A Call That Changed Her Entire Life

Chapter 1557 Heated Discussions

“I think we should increase our company's publicity! As we all know, the KING Group has just entered the food industry. The company is still new in this business, so we should let more people know about it to get more customers!“

“Really? That's just your opinion! Your suggestion is useless. Why do you think Mr. Xu summoned us? Have we solved the problem regarding the sodium poisoning already? If not, then what's the use of increasing publicity? Publicity is the easy part. However, that's the last thing we need especially in this current situation.“

The tension in the meeting room could be cut by a sharp knife. Everyone had substantial suggestions and was opinionated. They weren't afraid to share their thoughts.

At this time, a man sitting in the corner also started to voice out his opinion. “I think we should label each product carefully and slightly raise its price. Then, we can improve the packaging and quantity of our products —“

Before the man could finish his sentence, a sharp voice interrupted him. “Are you joking right now? Do you even know how much it costs to stick an identification label on each product? And you even suggested that we raise the price? How can you be sure that the consumers will still buy our products if we raise the price?“

a woman in a red dress stated distastefully.

Darren raised his eyebrows as he observed the woman. If he remembered correctly, she used to be the vice manager of a big company. It would explain why she behaved so arrogantly.

Some people couldn't stand her domineering attitude. Soon, someone stood up and retorted, “Are you deaf? Didn't you hear that the packaging and quantity of the products would be improved as well? So raising the prices when we improve the products is reasonable, right? For example, the products with

better quality and higher quantity would understandably be more expensive. It's a good idea if you think about it.“

“Yes, I agree. I think it's a great idea.“

“Yes, I think so too…“

Everyone finally agreed that the young man's suggestion was fantastic. Their most important problem to solve was to remove their consumers' doubts about their company because of the sodium poisoning incident.

The woman in the red dress was clearly furious, but she had no choice but to sit back down.

The heated conversations went on until Harlan finally showed up to control the situation.

Everyone in the company was well aware that Harlan was Darren's trusted right-hand man. His words easily calmed down the people inside the room.

After Harlan managed to ease the tension, all of them switched their gazes to Darren.

None of them wanted to leave a bad impression on Darren after all.

Just over a few minutes in that meeting room, the arguments became intense and everyone was yelling at each other. Now, however, everyone was as quiet as a mouse. Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

The staff was nervously waiting for Darren to say something.

A few more seconds later, Darren finally opened his mouth. He stated a simple plan for them to do.

“Let's increase the quantity, improve the taste, and design a better packaging of the food first. Let's see how it will affect our profits.“

After he said that, Darren walked out of the meeting room without uttering another sound.

Once he was out of sight, the employees inside the meeting room breathed out sighs of relief. It was as if the tension in the room just left.

After receiving Darren's order, all the departments started to perform their duties. In three days, they managed to change all the food products under the KING Group.

Darren was satisfied with the result of their hard work. He immediately put the new and improved products on sale and sent out a few people to observe the reactions of the customers.

Unfortunately, they received negative reactions. Very few people bought the products.

When Bill angrily came over to find Darren, he saw the latter sitting on his chair and peacefully eating melon seeds. When he saw how unbothered Darren was, he felt even angrier. Was he unnecessarily worrying too much?

“Mr. Xu, you seem to be in a good mood today,“ Bill said coldly and smiled at him bitterly.

Darren had already noticed the problems regarding their newly released products and he was sure that Bill had come to find him because of it.

He smiled and shrugged. “I'm feeling all right,“ he replied.

Suddenly, Bill slapped on the table and said, “Darren, I put my trust in you and even chose to work together with you. Now, I'm hearing that no customers are buying your products. What's our next move? I need to know since I've invested so much in the company. Shall I just take all the food back home for myself to eat? You're here eating melon seeds leisurely as if everything is okay!“

“As you said, you trust me,“ Darren replied nonchalantly.

'Is this guy blind or what?' Bill asked himself and clenched his jaw. How could he have believed that someone like him was reliable? He frantically paced back and forth in the office like an angry lion. The more he saw Darren's face, the angrier he got.

“You know what? Our snacks have already been manufactured and released. Your impatience won't help anything. Do you have any other choice other than to support me? If you did, I doubt that you would be here arguing with me.“ Since Darren couldn't stand Bill stomping around in the office anymore, he had to convince him that everything was going to be okay.

“Are you saying I can't do anything to you?“ Bill was livid.

“Of course not.“ Darren wasn't sure what else to say.

“Listen, kid, I've been in this game for far longer than you have. If you don't solve this problem now, I will make sure that you will suffer the consequences. I promise you that.“

Once he finished talking, Bill turned around and left the office, slamming the door loudly to emphasize his fury.

Darren looked at Bill's retreating figure coldly. It was not the first time that he had encountered a businessman like Bill before.

When Bill was out of his sight, he grabbed his phone to call his secretary and asked, “How are the sales today?“

The secretary answered solemnly, “There's still no progress, sir.“

“Tell them to lower the price,“ Darren ordered with gritted teeth.

Unsurprisingly, the board of directors objected his decision. Lowering the price was a risk for the company. There was also the possibility that other companies in the same industry would take similar actions. If that was the case, then their profits would significantly decline. Their losses would end up becoming higher than their profits. Of course, Darren was aware of all this. He tried to convince the board of directors to agree with his decision, but they wouldn't budge. So, he had to find another way to increase their sales.

All the secretaries were anxious about the current situation of their company. The incident regarding the excess sodium had affected the KING Group's reputation negatively and many of their products couldn't be sold. If it went on like this, the KING Group would undoubtedly go bankrupt sooner rather than later.

After the meeting with the board of directors, Darren sat in his chair and stared at his ceiling. He was exhausted. When his secretary came in and saw him slumped on the chair, she quickly poured him a glass of water.

“Change the packaging of the food,“ Darren suddenly said. His eyes were closed now.

“What?“ the secretary asked in confusion. She didn't think that a problem so serious could be solved by changing the packaging.

“Select some stores and set up a few stations to measure the sodium content. Do ensure that the quality of the food doesn't decrease. And also, lower the price by ten percent.“

Darren had thought about this plan over and over before he said it out loud. It was indeed costly to set up stations that could measure the sodium content of food. Plus, the discount would diminish their future profits. But he was under a lot of pressure, especially from Bill and the board of directors. If it weren't for the fact that he was cornered into a wall, he wouldn't have made this decision.

After hearing the details of his plan, the secretary finally understood what Darren was talking about. She nodded obediently and went out to complete the tasks he gave.

Standing in the office, Darren took a long drag on his cigarette. He knew that there would be extreme consequences to his actions, but if it would benefit the company, then he was prepared to deal with them.