Chapter Thirty-Nine: This Matter Will Never Be Over

“Ranran, I don’t think this matter is going to end anytime soon.”

Not to mention the longstanding grudge between Bai Xi and her; just the fact that Huangpu Qingyin was swindled out of six hundred million means she won’t let this go easily. Moreover, Bai Xi wore a fake piece of jewelry and was trending online last night. If the Bai family hadn’t kept investing, the production would have already replaced her.

And now that Shangguan Miaomiao has been kicked out of the company, she’s bound to harbor resentment too. What will happen then?

“I know,” Shangguan Ranran replied softly, sipping her milk tea.

The three of them probably hated her to the core, but what hadn’t she seen in Country Y?

“Wanqing, you should be careful while filming in the ancient city. Should I ask Grandpa to arrange a couple of bodyguards for you?”

“No need. They wouldn’t dare do anything to me. Besides, in the show, Bai Xi’s character is completely overshadowed by mine.”

After all, she played the vicious supporting role, though her ending was a bit tragic.

“Even so, you should stay alert at all times.”

She was worried they might take some underhanded action—wasn’t the banquet last time the best example?

“Alright, I’ll have my old man arrange an assistant for me, someone who can handle a fight. How does that sound? Haha.”

“Hmm,” Shangguan Ranran finally let a smile blossom as she held her milk tea.

With her painting in hand, Xia Wanqing went straight home, while Shangguan Ranran headed to the company.

“Miss, here’s the proposal for our next issue. Miss Zhen will make time next week for the promotional shoot,” Hu Ya said, handing over the documents.

“Alright, I understand. Please ask the person in charge of Qingran Studio to come see me.” She wanted to know what products the studio would launch this season.

“Yes, Director.” Hu Ya turned to contact the person in charge.

Shangguan Ranran glanced through the proposal and said to Ye Xin, who was still working at the next desk, “I might need to take another day off tomorrow. Once the studio manager arrives, discuss the product lineup, and tomorrow go check their sales environment, product quality, and preparations for the shoot.”

“Yes, Miss. Would you like me to assign someone to accompany you?” She was worried something might happen to her.

“No need, I’ll be careful myself.” She was still in good physical shape, and she’d trained in some hand-to-hand combat; her agility was quite decent.

After all, she’d spent some time at “Nightshade.”

On the surface, “Nightshade” was a casino, but covertly, it trained its own operatives. Otherwise, how could the Ye family of Country Y have remained so powerful all these years?

“If you run into any trouble, talk to Ye Zuo.”

“Understood.”

By the time Shangguan Ranran finished reading the proposal, Yang Fan, the head of Qingran Studio, had arrived.

“Hello, Director.”

“I’d like to know what products the studio will be releasing next,” she indicated for him to take a seat.

Yang Fan sat across from her and began to explain, “Our main product is a piece of jewelry, and fortunately, Director Ye has secured a patent for it, which has greatly boosted recognition. We also have three gowns, with matching jewelry, shoes, bags, and so on. There are also some custom evening gowns, all of which we plan to finish by the end of the month.”

“Do you receive orders every month? And do you launch new products every cycle?”

“Yes, we get plenty of orders, sales are strong, and customer feedback always ranks among the best of our offerings.”

“But I’ve reviewed the sales department’s performance in recent years, and the results aren’t ideal. Is this due to poor sales of other products?”

By rights, the sales department should be the most profitable in the company, since it’s responsible for moving products and driving economic growth.

But the reality was that, in the entire company, the sales department had the lowest performance, and its annual profits were unimpressive.

That was why she’d suggested taking a position in sales herself.

Yang Fan hesitated, then confessed, “To be honest, our studio is actually the core profit center of the department. But precisely because of this, many customers place custom orders with us—even the… former director was no exception. So nearly every batch of products was sent to her first, and she’d give her friends discounts.”

Yang Fan knew these matters were difficult to talk about. Most people wouldn’t dare cross the director, so everyone just turned a blind eye.

But Qingran Studio’s profits were dwindling, so when he heard that Director Shangguan had been dismissed, he finally spoke up.

He hoped such issues would be put to an end.

“What did you say? Shangguan Miaomiao monopolized every round of sales products and gave her friends discounts? Wasn’t there anyone to stop her? Couldn’t you have reported it to the secretariat?”

Ye Xin was incredulous. Did she really think that, just because she was a Shangguan, the company belonged to her?

“Assistant Ye, not everyone has access to the secretariat. And bypassing the director to report directly is difficult—the secretariat includes her friends, who are also discount clients of the studio. Besides, most of the sales department are her people. There was nothing I could do.”

He had joined the company after graduation, without any connections.

He’d worked his way up step by step. It hadn’t been easy to bring this to light.

“So… Miss, does that mean Shangguan Miaomiao controlled the whole sales department? It’s a good thing you fired her, otherwise…”

Otherwise, the company would have become even more of a mess.

“I understand. From now on, no one is allowed to give discounts at Qingran Studio. The studio will introduce three tiers of VIP cards: white, silver, and gold. Only those who meet certain requirements may obtain them. Manager Yang, I also want you to develop a new internal plan for the studio. By year’s end, I hope to see a major leap forward.”

“Yes, Director.” Yang Fan was excited—this would give the studio a clearer plan, and sales would surely improve.

He believed that from this moment on, Qingran Studio would only get better.

It inspired him to devote himself even more wholeheartedly.