Free Web NovelChapter 410: This Was Not A Hint
Wendy finished watching all the interviews one by one. Not all who were interviewed experienced symptoms of allergies.
Out of the seven who were interviewed, one was allergic, and two said the quality was not as good as before. Upon washing, the colors faded. The other four did not offer any detailed criticism.
This was planned by Wendy. Certainly, not all of the same batch of products would have the same problems at the same time, because that would make it easy to trace the problems.
Timothy was rushing to release the products into the market, so surely not all of them would be checked. He did random inspections, so if all the goods had problems, he would definitely find out.
Wendy made sure to botch about half of the goods. She had communicated well with the quality inspection staff, and ensured that the batch that Timothy spot-checked contained only the ones with no issues.
The problematic goods were spread out during the distribution to business partners.
If one or two cases of allergies occurred, no one would blame HG for quality issues.
But the number of products sent out for the first time was as high as one million pieces. According to the ratio of one in seven, hundreds of thousands of people would be allergic, and 300,000 would receive poor-quality clothing. As for the rest of those who got the untainted goods, the quality wouldn’t matter anymore. News about the problematic products would be enough to make those customers who received the regular goods hesitate to wear the clothing.
By then, no one would stand up to speak for HG because the victims were real.
There were many comments regarding HG’s crisis floating around.
"F*ck, isn’t HG a big company? Corrine has been with them for the past few years, and their products have been selling well every year. How could such a fundamental problem crop up? What about quality control? Aren’t they complacent?"
"I’d originally wanted to buy this Moonlight series, but I didn’t get the pre-sale orders... Hahaha, now it seems that I have averted a disaster for myself. Thanks to poverty for saving me, I can’t afford it... Hahahahaha..."
"Just wondering, is there a traitor in HG? People with brains wouldn’t dare to destroy their own reputation. Even if they wanted to cut costs by using a slightly lower quality fabric, it shouldn’t be bad enough for so many people to be allergic to it."
"I feel that this isn’t as simple as it seems. The products designed by Corrine have always been hot stuff. But it’s the first time that pre-sales was implemented. This makes me suspect that HG wants to withdraw funds quickly, but why would they want to do that? According to previous HG sales records, it shouldn’t matter whether customers paid a few days sooner or later. This time, they were in such a hurry.
Perhaps there’s a fundamental problem that’s causing this screwup."
"Reacting to the last comment: Does HG want to cash out and leave? But it doesn’t make sense. It’s doing well, why would they want to kill themselves?"
Wendy consumed a whole load of news in one sitting. She even scrolled through Twitter to see what was being said about HG. Unsurprisingly, HG was trending.
Wendy was starting to feel better, as she saw that most of the tweets were saying unpleasant stuff about HG.
However, after sitting on the plane for long hours and working without a break immediately after, Wendy was very exhausted. It’s a pity that she couldn’t rest yet.
She had to continue to pretend to be hard at work. Wendy took out her cellphone and called her children. Both her children would soon be asleep if she didn’t call now.
Leah had been waiting for Wendy’s call. Hearing a knock on the door, she immediately got up from her pink princess bed. Her big eyes suddenly lit up. "Is it Mommy?"
Zess smiled and nodded. "Yes if you’re not tired, wanna chat with Mommy?"
"Yes!" Leah immediately got out of bed and ran over to pick up Zess’ cellphone.
...
In the video call, Wendy smiled and waved to Leah. "Leah, do you miss Mommy?"
"Yes, I do, Mommy." Leah nodded desperately, as if the harder she nodded, the more she could show how she missed Wendy. "Mummy, when are you coming back? Jake and I miss you so much."
"Mommy has already come back, but I’ve been very busy recently and can’t go home yet. Be a good girl, Leah, and I will come back to you after finishing my work."
"I will definitely be a good girl. Come back soon, Mommy." Leah and Jake were used to Wendy being busy with work and not coming home since they were babies.
In the past, they often stayed at Timothy’s house. Timothy, who was their god-grandpa, had helped Wendy bring up these two kids. Wendy, on the contrary, was always working overtime and going on business trips. Sometimes, her children wouldn’t see her for ten days or even half a month.
So, while Leah was a little sad and disappointed when Wendy said that she couldn’t leave work yet, she was prepared for it.
Leah took the cellphone and ran to Jake’s room.
"Is it Mommy?" Jake asked joyfully.
Leah nodded and walked over to show the small faces of herself and Jake on the screen.
"Mummy..." Jake looked very tired, and his small face scrunched up as he said, "Mummy, you seem to be very tired. Are you too busy to have a good rest, or to have a good meal?"
"Mommy, you don’t have to come back to see me and Jake, but you must eat well and have a good rest." Leah was too elated upon seeing Wendy earlier on, and she did not notice that her mother was exhausted and very distressed. Now that she finally noticed Wendy’s tired face, Leah felt very sad.
Hearing her two children express concern towards her, Wendy could feel her exhaustion dissipating in an instant. She smiled and stretched out her hand, touching the faces of her two children on the screen. She said, "Okay, I will definitely eat well and have a good rest."
Before Wendy finished her words, she got an incoming call. It was Michael’s private number. Wendy pursed her lips, thinking about whether to answer it.
After hesitating for a while, Wendy walked to the restroom with her cellphone and laptop. As she walked, she said to the two children, "It’s getting late, so please rest early."
Leah and Jake waved reluctantly and said in unison, "Goodbye, Mommy."
Entering the lounge, Wendy ended the video call. Meanwhile, the call notification from Michael was also gone. Sitting on the office chair, Michael looked at the email sent by Wendy. The look of excitement on his face faded and he looked deep in thought while listening to the dial tone at the end of the line.
He lowered his head and muttered to himself in a low voice, "Wendy sent me an email. Doesn’t this mean that she’s willing to forgive me? But why doesn’t she answer my call? It’s not convenient for her to do so? It should already be ten o’clock in the evening over there, so there shouldn’t be anyone around her at this time. Is it because she sent the email to the wrong person? Perhaps she wanted to send it to Yonina? But, that’s impossible. This is a hidden email address. How could she have sent it to me by accident?"
At this thought, Michael decided to call Yonina and ask her if Wendy sent her an email. What if Wendy really made a mistake? Or, she might have also sent it to Yonina?
After Wendy entered the restroom, she frowned as she looked at the cellphone that didn’t ring anymore. What did Michael mean by making a call and then disappearing afterwards? Is he messing with me?
...
Michael called Yonina. He had a confused expression on his face. Yonina had just arrived at Collins Group. As soon as she sat down and saw Michael calling, she immediately picked it up. "Mr. Lucas, you are calling me so early? Is something wrong?"
"Did Wendy send you an email?" Michael asked.
"Email?" Yonina frowned and reached out to turn on the computer. As the computer screen lit up, she logged into the secret mailbox and said, "Let me see."
If anything, Wendy’s email to her must also be about HG. However, Yonina did not find any new emails from Wendy. She said to Michael, "No, there is no email from Wendy. Is there any new development? If it is inconvenient for you to ask Wendy, then maybe I can make a call to ask?"
"Wendy sent me an email." Michael was happy when he heard Yonina saying that she had not received an email from Wendy. It seemed likely that Wendy had intended to send him that email after all.
But why didn’t Wendy pick up the call?
"Mr. Lucas, you can’t be this childish to call me just to show off," Yonina said in disbelief upon hearing Michael’s tone. It’s hard to imagine that this man, the president of a big company, was so childish and naive.
"No, I called Wendy earlier on, but she didn’t pick up the call," Michael expressed his worry. "Do you think Wendy didn’t take my call on purpose, or it’s not convenient for her to talk to me? I didn’t dare to call her again. If she is busy with something else and if I were to call her again, would she be unhappy with how inconsiderate I am?" freewebnøvel.com
At some point, Michael had become very cautious, especially when it came to Wendy. He was afraid of making Wendy angry. Listening to Michael, Yonina couldn’t help but feel amused. She said, "It should be nighttime in Rheinsville city. Since Wendy sent you an email but didn’t send it to me, it means that her attitude towards you has gradually changed for the better. As for not answering your call, there could be many reasons. She is currently in HG and is monitored. It wouldn’t be that easy for her to answer calls. Try emailing her. Ask when she’s available to talk on the phone."
"Good idea, I’ll do just that." Michael quickly ended the call.
Yonina was in disbelief at how Michael was so fast to end the conversation. Sure, gals before pals.
After ending the call with Yonina, Michael’s fingers tapped on the keyboard immediately. He typed a line and looked at it. He thought it was not appropriate and silently deleted it. After repeating this several times, Michael finally sent an email to Wendy.
He was excited and nervous while waiting for Wendy’s reply. Wendy stayed in the lounge for a long time but did not receive any more calls from Michael. She couldn’t stay here for too long. She was thinking about waiting for another two minutes. If he didn’t call, she would go out.
Two minutes passed quickly. The phone was still quiet. Pursing her lips, Wendy hesitated for a moment. She wondered if Michael was afraid it would be inconvenient for her to answer the call. He might have sent an email?
Wendy opened the mailbox. Sure enough, there was an email from Michael. It was simple message: Wendy, reply me when you can. I think it’s better for us to talk about this in detail. After all, we should be cautious since this is a serious matter.
...
Wendy knitted her brows as she stared at the line of words. She was not busy at that moment. Her hand nervously trembled as she picked up the phone.
Should she return Michael’s call? But why would he care if she bothered to call him back?
Michael would probably think that she had decided to forgive him. Even ignoring the influence that the current events had exacted on her, Wendy still had her pride. And so, for a long time, her finger indecisively hovered above the call icon on her phone screen.
She swallowed nervously. Wendy thought that Michael was waiting for her to find time to call him back ... that’s why he replied to her email. Michael probably thought that she was not free to answer the phone. Michael was probably not going to call her either if she decided not to contact him.
The more she thought about it, the more she convinced herself that she should call him back. Her finger slid across the screen. The call screen appeared on her phone.
Wendy’s heart raced with the sudden rush of adrenaline, and without thinking, she quickly hung up her phone. She took a deep breath, truly dreading having to make this call.
After another long moment of hesitation, Wendy decided to send an email to Michael instead. She typed up an email and sent it over to Michael. The email only consisted of four words: We can talk now.
Afterward, Wendy sat on her bed tightly hugging her computer in anticipation. She was waiting for Michael’s call. She firmly believed that Michael would call immediately after he read her email.
If neither of them were willing to make the phone call, then there really could be nothing to talk about.
As Wendy predicted, when Michael opened her email, his whole face broke into a smile. He was excited and talked to himself quietly, "Wendy received my email.
She’s free to talk right now. Is she trying to send a hint that I should call her on the spot? No, it’s definitely not a hint. It’s clearly a request."
Michael excitedly dialed Wendy’s phone number on his keypad and placed his call.
When she saw her screen light up to show an incoming phone call, Wendy’s heart began beating erratically. She immediately picked up her phone to accept the call.
But her finger froze just as she was about to press the green call button. No, she could not pick up that quickly. Otherwise, it would seem like she had been waiting for Michael to call. Wendy quietly began counting as she waited. Once she counted to five, she cleared her throat before answering the call, "I’m very busy. If you have anything to say, then be quick about it."
"Okay, okay, okay. I just wanted to..." Michael had simply wanted to hear Wendy’s voice, but he could not tell Wendy the real reason for calling her. Michael had to curb his excitement. His voice took on a serious tone as he said, "I just wanted to talk to you about that email you sent. You asked that I find some way of buying over the customers you marked as VIPs. I took a look at what you sent me.
"Those people are all well-known dealers. They all have connections with top-notch sellers. Besides, they’re also customers who’ve worked with HG for a long time.
Even if I tried using money, it won’t be easy to buy them over. Even though the HG scandal has gained a lot of attention, there are still a few older partners who aren’t short on cash. They should be able to help HG. Can you identify and mark down on this list which of these people don’t have good relations with HG or are easy to buy over?"
This was something Wendy had not made note of. Wendy did not have the time to go through the list name by name. Michael could always do the research himself, but he was on a tight schedule, and the individuals listed were all internationally recognized dealers. Working from the beginning would take a very long time, and forboth of them, time was of the greatest essence.
