Chapter 49: Offer a Discount, and the Problem Is Solved

Li Enhui returned to the hotel in tears and immediately made a video call to the group's president.

"Sob, sob... Chairman, I went to see Yang Chen in person to seek a settlement. I tried every possible method; I was even willing to sleep with him, but he simply refused to settle out of court and insisted on pursuing legal action. His secretaries even beat me up. Look at this, my body is covered in red, blue, and white bruises. Sob, sob..."

Listening to Li Enhui's tearful complaints and looking at the injuries on her body, Park Jung-gook immediately slammed his palm onto the desk in anger.

Since even the tactic of offering to sleep with him had failed, Li Enhui was truly helpless.

As long as Four Seas Group insisted on legal action, GRM would be forced to issue a public apology in newspapers and pay compensation for various losses. While these penalties might not seem severe on their own, the real danger lay in the devastating negative impact they would have on GRM's reputation.

Young people in Dragon Country today were exceptionally patriotic, possessing a strong sense of national pride and self-confidence. They no longer blindly worshipped foreigners like their parents' generation did.

Once GRM's penalties were officially handed down, netizens in Dragon Country would undoubtedly blast them until they became depressed, and consumers would refuse to buy GRM products ever again. The company's only viable option would be to withdraw from the Dragon Country market entirely.

However, Park Jung-gook was still unwilling to give up.

A common tactic used by foreign brands when scandals broke was to launch massive discount promotions and then act as if nothing had happened. It had been done this way for years.

If other major international brands could get away with it, Park Jung-gook believed GRM could too.

"Since they refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit, then we won't bother being polite anymore. I understand the mindset of the people in Dragon Country well enough. Work overnight to produce half-price promotional ads and launch them on major platforms like Douyin. I believe that those born with an inclination to kneel will continue to rush and buy our products. If Four Seas Group wants to handle this legally, we'll drag them through court. If we lose the first trial, we'll deliberately drag it out until the very deadline to appeal. We can stall for a few years and make plenty of profit in the meantime. By the time we finally have to withdraw from the Dragon Country market, it won't even matter," Park Jung-gook said with a sneer.

Li Enhui nodded and replied, "Understood, Chairman. I know what to do."

She immediately called her assistant and gave detailed instructions to notify the marketing department to launch a midnight half-price promotional campaign, pour at least one million into advertising on high-traffic platforms like Douyin and Weibo, and set the flagship store's inventory links to unlimited.

At 10:00 PM, Yang Chen watched as the traders closed out all the positions related to the Eagle Country story.

The long positions bought at low prices were sold off, and the short positions opened at high prices were bought back to close.

After a careful tally, the total combined balance across all accounts reached 1.85 billion Eagle dollars.

The loans Yang Chen had signed for earlier were already fully repaid, making this 1.85 billion Eagle dollars his net profit, separate from the funds in his A-share account.

Yang Chen smiled and said, "Foreign stock markets are so comfortable—no price limit restrictions, T+0 trading. If we weren't afraid of being monitored by local regulatory authorities, we could make tens of billions off them in a single day."

"Chairman Yang, aren't you being a bit too cautious? People in Eagle Country champion freedom and democracy; they wouldn't freeze accounts just because you made too much money, would they?" Chen Chao asked.

Yang Chen offered a contemptuous smile. "Those are just slogans to shout—do you actually take them seriously? Have you ever seen a bank where foreigners deposited a lot of money suddenly and precisely collapse? Have you ever seen a bank suffer a fire that conveniently burned down all the deposit records while leaving the loan records perfectly intact? Have you ever seen someone make 50 billion in cryptocurrency only to be completely wiped out and harvested?"

Everyone shook their heads.

Yang Chen smiled and said, "I have. That's why money is only truly ours once it's in our hands. As long as it remains overseas, it's just a string of numbers. Whether others decide to harvest you depends entirely on their mood and needs, which doesn't mean that money actually belongs to us. Alright, everyone has worked hard. Go home and rest. Tomorrow, liquidate all the stocks in the A-share account, and buy back to close all the short positions on Changhui Group and those two coal stocks."

Chen Chao nodded. "Understood, I've got it."

Yang Chen stood up and led the six beauties away, while the investment department employees packed up and left for the day.

Setting reality aside, theoretically, stock trading was the easiest way for Yang Chen to make massive fortunes. But precisely because reality could not be ignored—just as he said, money was only real when it was in one's own pocket; otherwise, it was just a series of numbers in an account waiting for others to harvest whenever they pleased.

If the accounts Yang Chen operated made tens of billions of Eagle dollars a day, the Eagle Country regulatory authorities would undoubtedly place them under heavy surveillance, and even if they found no wrongdoing, they could easily conjure up an excuse or temporarily enact a law to freeze the funds.

Therefore, Yang Chen planned to set up multiple accounts, cashing out small profits from each one. Slow and steady wins the race, accumulating into a large sum over time.

Just then, Chang Sheng called Yang Chen.

"Hello, Chairman Yang. GRM has launched a half-price promotion, and they've poured a huge amount into advertising on platforms like Weibo and Douyin. Their flagship store's sales are skyrocketing. It looks like they're trying to copy the playbook of other foreign brands, using discounts to weather the PR crisis," Chang Sheng reported.

Yang Chen smiled. "Is that so? Then you should go buy some too."

"Our products are so effective, why would I buy their junk?" Chang Sheng quickly asked.

"If you don't buy some back to test what kind of banned substances are inside, how are we supposed to turn the weight-loss pills our compatriots are rushing to buy into a financial investment product?" Yang Chen asked with a smile.

Chang Sheng understood instantly and burst into laughter. "Got it! Haha... Chairman Yang always has the best ideas. I'll buy them right now, and I'll buy plenty!"

After Yang Chen hung up, Zhao Jing asked, "Chairman Yang, what did you mean just now about turning weight-loss pills into a financial investment product?"

Yang Chen smiled and explained, "GRM wants to mimic the past playbook of scandalous international brands by running promotions to sweep things under the rug. I'm having Chang Sheng buy some back to test for banned ingredients. Once we catch them, it'll be a case of 'refund three times the amount for every fake.' Won't those weight-loss pills instantly become a high-yield investment?"

Huang Wei immediately asked, "Then how can you be so sure their weight-loss pills actually contain banned ingredients?"

The other five beauties also looked at Yang Chen with puzzled expressions, waiting for his answer.

Yang Chen explained with a smile, "Because the mechanism of action for weight-loss pills on the market relies mainly on suppressing appetite and absorption, or acting as harsh laxatives to force rapid weight loss. To achieve this kind of effect, they must use certain banned substances. For example, sibutramine suppresses the nervous system, and taking too much of it leads to cardiovascular disease, or even death in severe cases. As long as GRM's weight-loss pills work by suppressing appetite and absorption, banned ingredients are bound to be detected. When that happens, we'll spend a little money to run some ads for them, and then have the Jiangcheng municipal government step in to contact the authorities in Haicheng to seal up GRM's company and factory. The GRM weight-loss pills in consumers' hands will transform from a product into a triple-refund financial goldmine."

The six beauties looked at each other, then pulled out their phones and opened GRM's flagship store to place orders.

"Can anyone lend me some money? I only have 50,000 yuan, I feel like I'm not buying enough," Zhao Jing said.

"I only have 80,000 yuan, and I've spent all of it. Whether I have a fat winter depends entirely on this wave," Bai Zhi said.

"I... I only have a little over 10,000 yuan, what should I do? This triple refund won't get me much money," Chen Xi said pitifully.

Yang Chen looked at them speechlessly and reminded them, "Investments carry risks, and caution is required when managing wealth. What if their products actually don't contain these banned substances? Then there won't be any grounds to demand a triple refund."

"Screw it, I'm betting they don't have Chairman Yang's technical insight. All in!" Chen Lan said.

"I'll borrow some money. We can't miss an investment opportunity this good. If their products really turn out to be fine, we can just apply for a refund later. Fortune favors the bold! Let's do it!" Chen Xi declared.