Chapter 385 Gone
The flow of leaf vein network has surged.
Zuo Yu was riding high.
After implementing this strategy, YeMai.com saw a multiple increase in both downloads and registrations.
Most importantly, YeMai.com's name trended on major platforms for several days, significantly increasing its popularity.
It's still a positive surge.
As Zuo Yu walked into the company building, almost everyone looked at him. Many outside didn't know, but inside the company, word had spread that this series of events was all orchestrated by this vice president who had been there for less than six months.
Putting aside other factors, many departments have benefited significantly from this. After all, regardless of the specific KPI, it ultimately needs to be achieved by the users.
Zuo Yu arrived at his office, and just as he entered, the phone rang.
It was a landline, not his cell phone.
Normally, only a few other senior executives would call his office landline.
This prompted him to answer the phone immediately.
"Hello, Mr. Liu, what are your instructions?"
The caller was none other than Liu Qiao, the former content editor of YeMai.com, who is now one of the vice presidents of YeMai.com and still in charge of content. He is also Xin Zixing's boss.
Liu Qiao asked, "Mr. Zuo, do you have a moment?"
"I'm available anytime you need me." Zuo Yu showed his respect to Liu Qiao. After all, Liu Qiao, as the vice president in charge of content, was one of the most powerful executives at YeMai.com, and was in the top tier among all the senior executives.
Liu Qiao said, "Okay, I'll come find you."
Before Zuo Yu could even say hello, the phone was hung up.
This made Zuo Yu immediately realize that something was not quite right.
What's wrong?
"Lu Yanhe's agent, Chen Ziyan, is very angry?" Zuo Yu was taken aback and looked at Liu Qiao with some disbelief.
Liu Qiao said, "Chen Ziyan made it very clear that she was dissatisfied with us, and used Lu Yanhe's refusal to endorse the product to create a stir, putting them in the eye of the storm."
Zuo Yu looked bewildered and said, "This...this hasn't brought him any negative public opinion. Besides, isn't the whole internet praising him for his foresight, for not being greedy for immediate gains, and for understanding what's most important to him?"
Why did Zuo Yu dare to promote such a topic?
Because this topic isn't negatively impacting Lu Yanhe. In fact, it can be used to cultivate an image of Lu Yanhe as someone who "doesn't casually accept endorsements" and "has a clear understanding of himself"—an image other artists would struggle to establish.
Liu Qiao: "Who knows? We don't know either. The problem is that Chen Ziyan is very angry right now. And, as you know, she has a lot of influence over Lu Yanhe. Lu Yanhe became popular again under her. Basically, she makes all the decisions."
Zuo Yu was speechless and fell into thought.
"Actually, Mr. Zuo, what you're doing is understandable, but you still need to communicate with their team in advance. Lu Yanhe and Chen Ziyan are not just anyone; they have a long-standing partnership with Yemai.com. What if we really upset them and it affects our future cooperation?"
Liu Qiao was genuinely annoyed.
Regardless of what Zuo Yu was thinking, Chen Ziyan had expressed dissatisfaction with them because of Zuo Yu's actions, which greatly affected and threatened Liu Qiao's work—Liu Qiao's smooth rise to vice president in the past two years was largely due to the several projects related to Lu Yanhe.
Liu Qiao didn't want Zuo Yu's actions to affect his plans.
Zuo Yu wasn't a fool; he wouldn't be so stubborn.
He immediately said, "Okay, I'll contact Chen Ziyan right away and try my best to dispel their dissatisfaction."
Liu Qiao added, "There's one more thing, Mr. Zuo. It's one thing to use outsiders as topics for marketing, but to use Zixing and Huang Kairen's affair to create hype and put Huang Kairen in the spotlight is a bit unfair. How is Zixing supposed to face him?"
Zuo Yu immediately said, "President Liu, I must say something for myself. The suggestion that Huang Kairen is more suitable to be the spokesperson was not my doing. It was a trending topic that was spontaneously created by people online."
Liu Qiao: "Really? As long as it wasn't planned by you, it's fine. If you can't help each other even though you're in the same company, then you won't be able to lead the team. The team will be in a state of panic."
-
"You believed him when he said he didn't do it?" Xin Zixing asked, looking at Liu Qiao in disbelief.
Seeing the look of disbelief on Xin Zixing's face, Liu Qiao felt helpless and said, "Zixing, I know you're upset, but unless we find evidence, there's nothing I can do if he denies it. I've already called him out this time, so I don't think he'll dare to use your and Huang Kairen's affair as a gimmick again."
Xin Zixing sneered, "Master... no, Mr. Liu, I don't believe it. He'll do it again if he does it once. If you want evidence, OK, I've been here for so long, I can always find evidence, otherwise I'd be wasting my time. But I want to ask you, if I find evidence, what will the company's attitude be?"
Liu Qiao was taken aback, seemingly stunned, unsure of what to say.
Seeing his reaction, Xin Zixing didn't say anything more, just smiled, nodded, and turned to leave.
Liu Qiao wanted to call her back and say something more to her.
But he knew Xin Zixing too well; he knew she had a fiery temper. If he couldn't give her a satisfactory answer, saying anything more would be pointless.
Liu Qiao swallowed his words as soon as they were on the tip of his tongue.
-
Half an hour later, Xin Zixing and Chen Ziyan met at a coffee shop about a kilometer away.
Chen Ziyan arrived first, followed by Xin Zixing.
“Am I right?” she asked.
Xin Zixing looked disappointed and angry. "Sister Ziyan, you're right. Indeed, even Liu Qiao didn't intend to stand up for me."
“Even if Zuo Yu did something unethical, he brought real benefits to your company,” Chen Ziyan said. “Since you are an employee of the company, you should make some sacrifices. No one will say that to you, but I assure you, everyone thinks that way.”
Xin Zixing took a deep breath, as if she was desperately suppressing what was in her heart.
After a while, she said, "Sister Ziyan, what do you think we should do?"
"Do you know what makes me most heartbroken for you in this whole thing?" Chen Ziyan asked, but instead of saying it, she did.
Xin Zixing looked at her with a puzzled expression and asked, "What is it?"
"The reason YeMai.com is where it is today, with its two stable brands, 'City Travelogue' and 'Jump Up,' helping you retain users, is all thanks to your hard work and ideas. Yet, in the end, someone else reaps the rewards," Chen Ziyan said. "If you were in my company, this topsy-turvy situation would never have happened. Even if you weren't the vice president, you're not someone they can just ignore. Look at Xingyu, which vice president dares to disregard me? Dares to do this to me?"
Xin Zixing gave a self-deprecating laugh and said, "Sister Ziyan, I'm not as good as you."
“No, you can definitely become more powerful than me,” Chen Ziyan said. “The key is that you clearly have a big devil in your hands, but you are concerned about the fact that the other party has a small devil.”
Xin Zixing looked at her, puzzled.
Chen Ziyan said, "The cooperation model between 'Jump Up' and Yemai.com is one year at a time. This year is almost over, it's coming to an end, isn't it?"
Xin Zixing frowned in surprise.
"Sister Ziyan, are you saying you're not going to continue giving us the digital version of 'Jump Up' on YeMai.com? Sister Ziyan, this—"
"Zixing, let me correct you. You are you, and Yemai.com is Yemai.com. When you're in a good relationship, you can be each other. When you're not in a good relationship, you are you, and he is him."
Xin Zixing looked at Chen Ziyan with some surprise.
She understood what Chen Ziyan meant, but she couldn't react immediately.
Chen Ziyan said to Xin Zixing, "With your abilities, you can do well anywhere. You have vision, strong execution, and abundant industry resources. Zixing, Yemai.com can use Lu Yanhe, with whom you have a long-term and in-depth cooperation, as marketing material and topics just because of a newly arrived vice president. I will do everything I can to make Yanhe stop cooperating with you."
This time, Xin Zixing didn't subconsciously try to persuade Chen Ziyan to give up the idea.
“This is a matter of principle, and it’s not something we can compromise on,” Chen Ziyan said. “The relationship between Yemai.com and Lu Yanhe is different from the relationship between Lu Yanhe and other places. He is not your spokesperson, but he has done more than a spokesperson and achieved greater results. Now, because we refused to be your spokesperson out of consideration for our roles as actors, we have become something your website uses for marketing. To be frank, no big-name artist would accept this fact.”
Xin Zixing's heart was sinking lower and lower.
“Yes, yes.” Xin Zixing sighed. “I know, Zuo Yu went too far.”
“He thought this kind of publicity was good for Yanhe, so he did it on his own initiative,” Chen Ziyan said. “People are afraid of those who act on their own initiative. They may be right once or twice, but they can’t be right forever. That’s my experience, and that’s why I absolutely cannot accept his behavior. Whether he apologizes to me or not, I haven’t accepted it.”
Xin Zixing said, "I've been with Yemai.com for many years, and my career started here."
Chen Ziyan said, "As long as you have the ability, you can start over anywhere. Moreover, it's not just starting over, but continuing to move up on a higher and better platform. Zixing, you can come to me."
Xin Zixing looked at Chen Ziyan in surprise.
“Come here, and I’ll give you a vice president position.” Chen Ziyan said without hesitation, “This is what you deserve, including equity.”
The shock Xin Zixing felt can be imagined.
In that instant, she completely forgot about Zuo Yu.
-
“I’ve wanted to shut down this e-version for a long time.” Chen Siqi didn’t object at all after hearing about this from Lu Yanhe. “The first three days of free service were practically giving Yemai.com a gold mine for free, and they were giving it away every month. They didn’t even give us a token of appreciation, and they did this to you. Let them go panning for gold in a cesspool.”
Chen Siqi didn't hold back in her criticism.
Lu Yanhe was both amused and exasperated.
"Are you really willing to cancel the digital version of 'Jump Up'?"
“Why not?” Chen Siqi said. “To be honest, the sales of the digital version of ‘Jump Up’ have always lagged behind the print version during the three-day free period. Moreover, the existence of the digital version has also limited the further increase in print version sales.”
Upon hearing Chen Siqi's opinion, Lu Yanhe understood the situation.
Since Chen Siqi is willing, then it's OK.
Lu Yanhe said, "Moreover, Sister Zixing might leave Yemai.com, and Sister Ziyan wants to poach her."
"Really?" Chen Siqi immediately said, "No way, if Sister Zixing wants to leave Yemai.com, she should come to us! We're really short-staffed! Especially her, she's so familiar with our 'Jump Up' song!"
Lu Yanhe said, "I can't very well try to steal someone from Sister Ziyan."
"You're sorry, but I'm sorry. I'm not talking to you anymore. I'm going to call Sister Zixing."
Chen Siqi hung up the phone in a flurry.
Lu Yanhe thought to himself, "We haven't even said goodbye yet."
"..."
-
There was no word of Xin Zixing's departure.
In fact, she herself hasn't figured it out yet.
Chen Ziyan's suggestion certainly appealed to her, but YeMai.com was a place she had been working for for a long time; her career and her network of contacts all relied on it.
No one can leave a familiar place without any psychological burden; there will always be concerns and considerations.
However, this incident acted as a catalyst, causing her to gradually recall all the misfortunes that had befallen her over the past six months.
Their request to increase the production budget for "City Travelogue" was rejected.
They also refused my request to make a short film.
Occasionally, one or two people with connections would be shoved into "City Travelogue".
etc.
One thing after another brought back unpleasant feelings to her mind.
And just then, the last straw broke the camel's back.
Liu Qiao approached her and told her that the company hoped she could focus her energy on the production of "City Travelogue," and that they wanted to transfer the work on "Jump Up" to someone else.
Perhaps because she was so shocked and felt like she had been stabbed in the back, she forgot to ask why.
What made you focus your energy on producing "City Travelogue"?
Xin Zixing didn't believe this excuse at all.
She gave Liu Qiao a deep look and asked, "Mr. Liu, do you think you can continue doing business with 'Jump Up' without me?"
"Of course that's not what I meant, Zixing. Don't overthink it. It's just that the 'Jump Up' business is already very stable, and we don't need someone as capable as you to continue working on it. You are very capable, and you should be used in other places where you are needed more."
"Where are we going? Didn't you reject my proposal to make a short film?" Xin Zixing asked.
Liu Qiao said, "Zixing, besides the short film project, there's a lot you can do. Didn't you say before that you wanted to follow the model of 'City Travelogue' and create other documentary series around other elements? You can think about that."
Xin Zixing was silent for two seconds, then looked up, smiled, and nodded, "Okay."
She didn't ask any more questions and turned to leave.
Liu Qiao: "Zixing, go back and rest for a couple of days to process this news. No one can compare to your abilities and strengths. Don't overthink it. You'll be the one to take my position sooner or later."
Xin Zixing gripped the doorknob, paused silently for a moment, opened the door without turning around, left with a "I'm leaving," and walked out.
(End of this chapter)
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