At 5:30 PM that evening, after closing the accounts, everyone gathered again in the conference room.
Lin Qiang's eyes were bloodshot, and he looked dazed. Throughout the day, whenever he tried to rest, some damn prick would come knocking, asking about trivial matters. Fortunately, he still had the resilience from his college days of pulling all-nighters. Two days without sleep didn't completely break him. When facing the six important clients he had scheduled for today, he maintained clear logic and it didn't significantly impact his sales effort.
Everyone could see Lin Qiang's condition and felt pained. Xiao Xiao, looking at his blank stare, was almost in tears herself.
"This... is too much..." Xiao Xiao cursed, rubbing her eyes. "Brother Qiang, don't come tonight. We'll cover for you."
"No, that would cause problems for tomorrow's operation," Lin Qiang waved his hand weakly. "Xiao Xiao, you've been a teller for so long. You know how easy it is to make mistakes when monitoring the counter while tired. We're under inspection now, and with Hao Wei absent, I'm fully responsible. If our accounts are off by even one cent, they'll jump on it."
"But... if this continues..." Xiao Xiao gritted her teeth, feeling both angry and sympathetic. "If this goes on, you'll collapse from exhaustion!"
"I'll grab every minute I can to rest," Lin Qiang pointed to his head, grinning. "Today, I've managed to sleep about two hours in bits and pieces. It's enough."
"Stop being so stubborn."
"It's not stubbornness, it's real toughness."
"..."
On the other side, Zheng Shuai had finished calculating the accounts.
"12.85 million, not bad!" Zheng Shuai was equally exhausted, having covered all of Lin Qiang's work. "Lin Qiang's clients brought in 8 million, my parents' colleagues contributed 4.1 million, and the rest came from Xiao Xiao and Lin Xiaozhao's marketing efforts."
"Finally, some good news," Xiao Xiao breathed a sigh of relief. "This brings us to over 30 million, almost one-third of the way..."
"Don't get too excited," Lin Qiang shook his head. "I've already met with my best, most loyal clients. The ones I can schedule from now on are those who don't trust me as much."
"It's the same for me..." Zheng Shuai sighed. "4.1 million is my limit. I've said all I can to those uncles and aunts."
Lin Xiaozhao stood silently to the side, on the verge of tears: "I'm sorry... Manager... I'm so useless. I only closed two deals today, totaling just 200,000... I couldn't convince Zhou Ren's friends... In the end, I contributed less than Sister Xiao Xiao..."
"Don't say that, you did well," Lin Qiang smiled encouragingly. "For a newcomer, closing deals worth several hundred thousand in a month is already impressive."
"But... compared to 100 million..." Lin Xiaozhao finally couldn't hold back and burst into tears. "Wuu... we're still so far..."
"Why are you crying?" Seeing Lin Xiaozhao cry, Xiao Xiao's eyes also started to sting. "What's there to cry about? We still have 12 days. Two-thirds left, I don't believe we can't finish it!"
"I'll work my hardest, Manager," Lin Xiaozhao clenched her fists and said. "We'll absolutely, absolutely, absolutely get through this together."
Zheng Shuai moved closer to Lin Qiang and frowned: "Should we use social connections?"
"What do you mean? You have connections and didn't say earlier?" Xiao Xiao asked in surprise.
"No, not what you're thinking," Zheng Shuai said gravely, lowering his voice. "In society, there are some individuals and organizations that specialize in helping bank employees or insurance salespeople meet their targets, but afterward, we have to give them huge commissions."
"Huge? How huge?"
"It varies depending on the business," Zheng Shuai said quietly. "For credit cards, the bank gives us a 50 yuan reward per card. If we commission those people to bring in credit card applications, we'd have to give them at least 40 yuan per card. Financial products are even more troublesome, with commissions about 2 to 10 times what the bank rewards us."
"Ten times?!!"
Zheng Shuai nodded seriously: "Yes, bringing in that much money isn't easy. Credit cards are relatively simple; you can go to a construction site and get a bunch of migrant workers to apply. But for real financial products, it requires actual money. As sales personnel, we only turn to them when facing the risk of being fired."
"Assuming the reward for this 100 million is 0.5% commission that's 500,000," Xiao Xiao calculated mentally, then asked with a frown. "So... to have them complete the task, we'd need to give them over 1 million yuan?"
Zheng Shuai shook his head: "Definitely more than 1 million. For such a large sum, they'd certainly ask for an exorbitant amount, probably even scarier than high-interest loans."
"Mm, we absolutely can't do that," Lin Qiang also stopped Zheng Shuai from continuing. "Using those organizations to complete the task completely goes against our original intention. Moreover, if the bank discovers this, the consequences would be severe."
"That's true," Xiao Xiao nodded. "Using so much money to inflate performance, we might as well directly bribe the leaders..."
Just then, Chen Liang pushed open the conference room door, leading Zhang Jiaming, Zeng Baichuan, and a group of others who poured in.
"What time is it?" Zheng Shuai, seeing them, was furious and pointed at his watch emphatically. "Wasn't it agreed to start at 10 PM?"
"Yes, yes, of course," Zeng Baichuan waved his hand, laughing loudly. "We've come from far away and caused you so much trouble. We feel bad about it and want to make amends. Let's all have dinner together. Come on, anyone who doesn't come is not giving face to our audit department."
"Oh, that's great!" Zhang Jiaming, who had slept well, was now full of energy and chimed in. "We're all from the same bank. Coming to inspect for so long, having a meal together is the basic courtesy."
"Mm, this meal is unavoidable," Chen Liang added softly, then turned to Lin Qiang. "Acting Director Lin, it's getting late... shall we go eat together?"
"You!!" Zheng Shuai angrily pointed at Chen Liang, but was actually shouting at Zeng Baichuan. "Is this fun for you? Can't you see Lin Qiang is about to collapse from exhaustion? Don't go too far!"
"Oh? This must be Zheng Shuai from the former General Management Department, right?" Zeng Baichuan smiled. "Long time no see. Do you want me to put in a good word for you with Director Rosa when I get back?"
"You... you..." Zheng Shuai choked on his anger, truly furious and about to explode.
At this moment, Lin Qiang stood up, slowly placing his right hand on Zheng Shuai's shoulder.
"Stay calm, he's just a small fry," After advising Zheng Shuai, Lin Qiang turned, his bloodshot eyes looking at Zeng Baichuan. "I'm sorry, to be honest, I need to sleep for a few hours to prepare for tonight's inspection. I don't have the energy to eat."
"Acting Director Lin, this is difficult..." Chen Liang said, sounding conflicted. "They've come from so far and are taking the initiative to invite us. A meal is the most basic courtesy, isn't it?"
"You, shut up. I didn't ask for your opinion," Lin Qiang turned to Chen Liang, glaring at him and speaking word by word. "I'm telling the audit team leader that I can't join them for dinner. Who do you think you are! Talking nonsense!"
This sudden, unprovoked outburst of anger hit Chen Liang like a slap in the face. For a moment, no one dared to speak.
Chen Liang's face twitched instantly: "Lin Qiang, you shouldn't..."
"I'll say it again, I didn't ask for your fucking opinion!" Lin Qiang suddenly roared. "What shouldn't I do? Not accept your fake courtesy?"
"You need to be clear about who's not accepting courtesy here!"
"It's been two days, Chen Liang. You've been here for two days. Apart from chatting with Zhang Jiaming, what have you done?! I'm already being polite by not causing you trouble!"
"A sour face and a coquettish voice, do you think this is a duck farm?!"
"If you can work, then fucking work properly. If you don't want to work, then get lost. Don't fucking stick around making sarcastic comments."
After this string of profanities, Lin Qiang turned to Zeng Baichuan: "Team Leader Zeng, you can have your subordinates record what I just said. You can consider it me educating my subordinate or me being a poor manager, whatever you like."
This outburst of long-suppressed anger shocked everyone present. Zheng Shuai and Xiao Xiao secretly felt satisfied; this effeminate guy indeed had issues, who did he think he was? Just a bully hiding behind authority.
As for Chen Liang, he was so stunned by the scolding that his whole body was twitching, unable to respond.
Because what Lin Qiang said was true. He had come and indeed done nothing, instead causing more trouble.
Zeng Baichuan, who had been observing, didn't show much change in his expression, but internally he was a mix of anger and fear. The echoes of Lin Qiang's angry words were still ringing. On the surface, he was scolding Chen Liang for being a troublemaker, but weren't these words also directed at himself? Each sentence would still hold true if his name, Zeng Baichuan, was substituted in.
This was the most infuriating part - being scolded without being able to retaliate.
"Lin Qiang, you need to understand one thing," Zeng Baichuan's goldfish-like eyes seemed to be bulging out. "Coming here and inviting you to dinner is our goodwill. Our audit department often invites people for tea, but rarely for meals."
"Hehe, then I appreciate your kindness," Lin Qiang smiled, answering without hesitation. "Whether it's dinner or tea, I don't have time right now. If you have the authority to issue an official edict forcing me to tea, please feel free to do so."
Zeng Baichuan raised his right hand, trembling, pointing at Lin Qiang: "Also, according to the regulations for this inspection, during night checks, you're allowed to go home and rest during the day. You insisting on staying at work is your voluntary choice and has nothing to do with our audit department, do you understand?! If you die from overwork, we won't be responsible!"
"Oh my!" Lin Qiang laughed loudly. "The esteemed audit team leader is hoping for my death. I'm honored. Has Lin Qiang become so detestable to both gods and man?"
"That's enough!" Zeng Baichuan waved his arm and turned around, being the first to step out of the door. "If that's the case, we'll just stick to business. See you at 10 PM, Manager Lin."
Chen Liang, Zhang Jiaming, and the others didn't dare to look Lin Qiang in the eye anymore, nor did they dare to say another word. They hurriedly followed Zeng Baichuan and his team out.
After they left, Lin Qiang finally sat back down in his chair, rubbing his temples and cursing: "Fucking exhausting. How did those above end up nurturing a bunch of people like this?"