E-Ladies: Navigating the Wired World-Chapter 79 - Episode 79 Everyone wants to spend less money and
Chapter 79: Episode 79 Everyone wants to spend less money and get more done, but there is too little money 2
Chapter 79: Episode 79 Everyone wants to spend less money and get more done, but there is too little money 2
After the meeting had ended, following the suggestion provided by Wang Simo, Zhou Xueyin quickly prepared the proposal and even developed a quotation sheet.
Excluding the venue fee, all expenses had already exceeded 30,000 Yuan; the venue fee alone was 20,000 Yuan for two days, and it was uncertain whether she could secure it…
“Jixiang, can you help me find out how much is the rental fee for our school’s sports field?” Zhou Xueyin thought that as a graduate from Agricultural University, the school authorities might make an exception for her, and if they were to provide it for free, wouldn’t that be even better?
“Our school won’t work, it’s too biased and far… When the comic exhibition actually starts, besides our own school, who else would come?” Li Meng instantly dismissed Zhou Xueyin’s idea.
“I can! Our school should be able to!” Fang Jing volunteered eagerly.
“Capital Normal University? That actually works! You also have a Japanese program! By the way, does your university club include an anime society?” Zhou Xueyin looked at Fang Jing.
“Yes, but it’s not very active. I was there before… but they rarely cosplayed.” Fang Jing briefly described the situation at Capital Normal University.
In terms of the venue, the old campus sports field would suffice. They could invite some vendors who sell fanzines and the rental wouldn’t need to be too expensive. By charging a small entry fee, they probably wouldn’t incur a loss.
Zhou Xueyin spent three days finalizing the plan and enlisted her colleagues’ help to refine it. Once it was confirmed to be perfect, she asked Fang Jing to prepare a bilingual PowerPoint presentation, which was then sent to the Japanese representatives.
However, she definitely couldn’t send the quotation sheet—what if the other party decided to reduce their budget?
Zhou Xueyin was cautious…
A week later, Zhou Xueyin and Fang Jing arrived at the CBD again, not expecting that she wasn’t the only one who had come with a proposal.
The room was filled with people, all men, each looking disdainfully at Zhou Xueyin as she entered and snorted contemptuously as if she was utterly insignificant in their eyes.
‘These sneaky Japanese, they say they’re helping to prepare a proposal but in reality, they’ve brought a bunch of advertising agencies to compete. Isn’t this a bidding situation…’ Zhou Xueyin inwardly complained.
The presentation order was determined by a draw. There were eight bidders that day, and Zhou Xueyin drew number four, right in the middle—not bad.
The first to present was clearly indifferent to the project; his proposal was just a standard event template with no highlights or attractions.
The second and third had decent proposals, but their targeted demographics seemed off. They were of that rigid mindset that anime was merely for children and doing it at some children’s section in a shopping mall would be sufficient.
But perhaps the most lamentable fact was that the proposals of the first three participants were all in Chinese monolingual, and whether the translator, with questionable comprehension skills, could accurately convey the contents to the Japanese representatives was purely a matter of luck.
When it was Zhou Xueyin’s turn to present the proposal, she confidently handed the task to Fang Jing, who directly narrated the contents of the PowerPoint in Japanese.
Combined with the fact that the PowerPoint presentation was bilingual, a rare smile appeared on the face of the Japanese representatives.
Meanwhile, the expressions on the faces of the other seven bidders turned increasingly ugly and less confident.
At the very beginning, everyone had an air of superiority, but after seeing 51buy’s proposal, everyone hung their heads in loss of spirit, profoundly realizing the magnitude of the disparity.
If it weren’t for the need to complete the entire bidding process, the Japanese representatives might have announced the end of the bidding early and signed a contract with 51buy directly.
“Actually, our budget wasn’t just 50k. We set that price just to see if you could produce a satisfying proposal under limited conditions.” After the bidding, the Japanese representatives kept Zhou Xueyin and Fang Jing behind.
“I had no idea, really had no idea, that your proposal would be flawless! Choosing to host the comic exhibition at a university campus! Not only does it display our products well to enthusiasts, but it also allows them to interact! I’m really relieved to entrust this project to you!” the Japanese representative finally said, beaming with joy and praising Zhou Xueyin.
“I had no idea that a young woman like you could detail such an intricate, precisely targeted proposal. I’m genuinely astonished! You know, in Japan, many advertising agencies might not be able to come up with a professional solution like yours!” the Japanese representative couldn’t stop praising Zhou Xueyin.
“And this young translator, you’ve conveyed the spirit of the proposal so effectively to me, it also reminds me of the times I attended comic exhibitions with my fellow enthusiasts. I am really looking forward to the impact of this exhibition!”
When they signed the contract, Zhou Xueyin discovered that the actual budget for the exhibition was 150k. With that kind of money, not to mention hosting a week-long exhibition, they could nearly manage a campus tour! Of course, this would only apply to universities in Beijing…
Still, to remain cautious, the event was ultimately held as planned, hosting a unique comic exhibition at the Capital Normal University’s sports field.
The day of the exhibition happened to be bright and sunny. Though it was a bit hot on the sports field, it didn’t stop the cosplayers from showcasing their most dashing, beautiful, and captivating aspects.
Wang Simo, who loved photography, started snapping away with his camera, capturing images of the lively scenes of the day.
By the end of the two-day comic exhibition, the products provided by the exhibitors had almost sold out completely, fully demonstrating to the Japanese representatives the potential of the anime accessories market in China. They happily made the final payment.
Although exhausting, these two days had also been a reunion with old friends, all of whom admired Zhou Xueyin’s audacity and were grateful to her for reserving a space online where they could freely communicate.
And of course, some of them had started their own clubs, making a tidy profit at the exhibition and even submitting a request to Zhou Xueyin for potential collaboration to advertise their clubs on her website.
They had planned a celebration banquet, but after cleaning up the “battlefield remains” on the sports field, everyone was so tired that they just wanted to rush home to sleep.
“You all worked hard these past two days; as a reward, you can take the next two days off. Just stay home and rest on Monday and Tuesday! We’ll come back to work on Wednesday! Wednesday night, we’ll make up for the celebration banquet!” The feeling of being able to make decisions for her own company was genuinely delightful. Zhou Xueyin thanked everyone while arranging the holiday.
“I… I’m going home with you guys today…” Yao Shanshan spoke timidly, “I’m moving back home to live…”
“Sure! Here is always your home! You can come back whenever you want!” Li Meng hugged Yao Shanshan and ruffled her hair.
“…Whatever you want…” Kang Siyin glanced at the emotionally distressed Yao Shanshan.
“You’re not possibly…” Zhou Xueyin, quick to speak, wanted to ask if Li Meng had bullied her, but before she could finish, she was glared at by Li Meng, “Is it…because you missed us? Feel like home is better, right?”
Zhou Xueyin quickly shifted the topic…
“Home is definitely better! Li Meng… is just trash! KK, my bad…” Yao Shanshan, having held back her tears all day, finally couldn’t hold back any longer and burst into tears.
