Chapter 6, in conjunction with "That HR's ability to judge people is rather...uneven..."
To be honest, Zhang Minglang regretted it the moment he called Liu Zhang in.
Instead of using an experienced secretary, they chose to hire someone who knows nothing and start from scratch.
They're just bored and have too much free time.
However, Zhang Minglang had no choice but to use the water even though it was already spilled.
"Just letting you know there's a morning meeting tomorrow. Prepare the materials for me. You can go now."
Liu Zhang was completely bewildered upon hearing this.
"Um..." He saw Zhang Minglang massaging his temples and quickly asked, "Mr. Zhang, the specific time and place..."
"You're the secretary, why are you asking me?" Zhang Minglang already had headaches, and seeing how useless he was, he felt like his head was about to explode.
Liu Zhang had no choice but to quickly pack his bags and leave.
But he's not good at anything else; what he's best at is using someone else's power to intimidate others.
He imitated Tang Yi's usual work manner, urging his colleagues in the secretariat to quickly proofread the documents so that he could take them to General Manager Zhang for signature, just to make his presence known.
After working as the chief secretary for a few days, Liu Zhang felt relaxed and carefree. He no longer had to stare at the computer all the time and type away, nor did he have to wait by the printer for piles of documents to come out of the machine.
What kind of carefree life does Tang Yi lead every day?
Liu Zhang leisurely took a sip, glanced at Tang Yi on the table with piles of documents and her busy proofreading, and felt secretly pleased with himself.
"Let me show you how tiring my work is," he muttered, then leaned back and stretched comfortably.
In reality, Tang Yi was already incredibly busy.
He thought that a short change of work would be a good way to relax his mind, but as the chief secretary, he couldn't stand the numerous errors, big and small, in the documents Liu Zhang submitted, and he didn't want Zhang Minglang to think that the secretariat was deserted.
She had no choice but to accept her bad luck. Apart from the documents that Liu Zhang insisted on sending directly, she had seen every single document that he later sent for her to sign.
So apart from being a bit tired, nothing major went wrong.
Even today.
Although Tang Yi seemed to have temporarily "stepped back from the front line," in reality, the work and meeting arrangements of various departments were still sent to her by the relevant employees.
Therefore, all she needed to do was take a roundabout approach, organize the schedule, and send it to Liu Zhang's email. He was happy to have the easy way out, only needing to report what was already prepared.
This afternoon at 5 PM at a certain teahouse, Zhang Minglang needs to personally sign a project contract.
Tang Yi wasn't sure if he would bring his secretary, but she had already made ample preparations. She had already learned about the project beforehand, and the moment she received the work notification, she opened a blank document and began to draft the contract.
Inside the president's office, Liu Zhang reported the work arrangements Tang Yi had given him one by one. Seeing that Zhang Minglang did not respond, he turned to leave, when he suddenly heard an impatient "tsk" behind him.
If you can't tell that the boss is in a bad mood, then he really doesn't need to work anymore.
He quickly turned around and stood still, cautiously asking, "Mr. Zhang, what are your instructions?"
Zhang Minglang, who was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, turned around and glanced at him.
How many years have you been with Junmao?
Liu Zhang was startled, unable to fathom his intentions, so he could only lower his head and honestly answer, "It's been more than five years."
"Five years?" Now it was Zhang Minglang's turn to be surprised. He was speechless and laughed out loud, asking incredulously, "You only learned this much in five years at the company?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Zhang didn't dare utter a single word and lowered his head even further, feeling guilty.
Three knocks, neither too loud nor too soft, rescued him.
"Enter."
Only after Zhang Minglang's extremely oppressive gaze shifted away did he feel as if he had been blessed with a long-awaited rain, and he took the opportunity to breathe deeply a few times.
"Mr. Zhang," Tang Yi came in to deliver the medicine. She hadn't expected Liu Zhang to be inside, and he was acting all humble. She paused for a moment, then quickly regained her composure and continued, "I've prepared your medicine for you. I'll leave it here; drink it while it's hot."
After saying that, he nodded slightly, turned around, and left.
Upon hearing Tang Yi's words, Liu Zhang realized that he had been working for three or four days without knowing what illness Boss Zhang had or what medicine he was supposed to take at this time.
"You and Secretary Tang, did you both join the company together?"
"Yes, yes, yes. We graduated from the same university and interned at Junmao back then. We were very fortunate to both eventually become full-time employees."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Minglang chuckled and muttered sarcastically, "That HR's ability to judge people is quite... inconsistent."
After all, Tang Yi achieved what she has today, and Liu Zhang achieved what she has today.
Seeing Liu Zhang's timid and cowardly appearance, Zhang Minglang really wanted him to get lost right now, lest the signing of the contract in the afternoon ruin his plans.
However, he restrained his temper and decided to give him one last chance.
"There's a contract to sign at 3 PM. Go and draft one and bring it with you."
Upon hearing this, Liu Zhang nodded repeatedly, like a chick pecking at rice.
"I don't need to teach you how to write it word by word, do I?" Zhang Minglang asked, hands in his pockets, emphasizing each word.
"No, no, no." Liu Zhang quickly waved his hand and turned to leave.
At 4:30 p.m., Zhang Minglang and Liu Zhang set off from the company on time in the car driven by Assistant Zhou to keep their appointment.
After waiting all afternoon, everyone discovered that Secretary Tang, who used to be a seasoned negotiator with General Manager Lin and had secured countless projects for the company, had actually not gone to sign the contract with General Manager Zhang!
If Zhang Zong's earlier intention to promote Liu Zhang and marginalize Tang Yi was merely a covert act, then this time it's clear he has a problem with Secretary Tang.
When going out to meet clients, they would rather bring Liu Zhang, who had zero experience, than the experienced Secretary Tang!
The person at the center of the controversy didn't think it was a big deal. She simply kept her draft contract safe and sound, hoping that nothing would go wrong.
However, speak of Cao Cao and he appears.
Tang Yi's phone rang; the caller ID showed Liu Zhang.
Tang Yi sensed something was wrong and quickly answered the call, holding it to her ear.
"Hello? Tang Yi, Tang Yi, are you at the office? Could you please turn on my computer and print out another copy of that document from today and send it to me?! It's extremely urgent! I just discovered there's a problem with my contract! Hurry!!"
His voice sounded extremely low and hurried, and he could barely speak clearly.
"Address, room number, send via WeChat."
Tang Yi had long anticipated that something bad would happen.
Despite her utter helplessness, she had to remain calm and keep the other person in line.
She hung up the phone, took her own document and the newly compiled historical meeting minutes, and found the document that Liu Zhang hadn't brought with him at his workstation, grabbing a folder to put it in.
Li Da noticed that Tang Yi suddenly became busy and quickly asked what was going on.
"No time to explain. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Tang Yi spoke very quickly, tucked the folder under her arm, picked up her handbag, and rushed out in her high heels.
On the taxi ride to the teahouse, she finally had a free hand to flip through the contract drafted by Liu Zhang.
The technical department argued their case and finally set clear targets in the email minutes. However, the contract he drafted still retained the vague clauses from previous years' contract templates: "...specific standards will be negotiated separately."
She immediately understood.
He simply mechanically changed the basic items such as name and amount, and because he had no specific understanding of the project, he ignored this rigid acceptance indicator that had been argued about countless times.
No wonder he was terrified in the tea room. President Zhang must have had time to review his contract before the other party's boss arrived and saw through this major loophole at a glance.
If this project contract is signed, all of Junmao's hard-won negotiation results in the early stages will be wiped out!
Now she is not only troubled by how Liu Zhang, after five years of work, is still at the level of an intern, but also secretly regrets not having the time to check on him at the company. She also dares to question how Zhang Minglang could trust this subordinate so much, letting him do whatever he wants.
Having reached her destination, there was no time to think further. Fortunately, she was always well-prepared and had anticipated the situation, so she took her documents with her when she left.
Tang Yi sighed softly, folded Liu Zhang's document and stuffed it into her bag, then put her own draft into a folder.
"Oh, you're finally here! Where are the documents?"
Tang Yi glanced at him and replied coldly, "You don't need to go in, I'll go."
Upon hearing this, Liu Zhang frowned deeply, seemingly displeased.
"Do you even know what mistake you made?" Tang Yi's tone hardened. "Today is General Manager Zhang's first day out signing contracts since taking office! The acceptance standards that General Manager Lin and the other party negotiated for a whole year last year, and you just let it slide with those four words 'negotiate separately'?"
Upon hearing this, his heart pounded. He hadn't expected that she, like President Zhang ten minutes earlier, could spot such a major error in the contract at a glance.
"Alright, I'm going in."
Tang Yi took the official seal from Liu Zhang, finished speaking, knocked on the door, and entered the private room.
Zhang Minglang was already annoyed by the mess Liu Zhang had made, but when he saw Tang Yi come in with the contract, he was surprised but also inexplicably calmed down.
"Hey, Secretary Tang!" Mr. Zhong from Dingsheng Group across the street recognized Tang Yi at a glance and greeted her with a smile.
"Mr. Zhong, it's been a long time." Tang Yi smiled and extended her hand to shake his hand, then sat back down next to Zhang Minglang.
"I didn't expect that after General Manager Lin was transferred, Secretary Tang would still be the General Secretary. She really is very capable!"
As Zhang Minglang listened to his praise of his secretary, although he knew it had little to do with him, he still felt a subtle sense of satisfaction.
"I don't deserve such praise. I'm only grateful that President Zhang thinks highly of me. I'm also thankful that you still remember a little secretary like me." Tang Yi spoke softly and gently, her tone soothing and pleasant to listen to.
Seeing that the time was right, Mr. Zhong took a sip of tea and prepared to discuss business.
"Here's the thing, Mr. Zhang. Regarding the contract we previously discussed with your company's General Manager Lin, Dingsheng has a few additional requirements that we'd like to discuss with you."
Upon hearing this, Tang Yi realized that signing the contract today would not go smoothly and there would definitely be another protracted battle.
Zhang Minglang had already noticed this when he chatted with President Zhong before Tang Yi arrived. He figured that President Zhong must have seen that he was the newly appointed president of the group and was unsure of his abilities, so he deliberately asked to modify the terms to see how he would react.
Zhang Minglang remained calm and gestured for him to continue.
"We've pretty much covered the previous terms. But there's one small point: the penalty for breach of contract after the third phase of delivery..." President Zhong deliberately left his sentence unfinished, stirring the tea leaves floating on the surface of his tea with his head down, and then, under the guise of tilting his head back to drink his tea, he secretly glanced at Zhang Minglang's expression.
Seeing that the other party had no intention of continuing, Tang Yi also remained silent, and the atmosphere seemed somewhat frozen.
So she naturally took on the role of driving the process forward.
"Mr. Zhong, please don't joke around. The penalty for breach of contract is no small matter."
Tang Yi gently raised the corners of her mouth, calmly took out the minutes of previous negotiation meetings from the folder, and, relying on her clear memory, turned to a certain page, pointed to a piece of text, and explained:
"Look here. At the meeting in August this year, your company's Purchasing Director Wang and Legal Department clearly recognized the reasonableness of 15%. This risk report is also the balance point confirmed by our technical teams after risk assessment."
However, Mr. Zhong seemed not to hear him and shook the teacup in his hand.
Zhang Minglang spoke up, his tone leaving no room for argument: "This report has final effect. If you want to lower the penalty for breach of contract at this moment, you are asking Junmao to unilaterally bear additional risks. This is hardly in the spirit of cooperation."
Seeing his serious and stiff tone, Tang Yi quickly followed up with the "good cop" approach: "President Zhang means that fair terms are a prerequisite for cooperation. However, President Zhong, you can rest assured that Junmao has the ability and confidence to control the actual risks within expectations, so the penalty for breach of contract will not be triggered."
"Besides, you just praised my work ability. As a secretary, I will keep a close eye on the entire project and there won't be any mistakes." To ease the tension, Tang Yi added the second half of the sentence half-jokingly.
Upon hearing this, President Zhong looked up and laughed a few times, and Tang Yi responded with a smile.
"Secretary Tang's words make sense. However, Dingsheng's initial investment was substantial, and wanting to reduce this aspect is mainly to show our sincerity..."
Zhang Minglang sensed a softening in the other party's tone and decided to close the deal immediately.
He turned his head slightly towards Tang Yi, and Tang Yi received the message and understood.
“Sincerity should be reflected in the quality of the project, not in seeking relief through contract documents.” Zhang Minglang sat up, tugged at his shirt and tie, and made as if preparing to leave.
"If Mr. Zhong insists on changing the terms, there's no need for us to waste our breath here. After all, I'm not Mr. Lin. I'm young and impetuous, and I don't have the patience to waste time here."
Zhang Minglang deliberately emphasized the words "young and impetuous," pointing out the real reason why President Zhong had been deliberately making things difficult for him throughout the day: he simply thought that Zhang was inexperienced and easy to manipulate.
However, he was completely wrong. Zhang Minglang was as tough as steel when it came to work, and he would never compromise on matters of principle, much less bother with such people.
The moment Zhang Minglang got up to grab his suit jacket from the coat rack, Tang Yi immediately handed him the contract, unscrewed her pen, and spoke quickly and concisely:
"As you can see, the signature page has been adjusted according to your template, and I always carry Mr. Zhang's official seal with me. Confirming it today will save you from making a wasted trip. Let me be frank with you, Junmao doesn't recognize people, only positions."
Tang Yi looked at President Zhong frankly, her eyes carrying a hint of well-intentioned urging.
After being overwhelmed by this series of attacks, President Zhong gave up completely after some thought. After all, he hadn't really expected to succeed with this scheme; his only purpose was to test Zhang Minglang's abilities.
Zhang Minglang put on a suit, strolled over, took the pen Tang Yi handed him, and signed his name with a flourish, his handwriting flowing.
"It's a pleasure to work with you."
The two shook hands and looked at each other, as if they were about to confront each other again with their eyes.
A note from the author:
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