CH 59

Chapter 59 – A Stormy Morning Meeting

Before leaving work, He Keqiang submitted last month’s report and the report for the first half of this month. Wei Chen let He Keqiang leave after receiving the report.

Obviously, this was a hastily prepared report, full of loopholes. Wei Chen couldn’t bear to look at it after a few glances and had someone return the report.

When He Keqiang received the returned report, his face turned dark. He had a premonition that Wei Chen, the newly appointed director, was targeting him with his fiery attitude.

However, Wei Chen didn’t care about He Keqiang’s thoughts. When it was time to leave work, he held Chen Li’s hand and prepared to leave. He didn’t like overtime, and he didn’t like his subordinates working overtime either.

The colleagues in the marketing department’s office were shocked to see the director leaving on time when it was time to get off work. They thought that as a new leader, the new director would set an example by working overtime, but they were surprised to see him leaving right on time.

When Wei Chen reached the door, he noticed that his colleagues in the office showed no sign of leaving. He stopped and asked, “Aren’t you leaving?”

“Can we leave? No overtime?” Overtime was already the norm in the marketing department, so they were not accustomed to leaving on time today.

“No overtime.” Wei Chen replied coldly with these three words, then entered the elevator. His colleagues in the office were stunned for a few seconds before realizing it. The office immediately filled with cheerful voices, and they happily packed up and left in a hurry.

Without overtime, the colleagues in the marketing department naturally appreciated Wei Chen for not making them work overtime. They thought that although the new director always wore a stern face, he had a soft heart. However, the next day when they came to work, these colleagues realized they had celebrated too soon.

The new director would eventually show his true colors.

But before the situation escalated, Wei Chen’s name had already spread throughout the entire Changfeng Group.

This time, what spread was not a series of honors for Wei Chen but the fact that he brought his partner to work.

It was understandable for someone to bring their child to work because they had no one to take care of them at home. However, no one expected that the marketing department’s director would bring his partner to work on the first day. It was quite unusual and amusing.

Just how much did this new Director Wei cherish his partner? He couldn’t bear to be separated from him even at work, and it was a male partner!

Same-sex marriage had indeed been legalized, but did they have to be so open about it?

This incident caused quite a stir in the Changfeng Group. During the early morning meeting of the company’s top executives, the Chairman, as the primary decision-maker, specifically asked Zhuge Feng about the matter.

Zhuge Feng probably anticipated that such a situation would arise, so he handed the application that Wei Chen had submitted in advance to the Chairman and said, “Wei Chen told me about his situation, and I verified that there were indeed some difficulties, so I allowed him to bring his partner to work.”

After quickly scanning the contents of the application, the Chairman said, “Let’s deal with it like this.”

Zhuge Feng happily wanted to take back the application, but a hand took it before him.

“Chairman, may I have a look?” The one who took the application was Zhou Tongpeng, the Vice Chairman of Changfeng. He had a stout figure and a prosperous appearance.

“Go ahead.” It wasn’t a secret, and the Chairman didn’t mind others looking at it.

Zhou Tongpeng smiled and glanced at Zhuge Feng, saying, “General Manager Zhuge, can I have a look?”

Zhuge Feng rolled up his shirt sleeves and smiled faintly, knowing that refusing at this point would be pointless. The application had already ended up in Zhou Tongpeng’s hands.

Zhou Tongpeng shook the application in his hand, squinted his eyes, and carefully read each word. After finishing, he said, “This matter, I do not agree with this treatment.”

Zhuge Feng wasn’t surprised and raised an eyebrow but remained silent.

“Chairman, our company has thousands of employees. Whose family life is completely smooth and trouble-free? I admit that Wei Chen’s situation is somewhat special, but among the thousands of employees in our company, there are definitely many others with various special circumstances. If we make an exception for Wei Chen today, what about others who submit applications later? Should we also approve them?” Zhou Tongpeng threw the application on the desk and said with a stern face. His words sounded righteous, but in reality, he was insinuating that Zhuge Feng had used his position to give Wei Chen special treatment.

“Vice Chairman Zhou has a point. What do you think, General Manager Zhuge?” The chairman turned his head and asked Zhuge Feng, as if he had been convinced by Zhou Tongpeng.

Zhuge Feng remained calm and replied, “I don’t know how many families in our company have special circumstances, I only know that Wei Chen is a talented individual. If we don’t even provide some convenience to retain a talented individual, how can we claim to be among the Fortune 500 companies? Chairman, don’t you agree?” Zhuge Feng calmly countered. Zhou Tongpeng, aren’t you accusing me of giving Wei Chen special treatment? Yes, I am giving Wei Chen special treatment. If you’re not happy, go find someone like Wei Chen who can openly provide such convenience!

“This is about talent, and it’s not your place to judge, Zhuge Feng. Wei Chen has just joined the company. Tell me, what achievements has he made that would justify us granting him special favors?” Zhou Tongpeng scoffed.

“Alright, you two, stop arguing.” The chairman stood up, positioned himself between Zhou Tongpeng and Zhuge Feng, and pressed his hand in the middle. He said, “We need to test whether someone is truly talented. Wei Chen’s first month in the company can be considered a probationary period. If by next month he can improve the company’s performance, then this application will be approved in the long term. If there is no improvement, the application will expire next month.”

“I agree,” Zhuge Feng naturally had no objections. He believed in Wei Chen’s abilities.

“That works,” Zhou Tongpeng also accepted this approach, but after taking a breath, he added, “However, it’s too simple to just have some improvement, isn’t it? Since we’re talking about talent, the assessment should be more challenging. Otherwise, how can we call it talent?” He emphasized the last two words deliberately.

The chairman threw the ball back to Zhuge Feng. “What do you think, General Manager Zhuge?”

“Let’s do it as Vice Chairman Zhou suggested,” Zhuge Feng responded with an accommodating demeanor.

Vice Chairman Zhou smiled, his eyes narrowed into slits. He thought, this is what I’ve been waiting for!

“Alright, at the quarterly meeting next month, if Wei Chen can improve the company’s performance by 30%, then I’ll approve his application.” Zhou Tongpeng’s words shocked everyone in the room, and Zhuge Feng saw through Zhou Tongpeng’s intentions. He focused on the quarterly performance, not just the monthly performance, and not just a slight improvement—it had to be a significant 30% increase.

Longfeng Group had been experiencing consecutive losses for the past two months, which was no secret among the company’s executives. The performance for this quarter was negative compared to the previous one. With only one month left in this quarter, it was already a challenge to bring the performance back to the level of the previous quarter, let alone achieve a 30% growth.

It was an outrageous demand! The other executives present thought so too. They believed Zhou Tongpeng’s actions were unfair, as he was asserting his dominance over a newcomer. But there was no one among them who dared to intervene. After all, when two tigers fight, the others are just onlookers. Being a spectator wasn’t a bad option either.

“No problem!”

Just when the senior executives thought Zhuge Feng and Zhou Tongpeng would start arguing, Zhuge Feng uttered these three resolute words. The senior executives turned their attention to Zhuge Feng, their eyes filled with astonishment, privately thinking that Zhuge Feng had gone mad!

“General Manager Zhuge, you can’t act impulsively!” even the chairman thought it was impossible and tried to persuade him.

“Chairman, don’t worry. I believe Wei Chen can do it,” Zhuge Feng smiled and said confidently.

“General Manager Zhuge, then let’s settle it like this!” Zhou Tongpeng couldn’t contain his joy, and his smile couldn’t hide his excitement.

“Agreed, agreed. Am I going to argue with Vice Chairman Zhou?” Zhuge Feng replied impatiently, appearing lazy but suddenly locking his gaze onto Zhou Tongpeng as if shooting out two sharp rays of light. “But Vice Chairman Zhou, I remember that Deputy General Manager Li resigned just last month, and the position of Deputy General Manager is still vacant. If Wei Chen passes your assessment, should we consider him for that position? After all, the former director of the Marketing Department, whom you favored as the Deputy General Manager, couldn’t achieve the level of performance you mentioned.”

The senior executives thought Zhuge Feng would bear the brunt of Zhou Tongpeng’s blow, but they didn’t expect that he would turn the tables and set a trap for Zhou Tongpeng. Their gazes shifted to Zhou Tongpeng, and indeed, his smile froze, and his face tightened.

“Don’t speak too soon. Let’s wait until Wei Chen achieves a 30% improvement in the quarterly performance,” Zhou Tongpeng said with narrowed eyes. After initially feeling angry about being manipulated, he now felt disdainful. A 30% increase in quarterly performance was not the same as monthly performance. Zhuge Feng made it sound so easy, but it wasn’t.

“Then let’s wait and see, Vice Chairman Zhou,” Zhuge Feng said with a smile, as if he already knew about Wei Chen’s forthcoming success.

“Since that’s settled. Let’s adjourn the meeting. We’ll look forward to seeing the genius that General Manager Zhuge mentioned in action at next month’s quarterly meeting and whether he can deliver a perfect performance,” the chairman, having had enough excitement, waved his hand and adjourned the meeting.

With the meeting over, Zhuge Feng returned to his office. As soon as he closed the door, his assistant Gao Sheng, who had witnessed the entire meeting, couldn’t help but ask, “General Manager, do you really believe that Director Wei will accomplish the task?”

“To be honest, I’m not sure either,” Zhuge Feng replied, revealing some uneasiness on his face.

“Then why did you…” Gao Sheng was confused. If he wasn’t confident, why did the general manager act so boldly in the meeting?

Zhuge Feng sat down in his chair, confidently saying, “Isn’t there a saying that goes ‘never lose heart even in the face of defeat’? Since Zhou Tongpeng targeted me, I can’t afford to lose the battle, can I?”

Gao Sheng was speechless, sighing and rubbing his forehead.