Chapter 328: How to Bankrupt the Shentu Family?
"The Anti-Aging Cream formula was stolen."
Su Yanyun quickly stepped aside, giving Jiang Xinghai a clear view of the monitor.
"It was stolen." Jiang Xinghai saw the pried-open safe with a single glance.
"His build looks familiar, but for the life of me, I can’t remember where I’ve seen him," Shen Lingxue said, pointing at the masked man on the screen.
"Isn’t that the guy from the Shentu family?" Jiang Xinghai recognized the masked man instantly.
"Yes, that’s him!" It dawned on Shen Lingxue.
Su Yanyun nodded repeatedly. "No wonder his build looked so familiar. He and you, Xinghai, were at each other’s throats before. That’s him, alright. I can’t believe it was that bastard. I’m so pissed!"
"It’s probably too late to intercept him at the Jizhou border now," Shen Lingxue said, checking the time. "It’s already been over an hour since the theft."
Su Yanyun turned to Jiang Xinghai. "Xinghai, now that we know who he is, we should go after him! We could even go to the Shentu family in Central State and demand it back. If they figure out how to produce the Anti-Aging Cream, our company won’t be the only one making it anymore..."
"It doesn’t matter."
Jiang Xinghai gave a cool smile, a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes. "The ingredient dosages in the formula are very clear. They can definitely make a product identical to our Anti-Aging Cream. But don’t forget, he only stole the formula for the Basic Anti-Aging Cream."
"Xinghai, don’t tell me you have an Intermediate version?" Su Yanyun looked baffled for a moment, then broke into a smile.
Shen Lingxue, however, looked confused. "Xinghai, stop keeping us in suspense. Just tell us."
"I don’t just have the Intermediate version. I have an Advanced one, too."
Jiang Xinghai grinned. "So, I’ll go get the ingredients in a bit. We’ll start producing the Intermediate Anti-Aging Cream tomorrow, and the price will still be 99 yuan!"
"That’s amazing, Xinghai!" Su Yanyun had to stop herself from giving Jiang Xinghai a passionate kiss right there in front of Shen Lingxue.
Shen Lingxue pursed her lips into a smile. "I knew you had an ace up your sleeve."
"Still," Jiang Xinghai said, a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes, "I need to figure out exactly how to bankrupt the Shentu family."
"Yes, they deserve it!" Su Yanyun seethed, clenching her jaw and balling her fists.
Shen Lingxue said, "Yanyun, let’s split up and get to work. You’ll be in charge of notifying the packaging manufacturers to change the packaging overnight, and also handle communications with the major media outlets."
"Leave it to me." Su Yanyun nodded emphatically.
"Xinghai, our top priority now is sourcing the ingredients for the Intermediate Anti-Aging Cream and the Longevity Pill. We should start buying them tonight," Shen Lingxue said, looking at Jiang Xinghai.
Jiang Xinghai shook his head lightly. "Just leave these minor things to me. You’re not feeling well, so you should go home and rest. Listen to me."
"I..."
Remembering she was trying to conceive, Shen Lingxue could only nod silently. "But I can’t just sit around and do nothing, can I?"
"Lingxue, you can hold down the fort. Start by preparing a contingency plan for the negative press that’s bound to come out," Su Yanyun said, squeezing Shen Lingxue’s hand.
"You’re right, we do need to consider that. Let’s do that."
Shen Lingxue’s mind was clearer now. "As for hiring more workers to expand production, leave that to me, too."
The three of them were in immediate agreement.
They all knew that as soon as Shentu Jie got home, he would work through the night to produce the Anti-Aging Cream.
In three days at most, a product identical to their Anti-Aging Cream would likely hit the market.
Soon, Shen Lingxue was commanding operations from the office, in charge of the contingency plan and new hiring.
Su Yanyun, meanwhile, went out personally to liaise with the media and other partners.
And Jiang Xinghai began contacting Yan Qingshan and others from the Central State Martial Arts Department.
First, he needed them to keep a close eye on the Shentu family’s activities.
Second, he needed them to discreetly and quickly purchase ingredients across the dozen or so cities under Central State’s jurisdiction.
Finally, Jiang Xinghai called Yu Lina in the Provincial City.
He briefly explained the situation, stressing the urgent need to procure more ingredients.
Yu Lina was uniquely qualified for this task.
The Yu Family of the Provincial City was large and influential. On top of that, her expertise in evaluating and marketing skincare products meant she had connections with numerous ingredient suppliers.
Everything was proceeding according to plan, just waiting for the next morning to begin mass production of the Intermediate Anti-Aging Cream.
「Meanwhile.」
In Central State, inside the Shentu family’s Youmei Cosmetics Company.
Inside a laboratory.
"Hahaha! After five long hours, we’ve finally developed the Anti-Aging Cream!"
"And its effects appear in just ten minutes! It’s every bit as good as the original Anti-Aging Cream!"
"And on Elder Wang’s suggestion, we removed the original dark brown color and infused it with polymers to create a gel. In terms of appearance and color, it’s at least ten times more high-class than AM’s Anti-Aging Cream!"
"Let’s call it Anti-aging Gel!"
"Start mass production overnight! Contact the major media outlets and the packaging companies! We’re launching it tomorrow at noon!"
The Shentu family executives were all there, grinning from ear to ear.
"Shentu Jie, my dear brother, you’ve done a great service for our Shentu family!" Shentu Shan said, his eyes welling with tears as he looked at Shentu Jie excitedly.
Shentu Jie’s head was tilted back so far his nose was practically in the air, and he was reveling in the praise.