Chapter 54: Crazy Betting
The two hurried back from IM, only to be surprised when Jiang Lingli arrived early. Song Yihui had laid out flowers and prepared afternoon tea snacks in the meeting room, chatting with her. "Boss Jiang, you've come to Linhe on a rainbow cloud! How beautiful! Welcome!" Lin Yao smiled brightly as she entered. Long Weihe sat down and made Jiang Lingli some scented tea. Unbeknownst to them, the rainbow clouds were a dark cloud, a dread that she might invite them to a dead end. She darts around about topics unrelated to the deal, asking questions here and there, deeply concerned about their well-being. They were both in good spirits, having just returned from IM, and their responses were all joking and relaxing. Having let go of some of the weight, she finally began to speak. "I'm here with a serious request. I'd like you to talk to someone for Xingtan Direction." She leaned slightly closer to them, a look of mystery on her face. They'd speculated that Shi Zhenglin had cleared up the misunderstanding and asked her to reestablish the partnership. Sure enough, they remained calm. "Who does Boss Jiang want to talk to?" Lin Yao asked. "Qimai Pingmei." Long Wei, holding the handle of the glass pot of freshly brewed flowering tea, paused and put it down. There's no room for two tigers in one mountain. Having poached someone as worthy as Shi Zhenglin, their first thought was what to do with Shi Zhenglin. "Pingmei, the internet-famous CEO? What position is she in at Xingtan?" Lin Yao asked. She frequented industry forums and had seen Pingmei as a guest speaker once or twice. A female CEO in her mid-forties, she had a powerful aura but seemed unapproachable, far from their reach. "Our boss plans to transfer Shi Zhenglin to a consultant position and find a replacement." A sudden silence fell. Even if Jiang Lingli had concealed the fact that Shi Zhenglin had resigned, the two were well-versed in the intricacies of these companies' personnel management practices. When a powerful leader suddenly becomes a consultant, it's either because they've been marginalized or because someone else resigned, and the consultant title is just a distraction. As for Shi Zhenglin being marginalized, they concluded it was impossible. "Shi Zhenglin resigned?" Lin Yao asked. She didn't care about her cover-up tactics; she'd already come to them to ask about their work, so she asked directly. Jiang Lingli lowered her voice, "He resigned for family reasons." She emphasized, "It's not certain he'll actually leave. It must be kept a secret until a replacement is found. Currently, the only people who know about it are my boss, me, Shi Zhenglin himself, and now you two." They had hoped the person standing in their way would leave Xingtan soon, cursed him a thousand times, and thought his departure would be such a relief. Now that it had come true, they were shocked, but not happy at all. It was like someone who had long hated someone, and then that person suddenly disappeared, and all the hatred vanished. Jiang Lingli said that due to family reasons, Long Weihe...
The two hurried back from IM, but they didn't expect Jiang Lingli to arrive early.
Song Yihui had placed flowers in the negotiation room, prepared some afternoon tea snacks, and was chatting with her.
"Mr. Jiang is coming to Linhe on a colorful cloud. How beautiful! Welcome!" Lin Yao smiled brightly as she entered the room.
Long Weihe sat down and made flower tea for Jiang Lingli.
There were colorful auspicious clouds, but they didn't know that Jiang Lingli was now carrying a dark cloud in her heart, and was worried that she was inviting them to face death together.
She darts around to ask questions unrelated to the order, showing considerable concern for their current situation. They've just returned from an IM session, looking cheerful and relaxed, their responses all joking and relaxed.
After she felt relieved, she began to talk about the matter.
"I'm here because I have an important task for you. I want you to talk to someone about Xingtan Direction." She moved closer to them, looking mysterious.
They speculated that Shi Zhenglin might have cleared up the misunderstanding and asked her to rebuild the partnership. Sure enough, this was the case, and the two remained calm.
"Who does Mr. Jiang want to talk to?" Lin Yao asked.
"Qimai Pingmei."
Long Wei was holding the handle of the glass pot of freshly brewed flowering tea, but she paused and put it down.
There is no room for two tigers in one mountain. When digging out someone who is on par with Shi Zhenglin, the first reaction of the two was to figure out how to position Shi Zhenglin.
"Pingmei is the internet celebrity president. What position do you want her to take at Xingtan?" Lin Yao asked.
She often went to some industry forums and had seen Ping Mei as a guest speaker once or twice. Ping Mei was a female CEO in her forties, with a strong aura and a seemingly unapproachable appearance. She was not someone they could reach.
"Our boss plans to transfer Shi Zhenglin to a consultant position and find a replacement."
Suddenly there was silence.
Even if Jiang Lingli concealed the fact that Shi Zhenglin had resigned, the two were well-versed in the HR practices of these companies. If a powerful leader suddenly became a consultant, it meant they were either marginalized or had resigned, with the consultant title merely a distraction. They were certain that Shi Zhenglin had been marginalized.
"Shi Zhenglin resigned?" Lin Yao asked.
She didn't care about her tricks to cover up. She came to their house to ask them to work, so she asked them directly.
Jiang Lingli lowered her voice, "He resigned for family reasons." She emphasized, "It's not certain he'll actually leave. It must be kept a secret until a replacement is found. Currently, the only people who know about this are my boss, me, Shi Zhenglin himself, and now you two."
They had hoped the person standing in their way would leave Xingtan soon, cursed him a thousand times, and thought the day he left would be a joyous occasion. Now that it had come true, they were both shocked, not thrilled at all. It was like someone who had hated someone for a long time, and then that person was suddenly gone, and all the hatred vanished.
Jiang Lingli said that he had family reasons, and Long Weihe's mind was full of the scene of him taking Shi Shi with them yesterday.
Remembering him suddenly asking her if she had any candidates in reserve for the top position of a listed pharmaceutical company, she realized that he might have been the one who pulled this order in. She then went back to the Xingtan order, only to discover that it was for the position vacated by Shi Zhenglin.
Lin Yao turned his attention to the order, "Can we recommend someone else? Ping Mei is out of the question."
"Just Pingmei." Jiang Lingli took a sip of tea. "You guys give it your all. Shi Zhenglin's actions towards you guys back then have always made me feel uncomfortable. If he can get away with it, it will be a huge boon for you. If you can reach an agreement with Pingmei, she definitely won't stand in your way like Shi Zhenglin did. The boss will appreciate it, too. Xingtan won't hire any headhunters anymore, and the positions will be reserved for you. I can hold a signing ceremony and sign a long-term strategic cooperation agreement with you, recruiting Lin He as Xingtan's long-term strategic partner. Once Xingtan goes public, just think about it: being the long-term strategic partner of a well-known listed company in the industry is a great name to show when you go out and get deals, right? It's worth a try."
Jiang Lingli used a lot of words to stimulate the hunting instincts of the two people, and hung a big bait in front of them to make them jealous, as if it could prolong their lives and was worth fighting for.
"If we can't reach an agreement with Ping Mei, you can't just use someone else, right? We can find someone other than Ping Mei. Mr. Jiang, please consider it." Lin Yao pushed and pulled again.
She has no one else except Ping Mei, so she can try to have a little more chance.
"The greater the scope of contact, the higher the risk. This is what our boss means. I hope you understand."
"The chance of success is extremely small. If we fail, we will die on the road to becoming a star tank. Don't you think so, Mr. Jiang?" Lin Yao was not very excited, as he saw through the danger behind the temptation.
Jiang Lingli didn't respond directly. "You are professional and have your own way. Give it a try. I brought the contract template."
She took something out of her bag and handed one to each of them. They looked at each other. In the past, this was like the God of Wealth suddenly appearing at their doorstep and scattering gold coins.
"I have an electronic version of the template you usually use. I've made some modifications based on it. Since the success of the listing is crucial, I apologize for the strict confidentiality we've implemented. It's not that I don't trust you, but this contract is for our boss to see, so he can have peace of mind. I'll give you a 35% service fee. In this market, you're sincere and you'll make a lot of money." She handed over another piece of paper. "This is the salary package, stock allocation, and exercise period for Pingmei. Based on this, you have 30% flexibility in adjusting her annual salary. Boss Yang is very sincere towards Pingmei."
Lin Yao looked at Long Weihe. She hadn't said anything yet, still puzzled as to why Shi Zhenglin had resigned.
Jiang Lingli looked at this and that and asked, "Want to sign?"
Lin Yao immediately agreed, "Sign, but it will cost us a lot to poach Ping Mei. Mr. Jiang, you know that the higher the market, the harder it is to negotiate, and the higher the salary. I hope the salary can match the difficulty of the position and we can adjust it."
Lin Yao wanted to create possibilities under impossible circumstances, so he had to take a life-or-death stake.
Jiang Lingli's mind flashed to Yang Chengkai's angry expression, and she thought for a moment, "50%!"
She really dared to give it to him. Lin Yao's heart started pounding when he heard that.
That morning, Jiang Lingli and Yang Chengkai discussed the approximate cost of a headhunter. Yang Chengkai said, "If they can get Ping Mei to come, I'd be willing to pay her a year's salary. It just depends on whether they have the ability."
Capital makes crazy decisions in difficult situations.
With the boss's words as a basis, there was no other rate she couldn't give them.
She was willing to pay a high price. She seemed generous but was actually shrewd. She could do the math. No matter whether it was 35% or 50%, the chances of them getting it were extremely small. If they got it, it was what they deserved. It would also benefit Jiang Lingli herself as she had made a great contribution in her boss's time of crisis.
After a while of wrangling between them, Long Weihe finally spoke, "We'll take this order. Thank you, Mr. Jiang, for the opportunity. We'll do our best to handle it. If the candidate is willing, there will inevitably be some ambiguity over the terms. For efficiency's sake, we may need to communicate directly with Boss Yang. We also hope that Mr. Jiang can introduce us."
She was thinking of a way out. If Ping Mei didn't work out, she would go to Yang Chengkai and try to get someone else to join. After all, she had played golf with Yang Chengkai before, so maybe he would give her a chance.
"No problem. I'll send you the electronic version of the contract when I get back. You can adjust the rates, stamp it, and send it to my office tomorrow morning. Remember, come directly to me and don't let Huang Meng hold your hand. I can stamp it for you on the spot so you can act quickly."
As soon as Jiang Lingli left, Lin Yao pulled Long Weihe back to the office and closed the door.
"The wheel of fate turns. No one can escape it. Can Shi Zhenglin's big rock roll away on its own?" Lin Yao thought it was incredible.
She leaned against the desk and started working on her phone. She first checked Qimai's annual report. According to the executive resume, Ping Mei had been working there for eight years. This year was the sixth year after Qimai went public. She then checked the announcement of changes in executive shareholdings and saw that she had reduced her holdings in the past two years.
"Good news! She sold off a lot of stocks, there aren't many left. This is a sensitive signal! The restrictions on leaving shouldn't be too severe."
Lin Yao explained the situation to Long Weihe, but Long Weihe showed no reaction.
"Long Weihe and you are abnormal!"
"Why am I abnormal? I'm thinking..." She couldn't figure out why she was so obsessed with Shi Zhenglin's resignation. What did it have to do with her? After coming to her senses, she changed the subject. "Think about it, why did Ping Mei leave the booming Qimai? Are the conditions offered by Xingtan really attractive to her? We don't have any way to contact them. Qimai is in Shenzhen. Should we go to Shenzhen every day to wait for them? Try to run into them by chance? Call them? Will they pay attention? Selling off shares doesn't mean anything. They have other companies watching them. 50% is Xingtan's crazy bet, which means they're desperate. What we want to do is to win the stars with our bare hands. I'm wondering if there are other candidates we can consider and then convince the Xingtan boss to accept."
The two of them were silent for a while, sorted out their thoughts, and decided to separately find people to investigate Pingmei's information, and at the same time check each listed company one by one to screen out other possibilities.
They had no idea that someone had already done the screening for them, using channels other than just reading announcements and annual reports, and possessing far more information. Only two candidates, Pingmei's top choice, had been selected with a relatively high probability of success.
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