Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Things were not going so well for Ning Weikai recently.
First it was that dumb soldier from Aida making a big move as expected, releasing the “City Walker” brand that shocked the whole industry. Furthermore, Aida’s promotional deals, creativity, and investment funding broke all the records in the retail industry. Their move had smacked New Bori, also known as the “market leader”, in the face.
However, Ning Weikai was not someone who cared about publicity. Since the competition had the audacity to bring such a threat to his hold over the market, he just had to shut them out.
As usual, there were serpents and devils giving him trouble internally.
Aito had already been on the market for a month; its sales were increasing rapidly with a seemingly unstoppable momentum. Aito’s commercials could be seen everywhere related to bags; in malls, supermarkets, on the Internet, even the subways and community blocks. Everyone was talking about Aito. Anyone could tell that given a few more months, Aito would become the Apple of the suitcase industry, following an unprecedented turnaround in their fortunes.
If that came to pass, could New Bori still call themselves number one in the market?
At this critical moment, the leaders of Zhu’s Consortium, not knowing who was pulling the strings behind the scenes, strongly urged that a special meeting aimed at New Bori should be held to discuss what they referred to as “an unparalleled crisis”.
But Ning Weikai was not buying it. The meeting notice had been issued for three consecutive days; he called in sick for three days.
During these three days, he locked himself in the CEO’s executive suite, shunning everyone. The two Zhu brothers were uncertain of what he was planning; the meeting, which was a censure disguised as a discussion, would have to be postponed until he appeared.
What was Ning Weikai doing, locking himself in the room?
Was he depressed? Angry? Torn? Unable to find a way out?
No, he was thinking. Thinking rationally.
He wasn’t considering exactly how much of a threat Aito would bring to New Bori. Nor was he prioritizing between resisting Aito’s aggression and the threats from within New Bori to his control.
He was only thinking about one question: Li Zhicheng, that cunning soldier, what exactly was he planning to do?
All of Ning Weikai’s closest associates, including Yuan Jun, along with the other leaders such as vice president and department managers within the company remained calm in this time of crisis.
They were well aware of their CEO’s style. Even though he usually seemed frivolous and arrogant, at critical moments he was decisive and unwavering. This won everyone’s respect. Their past experience had proven that when Ning Weikai made an important decision, he was almost always right. His choices had always led New Bori in a better direction.
This was his most precious leadership capability; to make strategic decisions and have the resolve to stick with his gut.
Feeling lucky to have such a leader, they waited patiently.
Finally, at dusk on the third day, the door to the executive suite opened.
Well-dressed and looking refreshed, Ning Weikai walked out, glanced at Jun Yuan at the door with a smile and said, “Go and gather the Research and Development Department.”
As soon as Yuan Jun saw his expression, he knew that Ning Weikai had made a decision. Yuan Jun was relieved and immediately he convened the leaders of Research and Development, which was the most important department in the company.
Sitting behind his exquisite and luxurious office desk, Ning Weikai only asked them one question, “Can we make a more perfect bag?”
The Research and Development Manager had thought about this problem long before he asked. He replied truthfully and confidently, “With our current technology and design capability, yes!
“In terms of materials, it will be slightly difficult. The Procurement Department will need to find something similar in price and quality to what is produced by Mind, or we need to snatch the contractual rights to Mind’s products from Aida.
“Regarding technology, we can definitely produce on the same level as Aida. Furthermore, during the second half of last year, we brought in a few patented outdoor technologies from Europe. We can use them to create a new bag. This is something unique in the country and Aida can’t compete.
“In design, we have no doubts. Aida’s design was pretty good, but the five most famous designers in the country have all signed exclusive cooperation agreements with New Bori.
“The cost for technology and design would be higher, but it will not be taken into account for the production cost of a single bag. So, we could definitely produce a similar bag which is cheaper and better performing than Aida.”
This kind of conversation was common among Ning Weikai and the leaders in the company. Each time, after Ning Weikai finished listening to their analysis, he would be satisfied and order them to take immediate action while giving them his full support.
This time, after Ning Weikai listened to them, he didn’t say a word. After remaining silent for a moment, he seemed to be thinking out loud, “We need to use costly patented technologies, hire expensive designers, and the material is not necessarily as good…” he raised his head to look at his subordinates, “So based on what you said, if we want to surpass Li Zhicheng, New Bori must use all we have in order to win by a narrow margin?”
His words were cold and acute, the Research and Development Department team hesitated for a while, then they nodded, replying, “Yes. But we have a high chance of winning.”
At the same time Ning Weikai stood up, took a few steps, leaning his body against the desk; his fingers lightly tapping on the flat, firm surface. Suddenly he raised his head and asked, “How long do you need to develop this bag?”
The subordinates pondered for a while, then took the plunge and answered, “Two months! We will go all in!”
Ning Weikai nodded. “Okay. I understand. You can go back to work now.”
Seeing him not making an immediate decision like he usually did, the manager of the Technology department asked, “Mr. Ning, so do we get ready to make this kind of bag?”
Ning Weikai raised his head and looked at him. He smiled.
“Nope. We are not doing it,” he said, “They dug a hole. So why do we have to jump in?”
Early the next morning, of course Ning Weikai would not be as stupid as to go to the headquarters of Zhu’s Consortium to be a target of ridicule. He arranged a car to go straight to the Zhu’s family house to meet his father-in-law.
Luck was not with him, or it might have been that there were too many spies in the Zhu family; when he set foot in the family house, which was as big as a manor, he saw Zhu’s second son sitting under the tree, accompanying his father for breakfast in the garden.
Ning Weikai strode towards them.
Elder Zhu always treated him like a son. He smiled and beckoned to him, “Weikai, you’re here! Have you eaten? Join us.” Zhu’s second son smiled too, “Oh Weikai, you came as well. Such a coincidence.”
Ning Weikai pulled out a chair and sat beside Elder Zhu. He went straight to the point, “Dad, I have something that I would like to discuss with you.”
“Speak.” Elder Zhu was amiable. On the side, Zhu’s second son was staring at Ning Weikai with a mysterious smile on his face.
Ning Weikai briefly summarized what Aida had done that had shocked the market. After Elder Zhu finished listening, he nodded, “This time Aito’s creativity was indeed good. I never thought that after his eldest son passed away, Xu Yong still had such a capable younger son. It’s envious.”
Zhu’s second son’s expression changed slightly. Ning Weikai smiled, not commenting.
“What do you plan to do?” Elder Zhu asked, “Do you need financial support from the Consortium? You can request for anything.”
Ning Weikai lifted the tea cup served by the maid and took a sip, replying, “Dad, this time, I plan to do nothing.”
As soon as he said that, Zhu’s second son was stunned. Even Elder Zhu was a little surprised; he pondered for a while, then said, “Elaborate.”
Ning Weikai had mentally prepared his script. His eyes were as bright and clear as flowing water. He spoke confidently, “Dad, you once said that we are the market leader. As a leader, we need to have both daring and acceptance of our rivals existance. I will always remember those words.”
On the side, Zhu’s second son’s mouth twitched to form a smirk. Ning Weikai ignored him, continuing, “All these years, I have been following your strategies, shutting down many offensives from a variety of brands. But as New Bori grows larger, we are becoming less agile. We should be focusing on steadiness and not being number one in everything.
Before this, you said before, there will be one day when we meet a brand that we could not shut down in this market. Now, the brand has indeed appeared.”
Zhu’s second son couldn’t listen any longer; he sneered. But Elder Zhu listened to him attentively, nodding, then he asked, “So this Aito, is this the brand that you couldn’t shut down?
Ning Weikai nodded, “Yes. I can’t and I won’t.”
Elder Zhu and Zhu’s second son were dumbfounded. Ning Weikai stopped beating around the bush and told them frankly,
“Dad, have you heard of Li Zhicheng and how he took away a large share of the market from the hands of SMQ?
This man was a soldier, but the way he does things is very unpredictable. Last time, he used the Mingsheng project as bait to lure SMQ into a trap, leading Cheng Zheng to spend all his resources on it. In the end Li Zhicheng was just feinting an attack. He then started a new battle by attacking the market of mid-range priced suitcases with a low price tag, turning the market situation around.
Even though the way he does things is unpredictable, it is not illogical. This time he rolls out the brand Aito, isn’t it similar to last time? New Bori almost has to go all out in order to strike down his new brand. I am certain that this is definitely his feint attack. The others maybe could not accurately estimate the power of New Bori and rashly rush forward to let us beat them. But Li Zhicheng is certainly not that stupid.
He has a second move. His goal, is to lure us to produce a similar product to compete with him.”
Elder Zhu fell silent. Even Zhu’s second son was absorbed in his speech. He subconsciously asked, “What second move does he have?”
Ning Weikai shook his head, answering him with a smile, “Hancheng, I don’t know. If I knew, wouldn’t it make me God?”
Zhu’s second son glanced at him, not saying a word. Ning Weikai added on, “I have not decided on what we can do now. But what we definitely cannot do is to straight away produce a competing product and fall into Li Zhicheng’s trap. So I would like to wait and see. I want to probe Li Zhicheng to check what he has up his sleeve before I decide the next step.”
Today he came to see his father-in-law and deliver this speech, his intention was to gain the father-in-law’s support to withstand the pressure from all sides, and to avoid his father-in-law heeding and only trusting his second son’s words.
But before Elder Zhu could speak, his second son scoffed, “Following what you said, are we going to let Aida take up our market share?”
Ning Weikai answered quickly, “Yes. We will let Aida take up our market share.” He stared at Elder Zhu, uttering, “Be tenacious; sacrifice the knights in order to save the queen.”
This was Ning Weikai’s decision.
Similar to many excellent corporate leaders, when making a big decision, he did not depend on the detailed marketing data analysis from his subordinates, nor did he follow the majority rule of a team vote.
Instead he would seize the most crucial decision point, obeying the clearest and strongest instinct in his mind.
This time, when faced with Li Zhicheng’s aggressive strike, his first reaction told him that Li Zhicheng was luring him to strike back in full force. Going all out to counterattack and shutting the opponent down was what everyone thought Ning Weikai would naturally do.
But he deliberately chose not to attack. Because his instinct told him that if he did, he would lose much more. It was even possible that they would be unable to recover.
Yes, that was how he felt. He could clearly sense the hidden danger. A trap made by Li Zhicheng just for him.
So he will definitely not fall for it.
For now, how would they implement a strong attack against Aida?
It’s okay. He could certainly attack from other aspects. For example utilizing public relations with the government, or increasing the promotional sales of outdoor and leisure products, or oppressing Aito’s marketing space, or pressuring other malls and dealers to suppress Aito, or meeting Aida’s material supplier, Mind for a negotiation… Even though they would indeed lose market share, he could minimize the losses. Then he would watch for the proper moment or find another opportunity to retaliate; next year or the year after, he would have his revenge.
After listening to his speech, Elder Zhu’s expression turned serious and sullen. His second son and Ning Weikai, his son-in-law, waited quietly for his decision.
After a while, he said, “Weikai, let me think about this. Afterall, New Bori has never willingly handed over the market to anyone.”
That same morning, Elder Zhu convened all the board of directors of the Consortium for a meeting. Even though Ning Weikai was the head of New Bori, he didn’t have any share in Zhu’s Consortium, so he was not notified to attend the meeting.
In the evening, the board of directors delivered their verdict to New Bori. Following their decision, Yuan Jun notified Ning Weikai on the phone, “Mr. Ning, the board of directors demands that New Bori defend the market by releasing a new product immediately to fight against the Aito brand.”
When he received the news, Ning Weikai was dining in a restaurant with his wife, Zhu Hanyu.
His expression didn’t change much. He put down the phone, seeing a new dish being served, he smiled and said, “This is one of your favourites. Let’s try and see how’s this chef’s cooking?”
Sitting opposite him, Zhu Hanyu had a worried face, she called him softly, “Weikai…”
Ning Weikai chuckled, putting down the chopsticks in his hand, he raised his head to look at her, “Are you here today to dine with me because you knew dad would oppose my idea? Are you trying to comfort me?”
Zhu Hanyu, “Hmm.”
Ning Weikai had always treated this wife with gentleness, but today he was indeed annoyed; he asked half-jokingly, “So what do you think? Is he right? Or am I right?”
This question put Zhu Hanyu in a difficult spot. She bit her lower lip, saying, “I don’t know.”
In the end she was still a princess, living in a palace, who knew nothing. A smile slowly bloomed on Ning Weikai’s face, “You silly girl, you could have pretended to agree with me.” He stood up and walked to sit beside her, hugging her in his arm, he said, “Don’t worry. Even though I have my own point of view, but dad certainly has his own considerations. I won’t take this to heart. Since dad has made the decision, then I will do my best to execute it. This is my responsibility and the attitude that I should have as the younger one. Okay, eat up now. Tonight I will accompany you back to the family house, then I will ask for advice from dad for the next steps. Sounds good?”
Regarding why the board of directors would veto his idea, Ning Weikai thought of many possibilities.
Maybe according to Elder Zhu’s judgement, shifting from the defensive to the offensive was the proper way. Everyone had different opinions. There was nothing wrong with it.
Or maybe, the Zhu brothers said something during the board of directors’ meeting, deliberately going against him.
Or maybe, even Elder Zhu did not hope that he would continue to be this smooth sailing? After all, the shares of Zhu’s Consortium were scattered; so whether the Zhu brothers could win the support of the majority of shareholders, taking over the company smoothly, was still uncertain.
As the outcome was a foregone conclusion, Ning Weikai would not complain.
Since Li Zhicheng set up a trap for him to jump in, he’d better be prepared for the fierce strike-back from New Bori.
The next morning, he called together all the core management teams for a confidential meeting.
“Within two months, we need to come up with our new products. This is an extremely difficult goal. A goal that only New Bori can achieve.
What I want is not just to be better than Aito, but to seize complete victory from Aito. I want Aito dead and out of the market completely.”
