Chapter 336: Counter-Intrigue

While Wharton was desperately pulling his hair in his room, frantically asking himself why, there was another person in the centre of Brighton who was also very unhappy. This person was Wilson, the head of the advertising department at Brighton City TV.

He and his lover were smoking in the bed of a hotel room when the advertisement for Wharton Insurance's financial products came on the television. It was obvious that they had just finished having sex. By some strange coincidence, they tuned to the Brighton channel and saw the advertisement. His lover asked in surprise, 'Is that Wharton Insurance? Didn't you say before that this company had offended the old Lord Brock and its funding had been cut off, so it definitely didn't have any money for advertising? What's going on?'

Wilson felt extremely annoyed at his lover's question, which reminded him of the terror of being dominated by Zhou Ming in the coffee shop that day...

'If there's nothing else, I think I need to go back first. You know that I'm in charge of the advertising centre of the TV station, and thousands of people in the TV station are actually relying on me for a living. The pressure on me is very high.'

That day in the coffee shop, Wilson said to Zhou Ming, 'I was very happy to hear your speech about dreams. It was a very passionate and inspiring speech that made people's blood boil. I will introduce you to give a speech at the university if I get the chance. I believe it will be a spectacular speech. But for me right now, what I would rather hear is how much money you can pay me, which is more practical. But thank you for your speech, and of course for the coffee you bought me.'

After saying this, Wilson waved goodbye to Zhou Ming, but Zhou Ming still wouldn't let him leave: 'Mr Wilson, if I were you, I definitely wouldn't choose to leave now.'

Wilson looked at Zhou Ming and said with a smile, 'Mr Zhou Ming, are you joking with me? Why shouldn't I leave? Is there something else about your dream speech that you haven't finished? Then I'm sorry, I'm already an adult, and I'm not interested in this kind of stuff that tricks children.'

'Of course it's not a speech about dreams, but about you, Mr Wilson,' Zhou Ming said.

'About me?' Wilson was very surprised.

Zhou Ming nodded and said, 'As far as I know, Brighton TV is a company with a very well-established system. There should be corresponding systems in all aspects, and among them, advertising, as the largest source of income, should be the top priority. How can it be changed at will? If I understand it correctly, your company's advertising tenders are generally in May in the middle of the year and December at the end of the year.'

'What exactly are you trying to say?' Wilson showed impatience.

Zhou Ming ignored Wilson's question and continued, 'After the bidding, the advertising arrangements for Brighton TV have already stabilised and generally will not change unless they are artificially adjusted.'

Hearing this, Wilson subconsciously took a step back and gasped.

Zhou Ming didn't care about him and just continued, 'I admit that some companies may be mismanaged and unable to pay subsequent advertising fees, resulting in the need to replace the ads. However, there is one thing: Brighton TV should not have any entry fees. Moreover, because it is a temporary replacement, the TV station will only offer a more favorable price.'

'In addition, I also pay to watch the Brighton TV channel. There are only three 20-second commercials during prime time, and these three companies are all in excellent financial condition and are not in any kind of bankruptcy.' Zhou Mingyi changed the subject and continued, 'However, there is another situation, and that is that one of the companies has replaced its president. The new president is a very principled person who will not pay any appearance fees or anything of the sort.'

As Zhou Ming spoke, Wilson's face became increasingly gloomy, in contrast to Zhou Ming's usual relaxed tone. He concluded, 'So I think it's because you couldn't agree on an entrance fee that you wanted to remove him by your own authority? And then extract a higher entrance fee from me, or you could also set an example to force the new president.'

Zhou Ming said, 'Mr. Wilson, can we sit down and talk now? Or would you prefer if I reported these speculations to someone? In that case, I'm afraid Mr. Wilson will not only lose his job, but also go to prison. Maybe there will be a lot of people there who are interested in Mr. Wilson's sexy butt.'

Wilson clenched his fists in a fit of rage, but in the end, he could do nothing but sit down in front of Zhou Ming and hiss at him, 'You have no evidence, this is all your speculation!'

'If that's really what you think, Mr Wilson, then why did you even bother to sit down? And why didn't you just say so out loud? And if I were to write an anonymous letter to the CEO of Brighton or the relevant authorities, I don't think I'd need any evidence, would I?' Zhou Ming added, "Of course, if you really want evidence, Mr Wilson, I wouldn't mind bringing along the tape of our last conversation the next time we meet.'

'You actually recorded our conversation, you despicable Chinese!" Wilson exclaimed angrily.

Zhou Ming spread his hands and said, 'There's nothing I can do about it. I'm just protecting myself.'

Wilson only insisted for a while before he slumped in his chair and said after a while, 'You know what? I have four children, they are all in college, and I have a lot of tax bills and insurance. In the United States, the more income a person has, the heavier their taxes will be...'

Before Wilson could finish, Zhou Ming interrupted him, saying, 'Mr Wilson, I don't want to know any of this, and I don't mean to criticise you in any way. I don't even want to bargain about the entrance fee or advertising fees. I just hope that now that there is such an opportunity, I can get my product on Brighton TV.'

'Are you threatening me?' Wilson said.

Zhou Ming laughed: 'I prefer to understand it as a kind of cooperation, because Mr Wilson has already agreed to give me prime time advertising, hasn't he? Now because I have some financial problems, I have to discuss it with Mr Wilson more.'

Wilson thought for a while and said, 'If I agree to your payment in instalments, will you not report me and will you still give me the 30,000 USD entry fee?'

'Of course, Mr Wilson. Whether you are greedy or not is not important to me, because I only need the influence of Brighton TV. As long as we can reach this agreement, I don't know anything else,' said Zhou Ming.

Wilson closed his eyes and struggled for a while before finally making a decision: 'Okay, let's do it!'

Zhou Ming also let out a sigh of relief: 'Thank you very much.'

...

When Wilson saw the advertisement in the hotel, Zhou Ming and all the students in the finance class also saw it in their dormitory. When the Harrys said on TV that Wharton's goal was to reach for the stars, all the students in the finance class immediately became excited. Everyone cheered loudly, and the enthusiasm seemed to burst through the roof.

Among all the students, the happiest ones had to be class president Chen Shu and Youth League committee member Ye Ning, because they were both prepared to take the blame for Zhou Ming, but they never expected that Zhou Ming would actually get the deal done. Although the contract had been signed the day before, they still felt like it was unreal.

Zhou Ming sat on the sofa, listening to the cheers around him, and couldn't help but think back to the negotiations in the coffee shop that day.

Fortunately, he had prepared himself for this eventuality by investigating the television station and learning that Wilson had been taking bribes for personal gain. In the end, this, together with the non-existent recording, scared him, otherwise he might not have been able to get it.

Zhou Ming said to himself, at which point Chen Shu and Ye Ning came up to him: 'Teacher, is this true? Is our advertisement really on TV?'

'Of course. Haven't you all seen it? If you don't believe me, don't you believe your own eyes?'

As soon as Zhou Ming finished speaking, Ye Ning burst into tears and threw herself into Zhou Ming's arms, saying, 'Teacher, I'm sorry, we shouldn't have disbelieved you, but we really can't believe it.'

Zhou Ming hugged Ye Ning and comforted her, saying, 'Ye Ning, don't cry. I don't blame you. I know that it was all my fault for not explaining things clearly, which is why you all misunderstood. The problem is with me, but there's nothing I can do about it. This is the only way to fool Wharton, who has been following me.'

Zhou Ming's words sent shockwaves through everyone. 'Teacher, you're saying Wharton is following you?'

Zhou Ming nodded and said, 'That's right. I think you all know that my bodyguard was assigned to me by the state. He is a very capable soldier with a very keen sense of perception. He discovered that Walton was following me from the very first day.'

'Later, I asked him to investigate, and sure enough, he discovered that Walton had rented a house on Charles Avenue and had a car there, all set up to follow and observe me. If I was at school, he would observe me through binoculars, and if I went out, he would follow me in his car.' Zhou Ming said, 'That's why Hussein from the Naum Advertising Agency told me that after I left that day, a very strange client had visited his company, and that person was Wharton.'

Zhou Ming paused for a moment and then said, "I guess Wharton did this because he reached some kind of agreement with Brooke.'

'So our Wharton Company was established just in time for Brooke to appear. Now we've applied for a loan from Tangren Bank, and we've been reported, all because this Wharton is a secret informant?" Ye Ning said in surprise.

'I'm afraid that's the case,' Zhou Ming said.

The students who had received the answer were in an uproar. Although they had long guessed the answer, they continued to berate Wharton.

'So, teacher, you used the counter-intimidation strategy before, pretending that it didn't work, and you stayed in the dormitory while we went to sign the contract with the TV station?' Chen Shu asked.

'Yes, because Wharton only followed me, he wouldn't follow you guys,' Zhou Ming said.

The students cheered Zhou Ming again, and Zhou Ming stood up and raised his hand to indicate silence and said, "Students, now that the advertisement has been broadcast, I believe that the entire Brighton will soon know about our Wharton insurance products, but advertising alone is not enough, we also need each of you to promote it. Do you have the confidence to sell more?'

'Yes!" All the finance students said in unison.