Why is This Troublemaker So Damn Rich?

Not only had he delivered the "good news," but he’d also thrown in a bit of flattery for Li Yang. Li Yang was a sucker for it. He always said he hated people who kissed ass, but he was secretly delighted every time Han Chao did it.

"That’s to be expected. President Tian and I go way back. Since I’m the one who asked, he’s bound to help. You need to follow this closely. I went to the trouble of handling President Tian myself. If there are any more screw-ups with the handoff, you’re done."

Han Chao replied, "Yes, of course," but inwardly he was unconcerned. He figured that since President Tian had given his word, the deal was set in stone. ’Who in the entire Qingjiang Region would dare go against President Tian’s wishes?’

As Li Yang spoke, he was scrolling through his social media feed. He happened to see a post shared by President Qin, the general manager of Xinyue Square Second Store. It was a two-day performance report for Yanghe Commerce’s NLB store.

A thought struck him. He picked up his phone and made a call. It connected quickly.

"Hello, President Qin. This is Li Yang."

"President Li, hello. What can I do for you?"

"Oh, President Qin, I wouldn’t presume to instruct you. I just saw the NLB performance report you shared. That brand is really taking off, isn’t it?"

"It has. It’s surpassed all our expectations."

"So, President Qin, we should finalize the location as soon as possible and get the ball rolling. We can’t let the first Xinyue Square store steal the show. We have to produce even better results than they did."

"Frankly, President Li, I was thinking the same thing. The location is already set, and they can start moving in next month."

Hmm? Li Yang’s mind went blank for a second. He glanced at Han Chao. ’We haven’t even had the handoff meeting yet, so how could the location be confirmed? And moving in next month? I haven’t prepared a thing—no store measurements, no blueprints. What are we supposed to move in with?’

He quickly said in an urgent tone, "In that case, President Qin, I’ll immediately arrange for my business development people to connect with your leasing team. The timeline is quite tight."

His words confused President Qin as well. After a long pause, he said, "President Li, I’m not sure I follow. What timeline is tight? And what would your business development people be coming to discuss?"

Now Li Yang was even more lost. Han Chao’s earlier reassurances had led him to subconsciously believe that President Qin would never go against President Tian. ’This new spot,’ he thought, ’has to be for Futong Commerce.’

"Wait, President Qin, isn’t the spot you cleared for the NLB store for me? I have to send my people to coordinate the location and business terms, and have my engineers measure the space and draw up the blueprints."

"The NLB spot is for you? President Li, you’re in the NLB business too?"

Li Yang rubbed his forehead. ’Damn it, is this Old Qin about to retire? How can he be so senile?’

"President Qin, I’m the one behind NLB. I just acquired the brand and didn’t get a chance to report it to you, that’s my mistake. Oh, right, the store in Wanlong Square is operated by my company. Let me tell you, you can rest easy. For the Xinyue Square Second Store, I will absolutely generate better sales than the first store. You know what I’m capable of operationally. Trust me, we won’t let you down."

President Qin genuinely had no idea Futong Commerce was also in the NLB business. The two of them had never once discussed the brand. And while the regional head, President Tian, had ordered all stores to find a location for an NLB, he never said it had to be with Futong Commerce. In fact, the VP of business always brought up Yanghe Commerce during their meetings. When Li Yang mentioned he operated the NLB in Wanlong Square, President Qin recalled a market research report from a few days prior. Apparently, the NLB store in Wanlong Square was only pulling in a little over 5,000 a day, perhaps breaking 10,000 on the weekend.

’With numbers like that, Li Yang was still bragging about his operational skills?’ He was starting to understand why the region was pushing the NLB brand, but only in partnership with Yanghe Commerce.

NLB was a good brand. Add to that Yanghe Commerce’s powerful operational capabilities and Xinyue Square’s premium customer base—that combination was what created such explosive potential.

Letting Futong Commerce run the brand, on the other hand, would be like letting a brilliant gem gather dust. If it weren’t for Yanghe Commerce’s performance in the first Xinyue Square store, everyone would assume NLB was just a brand that could pull in around 300,000 a month.

He used to think that a company as big as Futong Trading Company must have decent management. Now it seemed they were just riding the market’s momentum, making money off brand influence alone. Li Yang’s own operational fundamentals were clearly lacking.

After a moment of contemplation, President Qin said, "President Li, I know about that project at Wanlong Square. The performance is very average, far from reaching the operational level of the NLB at the first Xinyue Square store. Also, you may have misunderstood. I didn’t even know you were operating NLB before this, so the spot we’ve opened up this time is for a partnership with Yanghe Commerce."

What? Li Yang shot to his feet. A roar filled his head, and his blood pressure spiked.

’How could this be? It was bad enough that he didn’t get it, but to let a competitor score another victory?’ "No, Old Qin," he blurted out. "I personally hammered out our partnership with Xinyue Group with President Tian himself! Your project better not get the partner wrong."

In his panic, he dropped "President Qin" for "Old Qin." At the same time, he threw President Tian’s name out there, telling him this deal was confirmed at the highest level and his store had better not screw it up.

"President Li, President Tian did ask us to push for NLB’s placement, but he didn’t say it must be in cooperation with Futong Commerce. Looking at the current operational levels—Yanghe Commerce’s sales performance versus the performance of the NLB at Wanlong Square... I’m sure you have those numbers too. Put yourself in my shoes. If you had to choose between two partners, who would you pick? Anyway, I won’t say any more. The contract between Xinyue Square Second Store and Yanghe Commerce has already been signed. There’s no point in discussing this further."

Hanging up the phone, Li Yang’s face was livid. He crumpled the document he’d been in the middle of signing into a tight ball.

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