The inspector's lips trembled for a long time, her face turning red and white with rage. How utterly shameless!
Aren't college students supposed to be naive and foolish? Why was the one she ran into so completely different from what her colleagues had described?
Since she had come here solely to squeeze out some benefits, if things truly escalated and caught the attention of her superiors, they would send someone down to investigate. Once Bai Xiaodu released the recording, she would be finished, regardless of whether it was eventually deemed a fabrication or not.
The inspector took a deep breath. “You win today, Lord Bai.”
“But let me remind you, as long as you still want to run a factory and do business here, this isn't over!” With that, the inspector spun on her heel and stormed off.
Seeing this, Liya let out a sigh and quickly set to work tidying up the ledgers and shipping manifests that had been hauled out.
Bai Xiaodu asked, “Where is Sister Xin Hai'an?”
Liya looked up to answer, a trace of worry on her face. “She's probably in the laboratory. President Xin has been cooped up in there lately, developing new potions, and rarely comes out.”
“It's probably because our vampire clan's potions are selling poorly here. She's such a competitive person, so she must be taking it really hard.”
Bai Xiaodu frowned. “Selling poorly here? It shouldn't be that bad, right? I've taken your potions before, and the effects are quite good. While the price is indeed expensive for commoners, it's completely affordable for transcendents.”
Liya waved her hand. “That's exactly the problem. Before launching, we did a thorough market survey of other products. We don't have the formulas for high-end vampire potions, and we can't compete with the established local brands in the mid-range market.”
“So, we temporarily targeted the low-end market, planning to drive up sales volume with low profit margins. That strategy would have worked anywhere else, but it doesn't work in the Tiannan Star System. To sell at low margins, we have to strictly control costs. But the various taxes and regulations here are far too tedious. We can't get our costs down, and they keep ordering us to suspend operations for rectification every other day.”
Liya rambled on, clearly having bottled up a lot of grievances lately. “Sigh, since you're the Lord, getting the land approved was easy enough. But this land is still under the jurisdiction of the Tiannan Star, and they can just shut us down on a whim by claiming 'industrial pollution.' We're completely powerless against that. By the way, I really have to thank you. That female inspector has been here two or three times, threatening and intimidating us. Today, we finally got to vent some of that frustration.”
Bai Xiaodu smiled. “It is easier to deal with the King of Hell than his petty minions. Actually, in normal business operations, offending these tax officials is just asking for trouble.”
“However, if I didn't dare to provoke them before becoming a transcendent, and I still don't dare to provoke them after becoming one, then didn't I become a transcendent for nothing?”
Bullying exists everywhere, even in the transcendent world. Except for certain bizarre worlds where the 'will to bully' reaches its peak and people risk their lives to bully supreme powerhouses, most bullying is simply the slightly stronger squeezing the survival resources of the weak, sucking their blood.
This could take the form of concrete resources, or it could simply be pure malice, meant solely to vent their dark inner emotions.
As a commoner transcendent, Bai Xiaodu was clearly a soft target in their eyes, someone worth squeezing to wring out some profit.
After all, who would dare let the same thing happen to a business under Aurelia's name? They would probably commit suicide by shooting themselves eight times in the back the very next day!
Back in the orphanage, Bai Xiaodu had fought back against such people plenty of times. There was no helping it; the silver fox-kin race was just like that, and he had looked far too weak and fragile back then. Actually, he still did...
So now, he planned to do the same, refusing to indulge them in the slightest! They talked big about social Darwinism and respecting the strong, but in essence, they just bullied the weak and feared the strong. That was all there was to it.
Sigh, if only everyone in the world were as kind-hearted as me.
After a brief chat with Liya, Bai Xiaodu assured her, “Don't worry, no matter what happens, I'll step in and deal with them.” Then, he made his way to the laboratory.
As soon as he stepped through the door, he sniffed the air, and his expression instantly shifted. The air was filled with a mix of strange scents—bloody, pungent, sweet, and foul odors all blended together in a sickening concoction.
Xin Hai'an stood before a large experimental cauldron, her crimson eyes locked onto the reacting solution while one hand held a stopwatch. The moment any abnormality appeared, she immediately threw in new ingredients.
The cauldron bubbled and boiled, constantly releasing multicolored bubbles into the air. Why does this look like a medieval witch brewing a potion...
Xin Hai'an was extremely focused, her brow furrowed as she silently recorded the entire process of the potion's creation. Only when she realized that Bai Xiaodu had been standing beside her for a while, craning his neck to watch with curiosity, did her expression falter. “Xiaobai, why are you here?”
Bai Xiaodu replied in a leisurely manner, “I'm here to place an order, Boss.”
Amused by his antics, Xin Hai'an pulled off her mask and cap, revealing a delicate, slightly exhausted face. She stepped forward and hugged Bai Xiaodu, pressing her entire upper body against him, causing him to narrow his eyes in comfort.
Xin Hai'an rubbed her chin against his ear and hair. “We have plenty of stock. If you need anything to restore spell slots or for rapid healing, you don't even have to ask. Just take whatever you want.”
Bai Xiaodu couldn't help but nod vigorously in his heart. Back when he wasn't a transcendent yet, buying a single bottle of mana recovery potion would cost him thousands or even tens of thousands of credits. Yet, Xin Hai'an was casually giving him a whole bunch for free.
Given Xin Hai'an's family background, there was absolutely no need for her to work herself to the bone here like a struggling pioneer. But when people had too much money, they often looked for things to do out of sheer boredom, seeking a sense of achievement and honor.
Having faced no greater hardship in her life than drinking black coffee, how could Xin Hai'an tolerate experiencing a setback in her life? Yet, here she was, facing one. A noble of the vampire clan had reduced herself to a wretched outsider.
Still pressing her upper body against him, Xin Hai'an said listlessly, “I've been brewing potions nonstop lately, Xiaobai. I've actually made some with great effects, but with the cost of raw materials, labor, and advertising factored in, they're too expensive to sell if we want to make a profit.”
With that, she rubbed her temples in frustration and let out a sigh. “Ultimately, it's just that my personal ability is lacking. I can never seem to find the perfect balance between price and efficacy.”
After a brief moment of thought, Bai Xiaodu blurted out, “I don't think this is your fault at all, Sister Xin Hai'an.”
He understood what was happening. Xin Hai'an had been shutting herself in the laboratory, letting her self-doubt eat away at her. She might indeed be talented in potion-making, but how could an individual's capabilities compete with those established corporations in the Tiannan Star System that had been operating for years? She was overthinking and trapping herself in a corner.
A hint of surprise flickered across Xin Hai'an's tired face, but she quickly relaxed. Resting her chin on her hand, she looked at Bai Xiaodu with interest. “Then whose fault is it?”
Bai Xiaodu snapped his fingers. “Of course it's the fault of your competitors! With your incredible talent in potion-making, the only reason your sales aren't taking off is because your genius is being suppressed. They must be engaging in malicious competition!”
The corners of Xin Hai'an's mouth curled up, and she nodded vigorously. Compared to the constant stream of frustrating problems Liya kept reporting, Bai Xiaodu's words were music to her ears.
Because of the product issues over the past few days, she hadn't been sleeping or eating well, leaving her physically and mentally exhausted. But as soon as he arrived, he found the answer. It seems honest advice doesn't always have to be hard to swallow!
Seeing her expression, Bai Xiaodu struck while the iron was hot. “Look at it this way. From afar, your competitors see the excellent potions you make, get jealous, and engage in malicious competition. Up close, those freeloaders from the Bureau of Taxation come every day to extort us and disrupt normal factory operations. What's the point of making a great product under these conditions?”
Xin Hai'an nodded in agreement. “That makes a lot of sense, Xiaobai. Many things in the Tiannan Star System are indeed unreasonable. Perhaps this market just isn't suitable...”
Bai Xiaodu held up a single finger right in front of her face. “Well, as it happens, I have a plan.”
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