Chapter 45: Chapter 45: Face
’Dan Biao comes here often?’
He smiled, understanding what Vice President Peng meant. Her use of "Xiaoyang" had said it all.
’Your boss and I are close!’ It was her way of saying, ’You’re not on my level.’
The saying "a full bottle doesn’t slosh, but a half-full one does" was probably coined for people like her. She’d only made it to vice president by the age of fifty, yet she had this inexplicable sense of superiority.
Yang Hui wasn’t about to indulge her bad habits. He gave her a cool nod and led Zhu Jing toward the office area.
When they reached the front desk, he said, "Hello, I’m Yang Hui from Futong Commerce. I have an appointment with your President Chen, Chen Yu."
The receptionist quickly called inside to confirm. Once she had, she gestured for them to follow her.
She led the two of them toward the office area.
Halfway there, a man in his forties wearing a business suit walked out from inside. He carried himself with an impressive air.
From a good distance away, he extended his hand and said, "President Yang, I presume?"
Yang Hui shook his hand. "Hello, I’m Yang Hui."
The receptionist was stunned. The general manager had come out to greet them personally. ’These must be important guests!’
Led by Chen Yu, Yang Hui walked toward his office.
Zhu Jing was a little bewildered. This President Chen seemed like a top executive, far more impressive than President Peng. She wondered what his position was. And Manager Yang seemed to know him so well.
When they arrived at Chen Yu’s office, Zhu Jing glanced at the nameplate on the door.
GASP!
’He’s the general manager! Even President Shan might not get to see him, but Manager Yang knows him this well on his first visit?’
"Please, have a seat, both of you."
Yang Hui and Zhu Jing sat down on the long sofa in the guest area, and Chen Yu’s assistant came over to make tea.
"Wait. Use my tea."
He went behind his own desk, took out his private stash of tea, and said, "This is this year’s new harvest, Golden Milky White. How about you two give it a try?"
Zhu Jing thought to herself, ’This is another level of treatment President Shan never received. I’ve visited stores and handled business at the mall with President Shan before, and he was never shown this kind of courtesy!’
"President Chen, I came here today mainly to see if you could help with two things."
Chen Yu waved his hand dismissively. "Even though this is our first time meeting, I feel like we’re old friends. Please, just ask. If it’s something I can do, I’ll do it without a second thought."
Zhu Jing’s heart skipped a beat. ’Their first time meeting?’
’Given how warm Chen Yu was just now, I thought they were old friends. Why would the general manager be so polite to our manager if it’s their first time meeting?’
Presumably, only Yang Hui and Chen Yu knew the real reason.
He briefly explained the situation with the payment. Their demand was that, by the end of business tomorrow, the entire amount—minus the disputed 8,000 yuan—be transferred to Futong Commerce’s corporate account.
The main issue was the tight deadline, which didn’t allow for the usual procedures. The request itself wasn’t unreasonable.
Upon hearing this, Chen Yu smiled. "If it were anyone else, I definitely couldn’t handle it. Our procedures take at least three days to complete. It’s not just getting the store’s signature; we also have to wait for approval from corporate headquarters before we can issue payment."
"But since it’s you asking, President Yang, I’ll personally rush the headquarters. I guarantee the funds will be in your account before the end of business tomorrow."
"Thank you."
Zhu Jing was floored. ’Since when were clients’ bosses so easy to talk to?’
But she also understood that President Chen was doing this as a favor to Yang Hui. The question was, where did Manager Yang get so much clout?
"The other thing is, I know the mall currently gives Futong Commerce 700 ’100 off 1000’ coupons per month. However, only 50 of those make it to Airex. As you know, I’m only responsible for Airex, so I was hoping to see if President Chen could increase the coupon allocation specifically for the Airex brand."
Chen Yu nodded slightly. "One moment, let me ask finance if there’s any budget for it."
He stood up and dialed an internal line. "Have President Peng and the chief accountant come to my office."
Then he sat down and asked, "How many do you need?"
Yang Hui turned to look at Zhu Jing.
Zhu Jing hesitated, clearly unsure of the right number to ask for. If she asked for too few, it might not be enough. If she asked for too many, she was afraid they’d think she was being unreasonable.
He saw her hesitation at a glance. "Just tell them what you actually need."
Chen Yu also smiled. "That’s right. When it comes to President Yang’s business, there’s no need to be polite with me."
"Would 100 be okay?"
She didn’t ask for more because, based on the mall’s foot traffic, they could use a maximum of 100 of the "100 off 1000" coupons per month.
These coupons were meant to encourage customers to buy multiple items or to help close a sale with a discount.
The discount wasn’t significant enough to cause a buying frenzy.
"No problem. Leave it to me."
As if it were a trivial matter, Chen Yu agreed to it all before the finance person even arrived.
A moment later, the accountant and President Peng came in.
Seeing Yang Hui and Zhu Jing sitting across from President Chen, President Peng was visibly surprised.
Chen Yu said to her, "President Peng, this is President Yang and Manager Zhu from Futong Commerce. I’d like you to meet them. They are an important partner of ours, and we need to make sure we serve them well."
President Peng quickly replied, "Yes, of course."
But inwardly she thought, ’Has President Chen been duped? The guy’s just a manager. What makes him a "President"?’
Of course, Chen Yu knew Yang Hui’s and Zhu Jing’s actual ranks. Using the elevated title was a common courtesy in the business world to show respect to a guest.
"How much do we have left in the marketing budget?"
The chief accountant replied, "There’s none left. It’s all been used up."
He waved his hand, dismissing the accountant. Then he said to President Peng, "For President Yang’s Airex brand, find an extra 50 coupons. You coordinate it."
President Peng, thinking Chen Yu had been deceived, immediately protested, "They’ve all been allocated already! And with Airex’s poor performance, what do they need so many coupons for?"
Hearing her disrespectful, even contemptuous tone toward Yang Hui, Chen Yu’s expression instantly hardened. He snapped, "I told you to give them an extra 50 coupons, so just do it! Why all the useless chatter?"
President Peng fell silent as a cicada in winter, her head bowed, not daring to speak. She never expected President Chen to criticize her so harshly over this.
General manager and vice president. Although it sounded like only half a step in rank, the general manager is responsible for everything, while the vice president is merely an executor. At President Peng’s age, that half-step was a gap she would never cross in this lifetime.
She was now just waiting for retirement.
Yang Hui let out a cold laugh but didn’t spare President Peng a glance.
Since Chen Yu was scolding her, there was no way Yang Hui was going to step in and smooth things over. He watched as she stood there with her head bowed, her face as red as a monkey’s butt, utterly humiliated.
"Get it arranged immediately. Reallocate 50 coupons from the other brands."
President Peng’s voice was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz. "Understood, President Chen. I’ll get on it right away. I’ll contact President Yang after I’ve coordinated it."
"President Yang, let’s add each other on WeChat to make it easier to stay in touch."
Yang Hui pointed to Zhu Jing. "You should add Manager Zhu as well. If anything comes up later, you can contact her. She’s more familiar with the operational details. I just arrived at Futong Commerce, so there are many things I’m still not clear on."
President Peng’s face turned an even deeper shade of red. She never expected Yang Hui to be so dismissive.
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