28: a certain death situation

The assistant bent over and came behind Brother Zhe, pinching his arm hard, urgently hissing in a low voice.

“Brother, quickly agree!”

The cameraman didn't even care about the lens anymore, leaning half his body out from behind the machine, desperately nodding at Brother Zhe, silently shouting with his mouth.

The planner standing further back was so anxious he was stomping his feet, clasping his hands together in a pleading gesture, wishing he could make the decision for Brother Zhe.

The pain in his arm jolted Brother Zhe awake from his daze.

He took a deep breath, trying his best to present the most composed and professional demeanor to the camera.

But...

“Thank you for Xinghai’s recognition and this special invitation.”

“On behalf of our entire team, I formally accept this invitation.”

“We are very honored to have the opportunity to join an excellent company like Xinghai, and we look forward to working with our colleagues at Xinghai to strive for a common ideal!”

As soon as these words were uttered, the team members behind him instantly erupted in suppressed cheers.

They high-fived and hugged each other, their faces filled with the ecstasy of “finally making it ashore.”

And the live stream's bullet comments completely plunged into an ocean of jubilation.

“A historic moment!”

“Brother Zhe is awesome!”

“Xinghai is awesome!”

“Congratulations to Brother Zhe for joining Xinghai!”

“This live stream wasn't for nothing; I witnessed an unprecedented job fair!”

“The team's rise to prominence is so real!”

“Xinghai's recruitment this time is a huge success!”

Time passed quietly, and three months flew by in an instant.

The cooperation between Xinghai and the five State-owned Major Factories had already entered a stable phase.

The “black box” production model operated efficiently, perfectly safeguarding core secrets while achieving exponential growth in longevity water production capacity, continuously meeting market demand.

On Xinghai Company's books, funds poured in like a flood from an open sluice gate, and the situation was excellent.

As for the State-owned Major Factories cooperating with Xinghai, their stock prices soared, with an average increase of nearly double, making them incredibly profitable and immensely successful.

Xinghai Procurement Department.

Liu Ming, the director of the procurement department, was leisurely looking at the quarterly report, holding a teacup.

Suddenly, his subordinate manager, Xu Lei, rushed in without even knocking, his face pale, and even his voice was distorted.

“Director Liu, something big has happened!”

Xu Lei gasped for breath and said, “Verlander… Verlander just sent an official notice: the price of b7 catalase will increase tenfold next quarter!”

“How much?”

Liu Ming’s butt seemed to be on fire, and he instantly sprang up from his seat.

“Tenfold!”

“Isn’t this robbery?!”

Liu Ming snatched the tablet from Xu Lei's hand, and seeing the strongly worded email with no room for negotiation, his blood pressure instantly soared, and his face turned crimson.

b7 catalase is one of the core basic raw materials for longevity water, used in huge quantities; a tenfold price increase means that costs will skyrocket exponentially.

“Damn it!”

The veins on Liu Ming’s forehead bulged.

“This isn't commercial competition at all; this is a targeted attack on our Xinghai!”

He grabbed the tablet and headed straight for Jiang Zhonghua's president's office.

Ten minutes later.

Xinghai internal high-level meeting.

Jiang Zhonghua’s face was ashen as he looked at the Verlander Biotechnology email projected on the screen.

Lin Dong gritted his teeth, his fists tightly clenched.

Su Jin quickly calculated the cost data, her expression growing increasingly grim.

Zhang Kaiwen frowned, already brainstorming contingency plans for crisis public relations.

The conference room door was pushed open, and Brother Zhe, the newly appointed deputy director of the external publicity department, walked in.

He was wearing a well-fitted dark suit, looking completely different from his image three months ago when he was live-streaming on the street.

This was his first time attending such a high-level crisis meeting.

“Everyone is aware of the situation; Verlander’s move is choking us.”

“If we don’t raise prices along with them, we will lose at least five yuan for every set of longevity water we sell.”

“If we raise prices at this time, we will definitely face public opinion pressure from the market.”

Lin Dong’s gaze was gloomy.

“This is an open conspiracy!”

“Verlander and the capital behind Guangming Pharmaceutical are the same entity; this is retaliation for our refusal to cooperate.”

Brother Zhe looked at the news on the tablet about Verlander’s stock price soaring by 50%, and the dismal green curve of the plummeting stock prices of several state-owned enterprises that cooperated with Xinghai, his expression becoming exceptionally serious.

Brother Zhe used to be an off-site analyst, but now he was an insider.

He felt the thrilling intensity of a commercial war for the first time; this blow directly struck Xinghai’s main artery.

“To raise prices or not to raise prices, we must make a decision quickly.”

Jiang Zhonghua’s voice broke the silent atmosphere, and pressure, like a mountain, weighed on everyone’s shoulders.

Lin Dong was the first to speak, his tone agitated.

“We must raise prices, and we must do it with great fanfare; we want the whole world to know that it is Verlander, this shameless monopolistic giant, that is stabbing us in the back.”

Brother Zhe took a deep breath and spoke cautiously.

“Director Lin, I believe raising prices now plays right into Verlander’s hands.”

“They don’t just want to make more money; they want to force us to lose public support.”

“Are we just going to wait to die if we don’t raise prices?”

Brother Zhe fell silent; this was indeed a dead end.

Whether prices were raised or not, Xinghai would face a huge crisis.

“Perhaps we can try to find alternative raw materials,” Liu Ming said with a frown.

“If b7 catalase were that easy to substitute, would Verlander dare to be so arrogant?”

Su Jin then spoke, “If we maintain the original price, with our current inventory, we can only last for one more week at most; even if we reduce production capacity, we can only sustain for two months.”

“The situation in other State-owned Major Factories is similar.”

The conference room fell silent again.

Not raising prices was equivalent to slow suicide; the company would quickly be dragged down.

Raising prices, however, was like drinking poison to quench thirst; Xinghai would become the target of public criticism.

Everyone’s gaze ultimately turned to Jiang Zhonghua, waiting for him to make the decision that would determine Xinghai’s survival.

Jiang Zhonghua’s brows were furrowed into a tight knot; this was almost an unsolvable problem.

Su Jin sighed, “Verlander’s shot isn’t just aimed at our Xinghai.”

“The stock prices of these state-owned enterprises tied to us will definitely plummet to rock bottom, and Verlander and the capital behind them can easily complete their harvest at a dirt-cheap price.”

“Even if the national team enters the market to save it, they will be in a very passive situation.”

“This is no longer a simple bottleneck.”

“This is a carefully planned financial war.”

Su Jin’s words were like a bucket of ice water, waking up everyone who was still entangled in costs and public opinion.

At this moment, Zhang Kaiwen pushed up his glasses: “Director Su is right.”

“I believe that even if we are forced to raise prices now, it won’t solve the fundamental problem.”

“Once we open the door to price increases, it’s equivalent to showing weakness to Verlander, acknowledging their absolute control over the upstream.”

“Today they can raise prices tenfold, tomorrow they can raise them twentyfold.”

“Until longevity water transforms from a widely beneficial medicine into a sky-high commodity that only a few can afford.”

Zhang Kaiwen’s words completely blocked the path of raising prices to survive.

The conference room fell into a dead silence.

Not raising prices meant waiting to die, and raising prices was equivalent to slow suicide while also implicating allies.