The Merciful Female Boss Chapter 01
Two weeks before the climbing competition, my teammates sent me their latest physical stats.
“Sophia, we’re counting on you for the gear!”
Before I could reply, Chloe tagged me.
“Twelve hundred a set? Am I seeing this right?”
“This price… it’s insane.”
I thought she meant it was too cheap. I was about to explain that I didn’t mind subsidizing the cost for the team’s sake.
Then she sent a voice note, sounding incredibly worked up.
“This stuff costs less than two hundred to make. How do you have the nerve to charge everyone twelve hundred?”
“Sophia, even if you’re ripping off people you know, this is way too far!”
My fingers froze over the keys.
Two hundred?
The cost of some knock-off from Wishmart?
Nick, one of my teammates, tried to back me up.
“Chloe, you’re new to the scene. High-end climbing equipment is expensive.”
“Sophia owns the shop. She’s only charging us cost. This stuff retails for at least seven grand.”
Chloe fired back instantly.
“Trust me, I know. My family owns a shop too.”
“Retail is retail, but the markup is massive.”
“When my family stocks up, even the best gear only costs two hundred, but we sell it for ten grand.”
The chat went silent for a second. Then Nick spoke up again, tagging me this time.
“Sophia, maybe you should explain this to everyone…”
“We get that you want to make a profit, but a six-fold markup? Isn’t that a bit… shady?”
Other teammates started chiming in.
“I knew nobody does anything for free. No wonder Sophia was always so eager to help.”
“Sophia, this is messed up. When we were thanking you for the ‘low price,’ were you laughing at us behind our backs?”
Chloe sent a “speak no evil” emoji.
“Oops, did I say too much? I didn’t mean to ruin her side hustle…”
“But I couldn’t help it. I can’t stand people who profit off their friends.”
“I provided gear for my old team too, but I charged the real cost. Two hundred a set.”
“If you guys want, I can do the same for you.”
The group was buzzing now.
“Chloe, can you really get it for two hundred? Is it really that cheap?”
“I won’t have to starve myself to afford gear anymore.”
“Man, we worked so hard for our money, and because we trusted Sophia, it all went into a capitalist’s pocket.”
Kevin, our usually fair captain, finally messaged the group.
“It’s my fault for not understanding the market or human nature better. I let someone rip us all off.”
Then, Kevin DM’ed me privately.
“Sophia, look, everyone’s pretty upset. Just refund me the money for this batch.”
“We’re going to get the gear from Chloe.”
“It’s not that we don’t support you, but the price difference is just too much.”
I replied with an “OK” and transferred the seventy-two hundred dollars back to him.
Back in the group chat, people were still complaining.
“We got this refund, but what about all the times before? We’ve ordered at least eight or ten times.”
“So she pocketed a grand from me every single time? That’s six grand for the six of us!”
“Ten times makes sixty grand. Damn, we basically paid for her shop ourselves, didn’t we?”
I silently closed the chat. I didn’t bother replying.
It was pointless. Even if I told them my actual cost was way more than six grand, what would it change?
They’d just call me a liar.
I looked at the latest physical data for each member on my screen and called the factory.
“Cancel the six sets of custom gear.”
Mike, the family member who managed that side of the business, let out a literal scream of joy.
“Boss, you finally came to your senses!”
“It’s fine that you do custom orders for them, but what you charge them doesn’t even cover a fraction of the cost.”
“Some people, even if you don’t make a dime, they’ll still think you’re taking them for a ride.”
“You’re doing the right thing!”
