Chapter 62. Brand Appreciation

     The lights were on, and Yu Fan drove to a big hotel in the city center to attend a dinner with a friend. When he entered the private room, there was laughter and joy inside. He asked with a smile: “What are you talking about so happily?”

 

     The laughter stopped, and a business partner said embarrassedly: “Boss Chen made a fortune recently, and we are just talking to him about it.”

 

     Yu Fan looked at a pot-bellied man and asked: “That’s worth celebrating. I wonder what business Boss Chen is doing recently?”

 

     Boss Chen smiled and waved his hands: “There is no business, I just made a bet with someone and won tens of thousands of yuan.”

 

     A man who didn’t get along with Yu Fan looked at him mischievously and teased: “Boss Yu, I didn’t expect you to be in the mood to attend the party tonight.”

 

     Yu Fan was unhappy in his heart, but he smiled and said: “If I didn’t feel like attending the party just because you were there, you would definitely think I was afraid of you, right?”

 

     The mortal enemy frowned.

 

     Yu Fan sneered and didn’t take the other party seriously. The grudge between him and the other party has been going on for many years. The two met because of sea fishing, and later they set up a sea fishing club together to seize the sea fishing market in Yóushì. As a result, due to various reasons, the other party withdrew, and he slowly expanded the club.

 

     Now he is worth tens of millions, with status and position, but the other party has been brooding over jealousy and dislikes him. Every time they meet in public, they are always on the verge of a fight. Unfortunately, both parties have a common circle and cannot completely avoid contact.

 

     Of course, this is just Yu Fan’s unilateral idea. Others have heard about their past grudges. Some people think that Yu Fan is not kind. He has been ostentatious and forced the other party to retreat at the beginning of the club’s development, but he is pretending to be a white lotus here; others think that doing business should be as ruthless as Yu Fan. How can you become a successful businessman without a black heart?

 

     The mortal enemy suddenly smiled, and Yu Fan felt a little scared by this smile, thinking that the other party’s mental state is getting worse.

 

     The enemy suddenly said: “You probably haven’t heard about the news that a 200-pound ‘yellowfin tuna king’ was caught on Xingzhou Island?”

 

     Yu Fan’s smile froze, and he immediately stared at his enemy sharply, wondering if he was lying to him and making a fool of himself. But no one present showed any surprise, but was secretly observing his reaction.

 

     He immediately realized that everyone knew about this, and he was the last one to know!

 

     He was ashamed and angry in his heart, but he kept smiling on his face: “Just catch it, what’s the big deal? I, Yu Fan, have seen everything in the world? It’s just a tuna weighing more than 200 kilograms. I have seen bluefin tuna weighing 500 kilograms.”

 

     Boss Chen was relieved when he saw this and said, “I knew you were generous. When we first learned that Xingzhou Island was going to hold such an event, we made a bet to see if Xingzhou Island could catch tuna weighing more than 100 kilograms this time. Tuna weighing less than 100 kilograms would not count. I bet that Xingzhou Island could catch tuna weighing more than 200 kilograms, and I made tens of thousands of yuan by chance, haha!”

 

     Knowing that Xingzhou Island could catch tuna weighing less than 100 kilograms, people naturally would not question whether there were tuna in the waters of Xingzhou Island, but many people were also not optimistic about Xingzhou Island. Only Boss Chen bet that Xingzhou Island could catch tuna weighing 200 kilograms. Now, he made the right bet and the bet money increased several times.

 

     The enemy sneered: “You talk like who hasn’t seen tuna before? I’ve eaten it in high-end Japanese restaurants! You didn’t catch it, how dare you bring it up?”

 

     Under the table, Yu Fan’s fists were so tight that they turned white, and his back teeth were almost broken.

 

     These guys are really businessmen who forget their principles when they see profit. They said they would definitely stand on the same front with him to deal with Xingzhou Island when they were having dinner and drinking with him, and they bet on Xingzhou Island, making money on both sides? !

 

     He just congratulated Boss Chen, but he was slapping himself in the face. No wonder the enemy laughed so loudly, it was a great irony!

 

     Yu Fan was able to keep his composure in front of everyone and not let others laugh at him, but after leaving the dinner, he could no longer remain calm, and his face was twisted and hideous because of shame and anger.

 

     He opened Vblog and the sea fishing forum in Youshi, and there were news everywhere about a 220-pound tuna caught in the waters of Xingzhou Island. It can be imagined that the morning news of Youshi TV will definitely report this event tomorrow morning.

 

     The fame of the “Tuna Cup” event has spread and is known to netizens across the country. The signboard of Xingzhou Island’s sea fishing project is getting louder and louder. It can be expected that various advertisers and investors will turn their attention to Xingzhou Island and ask Xingzhou Island to help advertise.

 

     Although Xingzhou Island has its own brand, “Poseidon” fishing gear and bait. – But if you look at it in the long term, sun protection clothing brands, fishing boat brands, and even functional beverages can all use this as an entry point to invest in advertising!

 

     And as Xingzhou Island’s sea fishing project becomes popular, its commercial value will become higher and higher. When people mention going out to sea for fishing, they will inevitably mention Xingzhou Island. Even if the club organizes a sea fishing competition again, the result will be compared with Xingzhou Island’s “Tuna Cup” this time.

 

     Xingzhou Island became the “child of other people’s families”, but this “child of other people’s families” was forced out by him.

 

     If you ask him if he regrets it? He will definitely say that he regrets it.

 

     To make matters worse, he received a call from the president of the Provincial Leisure Fishing Association.

 

     The president said that the relevant national departments were planning to hold some activities to promote the “Beibu Gulf City Cluster”, and their fishing association also received related tasks. They planned to organize a fishing competition in the Beibu Gulf area and invite representatives of anglers from the Beibu Gulf City Cluster to participate in the competition. The venue was chosen to be Xingzhou Island.

 

     The president remembered that he was from Youshi and had a wide network of contacts in Youshi, so he asked him to contact Xingzhou Island and obtain Xingzhou Island’s consent to host the competition in the sea area.

 

 

 

     Yu Fan: “…”

 

 

 

     Can he tell the president that he and Xingzhou Island are mortal enemies?

 

     He dared to guarantee that as long as he dared to tell the truth, he would not have to serve as the “Executive Vice President of the Provincial Leisure Fishing Association”.

 

     But if he lowered his status to cooperate with Xingzhou Island, it would be like actively stretching his face out to Xingzhou Island to be rubbed on the ground!

 

     He was in a very bad mood and began to settle accounts: the employee who was arranged by him to watch the live broadcast was fired because he did not tell him the news in time, which made him lose the best reaction time.

 

     The rest of the employees were also angered and reprimanded by him.

 

     As for the anglers who took his money, he questioned them and asked them why they took the money but did not do the work.

 

     Several anglers returned the money to him and quit the club, saying: “It was really because of lard that I took your money. You can find someone else for this kind of thing in the future!”

 

     God knows how ashamed they felt when they saw the two-meter-long, 220-pound tuna being caught!

 

     It turned out that the special guests were really here to help Xingzhou Island, and they were just here to make up the numbers. I’m afraid Xingzhou Island knew that they were bribed, so they arranged the special guests to guard against them!

 

     For the sake of the five thousand yuan, they not only fell out with Lao Li, but also betrayed his trust. In the future, Lao Li would probably not take the initiative to invite them to participate in such activities.

 

     When Yu Fan came to question them, they were also very angry and simply made peace with each other.

 

 

 

…

 

 

     Li Yaolin was not aware that the sea fishing club was engaged in internal strife.

 

     After catching this “king tuna”, all her energy was on dealing with advertisers, investors and handling the follow-up of this event.

 

     Not all advertisers came for the sea fishing project. Some diving equipment manufacturers also wanted the diving shops in Xingzhou Island to sell their diving equipment.

 

     In fact, Yu Fan underestimated the commercial value of this event in Xingzhou Island. Its appreciation was not only reflected in the sea fishing project, but also in other sea-related projects, which were also very popular and seen by more and more merchants and manufacturers.

 

     However, no matter which project is popular, the brand of Xingzhou Island will be appreciated in the end, so diving equipment manufacturers want to settle in diving shops, merchants selling specialty products want to open specialty stores on the island, and even skin care brands want to occupy an advertising space on the island. 

 

     In this regard, Li Yaolin’s attitude is still – advertising is fine, but opening a store is out of the question.

 

     Of course, there are also requirements for advertising on Xingzhou Island. The minimum requirement is that the product has no safety or quality problems, and the brand’s image cannot be too bad.

 

     Based on too many advertisers seeking cooperation, Li Yaolin wants to set up another advertising project team to be responsible for advertising review, bidding and other matters.

 

     In addition to these advertisers, there are also a group of merchants who want to contact the “female angler who caught the tuna”. 

 

     They couldn’t find Li Yaolin herself, so they called Manager Qi, who is responsible for external contacts on Xingzhou Island, and wanted Manager Qi to help them get this “tuna king”.

 

     Manager Qi refused on the spot: “I’m sorry, we have already bought this fish in Xingzhou Island and will serve it in our buffet restaurant. Sorry, we can’t sell it to you.”

 

     Although these merchants were very disappointed, they did not show any dissatisfaction and said: “If you have tuna that can be sold in the future, please be sure to contact me.”

 

     Manager Qi did not dare to guarantee it and could only respond vaguely.

 

 

 

     The next day, after Manager Qi came to work, he complained to Li Yaolin with dark circles under his eyes: “My phone didn’t stop ringing last night. They were all from Japanese restaurants, big hotels, and big fishmongers, who wanted to contact you, the boss, to buy that tuna.”

 

     Li Yaolin sympathized with him and said, “Why don’t you go to the staff dormitory to catch up on some sleep?”

 

     Manager Qi: “That’s not necessary.”

 

     Li Yaolin nodded: “The peak fishing season for tuna has just passed, and there are very few large tuna on the market. Of course, they don’t want to miss this tuna.”

 

     Manager Qi said: “That’s right, Wendenglai Hotel is even willing to offer 25,000! I heard that their hotel has several “international friends” who came to inspect the petrochemical project, and they are looking for high-quality ingredients everywhere to entertain them!”

 

     If Li Yaolin was just an ordinary angler, she would definitely be tempted, but unfortunately these merchants didn’t know that she wanted to exchange more benefits than exchanging this tuna for 25,000 yuan in cash.

 

     She said: “The seafood buffet restaurant can earn more than this amount.”

 

     After learning that there was a limited supply of tuna in the past two days, many tourists went to the buffet restaurant early to line up for seats.

 

     ——Not everyone likes to eat tuna, but due to the herd mentality and the atmosphere, when choosing a dining place, they will unconsciously prefer restaurants with many people.

 

     In addition, the number of tourists received during the National Day increased, which doubled the number of tourists dining at the seafood buffet restaurant.

 

     On weekdays, the restaurant only received about 800 customers a day. But since the first day of the National Day, the number of diners has never been less than 1,200 people.

 

    In this case, the seafood buffet restaurant’s daily turnover exceeded 350,000 yuan, and after deducting costs, the net profit was about 100,000 yuan.

 

     After the news that the tuna caught in the Xingzhou Island sea fishing activity would be limited in the buffet restaurant was spread, the number of diners per day was expected to exceed 1,500 in the past two days, and the profit generated by then would be far more than 25,000 yuan.

 

     Of course, this account was not calculated by Li Yaolin. Although she has been learning how to become a better profiteer, no, a more qualified island owner, she also knows that she cannot master all the knowledge. As a boss, she still needs to know how to make good use of people and put the right talents in the right positions.

 

     Since the establishment of the department, Manager Qi and several supervisors have made great efforts. Li Yaolin feels that it is time to give them a promotion.

 

     Originally, the department was established in a hurry. Many positions and responsibilities were gradually established and improved during this period. Managers and project supervisors of various departments are also middle and senior management talents reserved by Li Yaolin for a more perfect organizational structure. Sooner or later, there will be job changes.

 

     It happens that the long holiday is the period that tests the ability and professional quality of the management level personnel of the scenic spot the most. After the National Day, it will be clear who can be entrusted with important tasks and who needs to be further investigated.

 

     Before that, Li Yaolin was more concerned about the progress of the “special mission” of the National Day.

 

 

 

     Number of tourists received: 10,107

 

     Popularity: 30%

 

     Search: 8.79 million

 

     Attention: 840,000

 

     Topic participation: 3.82 million

 

 

 

     The National Day check-in activity caused a surge in the search, attention and topic participation of Xingzhou Island. After the news report of “Tuna King” came out last night, it gained another wave of popularity.

 

     Currently, on some software recommendations Xingzhou Island ranks second in the popular scenic spots in Yóushì.

 

     The first one is naturally Yuhai Park, which has received more than 100,000 tourists per day. Although Xingzhou Island has high search index and media index, the number of tourists it receives is a “hard flaw”. And as a 4A-level scenic spot that has been developed for a long time, Yuhai Park is definitely well-known nationwide.

 

     Although there will be no loss even if this task is not completed, Li Yaolin is really unwilling to be behind others when she is competitive… She decided to apply for a rating for Xingzhou Island after the National Day. It’s okay if the level is low, just improve the level slowly!

 

     Just when Li Yaolin changed her previous Buddhist management and was ready to be more aggressive, Fang Xinhua suddenly called her.

 

     Li Yaolin asked: “Mr. Fang, are you back from abroad?”

 

     Fang Xinhua went abroad to inspect tourism projects with the investment inspection team of Wenhua Travel Agency before the National Day, so he didn’t catch up when the Xingzhou Island Seafood Buffet Restaurant opened.

 

     Not only did he miss the event, he also found out about it too late. He only found out about the restaurant opening when he saw that Xingzhou Island was trending again.

 

     He called Li Yaolin and said that Li Yaolin was not righteous and did not tell him about the opening in advance, so that he could make time to attend the opening or send a flower basket.

 

     In fact, Li Yaolin did not think so much. She said, “It’s just the opening of a small buffet restaurant. How dare I ask President Fang to change the already arranged schedule for this? It’s enough that President Fang’s intention is there.”

 

     That’s how Fang Xinhua was dismissed.

 

     This time Fang Xinhua did not say anything polite to Li Yaolin. He said, “I’m still abroad. I came to you this time mainly because I just found out about the ‘good things’ that Yu Fan did.”

 

     Hearing this, Li Yaolin leaned back on the chair, holding a mobile phone in one hand and playing with a pen on the table in the other.

 

     “From what you said, Mr. Fang knows him?”

 

     “We’ve dealt with each other before. After all, people in our industry inevitably have some intersections in the circle.” Fang Xinhua said, 

 

     “But I really didn’t know about his targeting of Xingzhou Island in advance. If I knew, I would have dissuaded him long ago.”

 

     Li Yaolin believed what he said. After all, part of his interests were directly linked to Xingzhou Island. If there was negative news about Xingzhou Island, his interests would definitely be damaged.

 

     Li Yaolin said: “Mr. Fang can rest assured. He can’t threaten Xingzhou Island for the time being.”

 

     Fang Xinhua was of course at ease. He didn’t know about others, but how capable Li Yaolin, the mysterious island owner with a strong background, was. He had suffered a setback and tasted the sweetness in the subsequent cooperation. How could he not know?

 

     Going against Li Yaolin would not only not gain much advantage, but also not get any benefits.

 

     This time, Yu Fan called him, hoping that he would come forward to let Li Yaolin agree to the Provincial Leisure Fishing Association to hold a fishing competition on Xingzhou Island. He said that although Li Yaolin was a shrewd person, she was easy to get along with in private, so he asked him to take the initiative to contact her, and maybe they could cooperate together in the future.

 

     Yu Fan hesitated for a long time, and finally said, “What cooperation? My relationship with Xingzhou Island is like fire and water.”

 

     Fang Xinhua then learned that Yu Fan felt threatened by Xingzhou Island’s development of a boat fishing project, so he joined forces with the surrounding fishermen to bring bad things to Xingzhou Island.

 

     Of course, Yu Fan made a lot of excuses for his behavior, but Fang Xinhua still heard a more realistic version from others.

 

     He couldn’t help scolding Yu Fan, saying, “Do you want to be so overbearing? Do you really want to monopolize the boat fishing project in Youshi and become the king of boat fishing in Youshi? Why are you so narrow-minded?”

 

     Yu Fan retorted, “You’re still talking about me. Didn’t you also ask for a lot of money at the beginning, and wanted to bite off a piece of meat directly from Li Yaolin? In the end, not only did you fail, but you also lost the actual control of Qianlai Tourism.”

 

     Fang Xinhua: “…”

 

     He retorted, “I know the current situation, and I am willing to give up my face and lower my profile for the sake of money. Can you do it? If you can do it, why would you come to me? You would have gone to someone else long ago. You have been so overbearing for so many years, and you still haven’t changed your style. I think you drove away Old Zhong, who cooperated with you to open a club, in the same way. You have hit a wall this time, right? “

 

     Yu Fan was a little embarrassed, but he had a lot of interests with Fang Xinhua, and he really couldn’t turn against him because he told the truth. He asked, “Who is she?”

 

     “I don’t know, but I advise you not to provoke her easily in the future.”

 

     Yu Fan felt a little uneasy. Even Fang Xinhua couldn’t figure out Li Yaolin’s background, which showed that her background was really strong.

 

     Yu Fan said with a fluke: “If I go to her rashly, she will definitely ignore me. Why don’t you help me say something good first?”

 

     So there was the scene of Fang Xinhua calling Li Yaolin.

 

     Li Yaolin didn’t say whether she would agree to reconcile with Yu Fan. Her focus was on the publicity activities of the “Beibu Gulf City Cluster”.

 

     Compared with the Greater Bay Area and Qionghai Free Trade Zone, Beibu Gulf has never been well-known – the Greater Bay Area has been promoted by the Central Bank and variety shows, and Qionghai Free Trade Zone is also in the news every day, but Beibu Gulf is basically only mentioned in some local news, and it has a very low sense of existence.

 

     It was only after Li Yaolin came to Yóushì that she learned about this city’s economic development circle from the official propaganda posters.

 

     Although it is not as prominent as the Greater Bay Area, it is a region of national development planning after all, and its strategic position is extraordinary. If it can provide a venue for this fishing competition, it will naturally have more advantages than disadvantages.

 

     But Li Yaolin did not want people to think that she agreed to provide the venue because of Yu Fan.

 

     Fang Xinhua, a business veteran, naturally knew how to mediate. He said, “Why don’t I organize a dinner party? Mr. Li should meet him and clarify any misunderstandings face to face!”

 

     Unexpectedly, a young person like Li Yaolin didn’t buy it. She said distressedly, “There are a lot of things happening on Xingzhou Island recently. I have to prepare materials to apply for the scenic spot rating. I really can’t attend Mr. Fang’s dinner party. But when Mr. Fang comes back from abroad, he can come to Xingzhou Island to taste our seafood.”

 

     Li Yaolin didn’t give face, what could Fang Xinhua do? 

 

     He couldn’t offend Li Yaolin for Yu Fan, so he could only say that he couldn’t help Yu Fan: “If you really want to make peace with her, then show some sincerity and go find her yourself. What’s the point of looking for me?”

 

     Yu Fan didn’t expect Li Yaolin to be so arrogant. He actually had to go and admit his mistake to her. Is this possible?

 

     Impossible!

 

     Yu Fan thought angrily that Xingzhou Island had only successfully organized a sea fishing event. If anglers wanted to go out to sea for deep-sea fishing, wouldn’t they have to rent his boat? He hadn’t reached the point of being at the end of his rope, so why should he give up so easily?

 

      He was just the executive vice president of an association. At worst, he could quit and save a lot of membership fees!

 

     Suddenly, he remembered that Xingzhou Island, as Fang Xinhua mentioned, seemed to be preparing to apply for a rating?

 

     He was amused. Scenic spots must be in business for more than one year before they are eligible for a rating. Xingzhou Island has only been in business for four months and is far from being qualified!

 

     Last time at a friend’s dinner, he lost face because of Xingzhou Island. This time, he was ready to watch the show!

 

 

 

…

 

 

     Yu Fan, an outsider, knew that scenic spot ratings must be in business for a full year. Didn’t the leaders of the cultural and tourism department and the employees of Xingzhou Island who urged Li Yaolin to apply for a rating know this?

 

     Of course they knew it too. Manager Qi, who has learned about the development history of Xingzhou Island, said disapprovingly:  

 

     “Xingzhou Island has been developed and operated for several years. The first island owner went bankrupt, so the island was later taken over by the government. This year, you took over and renamed the island.”

 

      “Although the management company is different, we are applying for a scenic spot rating, not a company rating, so it should not be calculated based on the company’s qualifications. As far as this scenic spot is concerned, it has officially started business since the moment it was developed. ”

 

     Li Yaolin: “…”

 

     I didn’t expect you could make such an excuse. No, explain.

 

     It just so happened that the relevant departments of the city still recognized this reason, so they urged Li Yaolin to apply for the rating, so as to add luster to the tourism image of Yóushì.

 

     At present, the A-level scenic spot can be rated by the county where the scenic spot is located, and the 2A and 3A levels are approved by the county and then reported to the province for approval. As for the 4A level, it must be rated by the national level department.

 

     Don’t think about the 5A level for the time being. There is no regulation that other levels must be applied for level by level, but the 5A level must be rated as a 4A scenic spot three years before applying for the rating.

 

     Li Yaolin handed the matter to Manager Qi: “Then you go and prepare the materials for the application rating, and apply after the holiday.”

 

     “The materials have been prepared long ago!” Manager Qi said, 

 

     “Last time when that variety show used the fact that our island had no rating to blacken us, I had already asked people to start preparing the materials, and I was just waiting for your order, and these materials will be sent to the rating agency for review. ”

 

     Li Yaolin: “…”

 

     She felt that she could give up the position of general manager to Manager Qi in advance.