Chapter 275: Profiteering
"It tastes good, but it's too sweet," Jiang Shu commented truthfully after finishing the macaron.
"President nim doesn't seem to like desserts very much?" Bae Joo-hyun asked, as she found these pastries quite good.
"I'm very sensitive to sweetness; I don't really like things that are even slightly sweet," Jiang Shu said, shaking his head.
"It seems you prefer spicy over sweet," Bae Joo-hyun speculated.
"Spicy is also just so-so; I only eat it occasionally. My taste is still rather light," Jiang Shu said with a smile.
"I see," Bae Joo-hyun nodded in understanding, and just as she was about to say something, her peripheral vision caught sight of two packs of Korean cigarettes placed under the coffee table.
"These are... cigarettes?" Bae Joo-hyun picked up the unopened pack of cigarettes and looked at Jiang Shu in surprise.
"Yes, I just bought them," Jiang Shu nodded.
"But you don't smoke, do you?" Bae Joo-hyun asked, puzzled.
Jiang Shu doesn't smoke, and he also prohibits employees from smoking anywhere other than the designated smoking rooms on each floor. Furthermore, Jiang Shu requires that no employee should smell of smoke before meetings or before seeing him.
Many in the company speculated whether the high number of female executives in their company was related to the fact that the proportion of female smokers is much lower than that of males.
However, these were just wild guesses with no basis. But Jiang Shu's dislike for others smoking was very real.
"They're for my family; they haven't tried Korean cigarettes before, so I'm sending two packs over," Jiang Shu explained.
He had always disliked the smell of smoke, but in his previous life, he was just a nobody, so he could only suppress his dislike and force himself to accept it.
Now, DM Entertainment is his domain, like a custom server, so he wouldn't hold back. If anyone had to hold back, it would be others.
"Can cigarettes pass through customs?" Bae Joo-hyun asked curiously.
"Yes, up to two packs, with the receipt," Jiang Shu said, taking out the receipt from the drawer.
"I always thought cigarettes couldn't be mailed. I didn't expect international shipping to be possible," Bae Joo-hyun said, looking enlightened.
"Actually, many things can be mailed; they're just mistakenly thought to be unmailable," Jiang Shu said with a chuckle.
Bae Joo-hyun put the cigarettes and receipt back in their original place. She also doesn't smoke; although she had tried it, she didn't like the taste very much.
"Um... President nim," Bae Joo-hyun hesitated, looking at Jiang Shu as she spoke.
"What's wrong? Why are you stammering?"
"Does the company still have tickets for the November 3rd music show? Only Yeri and Seulgi managed to get tickets among the members; the rest of us three didn't," Bae Joo-hyun said, a bit awkwardly.
"Every artist has a ticket allocation, didn't you know?" Jiang Shu asked, raising an eyebrow.
Bae Joo-hyun was stunned.
"No... I didn't know."
"Ask your manager and confirm," Jiang Shu said, narrowing his eyes.
"Yes, sir!" Bae Joo-hyun sensed something was wrong and quickly took out her phone to contact Red Velvet's manager.
Soon, the manager provided an answer.
None.
Seeing this, Jiang Shu dialed Director Jiang of the Administrative Department, put the phone on speaker, and placed it on the table.
Bae Joo-hyun, seeing this, also moved closer to Jiang Shu. It was clear that he wanted her to listen, which was why he put it on speaker.
Jiang Shu could already smell Bae Joo-hyun's scent, and as she moved closer, the scent became more intense, and he could also feel the warmth radiating from her.
Too close.
"Hello, President nim!" Director Jiang's voice came through the speaker.
"Has the renovation of the November 3rd music show stage been completed?" Jiang Shu didn't jump directly to the main topic but asked about a related matter.
"It has been completed. SBS has moved from the original studio to a larger one, which can accommodate five thousand spectators."
"So, have the company artists' ticket allocations been distributed?"
"They have been distributed," Director Jiang replied smoothly, giving an immediate answer after Jiang Shu's question.
"Are you sure they've reached the artists' hands?" Jiang Shu pressed.
Director Jiang realized something was amiss. These two questions were repetitive, and the President asking again meant he had information she wasn't aware of.
"I assigned the task to various teams to handle. Whether it has been delivered to every single artist, I need to confirm," Director Jiang didn't make a guarantee, leaving himself some room for maneuver.
"How long will it take to confirm?"
"Give me half an hour, I'll go confirm it right now!"
"I'll wait for your call."
"Yes, sir!"
Jiang Shu hung up the phone. Bae Joo-hyun glanced at Jiang Shu's unchanging expression and asked curiously.
"It sounds like it has nothing to do with Director Jiang?"
"Whether it does or not depends on how he acts," Jiang Shu said, leaning back on the sofa. "He's in charge of this matter. If his subordinates make a mistake, he still takes the blame. I won't trouble the subordinates; I'll only trouble him."
Bae Joo-hyun nodded thoughtfully.
"Going down layer by layer."
"Exactly."
Director Jiang said half an hour, but he called back in less than ten minutes.
This was typical of someone giving himself ample time to deal with unexpected situations, while also solving the problem ahead of schedule and leaving a good impression on his superior.
"President, I've clarified the situation. Among the first and second teams responsible for distributing artist tickets, the tickets for Red Velvet and NMIXX were not distributed and were sold at a high price to fans. I have now transferred them to the legal department, awaiting your next instructions," Director Jiang told Jiang Shu the results of his investigation as soon as the call connected.
The reason it was so fast was that after hanging up the phone, he called the leaders of the first and second teams to his presence and personally questioned them.
Although it hadn't been fully confirmed, further confirmation would take too much time, so he decided to report it this way first.
"I will arrange for someone to verify this, contact SBS, and ask for more tickets to give to the members of Red Velvet and NMIXX," Jiang Shu said after thinking for a moment.
"Yes, sir!"
"As for those three people you mentioned... we'll consider their positions and deal with them after the investigation results are out."
"Yes, sir!"
"That's all for now." With that, Jiang Shu hung up the phone.
"I can't believe our tickets were sold," Bae Joo-hyun said, blinking, a bit surprised.
"Every company has people who line their own pockets, but I didn't expect them to be so foolish," Jiang Shu was amused by these three people.
"They dared to withhold tickets that the company gave to artists. When the music show happens, I'll see who isn't there at a glance, and then if I ask, won't they be exposed?"
"Maybe they thought we'd buy our own tickets even without them. They just didn't expect me to come directly to you for them," Bae Joo-hyun said with a bitter smile.
If she really hadn't been able to get them, she wouldn't have come to Jiang Shu about this.