The Top Star Fell for Me at First Sight After I Transmigrated as a Dog-Like Streamer - Chapter 44

Chapter 44: Putting Knowledge to Use

“Hmm? An opportunity to make money?” Yu Congji moved his chair next to his brother, striking an interesting pose of a serious listener.

“This plan is actually quite suitable for subsidiary companies involved in physical retail and local life services. I remember the Yu Group has shares in several supermarket chains in the city, right?” Bai Xun took out his phone and quickly checked the list of brands funded by the Yu Group, selecting a few to show them for confirmation.

“Yes, but the situation with this one isn’t ideal at the moment.” Yu Congyue pointed to the last one on the list. “The overall operation is a mess. We haven’t found a reasonable way to handle it. If there’s no improvement by early next year, we plan to divest.”

Bai Xun clicked on the details to look at the supermarket’s distribution and specific locations. Logically, being situated in a residential hub of the old city district with at least one school nearby, business shouldn’t be so bad that they’d need to pull out.

Yu Congji, as if seeing through Bai Xun’s doubts, glanced at the brand name and understood: “They tried to ‘innovate’ before, but the result was that the mid-to-high-end consumption never took off, and their original customer base was split by newly opened stores. Inventory is backlogged, management is chaotic—bankruptcy is only a matter of time.”

“Perfect!” Bai Xun slapped his thigh. Isn’t this exactly what his “Group Buy” concept was for? Talk about a gift falling into your lap; his luck was truly boundless.

Coming back to his senses, he realized he had been a bit overexcited. With an embarrassed chuckle, he quickly tried to cover for himself: “I don’t mean it’s good that they’re going bankrupt; I mean it’s perfect for the new concept I want to propose.”

He asked Matt for paper and a pen, spread them out on the over-bed table, and drew a simple triangular relationship diagram. He labeled the positions for the Platform, the Consumer, and the Merchant, then turned it around so they could see clearly.

“Simply put, the concept of ‘Group Buying’ is different from ordinary discounts. It doesn’t rely on low prices to drive volume; it moves goods based on volume.” Bai Xun circled the Merchant side and continued explaining, “Since Congji mentioned the inventory backlog, why not take a gamble? Set a base purchase threshold—say, if 100 units are ordered, they can be bought at wholesale price. Let users form their own ‘groups.’ You prepare stock based on the group order numbers. At the very least, it reduces loss and waste.”

“Group buying? Forming groups?” The two young masters found the terms novel.

“Right. For inventory that would otherwise be forced into a price-drop sale, the cash flow from group buying is much healthier. It’s essentially trading price for volume and using volume to bring in customers. If we coordinate with a delivery platform to launch a group-buying section covering all product categories, we can drive online traffic too. Merchants can even pay a service fee to let the platform handle the orders; they just need to worry about stocking and selling to make a considerable profit.”

“But if we sell at wholesale prices through group buys, aren’t we essentially still not making money?” Yu Congji did some quick math, still not quite grasping the specific model.

“Whether online or offline, group buying earns through ‘hidden consumption.’ For example, a supermarket’s agreement with a factory might give a 3% rebate for selling 10,000 packs of tissues. Without group buying, you might only sell 4,000 and get nothing. But with group buying, you have an advantage over competitors and can guarantee sales over 10,000 units. That’s where the profit comes from.” Bai Xun did a simple profit calculation and added, “Plus, if people choose to pick up their orders at the supermarket, you can set up daily necessity counters near the pickup point. I believe you’ll make at least some money from incidental purchases.”

“True! Every time I go to the supermarket with a purpose, I still end up coming back with a bunch of stuff I didn’t intend to buy,” Matt agreed, nodding repeatedly as he recalled his own experiences.

“And even if it’s not offline, online home delivery can have an appropriate delivery fee, or free shipping over a certain amount. Or you can launch combo sets. While stimulating consumption, this covers the basic commission for delivery platforms. Either way, it’s more profitable than letting inventory gather dust.”

Bai Xun spoke eloquently about the concept, completely unnoticed by the two men leaning back in their chairs, who exchanged a glance and slowly sat up straight. They began to seriously consider the feasibility. As businessmen, they would much rather try a plan that could bring a business back to life than divest.

Furthermore, if this plan could be implemented successfully, the Yu Group could be the first to monopolize the business. The profits would be self-evident.

Yu Congji’s mind was also turning now, quickly thinking of platforms and offline stores for a pilot run. He was always interested in new things. Just as he turned to ask his second brother’s thoughts, he saw him looking proudly at Bai Xun, who was still looking down, writing and calculating.

“Second Brother! You never looked at me like that when I earned my first bucket of gold!” Yu Congji’s mental defenses crumbled a bit, and he shook his brother’s shoulder indignantly to express his dissatisfaction.

“Didn’t I?” Yu Congyue’s gaze never moved from Bai Xun for a second. The sunlight filtering through the curtains fell on him, and with his confident expression, his whole person seemed to be glowing.

Seeing this, Yu Congji didn’t need to ask further. After a few seconds of mock sorrow, he returned to the topic: “I think this plan is highly feasible. Xiaobai, do you have time to produce a more complete version? Or later, you can communicate with the Life Services team and let them push it forward. If you’re willing, you can be the project consultant—salary as usual.”

“Actually, I’m just proposing an idea. The specific implementation depends on your actual situation. I’m not that professional. Regardless, if there’s anything I can help with, just ask.”

Bai Xun was actually a bit tempted by the “consultant” offer, but since he didn’t have a deep understanding of specific operating rules, he felt uneasy about taking money for something he might not do well. After silently waving goodbye to the extra salary in his heart, he decisively declined the invitation.

Yu Congyue wanted him to rest more anyway, so he nodded along when he heard the refusal.

“Speaking of which, Xiaobai, I remember you were a Directing major, right? I feel like you know quite a lot about business?” Yu Congji was directing He Shian to contact people when he suddenly turned and popped the question.

Bai Xun went silent for a moment. He had anticipated this day since he first arrived and had prepared a response.

“Originally, I planned to study business, but some things happened, and I had to switch to Directing. But I still looked into it in my spare time—it’s just the basics.” There was no trace of panic on his face, only a regretful shake of his head.

“I wonder who it was that struggled with every subject and barely passed,” Yu Congyue lightly exposed someone’s shortcomings. “At home, Xiaobai still finds time to read economics books to enrich himself. Meanwhile, certain people constantly need their special assistants to clean up their messes.”

“Uh, Xiaobai, I think I smell the Steam Pot Chicken. I’ll go take a look!”

Seeing Yu Congji vanish in a flash, Bai Xun felt a bit guilty. He didn’t buy those books for any other reason than fearing his lack of skill would ruin his brand. Yu Congyue’s words reminded him of the Accounting class he almost failed. He coughed lightly, looked away, and picked up his phone to start coding a new script.

“Xiaobai, don’t overwork yourself.” Yu Congyue finished communicating with Tracy in the group and saw Bai Xun typing seriously. He spoke up in disapproval, trying to stop him.

Bai Xun didn’t feel tired. Stimulated by the earlier mention of the 100,000 yuan chef, his desire to make money had reached its peak.

Since the day he gained Yu Congyue’s support, he had planned to update quickly to gain followers, take more business deals, and make more money. However, a person’s mindset inevitably changes with wealth and social status. After just a few days of living a carefree life as a dog, he had become lazy. If he didn’t pull himself together, he might actually end up with the “living off a man” label from the comment section.

No, he couldn’t be so degenerate.

Yu Congyue saw that his persuasion was futile; in fact, an even more intense pursuit of something erupted in Bai Xun’s eyes. For a moment, he wasn’t sure what to do.

“Xiaobai, if you’re really short of… never mind. If you need help, you can tell me anytime.” Yu Congyue ultimately didn’t finish that sentence and stopped advising him.

Bai Xun guessed what he wanted to say. Granted, given his current drive, he looked like he was desperate for money.

But the good thing about Yu Congyue was his meticulousness; he probably didn’t say it to save Bai Xun’s face. The more it was like this, the more he felt he should speed up his struggle. After all, he was profiting from an information gap. This world wasn’t short of talent; what he could think of, others would eventually think of too—it was just a matter of time.

There wasn’t much time left for Bai Xun. Since the “Market Series” became a hit, besides copycats and remakes, many life-style bloggers had already started appearing. The internet iterates extremely fast. There was no guarantee that more competing bloggers of the same type wouldn’t appear overnight.

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t anxious. Living off a benefactor was happy, of course, but wasting so many opportunities after traveling to another world—wouldn’t that be a waste of a transmigration slot?

“Brother, I know what I’m doing. Don’t worry.”

…

After the group enjoyed lunch together, Yu Congyue and Yu Congji had to rush back to the company to handle the aftermath of the leak.

Before leaving, Yu Congyue repeatedly instructed Matt to watch over Bai Xun and ensure he didn’t just focus on work—appropriate rest and entertainment were also necessary. Only after getting a promise from Bai Xun sworn upon his “future financial luck” did he leave with peace of mind.

“Xiaobai, do you know how ferocious your expression was when you made that vow?” Matt poked his head in, saw the two bosses had gone far, and teased Bai Xun with a smile.

Bai Xun closed his eyes and sighed. He knew, of course, but Yu Congyue wouldn’t have left peacefully otherwise. You have to bait the hook to catch the fish; to allow Yu Congyue to focus on his own career, Bai Xun had to resort to this.

“It’s fine. I’ll take a nap. A fifteen-minute sleep is still rest.”

Just as Bai Xun set his alarm and was about to close his eyes, a message from the TaoMai group popped up.

[TaoMai Ecology – Fu Yu: @Bai Xun, Xiaobai, your proposal from this morning passed the initial review of the +1 and +2 levels. When would be a convenient time to have another meeting to discuss the details?]