Sail across the sea

Chapter 446 The Simplest and Most Direct Method
What Gao Min wants to do is create hype, to promote Xinglong brand interior wall paint as the number one national paint brand. Then, by leveraging the brand's influence, she aims to stimulate consumer demand.

"I feel like I've seen this idea of ​​yours somewhere before."

After listening to Gao Min's account of the plan, Yang Kai frowned and tried desperately to recall it.

“This is a family heirloom idea, okay!” Gao Min retorted irritably.

"A family heirloom?" Yang Kai was slightly taken aback, then remembered, "Ha, it really is! Isn't this the same trick Gao Fan used to clean up the Army Memorial Monument back then?"

Gao Min laughed and said embarrassedly, "I don't have Xiao Fan's brain. I saw that his method was good, so I just imitated it. What's wrong with that?"

“Great, absolutely feasible,” Yang Kai said. “However, following Gao Fan’s approach, you should also find a landmark building to paint, right? Let me think… the Great Wall?”

Gao Min clapped her hands and laughed, "Haha, we thought of the same thing. I initially wanted to have the Great Wall repainted, but after consulting with the people at the Cultural Relics Bureau, they said that these kinds of ancient buildings cannot be renovated casually."

"Right, right, I was confused." Yang Kai realized his mistake. Tiling the Great Wall or installing elevators in the Himalayas didn't seem appropriate.

“We discussed many plans in the company, but they were all rejected. In the end, everyone agreed on a plan to repaint the classrooms at Peking University, which would definitely cause a sensation,” Gao Min said.

Yang Kai thought about it seriously for a moment and said, "To be honest, helping Peking University repaint classrooms does have some news value, and if handled well, it might achieve the effect you hope for. However, there are two difficulties..."

"Tell me, which two points are they?"

"First, can Peking University allow you to paint the classrooms? The classrooms are managed by the General Affairs Office, and I don't know anyone there. I think Gao Fan probably doesn't know anyone there either."

"I don't want to ask Gao Fan for help."

"why?"

“If I have to ask him for help with something so small, he will look down on me even more in the future.”

"No way, I think Gao Fan respects you a lot. ...Okay, if you don't want to contact him, then don't. I'll ask around for you. The teachers in our department office should have some connections with the general affairs office. I'll ask them to help make the connection."

"No need for that, I have a way, but I might need to trouble you then."

"Just tell me what you need me to do, there's no trouble involved. My second point is that your project to repaint the classrooms at Peking University needs to be publicized in newspapers, otherwise it won't have the desired publicity effect. Do you have any connections with newspapers?"

"not yet."

“I can actually help you with this,” Yang Kai said. “I have a high school classmate who graduated from the Journalism Department of Renmin University and now works at the People’s Daily. He should know some people in the journalism industry.”

"Really? That's wonderful!" Gao Min said happily. "Our company is a township enterprise and we don't have any connections in the media. If you could help us get in touch with a reporter from the People's Daily, it would be a huge help. Dr. Yang, thank you so much."

"Do we need to be so polite between us?" Yang Kai said, then added, trying to cover up his misunderstanding, "After all, I'm Gao Fan's senior brother, so it's only right that I help his sister."

“Dr. Yang, look, you’ve helped us so much, I don’t know how to thank you enough. How about I treat you to a meal?” Gao Min said. Yang Kai waved his hand repeatedly: “That’s not possible. It’s your first time in Beijing, I should be the one to show you hospitality. There aren’t many places to eat at our school, how about I treat you to dinner in Haidian Town tonight?”

“Okay, you choose the location, and I'll pay for it.”

"I said I'd treat, so I'll treat. How could I let you, my guest, pay the bill?"

"You were the one who said there was no need for formalities between us..."

"..."

Who ultimately paid for the meal remains a mystery many years later.

The next day, a man and a woman, two uninvited guests, arrived at the office of the Peking University Student Union. The man, wearing an orange school badge, immediately addressed the student on duty who was engrossed in doing homework:

"Hello, I am Yang Kai, a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry. This is Ms. Gao Min, the deputy general manager of Xinglong Coatings Company in Shuainan Province. Is your chairman here?"

The identity of a chemistry graduate student was nothing out of the ordinary to the student on duty; he merely glanced at it. But upon hearing the title of deputy general manager, the student instinctively stood up, seemingly flustered for a few seconds before quickly approaching and warmly saying:

"Senior Brother Yang, and this Deputy General Manager Gao, please have a seat. Let me pour you some water."

"No need." Yang Kai waved his hand, and then noticed a hint of embarrassment on the face of the student on duty who had already picked up the thermos.

Judging from the force of his movements, the thermos was definitely empty.

“Thank you, student, we’re not thirsty,” Gao Min said. “Could you help us contact your chairman? We’d like to discuss some collaboration matters with him.”

"Oh, please have a seat, both of you." The student on duty, having recovered somewhat, gestured for the two to sit down, then sat opposite them and asked, "What brings you to our chairman's office?"

“Our company is prepared to sponsor 1 yuan to the Peking University Student Union,” Gao Min said directly.

Gao Min attended a vocational school. While studying at the business school, she did odd jobs in the student council, roughly equivalent to the student on duty in front of you.

At that time, she knew that the student council at school needed a lot of money, because no matter what activity was being organized, it required money, and it was difficult to organize without it. Or to put it another way, if there was money, the activities could be organized better and more smoothly.

The student union's funding mainly comes from the school's support. The school allocates some activity funds to the student union every year, but the amount is very small. The student union must be very careful with its budget in order to complete a few essential activities with these funds.

In Gao Min's memory, the business school's student union once received a sponsorship from an alumnus, amounting to only 100 yuan, but this matter was talked about among the student union cadres for a long time.

Gao Min wanted to paint classrooms at Peking University, but contacting them through Xinglong Paint Company would likely result in a rejection. Therefore, she planned a roundabout approach, having the student council handle the task. As long as the paint was Xinglong brand, the subsequent publicity would be readily available.

When it came to persuading the student union to cooperate, Gao Min chose the simplest and most direct method: to bribe them with money.

A sponsorship of 10,000 yuan should be enough to knock the student council president unconscious, right?
(End of this chapter)