Chu Shichen rested at home for three days. His fever subsided and he had a slight cough. The marks on his body faded to light pink. He picked out a shirt with crisp fabric and tried his best to cover his neck with the collar.
As if being well-dressed was not enough, Chu Shichen rarely wore jewelry, so he added an extra gold-plated tie clip inlaid with emeralds, and pulled his hair slightly back to look energetic.
This way, other people's attention will either be on his face or on his gorgeous collar, and they will ignore the suspicious kiss mark on the side of his neck.
Coming down from upstairs, Chu Shihui was pulling transparent tape to package something. The outdoor chair she bought online had a broken leg on the first day of camping, so she wanted to return it to the merchant.
Aunt Tang said, "My dear lady, why are you sending it back? Just throw it away."
Chu Shihui said: "I want to show the merchant the broken chair he is selling."
Chu Shichen has always thought that online shopping is amazing. Both parties can complete the transaction without meeting each other, and can return the product if they are not satisfied. He asked: "Xiao Hui, will the merchant refund you?"
"Of course." Chu Shihui said, "Quality issues are the other party's responsibility. If you don't refund the money, it will be too easy to do business."
Chu Shichen thought about it and nodded. After the car was ready, he went out to work.
The traffic on Jiang'an Avenue seemed endless, with anxious horns honking everywhere. However, Chu Shichen hoped that the traffic jam would last a little longer. He thought evasively, it would be great if Xiang Mingzhang was on a business trip today.
Unfortunately, the driver was too dedicated and drove very fast in the second half of the journey, arriving at the gate of Xiangyue Park on time.
It was rush hour, and the elevator lobby of the office building was full of people. Chu Shichen hadn't been in for two days, and his colleagues in the sales department were concerned about his health.
At this moment, someone with sharp eyes coughed, and the conversation came to an abrupt end. Everyone said in unison in the same direction: "Mr. Xiang, good morning."
Chu Shichen was slightly stiff, as if he had a stiff neck, but his body and gaze did not move at all.
Xiang Mingzhang came over just as the elevator arrived. Although he was a very arrogant president, he disdained to take advantage of his employees and said, "I don't like to cut in line."
Everyone entered the elevator in order. Chu Shichen was the last one. He stood at the outside, lowered his eyes and prayed that the door would close quickly.
There was still some room left, so Peng Xin said, "Mr. Xiang, please come up."
Xiang Mingzhang was indifferent: "I'll wait for the other one so as not to squeeze others."
Peng Xin said: "It's okay to squeeze in."
Xiang Mingzhang said: "You don't mind, but some people do."
Once a person feels guilty, he will try to cover up his guilt. Chu Shichen was afraid that others would suspect him, so he moved aside and gave up the seat next to him.
Xiang Mingzhang just came in. It was indeed a bit crowded. He was only a step away from Chu Shichen. The scent of cologne and Canaan incense was faint and blended seamlessly.
From the first floor to the ninth floor, Chu Shichen never raised his eyes the entire time.
The secretary's office had been closed for two or three days without ventilation, and the orchid had completely withered. Chu Shichen tidied it up briefly and began to process the messages accumulated in the system.
Ten minutes later, he arrived at the door of the president's office and knocked.
Inside, Xiang Mingzhang said, "Come in."
Chu Shichen took a breath, opened the door, walked to the desk without looking away, and put down a folder: "Mr. Xiang, this is the meeting document to be used. The content has been checked."
Xiang Mingzhang flipped through it, picked up a new pen, and said, "Go ahead."
(I) Meeting room: The long oval table can accommodate thirty people. Xiang Mingzhang sits at the head seat, while Chu Shichen takes notes.
This meeting is about Yisi's internal financial control. After careful consideration and refinement, several suggestions proposed by Xiang Mingzhang will be discussed formally today.
Participants gradually arrived, including heads of various departments and several high-level decision makers. Chu Shichen hadn't seen Li Cangqiu for a long time. After the incident with Ren Meng and the conflict with Li Heng, the change in the relationship between the two sides was tacitly understood.
But he still had to put in some superficial effort, so Chu Shichen took the initiative to call him "Uncle".
Li Zangqiu responded and said to Xiang Mingzhang: "Mr. Xiang, everyone is here, let's get started."
Xiang Mingzhang took the remote control of the projector and the meeting began. The atmosphere was much more serious than ordinary project meetings. The Finance Department had just gone through a shock and everyone was feeling a bit sad. Everyone was waiting for the next rectification.
The essence of financial internal control is to strengthen internal financial control. Xiang Mingzhang is not only the decision-maker of Xiang Yue Communications, but also one of the directors of Xiang Yue. He is very familiar with adjusting and controlling the operation of a company.
After talking about a few general directions, Xiang Mingzhang put down the remote control and asked, "What do you think?"
There was silence in the meeting room. Since the acquisition, the sales department and the finance department had been cut one after another. No one dared to be the first to step out, and the safest thing to do was to follow orders.
Xiang Mingzhang expected this and asked, "Boss Li?"
Li Zangqiu tapped his temple and said, "I think there is no problem. However, we need to continue to divide the general direction and set up a mechanism. How can we grasp the coarseness and fineness? If it is too fine, the efficiency will be low and the personnel cost will increase. If it is too coarse, it will affect the effect."
Xiang Mingzhang said: "Everything should be prioritized. You can start with one focus, such as the budget, and then move forward at a steady pace. Problems are not caused in one day, and we cannot expect them to be fixed in one go."
Li Zangqiu said: "Financial internal control affects other departments. Which department do you want to start with, Mr. Xiang?"
Xiang Mingzhang said: "The biggest problem of Yisi in recent years is customer loss. Is it because the products developed are not good enough, or is there a problem with the business operation?"
Sales and pre-sales have already been cut, but Li Zangqiu never mentioned it: "If the benefits are not good, R&D investment will have to be cut, which will affect the product. There is nothing we can do about it."
Xiang Mingzhang asked again: "What do you think?"
Beside him, Chu Shichen, who had been concentrating on recording, stopped and broke the second round of silence: "Mr. Xiang, I have an idea."
Xiang Mingzhang said: "Although you are my secretary, you were once a member of Yisi after all, so you can talk about it."
Chu Shichen was previously in charge of checking the accounts. In addition to the accumulated human problems, he also discovered some "bad accounts" that could not be explained.
He looked up and said, "I think we can add a refund mechanism."
There was a commotion in the stagnant conference room. The director of the finance department asked, "Which party wants the refund?"
Chu Shichen said: "Yisi will refund the customer."
Xiang Mingzhang stared at the table: "Go on."
Chu Shichen said: "At the beginning of this year, Shiqing Pharmaceutical stopped renewing the contract, which was equivalent to terminating the cooperative relationship with Yisi. The reason was that the customized CRM system did not meet expectations. The sales department gave a 12-point commitment when discussing this project, but the full score of the R&D department was 10, and the price given by Party A was only 8 points."
The marketing director said: "The customer's demand is 80%, and we must try our best to meet it. There is no problem with that."
"No, this is a big problem." Chu Shichen retorted, "In order to win the project, the sales department over-promises, and the subsequent R&D department cannot deliver the work. If the investment is increased, the budget will be tight. In the end, the customer gets a product that does not meet the promise, which leads to dissatisfaction and will no longer continue to cooperate with Yisi."
The director of the R&D department nodded repeatedly and agreed: "I agree."
Chu Shichen said: "After customers purchase Yisi's system, they need to maintain, optimize and renew it. A project that needs renewal means it is not a one-time deal and the risks behind it must be considered."
Before customers leave, there will be a long period of tug-of-war, with Party A and Yisi blaming each other, and the business department and the R&D department complaining about each other, which not only damages the company's external image, but also creates internal conflicts.
The budget increases, liquidated damages, etc. generated during this period became the so-called "bad debts".
Li Zangqiu asked: "You mean, if the customer is not satisfied, we can refund the money?"
Chu Shichen replied: "If there is a problem with the product, we will refund it. On the surface, it seems to be to protect the rights of customers, but in fact it is to restrain ourselves. Product A is A, and B is B. Every link of the project must be rigorous. We cannot issue empty checks and leave hidden dangers for the later stage."
Chu Shichen finished speaking in one breath and asked, "What do you think?"
Xiang Mingzhang said: "In fact, some foreign companies are implementing a refund system, and the effect is quite good."
The director of the R&D department made his position clear in a joking tone: "Then you can give it a try!"
Chu Shichen said: "Customers are dissatisfied and Yisi's reputation has declined. This kind of hidden loss is invisible. Taking advantage of the opportunity of financial internal control, we can set up a mechanism that is open and transparent enough. I believe that costs can be controlled."
Li Zangqiu said: "Shichen, I'm afraid you are just talking nonsense."
Xiang Mingzhang closed the folder and said, "Whether it is just talk or success depends on whether everyone is determined to change."
This statement almost showed his attitude. Chu Shichen followed up by saying, "When you are poor, you must change. Change will lead to success. This is just an attempt, not a desperate battle, right?"
Everyone was observing the direction of the wind. Some truly agreed, while others were vague. In short, no one raised any objections.
The meeting was over and everyone left quickly. Only Xiang Mingzhang and Chu Shichen were left in the huge conference room. The projector was turned off and the hanging screen turned blank.
Chu Shichen turned off the computer and said, "I thought of the refund issue by accident this morning. I brought it up directly at the meeting, which was a bit hasty. Next time I will report it first."
Xiang Mingzhang did not pursue the matter and said, "What Li Zangqiu said just now is very true. It is not easy to implement a mechanism. Verbal statements do not count. Please prepare a detailed plan and give it to me this week."
The plan is equivalent to the key to open a proposal. Chu Shichen is in charge of it, which means that he will follow up on Yisi's subsequent "rectification".
"Okay, I'll try my best." Chu Shichen was polite and a little distant, "Thank you Mr. Xiang for your support."
Xiang Mingzhang said: "Whether I support it depends only on whether it is in the interests of the company. It has nothing to do with who proposed it. You can rest assured."
Chu Shichen left his chair, piled up the things and held them in one hand, his tone fainter than the shadow on the curtain: "Of course it has nothing to do with me, I'm not worried."
Xiang Mingzhang said: "That would be best."
The two of them spoke only to each other, and no one looked at each other from beginning to end.
At noon, Baiyi's CEO Duan Hao made an appointment with Xiang Mingzhang for lunch, and it was almost time to set off.
Along the way, Chu Shichen sat in the rear of the business car without raising his head. He held a tablet computer and read Baiyi's information in case he was not familiar with it enough when he had dinner later.
The restaurant is in a membership club. The business car drove into the basement and parked in Xiang Mingzhang's private parking space.
This kind of social event would not be too short. Chu Shichen got out of the car and said to the driver, "Go eat something and have a cup of coffee. I'll let you know before you leave."
The driver opened the trunk, which contained a small independent refrigerator. He said, "I brought a hamburger. It's my wife's birthday today, so I'll save some for a big meal tonight."
There was also a square gift box next to the refrigerator. It was matte black with gold-plated letters. Chu Shichen said, "This must be a gift for your wife."
The driver waved his hands quickly: "No, no, this is... this is Mr. Xiang's."
Xiang Mingzhang received a message from Duan Hao, asking him if he had any food taboos. After replying, he walked to the back of the car and heard an ear and asked, "What's mine?"
The driver said, "On Sunday morning, you asked me to deliver a set of clothes to the company—"
Xiang Mingzhang interrupted: "I have no impression."
It was too early that day and no shopping mall was open, so the driver had no choice but to find an old custom-made suit shop and spend three times the price to buy a suit that was made for other customers, which could not be returned or exchanged.
As a result, Xiang Mingzhang asked him to throw it away.
The driver was reluctant to part with it, so he temporarily left it in the car. He was afraid that his boss would misunderstand that he had embezzled it, so he quickly said, "Did you forget? There is also a bowl of bird's nest porridge. I drank the porridge, and I can't waste food. But I can't wear this suit even if I want to, so I'll leave it here for now."
Chu Shichen reacted belatedly and remained silent.
Xiang Mingzhang said annoyedly: "Then just leave it alone."
The driver didn't understand what was going on and thought Xiang Mingzhang didn't want it because the size didn't fit. He made things worse by saying, "It's all my fault that I didn't wake up that day and misremembered the size you told me on the phone. The size I bought doesn't fit."
Xiang Mingzhang just wanted the other party to shut up: "Okay, you can do it yourself."
The driver wiped his sweat and habitually asked Secretary Chu for help. He thought he had a quick idea: "I think it's quite suitable for Secretary Chu. How about giving it to Secretary Chu?"
Xiang Mingzhang: “…”
Chu Shichen wanted to play dumb, but he couldn't avoid it. He was embarrassed to embarrass the driver, and was afraid that if he continued to talk too much, he would arouse suspicion, so he said, "Okay, I'll take her away after get off work today."
The driver was as if he had been pardoned: "Great, Secretary Chu looks absolutely handsome in this outfit!"
Xiang Mingzhang was too lazy to talk any more and just left. Chu Shichen followed him. When they got to the elevator, there was no one around and only the smooth elevator door reflected the two of them.
During this morning, the two people had no communication except about work, and ignored each other. It was as if they had engraved "handle official business in an official manner, and do not be familiar with each other in private" on their foreheads.
Chu Shichen adhered to the principle of "no connection" and said, "The clothes should have a receipt, I will transfer the money to you."
Xiang Mingzhang said disdainfully: "No, it's just something to be thrown away."
Chu Shichen said: "I don't care whether it is thrown away or kept. I just agreed to take it because I didn't want to make things difficult for people who have nothing to do with it. I have no other intentions."
"It's mutual." Xiang Mingzhang said, "I sent you clothes that day because I was afraid that you would make a fool of yourself if you were naked. I didn't have any other intentions. It was just humanitarian concern at most."
Chu Shichen recalled that morning, he was naked, while Xiang Mingzhang was well-dressed, as if he was the only one who had spent the night in luxury.
Obviously he was not the first to take the initiative, he was unhappy: "I have to give you the money, be kind to others, you shouldn't be entangled in vain and then treat the other party unfairly."
Xiang Mingzhang's face turned cold: "Are you comparing me with my former lover?"
Chu Shichen endured the embarrassment and said, "It's almost there. After all, we're not even a casual couple."
Xiang Mingzhang said sarcastically: "Why, regret?"
Chu Shichen said: "I am glad."
"Okay." Xiang Mingzhang laughed angrily, "Just transfer the money to me. I will give you a bonus privately this month. You haven't treated me badly, so I have to show my appreciation. I'll treat it as a reward for your performance that night."
Chu Shichen couldn't hold it in any longer: "I don't want it."
"Why?" Xiang Mingzhang deliberately imitated, "Although that night was not quite satisfactory and not enough for me to enjoy, I can't let your hard work be in vain."
Chu Shichen's shame reached its limit in an instant, and he could not say anything more frivolous. When the elevator arrived, he went in first, with an annoyed look on his face: "Please take another one."
Xiang Mingzhang raised his hand and pressed the door: "Secretary Chu, don't be too confident."
Chu Shichen asked back: "What do I rely on?"
Xiang Mingzhang thought to himself, she is spoiled because of her favor. He looked up at the upper right corner of the elevator and said, "It's being filmed by the surveillance camera. Aren't you afraid of being seen?"
Chu Shichen pressed the close button hard and said, "Anyway, I'm not a member here, no one knows me."
The veins on the back of Xiang Mingzhang's hands were taut, and he was as still as a mountain, but his voice suddenly dropped: "That night I held you in my arms and went up to the top floor. Do you think the people in the company's monitoring room recognized you?"
Chu Shichen was suddenly startled.
Xiang Mingzhang took the opportunity to step inside, and the door slowly closed behind him. He had won the argument, and Chu Shichen was finally willing to look him in the eye, no, glare at him.
Then, he changed his words calmly: "I lied to you."
Chu Shichen was defeated and swallowed the word "bastard" with his Adam's apple rolling.
(End of this chapter)