"How many companies did she sell?"
Mu Jinyu frowned and asked.
Gu Xiyan stood up at this moment, her face also looking rather unpleasant and strange as she said, "The first one she sold was my Face of Jade Group."
"Oh?!"
Hearing this, Mu Jinyu raised his eyebrows and said, "That's quite a coincidence, isn't it?"
He was well aware that Gu Xiyan had once been pressured by the beauty prescription bought by Xu Xiaojiao to switch her focus to clothing. Now the tables had turned; Xu Xiaojiao had left the company she had poured her heart and soul into, and Gu Xiyan had taken her place.
And Gu Xiyan's Face of Jade Group had also acquired that beauty prescription they both loved and hated.
One had to say, it was quite the twist of fate.
Gu Xiyan felt quite embarrassed and explained, "Just some time ago, Trotsky, due to my departure with Yu Linglong from Face of Jade Group, tore up the contract, went straight back to his country, and stopped collaborating with Gu Shiqian, who was in charge of the Face of Jade Group. Then Xu Xiaojiao came knocking, pitched the idea to them, and in the end, they saw an opportunity for profit and spent fifty million to buy the prescription."
Mu Jinyu suddenly laughed and said, "And then Xu Xiaojiao turned around and went to other cosmetics companies, selling them the same prescription for high or low prices in turn before she took off?"
"Yes."
Xu Qingya said with a bitter face, "She probably had the idea of fleeing when grandfather sold the company to you. She took one day to sell that information several times over, made a few billion, and then decisively left Huaxia. She'll probably change flights too. Although the Xu Family is now looking for her whereabouts, after all..."
Mu Jinyu continued, "After all, the Xu Family's influence outside of River City is limited, so it's very likely they won't find her?"
"Yes," Xu Qingya sighed.
After sighing, she quickly assured with determination, "However, because of her betrayal and the huge losses caused to the company, our Xu Family will definitely take full responsibility!"
"It doesn't matter," Mu Jinyu said calmly and serenely.
His composure made Gu Xiyan inwardly click her tongue in wonder, feeling that this man, who usually cared so much about money, seemed to have changed today. Even knowing the company would lose tens of billions, he could still remain so calm.
Perhaps... he didn't understand the value of the beauty prescription?
Mu Jinyu then calmed Xu Qingya's anxious emotions and proceeded to ask, "Now that so many companies have gotten their hands on that beauty prescription, how big is the impact on the market?"
"The impact is huge!"
Xu Qingya said gravely, "Those companies, from the moment they got their hands on that prescription, spurred on by Xu Xiaojiao to overtake in a curve and release their beauty creams before us, chose to use inferior medicinal herbs for extraction.
By doing this, they could sell their beauty creams cheaply without making a loss, and secondly, it disrupts our pricing strategy. If we sell at a high price, no customers will buy, and if we sell at the same price as them, the more we sell, the more we lose; we simply can't endure a prolonged price war with them!"
Gu Xiyan also said, "Now that the Gu Family and other companies know that Xu Xiaojiao not only sold the prescription to them, in order not to lose too much, they are all working overtime to keep producing. The Gu Family will soon start selling on the market as well…"
Wen Rou also spoke with deep concern, "The company's funding has all been invested in the research and development of that beauty prescription. If this beauty cream cannot be successfully produced and sold, and if they launch before us, we are finished."
"What about suing them?" Mu Jinyu asked.
"It's useless," Gu Xiyan said. "Lawsuits take too long, and we can't afford to wait. Even if we win two years later, they would have already made a fortune and could easily compensate us without any real loss."
Mu Jinyu nodded in understanding, then asked, "What if we switch to a mature beauty prescription that doesn't require further research and testing, and can directly produce beauty cream; could we turn the situation around?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Xiyan, and Xu Qingya stared blankly for a moment, then frowned in thought. After a while, Xu Qingya said, "That's difficult. The average beauty prescription can't compare with the ancient palace Noble Consort prescription that Xu Xiaojiao bought. Even if we produce it, we won't be able to take customers away from her."
Gu Xiyan also said, "And where is it so easy to come by a beauty secret recipe like Xu Xiaojiao's that contends with the natural order?"
Mu Jinyu smiled and said, "I have one."
"You have what?" Gu Xiyan looked at him puzzled, frowning.
"I have a better beauty secret recipe," said Mu Jinyu with casual confidence.
"Oh please, don't try to comfort me with this boring talk, I am in a very bad mood right now," Gu Xiyan said with a sigh, thinking Mu Jinyu was just jesting to make light of the situation.
However, Xu Qingya and Wen Rou, who had witnessed Mu Jinyu's miraculous medical skills with their own eyes, instantly lit up with excitement and asked eagerly, "Little Mu, are you serious? Do you really have a beauty secret recipe that's better than that ancient palace secret recipe?"
"How can you actually believe him?" Gu Xiyan said, astonished by their reaction.
Neither Xu Qingya nor Wen Rou had the mood to pay attention to Gu Xiyan at this moment, their eyes sparkling as they stared at Mu Jinyu.
Mu Jinyu gave a confident smile and said, "Wen Rou, go get some paper and a pen, I'll write down a prescription for you right now."
"Mhm."
Wen Rou, gentle in speech, hurried to Xu Qingya's desk to fetch paper and a pen.
Then she brought them over to Mu Jinyu.
Taking the paper and pen, Mu Jinyu's writing flowed like a dragon and snake, and he quickly wrote down the prescription.
After finishing, he handed the paper to Xu Qingya and said, "Sister Qingya, take this. It's a prescription for the 'Advanced Beauty Pill.' Go and produce it."
Actually, Mu Jinyu had even better beauty secret recipes in his possession.
For example, "Youth Preserving Elixir."
This was a miraculous pill that could permanently lock one's youthful appearance at the age it was taken.
However, the materials for the "Youth Preserving Elixir" were not easy to find and couldn't be mass-produced. Moreover, the best candidates for taking it were girls in their blooming years or charming matrons, as opposed to women whose beauty had faded with age.
So, to immediately turn the company's plight around, the Advanced Beauty Pill was more suitable.
When Xu Qingya got the prescription from Mu Jinyu, her hands trembled slightly with excitement, and then she asked, "What are the effects of this 'Advanced Beauty Pill'?"
Mu Jinyu said, "Xu Xiaojiao's treasured beauty secret recipe reportedly has the effect of making someone look three years younger with long-term use, right?"
"Yes," Xu Qingya nodded.
Mu Jinyu said, "The effect of my 'Advanced Beauty Pill,' then, is just a little bit better than hers."
Xu Qingya's and Wen Rou's eyes brightened as they said, "Does it make you look five years younger?"
Gu Xiyan stood to one side, feeling speechless as they so readily believed Mu Jinyu's words.
"No!" Mu Jinyu shook his head.
"Ah?!" Xu Qingya's and Wen Rou's faces immediately showed a trace of disappointment upon hearing Mu Jinyu's denial.
Mu Jinyu glanced at them and said indifferently, "It's ten years."