A moment later, Zhu Jing ran back, crestfallen.
Puzzled, Yang Hui beckoned for her to come over.
"What’s wrong?"
"Cai Miao rejected our team’s transportation expense report. She said the receipts we submitted were improper."
’What the hell? Whether the receipts are in order is the finance department’s job. Since when does the General Manager’s Assistant get involved in this?’
Li Yang gave the final approval for all expense reports, but only after they were vetted by the department head and the finance department. For routine claims, Li Yang couldn’t be bothered and just had Cai Miao sign for him.
’No doubt about it. This is Cai Miao retaliating against me, and she’s dragging the team into it.’
"What’s supposedly improper about them?"
The supervisors at Futong Commerce each had a monthly transportation allowance of 400 yuan. According to company policy, they could use taxi receipts to claim reimbursement.
In the past, they would pool receipts from relatives and friends, add in their own electronic invoices from ride-hailing apps, and as long as the total exceeded 400 yuan, it was fine.
But today, Cai Miao was just looking for trouble, claiming the invoiced amount didn’t match the reimbursement amount. The issue was that the Airex team submitted invoices that totaled *more* than 400 yuan, which, from an accounting perspective, was perfectly acceptable.
’Besides, who could possibly collect receipts for exactly 400 yuan? She’s just looking for a fight, isn’t she?’
"That approval request for promotional support funds for Xinyue Square—what’s its status?"
"Sister Li from the Finance Department just signed off on it. I’ll go get it right away."
He nodded. "Bring it back, but don’t take it to Cai Miao yet. Wait for my signal."
Zhu Jing was confused. ’Didn’t he say it was urgent?’
But Yang Hui had already picked up the intercom and dialed a number, though she had no idea who he was calling.
"Assistant Old Cai, what’s this about you refusing to sign off on the Airex team’s expense report?"
"Are you sure you want to meddle in the Finance Department’s affairs? And is this new rule targeted specifically at the Airex team, or does it apply to everyone in the company? If it’s for everyone, why was there no prior notice? Who gave you the authority to do this?"
Hearing Yang Hui fire off one question after another, Zhu Jing thought, ’Cai Miao probably can’t answer a single one of those.’
Cai Miao had just been trying to give them a hard time, but now that Yang Hui was confronting her, she couldn’t stick to her guns. She couldn’t possibly apply this standard to the entire company. And if it *was* a company-wide policy, the finance department should have been the one to issue the notice. There’s no sense in punishing people without first informing them of the rules.
Cai Miao was in the wrong here. She had assumed she could bully a junior supervisor, and that they would have no choice but to grin and bear it. She’d forgotten about Yang Hui, that guy with a notoriously short fuse.
Hearing nothing but silence from Cai Miao, Yang Hui pressed on. "I need an answer. Are you going to sign it or not?"
"What’s that? Too busy with President Li’s work? No time? Fine. I suggest that next time you spew bullshit, you prepare a draft first."
He slammed the phone down.
"Take the expense report and the official letter requesting the mall’s rent reduction, and deliver them to her at 5:25 PM exactly. And remember, not a minute sooner."
Zhu Jing murmured her assent, though she had no idea what he was planning. She could only imagine that Cai Miao was absolutely furious right now. ’Telling her to prepare a draft before spewing bullshit... In all her years at the company, no one had probably ever dared to talk to her like that.’
Meanwhile, Yan Jun, the head of operations for the Shi Meng brand, was in Dan Biao’s office.
After they finished discussing work, he asked curiously, "President Shan, what’s going to be done about Manager Yang Hui?"
A flicker of unease crossed Dan Biao’s face, but he quickly composed himself, acting as though Yan Jun’s question was bizarre.
"Why would the company need to discipline Yang Hui?"
’Huh? Do I have amnesia?’
Yan Jun stared at Dan Biao. ’That can’t be right. President Li was furious at yesterday’s meeting. He was talking about official reprimands, about wanting heads to roll!’
"But wasn’t he late yesterday?"
Dan Biao, adopting Li Yang’s calm expression, said nonchalantly, "Was there a meeting yesterday?"
Stunned, Yan Jun shook his head. "It was canceled."
"If there was no meeting, how could anyone be late?"
Yan Jun rubbed his face, not expecting such a creative explanation. "But wasn’t it canceled because the boss got angry at him during the meeting?"
"What nonsense are you spouting? The boss is a man of great vision, of immense magnanimity. How could he get angry over a little thing like that? You’ve all misunderstood him. What happened was, he suddenly remembered the poor performance of your brands lately. The anxiety made him a bit irritable, that’s all. That’s why the meeting was canceled."
Yan Jun’s jaw dropped wide enough to fit a duck egg. ’What kind of twisted logic is this? If the boss were truly a man of great vision and immense magnanimity, he wouldn’t become an anxious, irritable wreck over a few days of poor performance, would he?’
But he understood the underlying message: Yang Hui was getting away with it. ’So, was Boss Li’s tirade yesterday all for nothing?’
"This was my mistake. Performance has declined so severely, and as the one in charge of operations, I failed to make timely adjustments. Instead, I wasted everyone’s time by scheduling a meeting. That’s a failure to prioritize. I’ve given it some thought, and the responsibility is mine. I’ll go report myself for a formal penalty shortly."
Yan Jun walked out of Dan Biao’s office in a daze. Back at his desk, he pinched his thigh hard, wincing in pain. This was definitely not a dream.
’But when did President Shan have such a change of heart? In the past, whenever there was a problem, he’d be the first to report us for punishment. Why is he taking the fall himself this time?’
’He said it’s all his fault. Is he having a mental breakdown brought on by a hormonal imbalance or something?’
Cai Miao was, in fact, about to explode. At Futong Commerce, she was always the one bullying others, the one cussing people out. Now, some newcomer was being repeatedly disrespectful to her, had dared to verbally attack her in a company-wide meeting, and had just called her "Old Assistant Cai."
The "Old" and the "Assistant"—both were titles she despised hearing. ’He’s doing this on purpose,’ she seethed. ’He must be.’
’And he had the nerve to tell me to prepare a draft before I "spew bullshit"!’ "Yang Hui," she muttered, "you and I are enemies now. We’ll see just how long you can keep this up."
Dan Biao went to Li Yang’s office.
"Boss, I’ve already been to HR to submit a request for my own disciplinary action."
Li Yang nodded. "Don’t feel too bad about it. Think of it this way: nobody’s perfect. You have your shortcomings. Consider this penalty a wake-up call to keep you on your toes and prevent you from making bigger mistakes in the future."
Dan Biao nodded. ’You’re the boss,’ he thought. ’Whatever you say is right. Even your twisted logic is still logic.’
"You’re right, Boss. And your handling of the Yang Hui situation was especially farsighted. By forgoing his punishment, you’ve secured greater benefits for the company. I saw he submitted another approval request this morning—he secured 260,000 yuan in promotional support from Xinyue Square."
Hmm?
Li Yang, who was in the middle of taking a sip of water, choked. He coughed a few times before asking, "He asked Xinyue Square for 260,000 yuan in marketing funds, and they agreed?"
"From what I know of Yang Hui, he wouldn’t be running it through the approval process and sending out official business letters if the deal wasn’t already done."
’Not bad, not bad at all!’
A huge smile bloomed across Li Yang’s otherwise grim face.
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