Chapter 230 – Slowly
The issue of contract renewal had finally been temporarily resolved. Of course, as Mo Xiaojuan expected, negotiations have been temporarily put on hold, and Niu Meiling privately promised Mo Xiaojuan that she would not (again) make any small moves against Mo Fei in exchange for her return.
In fact, Niu Meiling has truly compromised on this issue.
She was a smart person and quickly weighed the pros and cons.
Since it was impossible to deceive or force Mo Fei into signing a lower-grade contract, Niu Meiling had to change her mindset and treat Mo Fei as a platinum record-level singer. Naturally, she couldn’t continue to suppress Mo Fei blindly. In fact, she had to make a 180-degree turn. Niu Meiling even gave the order to fully support Mo Fei’s new record!
If she earned a little less from Mo Fei, so be it. Although Niu Meiling’s heart was bleeding, she absolutely wouldn’t allow Mo Fei, a valuable asset she still cared about, to run into the hands of others after the contract ends!
With her understanding of Mo Fei, Niu Meiling felt that as long as she maintained a good relationship with her, with so many years of cooperation and friendship, she could firmly tie Mo Fei to her Tianmei company.
However, Niu Meiling had only considered the possibility of Mo Fei jumping to other companies or other companies poaching their pillar. She hadn’t expected another possibility.
Setting up her own company!
Niu Meiling couldn’t even imagine that Mo Xiaojuan, this bold person, with the financial support of her brother-in-law during the contract period, had already poached several girls from her company and started something new outside!
Of course, Niu Meiling’s strategy was also good. Mo Fei was indeed easily influenced by emotion, and under her care, she might also be reluctant to leave Tianmei.
“… It all depended on your ability, brother-in-law!” After Yang Yi sent Mo Fei back, Mo Xiaojuan secretly talked to Yang Yi on the phone. She analyzed the changes in Tianmei and Niu Meiling’s thoughts. Then she chuckled, “You have to work hard to snatch Sister Fei away from Tianmei!”
“Hmm.” Yang Yi agreed.
Yang Yi wasn’t too worried that Mo Fei would be reluctant to terminate her contract with Tianmei when the time came. What kind of deep mentor-apprentice relationship could compare to his relationship with her?
“Hehe, brother-in-law, I have confidence in you! You can use both soft and hard tactics. My sister will definitely not be able to bear it, and she will eventually agree to you.” Mo Xiaojuan said meaningfully, “Of course, this needs to be done slowly, thin streams flow forever!”1 “细水长流” is an idiomatic expression in Chinese that literally translates to “thin streams flow forever”. It means to adopt a patient and gradual approach, taking small steps over a long period of time to achieve a desired outcome.
“……”
……
“Xixi’s Bedtime Stories” had passed its new book period2I think this was talked about in Chapter 215, around the 8th paragraph. Basically, if the book has good sale data on that period, it stays on the shelf. As for why the book is being taken off the shelves. It’s explained in Chapter 215., and many bookstores had taken the book off their shelves. Only state-owned major bookstores continued to sell it, and a small number of optimistic independent bookstores still displayed this fairy tale book in the most prominent position.
In Guangdong Province, the reputation of “Xixi’s Bedtime Stories” had gradually spread among parents, and there had even been situations where the book was hard to find. Fortunately, the people in Sahara reacted quickly and published online sales channel advertisements in influential local media.
Many parents who took advantage of the bank’s activities to open online banking had a “let’s give it a try” mentality. They registered and logged in to the Sahara Online Shop and purchased “Xixi’s Bedtime Stories”. Although there were express delivery fees, after deducting the website discount, the price of purchasing from the online shop was several yuan lower than that of a regular bookstore!
After they did the calculations, they gradually realized the advantages of this online shop. Even if they didn’t intend to buy anything, they still checked it out, comparing the prices of products in the online shop with those in physical stores.
In addition, starting this month, the online shop had partnered with manufacturers of infant and children’s products to hold promotions. Especially imported infant and toddler products such as milk powder and diapers, they were much cheaper than buying them at supermarkets!
“It seems quite cost-effective?” Although many people were deeply wary about online shopping, many were also moved by the price difference and decided to give it a try.
Even mothers who dare not purchase would share this discount information with other mothers during their leisurely chats. The fame of the online shop began to spread little by little!
The backend monitoring personnel of Sahara Online Shop could see that the sales data was increasing exponentially every day. It seemed that all of this was driven by “Xixi’s Bedtime Stories”. However, upon detailed analysis, this was not entirely the case. Ultimately, it was the manifestation of the online shop’s price advantage after reducing the intermediary channels!
Regardless, the sales of “Xixi’s Bedtime Stories” have also started to increase, and with more and more people reading it, its good reputation has begun to spread beyond Guangdong Province.
Until one day, a netizen who originally went to the Sahara Online Shop to buy the book “Drawing Sword” saw the large-scale promotion of the online shop.
“Eh? Yang Yi? Isn’t Yang Yi known for writing military genre? Although he has recently dabbled in crime genres, when did he write a fairy tale book?” This non-diehard fan of Yang Yi became curious.
He specifically contacted the online bookstore’s customer service and confirmed that the book was indeed written by Yang Yi!
“Oh, interesting. Great Yang Yi has also written a fairy tale book?” The non-diehard fan became interested. Although he wasn’t a diehard fan of Yang Yi, he had a particularly strong curiosity. He bought “Drawing Sword” and decided to add “Xixi’s Bedtime Stories” as well, which conveniently saved him some postage.
However, after the book was delivered by the courier, a young man in his early twenties became obsessed with reading this fairy tale book.
More than 20 carefully selected fairy tales made him fascinated for two days and two nights. Especially when he read the story of “Sleeping Beauty”, he almost couldn’t contain his inner girlishness3 “他也差点少女心泛滥” is a figurative expression in Chinese that describes a person, typically a male, experiencing emotions or behaving in a way that is associated with the stereotypical interests or behaviors of a young girl. Literal translation: “He almost had a flood of girlish emotions.”, and he could hardly control his desire to dress as a woman.
Such a fantastic book had to be recommended, but what should he do if he didn’t know any children or single mother?
There was a way! He enthusiastically ran to the discussion area for the two serialized books “Yu Zhui” and “Prison Break” and posted, “You may not believe it when I say this, but Great Yang Yi has made me fall back in love with fairy tales.”
The title was eye-catching, and the content was naturally a recommendation for Yang Yi’s “Xixi’s Bedtime Stories”, recommending everyone to go to Sahara Online Shop to purchase it.
As soon as the post was published, he was bombarded with harsh criticisms4The literal translation of “喷得狗血淋头” is “sprayed with dog blood all over the head.” by book friends, who were eagerly waiting for updates.
“Are these paid trolls? How could Yang Yi possibly have written a fairy tale book?”
“I’m afraid it’s a fake link, everyone, don’t click on it, be careful of scams!”
The ID of this non-diehard book friend was naturally not as well-known among the diehard book friends as Mu Yucheng’s “Mu Yuchen.” Despite his logical arguments, he still struggled to convince everyone.
It was Mu Yucheng who noticed the post. He vaguely recalled seeing the book “Xixi’s Bedtime Stories” on the Sahara Online Shop last month when he was researching the other party’s online shopping strategies. It seemed to be promoted as written by Yang Yi, but because it was children’s literature, it didn’t arouse his interest.
But now, Mu Yucheng was on vacation and he has nothing to do, so he simply followed the link provided by this book friend and found out that it was indeed written by Yang Yi. Unable to wait for updates, he decided to buy a copy and take a look! Mu Yucheng jumped into the pit with great enthusiasm.
A few days later, Mu Yucheng reposted the post of the non-diehard book friend, who had already gone somewhere, solemnly recommending “Xixi’s Bedtime Stories” to millions of book friends eagerly waiting for updates.
“It’s really written by Great Yang Yi. I confirmed it with customer service. Great Yang Yi compiled the bedtime stories he told his daughter into a book. It’s filled with love between a father and daughter! Although the book didn’t sell well in physical bookstores, the quality is definitely not average. The story plots are incredibly exciting, and although the wording is simple, Yang Yi’s writing is still excellent as always!”
“If I were to write a recommendation, I would say: Suitable for both the young and old. Although it’s a fairy tale, even adults will be captivated!” Mu Yucheng was truly passionate about doing free promotional work.
With his familiar ID, many book friends were unable to sit still.
“D*mn, even Old Mu has spoken. Looks like I have to buy it!”
“Buy, buy, buy! Just because it’s truly written by Great Yang Yi, I’m definitely getting it!”
“Not buying is not being part of the Yang Family Army!”
“I knew there was a reason why Yang Yi’s updates were lackluster and weak. So, he has a daughter now! Alright, let’s contribute some milk powder money for our daughter!”
“upstairs, get out, who is your daughter? Yang Yi is my father…”
“You guys keep talking, I’m going to place my order. After all, Yang Yi’s character is reliable. I won’t be taken advantage of.”
“Anyone living near Hutong No. 81, Chaonei Street in Beijing? Let’s combine our orders and save on shipping…”
Amidst cheers and laughter, Yang Yi’s fans were about to push the sales of “Xixi’s Fairy Tales” to a magical number. Although it would no longer attract media attention or coverage, these fairy tales would spread nonetheless.
But that’s a story for another time.
TN: If you like my translations support me in ko-fi: Here.
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