Sheng Changya's Ambition, Domestic Independent Brands

The call ended.

Wei Kang's face flushed red as he could no longer suppress the fury in his chest.

From Oulaiya's arrogant disregard, to Shiseido's malicious deception, and then Procter & Gamble's attempt to profit from the crisis.

The three foreign companies had fully revealed their contempt for him and their complete lack of respect.

This arrogance and contempt were not aimed solely at him, but at the entire industry, even at domestic peers.

All of it filled him with burning rage, even igniting some latent national sentiment.

Bang!

Wei Kang slammed his fist down onto the desk.

His knuckles instantly swelled and bruised, but he did not care.

Only this could vent the anger in his heart.

For the first time, this violent emotion made him lose his composure.

He panted heavily as he paced back and forth through the office.

His fists clenched as he roared inwardly.

"You bunch of arrogant, mannerless idiots, I curse you."

"Even if I have to sell the Whitening Drug formula for next to nothing, I will never sell it to bloodsuckers like you."

"If I have to sell it, then I'll sell it to a domestic cosmetics company."

"I'll support a domestic company and create the best-selling product."

"I'm definitely entering the cosmetics industry. Not only will I enter it, I'll become number one in the world."

"I'll defeat every last one of you and crush you like bugs."

"I'll make sure none of your products can ever sell again, and I'll bankrupt every one of you!"

After pacing several laps around the room, his emotions gradually calmed down.

In a moment of excitement, making vows was easy.

It could also release his emotions.

But actually accomplishing them was not so easy.

Could he really succeed by expanding into another industry?

Once Wei Kang calmed down, his head began to ache.

Many industries were not driven by technology, but by sales. Their markets were often dominated by a few massive conglomerates.

These giants lacked ambition and clung to the old ways, squeezing out tiny improvements bit by bit. That was already the better case. More often, companies did not even bother making incremental improvements. Relying on their first-mover advantage, they sprawled sluggishly and decadently across the market, sucking blood while continuing to thrive.

When dealing with such giants, newcomers launching an assault from within the industry often found them difficult to defeat, and were frequently crushed by the giants' wealth of experience and advantages.

But if a giant from another industry also set its sights on this piece of cake—or perhaps had not even noticed it, merely reaching out a hand—then it could be swept along by a powerful force, cross dimensions, and take the entire large cake from another track.

Ever since technology began advancing at breakneck speed, this sort of thing had happened many times throughout human history.

A familiar example was when the fruit company invented the smartphone, inadvertently entered the communications sector, and then took down Nokia.

Likewise, the first digital camera was invented by Kodak, a film giant. Then digital cameras quickly took down Kodak—a true case of "I destroyed myself."

More recently, Huawei entered the laptop market and triggered the catfish effect. From then on, 2K high-definition screens became widespread across the PC industry, along with 95% screen-to-body ratios, and every company was suddenly revitalized.

So who could guarantee that the cosmetics giants would not suffer a dimensional strike from a pharmaceutical company that had been driven into a frenzy?

But at that moment, Wei Kang's problem was not so far-reaching.

He suddenly realized that he truly did not understand the domestic cosmetics industry.

He was not completely ignorant, but it was not far from that.

So he picked up his phone and scrolled to that familiar name—Sheng Changya.

This girl seemed highly experienced in the cosmetics industry, extremely professional, and very capable in business as well.

Even if the deal had fallen through, there was still goodwill between them. Perhaps he could ask her for help.

Besides, she had previously given him insider information, which should have been a gesture of goodwill as well.

With anticipation in his heart, Wei Kang dialed Sheng Changya's number.

"President Wei, hello. Regarding what we discussed earlier, has there been any progress on your side?"

Sheng Changya seemed to have a special interest in his Whitening Drug.

Wei Kang pondered for several seconds before deciding to tell her the truth.

"I've already turned down Shiseido and Procter & Gamble."

"Ah?" A soft cry of surprise came from the other end, quickly suppressed. "President Wei, I'm very sorry to hear that. What are your plans for the next step?"

Wei Kang did not know where to begin. Was he supposed to directly ask her to help find a domestic competitor to buy the Whitening Drug formula?

Would saying that be an insult to her professional ethics?

The two fell silent for a moment.

Sheng Changya keenly sensed that something was off. She immediately lowered her voice and made her tone as gentle as possible. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Actually, I really like this Whitening Drug. I hope to find a good buyer for it, so that all us women can buy this product and everyone can become beautiful."

"President Wei, if you have any questions about this, feel free to ask me. I'll tell you everything I know."

Wei Kang felt the strong goodwill coming from her. Though he could not quite understand why she was being so proactive—what was she after? Was she interested in his looks and trying to get close to him? Or did she simply hope for an effective whitening product?

But her intentions were not important. As long as he achieved his goal, Wei Kang did not care about anything else.

So, he straightforwardly brought up his dilemma.

"Yes. I've run into a problem. Negotiations with the three foreign companies I was most interested in have all fallen through, and for the moment, I don't have any new sincere buyers."

"Although I know you work for Oulaiya and are following up on this project, so this may not be appropriate."

"I'd still like to ask: do you know of any domestic cosmetics companies suitable for collaboration?"

"Because the three foreign companies I spoke with recently all had ulterior motives. They all felt rather shady. Of course, I don't mean anything else by it. I just feel that working with domestic companies would provide a stronger foundation and make communication more convenient."

"If possible, I hope you can give me a list of recommendations."

As Wei Kang spoke, an idea suddenly occurred to him, and he asked again.

"Or, Miss Sheng, if you have any better suggestions, you can be frank with me."

"You're a highly professional businesswoman, and you understand the entire process very well. I imagine you must have some thoughts on this matter. Could you share them candidly for my consideration?"

Sheng Changya listened quietly, unable to help holding her breath, afraid of missing a single word.

Wei Kang's request for advice was very sincere. She could hear it.

But this was not an easy question to answer, because there were indeed very few domestic cosmetics companies worth considering.

More importantly, she actually had a better plan.

She had spent the entire night thinking about it.

The idea had sprouted in the afternoon and begun to take shape that night. Now, she finally had the chance to say it.

And she was confident that President Wei would accept her proposal.

Her left hand pressed against her chest, holding down the surging, boiling heart within.

Yet her tone was incomparably casual as she softly said, "President Wei, have you ever considered starting your own cosmetics company and creating an independent domestic brand?"

Wei Kang paused slightly, somewhat surprised.

He had actually considered it before, but every field had its own barriers. He lacked capable talent, and rashly entering an entirely new industry would be no different from courting death and wasting resources.

But then his eyes suddenly lit up.

Could it be?

It was not impossible.

So he nodded. "I've considered it. Go on."

Sheng Changya seemed encouraged and began speaking eloquently and fluently.

"President Wei, you think too highly of domestic cosmetics companies. They're the same as foreign companies. The industry's model has already been completely set in stone: there's a market, but no technology. Every company spends all its money on marketing and has no interest whatsoever in product innovation or technological improvement."

"Consumers are actually eager for products that truly work, but the entire market is like this, so they have no choice."

"But your Whitening Drug is different, President Wei. It is a revolutionary product with miraculous effects. I have personally experienced its results—it was simply a miracle."

"I believe that as long as you launch this product, it will sweep the domestic market and utterly crush every other brand's whitening products."

"When products do not work, every company competes through marketing. But a product that truly works is itself the most powerful form of marketing. Take the pharmaceutical industry you're in, for example. What patients care about is efficacy. If it works, it will earn a good reputation."

"And reputation is the most powerful marketing tool, as well as the foundation of marketing. Brands are built upon it. A century-old brand is also a century-old reputation."

"President Wei, you hold the most powerful weapon in your hands, yet you seek cooperation elsewhere. Isn't that like climbing a tree to catch fish?"

"With such a miraculous drug, you can absolutely establish an independent domestic brand yourself. Even if you only sell this one whitening product, you could still build it into the strongest domestic cosmetics brand."

"I have faith in you."

"You don't lack funds, and you certainly don't lack a market, because where there are results, there is a market."

Wei Kang felt his blood stir as he blurted out, "But I lack people."

"Ha ha," Sheng Changya could not help laughing. Then, her voice instantly turned serious.

She slowly asked, "President Wei, may I recommend myself?"

"I have extensive experience in the cosmetics industry. You've said yourself that I'm highly professional, and you even wanted to ask for my opinion."

"So, for building an independent domestic brand—do you think I'm capable?"