Starlet Taotie Chapter 26 (Part 2)
Chapter 26.2 No One More Suitable
Even after they arrived at the Ruoxian R&D department, the smile on Chu Ruoyu’s face still had not faded.
Jiang Tao had truly helped her vent a huge amount of frustration.
Without realizing it, Chu Ruoyu had grown a little closer to her and led her into the R&D department.
The atmosphere inside the R&D department was extremely heavy.
The feedback for their latest product had been terrible, yet they could not even figure out the reason behind it. As a result, the originally planned black tea series had been put on hold as well.
Now, various parties were watching them closely; the pressure they felt was immense.
If things continued like this, the remaining few new products might all be canceled, and the Ruoxian brand would essentially be crippled.
Ruoxian represented the hard work and dreams of so many people.
Who would be willing to give it up?
Just then, they saw Chu Ruoyu walk in with a beautiful young woman.
Moreover, Chu Ruoyu, who was always so stern, was actually smiling today.
It was truly strange.
Chu Ruoyu introduced Jiang Tao to the person in charge of the Ruoxian brand, Yao Yilan.
Yao Yilan had already been under immense pressure recently.
After all, if Ruoxian was cut, she would bear the greatest responsibility.
There had also been rumors recently that the higher-ups were extremely dissatisfied with her. If it were not for Chu Ruoyu taking the pressure for her, she might have already been forced to step down.
Therefore, when she saw Chu Ruoyu bring in a completely unfamiliar face and introduce her as someone who had come to help them solve their problems, she immediately exploded.
All the pressure, anxiety, and fear she had accumulated these past few days transformed into anger.
Her eyes were even bloodshot from fury as she shouted sharply. “Chairman Chu, if you’re dissatisfied with me, you can just tell me directly. I’ll leave on my own. There’s no need to find some young girl like this to humiliate me!”
Jiang Tao blinked.
She stepped forward and gently tapped Yao Yilan’s arm.
Yao Yilan’s fury was like a balloon that had been punctured; it completely deflated.
Without anger supporting her, her rationality returned, and she immediately regretted it.
But the problem was that she was still maintaining her furious expression, leaving her stuck in an awkward position where she could neither continue nor back down.
At that moment, a voice as gentle as a clear spring rang out. “You misunderstood. I’m just here to eat.”
Those soft words soothed Yao Yilan’s emotions.
She awkwardly lowered her hand.
Even Chu Ruoyu was shocked.
Yao Yilan was extremely capable in her work, she had a fiery temper.
Once she lost her temper, she would become completely overwhelmed by emotion, and it would take quite some time before she calmed down.
But she never expected Jiang Tao to make her anger disappear so easily.
This made Chu Ruoyu look at Jiang Tao in an entirely new light.
She immediately explained, “Jiang Jiang’s sense of taste is extremely sensitive. I specifically brought her here to try our new products and taste what problems they have.”
Hearing that Chu Ruoyu was not trying to force her out, Yao Yilan let out a sigh of relief, but she also felt even more embarrassed.
“I’m sorry, Miss Jiang. I let my temper get the better of me.”
However, she also found it a little strange. Usually, whenever she lost her temper, she completely lost her rationality and had no way of controlling herself.
But today, it was as if there had been a vacuum cleaner that directly sucked away all of her anger.
Jiang Tao happily swallowed the last bit of Yao Yilan’s angry emotions.
When it came to sustenance providers, she had always been very tolerant.
“It’s fine. Time is tight, so why don’t we start now?”
Yao Yilan knew that her temper was bad and had already prepared herself for Jiang Tao to be upset.
She never expected this young lady to be both beautiful and gentle, which only made her feel even more guilty.
She led Jiang Tao and Chu Ruoyu into the development room.
These were the new flavors they had recently adjusted.
According to their original vision, the black tea series needed to have the rich, sweet fragrance of black tea while also possessing a taste that was distinct from green tea.
But no matter how long they worked on it, they had failed.
Jiang Tao tasted each candy one by one.
In truth, the flavors of these candies had only undergone minor adjustments. It was extremely difficult for the human tongue to detect such subtle differences. They needed to rely on machine data to confirm them.
However, Jiang Tao could even distinguish a 0.01% difference in sweetness. This had practically surpassed the threshold of human taste perception.
Chu Ruoyu was amazed and completely convinced by her.
After tasting all the tea candies, Jiang Tao closed her eyes and carefully savored the flavors.
Chu Ruoyu and Yao Yilan watched her nervously, waiting for her conclusion.
Jiang Tao slowly opened her eyes. “The fragrance of the black tea is still very strong. There’s no problem with that. The main issue lies in the texture and mouthfeel…”
Yao Yilan listened while repeatedly nodding.
Jiang Tao had almost completely pinpointed their problem, without missing a single detail. But they had already pushed the mouthfeel to its absolute limit. They truly did not know what else Jiang Tao could suggest.
Jiang Tao thought for a moment, then said, “Add some milk.”
Everyone else: “!!!”
Yao Yilan stared blankly at Jiang Tao.
Her first instinct was to refuse.
Adding milk would just turn it into milk tea, wouldn’t it?!
The entire concept behind the Ruoxian brand was Chinese-style tea candies. Wouldn’t this completely overturn their brand philosophy?
However, Jiang Tao looked puzzled.
“Why does adding milk make it not Chinese? Don’t we have milk in our country?”
Yao Yilan: “?!!!”
“Why do we have to separate Eastern and Western food so clearly? Isn’t the most important thing about food whether it tastes good?”
Yao Yilan: “!!!”
Jiang Tao’s words were like opening a brand-new door in front of her.
Her entire mind suddenly became clear.
That’s right!
Why had her own thinking become so narrow?
Putting aside the fact that nomadic peoples had already created things like milk tea long ago, food was ultimately made for people to eat. Taste was far more important than form.
What she was doing now was completely putting the cart before the horse, wasn’t it?
Yao Yilan gratefully grabbed Jiang Tao’s hand. “Thank you, Miss Jiang! I understand what I need to do now!”
After saying that, she rushed over to the computer and began adjusting the formula.
Chu Ruoyu was also deep in thought.
Jiang Tao’s words had also shaken her.
When she was young, she often followed her grandfather in and out of the Chu Corp. At that time, the Chu Corp was not as grand as it was today. It was merely a small building, with a shop on the first floor.
Back then, she would often sit at the entrance of the shop, watching the people coming and going. She would see them eating Chu Corp’s candies and revealing happy smiles.
That was the original intention she had started with.
But after returning to the country and joining the Chu Corp, she had gradually forgotten it amid the endless struggles day after day.
She looked at Jiang Tao with sincerity. “Thank you, Jiang Jiang!”
Jiang Tao: “?”
Chu Ruoyu had originally been somewhat reluctant about Jiang Tao becoming the spokesperson for Ruoxian and Tangmi, but by this point, she was completely convinced.
Although the issue with the new product development had not yet been resolved, she had already made up her mind.
No one was more suitable than Jiang Tao to represent these two brands!
…
Tong Tong had recently been busy handling Jiang Tao’s endorsement deals.
Previously, because Tianxue Ice Cream and Xin’an Dried Fruits had suddenly become hugely popular, many businesses had come knocking to collaborate.
However, after carefully sorting through them, she discovered that most of them were small brands. Some were even products with no proper qualifications at all.
They were only interested in Jiang Tao because of her incredible ability to sell products.
Accepting endorsements like these could easily damage her jie’s reputation.
Right now, her jie was in the middle of a rapid rise. Therefore, endorsement deals were not about quantity, but quality. The priority was products with a strong public reputation that could also expand her jie’s popularity.
After all, in the future they would also have to consider luxury brand endorsements, so they absolutely could not be careless.
Unfortunately, major brands were extremely cautious. They had to consider whether the spokesperson’s image and temperament matched the brand, the spokesperson’s reputation, and a whole series of other factors.
The evaluation period was extremely long. They would not choose Jiang Tao just because of one or two successful product promotions.
Tong Tong had already prepared herself for a long-term battle.
Yet unexpectedly, before she had even begun fighting, she received calls from both Ruoxian and Tangmi.
Tong Tong: “……”
She stared blankly at Jiang Tao. “Jie, pinch me. I need to make sure this is not a dream.”
Jiang Tao was watching television while eating walnuts.
She clenched her fingers, and the hard walnut shell immediately cracked apart.
While chewing the walnut meat, she raised her head. “Are you sure?”
Tong Tong instantly snapped back to reality. “No, no, no, I was just joking.”
Tong Tong swallowed nervously.
Who was she kidding? With her jie’s strength, if Jiang Tao really gave her a pinch, she would have to report to the hospital. Whether this was a dream or not would no longer matter.
Besides, even the term “spokesperson” had many different levels of meaning.
She still needed to look at the contract.
Tong Tong thought for a moment.
Then she opened the contract sent over by the other party.
A genuine spokesperson contract!
It was not something like a brand ambassador or brand friend, which were just fancy titles used to fool people. This was a true spokesperson position, meaning the brand genuinely recognized her and was tying her image together with the brand.
And this was Tangmi!!!
A true national brand with extremely high recognition and public appeal.
It was exactly the kind of endorsement that suited Jiang Tao best.
The endorsement fee was also astonishing. Tong Tong’s hand holding the phone was trembling.
Her jie had just gone out once, and she came back with two huge endorsement contracts?!
Tong Tong clutched her chest and asked shakily, “Jie, can you tell me how exactly you got these endorsements?”
Jiang Tao thought for a moment, then answered plainly, “By eating candy.”
Tong Tong: “???”
