Chapter 11 Rescue

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the company staff walked towards the conference room one after another. Gu Cunxi wanted to call Xiao Peiyin, but thinking of her coldness at noon, she gave up the idea. She picked up the paper and pen on the table and walked towards the conference room with Cheng Sheng one after the other. The two happened to meet Xiao Peiyin at the door.

“…”

Eye contact!

No one spoke for a while. Gu Cunxi felt like his legs were filled with lead and he couldn't move.

"Haven't you had lunch?" She squeezed out a word from her throat after a long silence.

“…”

"I'm not hungry..." Xiao Peiyin replied calmly.

Cheng Sheng stood in front of the two of them, feeling the atmosphere was strange...

Seeing that the people attending the meeting had arrived one after another, Gu Cunxi withdrew his gaze and did not look at her. He walked past Xiao Peiyin and went in.

The moment they passed by, Xiao Peiyin smelled the pleasant mint scent on her body, and his heart inexplicably skipped a beat!

The meeting room was filled with people from various departments. Zhang Qiming walked in from outside. He was the boss of this company.

"Everyone is here, let's get started"

The conference room fell silent in an instant. Everyone was waiting for Zhang Qiming to speak. He flipped through the documents in his hand and said, "The main content of today's meeting is the annual summary reports of each department of the company at the end of the year. All of them must be submitted to Manager Shi before next Friday!"

"Everyone is well aware of the company's sales performance over the past year. Compared to last year, overall performance has declined by 12 percentage points. Today's meeting will focus on the sales department. From now on, I will give each of you five minutes to think about it. Each of you must summarize the reasons and ideas for improvement."

“!!”

Gu Cunxi looked at Xiao Peiyin who was sitting opposite him. He didn't know how she would summarize it, and he couldn't help feeling a little worried!

The conference room was suffocatingly quiet for a moment. Five minutes passed quickly. Zhang Qiming checked the time and said, "Everyone, please speak up... Regarding the two points I just mentioned, each of you in the sales department, give me an explanation!"

"Xiao Peiyin, you speak first!"

“!”

She looked up at Zhang Qiming, bewildered. Xiao Peiyin didn't know how to summarize and explain this. In fact, some reasons would be inappropriate to be stated openly...

“…”

There was a long silence... The atmosphere in the conference room gradually solidified, and Zhang Qiming's face became increasingly grim. He said sternly: "For the past six months, your sales department's performance has been declining every day. You can't achieve any results, and I can't figure out the reason. Is it your ability or your attitude that's the problem?"

Gu Cunxi saw a trace of nervousness and embarrassment on Xiao Peiyin's face. For some reason, she felt distressed and reluctant. She didn't want to see Zhang Qiming embarrass her like this. Her heart became dull with the silence in the conference room, and there was also a hint of anger.

She sat aside, calmed down, and interrupted Zhang Qiming, saying in a somewhat cold tone, "Mr. Zhang, I'm sorry to interrupt you. The decline in the company's overall performance isn't just a problem in the sales department, right?"

“???”

Everyone in the conference room looked at Gu Cunxi at once. Cheng Sheng, who was sitting beside him, gently tugged at the corner of Gu Cunxi's clothes under the table.

"You mean there's something wrong with this company as a whole?" Zhang Qiming turned his gaze away from Xiao Peiyin and looked at Gu Cunxi and asked

"Yes!" Gu Cunxi said bluntly

“…”

The conference room fell silent instantly. Zhang Qiming had never expected that a new administrative receptionist would actually contradict him in public...

"Sister Cunxi!!" Cheng Sheng called her softly, signaling her not to come forward.

Xiao Peiyin also looked at Gu Cunxi, with indescribable complex emotions in her eyes. She couldn't help but wonder, was Gu Cunxi stepping forward to help her out? If so... why?

Although Zhang Qiming was a little unhappy, he really wanted to hear what Gu Cunxi had to say: "Your name is Gu Cunxi, right? Are you new here?"

"Yes!" Gu Cunxi nodded.

"Okay, since you said there are problems with the company as a whole, I'll give you a chance. Tell me where you think the problem lies. If you can't explain it, hand your resignation to Manager Shi after the meeting!" Zhang Qiming said.

“!!”

Xiao Peiyin's heart tightened when she heard Zhang Qiming's words. She felt a little worried. Since Zhang Qiming had said this in front of everyone at the meeting, if Cunxi couldn't speak up... she would really have to leave the company. For some reason, she felt a pang of worry...

I don't want her to leave!

Facing Zhang Qiming, Gu Cunxi was not nervous, her heart was as calm as water, and such a scene could not frighten her...

She looked directly at Zhang Qiming and smiled, then spoke slowly, her tone calm and composed, "A company's performance isn't solely supported by the sales department. Mr. Zhang should be well aware of this. From what I've seen, the company as a whole doesn't have a clear plan. Yet, Mr. Zhang is here, asking Xiao Peiyin for a reason. Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

"The company has given them limited resources in their sales department, yet you expect them to use these limited resources to extraordinary effect. This is a bit unreasonable. Now is different from previous years. In the past, it was easy to make money in the business, and the market was not saturated. We are engaged in music education. Under the premise of ensuring performance, teaching staff and marketing are particularly important. However, from my observations recently, the company's teaching quality is not high, the course content is monotonous, and they don't even have such a crucial department as the marketing department. If Mr. Zhang wants to achieve long-term performance, then teaching staff, marketing, and sales capabilities are all indispensable!"

Zhang Qiming listened to Gu Cunxi's words quietly, his eyes gradually calmed down from the initial anger, with a faint smile

"Furthermore, our company's customer base is so limited. The training institution industry has grown rapidly in the past three years, and competition is fierce. There's no standard for fees, and overall prices vary. I'd like to ask you, given this, why are you so restrictive with your client base? We're a training institution, not a university, and we shouldn't have too many restrictions on admissions. Are you only accepting students aged five to eight because of your limited teaching staff?"

"If that's the case, then I can reluctantly help Mr. Zhang with some teaching expansion. Narrowing the customer base means that the scope of discovering new customers has also become smaller. You can only be picky within a fixed range. To ensure sales, you need a larger market flow."

"But during the few days I've been working at the front desk at your company, I've roughly calculated the daily customer flow. On average, there are no more than five people a day. The inquiry rate is so low, yet Mr. Zhang only focuses on the transaction rate to see the overall situation. Isn't that a bit too one-sided? I've already explained why Mr. Zhang wants this."

"As for improvements... there's a lot more to say, but to cut to the chase, the most important thing for the company right now is the establishment of a marketing department. If we want to increase our closing rate, we need to improve our consultation rate and the company's most important core, teaching quality. To increase our consultation rate, we need the marketing department's promotion and event planning to facilitate customer acquisition, expand the market, and discover new customer groups. At the same time, to retain these new customer groups, we need to diversify our teaching curriculum and strengthen the sales staff's sales capabilities."

"Finally, the Finance Department needs to conduct a total asset inventory of the company's revenue and expenditure over the past year to clarify the flow of funds. Some useless investments can be stopped and limited funds can be invested in areas where they can see a return. A complete business chain is indispensable. Mr. Zhang must have already made up his mind about the company's financial situation. Whether it is profitable or loss-making, and whether the income and expenditure are balanced, I don't need to tell you. The reason I put the sales department last is because the sales department has never been the main force in the company's overall performance. If Mr. Zhang only considers the performance of the sales department, the results may never be what you want! I have explained the reasons and improvements Mr. Zhang wants. You don't need to waste your time asking the sales staff!"

“…”

The conference room was unusually quiet. Everyone looked at Gu Cunxi. Cheng Sheng, who was sitting on the side, tilted his head in a daze, with admiration in his eyes. Xiao Peiyin was worried that Gu Cunxi had just arrived and was not familiar with the company as a whole, but her remarks were beyond her expectations, and she couldn't help but feel a little skeptical.

Can a bar singer...have such an accurate analysis of the market?

Zhang Qiming was stunned by her sharp remarks. He felt a little embarrassed in front of so many people, but she did hit the point...

Ever since she finished analyzing the company's problems, Gu Cunxi had been frowning. She hadn't felt any better after saying those words. Her mind was filled with Xiao Peiyin's nervousness and panic, which distressed her. That complex and confusing feeling came over her again. She had to admit, Xiao Peiyin was indeed a little different to her...

In the conference room, no one dared to speak. For a moment, it seemed as if time had stopped. Everyone was waiting for Zhang Qiming to speak.

"Ahem!" Zhang Qiming cleared his throat and said in a much softer tone, "No one in this company dares to speak like that in front of me! You're quite courageous!"

"What you said... makes a lot of sense! I've been considering the marketing department, but I still can't find a suitable candidate. Now it seems that letting you sit at the front desk is a bit of a waste of your talent."

"!!" Gu Cunxi suddenly had a bad feeling and was a little worried about what Zhang Qiming would say next. Before she could react, Zhang Qiming spoke: "Gu Cunxi, I have decided to give you the position of Marketing Director! Report the required manpower and configuration to me later!"

When Gu Cunxi heard Zhang Qiming's words, he was shocked. All the memories of the past came flooding back to him like a curse...

The collapsed stage, the bloodshot eyes, the pointing and cursing of the crowd were all bloody mouths in the darkness that could easily swallow her up!

Xiao Peiyin sat opposite and saw Gu Cunxi's strange behavior clearly. She unconsciously tightened her hands and frowned slightly.

"Boss Zhang!" Gu Cunxi stood up suddenly, his eyes filled with fear and anxiety, "You overestimate me! I... I can't do it!"

"???" Zhang Qiming looked over in confusion

"Just now... no offense, I'm the Marketing Director..."

Zhang Qiming didn't expect Gu Cunxi to reject him in public. He really didn't give him any face at all. He was a little angry and said sternly: "Come to my office after the meeting!"

“…”

"At the end of today's meeting, I'd like to inform everyone that the company's annual meeting will be held on Saturday, the 27th of next month, at the Crown Hotel. Regarding the program, the company requires each department to send a representative to present a program. Once you've finalized the program, please submit it to Manager Shi. The meeting is adjourned!"

After saying that, Zhang Qiming was the first to walk out of the meeting room. Gu Cunxi slumped against the back of her chair, because the appointment she had just received reminded her of the past. She felt short of breath and took a deep breath. Those dead people had bloodshot eyes and were lying aside, silently... Everywhere was blood red!

She had once tried to push past her limits, but she hadn't expected the trauma to be so profound, so profound that she couldn't even look directly at a city, or accept even the slightest bit of power...

Thinking of this, Gu Cunxi closed her eyes weakly and leaned back in her chair. Little Pei Yin, who was sitting opposite her, clearly saw the fear and pain on her face, and her heart suddenly tightened...

"Sister Cunxi, are you feeling unwell? Why do you look so bad all of a sudden? Don't worry about Mr. Zhang, he won't fire you!" Cheng Sheng patted her shoulder and comforted her.

Gu Cunxi didn't respond to Cheng Sheng's words, as if she hadn't heard them. Xiao Peiyin saw a tear fall from the corner of her tightly closed eyes, and for a moment it felt like the softest part of her heart was stabbed hard...

She didn't know why Gu Cunxi was so distressed, and she had an urge to rush up and hug her.

The meeting room was silent. Gu Cunxi tried hard to calm herself down. After a while, she stood up and walked out without looking at any of them. She walked out of the meeting room like a zombie, not even looking back once...