The next day at work, what Gao Songbin worried about still happened.
The regional manager of the JA district rushed to the Shanghai headquarters in the morning to report:
"Rao Guangping and the five people in his team didn't come in this morning. I called them over and over again, but no one answered. I guess these people made a plan together. The most abominable thing is, what kind of behavior is it to just leave without a clear explanation? Even if they quit, they should at least clarify it."
Gao Songbin frowned:
"Did these people have any unusual expressions or say anything special when they left work yesterday?"
"No, it was the same as usual, I didn't notice any difference,"
the regional manager said after thinking for a moment.
"I understand. You go to the district first and reassure the other employees, and at the same time, internally block the news so people don't panic."
What was bound to happen, happened.
Under the temptation of high salaries, some people can uphold their principles, while others become greedy; these are all personal choices.
There is no right or wrong, only whether one can accept it.
Rao Guangping, Gao Songbin had an impression of this person; he should be a graduate of the sixth cohort of Renren Iron Army Training Camp.
He usually performed average, showed no special talent, and was rather lackadaisical.
Renren Iron Army only trains for one month after all.
It is easier to change rivers and mountains than to alter one's character.
Some people's roots are fixed; attempting to change a person's worldview, values, and personality in just one month is unrealistic.
Gao Songbin quickly convened a manager's meeting in Shanghai.
After he explained the situation, someone immediately expressed indignation.
"These Lasa Holdings guys are such Sun Zi! They've been attacking us on all fronts these past few days, who knows how many of our people they've contacted. This is purely malicious poaching."
"I was also shocked when I first heard the news. I called Rao Guangping several times, but no one answered."
"I can't swallow this. Damn it, do they think we won't poach people?"
"Whether or not to poach people is secondary; right now, I just want to find that Sun Zi Rao Guangping and ask him what he was thinking. He's a disgrace to our Renren Iron Army; I can't believe such a traitor appeared among us."
"There's no need to waste words and effort. He must have thought it through completely before doing this. The reason he dares not answer our calls is simply because he's afraid we'll scold him and doesn't want to suffer a guilty conscience."
Gao Songbin knocked on the table, signaling everyone to be quiet.
"Saying all this now is hindsight. The top priority is to stabilize morale. Later, when you return to your respective areas of jurisdiction, hold good meetings, talk to your subordinates, and absolutely ensure that such incidents do not happen again."
Someone asked Gao Songbin:
"Are we just going to let this go? If we don't fight back, Lasa Holdings will think we're pushovers and continue to poach people. If they can't poach in one day, or two days, what about three or four days?"
Gao Songbin waved his hand:
"For the specifics, I'll go to Dongjiang and offer a humble apology to CEO Chen and ask him."
The group fell silent.
This matter could be big or small.
If Chen Pingjiang hadn't warned them initially, then being poached would be acceptable.
But if they were warned and still had people poached, that would be a bit embarrassing.
After the meeting, Gao Songbin immediately got into his car and rushed to Dongjiang.
Chen Pingjiang had just bought a new tea set and was learning the tea ceremony with great interest when he saw Gao Songbin rushing over frantically.
He asked in surprise:
"Why aren't you staying put in Shanghai? Why did you rush back?"
Gao Songbin smiled sheepishly:
"I came back to offer a humble apology."
"?"
"A team leader in the JA district and five people under him were probably poached by Lasa Holdings; they didn't come to work this morning, and their phones are unreachable."
Chen Pingjiang frowned:
"If they're poached, they're poached. Why are you reporting to me instead of staying in Shanghai to calm the employees?"
Not receiving the expected criticism, Gao Songbin was a bit unaccustomed:
"You're not scolding me?"
Chen Pingjiang smiled:
"Why would I scold you?"
"Rao Guangping was appointed by me."
"A company that isn't poached has no future or potential. It's perfectly normal for us, as a leader in the group-buying industry, to have people poached, especially since the opponent is Lasa.com, a professional at poaching."
After a pause, Chen Pingjiang continued:
"If the other party offers 1.5-2 times the salary, you might still be able to restrain them with corporate culture and values, but if it reaches three times the salary, don't even think about it. We are no longer those small companies out there; our field sales personnel's salaries are among the highest in the industry. If even that can't retain people, then it's not our problem."
Chen Pingjiang was very open-minded.
Poaching? It's perfectly normal.
Back then, when CEO Lei made phones, he poached people from Meizu; when making the Xiaomi SU7, he poached the dean of Geely Research Institute under the guise of an inspection.
"So what do we do now? Everyone in Shanghai is indignant, they wish they could tear Lasa.com apart, and they are even angrier about Rao Guangping's betrayal."
Chen Pingjiang chuckled:
"The fact that they can be angry shows that our Renren Iron Army training is still effective. The most terrifying thing is indifference and silence."
"We don't need to poach people from Lasa Holdings. What's the use of bringing those people over? They might not accept our corporate culture and philosophy, and their values might not be the same."
At this point, Chen Pingjiang changed the subject:
"However, you need to let your subordinates know that leaving Renren Group Buy is a loss for Rao Guangping and those few, not necessarily our loss. You need to severely hit Lasa.com, completely drive them out of Shanghai, and leave them no place to stand."
After the meeting, Chen Pingjiang used special channels to directly find WoWo.com's contact information and called them.
His attitude was clear: the two companies would form an alliance.
Renren Group Buy expressed strong support for WoWo.com and suggested they poach from Lasa.com.
The conditions Chen Pingjiang promised were very good.
Renren.com's promotional slots could save WoWo.com a large sum of money.
And Chen Pingjiang's side had no loss, it was just a recommendation slot.
WoWo Tuan's headquarters is in BJ.
It is located in the stronghold of Meituan, Nuomi, and Lasa Holdings.
Poaching people from Lasa Holdings would be a straightforward matter.
Let them fight first; it's best if they tear each other apart.
......
Cen Lijian and Rao Guangping lay on the sofa chatting after their foot massage.
"Brother, I'm so happy you could come."
Cen Lijian couldn't help but admire Renren Group Buy's centripetal force and cohesion.
When poaching from smaller group-buying websites, it was always successful.
Why was it so troublesome now?
After lingering around Renren Group Buy for about a week, more than half of the people who answered the phone hung up directly once they realized it was someone from Lasa.com.
The remaining smaller half had no follow-up after meeting.
Finally, Cen Lijian was truly out of options and had to offer three times the salary plus a 50,000 yuan signing bonus to secure Rao Guangping.
"I hope Big Brother will take good care of me in the future. I'm just a soldier under your command, I'll do whatever you say."
As Rao Guangping spoke, his phone next to him rang.
He glanced at the phone number, then flipped the phone over directly, out of sight, out of mind.
"These Renren Group Buy people are really persistent. Look at how many missed calls there are,"
Cen Lijian said, smiling as he watched Rao Guangping's actions.
Rao Guangping, however, was a bit annoyed:
"Everyone at Renren Group Buy is a bunch of lunatics. Back in the Renren Iron Army training camp, we had to train 12 hours a day. After starting work, there was a lot of overtime, and assessment tasks were heavy. Although the overtime pay was generous, it left me no time to go to bars."
"What is this Renren Iron Army thing?"
Cen Lijian keenly caught this keyword.
Perhaps this was why Renren Group Buy had such strong cohesion?
Rao Guangping chuckled:
"I speak bluntly, CEO Cen, please don't take offense if I say something wrong. Although I've left Renren Group Buy, the brothers in the Renren Iron Army are all good. Frankly speaking, the people who come out of the Renren Iron Army are completely incomparable to those flyer distributors you recruit off the street. If you had to compare them, one is a regular army, and the other is a primary school student on military training."
Cen Lijian raised an eyebrow, still somewhat disbelieving:
"Is it that exaggerated?"
When discussing Renren Iron Army, an expression of both pride and superiority appeared on Rao Guangping's face.
"It's high-intensity training, every day is corporate culture, values, product knowledge, and sales skills. It's very tiring, but it's also very good for training people."
Cen Lijian smiled:
"Oh, so it's just pre-job training. The batch of people we recruited also has that."
Rao Guangping couldn't be bothered to retort.
He felt like they were talking past each other; how would someone who hadn't experienced it understand?
Yet, the disdainful expression on his face deeply stung Cen Lijian.
If he didn't need to appease him now, Cen Lijian probably would have erupted.
Damn it, what's there to be so arrogant about? If it was so good, why did you wag your tail and run over for a few lousy bucks?
This sense of superiority was not only seen in Rao Guangping but also in the five people who came with him.
It made Cen Lijian quite uncomfortable.
They're all damn traitors, yet they still speak fondly of their previous employer.
Who should I hit if not you?
"Now the framework of our team is basically complete. We'll officially launch the site the day after tomorrow. At that time, advertisements will be plastered all over the major business districts in Shanghai. It'll be hard work then, but let's use this momentum to do a good job with the promotion."
......
Two days later, Lasa.com's Shanghai branch officially launched.
On the opening day, advertisements for Lasa.com were everywhere in Shanghai's subways, buses, outdoor large screens, and newspapers.
In addition, Lasa.com set up small stalls in major universities and core business districts in Shanghai, recommending Lasa.com to everyone they met.
"Sweeping buildings" to distribute flyers was also indispensable.
It was indeed a formidable offensive.
At the same time, Renren Group Buy also made its move.
They showed no mercy.
All field sales personnel checked every merchant store in their respective areas, and any Lasa.com posters or logos found were completely torn down.
The most audacious thing was that some Renren Group Buy field sales people followed Lasa.com's field sales people, tearing down every flyer as it was handed out.
During the meeting that night, after listening to the reports from each group, Cen Lijian swore angrily:
"Damn it, is Renren Group Buy playing dirty? Next time something like this happens, call the police. Also, I'm not scolding you, but they are people, and you are people. They tear your flyers and posters, and even overturn your stalls, and you just watch?"
One of the team leaders pointed to his torn sleeve:
"We did fight back, but we couldn't win. Those Renren Group Buy people are such beasts, and they're good fighters, it feels like they've trained."
Cen Lijian was so angry he was momentarily speechless.
Damn it, how embarrassing.
A bad start, couldn't even win a fight.
"Our team might not be afraid of them in a real fight, but the crucial thing is they're too cunning. They bribed the building's security guards, who stand on the first floor and simply don't let us go upstairs!"
"Yeah, it's the same here. We just set up a small stall at the entrance of Jiaotong University, and the campus security came running over, telling us to move far away. We only stopped when we reached a less crowded intersection."
"Our group didn't encounter those issues, but the merchants we approached already have existing partnerships. Someone told me that it's already widely known at Renren Group Buy that any merchant who dares to open a store on Lasa Holdings will immediately be delisted from Renren Group Buy and never cooperated with again."
Listening to all the feedback, Cen Lijian's eyebrows furrowed into a "川".
He had prepared himself mentally when launching the site, expecting it wouldn't be too smooth.
After all, Renren Group Buy had been operating in Shanghai for over half a year, and merchant and consumer acceptance was high.
But he never expected it to be this difficult.
A crushing blow on the first day.
Rao Guangping's expression was also not good.
On one hand, it was because Lasa.com's performance today was too poor, and he was questioning in his heart whether his choice was correct or not; on the other hand, he also showed great disappointment with these new colleagues at Lasa.com.
"Renren Group Buy didn't sign any exclusive agreements with those merchants. Such statements are purely threats, meant to target us. Couldn't you just change your approach when talking to them? Just have the merchants change their store name, wouldn't that solve it?"
Rao Guangping complained.
Although his voice was not loud, the expression of helplessness and disappointment on his face was not hidden at all.
This group of people was truly far inferior to Renren Group Buy's field sales team.
"Bang!"
Suddenly, Wang Xian, Lasa Holdings' regional manager for the XH district, slammed the table:
"Damn it, just talk. What's with that sarcastic look on your face?"
This seemed to open a certain switch.
Someone immediately said sinisterly:
"Being cheap, what else could it mean?"
"People from big companies are just amazing, looking down on us, heh heh."
Cen Lijian frowned, reaching out to make a calming gesture in the air:
"Just talk, Manager Rao is also giving good advice, don't react so strongly. We're all from the same company, it'll be a joke if word gets out."
Wang Xian did not sit down as expected.
Instead, he turned his head and stared at Cen Lijian with wide eyes:
"When I brought my brothers who used to work as intermediaries to your company, what did you tell me? Is it because he's from Renren Group Buy, a big company, that he's superior to us? I'm not afraid of offending people; at worst, I'll just quit this job. Today, people from Renren Group Buy found me and directly stated that CEO Cen, you promised Rao Guangping at least three times the salary to poach him."
"I just want to ask, my brothers and I were among the first batch of hires, right? Our salaries are only fifty percent higher than before. Why is his salary three times as much? Our positions are the same, and we do the same work. Why is that?"
Immediately, many people joined in.
"Someone told me the same thing."
"I also want to ask why?"
"..."
Cen Lijian felt a headache from their clamor, with one person speaking after another.
As the party concerned, Rao Guangping also felt a sense of crisis to some extent.
He looked at Cen Lijian and shook his head, signaling that he had not leaked the salary information.
"Quiet, quiet! What's all this noise? Is there any law and order left?"
Cen Lijian shouted:
"Are you going to believe everything those Renren Group Buy people say? Don't you use your own judgment? You fell for someone else's divisive trick so easily? When you get your paychecks next month, you'll all have salary slips, won't you know then how much Manager Rao's salary is?"
On the other side, Wang Xian sneered:
"My education isn't high, but I'm not stupid. You can completely issue two paychecks, one declared and one hidden. How would I know how much you secretly paid him extra?"
"Someone played me a recording today, saying you promised some of their regional managers four times the salary to poach them."
Cen Lijian's heart sank, thinking these Renren Group Buy people were truly dirty.
If I poach you, and you don't want to come, then don't meet.
Who records meetings?
Truly lacking in martial ethics.
Rao Guangping didn't have too many thoughts.
He, a regional manager, could get three times the salary, so it was quite reasonable for Lasa.com to offer four times the salary to regional managers above him, especially those with many subordinates.
But this situation was clearly something he didn't want to see.
It was clear that the regional managers who joined Lasa.com early on had already subconsciously started to gang up and ostracize him.
Cen Lijian felt a headache.
His idea was immediately exposed.
Especially since they had even heard recorded conversations.
What to do now?
If these regional managers demanded equal treatment and the same salary, what would Lasa.com be doing?
They might as well pack up and leave early.
But if he went back on his promise to Rao Guangping, it would definitely force him to cause trouble.
After much thought, he could only appease them first and then replace people later.
"Listen to me, I won't deny it, I poached Manager Rao with double the salary. As for the so-called four times salary, that's definitely nonsense. The recording must have been tampered with. Do you believe those Renren Group Buy people or your own people? How can such a small trick make you all look like you're about to revolt? It's embarrassing to even talk about it."
"Is giving Manager Rao double salary too much? Not at all! After all, he's experienced, has been in this industry for almost half a year, and most importantly, he brought people with him and holds a large amount of merchant resources. We're just getting started now, how can we fight amongst ourselves? As long as we capture the Shanghai market, the pie will be big enough, and everyone's salaries will increase!"
"..."
After saying a lot, both good and bad, Cen Lijian finally managed to calm everyone down.
Though seemingly appeased on the surface, the internal rift would not disappear.
If possible, Cen Lijian even wanted to run away, asking headquarters to send someone else to Shanghai.
Whoever wanted to come could come; he certainly didn't want to stay anymore.
They encountered a crushing blow on the very first day of opening.
Renren Group Buy seemed to have gone mad, using all sorts of methods to block Lasa Holdings.
This made Cen Lijian, who came from a technical background, quite uncomfortable.
Where had he ever seen such a scene?
It was too dirty, too barbaric, and too real.
They really got down to business without a word.
After leaving the conference room, he saw other regional managers gathering in twos and threes to eat barbecue, but no one paid any attention to him.
Rao Guangping's regret grew even deeper.
Why was he so stupid to agree back then?
Wouldn't it have been better to work steadily at Renren Group Buy?
Could Lasa.com really defeat Renren Group Buy like this?
If Lasa Holdings was defeated, where would he go?
All sorts of questions flooded his mind, overwhelming Rao Guangping with frustration.
He didn't dare to go back yet; he needed to gather with his five subordinates and reassure them.
These people had no retreat; they could only go all the way to the end.
(End of Chapter)