Chapter 238 - 192: Hu Group

Since Yang Hui’s resources would no longer be channeled into Futong Commerce, Li Yang saw no more reason to tolerate him. He wanted him gone, and fast.

In fact, Li Yang wasn’t wrong. The previous rent reduction and the acquisition of marketing resources hadn’t been for the benefit of Futong Commerce. Yang Hui had done it for his own KPIs. It was a reflection of his performance, his reputation, and a way to ensure his team members could earn a stable income under the rules at Futong Commerce.

As long as his team members’ income was secure and his own KPIs were met, there was no way he would use his personal connections to enrich Futong Commerce. He wasn’t crazy, and he certainly wasn’t Li Yang’s father.

Dan Biao left Li Yang’s office with a heavy heart. He returned to his own office and shut the door, not wanting to be disturbed.

’He greatly admired his subordinate, Yang Hui. He could be a bit of a maverick, but the man got things done. In sales, shouldn’t results be what matters most? All of Yang Hui’s work exceeded expectations, which had saved Dan Biao, the operations director, from so much trouble.’

Before Yang Hui came to the company, the Airex team was plagued by high turnover and difficult recruitment. It ranked dead last in year-over-year metrics and profit margin. He had spent half his energy on this brand and still couldn’t turn the situation around. Fortunately, Yang Hui came along. Using his personal network, he solved the brand’s problems in a snap. Now, in the first two weeks of this month, the Airex team had only lost two employees, both of whom left for family emergencies. The rest of the team was extremely stable.

Moreover, its year-over-year and month-over-month profit margins were now the highest among all the operations teams. And Li Yang was letting a man like that go? Dan Biao shook his head, wondering what on earth Li Yang was thinking. He could only curse silently in his heart, ’Li Yang, you son of a bitch, go ahead and screw everything up.’

In the evening, Shen Meng got off work from Yanghe Trading Company and took the subway to Xinyue Center.

Xinyue Center was the most high-end shopping mall in Qingzhou City. It didn’t have the same foot traffic as Xinyue Square, but its clientele consisted entirely of high-spenders. The ground floor was filled with every top-tier luxury brand imaginable, like Louis Vuitton, Hermes, and more. The complex’s annual sales approached eight billion yuan. It was another commercial complex under the Xinyue Group, just positioned differently than Xinyue Square. There were only twenty-one Xinyue Centers in the entire country, mostly located in first-tier and new first-tier cities.

Xinyue Center would not open in any city with a GDP of less than a trillion yuan.

This was Shen Meng’s first time here, and she wasn’t familiar with the brands on the ground floor. On the subway ride over, she had looked up a guide online and now entered the Louis Vuitton showroom with a clear objective.

The sales associate greeted her, looking her up and down. It was clear at a glance that this beautiful woman was not a high-spender; she could tell it was her first time in an LV store. But she still flashed a professional smile. ’For a beauty like this,’ she thought, ’there must be plenty of men willing to foot the bill. Even if she doesn’t close a sale today, she could become a potential customer down the line.’

"Hey, beautiful. Can I get to know you?"

Sure enough, a woman this beautiful was the center of attention wherever she went. Seeing her walk in alone, it took less than three seconds for President Song to be smitten.

President Song was a regular at this LV store. The sales associate had personally seen him buy bags for no fewer than six different beautiful women. She believed that if the beauty before her gave the slightest hint, President Song would generously gift her an exquisite bag.

Unfortunately, Shen Meng disliked and was not used to being hit on like this. She said coolly, "No, thank you."

Then she turned to the sales associate and said, "Please help me pick out a men’s briefcase. He’s twenty-four."

She mentioned his age so the associate wouldn’t pick a style that was too old-fashioned, which wouldn’t suit Yang Hui.

When President Song saw the beautiful woman ignore him and then ask the sales associate to pick out a briefcase for a young man, he immediately understood. ’She’s buying it for her boyfriend, or for someone she has a crush on.’

’A contemptuous smile tugged at the corner of his lips. ’He’s in his twenties and needs his girlfriend to buy him a bag? What’s so great about a pretty boy like that? This beautiful woman clearly hasn’t learned any hard lessons yet. As she gets older and more experienced, she’ll realize the only thing in this world that will ever treat you right is money. Its kindness is constant.’’

The sales associate selected a briefcase from the ’Black Warrior’ collection for Shen Meng. It had chain decorations and a cool, business-casual style. Shen Meng held it to get a feel for it and thought it was pretty nice. ’Yang Hui can make do with this for now,’ she thought. ’Once I save up enough money, I’ll get him a better one.’

The reason for her sudden impulse to buy Yang Hui a bag was that she had noticed how old his was while they were on a business trip over the weekend. The leather on the bottom looked like it was about to wear through, so she had come to Xinyue Center today to pick out a new one for him.

"This is the one. Please wrap it up for me."

’The sales associate hadn’t expected this. The woman might have looked like an average spender, but she was surprisingly generous when buying a gift for her boyfriend. She was even more decisive than President Song was when picking out bags for his young things.’

"Your boyfriend is a very lucky man."

An unpleasant voice came from the side. Shen Meng knew that annoying middle-aged man had followed her over. She ignored him and asked the associate to ring her up.

"However, I imagine your boyfriend would be too embarrassed to accept your gift. Any successful man, or even one with a bit of self-respect, would never accept a handout from a woman."

She could hear the taunt in his voice—he was mocking Yang Hui for not being successful, for lacking self-respect. Shen Meng gave him a cold glare. "I’m afraid you don’t understand what mutual affection means. Two people who have feelings for each other don’t care about these things. You should try finding someone who can actually like you. Then you can see for yourself if your pride takes a hit when you receive a gift from someone who cares about you."