Abandoned the Immortal Cultivator, returned to his hometown to farm and sing

Chapter 1298, Section 1286: Long-Term
"What do you mean by all this?" Arno asked, sounding impatient.

The question is clearly what you want, why are you making up these nonsense?

What floats high in the sky?

Yes, he doesn't really care much about the specific production processes, but that's because he has too many brands under his umbrella, and he simply can't keep track of them all. There are more important matters that require his decision.

Arnaud made up an excuse for himself.

It's not really an excuse. In the luxury goods industry, the quality of the product itself isn't that important. What matters is the brand, the advertising, the distribution channels, and the story.

It is the status attached to that thing.

But the "story" that Luo Yihang told also served as a reminder.

The situation is already in complete chaos. The once-glorious LVMH Group is being leeched off by certain parasites. No wonder its annual sales have been increasing year after year, but its profits are only a tiny bit.

Selling luxury goods, yet the profit margin is only 14%, which is completely counterintuitive.

This absolutely needs to be rectified...

"What do you mean?" Luo Yihang shook his head and repeated.

"If a poor or weak country can gain the approval of the respected Mr. Arnault and produce world-renowned brands such as Dior and LV."

"That would be very, very grateful, thank you for sharing a sip of soup."

That's what he said, but there wasn't a trace of gratitude in Luo Yihang's tone; it was full of sarcasm.

But then, here comes the "but".

"However, we are not a poor country; we are the world's largest industrial nation. We have a complete industrial chain."

"Upstream, downstream, raw materials, production lines, workers, processes, and even design. Sometimes we even have to advance funds, and the funds are provided by the contract manufacturer."

"They took the risks and put in the work, but only received a small amount of subcontracting fees."

“And you,” Luo Yihang pointed, “you only produced one brand, yet you took 90% of the profits.”

"Why?"

Luo Yihang had just finished speaking.

Arnault immediately retorted, "A brand is value, and the goodwill that LVMH Group has accumulated over a century deserves a proper return."

"A profit of twenty times the brand value?" Luo Yihang glared angrily and retorted loudly.

This is called being unreasonable yet emboldened; the drunkard's profits are more than twenty times the original amount.

Arnaud was stunned by the shout, paused for a moment, and then continued to argue, "The value of a product is not just in its production cost; we also have to invest a lot in hidden costs such as advertising, marketing, and distribution channels!"

“Be honest…” Luo Yihang snorted coldly, enunciating each word clearly, and wagged his finger at Arno with disdain, “You know in your heart that those things are useless.”

"We've fought so many matches between our two companies, haven't you wasted a lot of money?"

"That's extravagance, that's waste, that's not cost at all!"

Luo Yihang spoke louder and louder, making Arno's face turn red.

He recalled AR technology recreating 19th-century Parisian workshops, the deep integration of public welfare projects with product narratives, and the European Institute of Oriental Studies.

It reminded me of those oddly shaped "artists" at headquarters.

It reminded me of all the money we spent on the media.

I thought of the settlement payment and the collapsing stock price.

I regret it, I really regret it.

If he hadn't stirred up so much trouble, his LVMH Group would still be worth over 400 billion, and he would still be the richest man in Europe. Kering, L'Oréal, Hermès—none of them would dare to make any moves against him.

How could it be like now, with its market value almost halved, leaving only 250 billion yuan, and beset by internal and external troubles?

Sigh, it's no use regretting it now.

forget about it.

Arnaud roused himself, discarding the entire middle section, and asked the initial question again, "What exactly do you want?"

Upon hearing this, Luo Yihang still did not give a direct answer. Instead, he continued to evade the question.

“Mr. Arnaud, you are also a businessman, and you should understand that the pursuit of profit by businessmen is endless. As for contract manufacturers, they will not be content with just doing contract manufacturing; they need their own brands to obtain more profits.”

The moment those words were uttered, Arnault seized upon the flaw in the statement.

The old man shrugged dismissively and quipped, "Then why don't they do it themselves? Why imitate my brand and make 'knock-offs'?"

"Because it's unfair," Luo Yihang replied calmly.

Arno scoffed, "I don't see anything unfair about it."

Luo Yihang responded with a cold snort, "Don't you really think that your brand opened its doors wide to the Chinese market, but what happened when my Zuike entered the European market? Have you forgotten?"

Arnaud remained silent.

Although he didn't think there was anything wrong with defending his market.

Since it's a business war, no means are too cruel; the rule of the world is that the weak submit to the strong.

If it weren't for the drunkard, and this despicable kid in front of me, with his endless tricks and underhanded tactics...

They used every means possible.

Like other challengers, they either disappeared without a trace or became part of the LVMH Group.

He no longer has the right to have Bernard Arnault come to "negotiate" in person today, here.

Arnaud responded with silence.

Luo Yihang smiled and shook his head. "See, you have nothing to say, right? Let's take a longer-term view."

"What constitutes a long-term view?" Arnaud finally asked.

Luo Yihang waved his hand, "In the long run, we naturally have to look to the future."

"In the long run, the rise of the East and the decline of the West is an inevitable trend, and the global center of power is shifting from the West to the East."

"In the long run, even if the future is a multi-level world, there will still be a world leader, or a dominant force."

"In the long run, hard power determines whether one can become the leader, while soft power determines how long one can remain the leader."

Luo Yihang mentioned three long-term goals, and Arno frowned.

The meaning behind the words isn't hard to understand, but what about the global landscape?

What Arno didn't understand was why Luo Yihang was saying all this.

Of course, it's to give the old man a warning, to make him realize the situation, and to achieve our goal.

Seeing that Arno had fallen silent again, Luo Yihang decided to continue speaking himself.

"Luxury goods are not works of art, but industrial products. You certainly understand this better than I do."

"China is the largest industrial country, with so many good things, it shouldn't be without luxury goods."

"Luxury goods are a form of soft power."

With each sentence Luo Yihang spoke, Arnault nodded, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper. He no longer considered Luo Yihang's motives, but instead worried about the future of Luo Yihang and his LVMH Group.

"The world needs luxury goods, but what exactly luxury goods are is not important."

"Now it's LV handbags and Dior haute couture, but in 15th-century Spain, the luxury was Toledo weapons and Moorish velvet; in 17th-century Holland, it was cloves and nutmeg, and tulips."

"And, since ancient times, luxury goods that have been popular around the world for thousands of years, come from the East: silk, porcelain, calligraphy and painting, paper..."

"It is time to return to the right path of history."

"It is not based on your will, nor on mine, nor on anyone else's will."

"You should understand this principle."

"The only difference is whether we reject you outright or take a gradual, subtle approach."

Luo Yihang's words were extremely straightforward, or rather, too straightforward...

(End of this chapter)