Chapter 356: Chapter 356: Stick your face up and let me step on it
Feng Yiping was still quite happy. His homeroom teacher said he would help him, which was a pleasant surprise. He didn't know that this was a delaying tactic on Chen's part, because he was very confident in his magazine.
Not to mention articles like 'Blue Ocean Strategy' that proposed a new theory, or the outlook for 2000 in various political and economic aspects, which were actually not outlooks but 100% realistic depictions, or the few articles that Bao Zhuoyuan and the others had organised at high prices. They were considered to be well-written, and it really didn't make sense if such a magazine was not recognised.
As for meeting Gao Hengheng, for him, that was also an unexpected pleasure. Maybe, no, not maybe, it was certain that class monitor Gao would help him spread the word around.
Feng Yiping could understand this. A normally unassuming classmate suddenly said cockily, 'I've started a very high-end political and economic magazine that focuses on major international companies and political leaders from various countries.' What's even more impressive is that he is the editor-in-chief. To be honest, Gao Heng was considered well-mannered if he didn't burst out laughing on the spot.
However, with such dramatic news, it was strange that he didn't find someone to talk about it when he left the homeroom teacher's office. Of course, he must have thought that Feng Yiping was bragging, how could he possibly do it? Not to mention a freshman, but looking at the whole country, how many magazines can achieve what Feng Yiping claims?
Feng Yiping was prepared for this kind of thing. When you are only a little bit better than the people around you, you will inevitably attract all kinds of jealousy and ridicule. Only when you are several streets ahead of them, crushing those around you, will all this turmoil disappear automatically. Maybe a lot of people will be proud of you, and you will be the talk of the town. Some people who are not happy about it will just say a few words of sour grapes behind your back.
In the evening, as per usual, they watched the news. Teacher Chen took out Feng Yiping's magazine and opened it up a little reluctantly. If Feng Yiping hadn't made those lofty remarks, he might have been more interested, but Feng Yiping's words about the magazine's positioning were a bit too grandiose. How could a freshman student possibly achieve that?
Although there is a lot of content in the preface, it is all generalised. The opinions are not surprising. Many magazines publish articles like this in the first issue of the new year. Many domestic and international organisations also publish their views on the new year at the end of the year and the beginning of the year, and anyone can make predictions.
However, with so many predictions and data, apart from the percentage of economic growth set by the government, who else will take any of it to heart? I'm afraid those who write it will forget it afterwards.
So he quickly skimmed through it, and then he saw 'Blue Ocean Strategy,' the introduction, and looked at the author, who was Feng Yiping. What on earth was this? He read on with patience.
He was captivated from the beginning. The article clearly stated what the blue ocean was right from the start. Blue still referred to the red ocean in contrast. The red ocean was all the existing known industries. The market space was becoming increasingly crowded, competition was becoming increasingly fierce, profits and growth were becoming increasingly pessimistic, and everyone's goal was to defeat their opponents and occupy a larger market share.
A blue ocean represents new market space, the need for innovation, and opportunities for high profits and growth.
Some blue oceans are created completely outside of existing industries, but most are expanded within the red ocean by exploiting existing boundaries.
To make things clearer, Feng Yiping also gave examples. For example, 50 years ago, the colour TV industry was definitely a blue ocean at the time, but now it is a very red red ocean. Blue oceans and red oceans are also constantly evolving. The purpose of his article is to propose how to continuously create blue oceans and what are the principles of the blue ocean strategy.
However, at Chen's level, even without Feng Yiping's examples, he could understand. Some of the words really spoke to him. He read the short introduction of a few thousand words three times in a row, still feeling a little unsatisfied. It was like reading a very favourite online article, but the author was hateful and only updated it once a month. He wished that Feng Yiping would send him all the Chapters now. With this theory alone, this magazine was really worth HK$15.
However, Mr Chen had a doubt: had Feng Yiping really written this article? He decided to ask Feng Yiping tomorrow to find out for sure.
With this article as a foundation, Mr Chen read the subsequent articles that expanded on the assertions in the preface. He found that, as he had feared, none of the articles were full of empty talk or repeated conclusions.
For example, in the article on the dot-com bubble, Feng Yiping lists a lot of detailed data. Many internet companies that seem very promising now have never made a profit, and some have not even generated any revenue. They also lack a viable business model, but they have received a large amount of unprecedented investment, creating many millionaires as a result of stock options.
In this environment, the Nasdaq index, which is dominated by technology stocks, has soared, clearly overheating. Faced with this situation, the Federal Reserve will definitely raise interest rates. In addition, the US government has sued Microsoft for monopoly, and there is widespread speculation that the result can only be that Microsoft is monopolistic, which will inevitably affect the Nasdaq index...
For these reasons, Feng Yiping concludes that, barring unforeseen circumstances, the Internet bubble will subside no later than the first quarter of this year.
Mr Chen felt that although this conclusion was still somewhat arbitrary, it was still very good for a single article.
In addition, regarding the elections on the Treasure Island, Feng Yiping concluded that the Green Army would come to power. His main basis was that, considering all the circumstances, the Kuomintang, which had been shouting 'unity' since the day it was founded, would surely follow the example of their predecessors and fight among themselves! and squander resources, thus making the friends suffer and the enemies happy, giving the Green Army an opportunity to take advantage.
After reading the entire magazine, Teacher Chen sighed. It seems that next, he really has to take Feng Yiping to visit one by one. This is asking for trouble!
Gao Heng also went back and read Feng Yiping's magazine, mainly to find fault. He of course did not have the level of Chen Laoshi, and had never been in touch with company practices. Chen Laoshi valued the article on blue ocean strategy the most, but he could not read it at all. What nonsense! He still shamelessly talked about 'strategy'. He only read the beginning, which seemed a bit boring to him, and then skipped over it. He then roughly skimmed the rest of the articles and came to a conclusion. This is a guy who is going to blow his own horn until it bursts!
The next morning, in the first lecture, Feng Yiping walked into the classroom and felt something was wrong.
Those students who were originally joking around, chatting with their boyfriends or girlfriends, or eating snacks, all quieted down the moment he entered. Those who had a good relationship with him before had an uncertain expression on their faces, while those who didn't interact much with him had smiles on their faces, looking at him as if he were a circus clown.
Those around the class monitor Gao Heng had undisguised sneers on their faces.
He found a seat and sat down. A girl in the front row who was close friends with a male classmate turned around and said, 'Yiping, I heard that you have started a magazine in Hong Kong?'
'Yes,'
'Haha, you don't know, Yiping not only started a magazine, he also aspires to make this magazine a top-notch financial magazine targeting the world's top 500 companies and world leaders.'
At some point, class monitor Gao Heng walked over and patted the classmate next to Feng Yiping, 'Let's switch seats.'
Feng Yiping looked at him with a hostile gaze. This was the first time he had looked at a classmate with such a gaze. Gao Heng, however, thought that he had blurted out Feng Yiping's big words from the previous day in front of the class, and he felt embarrassed.
I want you to feel embarrassed, to be ashamed of yourself, to be humiliated for trying to attract attention!
After hearing Gao Heng's words, most of the students in the class were also surprised. Although most of them were pretentious and firmly believed that they would definitely make a success of their future careers, Feng Yiping was the only one who had spoken and acted on such words in their freshman year. Whether it was jealousy, ridicule or resentment, no one was on Feng Yiping's side.
'Classmate Yiping, I would like to interview you. What made you confident enough to start a magazine like this?
Also, the first article in the magazine is signed by you, and it talks about a new term, the blue ocean strategy. I would like to ask, how many companies have you started, and how much practical experience do you have, before you are confident enough to put forward a new idea and call it a strategy? Are you sure what you wrote will impress anyone?' Gao Heng rolled a book up into a tube and held it at Feng Yiping's mouth, as if they were doing an interview.
To be honest, Feng Yiping really didn't want to hit people or step on their faces, especially when the targets were these freshman classmates who thought they were mature but were still green. However, since everyone else was coming up to him like this, if you didn't hit back or step over, it seemed like you were really letting them down.
So just hit back, just step on. It's healthier to hit back, and it's more comfortable to step on.
'My confidence comes from having a high-quality team, from my keen insight, from my excellent language organisation and expression skills, from my understanding of the psychology of my target customers...' Feng Yiping rattled on, but of course, none of this convinced anyone.
'Right, your confidence, I can feel it from the moon. I just want to ask you, apart from this ambitious magazine, have you ever run any other businesses?' Gao Heng thought he was avoiding the real issue and continued to smile and press him.
'Well,' Feng Yiping pondered for a moment,
'Why, there's no need to be embarrassed if you haven't. At least you've started a magazine company, which is better than all of us who just talk a big game. Right, everyone?'
There were many voices of agreement. As monitor, Gao Heng definitely interacted with more classmates than Feng Yiping, who didn't live on campus and often didn't attend evening study sessions.
'As for other companies, I have indeed started a few.' Gao Heng now noticed that Feng Yiping's gaze was not angry, but seemed to be full of pity.
'I don't know where to start. Apart from the magazine company, there are seven other companies and six factories, mainly located in the provincial capital, the capital city and Shenzhen. You may not know the others, but let's just say there's Jia Convenience Store. You, monitor Gao, may have seen it in the capital city. As of the end of last year, there were 326 stores nationwide, and last year's sales exceeded nine digits.'
Everyone listened carefully to Feng Yiping's words. There was a moment of silence in the classroom, and then immediately, there was a chorus of voices. Was what Feng Yiping said true?
Gao Heng was a little dazed at this point. It couldn't be!
'By the way,' as soon as Feng Yiping spoke, everyone immediately quieted down. 'To add, these companies and factories are all under my absolute control!'