To put it bluntly, Pei's dad was somewhat of a traditional patriarch, with a pronounced belief in male authority. In his view, there was simply no reason for a father who was the pillar of the family to ask his child for money.
As his daughter's movie hit theaters, he knew she had definitely made quite a bit of money, but he had been completely overwhelmed with problems lately and hadn't paid much attention.
Although he had already had a rough idea of the amount, hearing the actual figure still moved him deeply.
He never expected his daughter to follow through so decisively. She had said that the thirty million was an investment, and she immediately had it counted toward the production costs first.
When he had given her the money in the first place, he had never expected to get it back. If it could pull his daughter away from her unrealistic dream, that would have been enough.
He had never imagined that the mere thirty million he had regarded as money thrown into the water would ultimately yield returns that arrived like timely rain, easing the company's crisis.
Pei's dad wrestled with the matter for a moment before deciding not to stand on ceremony with his daughter.
With a broad smile, he took the card and sat down. “All right! I’ll hold on to it for now. Once we get through this crisis, I’ll pay you back.”
Pei Liang smiled. “Didn’t you say the company would belong to me someday? Why would you need to pay me back?”
Then she added, “Dad, tell me what kind of trouble the company has been running into lately.”
She had once run a food company herself, so she was quite familiar with the industry.
In her view, the Pei Corporation should have been a relatively low-risk business. Pei's dad had built it from nothing, expanding cautiously within the field all these years and never blindly pursuing growth. As a result, he had accumulated a deeply rooted and substantial customer base.
Although the brand had inevitably begun to seem somewhat outdated over the past few years, with one trendy internet-famous food brand after another appearing, the mainstream consumers were not the young people constantly chasing the latest fads.
If a company like this refused to keep up with the times and adjust its operating strategies accordingly, it would certainly face a gradual contraction of its market.
And remember, that was assuming there were no direct competitors.
At the same time, a brand that had become deeply ingrained in people's minds—something they bought routinely and could toss into their shopping carts without a second thought—would not decline overnight, even if it eventually began to fall behind.
Pei Liang had been busy preparing her movie and had not paid much attention to the Pei Corporation's affairs. But after happening to see a piece of news that day, she realized she could not simply leave everything to Pei's dad and then disappear for several more months.
Pei's dad waved his hand. “Oh, you wouldn’t understand even if I told you. Aren’t you going to make another movie? Just focus on that. Your dad can still hold the company together. Don’t worry about it.”
In the past, Pei's dad had constantly nagged her to join the company and help out. Now that he could see her own career taking off, however, he no longer wanted to burden her with the company's problems.
Pei Liang said, “Tell me anyway. These matters will fall to me sooner or later, whether I hear about them now or not. Even if I can’t necessarily help, at least I should know exactly what’s going on with the company.”
That was true.
After thinking it over, Pei's dad decided that his daughter now had the ability to shoulder responsibility, so he slowly explained the difficulties the Pei Corporation had recently encountered.
It had started with an outside brand trying to seize market share.
That was a challenge every domestic brand had to face. After all, when the Pei Corporation had first grown and expanded, it had surely taken market share away from other brands as well.
That was how a market economy worked: free competition and survival of the fittest. There was nothing more to say about it.
The new foreign brand was called Jiayue. Its market positioning was similar to the Pei Corporation's, and its products were practically modeled after theirs. It had also arrived with overwhelming momentum and abundant capital.
On top of that, it had connections in high places.
In theory, a major brand like the Pei Corporation should have been able to enjoy local protection policies. Most outside brands would lose their competitive advantage at that very first hurdle.
But Jiayue was different. It had caught the Pei Corporation completely off guard from the moment it arrived, and they had seriously underestimated the competitor's strength and scale.
By the time slightly delayed market research results came in, the new brand had already successfully opened up its offline channels.
The Pei Corporation's main businesses were its chain restaurants and frozen ready-to-eat foods.
Reaching its current scale had required countless rounds of research and feedback every quarter, from updating the restaurant menus to controlling quality. Different regions had different dietary preferences, and the company also had to account for the needs of different consumer groups.
Even a small menu required an enormous investment of manpower, let alone retail products. The proportions in a single seasoning packet might undergo repeated adjustments for several months. Then there was the procurement of raw materials, as well as the tiny differences of a few cents in product pricing. Every detail represented the hard work of the entire Pei Corporation, led by Pei's dad.
Jiayue, on the other hand, had entered the market with the express purpose of copying the Pei Corporation. For its chain restaurants, it chose locations in areas where the Pei Corporation had already established successful operations.
That one step alone saved Jiayue countless hours of effort and eliminated a great deal of risk. Its menus were nearly identical, and through opening discounts and a constant stream of coupons, it launched a crude and direct assault on the Pei Corporation's chain restaurant customer base.
Faced with such malicious competition, the Pei Corporation could only offer discounts and run promotions of its own.
As a result, the offline chains had actually been drawing substantial customer traffic over the past few months, yet the financial reports looked terrible. They were practically losing money in order to fight this battle.
For a long stretch of time, customers could spend the price of a cup of instant noodles on a nutritious set meal with meat and vegetables. Why wouldn’t they take advantage of that? But for the businesses, the more they sold, the more they lost.
Jiayue had done the same thing with the retail products. Whatever the Pei Corporation offered, Jiayue made its own version. The taste and prices were nearly identical, while the new brand frequently ran promotions as it entered the market. Buy-one-get-one-free offers were standard. When stocking retail outlets, it even deliberately inflated the profit margins offered to distributors.
With all these tactics combined, merely shifting a small amount of shelf space could cause a brand's quarterly financial report to change dramatically.
What was more, the two companies' products were similar in packaging, size, weight, and flavor. Since consumers had no trouble switching between them, Jiayue's buy-one-get-one-free deals naturally made it the preferred choice.
It was obvious that Jiayue intended to crush the Pei Corporation and monopolize the market. In theory, if the Pei Corporation was losing money, Jiayue should have been paying an even higher price.
But Jiayue had deep pockets and could afford to keep burning money. Once it exhausted its competitor and secured a monopoly, its current losses could naturally be earned back several times over.
After hearing this, Pei Liang immediately had the family driver head out and buy every product from both the Pei Corporation and Jiayue that could be found at the nearby twenty-four-hour supermarkets.
Pei's dad asked, “What are you planning to do?”
Pei Liang replied, “I’ll start by tasting the differences between the products.”
“Besides, there are some things you don’t need me to point out—you’re surely aware of them yourself. A company that can copy us to this extent probably didn’t do so by coincidence.”
Pei's dad's expression turned grim. “I suspect that too. But lately, just dealing with the market pressure has kept me completely overwhelmed. I really haven’t had the time to investigate what’s going on inside the company.”
“Besides, in a critical period like this, if we don’t stand united against the outside threat and instead turn our attention inward, making the employees suspicious of one another and throwing everyone into a panic, that definitely wouldn’t be a good choice.”
Pei Liang nodded, agreeing with Pei's dad's approach. Although he was an entrepreneur who had built his company from nothing and learned everything through trial and error, he was broad-minded when it came to management.
He simply had his own limitations and blind spots.
It didn’t take long for both families’ products to arrive. There were several flavors of instant noodles, along with frozen dumplings, tangyuan, and other quick-frozen foods.
Pei Liang had the housekeeper take them downstairs and cook each brand according to its flavor.
She also prepared identical flavors of instant noodles from both companies, using nothing but boiling water so they could compare the most obvious differences.
Three minutes later, as soon as the lids came off, Pei Liang could smell the difference without even tasting them.
She pointed at the instant noodles made by the Pei family’s brand. “There’s something wrong with the oil packet.”
Pei’s dad froze. He quickly picked up their own noodles and examined them for quite some time. “The smell, the color of the oil, and the way it’s coating the cup all look normal. What’s wrong with it?”
“Take a bite and see for yourself,” Pei Liang said.
Pei’s dad tasted the noodles doubtfully, but still couldn’t detect anything wrong. Unwilling to believe it, he took several more bites. At last, his expression grew increasingly grim.
Pei Liang explained, “The other seasonings in the oil packet should be more or less the same as before, but the oil has been mixed with rancid oil. There’s sediment in it, and it’s greasy and irritating on the throat, with an especially coarse taste. If you used it on its own for stir-frying, the pungent, greasy smell of the spoiled oil would completely overpower the aroma of the food.”
“But instant noodles are different. The seasoning packet contains a lot of spices with strong aromas. Once the oil is diluted properly, an ordinary person’s sense of smell won’t necessarily notice anything wrong right away.”
“But this inferior oil has a very strong presence. Once someone’s sense of smell and taste adjusts to the flavor of the noodles, the greasy taste of the oil becomes obvious.”
Pei Liang took the bowl from in front of Pei’s dad and gave a cold laugh. “A normal person would have trouble swallowing more than two bites of these noodles.”
Pei’s dad’s face had turned nearly livid. “That’s impossible. The Pei family has never cut corners when it comes to ingredients.”
Then he continued, “No wonder we’ve been hearing complaints lately, both on the official website and in our offline market surveys, that the quality of our products has declined.”
“But I personally inspected the factory floor.”
Pei Liang raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Then this is getting interesting.”
She examined the production date and batch number printed on the noodle cup for a moment before turning to the driver. “Uncle Zhou, I’ll have to trouble you and Xiao Zhang to make another trip.”
“Go to several more places—preferably outside this neighborhood. Check some of the small shops too. As much as possible, buy back one of every batch of our products currently on the market that’s still within its expiration date.”
The driver and assistant immediately left.
Pei Liang then took a bite of Jiayue’s instant noodles. “If we rule out the oil issue, the two products are identical.”
Pei’s dad’s face was still grim. “That’s right. They copied our formula outright. Their packaging colors and style are similar too. A lot of people buy their products and eat them for a while without even realizing they got the wrong brand.”
“As long as they secure priority shelf space at the retail outlets, sooner or later they’ll squeeze us out of the market.”
Pei Liang said nothing. By then, the auntie had finished cooking the dumplings and tangyuan from both companies and brought them over.
Pei’s dad had already tried Jiayue’s products before. Pei Liang, however, carefully compared everything from both sides before nodding. “I know where the problem is.”
“Where?” Pei’s dad asked anxiously.
“You’re going to be very busy tomorrow,” Pei Liang said. “First, have the marketing department recall the products from these batches.”
She promptly recited several strings of batch numbers, then continued, “And this isn’t over. Tomorrow, inspect the inventory as soon as the boxes are opened, as well as every product that’s already been shipped. Pay special attention to products containing oil packets or meat fillings. Send out tasting inspectors to check every batch on the market. If anything is wrong, recall it immediately.”
“Dad, since this isn’t happening with every batch, that means the problem isn’t with our ingredient controls. Given our procurement standards, the chances of such a severe quality issue arising naturally are extremely low. That leaves only one possibility: human interference.”
“And if it was deliberate, then the goal couldn’t simply be to weaken our competitiveness little by little over time. To put it bluntly, that would be far too inefficient.”
“No matter how much capital the other side has, money doesn’t grow on trees. Naturally, they’ll want to bring this costly standoff to an end as soon as possible.”
“So they’ll definitely amplify the negative impact as much as they can.”
Sure enough, before the Pei family had even managed to recall all the affected products, the scandal had already hit the trending searches.
No one knew how much money the other side had spent. The trending topic displayed four blunt characters: “Pei’s Products Taste Awful.”
For a major brand with considerable influence, a hostile trending topic like this usually wouldn’t appear unless it had been exposed for a serious quality issue or become embroiled in some major social controversy.
After all, most platforms relied on advertising revenue, and who would dare casually offend the companies paying the bills?
This alone showed that the capital behind the attack had extraordinary connections among media professionals in the industry.
Pei Liang had investigated Jiayue. The company clearly didn’t possess that kind of vast influence.
She clicked on the trending topic and found a video by a food-review blogger. After editing, it was only a few dozen seconds long—clearly tailored to the limited patience of online spectators looking for gossip.
That, too, revealed the thought that had gone into it.
All the unnecessary material had been cut. The final result showed the blogger tasting one of Pei’s new-flavor instant noodles and immediately spitting it out.
The blogger was a popular internet celebrity with millions of followers. He had a comical appearance and a humorous way of speaking, and the video of Pei’s products failing spectacularly was edited for maximum comedic effect. It went viral almost instantly.
At the end, he poured the noodles into a bowl for his dog. Even the supposedly undiscerning animal refused to eat them.
The comments flying across the video were full of jokes, drawing even more people in out of curiosity.
The comment section beneath the trending topic was filled with feedback from netizens:
“I thought Pei’s new flavor tasted awful too. The oil scraped my throat so badly, I honestly thought I was eating gutter oil.”
“Don’t insult gutter oil. It wouldn’t make you think it tasted bad. Did they add gasoline to it or something? Two bites were enough to make me feel sick. I paid several yuan for a bowl of instant noodles just to eat a few mouthfuls?”
“It’s not just the new flavor. I had some yesterday—photo for proof. Pei’s products really have gotten worse.”
“It’s not only the instant noodles, either. Their frozen dumplings have a problem too. They taste a little bitter.”
“How come I didn’t notice anything? They taste the same as always to me.”
“I think the dumpling wrappers are a little bitter too. The dough isn’t as springy as it used to be. I love dumplings and have tried practically every brand and flavor, so I’m pretty sensitive to this sort of thing.”
“Did rising ingredient prices make Pei start cutting corners? That’s the biggest taboo in the food business, isn’t it?”
“What a bunch of unscrupulous profiteers. Isn’t Pei’s owned by Pei Liang’s family?”
“Pei Liang? The Pei Liang from The Missing Bride?”
“Oh, so that’s why. Pei Liang used Xie Chen to rake in money, and she’s shameless about it. Looks like dishonesty runs in the family.”
“I’m not touching anything from Pei anymore. A bad taste would be one thing, but that gasoline-like flavor makes me worry I’ll get sick.”
“There are plenty of choices out there. If one brand doesn’t work for you, switch to another. Besides, aren’t Jiayue’s recent products practically identical to Pei’s? Their quality control is even better.”
“Exactly. I highly recommend Jiayue. They just launched their new products, and they’re running a buy-one-get-one-free promotion. Once you do the math, most of their instant noodles and quick-frozen foods are half price or even cheaper. I’ve already stocked up.”
“Same here. I spent the same amount of money on two bags of dumplings, and my mom even praised me today for knowing how to save.”
The heated discussions online had dealt a serious blow to the Pei brand’s image, and the Pei family had paid a considerable price to get the trending topic taken down.
But public opinion had never been the Pei family’s territory. Aside from the trending searches on the major platforms, there was little they could do about the memes and discussions being generated spontaneously by netizens.
In less than a day or two, countless memes had already appeared online.
For instance, people edited Pei products into biological weapons in reaction-image form. The two most widely circulated were these:
In one, Pan Jinlian was holding a bowl of instant noodles with the Pei logo edited onto it. Smiling sweetly at the severely poisoned Wu Dalang, whose face had turned blue, she said, “Darling, it’s time to eat your noodles.”
In the other, a classic line from a Hong Kong movie—“Are you hungry? I’ll cook you some noodles. These noodles!”—had a pack of Pei instant noodles edited underneath it.
If this level of efficiency and reach wasn’t the work of someone in the industry, then calling it merely efficient would be an insult.
Back when Pei Liang had gone after Cui Ying, the paid fan-account operators she had hired hadn’t been disposable day laborers. Instead, she had had her assistant maintain contact with them. Through their circles, they might not have been able to survey the entire situation from the lofty vantage point of the capital world, but they were still very useful for handling minor matters.
Two of them had hidden themselves particularly well and had never even left Cui Ying’s fan groups.
So Pei Liang had someone ask them whether they had picked up on any developments. After all, the style of the current campaign was somewhat different from that of professional trolls.
As it turned out, the answer was yes. Cui Ying’s side had indeed assigned tasks to the fans. With the authorities’ controls having eased considerably lately, Cui Ying’s fan activity had picked up again.
This time, however, they had gotten smarter. They had kept the studio and the fan groups separate, and the way they issued instructions left even fewer traces.
In the current campaign to control public opinion against the Pei family, apart from a handful of people directing the overall narrative, most of those waving the flags and shouting slogans below were Cui Ying’s fans. The other side had even taken the extra precaution of removing their fan affiliations and cleaning out their accounts before joining in.
Cui Ying’s hostility toward Pei Liang was perfectly understandable. The two sides practically had an irreconcilable blood feud.
However, Pei Liang suspected that Cui Ying and Jiayue had not contacted each other directly. Someone else was likely behind the scenes, weaving the two lines together and consolidating their forces to strengthen the campaign against the Pei family.
Having made so many enemies, Pei Liang didn’t dare jump to conclusions too early. Still, there were only a few prime suspects.
When the opportunity arose, Pei Liang wouldn’t mind launching an indiscriminate attack.
But for now, the most important thing was to help the Pei family weather the crisis.
That was why Pei Liang had come to the Pei family’s food-processing plant with Pei’s dad.
The Pei family’s industrial complex covered a vast area and contained numerous factory buildings, so naturally there were many managers in charge of different operations.
The arrival of the company president and his daughter naturally warranted a full welcome from the senior management.
The person in charge led Pei Liang and the others into the workshop with a broad smile. Pei Liang saw countless workers busy at the production lines.
They all wore identical uniforms, caps, masks, and rubber gloves. Sanitation was strictly managed: both the floors and the workstations were spotless.
Since there were no problems with the factory’s general order and management, the group proceeded to the seasoning room.
This was where the raw materials were processed. Aside from the initial roasting and preparation of the seasonings, the later stages were entirely automated.
As for the handmade dumplings, the filling ingredients were also mechanically processed first, after which a designated employee mixed them according to a fixed ratio before distributing the filling to the workers on the production floor.
The workshop supervisor responsible for this area smiled obsequiously and said, “President Pei, is there anything you’d like us to improve?”
“We’ve always kept President Pei’s instructions in mind and followed strict production-management procedures. We make sure our customers can eat with peace of mind and stay healthy. There’s never been a single problem.”
Under ordinary circumstances, the clean, orderly production floor would have pleased him immensely.
But after the brand crisis of the past few days, seeing that everything on the surface appeared flawless only left him feeling complicated and furious.
He stood there with a dark expression and said nothing. Everyone around him understood what was going on.
The Pei family had been struggling lately, and the internet had even exposed alleged quality problems with their products. In fact, the factory had conducted its own inspections and found no changes at all, so the employees assumed the allegations online were fabricated.
But the damage to the brand was so severe that there was no way the president could be happy. Everyone had therefore come prepared to bear the brunt of his anger today.
Unexpectedly, it was the president’s daughter who spoke first. She had made a powerful impression the moment she arrived, which wasn’t surprising, given that she was a major movie star.
She was smiling brightly and looked quite amiable, but her words were directed at Supervisor Bao, who was in charge of the seasoning-roasting workshop.
“President Pei doesn’t have anything to say for the moment,” she said. “But I do have something I need to trouble Supervisor Bao with.”
Supervisor Bao hurriedly fawned over her. “Miss Pei, please, go ahead! ‘Trouble’ is no trouble at all. Just tell me what you need, and I’ll take care of it.”
Pei Liang smiled. “It’s good to know Supervisor Bao is willing to cooperate. In that case, please wait outside the workshop.”
“A few police cars will be arriving shortly. The officers will be giving you a pair of silver bracelets—free of charge—on the grounds that you accepted bribes, betrayed the company, harmed its interests, and seriously endangered public health. You’ll also get a complimentary ride in a police car along the way.”
As soon as she said this, everyone around them was stunned. Supervisor Bao’s face stiffened, and a flash of panic appeared in his eyes.
But he was an old hand. He quickly composed himself and gave Pei’s dad an awkward smile. “President Pei, your daughter certainly has a sense of humor. Ha ha!”
“If I hadn’t worked under you for more than twenty years—if I hadn’t followed you ever since you opened your first branch and fought alongside you all this time—I might have thought you were dissatisfied with me. But I know you’re an upright and loyal man who always looks after his employees.”
This old fox had lowered his stance, but every word was steeped in seniority and entitlement.
Unfortunately for him, Pei Liang was not the kind of person who made empty threats. Once she decided to act, she never limited herself to winning an argument with words.
The atmosphere inside the workshop became extremely awkward. Someone forced a smile and tried to mediate.
“President Pei, didn’t I hear that Miss Pei is going to make another movie soon?”
“I mean, however useless we old-timers may be, we’ve been running this factory for decades. We’re all familiar with the work. Since you entrusted Old Bao with the crucial jobs of roasting the seasonings and preparing the fillings, that means you trusted him to be meticulous and avoid mistakes.”
“Miss Pei is young. She should stick to fashionable work like making movies. The seasoning room is full of smoke and heat—”
If his daughter had truly been an outsider trying to instruct the experts, that would have been one thing. But she had painstakingly uncovered such a serious breach. How could Pei’s dad tolerate anyone questioning her?
He gave a cold laugh. “I’d say I’ve treated you, Bao Fuqiang, well enough. You’re one of the company’s old employees, and you hold one of its most important positions. I practically entrusted the lifeblood of our products to you. Every year, you received a share of the factory’s year-end bonuses—far more than what people in the industry normally got.”
“I never thought you’d sell out the company you’d served for twenty years, the company you’d helped build from the ground up, all for a little extra benefit. Bao Ziqiang, I don’t know whether you’re falsely clever or genuinely stupid. What exactly did Jiayue promise you? If they can’t deliver, will whatever you’ve received now make up for the substantial retirement pension you would have earned before you retired? Who would dare employ someone who betrayed a company after serving it for twenty years?”
Supervisor Bao knew in his heart that his misdeeds were probably exposed, but he would never dare to admit such a thing.
In front of the shocked looks of his colleagues around, he put on a humiliated expression as if he was extremely angry and wrongly accused -
"President Pei, what do you mean by saying this? If it's a normal work scolding, you can scold me to the core and I won't say a word. After all, the company is in a difficult situation now and everyone has a responsibility. But what do you mean by this? Do you suspect I'm up to no good?"
Some of the people who had worked with him for so many years around wanted to explain for him.
But Pei Liang didn't have the time to engage in a verbal battle.
She said, "Supervisor Bao probably doesn't know that the company started recalling the problematic products as early as a week ago."
"The production workshop in the factory is monitored without dead - ends. Although there are many cameras and it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack to check without a clue, as long as the production time is determined by the batch, then the operation video at that time is intercepted and the raw material batch is traced back, it's easy to find out the problem."
Pei Liang walked up to a large mixing pot where the instant noodle oil packet seasonings were being stir - fried, and gave a cold smile. "Coincidentally, this pot of oil has been mixed with spoiled waste oil."
"Those empty oil barrels over there. I'm afraid the one that was mixed with waste oil hasn't been disposed of yet, right?"
Pei Liang continued to walk over. Supervisor Bao's face turned ashen. He watched as the other person didn't even get close but directly picked out an empty oil barrel hidden in the innermost and inconspicuous place.
Since the taste of the instant noodle oil packet seasonings is originally pungent, it's hard to detect when the waste oil is mixed into the stir - frying seasonings. But as soon as the oil barrel was brought over and people got closer, they smelled a disgusting pungent odor.
In fact, there was no need to smell it because there were a lot of white deposited oil stains hanging on the bottom of the oil barrel, which is a situation that only occurs after this kind of oil has gone bad.
Pei Liang said to Supervisor Bao, "The date and batch on the oil barrel packaging don't match. And anyone with eyes and a nose wouldn't pour this kind of oil in."
"Supervisor Bao, as the management of the seasoning - frying workshop, how did this stuff get mixed in?"
Supervisor Bao's face flushed red and he stammered.
But Pei Liang didn't want to listen to his explanation. "Then, looking at the work schedules of those batches of problematic products, it's such a coincidence that it was the same two seasoning - frying workers."
"I said Supervisor Bao has a million - dollar annual salary and thinks highly of himself. How could he come down to fry the seasonings himself?"
At this time, the two workers had been brought in. As soon as Supervisor Bao saw them, he knew it was all over.
Seeing this, the workshop directors and team leaders around looked at him in disbelief. "You, this is a brand that we've built with our hard work over a lifetime!"
"How could you bear to ruin it?"
Supervisor Bao was extremely ashamed, but Pei Liang said, "I'm afraid Supervisor Bao isn't the only one who could bear to do this. Do I have to name names one by one?"
The group that they originally thought was moving forward in unison was actually full of holes. The old - timers around gasped in shock.
However, no one responded to Pei Liang. Then Pei Liang smiled. "Do you think I'm bluffing?"
"To undermine the product quality, changing the suppliers definitely won't work because the suppliers are all long - term partners with good personal relationships with President Pei. With such a large annual order, canceling it without a reason will definitely lead them to ask President Pei."
"So how did the good - quality flour taste bitter, how were the spoiled meats mixed into the fillings, and how did the problematic products happen to be avoided during the factory's self - inspection when there were negative feedbacks on the products?"
"Do you think this is difficult to investigate, or do you think I'm rushing to stir up the snake before I've even found out?"
It's really not easy to investigate, especially when the company has been in a crisis recently and there are no clues within.
But if following the young lady's train of thought just now, it would be simple. And since she has already pinpointed the problem to the workers on the batch schedule, dealing with other similar problems would be a piece of cake.
Two people immediately looked ashen - faced. One was the director in charge of noodle processing, and the other was in charge of product quality inspection.
After finding the ring - leader, dealing with the small fries who carried out the actions was easy.
But Pei Liang still wasn't satisfied. She said, "Now that the product problem is solved, next is the question of how Jiayue was able to copy our problem products so quickly."
Hearing her words, everyone shuddered. At this moment, no one dared to look down on this delicate - looking young lady from a wealthy family.
They just felt that it was a waste of her talent for her to be in the movie industry. If she directly joined the company with this kind of ability, President Pei would probably be over the moon.
They heard the young lady say, "For an outsider brand to squeeze into the market of a local and established brand, even if it has abundant funds for the market, it can't have unlimited costs. On the contrary, the money for competing with our Pei Group has to be saved in many ways."
"First of all, they almost directly copied the store locations, menus, and product packaging and ingredients, which has already saved them a large amount of development costs."
"But our Pei Group's recipes aren't something you can find by just searching on the search engine. Besides the recipes, the production cost and transportation cost of the products are the major expenses."
Pei Liang's gaze fell on the procurement staff. "Before I came here, I asked President Pei to call some familiar suppliers. Guess what?"
"The Jiayue Company was able to figure out the lowest raw material price from the suppliers right away, a price that our Pei Group could only get after repeated negotiations and based on years of cooperation. They were extremely successful in saving costs during the negotiations."
Pei Liang sneered. "Director Liu in charge of procurement, our Pei Group really admires your spirit of selflessly sharing experience and connections with your peers."
There was another exclamation from around. At this time, Pei's dad looked more embarrassed than angry.
"I always prided myself on managing the company in an orderly manner, with everyone working together and the old employees in the company being diligent and dedicated."
He never expected that the most crucial product production line was already full of holes.
At this time, the sound of police sirens came from outside. The police that Pei Liang mentioned finally arrived.
The expressions on the faces of several people became even more panicked. They hurriedly begged for mercy from Pei's dad. Even the one surnamed Bao had knelt down.
But what was the use? Not to mention President Pei, even the other employees wouldn't forgive them.
If it were other situations, perhaps the old - timers present would have felt empathy. But this directly damaged the company's interests and was aimed at bringing down the company, which meant smashing everyone's jobs.
Most of these old - timer managers were of an advanced age and had worked with Pei's dad to build the company. If the Pei Group went bankrupt and they lost their jobs, where could they find comparable treatment? Not to mention the brand they had dedicated their whole lives to, how could they not have feelings for it?
Some of the impulsive ones even wanted to go up and beat them up, but fortunately, the police who arrived in time stopped them.
Here, Pei Liang provided sufficient evidence, including some evidence that the few people had been bribed by Jiayue. She directly sued Jiayue, which was engaging in malicious competition through illegal means, to the court.
Jiayue had connections with the higher - ups, but Pei's dad wasn't easy to handle either. When two companies of this size were involved in a lawsuit, it wasn't a small matter of just opening some back doors. There was no way the court would favor either side.
So that afternoon, the Pei Group issued an apology statement regarding this matter, listing one by one the issues such as Jiayue bribing Pei Group employees, engaging in malicious competition and endangering public safety, as well as the Pei Group's urgent recall of the problematic products and its lawsuit against Jiayue.
Netizens were shocked. This was probably the most explosive business scandal of the year.
The Pei Group directly tore off the mask, catching Jiayue off guard. In fact, the trolls they had arranged were still hyping up the so - called quality problems of the Pei Group's products and constantly exaggerating the impact of the so - called product hazards to the public.
As a result, the stone fell right at their own feet because what the Pei Group issued was not just a light - weight lawyer's letter.
It was a case - filing notice and a series of evidence dug out by the Pei Group, such as the confessions and transaction records of the several people who had been detained due to conclusive evidence.
They weren't working for Jiayue whole - heartedly. On the contrary, they were now trying to seek the understanding of the plaintiff, the Pei Group, so they naturally spilled the beans.
The on - looking public was stunned. Although Jiayue's products were currently okay, the company had ignored public safety in order to bring down its competitor through unfair means.
Such a company really gave people the creeps. Many people rushed to Jiayue's official website to condemn and scold it.
Jiayue, which had been going smoothly recently, suddenly hit a wall and started to be in a complete mess.
Of course, this was all in the future. After getting rid of the moles, Pei Liang saw that Pei's dad was really in a low mood.
She comforted him, "It's not your fault. To be honest, with the price Jiayue offered, it's really hard for anyone not to be tempted. You've managed the company very well."
Pei's dad forced a smile and then saw Pei Liang instruct someone to pour out the problematic stir - fried seasoning and clean the wok.
Then everyone saw her walk to the operation table where the raw materials and spices were placed. Without looking at the ingredient ratios or the stir - frying sequence,
she started adding palm oil and beef tallow into the pot. After the huge machine heated and stirred them until they melted, she added ginger, garlic, onion, bean paste, light soy sauce, beef, chili powder and other common available ingredients one by one.
Everyone saw that her movements were very skilled, as if she had a good knowledge of the ratios. At first, they just thought that the young miss, out of concern for the company's affairs, had long been familiar with all the details of the family business.
After the seasoning was stir - fried until fragrant, they saw her take a bag that seemed to weigh about one or two kilograms from her assistant.
The bag looked like a spice bag. Pei Liang directly threw it into the pot. After a while, the essence of the spice bag was blended into the seasoning pot under the stirring.
Normally, instant noodles had a pungent smell, but the workers here, who had been working here for a long time, were different from ordinary people. They didn't find the smell fragrant; instead, they found it annoying.
But once this seasoning was added, the greasiness in the pot completely disappeared, making people's mouths water.
If they felt this way, it was even more so for those executives and assistants who hadn't spent much time here.
They saw Pei Liang pick up a large ladle, scoop up a ladle of sauce, and pour it on several bowls of instant noodles that the assistant had already soaked and added the powder packets and vegetable packets to.
She made a gesture of invitation to everyone, including Pei's dad, who were still in a daze.
"Just clarifying the product problems is not enough to reverse our downward trend. Our brand has been known for stable quality among consumers for many years, but stability also means no progress at all."
"After all, Jiayue, an outsider company, was able to replicate our success in a short time and successfully capture part of our market, which means that our products are indeed easy to replicate and have no irreplaceability."
"To change this, we still have to start with the products."
"I've first improved the formula of the oil seasoning packet. Everyone can try it first."
Everyone looked at each other. When they saw that President Pei was also surprised, they were even more confused about where they were.
Pei's dad was the first to reach out. He picked up a bowl of instant noodles, stirred it a little, and then couldn't wait to pick up a strand and slurp it into his mouth.
Although it was all made from the materials in his factory, the taste exceeded his perception of instant noodles.
There was not a trace of greasiness. It was so fragrant that one couldn't stop eating. Pei's dad had been in the product business for many years and had tasted so many instant noodles that he had become sick of them.
Normally, he couldn't even stand one bite, but now he slurped up a whole bowl and even finished the soup. He actually wanted another bucket!
Looking around, the others were also burying their heads and gobbling up. Many of them had even spontaneously fetched instant noodles, brewed them, and scooped the sauce from the pot.
For a moment, the whole factory was filled with the sound of slurping noodles.
