Chapter 38: Chapter 38: A Subordinate’s Predicament
"Treat me to a meal?"
Wang Qing smiled. ’What’s so great about eating with some kid?’ He had let him use the car to build some goodwill, mostly for Zhang Chun’s sake. Besides, he wasn’t in a hurry to use the car anyway.
Just like with Li Yang, although he had acted very enthusiastically toward Yang Hui that night, it was all a performance for Zhang Chun.
Zhang Chun seemed to look after Yang Hui, but to what extent could Yang Hui influence Zhang Chun? Wang Qing, judging others by his own standards, felt the influence would be limited.
’After all, he’s just a young man, and not even a relative of Zhang Chun’s.’
As for Zhang Chun acting so close to Yang Hui at the banquet, you couldn’t always take that at face value.
People at their level were masters of performance. They could make the fake seem more real than reality itself!
But then he saw the last sentence: "President Zhang Chun and I will be there!"
His expression finally changed. ’Is Zhang Chun really going this far to personally support him?’
Even he himself might not be able to get ahold of Zhang Chun if he wanted to invite him to a meal.
Yet, for Yang Hui to succeed in inviting him to a meal, Zhang Chun was actually willing to come along as well. From this alone, it was clear that his care for Yang Hui far exceeded Wang Qing’s previous judgment. He probably doted on Yang Hui more than his own nephews.
[Wang Qing: A Hui, you set the time. I’m free whenever!]
After replying, Wang Qing went back to listening to the deputy general manager’s work report, but in his mind, he was thinking, ’This young man, Yang Hui, is someone I need to build a serious relationship with.’
[Yang Hui: President Wang, let’s do this afternoon then. I’ll send you the location in a bit, is that okay?]
For him, the sooner the better. There were only two days left until the end of the month. If they couldn’t settle things today, tomorrow might be too late.
Since Wang Qing had made up his mind to befriend Yang Hui, he was naturally agreeable to anything.
Yang Hui sent him the location for lunch and notified Zhang Chun as well.
He checked the time: 10:00 AM!
He planned to head out at 11:00. It was still a little early.
Just then, Zhu Jing walked over. "Boss, do you have a minute?"
His gaze shifted from his computer screen to Zhu Jing.
A lime-cream silk blouse paired with cashmere-green high-waisted, straight-leg pants.
The blouse’s asymmetrical collar was slightly open, revealing her collarbones, and the ankle-length pants perfectly exposed her ankles, paired with a pair of nude-colored pointed-toe heels.
"Have a seat."
As she sat down, she leaned forward slightly, and for a fleeting moment, the heavy, spherical shapes visible through her collar were so white they were dazzling.
"Boss, I have a situation I need to report to you."
He nodded, steeling himself. ’If it wasn’t trouble, they definitely wouldn’t come to me.’
Usually, they only came to him with problems they couldn’t solve themselves.
"The payment from Yida Department Store High-tech Branch might not come in this month. It’s going to be delayed until next month!"
Yang Hui frowned.
Department store payments were typically for the previous month’s goods. Back when he was at Ruijing Commerce, delays were virtually nonexistent.
Futong Commerce was a major player in Qingjiang Province. Logically, the department stores should be very cooperative. How could a payment issue like this arise?
He had just been reviewing some company procedures and learned that because Futong Commerce managed so many brands, a single department store like Yida would typically have six or even more of Futong’s shops.
Having each brand reconcile its accounts separately would be a waste of manpower, so for each department store, they designated one Futong Commerce supervisor to be responsible for reconciling accounts and following up on payments for all brands.
Zhu Jing was clearly that supervisor for the Yida Department Store High-tech Branch. While she only managed operations for "Airex," she was responsible for account reconciliation and payment follow-up for all of Futong Commerce’s brands there.
"What’s the reason for the payment delay?"
"There’s a discrepancy in the promotional event fees for some of our company’s other brands, so both sides haven’t been able to agree on them. That’s preventing us from confirming the settlement statement!"
Yang Hui knew that without a settlement statement stamped and confirmed by both companies, the other party definitely wouldn’t release the payment.
And with a fee discrepancy, their side wouldn’t stamp it either.
"How much is the total payment, and what’s the amount of the discrepancy in the event fees?"
"The payment is for 1.2 million yuan, and the fee discrepancy is 8,000 yuan. I’m already pushing the supervisor for ’Erke’ to reconcile the accounts!"
"Erke" was another one of the company’s brands, much larger in scale than "Airex." Its individual stores also had much higher sales, so their supervisors always walked around with their noses in the air, acting a cut above everyone else.
Meanwhile, the supervisors for "Airex" were all like eggplants wilted by frost. It couldn’t be helped; when you couldn’t produce results or earn money for the company, you felt inferior.
"What’s the standard procedure for something like this?"
He was new and didn’t know the rules of the game at Futong Commerce yet. He couldn’t just apply the methods he used at Ruijing Commerce.
Zhu Jing blinked her large, watery eyes and said in a small voice, "If the payment doesn’t come in, the person in charge gets a formal warning and their salary is suspended. The department head, too!"
’Alright, so that means I’m also going to get a penalty and have my salary suspended!’
He didn’t care about the money, but he couldn’t afford to lose face.
"Let’s do this. Submit a formal request to the company to settle according to the statement Yida Department Store provided for now. At the same time, push the ’Erke’ supervisor to find the point of discrepancy as soon as possible and figure out which side made the mistake.
"If the department store over-deducted the 8,000 yuan, we’ll be responsible for getting it back. If they didn’t, then everything is settled. This way, we can collect the 1.2 million yuan payment first!"
He considered this the most appropriate solution. They couldn’t let 8,000 yuan hold up a 1.2 million yuan payment.
Zhu Jing thought for a moment and decided her boss’s plan was feasible.
"Go and submit an OA request form!"
"What’s OA?" Zhu Jing asked, looking at Yang Hui in confusion.
He was dumbfounded too. ’Futong Commerce does this much business, but their management methods are this outdated?’
’Everything’s paperless these days, and they’re still using paper application forms?’
"Just hurry up and get a paper request form then. After you get it through the approval process, you’ll still need to apply for the finance department’s official stamp. Time is tight. Make following up on this your top priority today!"
After sending Zhu Jing off, he saw that it was about time.
He waited for Zhu Jing to prepare the request form and bring it over. He signed it and told her to continue with the process.
He tidied up a bit and then headed out.
As soon as he left, a few members of the team gathered together.
"Ji Kun, did the new boss say anything about what’s going to happen with the bonus situation? We’re not going to hit 80% of our performance target this month, which means no bonuses for supervisors or the stores."
"He told us to keep working hard and try to meet the target. He also said he’s taking me to visit a few stores this afternoon to look for opportunities."
"Heh... ’Try’? More of that useless talk. There are only two days left, how are we supposed to ’try’? Shouldn’t the first thing he does be applying to the company to have this month’s bonuses paid out as usual?"
Xu Guang was indignant. He hadn’t received a bonus for several months in a row. If this kept up, his girlfriend was really going to break up with him. This was no way to live.
Xiang Ling calmly commented from the side, "You guys are being naive. Do you really expect a newcomer to solve a problem that even President Shan couldn’t fix?"
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