Beicang District, before Tan Jincheng returned to Beicang, Beicang District quickly arranged for its leaders to re-inspect the two physical enterprises, Shanchi Technology and Jinpeng Industry.

At the same time, they also visited Orange Technology to inquire about the construction of Orange Products Club, a new project of Orange Technology, and offered to provide necessary assistance from Beicang District if needed. This public statement effectively stabilized the emotions of the media in Ningbo and even Zhejiang Province.

Meanwhile, Luzhou and Anhui Province also provided Tan Jincheng with a lot of help. Tan Jincheng and Shanchi Group were aware that they had been attacked because their power battery project was located in Luzhou.

With a project investment of 20 billion, based on Flash's announced revenue forecast for 2007, it would only amount to about two to three years' worth of the group's overall profits. With such revenue as a foundation, there is no need to worry about the project failing.

So what if the short-term debt is a little higher? It's not like we can't pay it back. At worst, the construction period will just be extended a bit.

Furthermore, from an emotional perspective, Anhui Province and Luzhou should also protect Tan Jincheng, an entrepreneur from the province who returned to his hometown to invest and start a business, with two consecutive projects involving a total investment of 30 billion yuan.

This substantial investment goes beyond simply spending a fortune to acquire talent. If we can't even protect such outstanding entrepreneurs, how will we attract investors in the future, and how will we integrate into the business community of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai?
Through this public opinion crisis, Tan Jincheng realized that various problems would arise during the development of a business, but he was no longer the small-time businessman he once was. As long as he conducted business honestly and genuinely addressed issues such as employment and taxation, even if someone targeted him, he would have a group of stakeholders to protect him. At the same time, Tan Jincheng also realized how important it was that his initial capital was obtained cleanly.

It is precisely because every penny he earns is honest and clean that Tan Jincheng dares to use such a reckless approach to refute these so-called experts.

The experts of 2007 are not the same as the experts of 2017. A single sentence from some experts can even determine the life or death of a brand. At the same time, a product that they seemingly unintentionally, but actually intentionally, promote can become a bestseller, giving the company a new lease on life.

Tan Jincheng's method of ruining the other party's reputation, seemingly targeting a specific individual, is actually a confrontation with a certain interest group, which carries a higher risk than directly confronting the person behind the scenes.

While describing this as a "fight to the death" scenario might be a slight exaggeration, it's not entirely inaccurate. Without the timely intervention and support from the governments of both regions, Flash Motors would have suffered significant losses in this farce.

There are quite a few points that can be attacked about the Flash series products themselves. For example, the quality of the electric vehicles they export abroad is slightly worse than that of those produced domestically. In 10 or 20 years, this would have been a great thing, but now it is not necessarily a good thing. Therefore, Flash has never publicized this point.

In addition, the safety of lithium batteries has always been a focus of discussion. The GXG brand, which is about to be fully rolled out in the apparel sector, has outsourced some of its production capacity to contract manufacturers, so it is actually quite easy to find fault with it.

There are also newly acquired 3C electronic products. The quality of electronic products has always been a mystery, and it's so easy to find fault with them. The Happy Farm game, which is currently very popular under Orange Technology, has become a focus of social discussion.

It couldn't be easier for me to cause you some trouble.

What seemed like an easy resolution to the public opinion crisis made Tan Jincheng realize many shortcomings in his company's development. In addition to lacking a public relations expert, the most urgent task was that each company lacked a person who could keep things under control.

Just like Big Mouth is to Chrysanthemum Factory, Big Mouth has attracted a lot of firepower for Chrysanthemum Factory. If Flash had a person like that, Tan Jincheng would definitely have an easier time.

"We need to find a troll, otherwise this won't work. We have to step in every time, how can we play like this?"

Gu Qingqing was too young and a woman at Orange Technology, so Tan Jincheng was reluctant to let her step forward as a critic. Cheng Hao was a tech guy, but he wasn't good at verbal sparring.

On the Flash Group side, neither Zhang Xupeng nor Zhang Xuhui are that kind of person, and Lü Ruifeng is even less likely to be. As for Sun Yuming, his level of education is a bit too low.

Lin Yumin and Wu Zhenping, both sales talents from state-owned enterprises, are eloquent and perceptive, but they don't seem to be suited to be critics.

Currently, it seems that the only person in Flash Group with the potential to become a troll is Zhou Ao, the marketing director who was promoted by Tan Jincheng. This guy has been in marketing for so long and dares to make fun of Tan Jincheng, so he does have some potential to develop into a troll.

In addition, Tan Jincheng also needs to find a top-notch investment manager for ByteDance's advertising platform. With 2008 fast approaching, preparations should be made as the financial crisis and the A-share market crash are only a little over six months away.

Six months is a long time, and it's not certain whether a suitable investment manager can be found.

In fact, Tan Jincheng chose a very good time to launch the power battery project and to raise Series B funding for Orange Technology. In the first half of 2007, the economic situation was very good, and it was a convenient time to do anything.

Even cities as bold as Luzhou will hesitate before launching projects next year. They won't easily give in until the government releases a policy, and Orange Technology is no exception.

It wasn't that we couldn't raise funds in 2008, but investors would definitely use this as an excuse to lower the valuation, just like how the Chrysanthemum Factory drastically reduced the price when selling its shares. Regardless of whether your family's economy was affected or not, it is an indisputable fact that the global economy was affected.

If we don't take this opportunity to drastically lower prices, then we're not capital.

I recommend two new books by authors from the same group.

Book Title: Rebirth: Starting from the Police Academy

Book Recommendation Summary: I'm currently in 06, just reborn and wearing a silver bracelet. I'm waiting for answers online, it's urgent!

Book Title: How This Celebrity Uses Polite and Polite Language
Book Recommendation: In the entertainment industry, there's no limit to how ruthless the work can be; there's always something even more ruthless.
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(End of this chapter)