CH 72

Chapter 72 – It’s All Calculations

“I saw that he was just all show, golden on the outside but made of mud inside. Look, he couldn’t even hold himself together while crossing a small river.” He Keqiang placed his feet on the table with satisfaction, looking smug. “But to be honest, did you use any other means? Otherwise, there’s no way the performance wouldn’t have improved. This month is the peak season, after all.”

The sound of laughter from the sales department director came through the phone, representing an unspoken understanding.

He merely suppressed the sales for this month and slightly controlled the numbers on the books. So what if it’s the peak season for sales? The accounts are still under his control. When he says it won’t rise, it definitely won’t rise, but when he says it will fall, it will surely fall!

Challenge him? You should weigh yourself first.

“The general manager misjudged this time. We’ll have an exciting time at the quarterly meeting in a few days.” The sinister laughter of the Sales Department director came through the phone. Without thinking, one could already imagine the expression on his face.

He Keqiang couldn’t help but laugh heartily as well, feeling that the position of the Marketing Department director was getting closer and closer, almost within his reach.

Meanwhile, in the office of the Marketing Department director, just a wall away from He Keqiang, Wei Chen learned about his own situation from his subordinate.

Unlike the furious expression on his subordinate’s face, Wei Chen didn’t seem to have any sense of urgency. He sat in his office chair, seemingly calm and composed.

“Director, are we just going to let them deceive us like this?” Unable to read Wei Chen’s emotions from his perpetually expressionless face, the subordinate asked urgently.

“It doesn’t matter.” Although Wei Chen’s tone lacked emotion, he already had the appearance of a winner.

Perhaps it was Wei Chen’s intimidating demeanor, but at this moment, his subordinate, who was previously in a state of panic, miraculously calmed down.

“Then I’ll go down first,” the subordinate said to Wei Chen.

Wei Chen’s gaze fell on the computer screen, and only replied with a ‘hmm’.

When the subordinate left and closed the office door, the colleagues inside the office immediately turned their concerned gaze towards him. He shook his head at his colleagues, not knowing what it meant.

His colleagues in the Marketing Department were immediately filled with worry, but not a single person stopped working. Regardless of the final outcome, at this moment, they persevered.

As soon as the subordinate left, the internal phone in Wei Chen’s office rang. It was a call from the general manager’s office.

“Wei Director, the general manager wants to see you. Can you come up?” Wei Chen answered the call, and Gao Sheng’s voice came through the phone.

Wei Chen replied, “Yes, I’ll come up right away.” His fingers, marked with a few traces of time, tapped on the glossy black office desk, without any rhythm, sometimes urgent and sometimes slow, sometimes heavy and sometimes light.

“Xiao Gao, has Wei Chen come up yet?” Zhuge Feng leaned over and asked Gao Sheng, who had just hung up the phone.

Gao Sheng sighed helplessly. “General manager, I just hung up the phone. Even if Director Wei can fly, he can’t fly up here immediately.”

Who was the one who confidently took on the task at the beginning of the month? Now he’s panicking? Gao Sheng muttered to himself.

“Oh, right.” Zhuge Feng shifted his gaze back to the computer screen, which displayed the performance report for this month—a stable line with no significant ups and downs, but it wasn’t what he wanted.

Zhuge Feng stared at the computer screen absentmindedly, tapping his fingertips on the desk with one hand, supporting his chin with the other. His brow furrowed, and in the end, he let out a deep sigh.

Before long, there was a knock on the door. Wei Chen had arrived.

Upon hearing Wei Chen’s entrance, Zhuge Feng immediately sat up from his office chair and asked Wei Chen, “What’s the situation now? How did this happen?”

Wei Chen calmly met Zhuge Feng’s slightly accusatory gaze and said, “Didn’t the general manager anticipate this situation beforehand?”

Zhuge Feng couldn’t utter a word in response to Wei Chen’s retort. He thought Wei Chen didn’t care when he assigned him the seemingly impossible task without consulting him. But now, Wei Chen’s counter-question truly made Zhuge Feng feel uneasy.

He wasn’t uneasy about putting Wei Chen in this situation; he was uneasy because Wei Chen probably saw through his ulterior motives.

Perhaps he should have known that Wei Chen would see through the underlying motives from the beginning.

Zhuge Feng didn’t reach his current position by being impulsive, nor would he fall into someone’s trap out of anger. The reason he agreed to Zhou Tongpeng’s condition during that early meeting was that Zhuge Feng knew that, in the end, regardless of the outcome, he would benefit.

The result could only be one of two possibilities. Either Wei Chen would complete the task of achieving a 30% percent growth, which would undoubtedly be a heavy blow to Zhou Tongpeng, or because of the condition Zhuge Feng mentioned at the end, if Wei Chen completed the task, Zhou Tongpeng would not be able to interfere in the selection of the deputy general manager.

The second result was that Wei Chen did not complete this task.

Zhuge Feng did trust Wei Chen’s abilities, but like others, he didn’t believe that Wei Chen would achieve a 30% growth. However, he believed that Wei Chen would definitely bring a significant increase to the company’s performance for the month or quarter.

At this moment, he came forward to speak up for Wei Chen, using his authority to make Wei Chen’s heartfelt request to bring his companion to work effective. In doing so, Wei Chen would owe him a favor, naturally aligning himself with Zhuge Feng’s faction and truly serving his team. Zhuge Feng’s team needed capable individuals like Wei Chen.

However, he didn’t expect the outcome to be like this. Not only did the performance not improve, but it also declined by a few percentage points compared to the previous quarter. This was something he didn’t anticipate or want to see. Everyone would say that Zhuge Feng had grown old, his vision blurred, and he couldn’t judge people anymore. He had mistaken mediocrity for talent and caused unnecessary losses to the company.

But that wasn’t the most important thing. When it came to selecting the Deputy General Manager, his words would have no influence, not even a bit.

“So, was it intentional?” Bitterness filled Zhuge Feng’s mouth, mixed with some anger. But he knew that he had no grounds to blame anyone in this matter. He had calculated and used Wei Chen first, and after Wei Chen saw through his intentions, it was only natural for him to make this choice.

Since his first encounter with Wei Chen, he had already known that Wei Chen was a proud person. It was just that Wei Chen had grown accustomed to being superior and had ultimately made the wrong choice.

Now, what was happening left Gao Sheng in disbelief. He never expected things to develop in this direction. He truly believed that Zhuge Feng valued Wei Chen unconditionally, which was why he readily accepted the impossible task.

But who would have thought that there would be so many twists and turns?

No wonder he had only been able to become an assistant through his struggle, while Wei Chen, at such a young age, had become a department director. He really admired him!

Thinking this, Gao Sheng discreetly glanced at Wei Chen, curious about how Wei Chen would solve the impending difficult task of uncompleted missions. It wasn’t just the interests of the General Manager that were at stake, but also Wei Chen’s own reputation. Gao Sheng didn’t believe Wei Chen would harm the enemy by a thousand and hurt himself by eight hundred.

Sure enough, the next second, Gao Sheng heard Wei Chen speak.

“I, Wei Chen, never engage in battles without confidence.”

Wei Chen stood tall in his suit, his straight posture emphasizing his slender figure. His gaze was cold, but his voice was resolute and powerful. Both Gao Sheng and Zhuge Feng were astonished as they listened to Wei Chen. If they didn’t misunderstand, Wei Chen’s intention was to complete this task.

“You…” Zhuge Feng couldn’t find words to say to Wei Chen for a moment, and the feeling of disbelief grew stronger in his heart. It was already the end of the month, almost the end of the quarter. The performance had already taken shape, so what kind of power did Wei Chen possess to reverse this situation?

If it were someone else standing in front of him, saying the same words as Wei Chen with the same attitude, Zhuge Feng wouldn’t hesitate to give that person a slap and tell them to stop showing off!

But now, it was Wei Chen standing before Zhuge Feng. The person he had brought back to the company from numerous competitors. Did his words mean that he would indeed complete the task?

“Wei Chen, I have a weak heart. Please don’t scare me,” Zhuge Feng joked, finally swallowing back all the words he wanted to say.

Ignoring Zhuge Feng’s joke, Wei Chen took out two invitation cards from his pocket and handed them to Zhuge Feng, saying, “Please help me deliver them to the Chairman.”

It was an invitation to a dinner, scheduled for tomorrow night.

Zhuge Feng didn’t know what Wei Chen was up to, but this time, he chose to believe in Wei Chen wholeheartedly. “I will definitely deliver them.”

“Thank you,” Wei Chen said and then left the General Manager’s office, saying that he still had work.

The moment the office door closed, Zhuge Feng surprisingly felt a sense of relief.

Realizing this, Zhuge Feng furrowed his brow, but quickly relaxed it, unable to help but sigh in his heart: The younger generation is formidable, truly formidable!

“General Manager, can Wei Chen really do it?” Gao Sheng still felt that what Wei Chen said sounded unreal. It was a critical moment, how could a counterattack be possible?

“Who knows?” Zhuge Feng shrugged off his previous tension, feeling incredibly relaxed now.

Yes, who knows? This young man was capable of creating miracles. Who knows what kind of miracle this young man would bring next?

Zhuge Feng glanced at the red and gold invitation in his hand, suddenly filled with curiosity. What kind of miracle would this invitation bring? Could Wei Chen truly change the current situation with this invitation?

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, a quarter had passed. The quarterly analysis meeting of Changfeng Group was about to begin.