Why is This Troublemaker So Damn Rich?

Li Yang's expression immediately soured. Just as Dan Biao braced himself for another outburst, Li Yang spoke.

"Fine. Give him a 6,000 yuan raise budget. Take the rest from the budgets of your other teams in the operations department."

Dan Biao was stunned.

'You son of a bitch. So the only reason you're not angry is because you're not spending a single extra cent! It's all just being scraped from my other teams. After these raises, won't I be the one who has to smooth things over with them?'

"Xiaodan, the economy is in a rough spot. Forget raises, a lot of companies are cutting pay. Some aren't just cutting pay, they're laying people off. So you need to manage your team's expectations. Don't let them think an annual raise is something they're entitled to. If their performance keeps slipping, they'll be out of a job."

'What the fuck am I supposed to say to that?'

Dan Biao cursed Li Yang and his entire family in his head, but for the sake of his job, he could only swallow his pride. "Understood, President Li."

He really envied Yang Hui. He wanted to be more like him, but the thought of his mortgage made him back down. It was better to just endure it; this would all blow over eventually.

"Also, regarding the meeting with NLB today, you were all there. I've already made a bold promise to Serene that we'll break 50 million in sales this year. This is tied to a 3% rebate on the total list price value, not to mention support for renovations and store fixtures.

"I'll personally handle the channel expansion with Han Chao to make sure we open 25 new stores this year. What your operations department needs to do is hit an average monthly sales of over 400,000 per store. If you dare to drop the ball on this, I'm canceling this year's bonuses and next year's raises. On top of that, there will be disciplinary action."

'400,000 per store? That's a ton of pressure. It might be doable if a few high-output flagship stores could pull up the average.'

The four NLB stores they had taken back from the previous distributor were currently averaging just over 300,000 in monthly sales. Pushing that to 400,000 would be a real struggle.

At that moment, he felt the same way as Zhang Li: this NLB brand was a time bomb sitting on his head, ready to go off at any second. He knew Li Yang. If he dared to raise any objections now, he'd be called useless, and his female relatives would get a "special greeting." So, he could only keep his head down and say, "Understood."

But Li Yang wasn't done with him. "Stop looking like such a goddamn coward. Is this so hard? Look at Airex! They sold over a million in just a few hours during their livestream this afternoon. If each of your stores does that once a month, what's 400,000? You could even hit 1.4 million. So go get the message out to your team. This target is not high at all."

Dan Biao was shocked by this level of manipulative gaslighting.

'Damn it, do you think I'm Yang Hui? Do I have the connections to ask Xinyue Group for such favorable terms?

'Even if I could get them, we'd be using Xinyue Group's regional member resources. How could every single store possibly do that?

'Doing a few shows for you a month is already a monumental gift, and you expect even more? Do you think the Xinyue Group runs a charity?

'Sigh, back when Yang Hui interviewed, why didn't we just have him manage NLB? What a blunder, a huge blunder.'

"Now get out there and get to work. Delegate the NLB tasks. And, hmm, from now on, for any store that doesn't hit 400,000, the staff gets no commission."

Dan Biao was floored when he heard that.

'For fuck's sake, does he think you can just squeeze results out of people? The staff will revolt! We'll have mass resignations, and I'll be stuck recruiting and training new people day in and day out. How is performance supposed to improve then? This is going to turn into another Airex disaster, but where the hell are you going to find another monster like Yang Hui?'

He knew it was pointless to say anything now. If he dared to object, Li Yang would just think he wasn't trying hard enough. And when Li Yang failed to get his rebate and fixture support, he would pin all the blame on him. So, whatever Li Yang said, he would do. That way, if things went south, at least no one could question his execution.

Back in his office, he sulked, fuming but unable to voice his anger at Li Yang's habit of always picking on the easy targets.

Then he thought about the recent livestream sale. The results were so good, yet they didn't count toward the operations department's KPIs. He felt an itch, a need to fight for it with the company.

He had wanted to bring it up just now, but seeing Li Yang's attitude, he hadn't dared. Suddenly, an idea struck him. He could use leverage! He could bring it up in Yang Hui's name.

If he could get Yang Hui on board... he was sure Yang Hui would also want this achievement to count toward Airex's KPIs. Otherwise, what was the point of all that hard work?

With that thought, he dialed his number.

Yang Hui reluctantly pulled his hand out from under Huang Lingyu's bottom. Her whole body was practically limp as she took the opportunity to move back to a nearby chair and straighten out her wrinkled clothes.

"President Shan."

'Dan Biao really has no tact,' he complained inwardly. 'What's he calling for at a time like this?'

"A Hui, you worked hard today."

He glanced over at Huang Lingyu, who was still fixing her clothes. Holding the phone with his left hand, he slipped his right hand down the V-neck of her top.

"It was alright. Just a matter of moving my hands and my mouth." Listening from the side, Huang Lingyu blushed furiously. 'That perv,' she thought. 'How can he say something like that while on the phone?'

Dan Biao laughed. "You make it sound easy. Livestream selling might just be talking and gesturing, but there's a real art to it. Not everyone can do what you do."

He didn't have time to chit-chat. "President Shan, what can I do for you?"

"Two things. First, regarding the raises for your team. I went to bat for you with President Li, and he's agreed to a total increase of 6,000 for your team's budget. Pretty great, huh?"

Dan Biao genuinely thought that was a lot. An average annual raise of 500 yuan per person was already considered decent. This time, he'd secured an average of 1,200 yuan for everyone on the Airex team. He was sure Yang Hui would be thrilled.

"Can the company stop being so cheap? What's this little bit going to do? That's barely on par with the lower end of the other teams. I think a total increase of 10,000 for the team is what's reasonable."

Dan Biao winced.

'You've got some nerve, making a demand like that. Forget whether Li Yang would even agree—even if he did, he'd just scrape it out of the other teams' budgets, and I'd be the one left to deal with the fallout.'

"A Hui, that's good enough. The boss is already giving you special treatment. Don't push your luck."

"I insist. If we don't get that amount, it's going to affect the team's morale."

Dan Biao fell silent. 'This troublemaker is such a liability,' he thought. 'He's going to be the death of me one of these days.' But Yang Hui's next words made his spirits soar.

"In a bit, Zhu Jing will bring you a rent reduction proposal for the five Airex stores in Xinyue Square—it's a 'pay for three months, get one free' deal. Once you've signed off on it, please help follow up. I need President Li to sign it today so I can get Xinyue Square to issue the supplementary agreement ASAP."

'A rent reduction? Xinyue Square is actually lowering the rent?'

Dan Biao was silent for a full ten seconds. Then, in his mind, he gave Yang Hui a huge thumbs-up.

'You're a fucking legend. No wonder the boss puts up with you again and again. If I were him, I'd put up with you too.'

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