Passing by the Document Control Center, Li Yicheng noticed that the lights were still on inside, so he stopped.
"Sigh, this big shrimp, forgets to turn off the lights on the first day of work, if someone notes it, they'll dock his pay again."
Li Yicheng indulgently walked in, planning to quietly turn off the lights, but he was startled when he saw Lin Tianran still typing away at his desk.
"Why haven't you left yet?"
"Ah, President Li!" Lin Tianran, who was deeply engrossed, was taken aback by the sudden appearance of this man.
"What are you doing?" Li Yicheng walked in, noticed several documents on the desk, and immediately furrowed his attractive brows.
"I'm working overtime," Lin Tianran answered somewhat sheepishly.
"The sales plan for the Marketing Department?" Li Yicheng picked up one of the papers, glanced at the header with Lina's handwriting, "Yes, I need to print this draft before tomorrow."
"It's not much, just two or three pages. Let me see how far you've gotten," Li Yicheng suddenly leaned in so close that his face was almost touching Lin Tianran's, his eyes scanning the computer screen.
"Cough." Lin Tianran awkwardly moved a bit further away, his eyelids drooping.
"I'm...I'm only in the middle of the first page."
"Well, that's a bit slow," Li Yicheng agreed with a nod.
"You, you don't have to look."
"It's fine, I'm here to guide you."
"Huh?" Lin Tianran's mouth was wide open as if it could fit an egg.
Li Yicheng was here to guide him? Wasn't he dreaming? The high and mighty big boss himself was going to stay here and work on documents with him?
"What, don't want to learn?" Li Yicheng raised an eyebrow. "I don't just teach anyone, you know."
"No, no!" Lin Tianran thought he was upset and quickly nodded. He was eager to learn, he couldn't be more willing. He had been praying for someone to come and teach him, why would he be even slightly unwilling? He would do anything.
"Alright, let's begin," Li Yicheng said, seeing Lin Tianran still distracted. "Concentrate and learn properly!"
"Oh!" Lin Tianran quickly collected his thoughts, sat up straight, and began typing on the keyboard.
It was 11 o'clock, deep into the night, yet the Document Control Center in Huamao Building was still brightly lit.
Inside, two men were sitting around a computer, working on these few pages of manuscript.
"You made a typo here, it has a 'g' in it. Delete it and start over."
"Oh!"
"Okay, make the subheading bold, it's in this toolbar column. Yes, click on it."
"Like this?"
"That's right, and here, underline 'Sales Profit Margin.' I taught you how to do it earlier, do you remember?"
"I'll try..."
Li Yicheng noticed that although Lin Tianran was a bit clumsy, he was attentive in learning. Many things he explained were grasped in one go. Although the pace was slow, he was a quick-witted learner. Teaching him was comfortable.
"Alright, it's done." Lin Tianran happily typed the final word, his face filled with satisfaction. Today, he had gained a lot of new knowledge, something he couldn't have learned before, no matter how much he wanted to.
"Very impressive," Li Yicheng gave him a thumbs-up and then couldn't help but let out a big yawn.
Lin Tianran had been staring at the screen all this time and now he noticed the fatigue that the man couldn't hide.
"Thank you for teaching me," Lin Tianran sincerely expressed his gratitude. Without Li Yicheng's help, he probably wouldn't have finished this document by tomorrow.
"So, how do you plan to repay me?" Li Yicheng deliberately wore an expectant expression.
"I... I can treat you to supper?" Lin Tianran felt a bit embarrassed. He didn't really have anything valuable to repay him with. As long as Li Yicheng didn't mind, he could take him to a small stall behind the back door for a late-night snack, and some beer, and that would be okay.
"Supper won't do," Li Yicheng checked his wristwatch; it was already past 1 AM. "It's quite late now. How about you make me lunch tomorrow?"
"Huh?" Lin Tianran thought he had misheard.
"I'm tired of the cafeteria food. Besides, I have a small kitchen in my office. How about you come up and cook something for me?" Li Yicheng's plan sounded very convincing.
"But..." Lin Tianran felt something was off. A man cooking for another man, it seemed a bit...
"Anyway, you've been here before. Don't worry about what others might think." Li Yicheng encouraged the hesitant Lin Tianran. When he saw that Lin Tianran was still frowning, he added a tempting offer, "After cooking, during the lunch break, I can continue teaching you more computer skills. You want to learn, don't you?"
This hit right on Lin Tianran's desires; he absolutely wanted to learn.
"Really? Are you willing to teach me?" Lin Tianran's eyes lit up. "I promise to work diligently to repay you!"
"Good," Li Yicheng smiled contentedly. "Not just work, you have many ways to repay me, Tiantian."
The next morning, there was a department meeting in the Marketing Department.
Li Yicheng sat at one end of the rectangular conference table, elegantly crossing his legs and making a gesture inviting Lina to speak. "Lina, tell us about your newly formulated sales plan."
"Yes, Mr. Li," Lina, dressed professionally with delicate makeup, presented herself as a smart and confident professional.
"I've already had my assistant distribute the newly formulated sales plan to everyone present. Now, let me explain..." Lina's words were drowned out by the rustling of papers in the conference room.
"Mr. Li, I've finished speaking. Please, share your thoughts with everyone," Lina smiled with confidence because she had overheard others whispering their admiration.
Li Yicheng elegantly raised the corner of his mouth but his words were contrary to what Lina expected. "Lina, how did you obtain this research data?"
"Mr. Li, these data were collected by our department's research team in the market, surveying respondents of different ages and backgrounds using a sampling method to ensure the data's accuracy and comprehensive coverage. Additionally, we also engaged third-party experts in this field..."
"Hold on a second," Li Yicheng interrupted Lina's verbose explanation.
"You claim to ensure the data's accuracy and comprehensiveness, but that's not accurate," Li Yicheng smiled again. "Our products are intended for the entire country and even for export. I assume your research team only conducted surveys within our province, right?"
"Well..." Lina was momentarily at a loss for words.
"Which means, if you use this data outside our province, it's essentially useless, isn't it? Not to mention abroad, right?"
"But, Mr. Li, this is how research has always been done before," Lina argued.
"This is precisely the problem. You must constantly innovate in your work. If you continue to follow old paths, where is the room for improvement? Perhaps the funding provided by the old management was somewhat limited, but your marketing department can apply for more. If you don't ask, how am I supposed to know about your needs?"
"I understand, Mr. Li, and I apologize," Lina lowered her head, her confidence shattered.
"You need to redo this data," Li Yicheng handed her back the pages. Then, he couldn't help but compliment, "The layout of this plan is quite good, it looks neat and pleasant, very easy on the eyes."
Those in attendance initially thought that the CEO was scolding a beautiful woman and then rewarding her with candy. However, they didn't realize that he was actually praising his own daughter-in-law!
But the CEO must clarify something here. He didn't scold Lina just for the sake of personal revenge; there were indeed some problems with the company's personnel practices. If these issues persisted, it would undoubtedly harm the company's interests.
In the days to come, Li Yicheng would need to rectify all these issues to get Huamao back on track and restore its former glory during his father's prime.
"Mr. Li, I've had the recruitment officer prepare several resumes. Please take a look and let me know which one you like, so I can arrange an interview," Manager Fang said while holding several resume papers, with "Secretary Recruitment" written on top.
"Place them there. I'll take a look later. I have a video conference coming up. Please help me draw the curtains," Li Yicheng said, as he was tidying his shirt, preparing for a video call with some foreign clients. He couldn't afford any slip-ups.
"Okay."
"Hello, can you hear me?" On the video call, a handsome man of Chinese-German descent was adjusting the channel.
"I can hear you, Yao Wang. Can you hear me?" Li Yicheng confirmed through his computer.
"I can hear you too," the man named Yao Wang nodded and couldn't resist making a playful comment about his boss. "This is the first time I've met the legendary Mr. Li. It turns out you're such an interesting person. You truly live up to your reputation as a high achiever."
"Everyone says that salespeople have silver tongues, but it seems like everyone in your position as Sales Director is quite sharp. Haha," Li Yicheng laughed and shook his head, appearing modest.
"Haha, I never expected Mr. Li to be so fun. That's great. The old man's outdated style was driving me crazy. Please take good care of me in the future," Yao Wang gestured as he jokingly addressed his boss, "Yours truly."
"How are things on your end?" Li Yicheng glanced at his watch.
"One of their key representatives is stuck in traffic, but they should be here soon, and then we can begin," Yao Wang, known as Yao Wang, adjusted his playful attitude, "This meeting mainly concerns delivery schedules and confirming transportation routes. We can make some minor concessions as long as they don't hurt our interests. After all, business is about mutual benefit, right?"
"Absolutely, mutual benefit is the key," Li Yicheng smiled in agreement.
"That's the spirit."
The man on the video call was Yao Wang, the Sales Director of Huamao Group. After graduating from university, he joined Huamao and, with his outstanding sales abilities, gained the appreciation of Li Zhongmao. He steadily climbed the corporate ladder from a humble salesperson to his current position as Director Yao. He contributed billions in sales to Huamao and was regarded as a legend in the sales industry. Many companies had tried to lure him away with tempting offers, but none had succeeded. People often said that Yao Wang didn't just look out for himself. He knew that thoroughbreds were often rare, and while many tried to tempt him, he never left when Li Zhongmao was seriously ill or when Li Yicheng had just taken office. That simply wasn't Yao Wang's style.
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