The flattery was so soothing. ’Don’t stop.’ Liu Haoran remained silent, listening to Fang Qiang continue to suck up.
He was deep in thought, wondering how he was going to interact with Jack.
Tonight’s get-together had been arranged by the headquarters of both their corporations. Otherwise, Liu Haoran would have never been able to schedule a meeting with him.
After all, Jack was Sa Mo’s national director, while Liu Haoran was merely the general manager of a branch office for the Yino Group.
You could say Liu Haoran’s professional standing was far beneath Xia Bin’s. Not only was Xia Bin’s business in the Han River area much larger in scale, but the brands he managed were also far more prestigious than those of the Yino Group. Crucially, Xia Bin was the owner, while Liu Haoran was just a hired hand.
Jack Zhang was a bit arrogant. As he stepped out of the taxi, Liu Haoran and Fang Qiang hurried forward to greet him.
"Good to see you, President Zhang!" the two greeted him at once.
As Liu Haoran shook his hand, Jack said, "Just call me Jack."
’I don’t get why a Huaxia person insists on having a Western name. Is that what passes for trendy and fashionable these days?’
Looking at his arrogant expression, two words popped into Liu Haoran’s mind: ’Pretentious prick!’
’But this guy’s act is nothing compared to President Chen’s. Now *that* guy knows how to flex without even trying.’
Liu Haoran led Jack into the private dining room, where Li Lei and Xu Jia quickly rose to their feet to greet him.
Liu Haoran had specifically requested the restaurant arrange two host seats, and he and Jack sat down.
After a glance around the room, Jack cracked a joke. "They say retail companies in men’s business wear are full of beautiful women. Are you hiding them all, President Liu?"
Xu Jia’s expression immediately soured. ’What’s that supposed to mean, you fake foreigner? Are you saying I’m ugly?’
Before Liu Haoran could say anything, Li Lei chimed in, "Mr. Jack, our company actually does have a total knockout. She works in one of our stores!"
The moment Li Lei spoke, Liu Haoran’s heart sank. He knew instinctively that he was talking about Zhao Xiangjun.
’Damn it, are you just trying to stir up shit? Why the hell would you bring up Boss Zhao?’
Jack was used to this sort of thing. In the past, after meetings in Jiangzhou with Xia Bin, the dinner conversation would always turn to booze and women.
You can’t just talk about work at the dinner table, after all.
He saw it as a way to liven up the atmosphere and build rapport, so he followed Li Lei’s lead. "So you’ve been holding out on me, President Liu! You should arrange for her to join us for a couple of drinks. Let me see for myself the caliber of Jiangzhou’s beauties!"
Li Lei grinned. "Xu Jia, she’s your bestie. Why don’t you give her a call?"
When Li Lei had first mentioned a "total knockout," Xu Jia had guessed he meant Zhao Xiangjun and was already annoyed. She didn’t like people making jokes about her friend.
Now that Li Lei had confirmed it by calling her Xu Jia’s bestie, she was furious and about to tear into him.
But unexpectedly, Liu Haoran was so scared he nearly pissed himself. In a voice thick with fury, he snarled, "Li Lei, shut the fuck up!"
He was overcome with rage, but then he remembered they had a guest and quickly added, "What kind of bullshit are you spouting in front of a guest!"
Jack Zhang was completely baffled. He didn’t understand why a simple joke had made Liu Haoran react as if someone had just desecrated his family’s graves.
Li Lei was even more stupefied. In the seven or eight years he’d worked for Liu Haoran, this was the first time he’d ever been cursed out like that. He still had no idea what he’d done to provoke such a furious reaction from Boss Liu.
But with Liu Haoran roaring at him, he didn’t dare say another word, looking as docile as an obedient puppy.
"Jack, my subordinate doesn’t know any better. I’ll make him take three penalty shots later. After dinner, we’ll head out for a second round. There are plenty of beautiful women there!"
"No need for that, President Liu."
Since Liu Haoran had already chewed out Li Lei, Xu Jia didn’t bother tearing into him. In her mind, however, she was still cursing him for being a complete moron.
Seeing Li Lei get cursed out, Fang Qiang also had no idea what he’d done wrong. He became afraid to say anything himself, and the atmosphere suddenly turned awkward.
During the meal, Liu Haoran and Jack toasted.
Jack said, "President Liu, I can tell just by looking at you that you can drink anyone under the table. Does Yino require its general managers to be heavy drinkers? I know your President Zhang can certainly hold his liquor!"
Liu Haoran said, "I can’t even begin to compare with President Zhang. He’s the one who can truly drink all night."
"Mm, I’ve seen it for myself. I was just drinking with President Zhang yesterday!"
’He’s deliberately showing off that he had dinner with the Yino Group’s CEO to boost his own status.’ Of course, Liu Haoran understood.
Liu Haoran knew the full story behind Zhang Shijie’s visit to Samo Company’s headquarters to meet with their president.
The entire affair had been a coordinated operation, set in motion by a single phone call from Chen Xiao, with Zhang Shijie acting at headquarters and Liu Haoran in the regional office.
He could also sense that Jack had no idea that when Zhang Shijie went to Sa Mo’s headquarters, he hadn’t just proposed a regional agency partnership—he’d also expressed an intent to acquire the Sa Mo brand outright.
Jack’s rank probably wasn’t high enough to be privy to such core secrets. Liu Haoran, on the other hand, was privy to the entire plan only because he was an integral part of Chen Xiao’s scheme.
If not for Chen Xiao, Liu Haoran’s rank would never have qualified him to know about an acquisition decision made by Yino Group’s headquarters until the moment it was ready to be officially announced.
Liu Haoran didn’t know how far along the acquisition negotiations were, only that it was one of the goals of Zhang Shijie’s visit.
"President Zhang has really gone to great lengths for the sake of our Jiangzhou Branch’s potential partnership with Sa Mo."
He took the opportunity to broach the main subject.
Jack sneered. "There are still huge differences between the business models of Sa Mo and the Yino Group’s brands. You want to partner up to expand your business, but the actual execution won’t be so easy."
"Is your talent pool deep enough? Do you have any experience with affordable luxury brands? Do you know anything about marketing or how to tell a compelling brand story?"
"Sa Mo is not a brand that relies on discounts to make sales."
’His tone was incredibly condescending, implying that my team and I are just a bunch of hicks who don’t know how to manage a brand, only how to run promotions and offer discounts.’
Liu Haoran knew that people who worked with high-end brands like him naturally carried a sense of superiority. Though his face was all smiles, betraying nothing, deep down he was eagerly anticipating the day the Group acquired this brand.
’Once this poser’s supposedly mighty company is acquired by the Yino Group and becomes just another one of its sub-brands, he’ll finally understand why branch general managers are often jokingly called "regional governors." While our rank might be lower than a director’s, our power is far greater.’
’A branch’s general manager is the king of his region, a feudal lord in his own right.’
’Headquarters is crawling with directors, with a whole gaggle of VPs above them. The saying goes that VPs are a dime a dozen, and directors are less than worthless.’
’But in his own region, a GM holds the power of life and death. The authority for all promotions and raises in the entire branch rests in his hands.’
’The deal isn’t sealed yet. For now, I’ll just have to tolerate him.’
"You’re right, and in that regard, we certainly have much to learn from you, Jack. As for our talent pool, we are well-equipped. Yino’s employee compensation has always been quite high, so our staff has a strong sense of loyalty and our turnover rate is low. Over the years, we’ve cultivated a group of highly qualified people."
"I spoke with Four Seasons Clothing today," Jack said. "And I’ll be frank with you, President Liu. Right now, I need a distributor who can hold on to our store in Ganglong International."