One month later.
September 5th, Thursday.
With last month’s vigorous Clean Internet Campaign, many troll army groups had been shut down. Whether it was just an illusion or not, many netizens could feel that the online atmosphere had noticeably improved, with fewer argumentative people and passive-aggressive commenters.
Since Xiaofox Reviews had been caught, Pei Qian had become extremely cautious, staying at home and rarely going out, fearing that Xiaofox Reviews might turn him in.
If law enforcement officers stormed directly into the Tenda Group president’s office, that scene wouldn’t be pretty!
After a tense month with no developments, Pei Qian gradually began to relax.
At the same time, he repeatedly warned himself never to get involved with internet troll armies again, determined to turn over a new leaf.
Although Mr. Pei had some downtime, Tenda Group certainly did not.
Slow Walker Studio’s new VR headset and the game “Tailor-Made” were gradually becoming popular, with their previously suppressed momentum rebounding. Especially after deep collaboration with the luxury clothing brand, they continuously launched new personalized clothing items, creating a trend online that was well-received by young people.
Even celebrities including Chen Lei and Lu Zhiyao had appeared on many occasions wearing luxury brand clothing, creating an excellent advertising effect.
With so many people recognizing the luxury clothing brand, it developed rapidly among young people.
At the current rate, they could probably start expanding offline stores in just two or three months.
Meanwhile, “The Future You Choose” film crew had departed for the Venice Film Festival. Whether they would win any awards was uncertain—it all depended on luck.
The Anti-Tenda Alliance had been silent for a long time, maintaining an even lower profile than the deliberately low-key Pei Qian.
Pei Qian was quite anxious about this.
Could they have given up completely, never daring to launch any more attacks?
To be fair, this wasn’t entirely the Anti-Tenda Alliance’s fault. It was mainly because their previous series of tactics had all ended in complete failure.
Whether it was the online public opinion war, the more sophisticated theoretical war, or the price war involving real money, Tenda Group had emerged victorious on all fronts.
The leading companies—Zhujai Group, Homestead Food Delivery, and Shengrun Group—had all been thoroughly thrashed by Tenda Group multiple times, suffering heavy losses.
Under these circumstances, even if the Anti-Tenda Alliance wanted to attack, they couldn’t find a new breakthrough point. They had no choice but to lie low.
Pei Qian was very anxious, but he didn’t dare to openly call out to Nie Yunsheng and Zheng Hao. Because once he did, it would seem like a provocation, possibly causing the other side’s morale to collapse completely, leading the entire alliance to fall apart.
At present, although the Anti-Tenda Alliance wasn’t doing anything, at least they maintained the formal structure of an alliance, without everyone fleeing at the first sign of trouble. This was already a blessing in disguise.
Pei Qian felt melancholic.
“I wonder what President Nie is doing now? Hurry up and launch another attack against Tenda Group, don’t dawdle!”
“Brother Nie, if you don’t come to my rescue soon, your brother here really won’t be able to lose money before the settlement!”
Pei Qian gazed longingly in the direction of Magic City, straining his eyes.
…
Meanwhile, in Magic City.
Nie Yunsheng and the main company bosses of the Anti-Tenda Alliance were holding a secret meeting.
However, the bosses, including Zheng Hao, all wore somewhat dejected expressions.
This was because they weren’t optimistic about the future of the Anti-Tenda Alliance.
Their previous successive defeats were bad enough, but after Zheng Hao openly challenged Tenda Group’s President Pei through the “Entrepreneurs Speak” column, he was directly counterattacked by President Pei’s unremarkable undergraduate thesis. The entire Anti-Tenda Alliance was now essentially at their wit’s end.
They simply couldn’t find any new breakthrough points!
So Nie Yunsheng decided to lie low temporarily, waiting for Tenda Group to expose a weakness before targeting it for a fierce attack!
At the time, Nie Yunsheng had confidently stated that Tenda Group would launch many projects in the near future, including the highly risky game console project.
Besides that, there were also projects like the zoo, haunted house, and others that the Anti-Tenda Alliance could exploit.
Once these projects failed, the Anti-Tenda Alliance could make a big deal out of it and find a point of counterattack.
But what Nie Yunsheng never expected was that all of these Tenda Group projects actually succeeded.
From the folding screen phone to the gaming router, to the Climate-Aware Animal Paradise and the “Traveler in a Strange Land” haunted house project. Even last month’s “Tailor-Made,” VR game, and luxury clothing brand had all achieved success.
The successes of these projects varied, but if one had to find some commonalities, it could only be said that their successes all seemed somewhat incredible!
They always exploded in popularity at a point no one had anticipated, and then gained extreme heat, earning unanimous praise from netizens thanks to the solid quality of their products.
Since the thesis incident broke out, President Pei had never publicly expressed any views again. But this was enough—in the minds of most netizens, President Pei’s image alone had already overshadowed everyone in the Anti-Tenda Alliance.
In this situation, Tenda Group was like an invincible army, conquering all, while the Anti-Tenda Alliance could only watch helplessly as Tenda Group campaigned east and west, capturing cities and territories.
Nie Yunsheng had adopted a strategy of avoiding Tenda’s sharp edge, but as he kept avoiding, he realized the opponent was already about to attack their home base.
If the current situation continued to develop, with Tenda Group gaining advantages in more and more fields, accumulating strength, and then turning back to deliver a fatal blow in areas like house rentals, food delivery, and express delivery, would the Anti-Tenda Alliance be able to withstand it?
So Nie Yunsheng and the bosses of the various Anti-Tenda Alliance companies had all figured out one thing: they couldn’t wait any longer, nor could they delay further.
Waiting for Tenda to expose a weakness seemed to be an impossible task.
Without external interference, Tenda’s success would only come more smoothly, more naturally!
Zheng Hao looked at Nie Yunsheng and said, “President Nie, you mentioned earlier that in a desperate situation, there was one last method to deal with Tenda Group. I think it’s about time to use that method!”
At these words, the other company bosses also turned to look at Nie Yunsheng.
Previously, after President Pei’s thesis and devastating Weibo post came out, Nie Yunsheng had specifically held a meeting to brief everyone.
At that time, Nie Yunsheng had said that even if Tenda really succeeded in the game console field, and all their subsequent projects succeeded as well, pushing the Anti-Tenda Alliance to a desperate position, there was no need to worry too much because they still had one final measure.
This measure couldn’t be disclosed at the time because of concerns about informants leaking to Tenda Group, but Nie Yunsheng was very confident that this last resort, even if it couldn’t reverse the situation, would certainly deal a heavy blow to Tenda Group, making life difficult for both sides!
And this move had to be saved until Tenda Group was triumphant on all fronts and President Pei became complacent, to maximize its effect.
Now it seemed the time was ripe!
Although this was the most difficult time for the Anti-Tenda Alliance, almost like the setting sun, it had indeed fully met the conditions Nie Yunsheng needed!
Nie Yunsheng nodded slightly: “Very well! Since that’s the case, I’ll fully reveal the final plan to everyone.”
“My final move is to tell a story to everyone!”
The other bosses frowned, somewhat confused: “Tell a story? What story?”
Nie Yunsheng’s expression turned serious as he slowly said, “A story about how a dragon slayer eventually becomes the dragon!”
“A story about how a super giant eventually monopolizes everything!”
“A story about ‘Duke Zhou feared rumors while aiding the king, Wang Mang was humble before usurping the throne’!”
“Through our own miserable state and Tenda Group’s successive victories and rapid expansion, we need to reawaken people’s fear and vigilance about large-scale monopolies, completely separating Tenda Group from ordinary netizens and consumers, making them suspicious of each other!”
All the bosses present were very intelligent, and they immediately understood Nie Yunsheng’s meaning.
Zheng Hao couldn’t help but nod in realization: “I see! This is indeed a good move, extremely brilliant!”
The poetry line Nie Yunsheng quoted was from Bai Juyi’s “Five Poems of Speaking Freely.”
“I give you one method to resolve doubts, no need for divination with tortoise shells or milfoil.
Testing jade requires three days of burning, judging timber needs a seven-year wait.
Duke Zhou feared rumors while aiding the king, Wang Mang was humble before usurping the throne.
Had they died before their time, who would know the truth or falsehood of their lives?”
This was a very philosophical poem. Simply put, to fully understand people or events, one must use time to test them slowly.
When Duke Zhou was assisting King Cheng, there were many rumors that he intended to usurp power, but it was later proven that he was actually loyal. Wang Mang, on the other hand, pretended to be humble and respectful before usurping power, deceiving many people until finally revealing his true colors.
If they had died before being verified by time, who would know the truth or falsehood of their lives?
This was precisely the point Nie Yunsheng wanted to use to attack President Pei and Tenda Group!
From the current perspective, Tenda Group indeed seemed like a perfect, flawless company. President Pei also appeared to be an excellent entrepreneur, young and promising, concerned about society.
But are there people or companies in this world that never deteriorate?
President Pei was still young, perhaps full of passion, an idealist who wanted to be a hero slaying evil dragons for the people! But who knew if, after successfully slaying the dragon, he might be tempted by wealth and become a new dragon himself?
Tenda Group was invincible against other companies because they were in the position of a challenger, challenging these monopolistic companies that had already become evil dragons.
But once this new business model achieved victory and Tenda Group gained monopolistic positions in various fields, would they still be able to maintain their original aspirations as they are now?
Moreover, the companies in the Anti-Tenda Alliance had only achieved dominant positions in specific fields.
For example, Zhujai Group’s main business was limited to the rental housing sector, and Shengrun Group’s main business was limited to the express delivery sector.
But Tenda Group was a behemoth involved in too many fields, and there was a natural close connection between its departments. They would expand their advantages through frequent joint operations, eventually occupying monopolistic positions in many business areas.
The process of such a behemoth gradually moving toward success was also a process where everyone’s vigilance toward it grew larger and larger!
And this vigilance would eventually grow into a problem thousands of times larger than Shengrun Group and Zhujai Group.
Nie Yunsheng now wanted to exploit this vigilance, continuously amplifying it, thereby making everyone fear Tenda Group’s existence, completely severing the connection between Tenda Group and ordinary consumers.
Tenda’s success was because it relied on the broadest consumer base, and once abandoned by these consumers, this behemoth would be just one step away from a thunderous collapse!