Chapter 171 - 137: You’re Terrible
Chapter 171: Chapter 137: You’re Terrible
Even so, some companies weren’t deterred. They continued to recklessly test the limits of consumer patience.
The result?
Naturally, consumers stopped playing their game. Even if it meant cutting back elsewhere, they would buy foreign brands instead.
So why were Gao Yuan’s skincare products so successful? Because the quality was just that good!
Any consumer who put their faith in him as the founder never regretted their purchase.
That’s why there had been a constant stream of repeat purchases lately, with the rate of repurchase steadily climbing.
This was the path GY was currently on.
As for the Lin Group, they wanted to walk this same path. Of the three key elements for success—the right time, the right place, and the right people—they had the latter two, but they lacked the right timing.
Relying solely on the massive traffic from TikTok wasn’t enough to create that opportune moment.
Unless the Lin Group was willing to burn money—a massive amount of it—they had little hope of reaching GY’s current level.
With this in mind, Gao Yuan spoke up directly. "Uncle Lin, I wouldn’t recommend the Lin Group do that."
"Let’s hear it."
Lin Hongnian wasn’t upset by Gao Yuan’s disagreement. On the contrary, he smiled and asked for his reasoning.
This was the mark of a seasoned businessman—never making rash decisions based on his own assumptions.
Gao Yuan laid out his perspective, and Lin Hongnian nodded repeatedly as he listened.
But seeing how explosive Gao Yuan’s business was while his own lagged so far behind, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy.
"Do you have any good ideas for the Lin Group, then?"
At Lin Hongnian’s question, Gao Yuan picked up his teacup.
Seeing this, Lin Hongnian laughed in exasperation.
"You! The Lin Group is practically yours, too."
Gao Yuan set his cup down. "Uncle Lin, I’ve been talking for ages. Can’t a man get a sip of tea?"
"Spit it out. What do you want?"
Lin Hongnian didn’t buy Gao Yuan’s excuse for a second and cut straight to the chase.
"Heh heh, well this is embarrassing."
Gao Yuan, however, was feeling particularly shameless. Before Lin Hongnian could say another word, he blurted out what he really wanted.
"Give me 10,000 full skincare sets."
Note that Gao Yuan had said "give," not "order."
Ten thousand skincare sets were worth at least a million.
In other words, Gao Yuan was pricing his idea for the Lin Group at a million.
However, Lin Hongnian didn’t hesitate for a moment. He simply nodded and agreed.
Gao Yuan hadn’t expected Elder Lin to be so generous. He’d thought the old man would at least try to haggle.
"Surprised?"
Lin Hongnian felt the upper hand shift back to him, that he could once again get a handle on Gao Yuan.
"Just for calling me ’Father-in-law’ that one time, you’re worth more than this!"
"Think bigger."
Gao Yuan was being lectured by Lin Hongnian.
But he was happy to take it. In fact, he almost wished Lin Hongnian would lecture him like this more often.
"First, the Lin Group’s main focus should remain on production."
"Second, wait for GY to blow up nationwide."
This was the advice Gao Yuan offered the Lin Group—just those two simple points.
Lin Hongnian didn’t comment immediately, but fell into a thoughtful silence.
Gao Yuan didn’t press him. He lit a cigarette, confident that a man of Lin Hongnian’s intelligence would be able to connect the dots.
A moment later.
The way Lin Hongnian looked at Gao Yuan changed.
He finally understood Gao Yuan’s game plan. The only thing was, it would mean he’d have to adjust his own product prices, ensuring they could never be set higher than GY’s.
"Uncle Lin, it’s only a matter of time before your brand’s pricing structure breaks."
"You’ve already partnered with so many influencers; when you factor that in, the price point has effectively already been broken."
Having said his piece, Gao Yuan fell silent. This was something Lin Hongnian had to figure out for himself.
’Gao Yuan’s goal was simple. Once GY was a success, as its manufacturer, the Lin Group would see a period of explosive growth across all its product lines.’
’That growth period would be even longer for products of the same quality as GY’s.’
’And since Gao Yuan’s future focus would definitely be on the guofeng-style masks, the Lin Group’s own sales would be even better.’
As they chatted, a secretary brought in the full product line.
Gao Yuan sampled each product. He couldn’t feel a significant difference himself, but he trusted the system.
After reconfirming the delivery time for the ten thousand skincare sets with Lin Hongnian, Gao Yuan left the Lin Group and returned to his office.
He told his three shops to get ready for a new product launch, as he expected the guofeng-style samples to arrive in the next day or two.
They needed to have all their preparations in order.
Of those ten thousand sets, he only planned on keeping 100. These he intended to give away at Old Xue’s New Year’s Eve concert.
He wasn’t going to sell the rest, either. Instead, he would give them away to customers through a raffle.
The shops would also launch pre-sales on New Year’s Day, with products shipping within seven days.
Today had been a particularly busy day for Gao Yuan. The reason he hadn’t gone home to pick up Lin Wanyu to go to the Lin Group together was that she hadn’t wanted to go.
In fact, she had asked him not to come home during the day at all.
’The two of them must be preparing today’s surprise.’
’Although Gao Yuan didn’t know what they had in mind, he had a feeling it was going to be physically demanding.’
After work, Gao Yuan drove to Platinum Palace first. He didn’t get out of the car when he arrived, but instead gave Xiaoyan a call.
When Xiaoyan came out, she hopped right into the passenger seat.
"Why aren’t you coming in?"
Gao Yuan reached into the back seat, pulled out a Hermes gift box, and placed it on Xiaoyan’s lap.
"Merry Christmas."
Xiaoyan hadn’t expected a Christmas gift from Gao Yuan, let alone such an expensive bag. Overjoyed, she immediately threw her arms around him and gave him a kiss.
After saying goodbye to Xiaoyan, Gao Yuan drove to IN11.
He gave Meiting a bag as well.
Meiting was far more enthusiastic, insisting on pulling Gao Yuan inside to ’play’ for a while before he left.
She even told him there was a virgin available tonight and, for the sake of the expensive bag, she’d let him have the time of his life.
Gao Yuan steeled his heart and refused.
After all, Lin Wanyu had been preparing at home all day. If he didn’t go back tonight, there would be hell to pay.
「Back at No.1 Courtyard.」
Gao Yuan had just stepped out of the elevator and was about to open his apartment door when his phone rang.
He glanced at it and saw it was a message from Xiao Xiao.
"’Xiaoyu is coming to Hang City to spend Christmas with you.’"
That was the entire message.
But it made Gao Yuan’s scalp prickle with dread.
The distance between upstairs and downstairs was short, sure, but this was going to be the death of him!
"’I’ll come up later.’"
It was the only thing Gao Yuan could think to reply.
Then, with a heart full of complicated emotions, he opened his front door.
But the moment he stepped inside, he froze.