Chapter 370: A New Official's Three Fires

So Zong Lan was Wenren Lan. No wonder she supported him even more than President Tian did.

He naturally assumed Zong Lan was doing it to repay a debt of gratitude.

“The little girl will be so happy to see you. Wenren Meng told me she often hears her cry out for her mommy in her sleep.”

At these words, Zong Lan could no longer hold back her tears; they streamed down her face. But her self-control was clearly exceptional. This was the office, Zhang Chun would be back any second, and someone could walk in to report on work at any moment.

She picked up a tissue and gently dabbed her eyes, saying apologetically, “I’m sorry, you had to see that.”

Footsteps sounded from outside. They knew Zhang Chun was returning. “When you have time, have Wenren Meng cook up something nice. You should come over to the house and finally meet Du’Er.”

Zong Lan hummed in agreement, and the two began to discuss other topics. Just then, Zhang Chun walked in from outside. “I have to rush to Shanghai tonight,” he said. “I was hoping we could have a few good drinks.”

Yang Hui felt it was a real shame, too. Brother Chun had made a special trip just for him, and now he had to leave the very same day. Yang Hui was deeply grateful for his friendship.

Zhang Chun and Zong Lan still had some work matters to discuss. With his own business concluded, Yang Hui stood up to leave. Zong Lan exchanged WeChat contacts with him and then saw him out.

As he passed by Cheng Jun’s office, she happened to be seeing a client out. Her face lit up when she saw Yang Hui. “When did you get here?” she asked.

Yang Hui hadn’t planned on disturbing her, but since they’d run into each other, he had to go over and say hello. Meanwhile, Yang Wei had been standing by the door for a long time. He had finally managed to wait until Cheng Jun came out, only to see Yang Hui cut in. He said with immediate displeasure, “Manager Cheng, I’ve been waiting for a while.”

Hearing this, Cheng Jun asked, somewhat annoyed, “What do you need?” She remained standing at the doorway, showing no intention of inviting him inside.

Yang Wei froze, not expecting to be left standing in the hall. Seeing the situation, Yang Hui said, “It’s fine, you go ahead and take care of your business. I’ll come find you later.”

Seeing Yang Hui leave just like that, Cheng Jun looked disappointed, which made her even less inclined to let Yang Wei into her office. “If you have something to say, say it quickly. I have a lot of work to do.”

‘He didn’t believe her for a second. If she was so busy, why did she invite Yang Hui in?’ But since she wasn’t letting him inside, he still had to bring up what he came for.

“I was hoping to request some support for the Airex brand in terms of promotion, advertising, and marketing expenses.”

She shook her head. “Sorry, there’s no budget for it this month.”

‘How can that be? If there’s no budget, aren’t I going to be held accountable?’ Yang Wei said frantically, “Manager Cheng, please, you have to figure something out. We had support last month. If there’s nothing this month, I won’t be able to answer to my company.”

Hearing this, Cheng Jun chuckled. “First, your company is hilarious. You didn’t thank me for the support last month, but now that things are back to normal, you’re blaming me? With an attitude like that, who would dare support you in the future? Second, how you answer to your company is your problem, isn’t it? You can’t just come here and try to pin the blame on me.”

“I—”

“Manager Yang, I’m busy. But let me remind you, I don’t accept this way of communicating, and I will be providing feedback to your President Shan shortly. With a communication style like yours, don’t bother coming to see me again.”

With that, she entered her office and shut the door.

Yang Wei had just had the door slammed in his face. He suddenly remembered he hadn’t even mentioned the in-store livestreaming sales event. ‘Looks like there’s no point,’ he thought. ‘In that mood, she’d never agree to support it, especially since the subsidies for those coupons are much larger than for the physical stores.’

‘Damn it, how am I supposed to survive this?’ He checked his performance progress for the day so far, and his stomach churned with anxiety. ‘How could a great brand like Airex suddenly start failing just like that?’

「Ruijing Commerce」

“President Yang!”

“Hello, boss!”

Yang Hui nodded, responding to the chorus of greetings as he walked over to the operations department. “Li Qing, come to my office for a moment.”

President Zhao had already left for the day. He’d assumed Yang Hui wouldn’t be returning to the office after being out all afternoon. Since President Zhao’s only remaining duty was the handover, he saw no reason to stay while Yang Hui was away. The office was Yang Hui’s now, after all.

Inside the general manager’s office, Li Qing’s bright, wide eyes blinked repeatedly. ‘This is so surreal,’ she thought. ‘After all this time, the boss has actually come back. And he showed up right when I was about to be replaced.’

“Li Qing, for the Xinyue Group project, I want you to have all the store managers coordinate with their floor supervisors or managers to launch the marketing campaign. Start immediately. Hmm, no need to wait for headquarters’ approval. As soon as I sign off, you can begin. The paperwork can be backfilled later.”

This was where Yang Hui’s management style differed from President Zhao’s. Under President Zhao, any plans the branch office needed to implement had to first go through the OA system for approval from headquarters. This ensured compliance and prevented errors, but it had a downside: the response to market changes was slow and inefficient.

But after Yang Hui took over, he had requested and received significant autonomy from the CEO. Within certain limits, launching campaigns, adjusting and distributing certain bonuses, and even salary adjustments were basically at his discretion. So for something like a salary adjustment, he would make the decision and then submit it to headquarters for approval before execution. But for normal marketing activities with the malls, he could execute them first and complete the procedural paperwork later.

This was the first time Li Qing had ever encountered a situation like this. But having worked with Yang Hui for two years, she was familiar with his style, so she replied, “Understood,” without the slightest hesitation and prepared to go carry out his orders. Just as she was about to leave, she heard Yang Hui say, “Li Qing, keep up the good work. I’ve already told HR to start the process of making your position permanent. By the end of this week, you’ll be the official Manager of the Operations Department.”