Yang Hui chatted with Director Shan for a while.
Director Shan was very impressed with Yang Hui's caliber and his understanding of operations. Coupled with the fact that he was recommended by an acquaintance, they got straight to the point.
"Let's talk about your salary expectations."
"A monthly salary of no less than 18,000."
Before he came, he had looked into the salary for an operations manager at Futong Commerce, which was generally around 12,000.
Asking for 18,000 was a way of making a statement. 'I have value; I'm not here begging for a handout!'
Besides, if he wanted to reach a monthly salary of 15,000, his asking price had to be higher than that. Companies usually offer a salary slightly lower than what's requested—it was all part of the negotiation.
Director Shan clearly hadn't expected him to ask for so much. After giving him a long look, he said, "I'll have to ask the boss. I'll have HR contact you later."
'I don't have much hope left.' The gap was a bit too wide. He had originally thought that even 12,000 would be acceptable.
Standing up, Yang Hui said his thanks, then went downstairs, got in his car, and drove away from Futong Trading Co., Ltd.
To him, asking for 18,000 really wasn't much. If he had stayed at Ruijing Commerce, he would have been promoted to general manager soon, with a salary of at least 30,000 to start.
Unfortunately, he didn't have "general manager" on his resume, which put him at a disadvantage now that he was out interviewing.
After he left, Wang Xiao came to Director Shan's office.
"Director Shan, what did you think of that Yang Hui? I think he seems pretty good!"
Director Shan sneered. "In terms of ability, he might be alright—it's hard to tell in such a short time—but his salary requirement is a bit high. 18,000. The boss probably won't agree to that salary level."
Wang Xiao smiled. 'It's not that he "probably" won't agree; he "definitely" won't agree!'
Li Yang always thought his company was big and his platform was great, so he could attract good talent even if the salaries were slightly lower than the industry average.
The current industry average for an operations manager was around 10,000. Yang Hui asking for 18,000 was indeed a bit outrageous.
"I'll go report to the boss in a bit. We'll see how much he'll approve. Then you can contact Yang Hui. If he accepts, he can start. If not, then forget it."
Li Yang was usually at the company on Saturdays. When Director Shan arrived, he was sitting alone, drinking kung fu tea.
"Come in. I was just about to look for you. The operations manager position for Airex has been vacant for so long. When are you going to fill it? I see their recent performance has been very poor!"
"Some stores need to be reorganized, and some are already beyond saving. Their losses are severe. You need to hurry up and negotiate with the malls about pulling out!"
"Boss, I'm here to report on that very matter. We went to negotiate about pulling out, but Xinyue Square is playing hardball. They won't let us close a single store. They said we can't just take the meat and leave the bones—that we only want to run the profitable stores and won't cooperate on the losing ones."
"If we insist on pulling out, they said we have to pull all our brands from their entire plaza!"
Li Yang's head throbbed. Although his business was large, he definitely couldn't afford to offend Xinyue Group. Over 60% of his business was in Xinyue Square locations, which was also where the bulk of his profits came from. But even the best malls have a few unprofitable stores, especially for brands with mediocre market performance.
Futong Commerce's Airex brand had five heavily-losing stores spread across five different Xinyue Square locations. But in each of those Xinyue Squares, Futong Commerce had six to eight other stores, and Xinyue Square was using this to keep him in line.
'You want to pull Airex, do you? Fine, then pull all your brands from this plaza.' Since the other brands were all profitable, how could he bear to pull them? He had no choice but to obediently cooperate.
"I don't care about that. You have to solve it. I hired you to solve problems, not just to report them!"
Director Shan lowered his head and said in a small voice, "Also, there was someone who came in for an interview for the operations manager position today. He's a good candidate in all respects, but his salary expectations are rather high."
As he spoke, he handed over Yang Hui's resume.
Li Yang didn't even take the resume before asking, "How much does he want?"
"18,000!"
"Is he crazy? Tell him to get lost. Whoever wants to hire him can go ahead!"
Director Shan had known this would be the result. He was just about to get up and go back to work when he heard his boss make a sound of surprise.
He saw him staring at Yang Hui's resume, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Alright, have HR contact him. Offer a base salary of 15,000. If he agrees, he can start. If not, forget it."
Director Shan seemed stunned that the boss was being generous for once. Quite astonished, he left Li Yang's office to find Wang Xiao.
Li Yang, meanwhile, continued to study Yang Hui's resume, thinking about the young man whom Zhang Chun had seemed to favor that night.
'What exactly is his relationship with Zhang Chun? Were Zhang Chun's words that night just polite pleasantries, or were they genuine? I'll have him come in and see. If he can solve some of the problems with Xinyue Square, it might just be a brilliant move.'
'If he can't solve them, then he's worthless, and a salary of 15,000 would be too high!'
He was used to pinching pennies, weighing the value of every single cent he spent.
Yang Hui drove back to his rental apartment, preparing to pick up the little girl and move to Wenjing Yunlu. As he passed the Qingzhou Celestial Imperial Hotel, he was forced to slow down.
It was a three-way intersection, and according to traffic rules, his right turn had to yield to oncoming traffic.
As he waited, a motorcade drove past in front of him.
An oppressive, dragon-like train of black cars. A motorcade of five custom Rolls-Royce Phantoms drove slowly past, their uniform matte black paint glinting with a cold metallic sheen under the sun, like a dormant black dragon awakening.
The lead car was clearly an extended-wheelbase Phantom, the kind where the rear seats can recline 180 degrees. The modified Mercedes-Benz GLS 600s following the motorcade were obviously armored.
It was the first time he had ever seen such a luxurious lineup, and he couldn't help but stare.
'Huh? Isn't that Brother Chun's car?'
Following right behind the motorcade was, surprisingly, Zhang Chun's Buick GL8. Unable to suppress his curiosity, he turned the steering wheel, and his Mercedes E-Class deftly followed the motorcade into the Tianyu Hotel.
He stopped at a distance and watched as the Rolls-Royce Phantom motorcade pulled up at the hotel's main entrance.
The instant the door of the second car opened, four bodyguards stepped out simultaneously. 'This is so over-the-top! What a spectacle!'
As the suicide doors rose like an eagle's wings, the first thing to emerge was an ankle in a satin Roger Vivier pump with its signature buckle. A 10-carat Harry Winston diamond anklet exploded with starlight in the sun.
She stepped out of the car, head lowered, with the poise of a Queen inspecting her colonies; even the May wind seemed to knowingly pause for three seconds.
She was wearing sunglasses, so he couldn't see her face clearly. She was at least 175cm tall, and the line of her shoulders, wrapped in an Armani Privé satin gown, curved like the side of a violin.
The curve from her waist to her hips was like the most graceful S-bend of a canal in Venice, and his gaze involuntarily followed the guide of the black velvet belt, sliding down.