Why is This Troublemaker So Damn Rich?

"Xiaodan, you've got a lot going on lately. In the past, you wouldn't come see me unless I looked for you, but now you're taking the initiative to report on your work."

Dan Biao let out a low chuckle. "I've been feeling like my performance hasn't been up to par lately, so I've been pushing myself to work harder."

Li Yang eyed him doubtfully. "Every time you look for me, it's pretty much never good news. Go on, what is it now?"

'Ou Hao… Now the real show begins.' A jolt of pleasure shot through Dan Biao.

"President Li, regarding the salary adjustment for the Airex team, I conveyed your 'special consideration' to Yang Hui. However, he believes a total raise pool of ten thousand for the entire team is the only reasonable amount."

After he finished speaking, he stole a glance at Li Yang's expression.

'Not bad, just like that. His face is turning pale. Good, good... keep going, now it's turning purple. Mm, he's about to blow. Come on, let's tear each other down.'

"Xiaodan, you're a fucking good-for-nothing! I give you all this money, and you can't even handle the people under you. Fine, ten thousand it is! Just pull that amount from your other teams' budgets."

Dan Biao remained silent. This was all within his expectations. He knew what kind of crap Li Yang was going to pull just from the way he shifted his ass.

There was one thing he hadn't anticipated, though. Perhaps Li Yang had gotten angry so often that he'd built up an immunity. He'd looked like he was about to fly into a rage, yet he'd actively cooled himself down. It was also possible Li Yang had realized he wasn't actually spending an extra cent—it was all just being scraped from the other teams' budgets.

'Alright, so you're not going to get angry? Fine. Then try this on for size. You've cursed me out so many times—it's my turn to have a little fun.'

"Boss, one more thing. The recent in-store livestream for Airex generated 1.2 million in sales."

"I know that." As soon as this was mentioned, Li Yang's expression went from cloudy to sunny. The livestream sales had been a huge, pleasant surprise, and he was already preparing to make it a requirement for all his teams. Even if Dan Biao hadn't brought it up, he was going to.

"Xiaodan, I want you to call a meeting with all the brand managers. Tell them to learn from Yang Hui's team. Every team must arrange at least one of these livestream events per month. They can ask the livestreaming department for help. I've already got HR recruiting more people for that department, specifically to support your stores."

Dan Biao seized the opportunity to ask, "President Li, will these livestream sales count toward the Operations Department's KPIs? And will the stores get a commission on those sales?"

Li Yang was not happy to hear this. Giving a commission meant extra expenses. Take this livestream, for instance: even a 1% commission to the store would be an additional 12,000 in payouts. And counting it toward the Operations Department's assessment would further increase the cost burden.

"We've talked about this before. The products are the company's, the livestreamers are the company's. The stores just provide some assistance. On what grounds do they deserve a bonus?"

'You're really going to force my hand. Forcing me to play my trump card. Fine, here it comes.'

"Boss, Yang Hui called today. He said if the stores don't get a commission from the livestream sales and the revenue isn't counted toward the Operations Department's KPIs, then he'll lose all motivation to do this work."

Li Yang's knuckles tightened abruptly on the armrest of his executive chair, digging five deep grooves into the Italian calfskin. He glared at the subordinate who dared to haggle with him, a vein throbbing in his temple. The veins popping on the side of his neck seemed to scream 'about to die from rage'—

A slap in the face. This was a direct slap in the face.

He had just said no, and now Yang Hui was threatening him. If he backed down now, wouldn't that be the same as slapping his own face? But if he didn't, and Yang Hui really stopped doing these events, wouldn't that mean losing at least a million in sales every month?

"Say that again?" The words were squeezed through his teeth, his voice at a dangerously low volume, right on the verge of an explosion.

'Good, good. Now he's all riled up.'

'Provoking me again and again... Does he really think I wouldn't dare fire him? Using threats to negotiate work with me? I absolutely cannot let this become a precedent.'

The central AC suddenly kicked up, scattering the loose strands of hair on Dan Biao's forehead. He saw that Li Yang's anger meter was full; it was probably time to cool things down.

"President Li, this is the approval form from Yang Hui's team. It needs your signature."

An approval form? Li Yang had just worked himself up to finally punish Yang Hui, and now this. He heard the words and said coldly, "Fine. Just fine. I'd love to see what kind of stunt he's trying to pull this time."

Dan Biao handed over the paper form, already signed by the other departments and needing only Li Yang's final approval. Then, like an audience member in the front row, he settled in to watch the show.

In the reflection from the floor-to-ceiling window, Li Yang's contorted figure was superimposed over the "Star of Excellence" plaque on the wall—an award given to Futong Trading Company by Yida Department Store at last year's annual conference.

Li Yang snatched the form with a murderous look. But after a single glance at the title, his expression changed completely. The rage he had been building up for so long deflated in an instant, like a punctured balloon.

"A rent… reduction?"

He couldn't believe his eyes. A rent reduction itself wasn't strange. What was strange was that *Xinyue Square* was giving them one. That was completely unheard of.

He grabbed his calculator and punched in some numbers. For their five stores, the agreement meant a total rent reduction of 350,000. That was like finding 350,000 on the street.

The image in his mind of Yang Hui, who had been tied to the execution block awaiting beheading at high noon, suddenly transformed into that of a lucky, beckoning cat.

"Hm, Xiaodan, I've given your earlier proposal some thought, and it does have some merit. Let's do this: the livestream sales will count toward the Operations Department's performance targets. Furthermore, whichever store hosts the livestream will receive a 1% bonus from that event's revenue."

As if he had expected this all along, Dan Biao smiled and said, "Thank you, Boss. I'll tell them the good news right away."

'It worked like a charm. This feels amazing. What happened, Boss? Why aren't you insisting on punishing Yang Hui anymore? I so love that defiant look of yours.'

"But—"

Dan Biao, who was gloating internally, heard the word "but" and immediately had a bad feeling. Sure enough—"Xiaodan, Airex managed to negotiate rent reductions at these few mall locations. In theory, our other brands should be able to as well. I want you to go order all the operations managers to start negotiating. If they can't pull it off, you'll have to do it yourself. You need to learn to apply lessons from one situation to another. Stop acting like a fucking idiot all day."

Leaving Li Yang's office, Dan Biao spat quietly in disgust.

"Motherfucker. The only thing he knows is how to take his anger out on me. Making us negotiate a rent reduction with Xinyue Group... does he think everyone is Yang Hui? Why doesn't he go try it himself and see how it goes."

He knew Li Yang was just pissed off and taking it out on him. There was no way he'd be able to negotiate a rent reduction, and when he failed, Li Yang would surely call him a good-for-nothing again.

At dinner, it was Shen Meng who paid again, of course.

A Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan pulled up to the gate of Shunyuan District. Yang Hui pulled her in for a deep kiss that lasted a full five minutes before finally letting her go.

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