OBS Chapter 1563 Black-hearted Leaky Cotton-padded Jacket
Chapter 1563 Black-hearted Leaky Cotton-padded Jacket
Before they knew it, it was time to start work. Zhao Mei and Liang Danning had just finished tidying up their desks when the phone rang.
Zhao Mei answered the phone, and Bai Ruide's secretary's voice came from the other end: "Deputy Director Zhao, President Bai requests your presence here."
"Hello... Okay, I understand, I'll be right there." Zhao Mei hung up the phone and said to Liang Danning, "The big boss wants me to come over, I'll be going now."
"Okay, go ahead." Liang Danning picked up the notebook and pen on the table: "I'm going to visit clients too."
She knew that she no longer had any powerful backing, and if she wanted to continue working at the company, she had to produce results. Before, with Qin Hao's influence, customers would proactively place orders with her. Now it was different; the distributors were very well-informed and had already figured out the direction of events.
Watching Liang Danning's retreating figure, Zhao Mei could only sigh inwardly. Her best friend was good in every way, except she was too earnest. A simple matter of admitting a mistake had escalated to this point. She'd squandered a golden opportunity, and Zhao Mei didn't know what to say.
Top floor office.
Bai Ruide sat behind his large desk, several documents spread out on the table in front of him. Zhao Mei knocked and entered. He looked up and pointed to the chair opposite him.
"sit."
Zhao Mei sat down. Bai Ruide didn't exchange pleasantries and simply tossed her a notice. Zhao Mei took it and saw that it was an order from headquarters, requiring the mainland branch to compile statistics on the actual sales of each store.
“Bai Rui, I remember the company has over three hundred branches.” Zhao Mei looked up, her brows furrowed. “How easy is it to tally the sales figures for all the branches?”
Bai Ruide said seriously, "This is the big boss's order, and no one can disobey it. Moreover, it must be based on real sales figures." He paused, then changed the subject, "Zhao Mei, right now, you and Dong Yue are the most promising candidates for promotion to sales director. You have your disadvantages, but you also have your advantages—you have a sales team of over a hundred people under your command. Now is the time to put them to use."
Zhao Mei cursed inwardly. This old man was clearly using her. Collecting real sales figures would offend all the distributors. Bai Ruide didn't want to offend anyone, so he dumped this hot potato on her.
But now, as a mere pawn, she can only keep her head down and cross the river in order to have a chance to be put on the table.
“Bai Rui, I will carry out your orders without reservation.” Zhao Mei stood up, her expression resolute.
Bai Ruide was very satisfied with Zhao Mei's attitude. He leaned back in his chair, a slight smile playing on his lips: "I like your ability to execute."
After coming down from the top-floor office, Zhao Mei began instructing her subordinate, Wang Hao, to contact all the sales promoters. She sat in her office, while Wang Hao stood opposite her, holding a notebook.
"Boss, what exactly do you need them to do?" Wang Hao asked.
Zhao Mei lowered her voice: "Tell them to keep an eye out and find out the actual sales figures for each branch."
Wang Hao was somewhat worried, his brows furrowing deeply: "Boss, this will affect the interests of those distributors. What if it gets discovered..."
“So you need to tell them to be careful,” Zhao Mei interrupted him, her gaze sharp. “Find out information secretly, without letting anyone find out. Ask as much as you can, safety first.”
Wang Hao nodded, turned around, and went out to make the arrangements.
Zhao Mei leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Having worked in Guster for so long, she naturally understood the ins and outs of the business. To meet the company's sales targets and receive rebates, distributors would often rush to buy goods, piling them up in the warehouse. This made the figures on the reports look good, and they'd get their rebates. As for when the goods would actually be sold, that was a matter for later. In the past, as long as the company transferred the money to their accounts, they wouldn't care what the distributors did with it.
However, Ghost sales in mainland China have declined significantly in the past two years. Superficially, this is due to the economic downturn, but the main reason is that dealers have a large amount of unsold inventory. Coupled with the economic downturn, they naturally dare not order large quantities of stock. With inventory piling up and capital tied up, who would dare to invest more money?
The headquarters is clearly aware of this problem and wants to carry out a deep reform of the entire sales system. Any reform will cause losses to vested interests, and the headquarters is also worried about resistance from distributors, which is why they asked Bai Ruide to investigate privately.
Zhao Mei knew that Bai Ruide had passed this hot potato to her to prevent the truth from coming out and to make her the scapegoat. Unfortunately, she had already run out of leverage to refuse; if she wanted to rise to power, she had to take risks.
On the other hand, Liang Danning's visit to her clients also did not go smoothly.
She drove her secondhand Honda, which she had bought herself, through the streets and alleys of Guangzhou. Her first customer was a chain supermarket owner surnamed Chen, who used to buy several boxes of goods from her every month. She called, the phone rang a few times, and she answered.
"Mr. Chen, this is Liang Danning, from Guster—"
"Oh, Manager Liang." The voice on the other end of the phone was noticeably colder: "Well, my procurement plan for this month has already been finalized. Maybe next time, definitely next time."
It's over.
Liang Danning took a deep breath and dialed a second number. This time it was someone in the catering industry; they used to be on good terms, always extremely polite to each other when they met. The phone rang for a long time before being answered; it was very noisy on the other end, like someone was in a kitchen.
"Hello? Who is it?"
"Mr. Wang, this is Liang Danning—"
"Manager Liang, I'm sorry, I'm busy right now. I'll call you back later." *Click*, then hung up.
Liang Danning gripped her phone, her fingers tightening. Undeterred, she dialed a third, a fourth, a fifth… Some calls were immediately hung up, some were met with excuses, and some were simply ignored. By the end of the day, she had made over forty calls, her voice hoarse, but she hadn't sold a single bottle of wine.
She parked her car on the side of the road, leaned back in the driver's seat, and looked out at the street scene. The sun was setting, painting the sky with an orange hue. Pedestrians hurried along the street; some carried groceries, some held children's hands, and some were looking down at their phones. She suddenly felt that this city seemed different from before. Or rather, she herself was different from before.
In Dong Yue's office.
Yu Weie stood in front of the desk, his face full of disdain, and said, "Boss, if you ask me, you don't need to be so polite to Liang Danning at all. President Qin broke up with her so many years ago, and that bit of affection has long since worn away. Besides, she is Zhao Mei's best friend. At this critical moment, Zhao Mei brought her back. Who knows what she's up to?"
Yu Weie is a sales manager under Dong Yue. She has good performance and is also shrewd.
"Alright, I understand." Dong Yue glanced at Liang Danning, who was still on the phone, saying something with a somewhat anxious expression: "You can go ahead and get back to work."
Yu Wei'e knew that he had achieved his goal of showing loyalty, so he happily went out and gently closed the door behind him.
Dong Yue sat in his chair, his fingers tapping lightly on the table. After thinking for a moment, he sent Shen Mo a message.
"President Shen, Liang Danning is back at work. How should I treat her?"
Shen Mo quickly replied with a message: "Treat her like she's invisible."
Dong Yue looked at those four words and breathed a sigh of relief. He put away his phone and continued reading the documents.
Half an hour later, Liang Danning walked out of Dong Yue's office, looking dejected. She had just been called in to discuss her performance—zero orders in her first week, the worst in the entire team. Dong Yue didn't say a single harsh word; his tone was even quite gentle. He simply presented the data to her and said, "Manager Liang, I believe in your abilities and look forward to your performance next week."
But it was precisely this gentleness that made Liang Danning feel even worse. She would rather Dong Yue scold her; at least then she would have an outlet for her anger. Now, she couldn't even find someone to be angry with.
Although Zhao Mei really wanted to help Liang Danning, she desperately needed to boost her sales performance to secure the sales director position, and the resources she had weren't enough for her own needs. She could only comfort Liang Danning in the break room.
"It's alright. Once I become the sales director, I'll let you sit in my current position, on equal footing with Dong Yue," Zhao Mei said, patting her chest.
Liang Danning only responded with a bitter smile. She held her water glass, gazing at the sky outside the window, saying nothing. She had originally thought that with the client resources she had accumulated, she should be able to easily handle the sales manager job. But now she realized that those clients had only placed orders with her because of Qin Hao.
three days later.
A thick stack of reports was piled on Zhao Mei's desk. She flipped through them one by one, her brow furrowing more and more with each report. The data was indeed vastly different from what the distributors had reported; some distributors' reports showed they had sold 8,000 cases, but their actual inventory still stood at 5,000 cases.
She organized the reports and personally delivered them to Rhett Butler's office.
White read through the report, his expression shifting from calm to serious, then to somber. He closed the report, looked at Zhao Mei, and nodded.
"Well done."
Zhao Mei was delighted to have gained her boss's approval. Her steps were much lighter as she left the office.
However, the truth will eventually come out.
The dealers' information network was even more efficient than Ghost's internal network. No sooner had Zhao Mei submitted the report than someone leaked the information to Shen Mo.
Shen Mo was drinking tea in his office at the Silkworm Cocoon Bar when he heard the news and immediately smashed his teacup.
That afternoon, Shen Mo stormed into Guster's headquarters. He was wearing a dark gray Zhongshan suit, his face ashen, and strode into the lobby. Before the receptionist could even announce his arrival, he was already in the elevator.
When the door to Rhett Butler's office was pushed open, he was in a meeting with Peter Du. Shen Mo walked in and slammed a stack of reports on Butler's desk.
"Rhett Butler, what do you mean?"
Bai Ruide stood up, forcing a smile: "President Shen, please calm down—"
"Calm down?" Shen Mo slammed his hand on the table. "You had people investigate my past, and now you want me to calm down?"
His voice grew louder and more agitated. Rhett Butler tried to explain, but silence gave him no chance. He grabbed an ornament from the table and smashed it to pieces on the floor. He then picked up a folder and tossed it into the corner. The office was a mess.
Bai Ruide remained silent, trembling with fear. Shen Mo was now Ghost's largest offline distributor; offending Shen Mo would jeopardize Bai Ruide's position as president.
After venting his anger, Shen Mo, panting heavily, pointed at Rhett Butler's nose and said, "I'm telling you, this isn't over!"
After saying that, he turned and left, slamming the door shut with a loud bang.
White stood there, his face alternating between pale and flushed. He remained silent for a long time, then picked up the phone on the table and dialed Zhao Mei's number.
"Zhao Mei, come to my office."
When Zhao Mei walked into the office, she saw shards of glass and scattered documents on the floor, and she immediately understood half of what was going on.
Rhett Butler sat behind his desk, his expression as somber as the sky before a storm.
"Zhao Mei, Shen Mo found out about your investigation into the distributors." His voice was cold: "He just caused a scene."
Zhao Mei's heart sank. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but Bai Ruide raised his hand to interrupt her.
"You handle this matter. As for Shen Mo, find a way to appease him."
Zhao Mei desperately wanted to say, "You made me do this," but she knew it would be pointless. Bai Ruide was clearly shifting the blame. If she argued back, Bai Ruide could easily deny everything and accuse her of acting without authorization.
She had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill. She had finally managed to do a good deed for Rhett Butler, and she couldn't betray him, or all her efforts would be in vain.
"Okay, I'll figure something out." Zhao Mei lowered her head, her voice calm.
Rhett Butler waved her out.
As Zhao Mei walked out of the office and closed the door, she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. She felt a tightness in her chest, as if a stone was pressing down on it.
Still seething with anger after his outburst at Gusteau's, Shen Mo returned to the Cocoon Bar, called over a few girls, and they drank and danced. The music was deafening, the lights flickered and blurred, and he swayed on the dance floor, his arm around a young girl's waist. He downed glass after glass of whiskey and opened bottle after bottle of beer.
As a result, he ended up in the hospital after drinking himself.
Qin Hao was both amused and exasperated when he heard the news.
Qin Hao hung up the phone and sighed. He asked his assistant to cancel the afternoon meeting and drove to the hospital.
In a single-bed hospital room, Shen Mo lay on a white sheet, connected to various medical instruments, the electrocardiogram monitor beeping regularly. He was pale, but in good spirits, and even managed a smile when he saw Qin Hao enter.
Qin Hao stood by the bed, looked at Shen Mo's appearance, and shook his head.
"Knowing he has a heart condition, he still got so agitated. Smashing the office wasn't enough, he went to pick up girls. If you really want to die, you might as well just buy a bottle of pesticide and drink it; it'll work faster."
Faced with Qin Hao's complaints, Shen Mo laughed heartily: "In my life, I have two great loves: beautiful women and fine wine. Asking me to give them up would be worse than just killing me."
He paused, looking at the light on the ceiling, his gaze somewhat unfocused.
"Besides, in my life, I've done some bad things, some good things, and built such a big business. Even if I suddenly die one day, I won't have any regrets."
Qin Hao laughed and scolded, "According to you, we can pull out the needle now and go back to the bar to party. Tomorrow's newspaper will probably read: 'Mr. Shen Mo, the city's famous entrepreneur, died in his own bar...'"
"Then I'd rather live a miserable life than die." Shen Mo chuckled and touched his chest. "It's so good to be alive. If you die, you won't be able to enjoy anything."
As they were talking, a familiar voice came from the hospital corridor.
"The old man isn't dead yet?"
Shen Mo's smile froze instantly. He turned his head, looked at the doorway, and asked with a look of utter dismay, "Who let her come?"
Qin Hao said gloatingly, "The debts of children are coming to be collected."
Shen Mo quickly said to Qin Hao, "Keep an eye on things later. If this little bastard makes me sick, call a doctor right away. Otherwise, it might really be in the newspapers tomorrow."
Qin Hao suppressed a laugh: "I'll see how it goes."
Just then, Shen Xing entered the ward. She was wearing an oversized hoodie and ripped jeans, her hair was dyed purple, and she had several earrings on her ears. As soon as she entered, she walked casually to the bedside and looked Shen Mo up and down.
Shen Mo suddenly felt his breathing quicken, and the numbers on the electrocardiogram monitor jumped. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Dong Yue following behind him.
"President Shen, we heard you were hospitalized, so Shen Xing and I came to see you..." Dong Yue carried a fruit basket and looked respectful.
Before he could finish speaking, Shen Xing interrupted, "Let's see if you're dead yet. If you are, I can inherit your estate."
The electrocardiogram monitor next to Shen Mo's bed immediately started beeping incessantly.
Shen Mo had developed a resistance to his daughter's provocations over the years. Someone else might not have been able to withstand just that one sentence. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, and then spoke coldly.
"Hmph, I've already set up a trust fund in Hong Kong and put all my assets into it. If I die, you'll only get 50,000 yuan a month for living expenses." He stared into Shen Xing's eyes and said, word by word, "So you'd better hope I live to be a hundred."
Upon hearing this, Shen Xing immediately became anxious. She let go of Dong Yue's hand, rushed to the bedside, and glared at Shen Mo.
"Why do you only give me this little bit of money a month? I'm your only daughter, and this is how you treat me?"
Qin Hao stopped the excited Shen Xing and said calmly, "Fifty thousand a month is not a small amount. If you don't believe me, ask Dong Yue how much he earns a month."
Dong Yue gave a wry smile and honestly said, "Without the year-end bonus, my monthly salary is around 60,000. With the year-end bonus and other miscellaneous bonuses, my annual salary is around 1.2 million."
"Why is it so little?" Shen Xing muttered under his breath, frowning. "If this old man dies, we'll have trouble even supporting ourselves."
Dong Yue was speechless. An annual salary of 1.2 million yuan couldn't support her? How much money must this young lady waste in a year? He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but then swallowed it back.
Seeing his daughter's worried expression, Shen Mo felt he had won a round. He couldn't help but cast a grateful glance at Qin Hao; if Qin Hao hadn't reminded him, he really wouldn't have come up with the trust fund idea. This was the first time in so many years that he had gained the upper hand in a battle of wits between father and daughter.
"Hmph, you old man, you're ruthless!" Shen Xing stomped his foot and grabbed Dong Yue, ready to leave.
Dong Yue was pulled along for a couple of steps, but suddenly broke free from her grasp. He turned around and looked at Shen Mo.
"Mr. Shen, regarding the investigation of the branch's sales figures, Bai Ruide asked me to apologize to you again." His tone was sincere: "This was all Zhao Mei's doing on her own..."
Before Dong Yue could finish speaking, Shen Mo interrupted him.
"Alright, that old fox, Bai Ruide, thinks he can get away with just pushing Zhao Mei out as a scapegoat." He leaned back on the pillow, his gaze icy. "If he's smart enough to promote you, that's fine. But if you don't get promoted, I'll skin him alive."
Dong Yue wasn't moved to tears upon hearing this. He knew very well that Shen Mo was promoting him to a higher position to better control Ghost's sales policies. For a major client like Shen Mo, who took in hundreds of millions of dollars worth of goods a year, even a slight policy discount meant millions in profit.
"By the way, President Qin, about Liang Danning..." Dong Yue looked at Qin Hao.
Before Dong Yue could finish speaking, Qin Hao waved his hand.
"Liang Danning's matter has nothing to do with me anymore." He said calmly, "You can handle it yourself."
Upon hearing this, Dong Yue secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He nodded and pulled Shen Xing out of the ward.
"You should leave." Shen Mo closed his eyes. "I have a caregiver and A Biao to take care of me here. Shen Xing staying here will only do me harm, not benefit, my condition."
Shen Xing readily agreed, pulling Dong Yue away: "The old man is right, he's tough, he won't die. If I stay here, he'll be more likely to die."
The footsteps faded into the distance. Qin Hao looked towards the doorway and chuckled. What kind of shady, leaky coat was Shen Mo wearing?
……
Meanwhile, Li Dongming was completely bewildered by Zhao Mei's demand that he leave with nothing.
He sat in his office at Ruijing Consulting, a thick stack of documents spread out in front of him, but he couldn't concentrate on reading a single word. He was at a crucial juncture in his pursuit of CEO, with competitors eyeing him closely and the board evaluating candidates. If Zhao Mei were to expose his affair with a subordinate to the company, his competitors would undoubtedly take advantage of his misfortune.
Although the house was quite valuable, it was insignificant compared to his career prospects.
He picked up the water glass on the table, took a sip, and found the water had gone cold.
Just as Li Dongming was about to compromise, Qian Shasha ran into trouble.
After Zhao Mei talked to her that day, she realized why she had worked so hard to serve Li Dongming and was stigmatized as a mistress, but all she got in return was not being laid off and a few insignificant "excellent employee" titles.
She sat on the bed in her rented room, looking at the photos and chat logs on her phone, a sudden surge of resentment welling up inside her. Why could Zhao Mei threaten her? Why could Li Dongming summon her at will? She was going to fight for herself.
She picked up her phone and sent a message to Li Dongming.
"Mr. Li, do you have a moment? I'd like to talk to you."
She sent the message and stared at the screen for a long time.
Li Dongming did not reply.
She posted another message: "I have some thoughts about Zhao Mei."
This time, the reply came quickly: "What is it? Speak."
Qian Shasha bit her lip and typed: "It's not convenient to talk on the phone. Let's meet and talk."
There was a full minute of silence on the other end. Then Li Dongming sent a location—the address of a hotel.
Qian Shasha looked at the address, a slight smile playing on her lips. She stood up, walked to the wardrobe, and picked out her most formal work uniform. (End of Chapter)