Honey, Open The Door. I Want To Give You The Room Key - Chapter 6

Lou Qingshuang and Bai Wan were utterly bewildered by the sudden cooperation invitation. At this moment, they had no idea who truly owned Xinyu Cosmetics; otherwise, they wouldn’t be this ecstatic. The invitation extended by Liu Yu was, to them, nothing short of a life-saving straw.

Lou Qingshuang looked at the online comments regarding the invitation:

“Is Xinyu crazy? They’re actually collaborating with Wanshuang!”

“I trust Xinyu’s vision. Their products are always innovating without any drama. Their stuff is durable and the prices are consumer-friendly.”

“Since Xinyu has issued an invitation, it proves that there’s no problem with the Wanshuang company!”

“Is this just another wave of commercial warfare? By crushing an old brand like Lan Dai, Xinyu can completely monopolize the market.”

“The person above, do you even know what a monopoly is? Do you know how big the cosmetic market share is now and how many people are trying to squeeze in? Old brands can’t completely monopolize a market anymore; look at how many ‘dupes’ there are for Xinyu.”

“I’m waiting for Wanshuang to produce actual evidence, rather than relying on some big corporation to white-wash them.”

“Me too. I’m waiting for this company to bring out substantive proof.”

Lou Qingshuang continued to scroll down. The comments at the top were still relatively restrained, but further down, the opinions became polarized, filled with various arguments. She watched for a long while, unable to understand why Xinyu Group would risk the current public opinion storm to cooperate with them. No matter how she looked at it, there seemed to be no benefit for them.

Now, Xinyu Group’s invitation had once again stirred up the plagiarism controversy that the internet had grown tired of, and the momentum was even intensifying. Privately, people had already begun boycotting Wanshuang.

Some were even digging up “scandals” from both sides, especially Lan Dai, which had a lot of dirt exposed. People starting to speak up for Wanshuang increased, but the anti-fans attacked even harder—it reached a point where almost anyone who spoke for Wanshuang was labeled a “plagiarism dog.”

Bai Wan and Qin Nan’s efforts felt like throwing stones into the ocean. The two of them were also contemplating this matter. Yet, they had no reason to refuse. Xinyu’s reputation was too good; leaning on them might help recover some of their own image. So now, Bai Wan took Qin Nan and two directors to negotiate with Xinyu.

Lan Dai was also panicking. They were urgently discussing countermeasures: should they go up against Xinyu? Who could withstand Xinyu?

Everyone looked at each other in silence. Lan Dai had been on a downward slope for years, failing to develop new products, and their market share was gradually shrinking. If things continued this way, it wasn’t impossible for Lan Dai to vanish from the market entirely.

Therefore, they had to change, to innovate. If they didn’t have it, they would “borrow” it from someone else.

“We’ve already come this far. If we take even a single step back, the online public opinion and consumers will immediately turn back and crush us to death,” the Chairwoman of Lan Dai, sitting in the head seat, said to everyone. She looked at everyone with a cold, sharp gaze.

The business world was originally full of deception. Things like “conscience” depended on the timing—you could have it, or you could not. The others sitting down the long conference table were also pondering the situation.

“Chairwoman, what do you think we should do about this?” A bald male Beta sitting at the far end of the table asked with an expression that suggested he would follow whatever the Chairwoman decided.

The Chairwoman of Lan Dai Group closed her eyes, her hand propped on the armrest of her chair, remaining silent. She had made it clear that she wanted this group to come up with an idea. They were the company’s management, receiving high annual salaries and dividends; they had to give her a perfect and feasible plan.

Lan Dai’s PR department was in a frenzy of discussion, while simultaneously hinting to various influencers and streamers with millions of followers to say ambiguous things, leading consumers to subconsciously think the worst. After all, when a giant goes against a small player, there is always a sense of oppression.

“Chairwoman, we can only keep going—at least until the court’s verdict comes out,” Lan Dai’s CEO stood up and said. He also felt it was very tricky, but now it was a matter of seeing if their group could hold out.

The final decision was for Lan Dai to go head-to-head with Xinyu, signaling their resistance to the Xinyu-Wanshuang cooperation and molding an image of being “unyielding.” They wanted to hammer home the “fact” that Wanshuang was a plagiarist, ensuring everyone knew it.

“This Lan Dai is truly a mad dog.” An exhausted Bai Wan walked in with Qin Nan, both of them looking terrible.

“Lan Dai has filed a lawsuit against us,” Lou Qingshuang gave even worse news. She had asked her lawyer to sue Lan Dai, but the message back from the lawyer was that Lan Dai had already sued them first. It was mainly because they had spent too much time organizing their data, unlike Lan Dai, who had come fully prepared, effectively holding a primed grenade from the start.

“My experimental data and files have been sent to both of you. You can look into posting them on the official Weibo and also send them to the lawyer.” Lou Qingshuang hadn’t slept for two days and one night; her temples were throbbing with pain.

Bai Wan and Qin Nan looked delighted. Bai Wan said to Lou Qingshuang, “Then Qingshuang, you go back and rest first. Leave the rest to Qin Nan and me.”

“Okay.” Lou Qingshuang rubbed her swollen temples; her eyes so dry she could hardly keep them open.

Qin Nan was a female Omega around forty years old. She usually had a stern face, but seeing Lou Qingshuang’s exhaustion, her expression softened. “President Lou, go back and rest. The rest is a battle for Bai Wan and me.”

Lou Qingshuang nodded sleepily. She took her car keys and phone and headed home. Walking to the garage, she felt like sleeping the moment she got into the car. Thinking of her mother, she felt uneasy; she hadn’t been home for two days. Lou Qingshuang started the car and drove out of the garage, merging into the traffic like a fish in a stream.

“Ah.” Lou Qingshuang couldn’t help but yawn, tears welling in her eyes. She turned the steering wheel and merged into another lane—that lane wasn’t as crowded, and she could pick up some food for her mother on the way.

“Chairwoman Liu, we can discuss our next cooperation here again.” An elegant and charming lady reached out her hand to Liu Yu. Her face was exquisite and beautiful, and her blue eyes held a kind, gentle warmth.

“Alright.” Liu Yu had a smile on her face that made people feel like a spring breeze; all the sharpness in her features had vanished. She watched the elegant lady leave. Her driver slowly slid the car over, and Liu Yu opened the door to get in.

Right at that moment, Lou Qingshuang, while reversing, collided with Liu Yu’s car.

Bang! Liu Yu sat in the car without moving, while the driver had already stepped out to check. It just so happened that Zhu Yan arrived, carrying the cakes she had packed. She recognized Lou Qingshuang, who was currently talking to the driver, at a glance. She raised an eyebrow. What a coincidence.

Knock, knock. Zhu Yan tapped on the glass window. Liu Yu pressed the switch, and the window slowly lowered. She looked in the direction Zhu Yan was pointing, her eyes shifting.

“The car was hit. I think Miss Lou looks very exhausted,” Zhu Yan added in passing.

Lou Qingshuang was indeed very exhausted. Anyone could see it—the dark circles under her eyes and her haggard face. She was negotiating with the driver to go through insurance for the repairs.

Liu Yu looked at Lou Qingshuang and, after a moment, said, “If she needs help, go take her home, then take a taxi back to the Group.”

“Understood, Chairwoman.” Zhu Yan set down the small cakes and walked over to Lou Qingshuang.

“Miss Lou, do you need help?” Zhu Yan asked softly.

Lou Qingshuang shook her head. She recognized this person—Liu Yu’s assistant. Her gaze subconsciously fell on the closed car window. This couldn’t be Liu Yu’s car, could it?

Lou Qingshuang felt even more tired. She rubbed her brow. “I’ve already settled things with this lady. Everything will go through insurance. If the insurance isn’t enough, I will pay the difference.”

“The Chairwoman said there’s no need. It’s just a small matter; don’t waste time dealing with it, especially since you must be very busy lately,” Zhu Yan said considerately.

To her surprise, upon hearing this, Lou Qingshuang’s expression darkened even further. She refused coldly, “I will pay whatever it costs. My assistant will contact you later.”

Zhu Yan nodded, not pushing further. “Alright then, please be careful. You could call a car to take you back.”

Lou Qingshuang nodded at Zhu Yan’s concerned gaze, accepting the gesture of goodwill. Then, Lou Qingshuang watched the car drive away, yet she felt as if someone was watching her.