The R&D center was nearly an hour and a half’s drive from the Lemeng Building. Ji Xianggu took Jian Hang directly to his office. “Sit down, what would you like to drink?”

“Just water, thank you.”

Ji Xianggu poured water into a cup and said, “Xiao Jian, your new marketing ideas are good, but you must not lose sight of the product’s inherent attributes.”

Jian Hang listened attentively to the advice, “Mr. Ji, please speak.”

“Some of Lemeng’s unique attributes are that its traditional, pre-packaged, fast-moving consumer goods.”

Ji Xianggu glanced at his watch. “Have a drink of water and rest. We’ll go to the cafeteria for lunch first, and after that, I’ll introduce you to the elite members of my team.”

… …

At this moment, in the sixteenth floor offices of Lemeng’s Second Division.

Zhong Yanyue and the sales department had moved to this floor.

Lou Zheng was completely unaware of what happened during the morning’s executive meeting. He came to ask Zhong Yanyue when she planned to visit the major distributors.

Zhong Yanyue snapped out of her daze, “I’ll go tomorrow, be back this Friday.”

“Okay.” Lou Zheng reported the current inventory situation of the distributors to her.

Zhong Yanyue flipped through the inventory summary sheet. “The sales target for next month will not be increased. We’ll help them clear their current inventory.” Simply pushing inventory onto distributors won’t increase sales much; on the contrary, it will dampen their enthusiasm.

They have to suppress inventory on their side while simultaneously helping them clear the distributors’ stock.

“The Fourth Division may need to fully upgrade their carbonated beverage products.”

Lou Zheng didn’t understand. “What exactly does that mean?”

Judging from Jian Hang’s demeanor, Zhong Yanyue had a premonition, “From the product’s taste to its selling points, to the bottle and packaging design.”

“Isn’t that just like a new product that’s using the same name as before?”

“Mm.”

“The cost will go up.”

Zhong Yanyue nodded and said, “Her ultimate goal should be to reprice.”

Whether it was product development or product pricing, that’s solely within the authority of senior management, and Jian Hang is challenging authority that step by step.

Ji Xianggu took Jian Hang to the R&D center. The failure of sparkling beverages had always been a heart’s knot for Ji Xianggu, and it was highly likely that he would support the development of a new product for the Fourth Division.

Having investing billions before and now ending up like this, nobody would be happy about it.

The market reputation of the Fourth Division products has been ruined, and it would be very difficult to make a comeback.

But with a different shell, everything could change.

Lemeng has four Divisions, each with over a dozen products, and each Division wanted the R&D department to launch more new products for its own Division. Qin Moling has always disliked excessive interaction between the Divisions and the R&D center, as it could affect the R&D center’s original intentions. 

Jian Hang was attempting to cross this line; and without Qin Moling giving her permission, she certainly can’t cross it.

Zhong Yanyue closed the inventory data. “We are currently facing internal and external troubles. We need to eliminate our competitors first. If our Division’s revenue can reach seven billion this year, and the R&D department receives more performance bonuses from our sales, they will naturally devote more energy to the Second Division.

“Let’s go eat first, we can chat while we eat.” She went to the second canteen with Lou Zheng today. She’d better avoid the third canteen for now; Qin Moling was in a bad mood.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

Meanwhile, on the 46th floor.

Secretary Gao folded up the list of items for couples and put it in the drawer; she wouldn’t need it anytime soon.

The boss probably wasn’t in the mood for lunch at the cafeteria today, so she went to ask, “President Qin, what kind of meal should I order for you?”

Qin Moling was reviewing emails; “Anything is fine.”

Knowing her boss’s preferences, Secretary Gao took the initiative to order a few light dishes.

After finishing his morning work, Qin Moling logged out of the system.

He released the mouse and casually reached for his water glass to drink. But when he saw the new glass, he paused—and then pulled his hand back.

She was the one who couldn’t distinguish between public and private matters.

She even gave him the cold shoulder, telling him to get his position as boss right.

There was a knock on the door.

“It’s me,” Vice President Wu’s voice came from outside the door.

“Come in.” Qin Moling took off his watch and rolled up his sleeves. Vice President Wu pushed the door open and came in. “I’m having lunch here today. I already told Secretary Gao to order an extra portion for me.”

As he sat down opposite Qin Moling, Vice President Wu’s eyes immediately fell on the watch next to the computer.

This couple’s watch was currently the most talked about piece of news in Lemeng; everyone in Lemeng knew about it, even the cleaning lady has heard about it. The boss personally went to the cafeteria at noon to deliver this couple’s watch to his wife.

“What’s the point of you taking it off to show me?” Vice President Wu laughed. “If you’re so capable, take it off in front of Jian Hang and say you’ll never wear it again.”

Qin Moling: “…”

He glanced at Vice President Wu indifferently, not in the mood to respond.

“You haven’t forgotten how your Third Uncle and I advised you back then, have you?”

Vice President Wu didn’t want to engage in hindsight analysis; it was pointless. Now that Jian Hang had come this far, there was no way she would back down. She was very similar to Qin Moling—she wouldn’t give up until she achieved her goal.

He took out his phone and sent a screenshot to Qin Moling. “I just went back to the office and did a rough calculation. Jian Hang wants to improve the bottle opening design and the taste of the carbonated drinks. To be conservative, the cost of each bottle will increase by at least five or six cents, squeezing out all our profit margins.”

Jian Hang couldn’t have done any of this without calculating the costs, but she still insisted on doing it this way. There was only one possibility: she intended to raise the price of soft drinks. “She’s an outsider; she can’t understand how difficult it is to do business once the price changes.”

After reviewing Vice President Wu’s budget, Qin Moling locked his phone and put it aside, thinking, “Old Ji will stop her.”

“You didn’t seen how Ji Xianggu argued with your Third Uncle before. You expect him to stop her? If he really wanted to stop her, he wouldn’t have taken Jian Hang away at the meeting.”

Vice President Wu rubbed his temples. Ever since Jian Hang came to Lemeng, he hasn’t had a single good night’s sleep. Every Monday meeting felt like a battle. “If this continues, I’ll eventually be defeated by you two.”

Secretary Gao knocked on the door and brought in lunch.

She tidied up the desk, laid out a tablecloth, and then took a vase from the coffee table to decorate the temporary dining table. Several fresh flowers were in full bloom, which helped to brighten the boss’s depressed mood.

Secretary Gao closed the door and left. Vice President Wu continued, “You and Jian Hang still have a big fight ahead. If she raises the product price, will you agree or object?”

Qin Moling didn’t reply; he gestured to him, “Let’s eat.”

His phone vibrated. He thought it was Jian Hang, but when he glanced at the screen, it was a message from Jiang Shenghe. Jiang Shenghe asked him when he would be going to Teacher Chen’s house for dinner.

He replied: [“We’ll see.”]

… …

At 4:30 p.m., Jian Hang returned from the R&D center.

Earlier that afternoon, Zheng Yanshu had reported his work to Vice President Wu and heard about what happened at the meeting. Vice President Wu asked him to persuade Jian Hang that wanting to do something well and being able to do it well were two different things.

Jian Hang had brought a bottle of beverage from Ji Xianggu’s office and now sipped it slowly.

Zheng Yanshu asked in confusion, “Why would Ji Xianggu take you to the R&D center? Isn’t he difficult to get along with and also has a bad temper?”

“Am I not difficult to get along with in your eyes, and don’t you think I have a bad temper? It’s the hard-to-get-along-with people who actually get along easily with each other.”

“…”

Zheng Yanshu could understand what the convoluted words meant.

Jian Hang asked him, “What do you want from me?”

Zheng Yanshu replied, “You want to raise the price?”

“Who said that?”

“Does anyone even need to say that? When you calculate the costs, if you don’t raised prices, there’s no profit margin.”

Jian Hang screwed the cap back on the bottle. “No price increase.”

If she didn’t raise prices, they won’t make any money; all her efforts would be for nothing. 

Zheng Yanshu reminded himself over and over that she was an outsider, so he shouldn’t yell at her and instead he should analyze the various situations for her. In this way, he tried to suppress his temper.

Jian Hang gave him a look. “Go back and drink some water, don’t let me upset you and damage your heart.”

Zheng Yanshu: “……”

Marriage First, Love Later translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

---

Qin Moling: She’s the one who can’t distinguish between public and private *sulks*
Jiang Shenghe: Can you please stop quarreling with your wife so I can chase mine??

====

T/N: KO-FI has permanently unpublished my page. I hope your coffee is always hot and your pillow cold on both sides. You can always reach me at maela.translations@gmail.com.

In the meantime, check out my PATREON. You can subscribe to get advance access to all ongoing translation works, single work only, or bundled works. Or just leave a tip! Thank you for your support.