When the food arrived, everyone except Ji Kun realized just how "sumptuous" a meal their leader had ordered.
Aside from Zhu Jing, who had already witnessed his extravagance, the others were quite surprised, not expecting their leader to be so generous.
"This afternoon, around 3:00 PM, our department will have a short meeting. You don’t need to prepare anything; I’ve already compiled the data!"
"Half an hour should be enough!"
None of them thought much of it, assuming the new leader just wanted to use the meeting as a way to get to know everyone better.
"Sir, I’ll send you the three problems you asked us to list yesterday in a little while!"
"Me too!"
Other than Zhu Jing, who had already submitted hers that morning, everyone else said they would turn them in that afternoon.
The food was great, and the team was enjoying themselves. As they were finishing up, someone showed up uninvited.
"I heard the Airex team was having a meal together, so I came over to get acquainted with Manager Yang!"
Yang Hui saw a man around thirty years old push open the door. Judging by his tone, he was from the company, but Yang Hui didn’t recognize him.
He stood up and said with a smile, "Hello!"
Zhu Jing quietly reminded him, "It’s Manager Zhang from Erke!"
Zhang Li glanced at the food on the table and chuckled. "So, Manager Yang comes in and immediately treats you all to a feast, huh? Not bad, not bad!"
Yang Hui smiled along, but Zhang Li’s next sentence made his expression turn cold.
"Me, on the other hand... I just lead my team to complete their tasks and get their bonuses, haha!"
"You all enjoy your meal. I just came to take a look!"
He pulled the door open and left. It felt less like a greeting and more like a provocation.
Yang Hui sneered and sat back down.
Han Ya said, "That guy is so obnoxious. Don’t take it to heart, Sir."
"Obnoxious? On the contrary, I think he’s great. Adorable, even!"
They all thought Yang Hui was being sarcastic, but little did they know, he was actually thinking, ’Finally, another target for me to provoke. I’m one step closer to my grand plan of getting fired.’
Xu Guang spat out indignantly, "Damn it! We’re all part of the same company. For the past two years, the Airex brand has been tanking, our performance sucks, and we can’t make any money. We should be the ones the company is focusing on helping, but instead, everyone just mocks us. This job is so damn frustrating!"
Yang Hui glanced at him but said nothing.
’He’s still too young,’ Yang Hui thought. ’The company is a place that demands results. Without results, you have nothing. Does he really believe all that "people-first" nonsense?’
’When you can’t produce results and the boss loses money, he’s naturally going to be unhappy with you. That’s when the clowns pounce. Some see you as an easy target. Others see the boss chewing you out and figure they’ll kick you while you’re down to curry favor, hoping to win him over.’
’All the complaining in the world is useless. You either change the situation or you leave. Expecting the boss to have a heart? What do you think capitalists are, philanthropists?’
Back in the office, he received a message from President Tian, the Regional General Manager of Xinyue Square.
[President Tian: A Hui, the brand authorization and cooperation terms for your NLB Store have all been confirmed. We’re just waiting for your company registration to go through before we sign the contract. I had them free up a 200-square-meter spot for you at the main Xinyue Square location. I’m sending you the floor plan now!]
The floor plan for the first floor of Xinyue Square came through on his phone. It was obvious President Tian had picked the best possible location for the NLB brand.
It was in the main atrium on the first floor, with a 16-meter-wide storefront—a beautiful space. Both the location and its potential for brand imaging were impeccable.
The surrounding stores were mostly high-end cosmetic counters and second-tier international brands, meaning the target customer demographic was a perfect match.
Yang Hui barely had to worry about the collaboration with Xinyue Square. It seemed Zhang Chun and President Tian were even more invested in it than he was.
[Yang Hui: Brother Tian, thank you!]
[President Tian: Let me give you the terms as well. Rent: a pure 6% commission on sales. You’ll handle your own cashiering, and you’ll pay the previous month’s rent in the following month. Property management fee: 20 yuan/sqm/month.]
[Yang Hui: Shocked_Face.jpg]
[President Tian: Laughing_Hard.jpg, not satisfied?]
He couldn’t believe it. The main Xinyue Square was the best shopping plaza in Qingzhou. Back when he was at Ruijing Commerce, the mall had already given him a great deal, and the terms then were: rent at 450 yuan/sqm/month plus a property management fee of 90 yuan/sqm/month.
And that was for a spot on the second floor!
The average rent for the first floor of Xinyue Square was now 850 yuan/sqm/month.
There was no way President Tian could have made this call on his own. Even Zhang Chun probably couldn’t have managed it.
Xinyue Group was a massive conglomerate, a company worth trillions, with its own mature and comprehensive management system.
National and regional directors had some leeway to adjust rent, but never by this large of a margin.
’Wouldn’t this be a blatant announcement to the Group that someone was lining their own pockets at the company’s expense? This would surely get flagged in an audit.’
[Yang Hui: I know you two are helping me out, but I can’t let you get into trouble over it!]
[President Tian: Laughing_Hard.jpg, don’t worry. We’re not reckless.]
’So he was saying that not only would the Group approve these terms, but it also wouldn’t get them into trouble?’
Yang Hui was completely baffled. This was turning his entire worldview upside down!
[President Tian: You should arrange for someone to come take measurements soon and handle some preliminary coordination. Once you sign the contract with NLB, have them draw up the design blueprints immediately so you can start renovations. We should aim to have the store open by late May!]
Yang Na had gone to file the business registration today. With an expedited process, it could be approved this week. But Yang Hui hadn’t even assembled a team yet; he had no one to do the work!
In the end, President Tian took care of it. The mall’s own engineering staff helped take the store’s measurements.
At 3:30 PM, Yang Hui headed to the conference room with his laptop.
"You all, come on over!"
Meanwhile, Cai Miao arrived at the HR department.
"Wang Xiao, that 1.2 million payment from the High-tech Zone Yida Department Store still hasn’t arrived. If it’s not here by 5:00 PM, it’s definitely not coming today. Don’t forget to issue demerits to Yang Hui and Zhu Jing, suspend their salaries for the month, and send out a company-wide email to make an example of them!"
Wang Xiao glanced at Cai Miao and thought, ’Yang Hui must have really offended Cai Miao with what he said this morning. Cai Miao is already so domineering; there was no way she’d let him off the hook. Besides, the Airex team genuinely hasn’t collected the payment. He handed her the perfect weapon, so why on earth would he provoke her?’
"Okay, I’ll definitely send it out before the end of the day!"
"Not ’before the end of the day.’ If the payment isn’t in by 5:00 PM, you send it out. Send it out early! Don’t make me come back and remind you."
The words carried a clear threat. Wang Xiao was furious but didn’t dare say a word, terrified that Cai Miao would go and badmouth her to Li Yang.
Zhu Jing helped Yang Hui connect his laptop to the projector.
Yang Hui’s computer desktop appeared on the screen.
A WeChat message popped up. He casually clicked it open, but upon seeing the contents, he immediately clicked it closed!
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