Chapter 388: Team Leader of Group Three
After completing the administrative forms for new employees, Xiao Luo and Guan Tong were taken for a brief visit to the sales department by the tall lady, Wu He, as part of the onboarding process. When they got there, everyone in the department was raving about the order placed by the princess from Dubai valued at eight million dirhams. The atmosphere was almost a festive one, and the sales staff were in high spirits.
Miss Wu gently knocked on the office door of the head of the sales department. When she heard him respond, she pushed the door open and walked in with the two new hires in her charge.
Sitting behind the desk was a middle-aged man with a bald pate. He was dressed smartly in a suit and tie, wearing glasses, and polite in manner.
“Hello, Mr. Mao, how are you? Miss Wu greeted him.
He raised his hand to her while still on the phone. “Mr. Zhao I got something to go now, let’s talk again next time.”
The middle-aged man then put down his phone, stood up smiling, and greeted her, “Miss Wu, what brings you here? Come in, come, and have a seat.”
“Oh, it’s alright, I still have a few other things to do so I’ll just be quick. I’m here to introduce these two people to you, they’re the new hires for your department. This is Xiao Luo, and this is Guan Tong,” Wu He said, giving him a courteous bow with her head, and added, “By the way, Xiao Luo has been given dispensation from regular working hours and will be arranging his schedule himself.”
Mao Jianyi was somewhat taken aback and inquired, “What does it mean when you say that he will arrange his own working hours?”
“That means he’s not be bounded by the company’s schedule and can come in or leave work whenever he wants to,” Guan Tong pitched in, forgetting himself.
Wu He glanced at him then back to Mr. Zhou, nodding her head and added, “Miss Shen approved it.”
Miss Shen approved it?
Mao Jianyi couldn’t believe his ears! The Huayao Corporation had strict rules and regulations, and the rules applied to all sales personnel—even heads of departments like him had to report to work on time; otherwise, they would be penalized. It was really bizarre that such a condition could be allowed.
Seeing doubts plastered all over Mao Jianyi’s face, Wu He explained, “He was the one who secured the order with Dubai order earlier.”
What?!
Mao Jianyi bolted upright in his seat with a look of absolute shock and just stared wide-eyed at Xiao Luo. “Huh… he’s the one who secured the order?” he stuttered.
Despite this deal being made no more than half an hour ago, news of the large order had spread across the organization like wildfire. Everyone in the sales department had been talking about the deal since then, speculating on the person who had closed it—and to find that person now standing there right before him was unbelievable.
“Yes,” she replied. Wu He’s single-word response spoke volumes.
Then, she promptly turned around and left without saying another word.
Mao Jianyi came from behind his desk and fervently shook Xiao Luo’s hand. “Xiao Luo, what a pleasure, welcome to the sales department!” he enthused, then introduced himself, “My name is Mao Jianyi. Just call me Old Mao.”
Old Mao?
Xiao Luo was somewhat amused by his moniker, which made him think immediately of the great man who founded the country.
After he welcomed Xiao Luo heartily, Mao Jianyi did the same with Guan Tong. He came across as a fair and trustworthy leader, showing his subordinates that he treated them equally.
“Let’s go to the office area, and I’ll introduce you to everyone,” Mao Jianyi said.
“Thank you, Mr. Mao,” Guan Tong said.
Guan Tong was very enthusiastic about the job. He knew he had a lot of catching up to do as he’d inevitably be compared to Xiao Luo, who’d just closed a record deal, but this only served to motivate him to do his best.
Mao Jianyi duly led the two of them to a large office area; it was approximately 100 square meters and furnished with some 30 to 40 desks. When they stepped in, the sales personnel were still busy discussing the order from the princess Salama.
“Everyone, can I have your attention, please. Stop your work for a moment, I’d like to introduce you to your new colleagues joining the sales force today.”
Mao Jianyi clapped his hands a couple of times to get their attention, before he continued, “Everyone, this is Guan Tong, Aeronautical University graduate, please welcome him.”
There wasn’t much interest shown except for some unenthusiastic applause.
This was especially so from the female sales executives, who judged Guan Tong by his appearance. Seeing that he had neither the looks nor the physique, they instantly lost their interest to find out more about him. As for their male counterparts, the Dubai order was now the current hot topic, and a new colleague wasn’t enough to excite them.
Guan Tong took a step forward and loudly introduced himself, “Hello everyone, my name is Guan Tong, it’s very nice to meet you!”
There was some sporadic applause, nothing too intense.
“Ah Ler, I’m assigning Lil’ Guan to your team. Bring him around and help him familiarize with our work environment,” Mao Jianyi said.
“Okay.”
That man, going by the name of Ah Ler, walked up to shake hands with Guan Tong and said, “Hello Lil’ Guan, feel free to ask me anything you need to know, I will help you as much as I can.”
Guan Tong graciously greeted him with both of his hands and replied, “Sorry for troubling you, Brother Ah Ler.”
“You are a member of my team now, and it is my duty,” Ah Ler said, patting Guan Tong on his shoulder.
Subsequently, Guan Tong followed Ah Ler to his group’s section of the office. There was already an empty table reserved for him.
Before introducing Xiao Luo, Mao Jianyi coughed a few times to clear his throat, then with a little more enthusiasm, he said, “And now everyone, this is Xiao Luo, also a graduate from the Aeronautical University. He has worked in Huahai Corporation and Luo Workshop in Jiangcheng City. He came to Xiahai at the beginning of this year to develop his career and is now joining us here in Huayao. Please welcome him!”
There was another sparse round of applause, though with a little more enthusiasm than previously, especially among the female sales executives.
With Xiao Luo’s good looks, he appeared to be getting a more receptive response as one of the girls asked, “Xiao Luo, may I ask, what was your position in Huahai Corporation and Luo Workshop?”
“I was a product engineer,” Xiao Luo replied, consistent with the description on his resume.
“You’re an engineer? That should be technical work, am I right? Why did you suddenly switch to sales?”
“Sales is not as simple as entertaining and chatting with customers. A lot of knowledge is required in this line.”
“Yup, you will have to learn from scratch. Finding customers, getting customers, establishing your own customer base… there’s a lot for you to learn at every stage.”
The girls in the sales department begun talking excitedly, for, with a handsome male colleague, they somehow showed more interest in training him.
The only reason Xiao Luo had taken up the job with Huayao Corporation was because of Su Li, so it didn’t matter to him what others had to say.
Mao Jianyi coughed several more times again and said, “Xiao Li, you girls may have misjudged him. Do you know who the person who secured the Dubai order is?”
“Huh? Mr. Mao, are you saying that he is the one?” the girl who first spoke said in jest.
The others all had a coy smile on their faces. Evidently, no one believed that Xiao Luo was capable of doing so.
“Yes, you’re right… Xiao Luo is the one. Whether you believe it or not, it is the truth. In fact, Miss Shen has approved special conditions for his working hours, and he is allowed to schedule his own time,” Mao Jianyi replied, specifically to the girl named Xiao Li.
Huh?
Everyone was shocked to silence, realizing what they had thought was a joke turned out to be true. Even then, a few were still unconvinced.
“Mr. Mao, is this a joke?” Xiao Li said, giving Old Mao a doubtful look.
Mao Jianyi didn’t respond this time but simply turned to Xiao Luo and said, “Xiao Luo, that seat over there will be yours.”
Looking in the direction he was pointing, everyone was even more stunned, because that position belonged to the former leader of Group Three and he had just resigned not long ago.
“You will be the team leader of Group Three. Do you best, I have high expectations of you, Xiao Luo,” Mao Jianyi said.
What! Promoted to team leader on his first day of work?
Does this mean that it’s true, after all?
With his post as the group leader and his special working conditions, it became apparent that this had to be the person who secured the Dubai deal. With that, their perception of Xiao Luo took on a whole new meaning, and nobody was slouching around anymore, but sat attentively and looked alert.