Ch 103: The World’s Number One Resort

Twenty-six orders, seventy-two orders, one hundred and three orders…

In just one night, Great Tang Reseller completed 702 transactions, totaling 250,000 yuan. The initial investment for Great Tang Reseller was 150,000 yuan, and now, after selling just one-tenth of the fruits, they had already broken even. The speed of recouping their costs was nothing short of miraculous.

“Wang Song, are we really not going to have any problems with this?”

Du Yueyue asked as she stared at the backend transactions, gulping down half a bottle of mineral water. She had been thrilled when the first order was completed. But as the sales volume continued to grow, her excitement turned into worry and fear.

She had never even seen 50,000 yuan in her life, let alone 250,000. Now, she felt overwhelmed by a sudden sense of getting rich overnight.

“What kind of problem? It’s fine,” Wang Song replied, lighting a cigarette. To be honest, he was just as nervous as Du Yueyue. But fortune favors the bold; if you want to make money, you can’t afford to worry about everything.

“I’m planning to hire two customer service reps. If you want to keep working together, we’ll stick to the 70-30 split. If you don’t, I’ll give you 50,000 yuan, and you can do whatever you want with it,” Wang Song added, seeing her hesitation. Their current profit split was 70% for him and 30% for her.

“Of course, I’ll keep working!” Du Yueyue bit her lip after Wang Song finished speaking. Only a fool would give up on such a profitable business. This little conversation had swept away all her anxiety.

After breakfast near the warehouse, they went to the computer market to buy a batch of computers and posted job openings… Great Tang Reseller offered a monthly salary of 3,500 yuan. With such a high salary, several young women came to apply by noon.

Wang Song selected five from the applicants.

…

“Work hard; we have some connections with Great Tang Resort. If we do well, we’ll organize a trip for everyone on May Day,” Wang Song said while giving the five new customer service reps a brief training session in the afternoon.

There was an engineering university in Shengze, and most of the new hires were interns from there.

“Is it the Blue Sea Treehouse?” one of them asked.

Wang Song’s words were enticing, and the five young women looked excited. Although the warehouse didn’t seem very formal, it was indeed selling fruits. Moreover, the beautifully packaged boxes in the warehouse made them hesitate but not overly suspicious.

“Yes, and we’ll fly first class next time,” Wang Song boasted confidently, without a hint of hesitation.

The five women were eager to get started. The sales script for Great Tang Resort was simple, and after a quick review, they went straight to work. Although the current sales volume of Great Tang Reseller wasn’t as explosive as it had been at midnight, it still maintained a steady rate of seven to eight orders per hour.

While Wang Song handled the customer service training, Du Yueyue supervised the workers packing boxes in the warehouse. The workers, who were around forty to fifty years old, had also been hired online and were quite efficient.

At 5 PM, the packages were packed and taken away by the courier company.

Over the next three days, business at Great Tang Reseller was booming.

860,000 yuan, 720,000 yuan, 690,000 yuan. These were the revenues for the first three days, showing a decreasing trend, but the daily cash flow remained above 500,000 yuan.

On the afternoon of the third day, buyers who had ordered from Great Tang Reseller began to receive their packages.

…

As Great Tang Reseller’s business continued to grow, at Great Tang Overseas Resort, Tang Huai signed the purchase orders with the A-class representatives and began the official reception and tour process. The goods ordered by Great Tang were already loaded onto a ship in Hawaii and were expected to arrive the morning after next. For the next two days, the representatives could enjoy an all-expenses-paid vacation.

Compared to their previous visit, Great Tang now had a few new attractions, such as Stroke of the Brush and the Ocean Horizon hot air balloon. After learning how to play these new activities, the representatives were having a blast.

Tang Huai accompanied the A-class representatives for a round of fun and then handed over the hosting duties to Xie Yunshu.

Tang Huai planned to change his clothes and dive into the Pacific Ocean. However, on his way back to the courtyard, he encountered a foreign man with blonde hair and blue eyes.

The man was dressed in a dark suit, exuding a refined and composed demeanor. Beside him stood a young man who clearly looked like his assistant.

“Manager Tang, I am Abel, the Creative Director of CC,” the man said, smoothly pulling out a gold-embossed business card as he greeted Tang Huai.

Tang Huai accepted the card, noting the simplicity and elegance of the English letters on it.

CC was a cosmetics brand under the American company CC Corporation, a globally renowned luxury brand. Great Tang was currently collaborating with CC. However, Tang Huai remembered that the CC representative for their partnership was supposed to be a slightly balding Chinese man named Wang Hai, not the person standing before him…

“Manager Tang, CC plans to shoot an advertisement for a forest-themed moisturizing series at Blue Sea Lake. We were wondering if Great Tang would be interested in collaborating?” The man seemed to notice Tang Huai’s confusion and got straight to the point.

Half an hour later, Tang Huai had a clearer understanding of the situation.

The man was indeed CC’s Creative Director, with an annual salary starting in the tens of millions, a position several levels above Wang Hai. After Great Tang and CC China reached a preliminary cooperation agreement, CC China submitted a “Feasibility Analysis Report on Cooperation with Great Tang” to headquarters as per procedure.

Headquarters conducted a series of assessments of Great Tang’s cultural environment, while Abel focused on Great Tang Vacation’s natural scenery. As CC’s Creative Director, he was currently working on the advertisement for the next quarter’s “Forest Moisturizing Series,” CC’s upcoming flagship skincare product.

The supermodels and celebrities for different regions were already confirmed, but the specifics of the shoot were proving tricky. Abel, a perfectionist who preferred on-location shooting, had spent the past month scouting famous forest locations such as Jingpo Lake, Vienna, and Siberia. Although these places were stunning, they seemed to lack a certain something.

While he was feeling stuck, he came across the cooperation plan submitted by the China region. The description of Blue Sea Forest, lush and vibrant like a forest kingdom, perfectly matched his imagination! Abel, a man of action, quickly joined Wang Hai and the others on their trip to Great Tang Resort after some brief preparations.

Although Abel and Wang Hai were both under CC, their roles were different. Abel’s visit had an air of a private inspection. After two days of exploration, he found himself increasingly satisfied with Blue Sea Forest—it was the perfect sanctuary he had envisioned!

With absolute authority over CC’s advertising, Abel had made up his mind, leading to the “coincidental encounter” happening now.

“CC is sincerely looking forward to this cooperation,” Abel added seriously. Despite being a global luxury brand, he was a bit worried that Great Tang, whose main business was vacation resorts, might outright reject the proposal.

Finding such an exceptional advertising location was not easy.

“Do you have a complete cooperation proposal?” Tang Huai pondered for a moment. This was an unexpected opportunity with CC, so he needed to analyze it carefully.

“Here is a preliminary proposal…” The assistant promptly opened the briefcase.

Tang Huai gave Abel an “OK” gesture. No matter what, CC was a globally recognized brand, and the potential benefits of this cooperation outweighed the risks. If there were no unacceptable terms, he would be quite willing to collaborate.

After chatting for a while longer, Tang Huai went off for his swim, while Abel and his assistant returned to the Blue Sea Treehouse. Since they arrived late, there were no rooms available at the treehouse; they spent their days exploring and took a bus back to the ancient city at night.

As Abel walked along the streets of Sora Town, watching the growing number of tourists, he felt a wave of emotion. CC was a top global brand, often surrounded by eager celebrities and models. Who would have thought that the tables would turn, and he’d be the one coming to a small island to court a resort…

Abel knew he had shown his hand somewhat prematurely. However, every stone and leaf in Blue Sea Forest fit his fantasy. He preferred being straightforward, as it also demonstrated CC’s sincerity.

After fishing near Sora Island, Tang Huai enjoyed Aunt Miley’s seafood feast for lunch. Once he was full, he returned to the Sora Office Building and finally had the time to go over Abel’s cooperation proposal.

Since it was for a commercial shoot, CC’s cooperation proposal was quite straightforward. In short, CC would pay a considerable fee, and Great Tang would only need to provide the advertising location as well as food and accommodation within the specified standards.

On the surface, CC showed a lot of sincerity, with no hidden clauses. Tang Huai skimmed through it for a while before placing it on his desk.

CC needed a venue, and Great Tang needed publicity. It was a win-win situation for both parties. However, the specific details of the cooperation would still need to be negotiated word by word.

Tang Huai opened his work plan for the coming period.

Currently, the A-class store renovations were complete, and the goods were in transit. Once all the products arrived, Great Tang could hold the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the A-class items. After some discussion with the various brands, they had set the ribbon-cutting date for the 25th, which was a week away…

With just a brief overview, Tang Huai realized there was quite a bit of work lined up for Great Tang.

He stayed busy until 9 PM before finally returning to his residence.

The faint moonlight streamed in through the window. Having been occupied with hosting duties over the past few days, it had been a long time since he had such a peaceful sleep.

…

“Ring ring, ring—”

Early the next morning, Tang Huai was woken up by the sound of his phone ringing. It was from an unfamiliar number, but he answered the call.

“Xiao Tang, it’s me, Du Daguo…” As soon as he picked up, a tense male voice came through. Du Daguo was Tang Huai’s uncle, and the father of Du Yueyue.

Five minutes later, Tang Huai understood the situation. In short, Du Yueyue had been arrested.

In Shengze, China, since the first buyer confirmed receipt of their goods, Great Tang Reseller’s available withdrawal amount had been increasing. In just five days, it had reached 1.27 million yuan, with an additional 800,000 yuan pending in the account.

Seeing the amount in the bank account, Du Yueyue and Wang Song were ecstatic. Initially, they thought earning 200,000 yuan would be the limit. They never expected the influence of Great Tang Fruit to be this massive.

As the number of transactions grew, feedback from the first batch of buyers began to roll in.

“Exquisite packaging, the fruit tastes great. It seems to be the real deal.”

“No stomach issues; the online rumors seem exaggerated. The fruit is tasty, though expensive. I’ll just give it a positive review by default.”

“Haven’t eaten it yet, will update in a couple of days.”

…

These were the comments from 90% of the buyers. Wang Song was a bit dizzy after reading them. These reviews sounded even more genuine than those for the authentic product.

Of course, Wang Song understood that the fruit they were selling, “Youlan Fruit,” was originally a high-end product. Paired with Great Tang’s reputation and the fruit’s taste, most buyers took it at face value. After all, Great Tang’s sales were limited in quantity, and only a handful had tasted the real deal.

Initially, Wang Song planned to make a quick profit and disappear, but seeing how fast the money was rolling in, he began to have second thoughts. After buying a 30,000-yuan bag, Du Yueyue felt the same way as Wang Song.

Once you’ve made quick money, you start thinking about a second round… and so, the two went all in.

They thought their luck would continue, but little did they know that on the seventh day, both were arrested for producing counterfeit products.

In jail, it wasn’t just Du Yueyue and Wang Song; Zheng Chenghe had also been detained.

Zheng Chenghe’s crime wasn’t selling counterfeit products. Instead, seeing the booming business of Wang Song and Du Yueyue, he took a risk, registered a Taobao store, and began selling knockoff Great Tang Fruits…

The police notified Du Daguo, who immediately thought of his relatively successful nephew.

“Xiao Tang, can you come back and talk to the police? Just say that their reseller was authorized by you and that they were selling Great Tang Fruit.” After he finished speaking and didn’t hear a response from Tang Huai, he tried to play the emotional card.

In his view, Tang Huai, now a manager at Great Tang Resort, could handle this matter with just a few words. If Tang Huai took responsibility, then Du Yueyue wouldn’t have any problems.

“It won’t work…”

“Tang Huai, she’s your cousin. Now that you’re successful, you don’t acknowledge your family anymore?”

Tang Huai was stunned by Du Daguo’s twisted logic and prepared to explain the law to him. But just as he started, Du Daguo interrupted him.

Du Daguo believed Tang Huai had become arrogant and was now ignoring his poor relatives.

“If Yueyue really broke the law, the police will handle it,” Tang Huai replied, speechless. Strictly speaking, wasn’t Great Tang Resort the actual victim of this infringement?

After he finished speaking, he hung up the phone directly. The phone rang a couple more times, but Tang Huai didn’t answer.

Tang Huai gathered his thoughts, opened a news website, and searched for the latest news related to Great Tang Fruit.

“At 3 AM on the 23rd, a counterfeit production site in Shengze was busted, and 7.32 tons of fake ‘Great Tang Fruit’ were seized.”

“Great Tang Reseller amassed 3.06 million yuan in seven days! With a large amount involved, main suspects Du and Wang have been arrested, and accomplice Yu and others are in custody for investigation.”

…

Tang Huai initially thought that Du Yueyue’s case involved only twenty to thirty thousand yuan, making it a minor offense. However, he hadn’t expected the amount to be as high as over three million yuan… In this situation, no one could help.

Du Yueyue had been arrested early yesterday morning, and it had been twenty-eight hours since then. Due to the popularity of Great Tang Fruit, though it hadn’t become a trending topic, there was already a fair amount of online attention.

“Real-time Shengze Survey: Du confesses that all Great Tang Reseller products are genuine and were sold under Tang’s instruction. Tang, resident of Yunlai Village, Shengze City, Huning Province…”

“Internet personality @Yangxiezi comments: Great Tang Fruit bears unavoidable responsibility in this large-scale counterfeiting case.”

Tang Huai scrolled down and saw two more recent posts: one was local Shengze entertainment news, and the other was from an influencer named @Yangxiezi.

Tang Huai was speechless. Was he just handed a baseless accusation?

He had initially intended to help out as a relative by hiring a lawyer, but he hadn’t expected that Du Yueyue would so smoothly shift the blame onto him.

All of Tang Huai’s goodwill faded away.

He picked up his phone and casually posted on Weibo: “@GreatTangFruitStore is the only official Taobao store under Great Tang Resort.”

After posting his clarification, he put the phone aside.

Great Tang Fruit was just a small business under Great Tang Resort. Having posted his response, Tang Huai didn’t plan to follow this matter any further.

Today, he had a meeting with Abel to discuss the cooperation details with CC and didn’t have the energy to deal with these side issues.

While Tang Huai remained unperturbed, in Shengze, Huning, the police began round after round of questioning with Du Yueyue. The Shengze police weren’t amateurs, and with Du Yueyue’s weak psychological endurance, they quickly broke down her defenses and extracted the full story.

The Shengze police, with years of experience and sharp instincts, wouldn’t let her shift the blame so easily…

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️