[One-Time Thank-You Event Celebrating Ascend’s 100th Store]
- Buy 100, get 30 more. The 100+30 event.
- Ascend’s first gesture of thanks, lasting only 7 days.
- Event may end early if supplies run out.
Ascend’s official stores surpassed one hundred locations in the blink of an eye.
Ascend’s popularity showed no sign of cooling.
The more stores there were, the longer the lines in front of them became instead of shorter.
There may be people who have never tried it, but there is no one who has tried it only once.
That was Ascend.
Anyone who had tasted Ascend even once kept seeking it out for the powerful euphoria it provided.
Wanting others around them to feel that euphoria too, they would hand them out one by one as well-meaning gifts.
The price of twenty yuan made that possible.
Those who tried Ascend at the recommendation of people around them felt an intensity they had never experienced before, then lined up to buy Ascend themselves.
The virtuous cycle continued.
There was another reason Ascend’s number of stores could increase so quickly.
The interior design.
Ascend stores had no complicated interiors.
That was why they could open even faster.
The minimalist interior was clean, luxurious, and trustworthy.
Neatly dressed young men and women sold Ascend with kindness wrapped around them,
and the uniforms, which looked refined, were more than enough to inspire trust in people.
Ascend stores shone brightly, illuminating the dark city streets at night with high-intensity lighting.
They were like satellites lighting up the night sky.
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“We barely have enough stock as it is, so how are we supposed to run an event on top of that?”
“I’m sorry… That’s why we’re only doing it for one week… and we can end it early once supplies run out…”
“They’re already making a huge fuss, telling us to send more stock.”
“Sorry. It’s because I got played by that damned old man’s tongue.”
I had been getting chewed out by Edward since early in the morning.
The 100th store event.
When I told Edward we were holding a 100+30 event, he went ballistic.
We were barely managing to match supply, and now I was saying we’d run an event on top of that, so his lips jutted out in displeasure.
It wasn’t as if I wanted this either.
But I had been completely tricked by that old man Zhou Qiming.
Once Ascend launched successfully, Zhou Qiming contacted me.
He said we should have dinner sometime.
When I saw Zhou Qiming again, his face had grown very bright.
Whether because he had taken Ascend or not, his confidence was piercing the heavens.
On top of that, it seemed he was making no small amount of money from distributing Ascend.
It would not be wrong to say Zhou Qiming was the person in charge of Ascend in China.
Where stores would open, who would be granted the authority to open a store—all of that was decided by Zhou Qiming.
Recently, he said he enjoyed more benefits as Ascend’s general manager than he did from the power he held as an MSS department head.
Highly educated MSS agents were spending less time gathering intelligence and more time thinking about where Ascend stores should be opened and how distribution could be made effective, even running simulations for it.
Thanks to that, Ascend stores could be opened strategically in extremely effective locations.
Zhou Qiming was clever too.
He gave the rights to open Ascend stores to retiring high-ranking officials.
Ascend stores operated by retiring high-ranking officials.
To consumers who only bought Ascend, that would have nothing to do with them, but to agencies capable of managing and supervising, such as the Public Security, the State Administration for Market Regulation, or the National Health Commission, it came as tremendous pressure.
What if a Public Security officer went to crack down on a store, only to find that the owner was his retired commissioner, or someone even higher?
If the person running it was someone who could get him fired with a single word? There was no way he could crack down on it.
On top of that, instructions had already come down from the chiefs of each provincial bureau to give Ascend stores thorough consideration.
They would not crack down on them, and even if they did, the crackdown would not work.
On the contrary, anything that interfered with Ascend became a target of thorough enforcement.
Most of the high-ranking officials who received the authority to open Ascend stores did not sell those rights elsewhere, but used them themselves.
It was not as if the interior design cost much money, and as long as they opened a small shop, people would line up.
There was nothing for them to do, and all they had to do was hire part-timers and sell that one thing, so there was no reason not to.
Instead, an enormous amount of money came in.
A portion of that money went back to Zhou Qiming.
That was why Zhou Qiming’s expression had no choice but to be bright.
Zhou Qiming explained that situation in detail, as if he were proud of it.
I just brushed it off with a, “Oh, really?”
“Ascend Mark.2 seems to be much more effective than the existing product.”
“We checked the ingredient analysis report too.”
“No, there’s a part that can’t be explained by that ingredient list, and that seems to have improved tremendously.”
“Is that so?”
“I had no complaints about the original Ascend, but Mark.2 is much more satisfying.”
“That’s a relief.”
A druggie says he’s satisfied.
Then isn’t the game already over?
The seat with Zhou Qiming was rather uncomfortable.
I wanted to hurry up, finish eating, and wrap things up.
I was trying to focus on the meal like that when—
“By the way, now that the 100th store is opening, how about holding an event?”
“An event?”
“It’s good to hold an event at times like this. Right now it’s 100+10, so how about making that around 100+30?”
“I think I’ll have to think about that. We need to look at supply too.”
“We can just produce the supply. It’s doable, right?”
“Let’s think about it.”
I did not think an event was bad either.
After all, I welcomed Ascend spreading widely.
Giving a few more as service was not a problem.
Money was even less of a problem.
The problem was supply.
They said they had increased it tenfold, but this was no longer the time when we were selling a few here and there under the table or through dead drops.
We had official stores now, and people were lining up to buy it.
Supply was still insufficient.
So I had intended to discuss it with Edward and let him know.
It was not an issue I could decide on my own.
But by the very next day, news of the Ascend event had already spread all over social media.
Zhou Qiming had already released the press material.
I had never given a definite answer, but it was already in motion.
So I felt wronged.
Rumors had spread everywhere, and at this point, it would be awkward to say we were not doing it.
So we decided to just go ahead with it.
I was the only one who ended up in trouble.
This is the problem when people take Ascend.
They do not think about anything else.
They think only of themselves.
Only their own thoughts are right.
Once they decide they are right, they push through no matter what.
Crazy druggie bastards.
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Ma Xueling of the Blackstone Gang, who had made Desand.
The crackdowns had grown stricter, but even so, he continued making Desand.
Hidden in the secretive underworld, he continued distributing Desand.
He knew that if he got caught doing this, he would die, but there was no business that made money like Desand.
Desand still had steady demand.
So he continued producing Desand.
From Ma Xueling’s perspective, having already tasted money, he could not give up Desand.
He could not distribute it officially like Ascend, so he distributed it secretly through clubs, bars, and the like.
He was gradually increasing his business partners, but for some reason, sales were steadily falling.
When he checked the period when sales began to drop, it was after Ascend began official sales.
In other words, once Ascend began selling officially, sales of Desand noticeably declined.
If people could buy Ascend at a cheap price, there was no need to go out of their way to buy Desand.
Desand’s sales kept shrinking.
Ma Xueling wanted to break through this situation.
He gathered the organization’s executives and the factory producers and held a meeting.
“Does anyone have a good idea?”
“How about lowering the price a little more?”
“Lowering the price more?”
“Ascend is being sold for twenty yuan. Shouldn’t we go for something similar too?”
Ma Xueling thought about it for a moment.
Considering the production cost, it was entirely possible, but when considering the distribution process, it was not.
Because they could not move officially like Ascend, there always had to be a risk premium attached.
Since they always had to move quietly in the shadows, delivery fees were expensive.
To match Ascend’s price, they had been handing it over to brokers at thirty yuan.
Then those bastards sold it for fifty yuan, the same price as Ascend.
But now Ascend’s price had been drastically lowered to twenty yuan.
To set the sale price at twenty yuan, the price Ma Xueling handed it over for would have to be under ten yuan.
At that level, there would be almost nothing left.
This was not just the cost of making simple candy. It had to cover the cost of running the organization.
But if he lowered the price to under ten yuan and sold it, it would actually be a loss.
There were many mouths to feed.
And most decisively, even if Ma Xueling lowered the price, there was no telling whether the sellers would lower theirs.
Even if Ma Xueling handed it over not at ten yuan but five yuan, the bastards who wanted to take fifty yuan would simply take fifty yuan.
No matter what he said, they would not listen.
In the end, they reached the conclusion that they could not increase sales through price.
“Then how about making the flavors more diverse?”
“That won’t be effective. Honestly, do people who take Desand choose between mango flavor and orange flavor when they eat it? It will only raise costs and complicate the production process.”
At the executive’s words, the factory manager answered cynically.
“Still, shouldn’t we try something?”
The executive who had spoken replied as if protesting, but no one paid attention to his opinion.
Then someone spoke up.
“How about we open stores too?”
“What?”
“Since we’re already making knockoffs, can’t we just make stores exactly like Ascend’s too? It’s not as if anyone checks whether it’s fake or real, so does it matter?”
Huh? Was that so?
“When I passed by and looked, Ascend stores have simple interiors, so they don’t cost that much to make. Couldn’t we take pictures, make them exactly the same, and sell them as Ascend?”
It was a truly good idea.
They could naturally decorate it like an Ascend store and sell Desand.
It was a truly genius idea.
“Get it moving!”
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Ma Xueling’s Desand store quietly began interior construction in Beijing’s entertainment district.
There had been many opinions about the location, but the argument that they had to enter a busy downtown area precisely to hide that it was a fake gained strength.
So construction began in Beijing’s entertainment district.
Midnight purple began to be painted over the small shop.
Once opal pearl was painted over that, Ascend’s signature color, opal mist, would be created.
A color that looked slightly different depending on the light.
A color symbolizing a mysterious and surreal dream.
A color that made one dream just by looking at it.
That color was being painted in the heart of Beijing.
People who saw the Ascend store where construction had begun were filled with anticipation.
An Ascend store was being built.
There were already five stores in Beijing, but that was not enough.
More Ascend stores were needed.
The Ascend store was under construction while drawing people’s attention.
But around the time construction was nearing completion, the Public Security came by.
An officer asked a question with eyes full of anticipation.
“Which store number is this?”
“Pardon?”
Ma Xueling, who had come to check the construction site in person, was flustered.
The Public Security had come to a store that had not even opened yet.
And why were they asking what store number it was?
Was that important?
“I asked which store number this is.”
“It’s the 108th store.”
Ma Xueling answered with a lie.
It helped that he had recently seen an article about an event celebrating the 100th store.
He answered by adding the lucky number eight to one hundred.
It was not as if they would check this.
“The 108th store? Check it.”
The Public Security officer checked.
Ma Xueling was flustered.
Huh? This was not right.
Why were the Public Security checking this?
Ma Xueling did not know that Ascend was being protected by the MSS, the Public Security, and high-ranking officials.
“They say the 108th store hasn’t been approved yet, and there are currently no stores scheduled to open in Beijing.”
“Right? See, I told you this place was strange. Arrest everyone here.”
“Yes, sir.”
The Public Security officers arrested Ma Xueling, as well as the organization members and even the people doing the construction.
“I thought it was strange that a store that wasn’t even on the schedule was going up.”
The Public Security officer spoke smugly, as if he had discovered something incredible.
And his subordinates egged him on further.
“You truly have an outstanding eye, sir.”
“I think those people will be pleased.”
“Isn’t your next promotion already in the bag?”
"It's no big deal. For now, take photos here and destroy everything."
"Yes, sir."
The Public Security officer looked at Ma Xueling, who wore handcuffs.
"How do you want to play this? Face execution alone? Or reveal where the factory is and get a reduced sentence?"
"I... I'll take you to the factory."
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The crackdown on Deshend.
Protecting Ashend was weighted more heavily than other cases.
It was a drug case, but the higher-ups favored it.
How lovely the Public Security officers must have looked, protecting their cash cow.
Therefore, the Public Security mobilized all available policing resources to protect Ashend and eradicate Deshend, placing it above all other cases.
******
Hong Kong Central.
The place where investment firms lined up starting from the IFC to HSBC, Bank of China, and beyond.
A high-rise building in Central, a district densely packed with international law firms, headquarters of major corporations, and government offices.
People gathered in an unmarked office.
Many had assembled in the spacious conference room, but not a single sound could be heard.
All of their expressions were grave.
"What are we going to do? The government has already started managing it. Huh? Anyone got a plan?"
At the biting question of Zhang Tian, chairman of the Triad, everyone kept their heads lowered, unable to answer.
There was nothing to say.
Everyone gathered here knew.
That they had made a mistake this time.
A catastrophic blunder.
They had missed out on Ashend, the perfect item.
It was an item that could have revived the Triad, yet they had lost it.
They had made a mistake they would not have made had the Triad been just a little smaller.
It was an unavoidable phenomenon born from growing too large.
They had already known of Ashend's existence.
But they did not approach it.
They had believed Ashend would be a passing fad.
They felt that if the Triad involved itself in such a trend, the fad would pass before they could even accomplish anything.
It was the same as how a major corporation would not easily touch a tanghulu specialty shop simply because tanghulu was trending.
So they decided to simply let it pass.
But Ashend's impact was tremendous.
It was no tanghulu.
They thought it was a drizzle, but it was a downpour.
In an instant, it soaked all of China.
They attempted to make contact then, but could not.
It had gone into hiding so thoroughly that no one knew where to find it.
Minor organizations that failed to secure Ashend began producing Deshend themselves and distributing it.
The Triad had also considered making Deshend at that time, but gave up.
Because it was unbefitting of the Triad.
Instead, they had drawn up a grand plan to gobble up the company producing Ashend outright.
They would let them work hard to create Ashend, pioneer the market, and establish themselves—then devour them.
Since the product had to appear on the market in order to sell Ashend, they planned to approach offering help with distribution, then swallow them up one by one.
That was what the Triad did best.
Getting a foot in the door, then squeezing inside.
On paper, the plan looked perfect.
But before the Triad could even extend a hand, the MSS and government organizations struck first.
It was something they had never imagined even in their dreams.
They had never even imagined that Ashend would be legalized.
They had only waited for it to hit the market, yet the government ended up managing the distribution.
They became like a dog chasing a chicken, left staring up at the roof.
The Triad was put on high alert.
They had intended to nurture it properly before consuming it, but that was no longer possible.
It had reached a stage where it could no longer be seized by force.
The Public Security was protecting it.
The store owners were mostly former high-ranking officials.
Not even connections worked.
For the Triad, it was a dilemma.
But it was far too coveted an item to abandon.
That was why the chairman of the Triad was so furious.
He was venting his anger at the executives who had delayed and lost a plum prize sitting right before their eyes.
At that moment, Intelligence Team Leader Mao Qin voiced his opinion.
"How about this? Let's give up on the mainland. It's not even our main territory, and we'll only suffer greater losses if we blindly charge in, so let's abandon the mainland."
"What?"
"Then, how about we concentrate our efforts on Hong Kong, Macau, and Southeast Asia, where our distribution lines are still active? We can just distribute it under the name Ashend."
"The product?"
"We have a truckload of people in Hong Kong who fled while producing Deshend."
Hearing Mao Qin's words, Zhang Tian let out a satisfied smile.
It was a satisfactory answer that had been long overdue.
"Good thinking. Proceed and report back."
"Yes."