Because of how popular Reborn soap and shampoo became, times became rough for anyone in the soap production business. In a matter of days, their entire work became obsolete. No one was buying their products.
"Daddy, daddy! Can you buy me a chess board? Please, daddy!" a young man pleaded to his father, tugging on his shirt.
The father was none other than the owner of the failing soap production business.
"I'm sorry, son. Money's a little tight right now. How about we buy you a chess board next year?" he said, kneeling to rub the boy's hair.
"No! I want it right now!"
His son ran away in tears, but he could do nothing but let the boy sulk. Now that no one was buying their soaps, they weren't earning enough money to even keep the business afloat. All the money he saved up was being used to pay his workers a decent salary in these hard times.
Knock knock.
Just then, someone knocked on the door to his office. He quickly welcomed the visitor in, hoping that it was a potential customer.
"Hello, what can I do for you?" he said with a smile, feigning joy.
Castelle walked inside the man's office and bowed to him as a greeting.
"Good morning, sir. I'm here as a representative of the Reborn company."
The man sat up straight in his chair when he heard that. He would have never thought that his biggest competitor would suddenly come to his doorstep.
"What do you want?" he said, a bit harshly.
Castelle sat on the chair opposite the desk and gave him a piece of paper. The man ignored it, not even giving it a glance, and kept looking at Castelle.
Seeing his obvious hostility, Castelle knew that she had to pivot.
"Sir, why do you own a soap business?" Castelle asked.
"Isn't it obvious? I wanted to earn money. Wanted. But because of your company, I can't even give my son a chess board for his birthday. My workers are struggling to eat!"
Castelle then took the paper and showed it to the man, making sure that he finally paid attention to it.
"This is the formula for our soap. Our young master wants you to have it."
The man's eyes widened. He quickly parsed through the contents of the paper and was surprised that it looked like a genuine step-by-step instruction on how to create Reborn soap.
He couldn't believe it.
"Is this some sort of trick? What are you trying to pull?"
Castelle shook her head. "There is no trick. If you want to take that piece of paper with you, then we will gladly give it to you. There is no other condition."
The man stood up and paced back and forth in his office.
"Why? Why are you giving your competitor the secret to your soaps? You could have kept it yourselves and drove us all out of business."
Castelle smiled and remembered the young master's words.
"The owner of the Reborn company doesn't want enemies; he wants everyone to live comfortably. And if what it takes is to give you the formula, then he is willing to do that."
The man stopped in his tracks and looked at Castelle to see if she was kidding. But she wasn't. She was serious.
"I don't know if I should laugh or commend him," the man said, rubbing his hair in frustration. They made it extremely hard for him to hate the Reborn company.
"Sir, if you wouldn't mind, can you tell me what you earn every month from selling soap?"
The man was confused with her question. "What?"
"On a good day, what would you have considered a good profit before the Reborn soap took over the market?" Castelle reiterated.
The man thought it over and gave out a generous estimate.
"About 100 gold a month," he said.
Castelle then took out a pouch from her pockets and plopped it over to the man's desk. He wouldn't mistake that clinking sound for anything else. Those were gold coins, a lot of them too.
"The Reborn company is willing to give you a chance. If you come under the banner of our company, we are willing to give you a thousand gold coins and a portion of sales every month if you produce Reborn products for us."
The man gulped, his mind already lost in all the words Castelle said.
"If you become part of us, you will officially sell Reborn soap and shampoo."
The man sat back down in his chair. "What happens if I refuse? Will you take back the formula?"
"No. That formula is yours to keep. You can sell that soap under a different name, and we will not disturb your business.
However, let me remind you that our Reborn company is not just a single product. The leader of our company has a lot of other products and ideas in store. He has plans to sell lotion, perfume, and other such products. It's not even limited to just cleaning products. As you may know, we are also the ones who brought chess into the market.
If you join us, you can have the opportunity to be a part of that."
If the man was short-sighted, he would have just taken the formula and produced Reborn soap by himself and kept all the profits.
But in the long-term, he would stand to gain much higher profits if he allied himself with the Reborn company. After all, the future of this company was astronomical.
Still, this was a big decision.
"You can take your time deliberating for now. I'll be back a while later to hear your answer."
Castelle walked back to the door and gave him another courteous bow before she left.
The man remained in his seat, with his head burrowed in his hands. His decision here could alter his and his family's fate for better or for worse.
Just then, the door burst wide open as his son came running towards him with the biggest smile on his face. The little boy was carrying a chess board personally made by Michael. Castelle dropped it off as a present.
"Thank you, daddy! I love you!"
Before he could even react, his son embraced him with a big hug.
The man's smile slowly grew, with tears welling up in his eyes.
Right then and there, his decision was set in stone. He was going to accept their offer.