Chapter 393: Flattery Gone Wrong (Part 3)

Dan Biao lowered his head and said nothing. ‘I wonder what kind of face Li Yang would make if he knew Yang Hui had met Zong Lan ten days ago,’ he thought. ‘But there’s no way I’m saying that now. Embarrassing my own boss to his face? That would be suicide.’

But there’s always one with a death wish. Maybe Yang Wei wanted to show the big boss how well-informed he was, because he chimed in, “President Li, that Zong Lan has already been seen. Ten days ago, I saw Yang Hui go to her office at the regional company and stay for two hours.”

Silence—a terrifying silence.

Zhang Li almost burst out laughing. He’d never liked Yang Wei. At the operations meeting earlier in the month, when his own team’s performance was poor, Yang Wei had dared to mock him. The guy was utterly clueless. And now? The crown for this month’s worst performance had been passed to the Airex team. Over 35% of the month was gone, but they had achieved less than 20% of their sales target. He’d heard the store staff were starting to get anxious again.

‘I can’t believe this guy’s EQ is so low,’ he thought. ‘Embarrassing Li Yang in front of everyone like that… Li Yang is obsessed with his image. He’s going to tear Yang Wei apart for that.’

Sure enough, when he looked up at Li Yang, his face was beet red. The whites of his eyes had widened slightly in astonishment. An unnatural flush spread from the base of his ears, and the veins on his cheekbones were faintly visible.

His right hand dug into the tabletop, leaving faint marks, while his left, in a feigned show of composure, adjusted his shirt collar. The contradictory actions betrayed the fury he was desperately trying to suppress.

Pretending he hadn’t heard a word Yang Wei said, he whipped his head toward Dan Biao. “Xiaodan, what the hell is going on with the Airex team? Their year-over-year growth, month-over-month growth, and achievement rate are all dead last. Just last month, they were leading the entire company.”

Dan Biao shot a glance at Yang Wei, cursing internally. ‘You fucking idiot. You just had to run your mouth, and now you’re dragging me down with you.’

All he could do was reply, “Boss, I’ll work with the Airex team today to analyze the root of the problem and implement corrective measures immediately.”

Li Yang’s eyes widened in a glare. “What does it have to do with the team? The *same team* was number one in the company last month, and now, just ten days in, they’re dead last. Nothing about the team has changed except for its leader, and this is the result. Do we even need to look for a reason?”

“That Xiaoyang… you’re Yang… Yang what was it again?”

Yang Wei sensed things were about to go south. Panic seized him, but he quickly answered, “Yang Wei.”

Li Yang paused for a second, then sneered. “Damn it, Dan Biao. You said you couldn’t figure out the cause? He’s gone limp. Doesn’t that just mean he can’t perform?”

Yang Wei’s face turned ashen. ‘He’s actually making fun of my name? This boss has zero class.’ He had no way of knowing that Li Yang always ran his mouth without a filter and treated his subordinates like they weren’t even human.

A few of the others couldn’t help but chuckle, making Yang Wei even more humiliated.

“Let me tell you something, Xiaoyang. Airex used to be our company’s top-performing team. I put you in charge because I trusted you. And what’s the result? You give me numbers like these? Are you a spy from a competitor sent here to ruin me?”

Dan Biao and the others watched Yang Wei, who looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole. They couldn’t figure out why the kid absolutely had to run his mouth like that. ‘Did you think you were just passing on some information to the boss?’ they wondered. ‘Did you really not realize you were slapping him in the face?’

“Xiaodan, how are the Airex team’s livestream sales coming along? If I recall, that team promised to be the first to start them, didn’t they?”

Backed into a corner, Dan Biao knew he had to tell the truth. “Currently, none of the Airex stores have started livestreaming.”

Li Yang let out a cold, sinister laugh. “Great. Just great. So he came to my company just to bullshit. Xiaodan, you’re the one who hired him, so you’re responsible for whipping him into shape. If his numbers don’t improve this month and the store livestreams aren’t all launched according to standard, he will absolutely not pass his probation.”

“Get him out of here. From now on, you can train him yourself. Don’t ever bring him to my office again. He’s bad luck.”

‘Fucking hell, does it ever end? Even a saint has a breaking point!’ But, true to his name’s unfortunate pun, Yang Wei was spineless. He only dared to curse in his head, not even mustering the courage to look up at Li Yang.

Being told to leave the office was a relief, like being granted amnesty. Yang Wei returned to his desk, sat down, and took a deep breath, trying to figure out what to do next.

Based on what Li Yang had said, if he couldn’t get the numbers up and launch the livestream sales this month, he wouldn’t make it past his probation. In other words, he could be unemployed at any moment.

Panic seized him. He suddenly remembered Yang Hui, right before he quit. How had he managed to stay so calm?