When Mingde’s new products were finally launched, the company’s distributors were so nervous they couldn’t even sleep.

Everything had been going smoothly, but no one expected the sudden turn of events that would come at the last minute.

How could they not know about the heated online battles? And then, the arrival of Xinghe Company, whose aggressive price war was something that small distributors like them truly feared. Xinghe was a huge corporation, not something they could afford to compete with.

No one knew what direction Mingde would take under such pressure.

After staying up all night, anxiously watching the online reports about Xinghe’s promotional campaign in Shenzhen, the distributors finally fell into a drowsy sleep as morning came.

But they were woken up by a call from a retailer, still in a foggy state.

The voice from the other end of the phone seemed almost surreal to them.

“Do you have any more of Mingde’s new products? Ask the cold storage to send us another batch.”

The distributor, still half asleep, replied, “Didn’t we already deliver yesterday?”

The retailer responded, “They’re almost sold out! Get them to send more quickly!”

Sold out?!

The distributor sat up with a start, wide-eyed, “How could that be? Didn’t we only sell one-third of the stock yesterday?”

That was just the first day, and the sales were driven mostly by Mingde’s dedicated fans. Fan-driven purchases were usually consistent, but they’d typically see a gradual decline in sales. How could they have sold out so fast?

The retailer, frustrated with the delay, urged, “Come on, hurry up and get more products sent over! Yesterday it was the fans, but today it’s the repeat buyers! People are saying it’s going to sell out, and they’re buying it in bulk, five or six bags at a time! Of course, sales are going to be higher!”

Repeat buyers? Stockpiling?!

The distributor hung up, staring blankly at the wall for a long time. Finally, he jumped out of bed and rushed to his computer.

—

Local forums in Shenzhen were exploding.

Every single fan who had bought Mingde’s products on launch day was posting photos and shouting out in excitement across all their social networks.

“My God, Mingde’s products are amazing, I should have known, the fans’ recommendations were absolutely spot on!”

“Is this really frozen food? Unbelievable! Tell your friends and family to go buy it!!!”

“Forget the rankings for frozen food flavors. Believe me, even the freshly made ones you’ve eaten over the years can’t compare to this frozen version!”

“Mingde is truly sincere. As someone who has tried their seasonal restaurant menu, I can confidently say this product recreates at least 90% of the flavor! Can’t get a seat at the restaurant? Go to the supermarket, and you can enjoy it right away!”

“Don’t let the price scare you. I thought it was expensive at first, but after eating it, I realized it’s really worth it. When you do the math, it’s about the same price as what they charge at the restaurant, and it’s even cheaper in some cases. They put 40 dumplings in one bag, so it’s enough for three meals if you stretch it. Incredible value for money!”

“Literally in tears! As a working professional, I only had time to visit Mingde’s restaurant on weekends. After one visit, I couldn’t stop craving it during the week. Now I don’t have to worry anymore—just knowing that there are Mingde beef noodles waiting for me in the fridge gives me hope during those long office hours.”

At first, some people thought that these posts were just fans trying to justify their expensive purchases.

But then, even some of the former critics began changing their tune.

A well-known internet personality who prided themselves on exposing bad businesses, and had previously waged war against Mingde’s high prices, even posted a picture of themselves carrying a shopping bag full of Mingde’s products, tagging Mingde’s official account with an apology:

“Sorry, I didn’t investigate the facts properly before jumping to conclusions about you charging an ‘IQ tax’ on your fans. I feel so embarrassed. I’ve spent a fortune repurchasing your products, and I have to say, they’re amazing. To all my followers, if you have the money, go try them. Mingde isn’t just out to make money; they’re really improving the quality of life for people like us, the city workers who don’t have time for good food.”

At the same time, his live-stream recording of this dramatic flip-flop went viral, causing a huge stir among his previous followers who had stood with him in opposing Mingde.

Many of them were stunned, unable to believe what they were seeing.

Some, who had ridiculed Mingde’s prices, now admitted they had been wrong. Others, too proud to back down, stopped speaking out altogether, even deleting previous comments, since they didn’t actually have a personal vendetta against Mingde.

As a result, even more people in Shenzhen started showing interest in Mingde’s products.

—

“Wow, brothers and sisters, let’s go! Xinghe is seriously shameless, we can’t let Chairman Jin and Mingde lose to them!!!”

Meanwhile, in Mingde’s fan club, they were too busy organizing new fundraising efforts to boost sales to even bother with online arguments.

The fans were still angry at the competitors that had emerged on the day of Mingde’s product launch. Determined to fight for their beloved Chairman Jin, they remembered the chaotic scenes of people fighting over Xinghe’s ultra-low-priced dumplings at the supermarket, while Mingde’s sales, aside from those from loyal fans, had seemed less impressive.

Filled with excitement, they rallied together, waving the Mingde flag and encouraging others to buy.

“Go, go! Mingde’s new products are absolutely delicious! Trust me, even though the price is high, you won’t regret buying them!!!”

Fans from other regions joined in.

“Count me in!”

“Me too!”

“Let’s all help Mingde hit the jackpot!!!”

The support club in Shenzhen quickly received contributions from all over the world, and the largest donation, along with the support from club members, left everyone shocked.

Soon, the news spread, and fans immediately prepared for battle. They thought they would face off with those who liked to call them “brain-dead fans” and “victims of being exploited,” but instead, they faced entirely different criticisms:

“Shenzhen supermarkets are almost out of stock, and every store is limiting purchases! Yet, you guys are helping people from other cities buy them. Do you even understand the meaning of ‘don’t let the good stuff flow to outsiders’?”

The fans: “?????”

When they rushed to Shenzhen’s commercial markets with large amounts of money, they were stunned to discover the situation.

The containers filled with Xinghe products went unnoticed, while a new sign was placed in front of the premium shelf displaying Mingde products: “Due to tight supply, each person is limited to three bags. Thank you for your understanding.”

The fans who started the crowdfunding could only apologize to their friends in the circle: “There were too many people fighting for the products! We really couldn’t outbid them!”

And with a limit of three bags per person, even local fans had to stock up for themselves, so there was just not enough to share.

Fans who vowed to support Mingde and CEO Jin in their rise to success now found their contributions returned: “…”

What does it feel like to support an idol who causes trouble?

It feels like even trying to boost sales involves competing with countless strangers.

And oh my god, how good are Jin Dong’s products actually?!

When the support club started raising funds, they didn’t have a clear concept and just thought they were spending money on their idol. But now, with the money they couldn’t spend, they were even more anxious!

Even if it wasn’t for Jin Dong, they themselves really wanted to try it!

---

The explosive popularity of Mingde’s new products far exceeded the expectations of major retailers and distributors.

The stock prepared for the initial market couldn’t meet the huge demand.

The result was that the products were often out of stock when consumers came to buy them.

Those who returned empty-handed spread the news that Mingde’s products would be out of stock, causing others to rush to buy before they were gone, leading supermarkets to limit purchases.

After the limit, the number of people hoarding increased rather than decreased.

Distributors were speechless.

Are there really that many rich people now? Mingde’s products are so expensive, don’t they mind hoarding them?

Xinghe’s sales staff were similarly anxious, but for a different reason:

Even though there were long lines near the frozen food section, and Mingde’s products were quickly sold out, why wasn’t Xinghe’s sales picking up?

On the day Mingde’s products launched, they had a huge promotional success and were doing just as well as Mingde.

But since then, Mingde had become more popular day by day, and it seemed like Xinghe had been completely forgotten by Shenzhen overnight.

Customers who came to stock up on Mingde’s products didn’t even glance at their well-stocked containers, even though the products were extremely similar, and Xinghe’s prices were much cheaper.

Yet, they preferred to buy the more expensive ones.

Thankfully, there were still some customers who weren’t interested in Mingde’s products—like those who loved hoarding low-priced goods.

No matter how popular Mingde’s products got, when they saw the price, they just avoided them.

It was these customers who, on the day Mingde launched, helped Xinghe hold its ground.

But these customers didn’t seem interested in them anymore.

Some even remembered the brand they had bought before, but after inquiring about the price, their attitude was no longer as warm as when they rushed to buy during the promotion.

After confirming that they weren’t continuing their previous activities, they turned away and ended up purchasing the familiar brands with the largest market share in Shenzhen.

---

At the Mingde branch office, the employees from the new department gathered, and Jin Yaotiao looked at a few staff members unpacking the new samples sent by the factory.

There were several plastic-sealed bags with similar styles, including high-soup wontons, yellow fish rice cakes, bamboo shoots green dumplings… Jiang Bai laughed as he looked over them and said to her: “Jin Dong, you’re really quick. The items just launched, and we still can’t produce enough of them, and you’re already preparing for new ones.”

The high-soup wontons were packed with frozen broth, and through the bag, you could vaguely see the frozen mushrooms and meat chunks inside.

After inspecting them, she opened the wonton bag, pouring out the cute, delicate frozen wontons for inspection: “Actually, there are other flavors of dumplings too.

Since we’ve already built new channels, we should continue pushing forward.

The restaurants in other cities are already preparing, and before that, I hope we can promote the brand faster. When can the factory’s production catch up?”

The frozen broth had already been heated up, and it was a formula Jin Yaotiao and her team had perfected after dozens of adjustments.

The broth was made with plenty of beef, pork bones, poultry, and appropriately cured products. After slow simmering, the complex and complementary flavors were fused into the final product. Even after being frozen, the taste remained unchanged.

The rich aroma of the broth made Jiang Bai lose focus for a moment, and he unconsciously glanced toward the source of the aroma: “We’re already speeding up the process. The previous forecast was too conservative. Once we finalize the new cold storage and production lines, it’ll take at most half a month. As for promotions in other cities, we’re already negotiating with large distributors from other provinces. Thanks to you, the process is going much more smoothly than in the early stages. But there’s something I need to tell you.”

The wontons were dropped into boiling water, and the thin skin quickly became transparent.

They were small, delicate, and cooked faster than dumplings. Inside the thin skin, the tightly packed filling with shrimp pieces was clearly visible.

Jin Yaotiao adjusted them with her chopsticks, confirming that the thin skin had the desired texture.

She asked, “What’s that?”

Jiang Bai replied, “Some distributors contacted us, saying that Xinghe is making moves behind the scenes.”

Jin Yaotiao frowned. “What are they up to now?”

Jiang Bai, having dealt with previous disputes, clearly had no goodwill toward this company.

He scoffed, “They’re bundling products. It’s been happening these past few days. Taking advantage of our purchase limits, they’ve bribed a few retailers to make customers buy their products along with ours. But don’t worry, it’s already been dealt with. The two local small distributors we’re working with are very dedicated, and they caught this behavior early and reported it.”

Jin Yaotiao nodded in satisfaction. A reliable assistant was hard to find.

Jiang Bai, meanwhile, couldn’t stop eating the broth wontons.

The thin and soft wonton skins were perfectly chewy, with no signs of being soggy from freezing.

The large shrimp, wrapped in the meat filling, were fresh and crunchy.

The best part was the broth, which was both refreshing and rich in flavor.

There was no industrial aftertaste.

Even compared to most restaurant soups he had tried, it was just as excellent.

A bowl of simple wontons had been elevated to a heavenly taste.

Jiang Bai drank his soup in one go, thinking about the frozen products Mingde had sent out as welfare for all their employees these past few days.

For their team, the senior leaders, who were always rushing around until late at night, coming home exhausted and needing to cook a quick meal before going to bed, the aroma of the food seemed to dispel all the fatigue from the day.

Years after graduation, having worked for various companies and even started his own business, Jiang Bai found that Mingde was the most fulfilling place he had ever been, and it wasn’t about the money.

Initially, he had thought about using Mingde as a stepping stone to overcome tough times, but now, neither he nor anyone in the team had mentioned seeking other opportunities.

Staying here, in fact, had turned out to be one of the best decisions of his life.