"Oh?" Xu Yi asked in surprise. "What major problem? Is there anything worse than dismissing more than eighteen thousand workers at once?"
Kennard cast Xu Yi a rather aggrieved look.
"Mr. President, strictly speaking... this major problem really was caused by the mass layoffs."
"What is it, exactly? Let's hear it."
Kennard handed Xu Yi the report he was holding. "These are the figures I just compiled on the guild's current orders. Please take a look."
Xu Yi took it and found that the figures showed a slight decline in the Xinfei Merchant Guild's existing orders.
But that was only to be expected. After all, however overwhelming its advantages over other magic machinery merchant guilds might be, the Xinfei Merchant Guild could never truly monopolize the entire magic machinery market.
The Xinfei Merchant Guild's mass layoffs had inevitably dealt a severe blow to its production capacity, making it even harder for many buyers who had already placed orders to receive their goods on time.
Even though the Xinfei Merchant Guild's products surpassed other guilds' magic machinery in quality, performance, and every other respect, quite a few buyers still chose to order from other magic machinery merchant guilds so they could obtain the machinery they needed.
"What's the problem with that?" Xu Yi asked Kennard, puzzled.
Kennard gave a bitter smile. "Mr. President, haven't you noticed yet? These figures cover our current orders, but if you look at the dates, you'll find that the new orders we received over the past month dropped by almost half compared to the same period last year. That means many buyers have lost confidence in our guild. That's a very serious problem."
Xu Yi smiled faintly, showing no sign of concern.
"Lost confidence in us? Not necessarily. I think they've simply lost patience. Once our