The makeup artist was applying makeup to Sang Ying. She held the list of products for tonight’s livestream; there were not many, only fifteen.
VW was excellent at marketing, and their livestreams were different from others. The CEO mandated two livestreams per week: one for beauty products and one for skincare. Each stream was strictly controlled to end within two hours. While the discounts were generous, there was no fatigue marketing. Quantities were limited, and once sold out, customers had to wait for the next session. However, because the product types varied, if you missed out on one, you would have to wait for the next time that specific product appeared again.
Sang Ying learned a lot from this strategy. She understood how to capture the consumer’s psyche. VW was a major brand, so customers were not afraid to wait. Combined with the discounts offered during the stream, the number of buyers only continued to grow.
The livestream started at 8:00 PM. Ding Han was her assistant and sat in front of the camera with her. Behind the camera, a row of people stood or sat. They were other VW staff members. Unlike her previous Qingdeng livestreams, she now had a professional team behind her.
Sang Ying checked the time. There were ten minutes left.
Ding Han was taking deep breaths, feeling nervous and wanting to shrink back. She looked at the calm Sang Ying and assumed she was not nervous, only to discover that Sang Ying was drinking water incessantly.
This was a tell-tale sign that Sang Ying was nervous. She took the cup away. “Drink less, or you will be running to the restroom later.”
That made sense. Sang Ying cleared her throat. “Is my voice okay?”
“Pfft!” Ding Han snickered. “Don’t you know you have a naturally hoarse voice?”
“Oh, right, Sang Ying,” the operations manager approached, holding a laptop. “Let me confirm the final details with you. All the free gifts are from Qingdeng Skincare, right?”
At the mention of this, Sang Ying’s focus sharpened immediately. “Yes.”
The manager nodded after confirming. “Got it. Three minutes left. Get ready.”
The manager took the laptop to a small table nearby. One of the staff members glanced over and whispered, “I really do not understand why CEO Xia insists on using a brand no one has heard of as a free gift. Is she not worried about ruining VW’s reputation?”
The manager kept her eyes on the computer screen. “Do you dare question CEO Xia’s decisions?”
“I just do not get it,” the staff member continued in her ear. “Qingdeng is a brand founded by Sang Ying herself. What exactly is her background? And why does VW not learn from other big brands and cooperate with famous streamers to promote our products instead of doing our own livestreams? Even if we do our own, could we not at least find a professional streamer?”
The manager turned and knocked her hard on the head. “Enough. The stream is about to start.”
The staff member held her head, feeling disgruntled. “She is unprofessional, to begin with. Can I not even say that?”
She did not believe that Sang Ying would not make a mistake.
At 8:00 PM, the livestream officially began. The pre-event hype had been well-executed, and coupled with VW’s own popularity, as soon as the camera turned on, Sang Ying saw hundreds of thousands of viewers, with the number increasing every second.
She kept a smile. “Hello everyone, I am your host, Sang Ying.”
Xia Tingwang wore her headphones. Next to her computer, she had a tablet displaying the live feed, while her computer screen remained open for a video conference. Assistant Bai was busy taking meeting notes.
Xia Tingwang’s attention was entirely focused on the livestream.
“This sunscreen is waterproof, so you need to remove your makeup afterwards,” the hoarse voice of Sang Ying came through the headphones. “It does not look unnatural or chalky. Look at the effect on the skin; it only takes two minutes to set.”
Assistant Ding Han served as the model. Sang Ying’s slender fingers applied the sunscreen to Ding Han’s face. “Because it is waterproof, it has strong durability. It can last for twelve hours during the winter. Office workers do not need to worry at all. However, this product’s effect is a bit too strong for winter use; personally, I think it is more suitable for summer. You can buy it and wait for summer. The shelf life is three years. If you purchase in the livestream today, one bottle is 760 yuan. Buying one full-size bottle will get you a 30ml travel size of the same sunscreen, plus two boxes of Qingdeng Hydrating Masks.”
Sang Ying’s straightforward personality extended into the livestream; she openly told everyone that this sunscreen was better suited for summer.
CEO Xia Tingwang felt a bit conflicted.
Before she could process her feelings, a few minutes later, the little streamer added, “The products we are streaming today are a full skincare set. It is not targeted for any specific skin concern; it is suitable for all skin types. It is best for those whose skin does not have major issues. Next week, we will have special sessions for specific skin types, so please look forward to those.”
Xia Tingwang closed her eyes. Forget it. Since Sang Ying is just that kind of person, I can tolerate it.
The next second, Sang Ying said, “The free gift, Qingdeng, is not a VW product; it is a new brand. The mask is specifically formulated for dry skin. We have tested it, and using five boxes consecutively can improve dehydration in dry skin. Those with dry skin, please rest assured.”
Great. She spoke nothing but high praise for her own products, while her own high-end VW products sounded merely average in Sang Ying’s mouth.
Xia Tingwang exhaled deeply, warning herself not to view this as a CEO, but as an ordinary viewer, or she would die of frustration.
Once her perspective shifted, her mood improved. She stopped getting angry at whatever Sang Ying said and just acted as an ordinary viewer named Yinyin 77 listening to the voice.
The video conference was long, starting at 6:00 PM and finally nearing its end around 10:00 PM.
Xia Tingwang rubbed her temples and gave the closing remarks.
Through her headphones, she heard Sang Ying’s voice, previewing the products for tomorrow’s beauty session. “The highlight of tomorrow is our newly released New Year Fantasy Foundation. It possesses extremely strong coverage.”
Xia Tingwang froze and hurriedly looked at the tablet. Sang Ying was holding a red circular bottle. That was the new foundation VW was developing; it was still in the trial stage, and the trial period had not even ended, so it could not be released to the public yet. She wrapped up the meeting in a few sentences.
Xia Tingwang tossed aside her headphones and called Zhou Jun, who was in charge of the beauty department, but the line was busy.
She stood up and stormed out of her office. Assistant Bai, who was taking the meeting minutes, was confused but hurried to follow.
Taking the dedicated elevator to the 15th floor, it was 10:00 PM, and the entire building was brightly lit. The beauty department trembled in fear when they saw Xia Tingwang appear.
Xia Tingwang pushed open the door to Zhou Jun’s office, but no one was inside.
“Where is Zhou Jun?” Xia Tingwang asked with a hint of anger.
“Director Zhou went out after seeing the livestream; he should be at the studio,” answered Zhou Jun’s assistant.
Xia Tingwang’s face darkened. “Who is in charge of the Fantasy foundation trial?”
The assistant lowered his head. “It is Team Leader Cai. She is responsible for the livestream affairs and is at the studio as well.”
Xia Tingwang turned and left again; the studio was in the building across the street.
“You are the host, and you streamed this without even understanding the product?”
Zhou Jun pointed at Sang Ying. “Fantasy is still in the internal trial period. I ask you, what are you going to sell to everyone tomorrow?”
Zhou Jun was so angry he stood with his hands on his hips. “I told you not to stream, not to stream. Look at this now; you have caused such a huge mess. Tell me, what should we do now?”
Sang Ying listened in silence. Before the broadcast, she had checked the products repeatedly, trying her best to understand their functions and attributes, never expecting a mistake to occur.
However, she felt this oversight was not entirely her fault. She wanted to defend herself, but she had been the one to preview the item, so she held responsibility. In the end, she could say nothing.
Ding Han gritted her teeth, wanting to argue with the man in front of them several times. What does this have to do with us? Why should we be the ones to take the blame?
“I am asking you a question,” Zhou Jun continued to pressure her. “Are you not the host? The information about the product came from your mouth. Find a way to solve this!”
“I think the thing that needs solving is the internal issues within your cosmetics department!”
A female voice cut through Zhou Jun’s rage. Everyone turned around. Xia Tingwang walked in slowly, her heels clicking on the floor. Her expression was even worse than Zhou Jun’s.
No one expected the CEO to personally manage this matter. Zhou Jun also did not expect it; which big CEO would worry about such trifles?
“CEO Xia?” Zhou Jun instantly extinguished his fire. “Why are you here?”
Xia Tingwang walked to Sang Ying, scanned everyone, and tilted her head. “Who is Team Leader Cai?”
Team Leader Cai, who was standing not far behind Zhou Jun, jolted. She was the leader of the first group of the cosmetics department and the person in charge of this livestream. She raised her hand. “CEO Xia, that is me.”
Xia Tingwang looked at her. “Are you responsible for the Fantasy foundation trial?”
“Yes.”
“How were the trial results?”
“They were almost—no, the results were qualified, and I was preparing to submit them.”
“So it has not been submitted yet,” Xia Tingwang stated. “Then how did it appear in the livestream?”
Team Leader Cai swallowed hard and quietly glanced at Zhou Jun. Zhou Jun had been in a bad mood and had a short temper lately; she could see that Zhou Jun opposed the company’s decision to livestream. She had been assigned by Zhou Jun to be in charge of the stream, so she thought she would curry favor with her boss.
Thus, she had meddled with things. Zhou Jun did not know the full story, but he inexplicably stood on her side.
The main reason she dared to do this was that she looked down on the unconnected streamer. Furthermore, she thought such a matter would at most reach her immediate supervisor, Zhou Jun. Since Zhou Jun already disagreed with the livestream, he might tell the CEO about the disadvantages of streaming, and perhaps the whole project would be cut.
But Team Leader Cai did not expect the CEO to personally oversee this matter. She broke into a cold sweat.
Xia Tingwang sneered. “How many bottles of Fantasy stock are there?”
Team Leader Cai wiped her forehead, stuttering, “About… about less than a hundred.”
“I want to know the exact number within two minutes.”
Hearing this, Team Leader Cai hurriedly pulled out her phone to call her colleague, asking them to help count the bottles.
Xia Tingwang bent over and sat in Sang Ying’s livestream chair. With a slight tip of her toes, the chair slid to the edge of the table, blocking Sang Ying behind her. She crossed her hands on the armrests, her aura radiating clear dissatisfaction.
No one dared to breathe loudly.
Two minutes later, Team Leader Cai finished the call and leaned in. “CEO Xia, there are 80 bottles in total.”
“Mm,” Xia Tingwang said. “Sang Ying.”
Sang Ying, standing behind her, responded, “Yes, I am here.”
Xia Tingwang was momentarily distracted by the voice behind her, nearly forgetting what she was going to say. She steadied her nerves. “These eighty bottles will be given away in tomorrow’s livestream via a lucky draw, and we will inform everyone that this foundation will be officially launched after the New Year.”
“Understood.” Sang Ying nodded.
Xia Tingwang raised her eyes and looked at Zhou Jun. “Director Zhou, who do you think should bear the loss of these eighty bottles?”
Zhou Jun pinched the bridge of his nose. “It will be covered by the cosmetics department.”
Xia Tingwang shook her head. “No. Responsibility lies with the person at fault. Team Leader Cai, you are dismissed starting tomorrow. Have the finance department calculate the total value of these eighty bottles of foundation and deduct it from your wages. Anything extra will be refunded, and any shortfall will be paid.”