Chapter 362 - 233: From Daughter-in-Law to Mother-in-Law?

When he said to call a few of the guys, he naturally meant his subordinates from the Channel Development Department, along with a few managers from other departments who were close with Fang Zheng.

"Boss, tonight?"

Xiaosong wanted to remind him that perhaps they should wait until after President Zhao left, or after the official HR appointment email came out, before celebrating. After all, they had thrown a big party just a month ago, celebrating prematurely, only for Yang Hui to be appointed general manager. It had been a complete disaster and the most humiliating experience ever.

Fang Zheng understood his meaning immediately and sneered, "This time is different. Old Zhao was kept on just to help me get started. Headquarters probably feels it doesn’t make a difference whether he’s here or not, and keeping him on just means paying an extra salary, so they’re making him retire early.

"The moment he leaves, I, the acting general manager, will definitely take over and drop the ’acting’ from my title. There’s no way another Yang Hui is going to pop up this time. What the hell are you worried about?"

Alright. Xiaosong was about to leave when Fang Zheng stopped him. "Get Manager Qin from General Affairs for me. I need to discuss something with her."

"Got it."

’Discuss? What kind of discussion would that be? I heard Manager Qin has been a little distant with President Fang lately. He probably thinks the situation is settled and wants to show off his masculine prowess in front of her again.’

What Xiaosong didn’t expect was for Qin Hong to reply with a blunt "I’m busy" when she heard Fang Zheng was looking for her. ’Have things gotten that tense between them? Manager Qin really doesn’t take Fang Zheng seriously anymore?’ he thought. He lowered his voice and said, "Manager Qin, President Fang is about to get his official appointment."

Qin Hong looked at him with a mix of belief and doubt, as if assessing the truth of his words. It wasn’t that she was overly suspicious; Fang Zheng’s journey to becoming the regional general manager had been full of twists and turns. First, he celebrated too early, which turned into an embarrassing blunder when Yang Hui was appointed instead.

Then, after Yang Hui left, it should have been his turn, right? But he only ended up with an "acting" title while President Zhao still ran the show. What was the point of being "acting" then? Qin Hong knew he was on probation, and that he hadn’t managed to secure any of the contract renewal terms he’d boasted about to headquarters, nor the operational support from Xinyue Group. Qin Hong had judged that he was finished.

He was ugly, and his chances of becoming the regional president seemed slim, so Qin Hong began to distance herself from him. His usefulness was low, and she had to endure his bad breath on top of it.

Xiaosong knew she didn’t believe him, so he explained, "I saw it from HR. This is President Zhao’s last week. He’s retiring soon."

Qin Hong’s eyes narrowed. She nodded. "I understand."

Fang Zheng had tried to see Qin Hong several times before, but she had always refused. Today, she finally came.

He came out from behind his desk, his face flushed with excitement. "Hong, we’ve finally made it to this day."

Qin Hong let out a dry laugh. "President Fang, let’s wait until the email comes through. No need to be so hasty."

"No. I haven’t touched you in so many days. I’m getting impatient."

Gently pushing him away, Qin Hong took two steps back. "President Fang, I don’t like this."

Fang Zheng knew she was the type to not act until she saw the reward. Because his official appointment hadn’t come through yet, she was keeping her distance. If the email arrived right at this moment, she would probably let him do whatever he wanted with her.

He chuckled. "Qin Hong, it’s only a matter of time. Sometimes I really can’t figure out what kind of man you like."

Qin Hong giggled. "I like a big man."

An image of Yang Hui suddenly surfaced in her mind. She had made a move on him once, and it was only from that day on that she truly understood the meaning of powerful and magnificent.

Fang Zheng’s face flushed red. He thought she was making a pointed comment. Wasn’t this just fucking with him? Her one sentence crushed his confidence, and he suddenly felt insecure.

Since Yang Hui was no longer with Ruijing Commerce, and this was an appointment for the regional general manager position, President Feng, the Greater-Area President, would personally come to Qingzhou tomorrow to oversee his installation and make the announcement in front of all the company’s managers to show the importance of the event.

「The next morning.」

Yang Wei of Futong Commerce glanced at the day’s operations report and was stunned.

Among all the brands in the company, his brand, Airex, was down 21% year-over-year, placing it dead last. The month-over-month numbers were even more exaggerated, plummeting by 35%.

’Oh my god, someone help me!’ It was his first day managing the brand, and these results were a brutal slap in the face.

RING RING RING—

The internal line rang. It was Dan Biao calling him.

He walked into Dan Biao’s office, his heart in his throat. Just as he’d expected, President Shan looked furious.

"Xiaoyang, President Li just called me into his office and chewed me out. Airex’s performance was so good last month. How could it plummet the moment you took over? You need to come up with a solution, and fast. I need to see improvement within the week."

"Yes, sir. I’ll go back and call a team meeting right away to resolve this as soon as possible."

"Don’t bother with a team meeting. I’ll tell you what the problem is. The promotional support from Yida Department Store and Xinyue Group is gone. You need to go negotiate with them immediately. And let me remind you, the pressure isn’t even that bad yet. At the end of the month, the month-over-month pressure is going to be even greater because of the 1.3 million group purchase that came in during June.

"One more thing. You promised me last time that the in-store online live streams would start this week. Have you launched them? Why didn’t I see any online sales figures yesterday?"

Yang Wei’s face fell. He had indeed promised to do in-store live streams. Because he was the first to agree, the company had bought new streaming equipment for all the Airex stores. He had made the arrangements yesterday, but none of the teams had done it. It was as if all the supervisors had conspired together.

"President Shan, I made the arrangements yesterday, but—"

"Xiaoyang, just making arrangements isn’t enough. You have to follow up and verify. Management isn’t just about giving orders. You still have a lot to learn."