Chapter 53 Grasshoppers on a Rope

The following Monday, Jiang Lingli was summoned by Yang Chengkai early in the morning. She was shocked to learn this, recalling Shi Zhenglin's recent request that she prepare a risk management plan for key personnel departures. It turned out he was leaving himself, and she, a highly sensitive HR person, had been dragged into this situation completely oblivious. She broke out in a cold sweat. She looked at her boss's face, the aged look of a sleepless night, and echoed his displeasure. She couldn't help but complain about Shi Zhenglin. "He has absolutely no sense of contract. Why is he pulling people out at this moment? He's only been here a few months, and at this crucial moment, he's just quitting like that. What kind of family reasons could make him so careless?" She offered her boss her support, but as a HR person, she felt sorry for Xingtan losing Shi Zhenglin. She had confronted Shi Zhenglin on many occasions, and he hadn't touched her interests. He was a bit tough at work, and she had fallen for his tactics. Compared to him, she disliked hypocrites and softies even more. Seeing Yang Chengkai frowning, his arm slightly rocking in his large chair, he remained silent. She soothed him, "Only people need the platform, not the platform. Boss, we'll keep going even without him." Yang Chengkai straightened up, his eyes piercing him. "I won't let him leave too freely. It'll take a while. You know this. Keep your mouth shut and keep it a secret. Make preparations quickly. Create a resignation risk plan." Although Shi Zhenglin's plan was comprehensive, if he were to go his separate ways at this point, he wouldn't be one of them. He couldn't trust him completely; he needed someone else to review it. There was no need for preparation; Jiang Lingli had it all ready; it was all in her head. She had consulted with the agency on Shi Zhenglin's instructions, and she had analyzed her plan point by point with Yang Chengkai. Their conclusion was that with the right mechanisms and a suitable replacement, the risks were completely manageable. This was completely consistent with what Shi Zhenglin had said. Shi Zhenglin knew that after his meeting, his boss would consult with her, the HR director, for follow-up. Her advance work would allow her to offer immediate advice, provide an extra voice to smooth things over, and save time for him to extricate himself. Jiang Lingli, adept at seizing opportunities in front of her boss, put on a show, presenting a comprehensive proposal, completely unaware that she had become Shi Zhenglin's key pawn. Her boss was indeed impressed, immediately praising her progress and her foresight. She accepted the compliment and didn't mention that Shi Zhenglin had asked her to do it. Sure enough, things proceeded according to Shi Zhenglin's plan. Yang Chengkai began discussing a successor. "For someone in his position, finding someone is difficult. We can't just look everywhere. If we don't find someone, everyone will know, and the company won't need to go public. Let's talk to one or two people. I'll give you a direction, and you...

The next day, Monday, Jiang Lingli was called by Yang Chengkai early in the morning.

She was shocked when she learned about this. She remembered that Shi Zhenglin had asked her to make a risk plan for the departure of core personnel not long ago. It turned out that he himself was going to leave. She, who was extremely sensitive about personnel matters, was involved without realizing it. She broke out in a cold sweat.

She looked at her boss's face, which looked old as if he had not slept all night. She couldn't help but complain to Shi Zhenglin because of her boss's dissatisfaction.

"He has absolutely no sense of contract. Why is he pulling out now? He's only been here a few months, and at this crucial moment, he's just quitting. What family reasons could make him so careless?"

She was loyal to her boss, but as a human resources manager, she felt sorry for Xingtan's loss of Shi Zhenglin. She had opposed Shi Zhenglin on many occasions, but he had never touched her interests. He was a bit tough at work, and she fell for his tactics. Compared to him, she disliked hypocrites and softies even more.

Seeing Yang Chengkai frowning, rocking his arm slightly in his big chair without saying a word, she comforted him, "Only people can't live without the platform, how can the platform be separated from people? Boss, we can still run smoothly even if he's not here."

Yang Chengkai straightened up and faced her, his eyes glaring fiercely. "I won't let him leave too freely. I'll delay it for a while. You're the only one who knows about this. Keep your mouth shut and keep it a secret. Make preparations quickly and make a risk plan for leaving."

Although the contingency plan provided by Shi Zhenglin was comprehensive enough, if he wanted to go off the track at this time, he would no longer be one of them. He could not trust him completely and needed his own people to verify it.

There's no need to prepare anything. Jiang Lingli has everything ready-made. It's all in her mind.

Following Shi Zhenglin's instructions, she had communicated with the intermediary and had analyzed her contingency plan point by point with Yang Chengkai. They concluded that as long as the mechanisms were in place and suitable replacements were available, the risks could be completely controlled. This was completely consistent with what Shi Zhenglin had said.

Shi Zhenglin knew that after he finished the talk, the boss would look for her, the HR director, to discuss the follow-up. If she did the work in advance, she could give the boss advice immediately, and having an extra mouth to smooth out the situation would save time for him to get out of the situation.

Jiang Lingli was good at seizing opportunities in front of her boss, showing off her skills, and presenting her plans in a comprehensive manner, completely unaware that she had become Shi Zhenglin's key chess piece.

The boss was indeed impressed by her and immediately praised her for her progress, saying that she had become more forward-looking in her outlook on issues.

She accepted the reward and did not say that it was Shi Zhenglin who asked her to do the work in advance.

Things really went according to Shi Zhenglin's plan.

Yang Chengkai began to talk about his successor.

"It's hard to find someone in his position right now. You can't just look everywhere. If you don't find someone, everyone in the world will know, and the company won't have to go public. Let's talk to one or two people directly. I'll give you a direction, and you can go find someone to talk to yourself."

"Who should I talk to?"

"Qimai Pharmaceutical Pingmei."

Yang Chengkai asked her to do the work on her own, fearing that others would spread the news and ruin things.

"Pingmei," Jiang Lingli's heart skipped a beat. After a moment's reflection, she feigned deep thought. "I could go directly to her, but boss, as HR professionals, it's usually difficult to approach someone this important without knowing them well. If she refuses, there's no room for further discussion. We're all in the same industry, and I need to maintain our image as a leading figure in the industry. We need to get people involved, not just be too proactive in getting them involved, which would be too passive. In this case, I suggest using a professional headhunter. They act as a neutral third party, better understanding the needs of these individuals. They offer flexibility, resources, and efficiency. That's their value."

Yang Chengkai thought she had a point. He had this same concern in not approaching people like Ping Mei. He had repeatedly asked Shi Zhenglin for help, bending over backwards for him, and now he was being ignored and jumping ship. He didn't want to do the same thing twice.

This situation really stumped him. It was the sensitive period before the IPO, and he couldn't find a suitable person after spending all night thinking about it. He couldn't ask friends for recommendations either. He was trying to balance the pros and cons, and asked, "Which headhunter did you use?"

When asked this question, Jiang Lingli seized the opportunity to show off his achievements.

"I used to work with a headhunter, Lin He, for two years. He was very reliable, but this year," she deliberately made a helpless expression, "Mr. Shi came this year, and he changed to another headhunter, so this one was abandoned."

This sentence directly sent one of the families to the guillotine.

“What was the one you worked with like?”

"They're HR professionals who transitioned from pharmaceutical companies. They're small teams focused on their expertise. You've approved their contracts and payment requests. We have several people in our R&D and marketing departments who were recommended by them, like Yang Xiao and Ding Hua. You know how they are, they're capable and very stable."

"They don't talk nonsense?"

"They're a very principled family. There aren't many of them, and it's not that complicated. I can definitely keep them in check and keep it a secret."

"Then give it a try."

"But Mr. Shi disagrees. My contract won't pass with him."

Yang Chengkai said angrily, "You are such a fool! He's about to leave, and you still let him make the decision? Just give him the contract to sign. If he doesn't agree, just ask me to sign it!"

"Understood. I'll communicate well."

"Have this headhunter talk to Ping Mei from Qimai Pharmaceuticals. Just talk to Ping Mei. Don't recommend anyone else to me. I won't hire anyone else. If Ping Mei can't get me a deal, I'll never hire her again. You have to keep them under control."

He didn't hold out much hope for any headhunters, and he would definitely simultaneously explore other channels to discuss other candidates. Since this was just a trial run, he'd use his most ruthless tactics to pressure them to focus on the person he favored. Whether or not it worked would soon become clear. Each additional person they approached increased the risk of leaking Xingtan's current human resources situation, so he wanted to minimize the pool of candidates he targeted.

Jiang Lingli was in a big trouble now.

In her opinion, it would be impossible to successfully poach Ping Mei. It was impossible to poach someone like Ping Mei just because she was the president of a listed company. Any move by one person would affect the interests of many parties, and the stock price might even drop. Even if she was willing, her boss would not be willing to let her go.

Her previous rhetoric about finding Ping Mei herself was passive or not, and it was just to divert her pressure and find a way out when she couldn't do it. But Yang Chengkai was cold, suspicious, and high-handed in the crisis, using ruthless and unconventional methods to force people to give up when they failed.

At this moment, she realized that what she had brought to Lin He was not a blessing but a curse, and if Lin He could not succeed, her boss would probably question her.

She and Lin He are now tied to the same rope.

When she came out and passed by Shi Zhenglin's office, she ran into Shi Zhenglin.

"Good morning, Mr. Shi."

She couldn't be completely clueless. There was something in her eyes and her smile was unnatural.

Shi Zhenglin, as usual, glanced at the boss's office and looked back at her, "Good morning!"

The catastrophic situation he'd created fell into her hands, a hot mess she couldn't control. She hurried back to her office, her initial hatred for him returning, thinking, this ruthless villain, killing people wherever he went. Lin He was also unlucky. When he came, he got them out of the game, and when he left, she had accidentally dragged them into the trap.

Lin He, who was completely unaware that he had been dragged into a trap, held a meeting on Monday, which was the only meeting held by a normal headhunting company in the past few months. He had several orders on hand and were working simultaneously.

All employees arrived at the company at 9 o'clock, and first went through the recommendation report that Anan prepared for Song Yuqing.

"The last two are not acceptable and cannot be submitted." Long Weihe said to the resume on the projected screen.

She rejected two of the four submissions, and Anan felt uncomfortable. "Just treat it as a backup, so we can have a comparison."

"Comparison should be made between advantages. The two recommendation reasons you have come up with have no advantages at all. People can see that they are just for the sake of numbers." Long Weihe was a little dissatisfied.

Lin Yao also said, "Li Huaigang will start working next month. Song Yuqing said he's holding a welcome ceremony at the hospital and invited us to attend. I don't want to be scolded for this when we meet. I'm going to quickly find a high-quality backup this week."

Then, after reading Tan Ming's recommendation report to IM, he had a high-quality resume in a very short time. Long Weihe asked him to pick the two best ones and hide key information such as name and contact information. In the afternoon, she took Lin Yao and him to IM to discuss the rate with the high-quality resumes.

It was her first collaboration, so she was cautious and didn't sign a contract or hand over her entire resume.

It was almost over when Song Yihui said "Ah——" to her phone.

Everyone was shocked.

Her face flushed, and she covered her mouth with her hand before quickly lowering it. "Rita said she'll send me the offer this afternoon!"

The torment and anxiety of not having a single sale in three months gave rise to a flood of pressure release. In front of the other four people, she couldn't control herself. She blinked hard and turned her face away, then lowered her head and covered her face.

She was out of control, not only because this list of health products could bring her tens of thousands of dollars in income, enough to cover her rent for the year, but also because of the operations behind this list. She knew she had received help.

"Thank you, Sister Lin Yao, thank you, Sister Wei." She wiped away her tears, "I'll go order Heytea for everyone!"

Tan Ming crossed his legs and said, "You don't even thank me."

He knew best what was going on behind the scenes. It was Lin Yao who came up with the idea, and he was the one who acted swiftly and handled it.

"Thank you, Brother Tan Ming! I'll treat everyone to lunch at noon!"

Song Yihui's tears of joy ignited everyone's emotions. Everyone understood and empathized with the hardships that it took for everyone to share the same pot and complete a single order.

While having lunch outside at noon, Lin Yao received a call from Jiang Lingli.

She didn't mention her specific purpose on the phone, but just asked if he was free this afternoon and wanted to visit Lin He's office.

The former God of Wealth spoke very politely, and Lin Yao felt as if she had become her client.

Lin Yao and Long Wei both said they felt something was amiss. This was the first time Jiang Lingli had come personally.

She had to go to IM in the afternoon, so Lin Yao didn't push her schedule and made an appointment for a later time. She told Song Yihui:

"The office will be ready this afternoon to welcome our VIP customers!"