The Female CEO Falls in Love with Me

Chapter Two Hundred Thirty-Three: The Alternative Meeting

(I've changed to writing during the day this month, seems better for my health, though there are more distractions. Tomorrow and the day after, the kids are still on holiday, and there are friends and relatives visiting during the Dragon Boat Festival, so writing will be affected. Quick updates will resume on Thursday. My apologies.)

After Li Minghui gathered all the management in the meeting room, Li Yan met them.

"This is... Mr. Li from the headquarters, everyone welcome!" Factory Director Li Minghui didn't know how to specifically introduce Li Yan, so he just glossed over that, hoping that he would mention his position himself.

The applause was sparse, lacking enthusiasm or anything special.

Li Yan nodded to him, "Factory Director Li, please, you go wait and see if the president needs any inquiries or assistance."

Li Minghui could only exit the office.

Only then did Li Yan officially inspect the managers on both sides of the conference table, then without saying a word, walked to the chair where the factory director usually sits and sat down unceremoniously.

He didn't start speaking, nor did anyone else get serious; some whispered among themselves, some stole glances at Li Yan, some rested with closed eyes, indifferent, while others wore disdainful, cynical looks...

Li Yan casually glanced around, capturing the various faces, but still didn't begin to speak. Instead, he picked up an ashtray from the table and suddenly slammed it onto the table when no one was expecting it!

"Bang—!"

The ashtray was well-made, as was the conference table, and Li Yan didn't use much force, so neither was damaged. But the loud sound instantly entered everyone's ears. They were all caught off guard and startled!

The conference room suddenly quieted down, and most eyes turned to Li Yan. This was clearly expressing displeasure! Although they were equally displeased with Li Yan, their discontent had to be kept hidden within.

"Mr. Li, actually... this is just a decoration, we don't smoke during meetings." Normally conference rooms prohibit smoking, and even reception rooms would have "No Smoking" signs; but here was an ashtray, which someone immediately guessed was the source of Li Yan's discontent, offering to explain.

But just after explaining, he watched in shock as Li Yan pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

No need for Li Yan to say anything further; that person, embarrassedly, could only chuckle and say, "Please, go ahead... I was joking..."

So, amidst everyone's astonishment, Li Yan started puffing away leisurely, squinting eyes, showing no intention of starting a meeting.

Watching him smoke, people grew impatient yet couldn't urge him, so some simply took out cigarettes and smoked too.

After finishing a cigarette and stubbing it out, Li Yan opened his squinting eyes wide and scanned around.

Surely it's about to start, right?

But Li Yan took out the cigarette box again...

"Mr. Li, may I ask, what do you want to instruct us for having us gather here? If there's nothing, we have other matters to handle!" Someone couldn't hold back and stood up, barely stopping short of reprimanding, already sounding very impolite.

"What's your name?" Li Yan finally spoke, fiddling with a cigarette without lighting it.

"Deputy Factory Director of Production, Fan Shao!" the person crisply replied, "I don't care what position you hold at the group headquarters, but you came today with the president to solve problems, not to delay everyone's time!"

"Fan Shao, right?" Li Yan smiled at him, "The entire factory is on strike, what time am I wasting of yours? Are you planning to rush into production?"

Seeing Fan Shao about to retort, he continued, "The problem now is what you haven't solved. What's the point of hiring you managers? Could a trivial matter be left for the president to handle? The president would be worn out!"

Fan Shao, though straightforward, wasn't stupid. A Deputy Factory Director of Production isn't promoted out of nowhere; it's a hard-earned position, surely understanding he shouldn't criticize the president. Yet Li Yan's attitude irritated him, so he didn't back down, retorting, "And what about you? Aren't you a manager here to work, even if you're not the president?"

Li Yan thought to himself, I'm not the president, I'm the president's husband...

"Of course I have work to do. What I need to do is criticize you all!"

Li Yan's overbearing attitude made everyone feel even more disgusted. The factory director Li Minghui was not present, and the others were unclear about this guy's background (actually, the director didn't know either), so they couldn't really retort against the headquarters' Imperial Envoy, could they? Perhaps with this thought in mind, a conciliator started to talk: "Mr. Li's criticism is correct; it's due to our inadequate work. If we had done a good job, none of this would have happened; it wouldn't have blown up like this, forcing Mr. Li and even the CEO to come here personally. On behalf of my colleagues, I express... um, a deep introspection!"

This person was the one who just explained the ashtray earlier.

Sycophant!

As soon as that person finished speaking, Li Yan seemed to hear the same word echoing in the minds of many present. But he nodded gleefully, "Attitude! Everyone listen, what is called attitude? Whether you can solve it is one thing; whether you are willing to solve it is another! Actually, I was just testing everyone. My silence, smoking, and arrogant demeanor were all tests! What did I see? Disdain towards me, impatience and indifference towards this meeting, except for this colleague! He always had a calm and steady smile and actively tried to communicate with me, let's give him a round of applause!"

Hearing the earlier words, people were still secretly cursing the nonsense. Upon hearing the middle part, realizing it was deliberate testing, they suddenly felt enlightened, thinking it was typical of someone from the headquarters! They regretted not seeing through this earlier and felt a bit jealous and envious of the person singled out for performing. Damn, just putting on a show and saying some nice words got him noticed. If I had known, I would have done the same. Being promoted to the headquarters would mean climbing a step in rank and class.

The sparse applause made the person who spoke up feel a bit excited, while Fan Shao stopped speaking, replacing words with a face full of contempt and disdain. In his view, Li Yan was certainly someone who couldn't grasp honest advice and loved listening to flattery.

"How do you call this colleague? Do you have any thoughts on the current situation?"

The person quickly stood up, "My name is Hu Jiaping, I am the finance manager. Regarding this issue, I feel our management should take the lead; it's time to show personal charisma and leadership. I can assure that colleagues from the finance department will not cause any trouble. Other departments, especially those with more people on the production line in the workshop... need everyone else to cooperate and work together!"

He looked very sincere, but others in their hearts cursed quietly; the problem this time was due to the dissatisfaction of the majority ordinary employees with their wages. The salaries of each member in the finance department aren't low, and there aren't many of you, of course, it's easy to ensure. By playing the good guy like this, you're making it difficult for others!

Seeing everyone's reaction, Li Yan had already made up his mind and said with a smile, "Manager Hu is doing great. Later, when the CEO holds an employee meeting, Manager Hu, I hope, can lead by example. It will be hard on you later."

Hu Jiaping excitedly said, "It's not hard, not tiring. For the company's interests, we should give our all!"

"I believe all other colleagues must have the same sentiment; later, everyone's cooperation will be needed. Oh, I'm still not clear about how to address everyone, how about a brief self-introduction?"

Seeing only Hu Jiaping standing out, others, though not as disgruntled as Fan Shao, were nonetheless not very interested, with only a few thinking of making up for lost time to increase their performance score.

After listening to their introductions, Li Yan clapped his hands, "Alright, the meeting ends here. Now everyone goes back and prepares for the upcoming employee meeting; the CEO needs your support. Whether the factory goes through a major overhaul or remains the same depends on today."

Everyone's hearts slightly sank at this, as though the words weren't explicit, they carried a threatening tone. The major overhaul could be a complete overhaul of all employees or a complete overhaul of all management!

With various complex thoughts, each left the meeting room, while Li Yan returned to the factory director's office.

Zhang Yurong had previously seen the factory's reports, all processed down below, so although she wasn't very clear on the factory's specifics, her keen sense during report reviewing had uncovered many issues. Though unrelated to the current strike, when questioned one by one, it still made Director Li Minghui sweat cold beads.

Li Yan poured Zhang Yurong a glass of water, then rested aside until she finished asking her questions. Only then did he ask Director Li Minghui to check whether the employee representatives had arrived and how the arrangements for the employee meeting were going.

"A pile of problems!" Zhang Yurong snorted lightly with frowned brows, feeling that if not for this matter, she wouldn't have come personally and wouldn't have found so many problems.

"Issues demand rectification, you can't always be stationed here to work, so today the medicine has to be quite strong. If you're not afraid of me messing up the whole place here, let me handle it!" Li Yan said confidently with a smile.

Seeing his demeanor made Zhang Yurong have some confidence in him—in reality, expecting him to perform well. "It's fine to let you handle it, but... you have to give me some more confidence first. Didn't you just go to a meeting? Any findings?"

"I discovered..."

Li Yan approached her side and analyzed his discoveries. His words made Zhang Yurong go from surprised to doubtful and eventually contemplative.

After considering for a while, Zhang Yurong decided to fully support Li Yan in handling the situation, though his status and position were inappropriate, with her support as CEO, without needing public acknowledgment, it was akin to holding the Imperial Sword within the factory. "Alright, it's on you; now you first do some homework..."

Zhang Yurong instructed Li Yan to look at reports and documents, causing Li Yan to immediately complain, "No, please? Whenever I look at these things, my head hurts, dealing with data and words, you're skilled, dealing with people is my forte!"

This gave Zhang Yurong a headache, interacting with people was important, data and words were even more important. If not willing to look at these files and reports, when could he enter the executive ranks? But she also knew this couldn't change him instantly, it would take time. Later, he would have to meet the employee representatives, so Zhang Yurong simply recapped the various issues she found at the factory and any usable materials.

(Thanks to the brothers who tipped these days: dongmin8061, Eagle's Wind, CP Pampas, Feng Yiren, Reader 100423133434669, Ancient Dragon*Ranger, jys0022[13th]Feng Yiren, dongmin8061, start iodine wiper, Yagami Light II, Sai Clan's Little Fish, like song through Wan Yanヽ, small K09, CP Pampas, Ancient Dragon*Ranger[12th]Yagami Light II, Forgot How to Love., The galloping warrior, living by the mountain, dongmin8061, Frost Cold Long Sword, CP Pampas, Past Future, Ancient Dragon*Ranger) (To be continued, to know what happens next, please log on to www.qidian.com, more chapters available, support the author, support legitimate reading!)