Chapter 28: Tickets in High Demand! The Peking University Scholar's Lecture Becomes a Massive Hit

They say people love to watch a spectacle, but in truth, in any country and among any race, people love to crowd around for fresh gossip.

Early this morning, at the busiest entrance to the residential complex, two middle-aged men began to fight, immediately drawing a large crowd of onlookers. They were fighting over a ticket to some "Peking University Top Student Seminar."

Wow! This was truly a rare sight. What kind of seminar ticket could be so precious? It was as if they were fighting for tickets to a celebrity concert. The man in the black jacket was actually offering to pay a premium of three or five thousand just to get his hands on one. If one had a stack of these, wouldn't they make a killing?

People usually ignore the free flyers handed out on the street, but if a ticket is being fought over by a crowd, or even selling at a premium, then you would go to any length—pulling strings and calling in favors—just to secure one for yourself.

"No way! Once this ticket is in my hands, I'm never letting it go!"

The man in the black jacket didn't seem to be acting. Veins bulged on his forehead, his eyes were bloodshot and wide with rage, and he clutched the ticket so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Among the onlookers, he kept his body hunched forward, locked in a stalemate with the man in the white jacket, refusing to budge.

The man in the white jacket was sweating profusely, his face flushed red with anger at the other's brazen behavior. "How can you be like this? It's clearly my ticket! I only let you take a look, and you're trying to snatch it? This is robbery! Do you believe I'll call the police right now?"

The man in the black jacket, however, acted shamelessly, replying with indifference, "Go ahead and call them! I've made up my mind to have this ticket. Name your price."

"You, you, you..." The man in the white jacket was so furious he couldn't speak. He decided to name an exorbitant price, shouting, "Fine! If you can actually come up with ten thousand, take it! At worst, I'll swallow my pride and go ask my friend at the Fortune and Prosperity Hotel for another one."

"You said it! Ten thousand! Everyone, be my witness! I didn't steal his ticket; I bought it with hard-earned cash!"

The man in the black jacket was overjoyed. He immediately pulled a stack of hundred-yuan bills from his pocket and handed them over. Then, as if fearing the other might change his mind, he quickly tucked the ticket into his pocket with extreme care, looking as if he had just scored the bargain of a lifetime.

"You're actually buying it! Fine, fine! My bad luck. Now I have to take this ten thousand and go beg for a favor to get another one. I don't even know if there are any left." The man in the white jacket looked miserable and dejected, as if he had suffered a massive loss, even after selling the ticket for ten thousand.

The moment the transaction concluded, the dozens of onlookers exploded into a frenzy.

"My goodness! A seminar ticket can sell for ten thousand?"

"No wonder I've been hearing those songs about 'Peking University Top Students loving you' and 'Peking University Top Students giving lectures' for the past two days! Is this what they were talking about?"

"Good heavens! Ten thousand for a single ticket? I don't even earn that much in five months!"

"I wonder what the original price is? Or are these internal tickets that aren't sold to the public?"

"Didn't you hear the guy in the white jacket? They're internal tickets. You can't buy them; you have to rely on connections. The seminar is at the Fortune and Prosperity Hotel. Does anyone know someone who works there? Go ask quickly—maybe if you get a ticket, you can flip it for ten thousand!"

Most of the onlookers were stunned by the high price and were already calculating if they could pull strings to get a ticket. A small number of parents, especially those with children in their final year of high school, became even more agitated.

Is there really a lecture by a top Peking University student? It must be an internal seminar, specifically for the children of the wealthy and powerful. This is a disaster! If others hear it and my child doesn't, won't they be at a disadvantage during the college entrance exams? If others gain fifty points and my child misses out, that's a hundred-point gap—how could they possibly compete?

"No! Old Xia, you have to find a way to get our daughter a ticket to that Peking University Top Student seminar!" A mother who was accompanying her child for their studies immediately panicked and called her husband.

The cleverer ones didn't waste a second, fearing that if they were late, all the tickets would be gone. They quietly slipped out of the crowd and hailed taxis for the Fortune and Prosperity Hotel.

"Holy cow! You can actually play it like this? Brother Tai, you really are a marketing genius!" Xue Xiaoshan had watched the whole thing, his mouth agape and his eyes wide as dinner plates. He felt as if he had been petrified, forgetting even to breathe.

"Boss, we've learned it. It's just using all sorts of ways to 'fight' for tickets!"

"This is fun! Boss, your idea is truly excellent. I was watching, and I even wanted to get a ticket for my son to hear it, even though he's only in eighth grade."

The other extras were quick to catch on, and since the performance didn't require much skill, they understood the assignment immediately. Huo Qitai called them aside to distribute props and instructions.

"First, I want to clarify: this is performance marketing, not fraud. The seminar is genuine, and the study methods and notes from the top students will be truly useful for the children. After you finish acting, you can keep your tickets for your own kids or pass them to friends and relatives—that's all fine. The ten-thousand-yuan prop money only has real bills on the top and bottom; the rest are practice vouchers, so be careful not to get caught. Alright, go to the residential areas I assigned. Use the morning rush to perform a few more scenes. And during the evening commute, feel free to choose some locations to perform as well..."

After Huo Qitai made the arrangements, the extras left. Xue Xiaoshan and his father remained, both completely conquered by Huo Qitai's marketing tactics.

Xue Ergou mentally reviewed Huo Qitai's operations and found them nothing short of miraculous. From the brainwashing melodies played for children yesterday, to the staged fight and high-priced purchase today, this combination of moves turned a "Peking University Top Student Seminar" that no one cared about into the hottest ticket in town.

He tried to put himself in their shoes—if his son, Xiaoshan, were still in his final year of high school, he would certainly have spent thousands, if not tens of thousands, to get him a ticket.

"The heart of a parent is truly pitiable! Xiaotai, your ability to manipulate human nature is incredible. After a few more rounds of this, not only will the parents of high school seniors be desperate, but even those with kids in the tenth or eleventh grade, or even middle school, will have to bring their children to listen."

Xue Ergou, who had started out skeptical and only helping to see what Huo Qitai was up to, was now completely sold on the strategy. The seminar was now a viral sensation, creating a sense of scarcity where tickets were impossible to find. It wasn't just anxious parents wanting them; even ordinary people wanted to act as scalpers to make a profit.

If that was the case, then Huo Qitai's goal of earning two million in half a month was no longer a pipe dream—he might even make more!