Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Nine: Manager of the Elegant Garden Branch

The 25th was the day Zhongtong Company issued commissions. Zhang Wei and his group drove once again to the Fengdu Berlin branch. This time, Zhang Wei’s BMW did not cause much of a stir, but the other agents in the district were clearly much more enthusiastic toward him.

After receiving their pay, the numerous agents did not leave the Fengdu Berlin store immediately; instead, they were gathered into the underground conference room for a meeting. Most of them, however, were clueless about the purpose of this assembly.

The underground conference room remained chaotic for a while until Han Zhong and Xu Ming walked in, at which point it gradually quieted down. This time, Han Zhong did not take the podium. Instead, he patted Xu Ming on the shoulder and said, "Xu Ming, you host today’s meeting. I’ll sit in the back and hold down the fort for you."

"Understood, thank you, Brother Han." Xu Ming nodded to Han Zhong, then strode up to the podium. Seeing that there was still some commotion below, his face darkened, and he shouted, "Everyone, settle down. We are starting the meeting."

At the sound of Xu Ming’s shout, the crowd immediately fell silent. As the saying goes, a new official applies three new rules; no one wanted to be the first to provoke him, especially with their old leader, Han Zhong, sitting in the front row. Regardless of their personal feelings, they had to show some respect.

Seeing that everyone had quieted down, Xu Ming nodded with satisfaction and said, "This is my first time hosting a district meeting, so please bear with me if there are any oversights. I have two things to address today."

"The first is regarding the measures and plans I intend to implement after officially taking over as regional manager. The general direction will remain largely unchanged, following Brother Han’s previous strategy, but I will be making specific adjustments based on the circumstances of each store. I hope everyone will cooperate when the time comes." As Xu Ming spoke, he scanned the crowd, gauging their reactions.

He had discussed this matter with Han Zhong beforehand, and Han Zhong was very supportive. The district’s overall performance had not been stellar; Han Zhong had once wanted to implement changes, but the resistance had been too great, and he had ultimately failed to carry them out.

The other store managers felt a natural sense of unease as they watched Xu Ming hold court, but since his promotion was a done deal, they were powerless to stop it and, at the very least, would not openly challenge him.

Seeing that no one voiced opposition, yet no one stepped forward to support him either, Xu Ming realized that he could not rush things. He would have to wait until he had established his authority in the district before gradually implementing his plans.

"Now, let me address the second matter. Since I have been promoted to regional manager, the position of manager for the Yayuan branch has naturally become vacant. The Beijing branch office has already found a successor, and this person was selected from within our own district. I hope you will all support their work in the future," Xu Ming said.

"The Yayuan store manager has been chosen? Could it be Li Lin, the senior agent at the Yayuan branch?"

"I think it might be Gao Wen from the Fengdu Berlin store; he was our district’s sales champion last quarter."

"Maybe it’s Liu Yuzhou from our store. He’s a veteran salesman. If it weren't for the lack of vacancies in our district, he would have been qualified to be a manager long ago."

Before Xu Ming could finish, the crowd interrupted the second half of his sentence. Everyone had been uninterested in his previous talk of strategies and plans, but they were deeply concerned about the promotion of an agent to manager—this was the aspiration of most agents present.

"Enough! I haven't finished yet. Why are you all making such a racket?" Xu Ming slammed his hand on the table and scolded them loudly, silencing the room.

With a stern expression, he waited until the conference room was silent before continuing: "The position of Yayuan store manager will be filled by agent Zhang Wei!"

"Buzz..." As soon as Xu Ming finished, the underground conference room erupted. No one had expected Zhang Wei to become the Yayuan store manager. Although everyone knew Zhang Wei had achieved high sales last month, he was, after all, a newcomer who had only been on the job for three months.

"Talk about showing favoritism! Zhang Wei hasn't even been here as long as I have. Can he really be a good manager?"

"Exactly! Isn't it just because he sold one villa? Otherwise, how could he have such high performance figures?"

"If I could sell a villa and pull in over a million in performance, would I be promoted to manager too?"

In any industry or company, seniority is usually respected. Zhang Wei’s leap to manager based on a single month’s performance left many salesmen feeling unbalanced, naturally leading to a wave of gossip.

"Quiet!" Seeing the chaos, Xu Ming slammed the table again and shouted, his eyes sweeping sharply over the crowd. "Zhang Wei’s appointment as Yayuan store manager was decided by company leadership. If anyone is dissatisfied, stand up and say it, instead of stirring up trouble in a mob!"

Hearing Xu Ming’s sharp rebuke, the crowd fell silent once again. While they dared to murmur in a group, no one was willing to be the first bird to be shot when challenged to stand alone.

Seeing such a strong reaction from the agents, Xu Ming’s brows knitted together. He wasn't sure if his recommendation of Zhang Wei had been right or wrong, though his decision had been a matter of necessity.

After becoming regional manager, he needed a loyal supporter. His relationship with the other store managers was merely average, and gaining their full support was not easy. Zhang Wei, however, was an agent he had personally trained.

By promoting Zhang Wei, Xu Ming hoped to gain an assistant he could rely on. He saw potential in Zhang Wei’s abilities, which was why he had pushed so hard for his promotion. If Zhang Wei failed to live up to the role, Xu Ming would inevitably be blamed for nepotism.

Xu Ming’s hand had been forced. He had previously had several veteran agents under his wing whose capabilities were no less than Li Lin’s, and any one of them would have been qualified for a manager position. However, an unexpected incident led to their resignations, leaving Xu Ming as a commander with no troops.

Wang Jianfa, Zhang Wei, and Guo Bin were all new agents. Xu Ming was essentially picking the tallest among the short, which led him to push Zhang Wei into the manager role. Since he had already reached this point, he had no choice but to support Zhang Wei to the end; otherwise, if Zhang Wei failed, his own reputation as the sponsor would suffer.

Zhang Wei had received a commission of over a million today, and Xu Ming had originally intended to make a grand announcement and have Zhang Wei speak on stage to establish his authority. Seeing the current atmosphere, however, he had to abandon that idea and decided it was better for Zhang Wei to keep a low profile.

The meeting ended on an anticlimactic note. Although many agents felt that Zhang Wei lacked the seniority and experience to be the Yayuan store manager, they could not change the company’s appointment. This did not stop them from making sarcastic remarks or even betting on whether Zhang Wei would last three months in the role.

Facing the jealous, envious, and skeptical gazes of the many agents, Zhang Wei merely smiled it off. He did not care about their opinions, for he believed in his own abilities and in his capacity to fulfill the responsibilities of a store manager.

What Zhang Wei needed to do now was to prove himself with results, to use the performance of the Yayuan store to silence his critics, and to show them that not only could he be a competent manager, but he would also become the top-performing manager in the entire district.