Chapter 342 - 226: I’m in Charge of Getting Soy Sauce

President Zhao and Yang Hui left, walking all the way to the entrance of NLB on the first floor. President Zhao pointed at the shop and said, "This company’s operational standards are the most impressive I’ve ever seen. Everyone says business is tough these days, but just look at what they’re doing. Their brand has strong appeal, store management is on point, and the sales staff is motivated and highly professional. So it’s not that business is hard—it’s that *our* business is hard.

"I’d really love to meet the person in charge of this store and learn a thing or two from them."

Yang Hui, flattered by the praise, was about to reveal his identity when Yang Na happened to walk out of the store. Seeing them, she approached. "Hello, President Zhao!"

President Zhao chuckled. "Yang Na, you only greet President Zhao? What, you’re not going to greet President Yang?"

Of course she saw him. The two of them were together every day; there was no need for such formalities. She was just curious how the two of them had ended up together.

At that moment, President Zhao asked, "Yang Na, where are you working these days?"

Yang Na blushed. After leaving her old company, she had blocked all her former colleagues on social media. Otherwise, President Zhao would have already known she was involved with NLB.

Evidently, seeing her come out of the NLB store, President Zhao had simply assumed she was a customer. Yang Hui, smiling beside them, interjected, "But this *is* her job, isn’t it?"

President Zhao was incredulous, but he knew Yang Hui rarely made jokes like this. He turned to Yang Na. "You’re a supervisor for Yanghe Commerce?"

Yang Hui just smiled. "She’s the General Manager of Yanghe Commerce."

President Zhao reflexively cleaned out his ear, thinking he must have misheard. But when Yang Na offered no correction, he realized Yang Hui was telling the truth. The very person he admired so much, the one he wanted to learn from, was a former supervisor from his own company. ’My God,’ he thought, ’what did Ruijing Commerce miss out on?’

In truth, it wasn’t entirely as he imagined. While Yang Na certainly possessed outstanding management skills, they couldn’t have reached this level of success on management alone. It was the company’s excellent compensation that made the employees so incredibly proactive.

President Zhao felt the owner of Yanghe Commerce had a truly unconventional hiring philosophy. Yang Na’s resume only showed her as a supervisor, yet she was appointed General Manager. That took guts. He sighed. "The owner of Yanghe Commerce is a master. He really knows how to utilize people. I’m nowhere near that level."

"President Zhao, you do realize you’ve been praising both of us this whole time, right?"

’This old man’s brain really isn’t working today.’ President Zhao felt like he couldn’t keep up with these two young people. He still didn’t understand what Yang Hui meant. ’When did I praise him?’

"Yanghe Commerce is a joint venture between me and Yang Na."

President Zhao was floored. The company that had been causing such a sensation in Qingzhou’s business community actually belonged to Yang Hui and Yang Na. After taking a moment to process the news, he gave a self-deprecating laugh. "No wonder you two weren’t interested in a small-time operation like Ruijing Commerce. You struck out on your own and did this well."

Yang Na went back inside and returned with two cups of freshly ground Blue Mountain coffee. "Here you go. Try our own house brew. The taste is much better than Starbucks."

After thanking her, President Zhao took the coffee and had a sip. "Mm, this is truly excellent. So, how do you two divide the labor?"

Yang Hui laughed and pointed at Yang Na. "Our division of labor is crystal clear," he told President Zhao. "She’s responsible for the company’s operations and management, and I’m just along for the ride."

At that, President Zhao nearly sprayed a mouthful of coffee. Yang Na quickly handed him a wet wipe while shooting Yang Hui a charmingly reproachful glare, as if scolding him for his flippant remark. ’Look what you’ve done to the poor man,’ she thought.

President Zhao humbly inquired about the store’s performance. For a while, people from Xinyue Group had been posting sales reports, so he knew about the first week’s numbers. But he wasn’t clear on how they’d done since entering a more stable period. When Yang Na told him their sales were 50,000 to 60,000 a day on weekdays and over 100,000 on weekends, President Zhao was stunned. A single Ruijing Commerce store couldn’t even do 300,000 in an entire month.

The old saying was true: comparisons are odious. Looking at their sales figures, he thought that if he were part of Xinyue Group, he’d want to kick Ruijing Commerce out too. For them to occupy such a prime location was a complete waste of space.

He also asked about the employees and how they managed to maintain such high standards. In all his years of management, he had never seen a team with so much fighting spirit.

Yang Na glanced at Yang Hui. She could have talked about it for hours, so she didn’t go into great detail. Instead, she summarized, "Because we’re willing to share the profits. When employees earn a high income, their sense of belonging to the company naturally strengthens, and execution ceases to be a problem. Of course, if anyone fails to adhere to company policy, we deal with it decisively and without hesitation.

"In short, we ensure that employees who are willing to grow with us can earn more money. And for those whose values don’t align with our company culture, we encourage them to leave sooner rather than later."

President Zhao understood. In a nutshell, they just paid well. He couldn’t resist asking, "What kind of income are the store manager and clerks here making?"

Yanghe Commerce didn’t require its employees to keep their salaries confidential. Even if other companies found out, very few would have the courage to emulate them. Yang Na did a quick mental calculation. "This month, the store manager should make a little over 30,000, and the sales staff will earn upwards of 15,000."

’Holy crap!’ President Zhao almost swore out loud. His company, Ruijing Commerce, had over 800 employees with an average salary of 4,000. If he were to match the salary of even a basic clerk at Yanghe Commerce, it would cost him an extra 8 million a month. He’d lose his shirt.

There was simply no way he could afford to pay that much.