’Why not let him attend the meeting?’
’I was worried he’d see you and get ideas. That guy’s so handsome... no, I mean, he’s such a lech.’
’Just saying his name should be fine. It’s not like she’ll get pregnant just from hearing it. Besides, Serene seems interested in this. It could be a key point to strengthen my argument.’
"His name is Yang Hui. He’s a new manager who just joined us last week. The reason he isn’t at this meeting is that he went to Xinyue Square this afternoon to host an online live stream.
Oh, right, he was also the one who negotiated this live stream deal. Xinyue Group isn’t just promoting it to their five million members; they’re also offering an additional 10% off on top of existing discounts for every sale."
’Thinking about it, the things Yang Hui has accomplished are truly incredible.’ Li Yang was mentally elevating Yang Hui’s status in the eyes of President Tian and Zhang Chun.
’This is why I have to grit my teeth and endure so much frustration. Yang Hui is bringing in cold, hard cash.’
Serene’s expression suddenly turned strange. Her fingertips froze on the rim of her coffee cup, and the ripples on the surface of her iced Americano abruptly stilled—as if time itself had been forcibly paused the moment she heard the name "Yang Hui."
’How could he be working at Futong Commerce? Working for his own competitor? To gather intel? That seems completely unnecessary.’
"President Li, could you have him come join the meeting?"
Serene suddenly wanted to see the look on Yang Hui’s face when he saw her here.
Li Yang mistakenly assumed that Serene wanted Yang Hui to explain the partnership with Xinyue Group to confirm Futong Commerce’s projected store opening completion rate.
He didn’t want Yang Hui to interact with Serene, but today’s meeting was crucial. Serene’s trust would determine the purchasing prices, and that meant money.
"Xiaodan, go make a call and have Yang Hui come back."
"Serene, shall we continue? When Yang Hui gets back, we can have a separate discussion about the Xinyue Group partnership."
She nodded slightly. "The second point, and one I’m quite concerned about, is the NLB market. It’s been several days since the previous company handed it over to you. We’ve been tracking the performance in real time, and it’s not looking good. There has been a double-digit decline both month-over-month and year-over-year. Therefore, I’m not very confident in your promise of an average monthly sales of 300,000 per store."
Li Yang shot Zhang Li an annoyed glare, as if to say, "You’re so fucking useless." Zhang Li quickly lowered his head.
"Our team is entirely new; they need an adjustment period. Serene, give it two more weeks, and you’ll see our performance skyrocket. I have full confidence in my team on this."
"I hope so. However, I’d like to remind you, President Li, our other partner, Yanghe Commerce, should be opening their first NLB store in about ten days. They are complete newcomers as well. We’ll be able to benchmark the management skills of your two companies then."
HA HA! Li Yang burst out laughing at her words. "Serene, it’s not that I’m arrogant, but they’re a new company. They can’t compare to us in any aspect—not experience, resource investment, or talent. Just you wait and see. In less than six months, they’ll be forced to give up the market."
She smiled. ’Would you be so confident,’ she thought, ’if you knew that Yang Hui, the man you’re counting on to expand the Xinyue Square project, is actually your competitor? Then again, Yang Hui is a real piece of work. Why would he go work for a rival company? What kind of twisted hobby is that?’
Yang Hui was actually being wronged here. When he joined Futong Commerce, he had no idea they were going to acquire the NLB market in Qingjiang Province.
Just then, Dan Biao returned, and he didn’t look too happy.
"Xiaodan, how long until Yang Hui gets here? Tell him to hurry up."
Dan Biao looked at Li Yang, hesitating. He wasn’t sure how to phrase it, especially with someone from the brand company present.
"What’s going on? I’m asking you a question. Didn’t you hear me?"
If Serene hadn’t been there, Li Yang probably would have slammed the table and started cursing. The guy was hemming and hawing and couldn’t even answer a simple question.
Dan Biao steeled himself. "Boss, Yang Hui says he’s busy and doesn’t have time to come back. Besides, he said NLB isn’t a brand he’s responsible for, so why would he attend this meeting?"
SLAM—!
Li Yang’s palm slammed down hard on the conference table. The impact sent a few amber drops of Tieguanyin tea splashing out of a cup, blooming into jarring circular stains on the project proposal. The muscles in his jaw clenched into two sharp ridges, and the pulse throbbing in his neck seemed to beat in time with the second hand on the wall clock—
"Does he even want this job?!" The roar bounced off the glass curtain wall, startling the projector stand into a slight wobble. The PowerPoint presentation, which had been mid-demonstration, froze on a slide displaying the scarlet figure: "Annual Sales Target: 50,000,000."
He really couldn’t hold it in any longer. He’d been provoked by Yang Hui several times since that morning. Even a clay doll has a bit of a temper, let alone someone as naturally short-fused as him. This was the final straw.
Serene’s fingertip tapped lightly on the meeting minutes. The crisp sound of her Chanel nail polish against the paper acted like a small rest note, perfectly cutting off the aftershock of Li Yang’s fury.
"President Li, shall we continue, or should we call it a day?"
Having vented his anger, Li Yang realized how inappropriate it was to lose his temper in front of a business partner, especially such a beautiful woman. He quickly reined himself in and said, "This Yang Hui is getting way out of line. He’s becoming arrogant because of his talent. When he gets back, if he doesn’t offer a sincere apology, I’m firing him."
A few people in the room looked up at him.
’What a load of bullshit,’ Dan Biao thought. ’You were even angrier at the last meeting, but you still ended up swallowing your pride. When Yang Hui pisses you off, you’re ready to curse his mother; but when you think about the money he makes for you, you’ll call anyone with milk your mother.’
’I hope you actually mean it this time,’ Zhang Li thought. ’Don’t let it be all thunder and no rain again. You’re ruthless with your own people but can’t seem to get tough with outsiders.’
Just then, there was a knock at the conference room door. Li Yang turned to look as the door was pushed open and the head of the merchandising department walked in.
"Can’t you see we’re in an important meeting? Can’t it wait until after?"
He reprimanded the department head, partly to display his authority, and partly to show how seriously he was taking this meeting and, by extension, Serene. He had no idea, however, that Serene found his management style deeply unpleasant.
The department head said urgently, "Manager Yang from Airex just called. The stock we prepared for today’s live stream is almost sold out. We need to add more SKUs on the fly. They’ve already selected a few deep-stock models to add, but it requires your approval."
"Almost sold out?" Li Yang was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed. "It’s going that well? I thought we prepared nearly 200,000 worth of products?"
The merchandising head replied, "Yes. Right now, there are over 10,000 concurrent viewers. Plus, with Xinyue Group’s unlimited subsidies this time, the results are exceptionally good."
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