Chapter 85: Taking Sides

Chapter 85: Chapter 85: Taking Sides

As soon as Liu Haoran got to work in the morning, he received a WeChat message from Peng Yu.

"President Liu, what did you do about that logistics guy of yours, Zhao Hui?"

Liu Haoran replied, "President Peng, we’ve disciplined him and will be managing our staff more strictly going forward!"

"That’s it?" Peng Yu was clearly dissatisfied.

Liu Haoran remained very polite. "I hope President Peng can give the young man some time. I’m sure we’ll see him improve!"

Peng Yu didn’t reply. Liu Haoran knew the battle lines had been drawn.

But so what? If his performance was affected and his KPI suffered, the worst that could happen was a smaller year-end bonus.

But in exchange, he had gotten on the CEO’s good side. This was an opportunity many regional presidents could only dream of.

What you lose on the swings, you gain on the roundabouts. The pros clearly outweighed the cons; even a fool could see that.

And he was no fool. Sure enough, a message from the CEO arrived. The amount of time he had spoken with the CEO in the past two days was more than all his interactions over the last ten years at Yino combined.

"President Liu, join me for dinner tonight!"

Zhang Shijie felt he should introduce President Zhao to Liu Haoran, but it was best if only Liu Haoran knew. This would make it easier to serve President Zhao’s needs during her arrangements in Jiangzhou.

Of course, he had asked Zhao Xiangjun for permission beforehand. Zhao Xiangjun didn’t care about such things; it’s not like she was some great hermit hiding from the world.

This was all Chen Xiao’s doing. To this day, she still saw herself as just a Gold Medal Salesperson. She didn’t think her immense wealth made her some kind of unapproachable big shot.

She was who she was, and she would always be that person.

She hadn’t deliberately hidden her identity to investigate the grassroots level of the company; she was just worried that if she revealed the truth, it would be awkward to get along with the people around her.

The dinner that evening wasn’t a high-end affair. Chen Xiao had booked the restaurant—Old Jia Restaurant.

It was a homestyle cooking place that Li Guoqiang had recommended last time when he was with Cha Lan. He had enjoyed it, so he chose it again.

He wasn’t someone who cared for pomp and ceremony. As for whether Zhang Shijie cared, that wasn’t his concern. Right now, Zhang Shijie had to accommodate him.

Liu Haoran left the office in the afternoon. He didn’t take a driver, instead driving the company’s business vehicle himself.

This unprecedented move certainly surprised everyone at the company.

Liu Haoran first went to Zhang Shijie’s hotel to pick him and Wu Ting up before heading to the dinner.

On the way, Liu Haoran found an opportunity to report on the situation with Zhao Hui and Peng Yu, including how Peng Yu had demanded he fire Zhao Hui and how he had ignored the demand.

Zhang Shijie was very pleased. "You did the right thing. Who does Wansheng Group think they are? Trying to meddle in my company’s personnel decisions—they’re overstepping their bounds!"

"Whatever Wansheng Group wants to do, we’ll play along. The worst-case scenario is we stop doing business with them. It’s just a dozen or so plazas in a single province!"

"Oh, and if this incident affects your KPI, just have Wu Ting prepare a request for my signature. We’ll exclude this factor from your evaluation."

’See? The CEO didn’t even ask if Zhao Hui was at fault. He’s ready to go head-to-head with Wansheng!’

’Just a dozen or so plazas? Normally, if I lost a dozen core stores like that, I’d probably face severe disciplinary action!’

Chen Xiao and Zhao Xiangjun first returned to Bihu Twin Seals before driving together to Old Jia Restaurant in the Wisdom Realm R7.

He also put two cases of Maotai in the trunk of Zhao Xiangjun’s car. The trunk of the Wisdom Realm R7 was much larger than that of a Mercedes-Benz CLS.

Zhang Shijie had specifically told Liu Haoran to be early, so they arrived at the restaurant ahead of time. Seeing Zhang Shijie’s arrangement, Liu Haoran knew the guest for tonight’s dinner was no ordinary person.

He took this opportunity to report on some work matters to Zhang Shijie, receiving a few instructions and also securing a good amount of resources in the process.

Just then, they heard the restaurant owner greeting guests outside. Zhang Shijie immediately shot to his feet. Seeing this, Liu Haoran quickly stood up as well.

Chen Xiao walked in with Zhao Xiangjun. Zhang Shijie knew beforehand that Zhao Xiangjun would be bringing her boyfriend, he just hadn’t met Chen Xiao in person yet.

Liu Haoran was completely bewildered. He couldn’t understand why a young man accompanied by one of Yino’s Gold Medal Salespeople would warrant such a serious reaction from Zhang Shijie.

Even as Chen Xiao shook hands with Zhang Shijie and then came to shake his hand, he was still in a daze.

When he saw Chen Xiao casually walk over to the head of the table and sit down, inviting everyone else to be seated, Liu Haoran’s composure completely shattered.

’How can a young punk like you sit at the head of the table? By what right, in terms of age or status?’

But he saw that Zhang Shijie didn’t mind at all. The CEO naturally invited Zhao Xiangjun to sit beside Chen Xiao, while he himself took the seat on Chen Xiao’s other side.

He had Wu Ting sit with Zhao Xiangjun, and Liu Haoran sat next to Zhang Shijie.

Liu Haoran didn’t dare to speak. With all his social experience, he couldn’t make any sense of the bizarre situation unfolding before him.

At that moment, Chen Xiao spoke up. "President Zhang, please make the introductions."

Zhang Shijie introduced Liu Haoran as Yino’s regional president and Wu Ting as his own assistant.

When it was time to introduce Chen Xiao and Zhao Xiangjun to Liu and Wu, Zhang Shijie paused for a moment.

"Haoran, Wu Ting, President Zhao is my boss! And President Chen is President Zhao’s friend."

Wu Ting seemed fine, but Liu Haoran’s mind went completely blank, and the world started to spin.

He thought he was hearing things. Zhang Shijie had called Zhao Xiangjun, a Gold Medal Salesperson, his boss. What was going on?!

Zhang Shijie could see that Liu Haoran’s mind was blown. It was, admittedly, a bit absurd. But his entire purpose for tonight was to reveal this relationship to Liu Haoran.

So, he patiently repeated himself, "Haoran, President Zhao is our group’s largest shareholder, with a 32.5% stake!"

Caught off guard, Liu Haoran knocked over his chair and fell flat on his rear, his head still buzzing.

Zhang Shijie was inwardly amused but could understand Liu Haoran’s reaction.

Out loud, he said, "Careful you don’t get hurt, get up!" He even offered a hand to help. Liu Haoran scrambled to his feet and respectfully greeted Zhao Xiangjun, "Hello, President Zhao!"

Then he turned to Chen Xiao. "Hello, President Chen!"

Zhao Xiangjun said in a sweet voice, "President Liu, there’s no need to be so formal. At the company, you’re still my superior!"

She was telling the truth, but her words nearly scared Liu Haoran to death. "I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare," he said hastily, his mind racing to recall if he had ever done anything wrong.

At the same time, he thought of the conflict between Peng Yu and Zhao Hui. Thinking about what he knew, he broke out in a cold sweat.

’Peng Yu, you old bastard! Thank god I didn’t give in to you, or I’d be dead meat!’

Now that he knew the person at the center of the conflict, Zhao Xiangjun, was the big boss, Liu Haoran was more determined than ever to fight Peng Yu to the bitter end.

Forget about Peng Yu causing trouble for him; even if Peng Yu didn’t, he would go out of his way to cause trouble for Peng Yu. This was called picking a side.

In the workplace, picking the right side is more important than doing a good job!

But when it comes to picking sides, people often choose poorly. That’s why they say choosing wisely is more important than working hard.

And today, with the big boss and the CEO both present, if he, Liu Haoran, still didn’t know which side to stand on, he would be a complete idiot. How else could he have reached his current position?