Chapter 355 - 231: Disdain and Arrogance

Jiang Ming was clearly very interested in the new regional general manager of Xinyue Group. After all, they were the leader in the Qingjiang Business District. Moreover, the resources at her disposal were immeasurably greater than his own.

Li Yang laughed arrogantly. "Good. Once she’s past this busy spell, I’ll host a gathering for all the major clients. If I invite her to attend, she’ll probably do me the honor, haha."

The validation he received from Jiang Ming swept away the gloom that had been weighing on him for days due to the pressure from Xinyue Group, restoring his boundless confidence.

The lunch was a resounding success for both host and guest. When Jiang Ming returned to his office, he summoned Li Juan and the head of merchant recruitment. Catching the scent of alcohol on her boss, Li Juan frowned slightly. ’Yang Hui is coming this afternoon,’ she thought. ’Drinking before a client meeting... isn’t that a little disrespectful?’

"I just had a great talk with President Li of Futong Commerce. I want your merchant recruitment team to find a spot for NLB, and fast. I worked with that brand back when I was in Shanghai. It’s a solid brand with guaranteed sales, a perfect fit for our mall’s positioning."

After dismissing the head of merchant recruitment, only Li Juan remained. "Going forward, give Futong Commerce’s marketing activities a little extra support," Jiang Ming said. "I’ll need his cooperation for our second Jiang’an City location in the future."

Li Juan acknowledged the order, then seized an opportunity to add, "President Jiang, besides Futong Commerce, the people from Yanghe Commerce you’re meeting this afternoon also handle NLB. In fact, the NLB in the main Xinyue Square store is operated by them."

She was trying to remind Jiang Ming that in Qingjiang, Yanghe Commerce actually had the stronger operational capabilities.

To her surprise, Jiang Ming waved his hand dismissively. "Having one successful store doesn’t prove their operational strength. If Futong Commerce was so weak operationally, how could they have grown to their current scale?"

Logically, his statement was sound, and Li Juan couldn’t possibly argue with him. She couldn’t just tell him that Li Yang was simply lucky—that the few brands he represented happened to be trendy, that he had gotten into the business early, had the guts to open stores, and ended up with a portfolio of prime locations, which is how he made his money.

’If his management skills were any better, he could be making even more. Now that the market has soured, Futong Commerce’s business is already showing signs of fatigue.’ Li Juan was in charge of operations, and according to her data, Futong Commerce’s sales decline ranked among the worst in the entire mall.

"You can leave now. I need to rest for a bit. I had a little too much to drink at lunch."

Li Juan left in silence, pulling the door closed behind her. She glanced at the time. Yang Hui would arrive in half an hour. ’He won’t be able to sleep for long,’ she thought.

Yang Hui patted Shen Meng on the rear. She was leaning over the back of the living room sofa, her legs held out straight. It was time for their post-lunch workout. Yang Hui glanced at the clock. They had to leave now, or they’d be late for their appointment—a bad look, especially since he was the one asking for a favor.

Shen Meng breathed a sigh of relief. ’After half a day of his tempestuous passion, having a boyfriend like this is both exhausting and blissful,’ she thought.

Normally, it would be inappropriate for Yang Hui to bring his girlfriend to a business meeting with Jiang Ming. However, Shen Meng was also the head of Yanghe Commerce’s online sales team, so she could attend as a colleague. ’I don’t want her to feel like I just use her and then cast her aside.’

On weekends, the foot traffic at Jiang’an City was comparable to Xinyue Square. However, the clientele here was of a lower quality, with less spending power. This made it a more suitable location for mass-market fashion brands. For mid-to-high-end brands, sales would likely fall short of what could be achieved at Xinyue Square.

He did a rough assessment. ’Exceeding 1.2 million in monthly sales shouldn’t be a problem,’ he concluded. ’That makes opening a store here worthwhile.’

Leading Shen Meng through the mall, Yang Hui went up to the administrative offices on the fourth floor. Since Li Juan was the one who had arranged the meeting, he sought her out first.

Li Juan had been keeping an eye on Jiang Ming’s office. The door hadn’t opened once. ’He’s probably still resting,’ she guessed. ’That’s rather impolite... or perhaps it just shows he doesn’t consider Yang Hui important.’ When she saw Yang Hui walk in with Shen Meng, she recognized the stunning woman from their last encounter at Jiang’an City. Yang Hui had introduced Shen Meng as his girlfriend back then. ’They really are a perfect match,’ she thought, ’but to bring her along to discuss business—’

Yang Hui saw her expression and immediately knew what she was thinking. "Shen Meng is on our company’s management team," he explained quickly.

Li Juan’s expression cleared. ’Ah, so they’re a couple *and* colleagues,’ she realized. ’In that case, it’s fine.’ She said, "Please wait in the meeting room for a moment. I’ll go get President Jiang."

After showing Yang Hui and Shen Meng to the meeting room, she went to check if Jiang Ming was awake. If it hadn’t been for Yang Hui, she wouldn’t have dared to do this. ’I’m just going to get chewed out for disturbing the boss’s rest, aren’t I?’ she fretted.

She knocked gently on the door a few times. No response. Li Juan knew he must not have set an alarm and was still fast asleep. After a moment’s hesitation, not wanting to hold up Yang Hui’s business, she steeled herself and knocked again, much harder this time. BANG! BANG!

A moment later, Jiang Ming yanked the door open from the inside. He was clearly grumpy from being woken up. "What is it?" he demanded, his face a mask of displeasure.

He had been sleeping soundly after his lunchtime drinks, even dreaming he’d been promoted to Regional President. In his dream, he was in charge of two whole stores. Even if the title was somewhat nominal, it was still a bigger management scope than he had now.

He’d been dreaming that the Group was giving him an award. The trophy was just about to be placed in his hands when her knocking startled him awake.

"President Jiang, the guests from Yanghe Commerce are here. They’re waiting in the meeting room. Shall I bring them over now?"