Starlet Taotie Chapter 26 (Part 1)
Chapter 26.1 No One More Suitable
Early the next morning, Chu Ruoyu personally drove over to pick up Jiang Tao and take her to the company.
Compared to her glamorous appearance at the banquet yesterday, Chu Ruoyu was dressed extremely simply today. She wore no lipstick and no perfume.
This was her usual habit whenever she went to the R&D department.
After all, when working in the food industry, even the slightest outside scent could potentially affect the final taste of a product.
She had originally been worried that Jiang Tao would not understand this rule.
But when she opened the door, she found that Jiang Tao was even more plainly dressed than she was.
Although Jiang Tao still looked beautiful without makeup, she was, after all, a celebrity. Going out barefaced required quite a bit of courage.
This showed just how seriously she was taking this matter.
Chu Ruoyu could not help but develop a little more goodwill toward her.
The Chu Corp had practically claimed half of the domestic snack market. They had their hands in everything from candy, biscuits, potato chips, chocolate, and beverages. All of their brands operated from the same building.
As soon as anyone stepped into this building, they were to be greeted by the jaw-dropping vision of a full snack-covered wall.
Chu Ruoyu introduced it to Jiang Tao. “This snack wall is redesigned every quarter. The placement is based on each brand’s sales performance and popularity during that quarter. The better-performing brands are placed closer to the center.”
The two brands Chu Ruoyu was in charge of were placed in fairly good positions.
Especially Tangmi. As a long-standing national brand, although it was not as popular as it had been in previous years, its sales were still extremely impressive.
However, the Ruoxian Tea Candy series was placed somewhat farther away.
Aside from this snack wall, snacks could be seen all throughout the Chu Corp’s building.
Jiang Tao swallowed.
This was practically heaven!
She looked at Chu Ruoyu with envy. “You’re so lucky to work here.”
Chu Ruoyu was stunned.
The admiration in Jiang Tao’s eyes was completely genuine, without the slightest trace of flattery or politeness.
She truly liked this place.
Chu Ruoyu’s growth had mirrored the rapid development of the Chu Corp.
When she was young, her grandfather would often bring her to the company with him. She would lie across her grandfather’s lap, growing up together with this building.
Therefore, this building held extraordinary meaning for Chu Ruoyu.
Seeing someone sincerely praise it, Chu Ruoyu immediately felt a faint sense of kinship.
But she quickly came back to her senses.
No, no, no!
Do not be corrupted by Jiang Tao’s sweet words!
Just then, a large group of people approached from the front. Leading them was a man dressed in designer brands, his appearance extremely fashionable.
The moment Chu Ruoyu saw him, her expression immediately turned unpleasant.
This was her cousin, Chu Ruoqian, and also her biggest competitor within the Chu family.
When Chu Ruoqian saw Chu Ruoyu, he deliberately blocked her path. “Cousin, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
Chu Ruoyu lifted her eyes slightly. “I come to the company every day. If you haven’t seen me, then it seems you simply don’t come to the company often enough.”
Chu Ruoqian choked on her words.
However, he knew Chu Ruoyu had a sharp tongue. If they argued, he would never be able to win.
So he immediately skipped over that topic. “I heard that your new product development has run into some problems recently. Ruoxian’s performance this quarter is looking a little dangerous.
“This was the new product you personally insisted on developing back when you were at the board meeting. If the final results fail to meet expectations, not just you, even your father will be affected, won’t he?”
Chu Ruoyu secretly gritted her teeth.
Chu Ruoqian had hit exactly where it hurt the most.
She could only reply stiffly, “Cousin, do you know why Xiao Ming’s grandfather lived to ninety-nine years old?”
(TLN: The og meme reads ‘小明的爷爷活了103岁’, or ‘Xiao Ming’s Grandpa Lived to 103’, it’s a Chinese internet meme/slang phrase that emerged around 2021 and is used sarcastically to tell someone to mind their own business or stop interfering in matters that do not concern them.)
Chu Ruoqian, however, was not angry at all. He smiled and said, “Why are you so aggressive? We’re all family here. If you need anything, just say the word. As your older cousin, I’ll definitely help you.”
Chu Ruoyu could not be bothered to look at his smug, petty expression. She pulled Jiang Tao along, intending to walk around him.
Only then did Chu Ruoqian notice Jiang Tao behind her. His eyes lit up. “And this is?”
With so many people watching, Chu Ruoyu could not simply ignore him and leave.
She could only introduce them coldly.
Only then did Chu Ruoqian remember.
A few days ago, the marketing department had mentioned that a female celebrity with incredible product-selling ability had recently appeared. She was especially influential in the food category.
It seemed to be this Jiang Tao.
Could it be that Chu Ruoyu wanted to use her sales ability to turn the situation around?
Chu Ruoqian had worked hard to finally suppress Chu Ruoyu, so he would never give her the chance to rise again.
Therefore, he became even more enthusiastic toward Jiang Tao. “Our ATA just happens to be preparing a brand promotion campaign recently. Miss Jiang’s image would be a great fit. If you’re interested, you’re welcome to come to my office and discuss it.”
Chu Ruoyu was almost infuriated to death by his blatant attempt to poach someone right in front of her.
Jiang Tao: “ATA?”
“Yes!” Chu Ruoqian acknowledged proudly. “Miss Jiang knows our brand too?”
Jiang Tao nodded. “That’s perfect. I actually wanted to say that your cookie base and filling are both pretty delicious. It’s just that outer chocolate layer… it’s completely unnecessary. Could you remove it?”
Chu Ruoqian’s smile froze on his face.
Chu Ruoyu, however, let out a sudden “pfft”.
Outsiders did not know this, but the original ATA brand had only consisted of the cookie base and filling. After Chu Ruoqian took over, he insisted on adding the chocolate layer in order to raise the price.
Although the sales revenue had not changed, it was actually only being supported by the higher price. The actual sales volume had decreased.
Giving someone a taste of their own medicine… So satisfying!!!
The resentment Chu Ruoyu had been holding back toward Chu Ruoqian instantly burst out in full.
Although Chu Ruoyu tried her best to restrain herself, the corners of her lips still couldn’t help but curl upward.
“Jiang Jiang is right.” Chu Ruoyu hooked her arm around Jiang Tao’s. “Sigh, cousin, it’s not that I don’t want to ask you for help, but this kind of ‘help’ from you… I think I’ll pass.”
Chu Ruoqian’s face turned livid but Chu Ruoyu had already pulled Jiang Tao away.
TL Note: So I recently found out a dialogue rule in English. If a character is speaking for multiple paragraphs without interruptions between the end and beginning of the next paragraph, the final quotation mark of the previous paragraph is dropped to let the reader know that the same character is still speaking. So like:
“[Dialogue]
“[Dialogue (the same character is still speaking, the previous quotation mark of the last paragraph is dropped)]
“[Dialogue (the same character is done speaking, the quotation mark is added to the end of this paragraph as normal to mark the closing of their dialogue)]”
Previously, I’ve just been removing paragraph spacing between the dialogues from the same character, but going foward, I’ll be now following this rule, so if you see me missing a couple of quotation marks, here's why! o7
