Chapter 353: He's the One Who Brought Down the Buildings (Part 2)

At Zhu Jing’s table were a few store managers and some other staff. Just then, one of the employees sighed and spoke up.

“What do you mean, ‘we’re finished,’ Xiaoli?”

A store manager beside her asked, confused.

Xiaoli looked utterly dejected. “They kept talking about the new boss. We knew he couldn’t possibly be better than Manager Yang Hui, but since the company approved him, we figured he couldn’t be that bad. We never expected… this blockhead.”

Zhu Jing smiled faintly. It had only taken a few words of conversation for her to know that Yang Wei was a good-for-nothing. She wasn’t surprised by what Xiaoli said, but the store managers were intrigued.

“Tell us more.”

“Didn’t he say he had over a decade of management experience? That he’d taken the helm of three different brands and saved them from the brink of collapse?”

Xiaoli sighed again. “Oh, he propped them up, all right. Propped them up until they came crashing down. He was in charge of three brands, and now all three have pulled out of the Qingjiang Market.”

So that’s how he “saved” them.

“I knew he was a bit of an idiot. Claiming we have a ‘bad attitude’ around here… He hasn’t even officially started yet, and he’s already spouting that nonsense.”

Zhu Jing said, “Alright, alright, enough about him. Let’s eat. Don’t let one person ruin the mood.”

A store manager said, “That’s easy for you to say, you’re leaving. We’re still at Futong Commerce. He’s about to get his claws into us!”

The manager made an exaggerated face as they spoke, making Zhu Jing laugh. She also felt a bit of pity for Yang Wei. When Yang Hui had first joined the company, the staff hadn’t held out much hope that he could turn things around, but their overall impression of him had been positive. Then, after he brought a series of benefits to the team, he was quickly accepted and significantly boosted everyone’s morale. They had even come up with a joking slogan: “Follow President Yang’s lead, and we’ll drink three times a day!”

Yang Wei hadn’t even taken office, and morale was already collapsing. She had no idea how he planned to “climb one peak after another.” It would be a miracle if the company didn’t go into a nosedive.

As the dinner wound down, one of the store managers finally couldn’t hold back any longer and asked the question on everyone’s mind. “Boss, what are your plans now? Have you found a new position?”

“I have. I’m starting on Monday, actually. At Yanghe Commerce, in charge of the Zen brand.”

These employees and managers weren’t Zen’s target customers, and their lives mostly consisted of a straight line between the store and home. Plus, since Zen was new to Qingzhou, they had no idea what kind of brand it was. When they heard Zhu Jing say it was the first store in Qingzhou, they felt it was a shame. “With your abilities, Boss, being in charge of just one store is such a waste of your talent.”

They were only relieved after Zhu Jing explained that this was just the beginning and that one or two new stores would be opening almost every month. Then, whether they meant it or not, they all broached the same subject: “If a good opportunity comes up, Boss, please think of me. I’d love to keep working with you.”

The others chimed in, echoing the sentiment, regardless of their sincerity. Zhu Jing did need to hire people, so she said, “If you’re serious, come and find me then. But let me be clear: the hiring standards there aren’t up to me. If you don’t meet the requirements, my hands will be tied. So please don’t blame me if I can’t help.”

“Don’t be such a stranger, Boss. Of course, we understand. Even if you were starting your own company, you couldn’t just take all of us with you.”

By the time Zhu Jing and her group were finished, Dan Biao and Yang Wei had already left. The women saw Zhu Jing into a taxi, carefully noting down the license plate number. After giving the driver her destination and reminding Zhu Jing to text them when she got home safe, they watched as the taxi drove off into the distance.

Staring into the distance where the taillights had long since vanished, they had a feeling that the future of the Airex brand in Qingjiang Province had vanished along with them.

On Saturday, Yang Hui picked up Shen Meng first thing in the morning. It wasn’t until after they’d gone through more than a dozen positions at the Xinyue Hotel that they finally came to a stop.

With the little girl and Wenren Meng at his house, it was inconvenient to bring Shen Meng home. And since Shen Meng was living with her aunt, going to her place was also out of the question. For now, they could only get hotel rooms. Yang Hui began to wonder if he should consider buying another apartment for Shen Meng.

Cradling Shen Meng’s body, which was as flawless as a statue carved from white jade, he let out a long, satisfied breath and reached out to brush the sweat-dampened bangs from her forehead.

“Meng Meng,” he murmured, “come with me to Jiang’an City this afternoon.”

The last time he and Shen Meng had been shopping at Jiang’an City, he’d run into the floor manager, Li Juan. He had asked her to let him know when the general manager, President Wu, was free so he could pay him a visit to discuss a partnership for NLB and Zen.

But a problem had come up. President Wu had been transferred, and the new GM, President Jiang, had been sent over from Shanghai. He was too busy to meet with clients when he first arrived, and had only recently started seeing some of the larger local vendors in Qingzhou.

But for someone like Yang Hui, he’d consistently claimed to have no time. It was only after Li Juan had asked on his behalf several times that the man had finally agreed to a meeting today—and only for half an hour.

He had almost never been treated like this. Even when he spoke with Zhang Chun, there were no time limits unless the situation was exceptional. But he could understand. After all, he had no relationship with this President Jiang, and his business was still small, with only two stores. It was only natural that the general manager of a place like Jiang’an City—a shopping center whose prestige in Qingzhou was second only to Xinyue Square—wouldn’t give him the time of day.

He couldn’t expect every general manager to treat him the way Brother Chun and President Tian did; that wasn’t realistic. He kept lowering his expectations, even for his upcoming meeting with Zong Lan. ‘Don’t assume things will go too smoothly,’ he told himself. ‘That way, you won’t be too disappointed.’