I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

As the three walked and talked, they returned to the entrance of Zhongtanghui, but instead of going in, they stood at the entrance, waiting for Wei Minglun and the others to arrive.

In Zhongtanghui, a middle-aged man in his early forties with a full head of hair, dressed in a Tang suit, was standing in front of a landscape painting near the front desk. He stared at the painting, but his eyes were unfocused, as if he was thinking about something.

This man is Jiang Chengle, the manager of Zhongtanghui. He was the one who received Shen Kang and his group when they arrived.

When the hostess at the door saw Shen Kang and his group return, they simply exchanged a glance without saying anything.

The two receptionists at the front desk also saw it. One of them said with a hint of annoyance, "Ugh, here we go again. It's so annoying, like flies." The other called out to Jiang Chengle, who was standing nearby, "Manager Jiang, Manager Jiang..."

After being called twice, Jiang Chengle finally came to his senses, exclaimed "Huh?", and turned to look at him.

The waiter pointed outside and said, "They're here again."

Jiang Chengle looked outside and, sure enough, saw that the three college students had returned.

The waiter who had just complained started complaining again: "Manager Jiang, you've already said we won't vote, but they keep coming back. It's so annoying, like flies..."

Jiang Chengle stopped her, saying, "That's enough."

Jiang Chengle did indeed reject the sponsorship plan from those college students, but this was entirely based on practical considerations.

As a member of the University Town business district, Jiang Chengle also pays close attention to things in University Town, including Yangbei Forum and the newly launched Beiming Community.

In Jiang Chengle's view, whether Beiming Community could defeat Yangbei Forum was still unknown and full of variables. It was risky for Zhongtanghui to invest a considerable amount of money in an event of Beiming Community now, so he refused. If Beiming Community had already dominated the university town of Beilu District, he might have seriously considered the sponsorship proposal.

However, although he rejected the sponsorship offer from those university students, it did not mean that he had any ill feelings towards them.

He quite admired the female student named Ye Jintong.

The young girl was very persistent. Even after being rejected, she kept running back over, showing great determination, which reminded him of his own youth.

Jiang Chengle thought for a moment, then walked to the front desk and said, "Give me three bottles of Evian, and put it on my tab."

The waiter brought over some water and gave it to Jiang Chengle, who then left with the water in both hands.

When Jiang Chengle arrived at the door in front of Shen Kang and the other two, he also put on a professional smile.

"Shen, our store really doesn't have any plans for that kind of thing right now. You should go back."

As he spoke, he handed over the water.

Shen Kang accepted one of the bottles without hesitation, saying, "Thank you, Manager Jiang."

Seeing that the boss had taken the water, Ye Jintong and Ji Chunfu also took the water.

Jiang Chengle was about to turn around and go back into the shop when he saw that Shen Kang and the others were still standing there, which made him stop in his tracks.

"Student Shen?... "

Seeing Jiang Chengle looking at him with a puzzled expression, Shen Kang smiled brightly, "Oh, we're waiting for some friends. They've gone to park the car and will be here soon..."

Just then, a group of people came in from outside. There were men and women, all of them young men and women, and they were Wei Minglun and his group, who had already parked their car and come over.

Jiang Chengle was taken aback when he saw these people.

He knew several of the people there.

The person Jiang Chengle recognized most was naturally Dong Baitao, after all, he was the heir apparent. He also knew Wei Minglun and Meng Chengjiao; these men had dined with Dong Baitao a few times.

In addition, there were two boys whom Jiang Chengle was meeting for the first time and didn't recognize. As for the girls, Jiang Chengle didn't recognize them either, but he could tell that they were the companions of these men.

"Manager Jiang."

Dong Baitao took two steps ahead, pushed through the crowd, and came over to say hello.

"Uh, Assistant Dong."

Dong Baitao's father gave him the title of "Special Assistant to the Headquarters" at Zhongtanghui, so the employees of Zhongtanghui all called this young master "Special Assistant Dong".

After responding, Jiang Chengle glanced at Shen Kang again, somewhat surprised that this Shen Kang seemed to be friends with Dong Baitao.

"Let's go inside and talk. Find us two rooms..."

Under Jiang Chengle's arrangement, the group went inside and two rooms were opened. One large room was for Wei Minglun and the others to go in first, have some water, eat some snacks, and rest.

The other, smaller room was where Shen Kang's trio, along with Dong Baitao and Jiang Chengle, went in.

This small room is a very exquisite tea room. In the middle is a fairly large tea table, in the corner stands a multi-compartment cabinet, and by the window is a daybed. The room is also decorated with some porcelain vases, calligraphy and paintings, etc., and is quite classical and elegant.

After everyone sat around the coffee table, Dong Baitao got straight to the point, mentioning the sponsorship of "If You Are the One" and asking Jiang Chengle why he refused.

After a moment's thought, Jiang Chengle decided to be honest and explain his considerations: "It's mainly based on the risks. Currently, in the university town of Beilu District, besides Shen's Beiming Community, there's also the long-established Yangbei Forum. From my own experience, Yangbei Forum clearly has significantly more users..."

After listening, Dong Baitao understood that Jiang Chengle lacked confidence in the future of the Beiming Community.

"Can I understand it this way?"

Dong Baitao said, "Manager Jiang, do you think that if Beiming Community only occupies Yangke University, we'll lose money sponsoring this event? But if Beiming Community occupies the entire Beilu District University Town, would sponsoring it not be a loss?"

Jiang Chengle nodded, "There's nothing wrong with understanding it that way."

Dong Baitao said, "Alright then. I think that since Beiming Community managed to drive Yangbei Forum out of Yangke University in just one month, unifying the Beilu District University Town is a sure thing. At that time, this 'If You Are the One' event will be very popular, and it will be almost impossible for Zhongtanghui to sponsor it by 'only providing meals'."

After saying that, he looked at Shen Kang and said, "Right?" He even winked.

Shen Kang nodded, "Indeed. According to our plan, we intend to sign short-term contracts first, which are flexible and convenient, and can be changed at any time. Once it develops to the level you mentioned, Dong Baitao, we can propose new terms."

"Let's take a high-end restaurant like Zhongtanghui, let's call it A, as an example. If A sponsors now, all that's needed is to provide free meals and venue. But once we've unified the North Lu District University City, if A wants to sponsor again, it won't just be providing free meals and venue; it will also have to pay an additional sponsorship fee."

"Even when things develop further and the Beiming Community unifies the entire Yangcheng, the threshold for A to sponsor will be even higher."

Dong Baitao looked at Shen Kang and asked, "If Zhongtanghui is willing to sponsor you now, could we sign a longer contract? During the sponsorship period, no matter how far you develop, Zhongtanghui would only need to provide free meals and venue, without requiring any additional sponsorship fees?"

"this……"

Shen Kang seemed surprised by this move, his expression hesitant. Finally, after glancing at Dong Baitao, he made a resolute, almost cruel, gesture: "Fine, what can we do? We're friends!"

Upon hearing this, Dong Baitao quickly looked at Jiang Chengle again. "Manager Jiang, did you hear that? This is a great opportunity to buy at the bottom!"

"..."

Ye Jintong and Ji Chunfu lowered their heads guiltily, thinking to themselves, "Boss, your acting is too fake and too blatant."

Jiang Chengle looked at the two people in front of him and thought, "Do you two think I'm stupid? You're just going to put on a show right in front of me, aren't you?"

However, given Dong Baitao's status, he had to reconsider.

Actually, what Dong Baitao said makes a lot of sense. Of course, the premise is that Beiming Community can really kill Yangbei Forum as Dong Baitao said.

Finally, Jiang Chengle mentally calculated how much money he would need to put in each month. If it was acceptable, he might as well give his future boss face; but if it was too much, he couldn't afford to take the blame, so he would have to handle it strictly by business…

Just as they were calculating, there was a knock on the door of the tea room.

Before anyone could answer, the door was pushed open, and a man in his thirties wearing glasses walked in.

As soon as the man entered, he glanced at everyone inside and smiled kindly, "Assistant Dong is here. Good afternoon." He then walked over.

Shen Kang noticed that Dong Baitao frowned slightly after seeing this person.

Jiang Chengle glanced at the man and introduced him to Shen Kang and the others, "This is Ma Lei, the deputy manager of our store."

After exchanging greetings, Jiang Chengle asked, "Manager Ma, what brings you here?"

Ma Lei had already sat down uninvited and said, "Oh, I heard you were discussing a plan here that concerns the future promotion of our brand. According to the rules, although I, as the deputy manager, don't have the authority to make decisions on such an important matter, I do have the right to make suggestions. Manager Jiang was probably too busy and forgot to inform me, so I took the liberty of coming to join in the discussion."

Jiang Chengle couldn't say anything either, so he could only let him sit there.

Ma Lei then took the initiative to inquire about the details of the matter. After listening, he immediately said in front of Shen Kang, "Assistant Dong, Manager Jiang, I think this matter does not need to be discussed. My suggestion is to refuse."

"Has anyone done the math? This show airs twice a week, with an varying number of participants, but at least three per episode. Based on this data, if two pairs of students 'pair up' each episode, that's two meals and a venue. Since Zhongtanghui is sponsoring it, the package we provide will definitely be high-end, at least around 688 yuan, right? That's 11,000 yuan a month."

"And how effective is Google? They're currently only targeting one university, so the number of students who visit their website is even smaller. And the number of people who come to Zhongtanghui to spend money because of this Google sponsorship is even smaller. I don't think such a small number of customers can make up for our monthly expenses of 11,000 yuan."

What Ma Lei said was exactly the reason why Jiang Chengle had refused before.

After saying that, Ma Lei added, "Manager Jiang, who exactly got this sponsorship offer? This is clearly an attempt to harm our store."

Shen Kang looked at Dong Baitao.

In their limited prior interactions, Dong Baitao gave Shen Kang the impression of being one of the more composed members of the group.

But now, Dong Baitao was somewhat angry and said directly, "Deputy Manager Ma, I brought these people with me. Are you implying that I'm deliberately trying to swindle money from our store?"

Ma Lei seemed to realize this only then, and paused for a moment before saying, "I didn't mean that. But Assistant Dong, you're still young, and it's understandable that you might be deceived by bad friends."

Shen Kang, the friend who was called out, smiled.

Dong Baitao, on the other hand, abruptly stood up, his face grim, and stared at Ma Lei: "Ma Lei, what do you mean?"

If it were just about himself, Dong Baitao wouldn't have said much, but Ma Lei directly dragged the conflict into Shen Kang, whom he had just met, which really angered Dong Baitao, making him feel like he had lost face.

Ma Lei, however, appeared innocent, saying, "I was just doing my job and exercising my right to make suggestions as normal."

Seeing his attitude, Dong Baitao grew even angrier and shouted, "I'm optimistic about this sponsorship plan. If there are any losses, I'll take responsibility!"

Ma Lei shrugged. "Since Assistant Dong has said so, I have nothing to say." Then he turned to Jiang Chengle. "Manager Jiang, since Assistant Dong is willing to take full responsibility, I have no objections either."

Jiang Chengle silently watched the two of them, ignoring Ma Lei, and only looked at Dong Baitao, "Assistant Dong, I think we should still..."

"No need to consider it!"

Dong Baitao said loudly, "Manager Jiang, I do have that much authority, don't I?"

Jiang Chengle nodded silently.

Previously, Dong Baitao was just an introducer; the final decision was made by the manager, and he would bear all the responsibility. Therefore, even if Dong Baitao intervened, Jiang Chengle would still have to carefully consider the matter before making a decision.

But now that Dong Baitao has taken full responsibility, it's no longer just a matter of introduction. With greater responsibility comes greater authority; according to the rules, Dong Baitao certainly has the authority to handle orders of this size.

With no one else objecting, and with Ma Lei's occasional verbal spurs, the process proceeded swiftly, with the sponsorship contract being drafted and signed on the spot, all in one go.

Seeing that everything was settled, Ma Lei stood up and expressed his admiration for Dong Baitao: "Assistant Dong, putting everything else aside, your decisiveness is truly first-rate. I admire you."

After saying that, he left. Turning around, a smile appeared on his face, which was turned away from everyone.

He already knew about the sponsorship solicitation for "If You Are the One," but he just ignored it. However, now that Dong Baitao is involved, he naturally has to jump in and stir things up. And judging from today's events, he did a good job.

In Ma Lei's view, this was destined to be a losing proposition. Two months later, the losses would be on the boss's desk, leaving Dong Baitao with the impression that he was all talk and no action.