Chapter 337: Here for the Neurology Department?

‘Zong Lan? The woman I just saw in Zhang Chun’s office? What right does she have to be the Regional General Manager? She’s a complete unknown. Why her and not me?’

President Zhao’s composure completely shattered, her face twisting in disbelief. She had waited for so many days, certain the Regional General Manager position was hers and hers alone—it was supposed to be in the bag. Even President Liu had come to speak with her several times. And this was the result? How could she possibly show her face now?

‘No, wait. There’s also my nephew. He’s about to be fired. If I’m not the Regional General Manager, it’ll be impossible for me to save him.’ At that moment, she still had no idea that Zhao Rui had already been fired directly by the regional company.

Meanwhile, throughout the Qingjiang Region, from the regional headquarters to the individual stores, everyone was buzzing with discussion about the mysterious Ms. Zong Lan. Who was she? What was her management style? But after asking around, no one had a clue.

Upon seeing the email, the regional Vice President of Business immediately went to President Tian’s office. While making small talk, he casually tried to get some information on the new leader. However, President Tian replied that he didn’t know her either; all he knew was that she was an external hire, not from within the Xinyue Group system.

The unknown is always the most terrifying. There was no telling how difficult the new leader would be to please. The VP of Business felt he would have to be on high alert and give 120 percent for the foreseeable future, lest he get burned by one of the “three fires” a new leader inevitably lights.

If even the VP of Business was this tense, you can imagine how the general managers and vice presidents at the store level felt. It was standard practice for a new leader to call in the project GMs for individual talks to “get the lay of the land.” It was also possible they’d get rid of a few and install their own people.

Every change in top leadership brought this problem. The new boss would inevitably place their own people in key positions, which meant finding excuses to fire a few of the current incumbents. The only question was who would be unlucky enough to fall under her axe.

As for the pitiful Zhao Rui, he was still oblivious to all of this. Since his office equipment had been confiscated and his employee ID had been deactivated, he could no longer receive company emails—not even the one announcing his own termination, let alone the one appointing the new Regional General Manager.

Han Chao had just walked out of Li Yang’s office when Li Yang received a call from President Song, with whom he had been drinking the previous night.

“President Li, didn’t you say yesterday that once the new General Manager for Xinyue Group’s Qingjiang Region was in place, you’d arrange a dinner so all the guys could give this big shot a proper welcome?”

Those were indeed Li Yang’s exact words from the night before. He planned to use President Zhao’s appointment to prove he had enough clout to invite her to dinner, showing off to the other contractors and letting them see just how much pull he had. Li Yang lived for this kind of prestige; he would never pass up such an opportunity to flaunt his connections.

“That’s right. I’m not sure if she’ll have time this weekend. A new arrival will have a lot of company-related social engagements, so we should probably push it back a bit.”

President Song said, “President Li, you’re so well-informed! You knew it was a female president from the start. Impressive, impressive!”

Li Yang had been very mysterious the night before, only revealing that the new GM would be a woman but not mentioning President Zhao’s name. President Song’s comment seemed to confirm the results were out and that Li Yang’s prediction had come true. Overjoyed, Li Yang said, “So you’ve all heard? Did the internal appointment notice from Xinyue Group come down?”

“It did, just came down. It’s spreading like wildfire inside Xinyue Group now. Everyone’s asking around to see who knows this new female president, but after a full round of inquiries, it turns out no one has ever had any contact with her.”

Li Yang laughed. “Of course you couldn’t have had contact with her. She’s not from around Qingjiang at all.”

President Song quickly agreed. “President Li, you’re really something else, so well-connected. I bet you must know her quite well, right? You knew she was coming even before the official appointment was announced. And you can even get her to come out for dinner.”

Li Yang was incredibly smug. ‘In the entire Qingjiang business circle, I’m probably the only one with this kind of influence. That Zhao Rui kid is somewhat useful after all, and the money I gave Xiaohan these past few days wasn’t wasted.’ At that thought, he picked up Han Chao’s expense report and signed it, then sent him a message to come and pick it up. All the while, he continued his chat with President Song on speakerphone.

“Old Song, I’m not just bragging. In all of Qingjiang, I’m really the only one who can get President Zhao to come out.”

President Song was completely baffled. He asked in confusion, “President Zhao? Who’s that? What would we be inviting President Zhao for?”

Just then, Han Chao knocked, entered to pick up the form, and happened to hear Li Yang say, “Isn’t President Zhao the new Regional General Manager? Didn’t you just say the appointment notice came down?”

“President Zhao? No, it’s not President Zhao. The appointment notice is out. The Regional General Manager’s name is Zong Lan.”

Li Yang’s expression changed instantly. ‘How could it not be President Zhao? What the fuck, what is this bullshit? They said it was a female president, didn’t they? Didn’t Zhao Rui and Han Chao say it was a sure thing?’

Han Chao was about to leave when he noticed Li Yang’s expression had turned thunderous, like a storm about to break.

“Boss, I’ll head out then. Zhao Rui is still waiting outside.”

Veins bulged on Li Yang’s temples, and his eyes turned bloodshot. “Han Chao, you motherfucker! Are you fucking playing me?”

Han Chao was shocked. A terrible premonition rose in his heart as he quickly explained, “Boss, I didn’t do anything!”

Li Yang laughed, a sound devoid of humor and full of rage. “Didn’t do anything? You tricked me into believing that Zhao Rui could help us get the NLB project at San Yang Xinyue Square. I spent twenty thousand yuan, and in the end, the project still went to Yanghe Commerce.”

Hearing him dredge up the past, Han Chao fell silent and listened as Li Yang continued. “You told me that Zhao Rui’s aunt was about to become the Regional General Manager of Qingjiang Province! You said it was practically a hundred percent confirmed! Confirmed my ass! The new GM is here now, and her name is Zong Lan! So where’s your ‘President Zhao’? Where the hell is she holed up? This time you spent eighty thousand of my yuan, and it turns out you were just fucking with me again. Tell me, how do you want to die?”