Chapter 174: Too Late, I'm Afraid It's Too Late

"Manager Guo, your Wanluo Group sure moves fast."

Hearing this voice, Guo Dasen immediately knew who had arrived. He said his goodbyes to the school faculty, turned around with a bright smile on his face, and walked toward Lu Feng.

"Manager Lu, what a coincidence. I wonder what brings you here."

Guo Dasen had previously been an employee under Wen Xiu's education group. Because Wen Xiu and Elena had been locked in a fierce rivalry, Guo Dasen and Lu Feng had crossed paths many times.

Since they were both in the promotional sales track and the circle was relatively small, the two of them naturally harbored plenty of grievances. However, because Wen Xiu had previously been at a disadvantage, Guo Dasen had suffered setbacks on numerous occasions, losing many performance targets and distribution channels to Lu Feng.

Now, things were different. With a new master and under the banner of the Wanluo Group, Guo Dasen could finally wash away his past humiliations.

"Cut the crap! Guo, you lot are fast enough, cutting us off and hijacking all the promotional venues our company scheduled here in Fujiang!"

Lu Feng was furious. The educational resources in this county were inherently limited, and only these two schools could be considered good institutions. Now that the opposition had beaten them to both, he would likely have little to show for it when he returned.

"Tell me! Did you plant a mole in our ranks? Or did you plan this in advance, purposely coming here to snatch these two schools?"

Facing Lu Feng's aggressive questioning, Guo Dasen didn't get angry; instead, he looked at him with complete detachment.

"Manager Guo, you are in the promotional business, so tossing around groundless accusations won't do."

"Let me make it clear: our promotional tours started two weeks ago. We've already covered every single middle school, primary school, and vocational school in Fujiang County."

"The two schools you mentioned happen to be our final two stops here."

"What? No, wait, how could you possibly have started that early? There's still a long time before the high school and college entrance exams!"

Lu Feng found it hard to believe. Generally speaking, promotional campaigns were scheduled for the subsequent semester so that the impending sense of urgency near the exams would compel candidates to sign up for training institutions or online courses.

Had it not been for the headquarters' directive this time, they would have remained relatively leisurely during this period.

He simply hadn't expected the opposition to have rolled out promotional activities across every single school in this small county. Was that even necessary?

"Well, that's no longer Manager Lu's or your company's concern. Alright, we have to move on to our next location. If you're interested, you're more than welcome to keep following us."

Watching Lu Feng's expression turn overwhelmingly grim, Guo Dasen felt a wave of profound satisfaction at seeing his old rival's demeanor.

Fantastic! Absolutely wonderful!

For years, you kept me suppressed! Looking foolish now, aren't you? Beaten to the punch, weren't you? The entire Fujiang County is covered by us now—let's see what tricks you can possibly play!

Watching Guo Dasen board the vehicle with an arrogant and haughty posture, Lu Feng trembled all over, consumed by fury.

"M-Manager Lu, w-what should we do now?"

His assistant was at a loss; after all, their task for today was to hold a presentation right here, but they had just been completely scooped.

"Shut up! Get in the car right now, we're following them! I'm calling the general manager immediately!"

Lu Feng realized that this matter wasn't as simple as merely being preempted; the opposition had laid their plans exceptionally early.

Right now, Guo Dasen's team alone had covered the entirety of Fujiang County, and judging by their momentum, they were bound to head off to their next stop to continue their presentations.

This raised a crucial question: just how far in advance had the opposition laid their groundwork?

Furthermore, given their all-inclusive, blanket style of promotion, how many counties along the southeast coast had they covered up to this point?

Suddenly, the thought hit him, and the hand pressing the numbers on Lu Feng's phone abruptly froze.

A chilling question popped into his mind: Now that we've finally discovered the opponent's moves, isn't it already too late to start playing catch-up?

"No, I must notify the general manager immediately so he can urgently report this to Chairwoman Ye at headquarters!"

Gritting his teeth, Lu Feng pressed the call button, and as soon as the line connected, he hurried to report.

"General Manager Zhu! Something major has happened."

***

Wanluo Group, small conference room.

"Brother, why hasn't Chen洛 (Chen Luo) arrived yet? We've been waiting for him forever."

"Little sister, don't be impatient. He's a vice president of the group now and is currently presiding over operations, so he's bound to be quite busy."

"Young Master Zhou, isn't President Wen coming? Seriously, I thought President Wen might show up, so I even went out of my way to dress up."

"Zhou Zheng, has Brother Luo been that busy lately? Won't he be too exhausted?"

"Liuhua, it should be fine. There are so many people in the group."

Only a few people sat sparsely in the small conference room, all of them familiar faces.

Zhou Mei, Zhou Zheng, Su Qiang, You Liuhua, and Zhang Meng.

"Alright, don't be anxious. Chen Luo's live stream should be ending shortly; please bear with it and wait just a little longer."

Wen Xiu sat by the conference table, observing the people before him.

Aside from Su Qiang, the rest of these individuals were somewhat too young.

Although he had previously heard Chen Luo describe these people's personality traits and capabilities, seeing these somewhat inexperienced students in person still left Wen Xiu harboring lingering doubts.

Were these Chen Luo's personal core forces? Even if their abilities were exceptionally outstanding, what kind of role could they possibly play in the current situation?

"Yes, what Young Master Wen says is right. Let's wait a bit longer."

Zhou Zheng nodded toward Wen Xiu as a gesture of goodwill.

Coming into this conference room today and seeing the people present, Zhou Zheng knew that this was an internal gathering specially arranged by Chen Luo.

It was intended to let the people he trusted familiarize themselves with one another, as important tasks would soon be assigned to them.

Thus, the presence of the Fifth Young Master of the Wen family here indicated that he, too, had been recognized as one of Chen Luo's inner circle.

Though he didn't know how Chen Luo had managed to pull such a prominent figure under his command, given the current circumstances, it was best for him—both publicly and privately—to establish a good relationship with this Fifth Young Master of the Wen family.

"Mm, your name is Zhou Zheng, right?"

Wen Xiu extended his hand, and Zhou Zheng quickly reached out to shake it.

"Yes. Not bad, the Zhou family has produced a fine successor. We should interact more often."

"Yes, indeed. You flatter me, Young Master Wen."

"We're all our own people here. I'm a few years older than you lot, so you can just call me Brother Xiu."

"Yes, Brother Xiu is right."

Zhou Zheng exchanged a glance with the others, who caught on immediately. Even Su Qiang cooperated and chimed in.

"Brother Xiu!"

"Ah, good. From now on, we're all henchmen under Chen Luo, so don't stand on ceremony. If you're short on cash, tell your brother—I've got money. If you're short on men, tell your brother—I am a man."

"Tonight, dinner is on me. We're going for roasted whole lamb."

Hearing Wen Xiu's joking remarks, everyone burst into laughter.

As the saying goes, one does not strike a smiling face. Since the Fifth Young Master of the Wen family was actively mingling with them and trying to integrate into their group as quickly as possible, Zhou Zheng and the others had no reason to refuse, and soon they were gathered together chatting merrily.

Wen Xiu possessed a wealth of life experience and strong eloquence; sharing interesting anecdotes and past experiences allowed him to frequently draw peals of laughter from the crowd.

"Oh, I could hear everyone laughing from outside. What are you all talking about?"

Chen Luo pushed open the door of the conference room and walked in with a smile.