Chapter 322: Why Is Everyone Higher Than Me?

Chapter 322: Chapter 220: Why Is Everyone Higher Than Me?

Yang Wei finally finished ordering. Without waiting for Ji Kun’s approval, he waved the waiter over to place their order. Then he turned to Ji Kun. “Xiaojie, I don’t normally accept invitations from others. But I can see you’re a hard worker and you’re sharp—a promising talent. I have high hopes for you. Otherwise, I definitely wouldn’t have come today.”

Ji Kun was on the verge of tears. ‘What sin did I commit to deserve this?’ he thought. ‘For you to think so highly of me…’ This meal was going to set him back at least 400 yuan. On his meager income, he struggled to save even 1,000 yuan a month. Fortunately, their base salaries had been raised by 2,000 yuan after Yang Hui came, which made things a bit more manageable.

He grunted noncommittally and said through gritted teeth, “Thank you for the opportunity, sir.”

Over at his table, Yang Hui had also finished ordering. He glanced back at Ji Kun’s situation and had a good idea of what was happening, but he didn’t say anything. He couldn’t look out for everyone. He wasn’t even sure he could take full care of the people who were truly loyal to him, let alone anyone else.

Yang Wei’s back was to Yang Hui, so he didn’t see him. After finishing his order, he said, “Xiaojie, I’m the kind of person who enjoys helping his employees make money. You can rest assured that under my leadership, your incomes will be higher than they are now. I’m very confident about that.”

Ji Kun snuck a glance at Yang Hui, who was chatting with Shen Meng, and let out a dry laugh. He really couldn’t figure out where Yang Wei was getting his confidence from.

“That Yang Hui fellow, going out to hit on girls during work hours… It’s clear he’s an extremely irresponsible person. Entrusting a great brand like Airex to him is a total waste. After I take over, I’m confident I can achieve another significant month-over-month increase in performance.”

Having his name dropped, Yang Hui glanced back at him. Ji Kun, meanwhile, was mortified. It just dawned on him that this Yang Wei fellow used to work in women’s apparel. He had no clue that the Airex brand was now in decline, a far cry from its glory days a few years ago. But his perception of the brand was stuck in the past. He assumed its current good performance was thanks to the brand itself, which was why he believed he could not only do what Yang Hui did, but do it even better.

“I think there’s a lot of room for improvement in your store operations. The attention to detail is just not there. For example, when I managed stores before, we required greeters to be stationed at the entrance. For some of our street-front shops, we even had staff stand outside, clap their hands, and shout slogans to attract customers. You’re not doing nearly enough in that regard. I plan to implement this policy once I’m in charge.”

Ji Kun opened his mouth, but then closed it again without a word.

‘What the hell is he even talking about? Even if Airex is past its prime, it’s still an international brand. Is that on the same level as the brand you used to manage, where a piece of clothing cost 200 yuan? How many high-end brands have you seen with people outside clapping and waving props? It’s so tacky!

‘For a brand with a higher price point like this, the most important thing is providing excellent service to customers in the store to close the sale. It’s not like one of those “three-for-ten-yuan” shops where you can get away with zero service as long as you get people through the door.’

“Sigh, forget it. Your current management is a mess, it’s hard to even know where to start. Yang Hui has clearly accomplished nothing. When I get here, I’m going to make bold reforms and fix every single one of these problems.”

He was speaking rather loudly. Shen Meng leaned in and whispered, “Is this guy a complete moron? Does he have any actual accomplishments to his name? He hasn’t even started leading the team yet and he’s already bragging this much, all while putting other people down.”

Most importantly, he was badmouthing Yang Hui, which she was definitely not happy about.

“Boasting is a skill in its own right,” Yang Hui said. “I think he and Li Yang would make a perfect pair. I just don’t know if they’ll repel or attract each other when they meet.”

Shen Meng couldn’t understand how he could remain so calm. He was being trash-talked by some random, clueless person, yet he acted as if nothing was happening. She had no idea what was going through Yang Hui’s mind.

‘My resignation process with the company isn’t complete yet. At this juncture, nothing can happen to Yang Wei, or my own departure might be delayed. Besides, this Yang Wei guy is such a boaster, isn’t he? The day he officially takes over, he’ll learn his lesson the hard way.’

‘Everyone was like that—so articulate and logical when critiquing others. If he was really that good, they’d just have to wait and see. We’ll see what his year-over-year and month-over-month growth looks like, not to mention employee retention, after he takes over.’

Just then, Yang Wei’s voice drifted over again. “Xiaojie, you all need to cherish this opportunity to work at a major platform like Futong Commerce. The market is awful right now; it’s very hard to find a job. And even if you do, the pay won’t be as good as it is here.

“Take Yang Hui, for example—”

Ji Kun coughed twice, trying to warn him. He had no idea what wire was crossed in the man’s head, but why did he have to keep talking about Yang Hui? The man himself was sitting right behind them, listening in, which made the whole situation incredibly awkward for Ji Kun.

Yang Wei clearly missed the signal and went on, “Once Yang Hui leaves Futong Commerce, it’ll probably be very difficult for him to find a similar job. Getting the same salary will be even harder. I don’t know what his base salary was at Futong Commerce, but even if it wasn’t as high as mine, it must’ve been around 11,000. What company out there is going to offer him that kind of base pay now, let alone a base of 13,000 like me?”

“Wow, that’s a really high base salary, Boss.”

Personal salaries were kept confidential at Futong Commerce. While the supervisors knew the general salary range for their own level, they could only guess at what managers made. To Ji Kun, a base salary of 13,000 really was incredibly high.

Yang Wei basked in the adoring look in Ji Kun’s eyes, feeling a great sense of accomplishment. “Keep up the good work. One day, you can get here too. I’ll be sure to guide you all well.”

“By the way, Ji Kun, do you know what Yang Hui’s base salary was? Was it 11,000?”