"Don't you want to explain at all?" Zhu Fengshan glared at Lin Qiang. "Well then... considering the negative impact of this incident at the branch level... the branch has decided..."
"One moment," Lin Qiang took a deep breath, placing his hands on the table as he finally stood up. He gazed at Zhu Fengshan and calmly said, "Since Manager Zhu wants me to defend myself, I'll respectfully oblige."
"You dare to quibble!" Hao Wei slammed his palm on the table again. "Watch your attitude! Now is not the time for excuses, it's time to admit your mistakes, Lin Qiang!"
"I'm sorry, but I don't believe I've done anything wrong!" Lin Qiang pointed at Hao Wei. "I'm talking to Manager Zhu Fengshan. Please be quiet!"
"I... you!!" Hao Wei was dumbfounded.
At a branch managers' meeting, he had been told to shut up by a subordinate! Regardless of the outcome, this was utterly humiliating.
"Lin Qiang, don't you-"
"Don't what?!" Lin Qiang interrupted Hao Wei, rebuking him calmly. "Manager Zhu is waiting for my explanation. If you're not going to explain or are incapable of explaining, why are you wasting your breath? Shut up! And just listen to what I have to say!"
"..." Hao Wei's face twitched, at a loss for words.
"Enough," Zhu Fengshan frowned, waving his arm. "Since you don't think you've done anything wrong, please explain."
Lin Qiang turned and nodded to Zheng Shuai, then said, "I'll explain with data. May I borrow the secretary's computer? Everyone can see the data clearly on the projection screen."
The female secretary had to stand up, letting Zheng Shuai take her place.
Zheng Shuai opened a PowerPoint document that listed the investment details of every client Lin Qiang had "poached" in bar graphs and tables.
"To protect client privacy, this document is anonymous. If the bank wants to investigate, I'll disclose the clients' real names privately," Lin Qiang took out a laser pointer he had prepared earlier and guided everyone through the data. "This is client Qiu's financial status at our bank. Previously, his assets were at the Xiyuan Branch, with 200,000 in wealth management products and 10.82 million in deposits."
"Through my marketing efforts, I successfully converted 8 million of the 10.82 million into our bank's wealth management products."
"As everyone knows, for the same funds within our bank, wealth management products generate much higher returns than fixed deposits. It's not an exaggeration to say that the return is at least five times higher."
"In other words, although I transferred 8 million in deposits from other outlets, I turned this 8 million into profits equivalent to at least 40 million in deposits."
"Anyone can do this simple calculation. Through this process alone, I've created over 32 million in deposit-equivalent profits for our bank!"
Lin Qiang scanned the room: "All of my performance this month was created under these conditions. Overall, the net profit I've brought to our bank exceeds the profit from 100 million in deposits. For a bank, profit is paramount. I don't understand where I went wrong."
Lin Qiang turned to Zhu Fengshan, smiling, "Please enlighten me, Manager Zhu."
A murmur rippled through the conference room.
This was both sophistry and a valid argument. From an unusual angle, he had stated irrefutable facts.
Everyone was amazed by the enormous performance Lin Qiang had delivered, and even more by his audacity, or rather, his "overconfidence." To directly question and challenge the branch manager like this.
Had he gone mad?
Wouldn't it be better to simply admit his mistake?
Some who understood the situation had already started smirking. Lin Qiang must have secured a position at another bank to disregard professional etiquette and directly confront the manager. He probably wanted to vent his frustrations before leaving.
Faced with such sophistry, Zhu Fengshan's expression fluctuated between anger and embarrassment.
"This is specious reasoning!" Zhu Fengshan shouted, his voice trembling. "Other outlets have also been working hard to convert those deposits into wealth management products. It was just a matter of timing. You still poached..."
"Poached?!" Lin Qiang interrupted Zhu Fengshan's forced argument, slamming his arms on the table and speaking directly, "Those were all fixed-term deposits, idle for over a year. The facts have proven that the marketing staff at those outlets were unable to convert those deposits into wealth management products. There was nothing wrong with my intervention at this point. Furthermore, our branch has always been suppressed by the Xiyuan Branch. I've heard that in previous meetings, Manager Zhu urged everyone to achieve results by any means necessary, to catch up with the Xiyuan Branch. Isn't my behavior also in response to the manager's call?"
"...Lin Qiang, it's the leadership that's really putting me in a difficult position!" Zhu Fengshan pointed at the ceiling. "This kind of behavior has already made the leadership feel..."
Lin Qiang bowed quickly, "May I ask which leader? I'll apologize to them in person later!"
"...It's..."
Bearing the strange gazes of everyone, Zhu Fengshan finally waved his arm: "I've already apologized. In the future... you need to be more mindful of these things. Don't cause me any more trouble."
"Yes, sir." Lin Qiang bowed slightly before sitting back down.
The room fell silent for over ten seconds. No one dared to breathe heavily.
Everyone was thinking, had Lin Qiang gone mad? How dare he speak like that? He must be ready to jump ship.
Lin Qiang himself sat comfortably in his seat, having vented the anger he had suppressed for so long. As a leader, one should encourage and make good use of employees with strong performance capabilities. Lin Qiang's previous three years of experience had been like that. But since coming to this branch, he had been suppressed at every turn. It was obvious that they were intentionally targeting him.
Don't push a desperate man. After his transfer, instead of commending him for his strong business capabilities, this branch had kicked him while he was down. He had no reason to grovel here anymore.
Lin Qiang firmly believed in this point — I'll either support you or step over you.
Half a minute later, Zhu Fengshan finally suppressed his emotions to avoid losing composure.
"Let's set this matter aside for now," Zhu Fengshan said, his aura suddenly becoming more imposing. "Lin Qiang, there's one thing that's set in stone. Half a month ago, you swore to generate 100 million yuan in marketing sales for the Longyuan Outlet. You haven't forgotten, have you?"
Lin Qiang nodded, "How could I forget?"
"Heh," Zhu Fengshan chuckled. "At that time, you threatened me directly, saying that if you achieved 100 million and there was a vacant manager position, you should immediately fill that position, right?"
"Yes, that's what I said."
"Too bad..." Zhu Fengshan shook his head. "You neither achieved 100 million, nor is there a vacant manager position."
He suddenly changed his tone, becoming harsh: "Lin Qiang, 100 million wasn't the key issue, your ambition to climb the ranks was! You took advantage of Manager Hao's absence to incite your subordinates, collectively opposing the branch and undermining internal unity. You tried to use this as leverage to force your way up the ranks. This kind of behavior that disrupts harmony is absolutely intolerable in our branch!"
"Yes, I went too far in this matter," Lin Qiang said sincerely. "My subordinates were influenced by my emotions. This was my mistake."
"Hmph, you finally admit it," Zhu Fengshan laughed heartily. "Since you've shown a good attitude this time, and considering your performance, the branch has decided to give you a chance. We'll transfer you to..."
"One moment," Lin Qiang said quietly. "I admit I went too far in this matter, but I completely disagree with the other accusations Manager Zhu has made!"
Once again, the conference room was plunged into panic and surprise.
The facts were clear, yet he still behaved like this. Was he going to start snapping like a mad dog?
"Lin Qiang, that's enough! Stop embarrassing yourself!" Hao Wei turned and scolded.
"Hao Wei, that's enough! Stop embarrassing yourself!" Lin Qiang slammed the table and retorted. "Is this how a leader should treat a subordinate who brought in 40 million in performance in just one month?!"
In an instant, the usually refined meeting room turned into a shouting match, with both sides extremely agitated. Even Zhu Fengshan couldn't stop it.
"Don't go too far!" Hao Wei, unable to contain himself any longer, stood up and shouted, "What's so great about 40 million?! Who knows what underhanded methods you used?! You've become arrogant with just a bit of performance, not showing any respect for leadership, not even knowing how to be humble in front of Manager Zhu! Lin Qiang, you're nothing but a bad influence! You've corrupted our entire outlet team! Don't you know you're wrong?!"
"Corrupted the team? Me? During my time as acting manager, deposits and marketing performance have skyrocketed, the team is more united than ever, and even the surprise night inspection couldn't disrupt us. The Audit Department even specifically praised our outlet in their report. Hao Wei, tell me, how has the team fallen apart?!!"
"I... I..." After struggling for a few seconds, Hao Wei shouted, "Attitude! The entire outlet's attitude has become as terrible as yours, disregarding seniority and hierarchy, completely lacking the professional ethics of bank employees!!"
"Oh my! Professional ethics, how surprising to hear that from your mouth!" Lin Qiang stared at Hao Wei, scanning the room. "Hao Wei, do you dare? Do you dare tell everyone where you've been these 13 days? Do you dare tell everyone where you were during the audit team's inspection? Do you dare tell everyone why you've been absent for these 13 days?!!"
"..." Hao Wei fell into an extremely long silence, his entire face turning red, his glasses frames constantly trembling.
Lin Qiang fixed his gaze on Hao Wei, grinning, "Hao Wei, give yourself some leeway. I've been helping you conceal this matter all along. My attitude has already been very, very, very kind!"
For the third time, the conference room fell silent. Some managers were aware of some inside information. Regarding this issue, Hao Wei indeed couldn't answer.
Hao Wei himself knew that Lin Qiang had photos of him receiving "health treatments" with Zeng Baichuan. If he wanted to, he could expose it right here, and that would cause serious trouble for him in the future...
Bang!!
Zhu Fengshan slammed the table hard and shouted, "Both of you, sit down!"
The two stopped arguing and returned to their seats.
"Lin Qiang, regardless of other matters, your attitude is indeed problematic," Zhu Fengshan said, trying to calm down. "For a bank employee, the most basic requirement is respect."