Chapter 346: Don't Solve the Problem, Solve the Person

Dan Biao nodded. “I agree. With performance this strong, we should hold the line on discounts to raise our gross profit margin. Airex is indeed skipping promotions this weekend. We’ll save some resources for next month as a show of support for your work.”

Yang Wei was thrilled. ‘Looks like Dan Biao and I are on the same page. He’ll probably support my next idea, then.’

“Thank you, sir. I also think we should hold off on recording some of the group buy orders this month. If we move them to next month, it’ll guarantee we can turn in some impressive results then.”

‘Group buys?’ It hadn’t occurred to Dan Biao that Yang Hui could still pull group buy business from Yida Department Store. ‘But even if the store negotiated it, it’s still part of the sales figures from Yang Hui’s time as manager. Delaying it would require his consent, and Dan Biao had no intention of doing anything to offend Yang Hui.’

He laughed evasively and said, “Ah, Xiaoyang, if it’s a group buy that *you* personally negotiated, then by all means, save it for next month. But if it’s not, you’ll need to discuss it with Yang Hui.”

Yang Wei immediately grew anxious. “But sir, Airex’s performance this month is already way over target! Adding another 1.3 million in group buys is just icing on the cake. It would be much more valuable next month.”

On one hand, he wanted to be the one distributing resources to gain control over the team. On the other, he was afraid that if Yang Hui’s performance this month was too high, the pressure on him next month would be immense. If his own business metrics didn’t match up to Yang Hui’s, it would be a major embarrassment. He believed that on this point, Dan Biao should be on his side. After all, from Dan Biao’s perspective, it was better for monthly results to show steady, sustainable growth rather than fluctuating wildly.

What 1.3 million? Dan Biao didn’t understand at first. Only after Yang Wei explained that Zhu Jing was allocating the sales figures from a Yida Department Store group buy to the team did Dan Biao realize that Yang Hui had, without a peep, managed to secure such a massive deal from them.

‘This Yang Hui is really something else. He’s about to quit and can still pull resources from the mall. Oh, wait, that’s not quite right. It’s probably mostly due to his personal connections again. Didn’t Li Yang say the Yida Department Store on Qingzhou Pedestrian Street gave the last two spots to Yanghe Commerce? What does that tell you? Yang Hui’s relationship with Yida Department Store is much stronger than Li Yang’s. Then again, Yanghe Commerce’s current market performance must also be a factor. With such incredible sales output, a mall like Yida Department Store would definitely treat them like VIPs.’

‘What is this idiot Yang Wei thinking? Why would Yang Hui ever give a resource like that to you? And what makes you think he’s like you, someone who does whatever I say? This kid probably hasn’t been here long enough to know what a thorn in the side Yang Hui is, or how difficult he is to handle.’

“Xiaoyang, like I just said, Yang Hui negotiated this group buy, so it’s naturally his to control. However, I can tell you that the mall helped negotiate it. You can try to get one for yourself next month. You must be familiar with Yida Department Store, right? After all, you’ve been working in commerce in Qingjiang Province for so many years.”

Yang Wei nodded. He wouldn’t go so far as to say he was familiar, but he definitely knew all the floor managers.

“Exactly. Once you take over the job on July 1st, you can go coordinate with the mall yourself. Next month’s group buy performance will be entirely yours to manage, and I won’t interfere with how you choose to allocate it.”

It felt like having a bucket of cold water dumped on his head. He knew that if Dan Biao didn’t support him on this, there was no way to hold back these sales figures. He was still in his training period and hadn’t officially started the job yet; he had no authority over the team.

Watching Yang Wei, who had come in elated and now left crestfallen, Dan Biao quietly muttered two words under his breath: “Fucking idiot.”

‘Even Li Yang can’t snatch the food from Yang Hui’s bowl. Who the hell do you think you are? Once you officially start next month, reality will slap you in the face a few times, and then you’ll learn to behave.’

「Inside Ruijing Commerce」

President Zhao returned to the company looking overjoyed, and people throughout the office began to gossip.

“President Zhao just came back from a store inspection. Why does he look like he’s found a new lease on life?”

“Yeah, I heard Headquarters has been keeping a really close watch on the Qingjiang Branch lately. President Fang and President Zhao are both under a lot of pressure, especially President Fang. President Zhao is about to retire, after all. He’s just staying on to help President Fang through this last leg of the transition.”

“Hey, with the way things are going, when do you think they’ll drop the ‘Acting’ from President Fang’s title?”

“Three months, probably. An acting GM is basically the GM; they just need a transition period. I asked someone at HQ, and apparently, since the company was founded, the success rate for dropping the ‘Acting’ is 100%.”

“It’s just that President Fang’s job is pretty tough right now. Headquarters makes him report on the contract renewal progress several times a week, which must be torture. Who would have thought? After two years of such great cooperation with Xinyue Group, they suddenly just turned on us. Makes you wonder what kind of relationship management President Fang was doing before all this.”

Fang Zheng was still working out of the Director of Channel Development’s office. After all, as long as President Zhao was still there, the General Manager’s office remained occupied.

“Boss, I heard that when Old Zhao went to the Xinyue Square store today, Yang Hui was with him.”

Fang Zheng snorted coldly. He knew President Zhao had always had a soft spot for Yang Hui; he couldn’t do anything about their personal relationship. Besides, he’d heard that Yang Hui had gone to Futong Commerce to be a brand operations manager. He was no longer the rival he’d once been. In Fang Zheng’s eyes, Yang Hui was beneath his notice now.

What he hoped for most now was for President Zhao to hurry up and leave. For every day he wasn’t sitting in that office, he didn’t feel like a true regional general manager. Moreover, with Old Zhao still around, he felt constrained when giving orders, which made him feel as if he were still just the Director of Channel Development.