The Self-Cultivation of a Reborn Massage Therapist

Chapter 299 Live Broadcast (Part 2)

"What I just talked about was a matter of conscience. Now, let's talk about something more important—a matter of the mind."

She turned to a new page of the contract and tapped it lightly with her manicured fingers.

"Boss, and all you bigwigs from the industry association standing behind you, let me guess what you're planning, shall I?"

Zhou Yaqin leaned back in her chair, looking at the camera with a relaxed air.

"Your plan is a classic example of 'bullying the weak.' First, you watch us 'walk around easily,' thinking, 'It's just a small massage parlor, how much wealth could it possibly have?'"

"The second step is that you've become even more shrewd. You've seen things very clearly; we're no longer just a massage parlor."

"You all know better than anyone how well those towels and bathrobes sold during the recent product showcase we opened on our official account, because the goods were shipped directly from your factory."

"And so, an even more insidious plan, one that kills two birds with one stone, took shape in your minds. What if you suddenly broke the contract and stopped supplying goods—"

“If our physical stores no longer have clean linens and massage clothes, we will have to close down immediately. This is the first blow, cutting into our very foundation.”

“Our online shopping cart, which just sold out and whose backend is overflowing with tens of thousands of orders waiting to be shipped, will instantly become a huge reputation bomb. Being unable to ship means breach of contract, huge compensation, and an avalanche of negative reviews. This is the second blow, cutting into our newly emerging hope.”

"Fighting on two fronts, collapsing on both fronts. One blow, two fatal wounds. You're convinced that small, 'suddenly successful' shops like ours will have their cash flow cut off instantly under this double blow, dying even faster and more completely, without even a chance to struggle, right?"

"If a store closes down, its cash flow will collapse. A small, run-down shop with a broken cash flow, struggling to survive, where would it find the energy or money to hire a legal team to fight a protracted lawsuit against a large textile factory like yours, which has the backing of an industry association?"

She paused deliberately, picked up her teacup, gently blew on it to cool it, and a mocking smile curled at the corner of her lips:

"What a clever scheme. The final outcome is that we go bankrupt quietly, you are unscathed, and you can even use our 'corpse' to ask the next buyer for a higher price. Perfect, truly perfect."

The live stream chat was quiet for a moment, then erupted with a flood of comments:
"This company is incredibly greedy! They're cutting off supplies and then smearing us—they're trying to drive small businesses to their deaths!"

"You insulted the wrong person before... This isn't a problem with the massage parlor."

"How do textile factory owners sleep at night? Cutting off supplies and spreading rumors—it's a one-stop shop; even the mafia isn't as professional!"

"I'm sorry... I followed the crowd and criticized 'Easy and Slow' before, but it turns out you were the victims."

"It hurts! Can't the person who started this online bullying without even understanding the situation apologize? @The marketing accounts that stirred up trouble before!"

"Anyone who insulted the old lady in the live stream, come line up and get beaten. I'll be the first to kneel..."

Zhou Yaqin put down her teacup, her eyes suddenly becoming sharp as knives.

“Your plan was meticulously calculated, with each step interconnected. Unfortunately, you made a fatal mistake right from the very first step.”

"You have misjudged the size of your prey."

She abruptly flipped the contract to the chapter on "Liability for Breach of Contract," and the camera quickly followed, clearly presenting the terms in black and white to millions of viewers.

Zhou Yaqin's voice lost all its playfulness and became icy cold.

“You think we’re signing a contract. No, we’re signing a death sentence that you yourselves have written for yourselves.”

She pointed to one of the bolded lines with her fingertip and read it aloud, word by word: "Article 11.2, Fundamental Breach of Contract. If Party B, namely Jin Dayang Textile, unilaterally stops supplying goods, it shall be deemed a fundamental breach of contract. Party B shall pay Party A 30% of the total contract amount as liquidated damages within three working days."

"Now, seven working days have passed, and Easy Slow Travel has not only failed to pay any penalty, but we haven't even received a single explanation of your breach of contract!"

She looked up at the camera, her eyes filled with a hint of anger:
"We signed a three-year exclusive supply contract, totaling 83 million. 30%, Mr. Jin, your finance department should be able to calculate that faster than I can; that's nearly 25 million. A sum that could significantly impact your financial statements."

The live stream was instantly flooded with comments saying "2500 million".

Zhou Yaqin smiled as she looked at it.

"But do you think that's all? A penalty for breach of contract? Your listed company is big and powerful, so maybe you can grit your teeth and get through it? Jin Dayang's management, you're being too naive. What's really going to kill you is the nature of this contract."

She turned to the "Payment Terms" section in the contract's appendix, and the camera followed her again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are taking a relaxed and slow approach. In order to allow Jin Dayang to implement the Supplier Code of Conduct, to show our sincerity, and to completely secure Jin Dayang's best production line, we have broken with convention."

Her voice suddenly rose, filled with a judgmental tone:
“We signed a ‘payment in advance’ contract with Jin Dayang! The contract stipulates that we must pay the full amount in advance to your account for each batch of goods before you will start production!”

These words were like a nuclear bomb, exploding in the live broadcast room and in the hearts of everyone who was following the matter!
Laymen might just see it as a payment method, but insiders and the capital market can smell blood when they hear those words.

“Jin Dayang, do you understand now?” Zhou Yaqin’s tone turned icy. “Your actions are no longer a simple ‘breach of contract.’ You are maliciously stopping the supply of goods under the high-sincerity cooperation model of ‘full prepayment,’ attempting to illegally seize the payment we have already made and destroy our business. What is this called in law? Do I need to teach you? This is contract fraud!”

She leaned forward slightly, as if trying to pierce through the screen and look directly at Jin Dayang's management. "Jin Dayang Textile, stock code 60XXXX, is a listed company regulated by the China Securities Regulatory Commission and responsible to all shareholders."

"I'm really curious, what will your shareholders, the regulators, and the investors across the market think when they find out that your management used such despicable means to commit contract fraud, and as a result in a clear default penalty of 25 million and a potential debt risk of up to 83 million?"

"I'm not a stock commentator, but I guess in 35 minutes, at 1 p.m., your stocks will probably open with some spectacular sights, right?"

"What you meticulously planned was to cause our cash flow to dry up. But what you yourself ignited is your performance in the stock market. I will be watching closely!"

Zhou Yaqin leaned back in her chair, her face regaining its composure—a composure that signaled the end of the game.

"Oh, by the way. Our legal team not only submitted an application for property preservation to the court, but also a criminal complaint based on your 'contract fraud'."

"To Jin Dayang Company and the bigwigs behind it who forced your company to do this, congratulations. You may soon be going to a place without candlestick charts to think carefully about what 'contractual spirit' really means."

After Zhou Yaqin finished speaking, the chat in the entire live stream seemed to freeze for a moment.

She stopped looking at the celebratory text on the screen, leaned back in her chair, and let out a long, drawn-out breath, as if she had used up all her strength.

The camera captured her tense shoulders relaxing slightly at that moment, and the defiant glint in her eyes faded, replaced by a weariness that everyone could sense.

She sat quietly for a few seconds before looking up at the camera again, her voice much softer and slightly hoarse.

"Alright, that's all for today's live stream."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the still-scrolling comments on the screen, her tone carrying a hint of warning:
"Finally, I'd like to say a few words to some of the friends in the live stream."

"When you sit in front of your screen and type out those bandwagon accusations and insults, you may think it's just a casual tap, insignificant."

"But you don't know that every word you say could become a knife handed to us and stuck in our hearts. Next time, when the tide comes, please stop and think about whether you are an independent thinker or a weapon in someone else's hands."

After saying that, she gave a somewhat helpless, bitter smile.

"Actually... our 'Relaxed and Slow' is really just a small massage shop. My original intention was simply to ensure that the massage therapists who make a living with their skills and work hard for us can receive the compensation they deserve and live with more dignity."

"We make money, and we also let them make money with dignity."

"We call it 'Relaxed and Slow Travel' because we hope that we can not only bring health to our guests, but also allow the people who create this health to live a more relaxed and slower life, have time to spend with their families, and appreciate the scenery along the way."

At this point, her tone abruptly changed, and she looked directly at the camera with deep confusion:

"Isn't this just common sense? But why do we have to face all this for such a simple and straightforward idea? Did we... do something wrong?"

This weary self-question pierced through Jin Dayang's large dining hall.

“We…” Sister Li said with a complicated expression, “we should have stood up and spoken out when the foreman was spreading rumors.”

Wang Xiulan and her coworkers shuddered violently, and the food they had just put into their mouths instantly tasted like wax.

Just when everyone thought the live stream would end in this atmosphere, Zhou Yaqin slowly and deliberately uttered her final words.

"Before we end, I'd like to give a heads-up to all the viewers watching the live stream."

A faint smile curved her lips.

"Our counterattack is not just targeting Jin Dayang of Jinghai. He is merely the first dish served, an appetizer."

She spoke the words "appetizer" very softly, yet the live stream chat instantly erupted. If an opponent of Jin Dayang's caliber was merely an appetizer, then what must the main course be like?

Zhou Yaqin ignored the frenzy of comments and continued:
"The real main course, the real feast... has only just begun to be prepared."

She paused for a moment here, leaving plenty of suspense, before beginning her closing remarks:
“Some people always think that a small shop like ours is like an ant, easily crushed. But they seem to have forgotten…”

She raised her eyes, her gaze piercing through the lens, as if staring at some behemoth in the capital, and the mysterious yet resolute curve of her lips reappeared:

"Sometimes, even a thousand-mile dike can be breached by an ant hole."

As soon as the words were spoken, the screen went black.

The live stream has ended.

(End of this chapter)