Chapter 25: Playing the Marketing Game? I'm Fourteen Years Ahead of the Latest Version

Stepping out of the Glory and Wealth Hotel, Huo Qitai hailed a taxi to take Xue Xiaoshan to his father’s real estate agency.

"Holy crap! Brother Tai, have you become this extravagant now? Taking taxis everywhere you go?"

Sitting in the cab, Xue Xiaoshan looked at Huo Qitai as if he were a stranger. Given the financial situation of Huo’s family, back in high school, he would have walked for an hour just to save the two-yuan bus fare. Spending over ten yuan on a taxi so casually was something Xue Xiaoshan found hard to get used to.

"If you want to make money, you have to learn how to spend it first!" Huo Qitai smiled and instructed, "Accountant Xue! Aren't you going to record the cost? Thirteen yuan for the taxi."

"Pfft! You’re recording this too? Brother Tai, didn't you say we were going to make two million in half a month?"

After getting out of the car at their destination, Xue Xiaoshan curled his lip, but he still pulled out his pocket-sized notebook and pen to record the expense as requested. "A dull pencil is better than a sharp mind"—this was the study motto Xue Xiaoshan lived by. Ever since middle school, he had developed the habit of carrying a small notebook to record important information and flashes of inspiration.

In fact, he inherited this good habit from his father, Xue Ergou. As the two arrived at the entrance of the Xue family’s real estate office, they saw the elder Xue busy writing down property information provided by a group of elderly women. For every lead they gave, Xue senior would tactfully slip a small bag of eggs into their hands as a token of gratitude.

Huo Qitai waited at the entrance. The shop’s storefront was mottled; the faded sign swayed in the wind, and the paint on the window frames was peeling, revealing the raw wood beneath. The steps were cracked, whispering stories of time. The whole shop looked somewhat dilapidated, yet it exuded a simple, welcoming warmth.

Although this was an older part of the city, nearly half of the old buildings had been torn down to make way for new residential complexes. The storefronts on the outskirts of those new complexes were quite modern, and the rent wasn’t even that high, but Xue senior insisted on keeping his agency under this old building from the sixties or seventies.

Huo Qitai hadn't understood it back then. It was only after starting his own business, running a company, and doing marketing—after suffering plenty of setbacks—that he realized he had been living next to a master all his life.

"Uncle Ergou may not have a high level of education, but he is worldly-wise and knows how to handle people. There’s almost no intelligence in this West City district that he doesn't know about."

Huo Qitai glanced at the real estate agencies in the new neighborhood across the street, where the staff were just idling away on their computers. But Xue Ergou’s shop never lacked local residents. It was 2010, and many elderly people didn't dare set foot in those shiny, professionally decorated agencies. Instead, they trusted Xue Ergou’s grounded, long-standing little shop. Plus, every week, Xue Ergou would head back to the village to bring back a batch of cheap, farm-fresh eggs specifically to win over these neighborhood seniors. Naturally, for the entire West City area, he was the first to know who had a property to rent, who was looking for one, or what important business opportunities were emerging.

After his second business failure, when a disheartened Huo Qitai returned to Jian’an City and visited Xue Ergou—who had lost his only son—he witnessed some of the man's "little tricks" and "little strategies" and suddenly had an epiphany. Entrepreneurship wasn't about high-minded concepts, and business wasn't about glib talk or fancy PowerPoint presentations. The first step to making money was to be "grounded" and to know how to "bend one's back."

After waiting for a while, Xue Ergou finally sent the old ladies away and happily entered the information from his notebook into an old computer on the desk. His typing was awkward, using only his two index fingers to peck at the keys one by one. The computer displayed a simple Excel spreadsheet filled with dense records of rental information and neighborhood intelligence. It looked chaotic and unprofessional, like a grade-schooler's computer assignment.

However, Huo Qitai knew that for someone of Xue Ergou’s age and background, this was already quite remarkable. At least his own mother, who had graduated from a teacher’s college and worked as a substitute elementary teacher, couldn't even use a computer before she passed away, and could only use a smartphone to scroll through TikTok.

"Dad! Why are you grinning so happily? What top-secret business opportunity did you get this time, you black-hearted broker?" Xue Xiaoshan said while grabbing two colas from the fridge, handing one to Huo Qitai.

"Heh! Black-hearted? Everyone knows I charge the lowest commission in the area. Others charge a month's rent from both the tenant and the landlord, milking both sides! I only charge the tenant, and I even provide the missing appliances. Where else can you find an agent as conscientious as me?" Xue senior patted his little notebook proudly. "It’s not exactly a top-secret opportunity. With the recent urban redevelopment, another complex is being slated for demolition. Auntie Wang’s daughter works at the Urban Planning Bureau, and the moment she heard the news, she came straight to me to trade for eggs."

"Wow! If an entire complex is being demolished, doesn't that mean you can profit in several waves?" Xue Xiaoshan, having grown up around this, began counting on his fingers while sipping his cola. "First, for those who move out early, you can refer them to moving companies and earn a commission. Then, collect or buy unwanted furniture and appliances at a low price. Second, since these people need to rent new places, you earn another commission. Finally, for the holdouts—you know this area so well, you can easily find out who has what needs or weaknesses, then sell that info to the demolition department or the developers for a huge kickback."

"Heh! You’re worthy of being Xue Ergou’s son. Even if you didn't get into college, you won't starve." Xue Ergou smiled with satisfaction, then waved his hand to lecture him. "But those are just small pickings! This is inside information about demolition ahead of time!" He patted his notebook again. "I’ve recorded that over thirty households in that complex are planning to sell. Now that I know the news early, if I buy them at the current price and wait for the demolition, that's a massive payout. It might even cover your future wedding expenses."

"Holy crap! Dad, and you say you aren't a black-hearted profiteer? That’s a killing!" Xue Xiaoshan almost choked.

Huo Qitai, though he had known this all along, was still quite impressed by Uncle Ergou’s business acumen. He asked Xue Xiaoshan, "Shanzi, I remember Uncle Ergou used to do some business in town. How did he end up opening an agency in the city?"

Xue Xiaoshan laughed and said, "My dad used to be a senior animal rights activist in town, specializing in the business of 'protecting' animals."

Huo Qitai found that strange; that wasn't his memory of it at all.

"Oh, come on! My dad used to sell dog meat, remember? When we were kids, you’d come over and eat it, saying it was delicious." Xue Xiaoshan smirked. "But he was a crooked merchant; he used a scale that cheated by two ounces. So, for every catty of dog meat sold, he was 'protecting' two ounces of dog, right? He must have saved a hundred dogs a year! By any animal protection organization's standards, he’d be a core member."

"Pfft!"

Hearing this, the memories in Huo Qitai’s mind were activated, and all the childhood details came flooding back. Xue Ergou had sold dog meat in town, used a rigged scale, and after being exposed and reported, he couldn't survive there anymore and had to flee to the city. Ever since then, however, Xue Ergou had realized that honest management was the only way to last. That was why, after learning his lesson, the Ergou Real Estate Agency had been open in the West City district for nearly ten years, and his reputation was quite good.

And this time, if Huo Qitai wanted to promote his "Peking University Top Student Speech Seminar," he would inevitably have to rely on Uncle Ergou’s powerful intelligence network and connections.

"Go on, get out of here! Always bringing up my early days of 'black history' to make jokes. If you weren't my only brat, I’d have drowned you in a chamber pot long ago." Having his past history of deception brought up, Xue Ergou’s dark face flushed, and he changed the subject to ask Huo Qitai, "Little Tai, did you apply to a university in Beijing too? It’ll be better if you and Xiaoshan can look out for each other there. When you’re away from home, don't trust strangers, not even fellow townspeople. They say 'fellow countrymen see each other and eyes fill with tears, but fellow countrymen see each other and shoot each other in the back.' You two grew up together, your bond is strong—you can be brothers for life, you know?"

"I know, Uncle Ergou. Don't worry, Xiaoshan and I will be fine. In the future, we’ll make big money together and let him take good care of you." Huo Qitai said with deep emotion. In his previous life, after hearing the news of Xue Xiaoshan’s death, Uncle Ergou had aged ten years overnight. Barely in his fifties, he became like an eighty-year-old man, hunched over, lying in a rocking chair at the shop entrance, basking in the sun. He had even gone deaf, and people had to shout at him many times just to get a response.

"Alright! What’s with you two today? So sentimental! It’s still a month before you start university!" Xue Xiaoshan couldn't stand the melodrama. He said to Huo Qitai, "Brother Tai, didn't you have something to ask my dad? Hurry up. Don't delay us from making those two million."

"What two million? You two boys better not be doing anything illegal!" Hearing such a large sum, the experienced Xue Ergou was startled. He knew well that in this country, all the easy ways to make big money fast were actually written in the Criminal Law.

"Don't worry, Uncle Ergou, rest assured! This is just a small money-making plan of mine; it won't break the law. I need you to help me find some people..."

Without wasting more time, Huo Qitai explained his requirements to Xue Ergou in detail. Xue Ergou didn't take it lightly; instead, he took out his little notebook and started recording seriously. After Huo Qitai finished, he nodded and replied, "Done! The people you need—I’ll go contact them right now. You come back later... hmm, actually, it might be too late today. Come back to the shop with Xiaoshan tomorrow morning. I guarantee I’ll have everyone you need brought here..."

"Great! Thanks, Uncle Ergou." Huo Qitai knew that once Uncle Ergou agreed, there wouldn't be any problems.

"Brother Tai, I don't quite get what you're doing here!" Walking out of the shop, Xue Xiaoshan became even more confused. "Aren't we supposed to be marketing your 'Peking University Top Student Speech'? Shouldn't we hire some pretty hostesses, then use a promotional broadcast van to drive around every street in the city? If your budget is enough, spend more on ads on local TV and radio. And taxis and buses—I see ads on them all the time. Why are you looking for... some ragtag people? Are you planning to have them walk the streets to hand out flyers for you?"

Indeed, in Xue Xiaoshan’s view, since Huo Qitai wanted to make a name for the speech seminar, he had to be willing to invest in publicity. It was just as Huo Qitai had said: to make money, one must learn to spend it. Yet, the arrangements Huo Qitai was making and the people he was looking for seemed completely out of sync with Xue Xiaoshan’s preconceived marketing ideas.

"Heh! Shanzi, you’ll understand when the time comes. They’ll be very useful." Huo Qitai smiled mysteriously and didn't explain early. After all, when it came to marketing, he was from 2024—he was fourteen years ahead of the current version!

"Fine! I’ll wait and see. So what’s next? It’s still early, what should we do? According to your plan, there should be plenty more to arrange, right?" Xue Xiaoshan nodded and asked.

"Now, we go to the wholesale market." Huo Qitai hailed another taxi.

"Taking another taxi? The wholesale market is in the suburbs; it’ll cost at least forty yuan. Let's take the bus!" Even Xue Xiaoshan felt the pinch.

"Time is money! Let’s go! We’re going to the wholesale market. We should be able to make it back..." Huo Qitai opened the door and got in, and Xue Xiaoshan had no choice but to follow.

Meanwhile, at the Glory and Wealth Hotel, Chang Fuyou had just finished dealing with the day's administrative affairs when he received a complaint call from his wife at home.

"Old Chang! Can you finally control your spoiled daughter? She’s really something now, daring to interfere with the hotel’s daily operations! My best friend’s company had clearly booked our hotel for their mid-year convention four days from now. But Manager Wu just called me to say that the 'young miss' cancelled it, saying she wanted to keep the space for her classmates. Fine, fine! Your Chang family’s young miss has really become imposing now, hasn't she? I guess she doesn't take me, her stepmother, seriously at all!"