After receiving her assignment, Dong Lizhu went downstairs with a young woman from the office and headed straight for the City Talent Market.
Wu Jun went to Chen Lin’s office but found she wasn’t there. After asking the front desk downstairs, he learned that she had gone to a meeting at the Bureau of Market Supervision.
Back when he was a small business owner, Wu Jun felt like he had nothing to do all day, and no one ever called him in for meetings. Only after starting a company did he realize what a hassle it was. There was a small meeting every three days and a big one every five, and someone always had to be there.
For less important meetings, he could send a junior staff member to listen in. But for more important ones, especially those chaired by officials, Chen Lin, as the head of the office, had to attend personally. You had to show the officials proper respect, after all.
Back in his office, Wu Jun sat on the sofa and put on a kettle of water to make tea. He had just picked up his cup, not yet having taken a sip, when the phone in his pocket rang.
He took out his phone and saw it was a call from Chen Lin.
"What’s wrong, Chen Lin? I’m in the office today," Wu Jun said, answering the call.
"Wu Jun, we’ve run into trouble. Our company, Junheng, was publicly criticized at the meeting today..." Chen Lin said, her voice hurried.
It sounded chaotic on her end, with cars honking in the background. She was probably on her way back.
Wu Jun frowned slightly and put down his teacup. "Don’t panic. Watch where you’re going. We can talk about it when you get back. A few minutes won’t make a difference."
"Alright, I’m getting a cab now. I’ll hang up," Chen Lin said before ending the call.
Twenty minutes after hanging up, a panting Chen Lin arrived at Wu Jun’s office and handed him a few documents.
After reading the documents Chen Lin had brought back from the meeting, Wu Jun shook his head with a little laugh and casually tossed them into the trash.
Chen Lin sat next to Wu Jun and said, exasperated, "Now what? Those people must have too much time on their hands. We can’t even set the price for our own product? That’s ridiculous."
"Don’t be angry. Here, drink some water and cool off." Wu Jun got a clean cup, poured some water for Chen Lin, and handed it to her.
Chen Lin thanked him, took the cup, and took a small sip, but she was still fuming.
At the meeting with the Bureau of Market Supervision today, they had started by praising Hongyun Rice for its stellar performance at the Rice Expo. But before Chen Lin even had a chance to feel happy, the very next statement made her so angry she almost stormed out of the room.
Apparently, the bureau had received complaints from several rice distributors. Hongyun Rice, which sold for 30 yuan a jin at the Rice Expo, was being sold in the city for only 20 yuan—a full thirty percent cheaper.
Several rice companies had jointly filed a complaint, accusing Hongyun Rice of disrupting market order, engaging in unfair competition with low prices, and attempting to monopolize the market.
After an investigation, the complaint was verified. The bureau had issued an official notice requiring Hongyun Rice to revert to its "original price" and cease selling below market value. Failure to comply would result in fines, a suspension of business for rectification, and other penalties.
Selling inferior goods as high-quality is illegal. Selling high-quality goods as if they were inferior, it turned out, was also not allowed.
Wu Jun remembered reading a news story about a place in Japan being fined for selling premium Kobe beef as regular beef. He never imagined that something so ridiculous would now be happening to him.
Hongyun Rice was priced almost identically to other high-end rice brands on the market, but its quality was leagues above them.
At the same price point, Hongyun Rice’s sales were leaving everyone else in the dust. The other similarly priced premium rice brands were being completely overshadowed.
If those brands wanted to stay in business, they needed to create a price gap with Hongyun Rice. One option was to lower their own prices to a point that would tempt customers back.
The other option was to force Hongyun Rice to raise its price to a level unaffordable for the average person. Only then could they get a piece of the pie.
The emergence of Hongyun Rice had undoubtedly kicked off a tornado of price wars in the rice industry, particularly in the premium sector.
Many of the most well-known rice brands on the market had their own premium lines for sale. It was no wonder they would band together against a common foe. In an instant, Hongyun Rice had become public enemy number one.
The authorities also argued, "You sold it to foreign merchants for such a high price at the Rice Expo, and now you’re selling it so cheaply at home. If they find out, what will they think? It looks like we’re ripping them off, doesn’t it? This could easily cause an international incident."
So... you should just sell it at the price from the Rice Expo!
Chen Lin took a sip of water and caught her breath. "The joint complaint against us for disrupting market order was filed by distributors for Beidahuang, Arowana, Fulinmen, Xiangshui, Wuchang, Guchuan, Meng Zalang, and many others. It’s a huge lineup."
"Looks like our Hongyun Rice has really stirred up the hornet’s nest," Wu Jun said with a chuckle, looking completely unconcerned.
"How can you still be laughing at a time like this?" Chen Lin looked at Wu Jun, speechless. "I’m dying of anxiety over here. The official notice has already been issued, so this price hike is mandatory. When we went from 5 yuan to 20, we caught a ton of flak from the restaurants behind the scenes. They’ve only just accepted the new price, and now we have to raise it to 30. I doubt they’ll be able to swallow this."
"What can we do?" Wu Jun shrugged. "The powers that be want us to raise the price, so we have to, whether we like it or not. After all, we can’t get fat alone while letting a whole crowd of people starve, can we?"
"Are you actually defending them?" Chen Lin gave Wu Jun a playful glare. "What you just said sounds a lot like ’Behind the vermilion gates, meat and wine go to waste, while on the road, lie the bones of those who froze.’ It’s not that serious."
Wu Jun pulled a cigarette from the pack on the coffee table and stuck it between his lips. He shifted slightly, putting a little distance between himself and Chen Lin before lighting it.
Chen Lin paused, taken aback to see Wu Jun smoking. She remembered him being a non-smoker.
’She hadn’t seen him in over a week, where had he picked up such a bad habit?’ she thought. But she had to admit, the way he smoked gave him a certain rugged, masculine maturity. He seemed to have grown up in an instant.
Before, Wu Jun had always struck her as a bright, handsome young man. Now, he exuded a much stronger masculine presence.
Chen Lin had joined Wu Jun when he was first starting the company, back when he hadn’t even secured an office space. She had watched its performance flourish, gradually getting on the right track.
The number of employees grew and grew, from a skeleton crew of just a few people to a small-to-medium-sized enterprise with dozens of staff.
From an initial daily turnover of a few hundred thousand yuan, to now breaking a million in sales per day, Chen Lin had watched the company grow by leaps and bounds under Wu Jun’s leadership. She found herself increasingly drawn to his charisma.
’He’s so outstanding now,’ she thought. ’Being by his side, I feel like an obscure Cinderella without her glass slippers.’ Her affection for Wu Jun grew stronger with each passing day, but the gap between them also seemed to be widening. Whenever she thought about it, she would toss and turn all night, unable to sleep.
A photo of the two of them, taken when she had treated him to dinner at Haiyue Tiandi, was developed and placed on her nightstand. That was perhaps the closest the two of them had ever been.
That day, in the movie theater, he had been right beside her. She could have reached out and taken his hand.
"Chen Lin?" Wu Jun said, noticing she was spacing out.
"Ah? What is it? I’m listening," Chen Lin said, snapping out of her thoughts with a flustered expression. ’So embarrassing! I always end up drifting off when I’m alone with him. This isn’t the first time.’
Wu Jun tapped his cigarette on the edge of the ashtray. "I’m curious, who was the ringleader this time? They must be pretty capable to rally a bunch of distributors who normally only look out for themselves."
"I asked a contact I have at the bureau before I came over," Chen Lin said. "He told me that at first, it was just Meng Zalang complaining about our prices, and the bureau didn’t take it seriously. But then a dozen more people showed up together, and they had to pay attention."
"Heh. So it was him. I see." Wu Jun crushed his cigarette in the ashtray. "Contact our four managers and tell them to come back for a meeting."