Qin Moling met with the bosses of two major suppliers in the morning. They were routine visits to maintain their relationship with Lemeng. He chatted with them until eleven o’clock.

Zhong Yanyue came to Qin Moling to coordinate additional office space for the Second Division.

When she learned that there were major suppliers present, she asked Secretary Gao, “Does President Qin have any lunch plans?” 

She asked, but then she felt it was inappropriate as it sounded like she was prying into the boss’ schedule, which put his secretary in an awkward position.

She immediately explained, “If Mr. Qin is eating in the cafeteria, I’ll just go to the cafeteria later to find him so as not to delay his time.”

Secretary Gao said, “Boss Qin is having lunch at the company.”

Zhong Yanyue smiled faintly, “Thank you, Secretary Gao.”

As soon as she returned to her office, Sales Director Lou Zheng came to see her.

“Ms. Zhong, the Fourth Division is closing over 400 distributors that overlap with our Second Division. One-third of them are from the East China region.

“These more than 400 distribtors not only overlap with our Second Division, but also with the First and Third Divisions,” Lou Zheng added.

These powerful, large distributors have been agents for Lemeng’s full range of products for many years. Now they heard that their accounts for the Fourth Division would suddenly be closed, and they were not happy about it. They have directly threatened that if the Fourth Division closes their accounts, they would have to consider whether they should continue to be the agents for Lemeng’s other products.

Lou Zheng said, “These distributors have their own associations. They’ve agreed to have our three other divisions put pressure on the company to force the Fourth Division to let them continue distributing their products.”

How could these dealers give up their distributor rights so easily? For businessmen, as long as a product did not lose money, no matter how little profit they made, there was no reason to give up.

If they gave up, other dealers would take over and the money would go into other people’s pockets.

Dealers were also betting that the Fourth Division products would became popular again one day—they were not willing to give up the potential to make money in the future.

Now, Jian Hang wanted to snatch food from the tiger’s mouth, and no dealer was happy about it.

Zhong Yanyue put down her water glass and lost interest in drinking. “Jian Hang didn’t give these 400 dealers any room to maneuver?”

Lou Zheng repliied, “She did, but it’s like she didn’t. She agreed that if these 400 general distributors deposited the payment for the first half of next year into the accounts of the Fourth Division in advance, they will continue to let them have distributor rights.”

Zhong Yanyue uttered a ‘huh’ in disbelief and was speechless. “She… This is just wishful thinking.”

Jian Hang actually wanted to hold back six months’ worth of payments from distributors. Even for their best-selling drinks, distributors wouldn’t be willing to pay them that much in advance.

Lou Zheng analyzed how he saw things. “Ms. Jian gave them such harsh conditions because she was certain they wouldn’t agree. She was determined to close their accounts, take back their distributor rights, and recruit new distributors.”

He added, “These 400-plus dealers have never completed the quota assigned by the Fourth Division, but have doubled the purchase quota assigned to them by the Second Division.”

It was understandable that Jian Hang wanted to close their accounts since they failed to complete the tasks assigned by the Fourth Division.

But the problem was that the distributors now have objections. If Jian Hang did not give them the distribution rights to the Fourth Division products, they would give up their distribution rights to all Lemeng products.

“These 400 or so dealers are all high-quality distributors of Lemeng. Once they give up their rights to distribute Lemeng, they will become distributors of our competitors’ products, and Lemeng’s market share will be taken away by our competitors.”

The company signed exclusivity agreements with these high-quality distributors and they could only be agents for Lemeng’s beverages, so competitors have been unable to poach these distributors for many years.

Now the distributors were using this exclusivity agreement to fight back and threaten Lemeng that if the Fourth Division did not give them distribution rights, they would go to Lemeng’s competitors.

Lou Zheng asked, “Boss Zhong, what’s our next strategy?”

Zhong Yanyue crossed her arms and thought for a while, “The matter of Jian Hang closing their accounts is no longer just a matter for the Fourth Division. It has risen to affecting the interests of the whole company.”

She picked up her water cup and took a few absent-minded sips.

Putting down the water cup, Zhong Yanyue made a decision. “First, you report the matter of closing the accounts to Vice President Wu. As for how to put pressure on the Fourth Division, we will wait and see what plans the First and Third Divisions have.”

She has her concerns, “Jian Hang is Mr. Qin’s wife, there’s no need for us to be the first to do it. Let the other divisions handle matters that will offend people openly.”

Lou Zheng said, “Okay, I’ll organize the information and report to Vice President Wu.”

Maybe Vice President Wu already knew about the planned closure of the Four Division’s accounts; after all, they did not hide it. The news has even spread to the directors of various regions.

Everyone thought that Jian Hang was crazy.

Letting this layman come here would bring disaster to all Divisions.

Zhong Yanyue originally had a few things to deal with, but because of Jian Hang’s planned closure of distributors, she was in no mood to do so now. Jian Hang disrupted some of her plans, which was very upsetting.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

At half past eleven, Zhong Yanyue went to the cafeteria.

Qin Moling was having lunch in the executive dining hall in the third cafeteria, so she went to find him.

She met Vice President Wu at the dining hall entrance. “Vice President Wu, I need to talk to President Qin about office space allocation. Can you come along?”

Vice President Wu agreed immediately, “No problem.”

Zhong Yanyue asked him to go with her, probably to avoid suspicion. Jian Hang was now working at Lemeng, and she was afraid that people would gossip if she had lunch with Qin Moling alone again.

Vice President Wu was also confused at this moment. He didn’t expect Jian Hang to be so capable of causing trouble. He directly turned Lemeng’s distributors into a mess.

He was now in a state of panic.

But during the meal, he didn’t mention it at all, as it would affect his appetite.

Zhong Yanyue sat across from Qin Moling, sitting side by side with Vice President Wu. “President Qin, our Second Division is running out of office space. We’d like to apply for more office space from the company.”

Qin Moling said, “I’ll think about how to arrange it.”

“Okay.” Zhong Yanyue wanted to get it as soon as possible, to avoid being left with no place to work after hiring new people. “I’d like to know by next Thursday.”

Qin Moling nodded to show that he understood.

Zhong Yanyue accidentally glanced at Qin Moling’s watch. She had been impressed by Qin Moling’s previous watch because it was a limited edition.

This watch now was very unique in design, but somehow it felt like something was missing.

As for what element was missing, she couldn’t tell.

Zhong Yanyue thought that Qin Moling would mention the matter of closure of the more than 400 distributors during the meal, but since he never brought it up, she didn’t say anything.

After coming out of the cafeteria, Zhong Yanyue met Zheng Yanshu in the elevator.

Zheng Yanshu was surrounded by girls from Lemeng. They were whispering and seemed to be waiting for the elevator, but in fact they were looking at Zheng Yanshu. She was no longer surprised.

They were all discussing behind his back whether Zheng Yanshu would leave the Fourth Division and become the Sales Director of the Second Division.

Lou Zheng from the Second Division might be transferred to the Overseas Division, and then the position of Sales Director of the Second Division would be vacant. Everyone was optimistic about Zheng Yanshu going to the Second Division, including Zhong Yanyue herself.

… …

Zheng Yanshu lowered his head to read a message. After reading it, he took off his gold-rimmed glasses and tried to relax. He was almost pissed to death by Jian Hang.

Jian Hang: [Next Monday, we will begin closing dealer accounts in the East China region.]

Zheng Yanshu put on his glasses again. [It’s peak sales season right now! Let’s see in October.]

Jian Hang: [They cant even sell inventory during peak sales season, so why would I keep them around for a few more months? Let’s cut the Gordian knot now.]

Zheng Yanshu: [Vice President Wu already knows about this, and the other divisions won’t let you do this. The company won’t take any risks that could affect the Second Division; they’ll only pressure you into compromise. Ms. Jian, I’m not trying to discourage you, but you definitely won’t be able to close these East China distributor accounts. Forget it.]

Jian Hang asked him: [If I shut them down, can you be more decisive in doing things in the future?]

Zheng Yanshu: [If you successfully shut them down, whatever you say from now on will be my final say, regardless of whether I agree or not! If you can’t shut them down, please resign and stop causing trouble for the Fourth Division.]

Jian Hang: [Alright. I’ll accept the outcome. Then just cooperate with me on this. I’ll send you the plan tonight.]

Marriage First, Love Later translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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Chapter 56.2 — Courage
Chapter 56.3 — Courage