KA | Chapter 3

“Good morning, everyone at Lanhai KA.”

“Good, very good, excellent!”

In the conference room, the leader stood on the platform while we stood below, shouting slogans and clapping.

“Did you skip breakfast, or didn’t you sleep well?” the leader frowned slightly, “Let’s do it again. If you don’t shout in unison, you’ll recite the corporate culture.”

“Good, very good, excellent!” I stretched my neck and shouted with all my might, my volume ten times louder than before; the fat guy on my right, who’d been here five years and still couldn’t recite the corporate culture, shouted even harder; the skinny guy on my left had no conviction in his voice, like he’d done physical labor all night and been completely drained.

The skinny guy was Chen Xi, whose gross profit exceeded ten million last year. He held dozens of key accounts and had incubated hundreds of marketing cases. He was the undisputed top performer of the KA team.

The fat guy was Zhang Yuanji, who recovered nearly ten million last year, ten times better performance than me. There were at least ten people like him in the KA team.

I was the lowest-level small fry in KA.

“Sales need some spirit and vigor. If you can’t even shout the slogans in unison, how are you going to close deals?” the leader said. “Today’s morning meeting is to review our performance progress. Q1 is halfway through, and the highest completion rate among everyone here is only 30%.”

My name was in the lower ranks of the KA leaderboard, my 20% completion rate deeply imprinted on my mind. Suddenly I felt the weight of enormous pressure. I’d signed a socks vendor for 5,000 gross profit, Zhang Yuanji signed a scenic area for 50,000 gross profit, Chen Xi signed a decoration group for 500,000 gross profit… the client attributes were different, so the task completion was different.

Unlike other KAs with connections and resources, I had no contracts awaiting payment, no projects in execution, not even key accounts.

Based on current performance trajectory, this quarter I’d probably be living on thin air.

Zhang Yuanji muttered quietly, “Lin-ge’s PPT style is definitely a breath of fresh air for the KA team.”

Chen Xi sighed, “He doesn’t even do job report PPTs. Being able to make a PPT for the morning meeting is already pretty good.”

Zhang Yuanji let out a light huff, “You just have too thick a filter for Lin-ge!”

“I don’t,” Chen Xi countered. “He’s only been to the office twice this month. If our performance wasn’t so bad, he wouldn’t have canceled on the client to come back and host the morning meeting.”

How did Chen Xi know that Lin Yiran had canceled on the client to host the morning meeting?

Not doing a PPT for a job report wasn’t something to be proud of. The leader shouldn’t be telling employees about it.

Also, what did Zhang Yuanji mean by saying Chen Xi had too thick a filter for Lin-ge?

The fox was gay, and his coworker who spent all day with him was also gay?

There was competition between sales reps, and usually we wouldn’t reveal client information to coworkers. But Chen Xi had good performance and wasn’t arrogant, so he easily pushed Shen Yuesheng’s WeChat to me. Because of that, I felt particularly close to him.

Having my name hanging in the lower ranks of the PPT didn’t feel good. If I kept signing clients selling pots and pans, I definitely wouldn’t complete my performance targets. I desperately needed a big client.

And the only big client I could contact right now was Shen Yuesheng.

So after the morning meeting, I stopped Chen Xi and asked, “How did you originally sign Pinsheng?”

Chen Xi’s expression stalled slightly: “You got in touch with Shen Yuesheng?”

“Yeah.”

“How did you get in touch?”

“Uh… just mass-messaged on WeChat.”

“That’s impossible. Lin-ge sent him messages for half a year and he didn’t reply. You mass-message and can set up a meeting?”

“It really was a mass message…”

“Your luck is pretty amazing then.” Chen Xi thought for a moment and said, “Shen Yuesheng is hard to get through to. I only managed to meet him by pretending it was a blind date.”

A blind date?

Chen Xi went on a blind date with Shen Yuesheng, which meant he was also gay!

My heart became a jumble of emotions. I changed the subject, “How old is Shen Yuesheng?”

“Same age as us.”

I was 28, struggling to sign a bunch of clients selling junk. Chen Xi was 28 and landed a deal worth tens of millions, becoming the top KA performer. The fox was 28 and already CEO of an education group.

You really can’t compare yourself to your peers.

I asked, “Since Shen Yuesheng is hard to deal with, why not go around him and find the boss of Pinsheng directly?”

Chen Xi said helplessly, “The boss of Pinsheng, Shen Pin, is Shen Yuesheng’s father.”

Ah, Pinsheng equals Shen Pin plus Shen Sheng, sheng equals Yuesheng.

Looks like there’s no way around this fox after all.

Chen Xi recalled, “Shen Yuesheng is particularly smart. When dealing with him, you can’t be fooled by appearances. You have to see through to the real needs.”

The fox’s real need was to sleep with me!

I had no words to say. I changed the subject again, “Does Shen Yuesheng understand advertising?”

“Yeah, Pinsheng’s publicity is his responsibility.”

Yesterday he told me he didn’t manage advertising, said he didn’t understand what I was talking about. He was just trying to fool an idiot!

I swallowed, probing, “So did you end up lowering the price?”

“No,” Chen Xi spread his hands. “Back then I deliberately timed it to pressure Pinsheng’s activity execution schedule to force him to make a decision. He dragged it out until he had no choice but to compromise.”

I looked at Chen Xi’s small frame, then felt my own rock-hard muscles. I increasingly felt that Shen Yuesheng was an absolute pervert.

He’d go for anyone, totally not picky.

“Lanhai and Pinsheng have been cooperating for over a year. Every time, Shen Yuesheng drags payment until the end of the quarter, deliberately squeezing the sales rep’s gross profit. With all that effort dealing with him, you could sign ten other key accounts,” Chen Xi said. “You’ve just left the beginner’s village and already hit a top-tier key account.”

*

Sales either starve or drown. Chen Xi’s few clients completed his payment targets, while I still had 70% of my tasks unresolved.

Wait? Since Shen Yuesheng didn’t sleep with Chen Xi, I just won’t let him sleep with me either, and that’s that!

I wasn’t prepared for the first meeting, my opening was greasy. This time I combined Pinsheng’s development history and made a detailed marketing plan, found dozens of promotion cases from vocational education clients, and produced targeted marketing pitches.

After thorough preparation, I messaged Shen Yuesheng again.

“Comprehensive marketing planning, Zhao Zhiyong: President Shen, I left in a rush last time and was quite rude. I’d like to apologize. When do you have time?”

Red exclamation mark.

Damn, couldn’t sleep with him so he blocked me. You’re something else.

I called him, and the system said the line was busy. Half an hour later I called again, still busy.

Most likely my phone number was also blocked.

“Chen Xi, lend me your phone for a sec, I need to make a call.”

Chen Xi unlocked it. His phone screensaver was Lin-ge.

“…”

You gay guys really don’t avoid outsiders at all.

I called Shen Yuesheng. His voice on the other end was very soft, sounding like he hadn’t woken up.

“Hello, what is it?”

“President Shen, it’s me.”

“Beep beep beep—”

I wasn’t ready to give up and wanted to call back, but Chen Xi grabbed the phone and said, “Stop calling. If you keep calling, he might block me too.”

“Wait, that doesn’t make sense. He blocked me, so why didn’t he block you?”

Neither of us got to sleep with him, so why the different treatment?

Chen Xi seemed thoughtful, “Shen Yuesheng is stingy, but he’s not petty. He never blocked Lin-ge even when they had conflicts before.”

“So, what exactly did you do to offend him?”

“I…” It was private stuff, I was too embarrassed to say.

“If you can’t explain it clearly, how am I supposed to help you analyze the client situation?”

“I just had a bit of a conflict with him.”

Chen Xi sighed and offered advice for this performance-struggling rep: “If you really want to sign him, go find him.”

“He already blocked me. If I go find him, won’t he kick me out?”

Chen Xi said, “If you don’t go, how do you know you’ll be kicked out? Waiting here definitely won’t get you the deal. Meeting in person is the best solution.”

When I was in SME sales, my performance was always at the top. Once I moved to KA, I became the worst.

All my former sense of superiority evaporated. The huge psychological gap battered my self-esteem.

There were 40 days left, less than 30 working days, and Q1 would be over.

Why did all the other KAs have key accounts and I didn’t? Why could they all make six figures a year and I couldn’t? Why did I carry the team in SME sales but become the tail-ender in KA?

I wasn’t willing to accept it.

So on an afternoon with a biting wind, I went to Pinsheng.

Pinsheng Education Group’s headquarters was located under the First Ring Bridge in Yucheng, covering an area of about one million square meters. The No. 1 Teaching Building faced the main gate, while the No. 2 and No. 3 Teaching Buildings were on either side of the main building, the three buildings forming a concave shape, solemn and dignified.

I walked to the stone monument that read “Educating Through Virtue” and spat, “Pfft!”

With a CEO like this who sleeps with anyone he meets, who knows how many students he’s corrupted. And he has the nerve to put up a monument.

The security guard asked, “Who are you looking for?”

“I’m looking for President Shen.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“Uh, yes.” I made it up completely, “Just open the gate and I’ll go find him directly. He told me to.”

The security guard said flatly, “Then show me your appointment confirmation, or call him now.”

Did Pinsheng’s security really have to be this responsible?

Seeing that I wasn’t moving, the guard said, “If you don’t have an appointment, stand further away and don’t block the entrance.”

Normally I’d have shouted at him, but I couldn’t afford to be impulsive now. Keeping a low profile was my only chance to sneak in.

I drooped my head and walked to the side. A Land Cruiser pulled up to the gate, and the security guard immediately stood at attention. I turned back and met a pair of peach blossom eyes in the car.

Speak of the devil, he appears! What a coincidence!

Shen Yuesheng wasn’t wearing a V-neck sweater today, but a more formal suit. The jacket outlined his sharp shoulders, and his brow carried an air of authority.

“President Shen, what a coincidence,” I walked up to the car fawning, “Last time I was rash, I’m really sorry—”

Before I could finish, the Land Cruiser glided away, leaving me standing there sucking in exhaust fumes.

The security guard slowly closed the gate and gave me a smirk.

I’d never been this embarrassed in my life. Plans are full, reality is bare. The vocational education cases I’d studied were for nothing, the cases I’d done were for nothing, the last two days of effort were all wasted!

With nowhere to vent my anger, I squatted in the corner and muttered quietly, “Last time we didn’t reach an agreement, this time you give me attitude? Is it worth it? Chen Xi said you’re not petty, I really overestimated you! You look all proper in that suit today, but in bed you were nothing like this…”

The security guard shouted, “What curse are you muttering? Get out of here, go on, move along.”

I dragged my lead-filled legs and reluctantly left Pinsheng.

I should have known better than to refuse so firmly. Exposing him didn’t benefit me at all. Now I can’t even get a word in. My guts are turning green with regret.