KC | Chapter 59

Chapter 69, “You Caught Up.”

The two of them walked up to the Cadillac. Lin Yiran pressed the car key and signaled for Chen Xi to get in.

Chen Xi pulled open the passenger door with a tense face and sat down in the front passenger seat, complaining, “Brother Lin, I didn’t cause any trouble for Shen Yuesheng. He isn’t a good guy. When you weren’t around, he bullied me like crazy.”

Lin Yiran started the car. The Cadillac drove along the winding mountain road toward the scenic area exit, and there was no conversation all the way, only frost in his eyes.

Shen Yuesheng was crafty and suspicious. The “bullying him” Chen Xi had mentioned probably was not just the squeeze between a client and a vendor in cooperation.

Lin Yiran drove with one hand, put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it, took a deep drag, and cursed under his breath, “Like a fox.”

A certain client had very distinctive traits, and who he was referring to was obvious without saying it.

When Chen Xi heard that, he snorted with laughter. He had originally thought Brother Lin was calculating and in control, at ease in everything. He had not expected that, just like him, he had been putting on an act.

Clients rarely made sense. If sales wanted to close a deal, they had to put away all personal emotions.

Every time Lin Yiran interacted with Shen Yuesheng, he felt uncomfortable, the kind of discomfort that made him want to fight him.

Last time, stopping the car was indeed a moment of impulse. This time, putting on a hypocritical shell and communicating with that fox spirit was also truly uncomfortable, so uncomfortable that after shedding the skin, he had to recover for a long time.

The refined scum who had shed his skin rolled down the car window, cigarette ash drifting in the air, his voice carrying not the slightest bit of warmth: “After all, he’s the client, so we can’t offend him too much.”

This time he was the host, so it was enough to let him know you were my person. Tomorrow over dinner, I’ll be the host, and I won’t let him have it easy.

If I give you a step down and you don’t take it, if I give you face and you don’t want it, if you covet my people and still want resources?

Heh.

After the Cadillac drove out of Huiling Mountain, Lin Yiran said, “Send Guanchao a WeChat message, say a few polite words, and tell him to clean up the mess properly after the event ends.”

“Mm-mm!”

Every time a face-to-face meeting ended, Lin Yiran would go over things with Chen Xi, sum up the problems in time, and let him grow through one practice after another.

It had to be said that Chen Xi’s growth speed was much faster than that of other salespeople. He had grown from traditional telemarketing into a senior sales representative, and now he had grown into a marketing consultant who could provide clients with immediate solutions. All of that was entirely thanks to the good mentor Lin Yiran.

Lin Yiran, with a cigarette in his mouth, asked, “Chen Xi, what do you think of how this Pingsheng deal went?”

Chen Xi answered obediently, “At the start, I misjudged Shen Yuesheng’s needs. After Brother Lin pointed out his real needs, I still didn’t dig deeper. If it weren’t for Brother Lin today, this money might not have come in, and Pingsheng probably wouldn’t cooperate again in the future either.”

“I didn’t criticize you. Why are you so quick to deny yourself? Your stage presentation was done pretty well, the whole venue was bursting with applause, it was obvious to everyone, and you’re still this unconfident?”

Most salespeople were brainwashed by the company, blindly confident in their products, the market, and their own abilities, and it was hard for them to notice problems.

Chen Xi seemed not to realize what mistake he had made, and that was fatal for KA.

When KA negotiated a deal, they were not afraid of the deal falling apart, they were afraid of feeling too good about themselves. Failing to grasp the client’s core needs, or saying a few unpleasant things that made the client feel awkward, all of that could not push the customer forward. Lin Yiran praised what Chen Xi did well, and he also criticized what he did wrong. When the cigarette burned out, Lin Yiran rolled up the car window and said bluntly, “You just tore down my stage, messed up my plan, and almost blew the deal.”

Σ(⊙▽⊙”a When did I tear down your stage and mess up your plan?

Chen Xi carefully went over every bit of their negotiation with Shen Yuesheng just now, and felt that there was nothing wrong with it.

Shen Yuesheng was satisfied with the stage effect, Brother Lin took the initiative to bring up future cooperation, and I took advantage of the momentum to ask for the final payment for this event, what was wrong with that? Shen Yuesheng didn’t want to pay, Brother Lin said he had connections in government affairs and cultural tourism, and I helped boost the leader and made sure the status was in place, what was wrong with that too?

Then why did Brother Lin say, “I tore down his stage and messed up his plan”?

He didn’t get it, not at all.

Could it be that Brother Lin wanted to add some spice, deliberately create a tense atmosphere, and play role-play with me?

(⊙o⊙)… So that was it!

–

Seeing that Chen Xi had not said anything for a long time, Lin Yiran thought he had spoken too harshly, so he softened his tone to comfort him, saying, “Salespeople all need to grow. I was the same when I was young. This time, luckily you still have your brother here, I can help carry it for you.”

Huh? You’re really getting into the role here. Usually you’re the one bullying me and ruining me, the props for the waiting scene were all carried by me. What did you carry?

The way Lin Yiran looked made Chen Xi think of a peacock at the zoo spreading its tail, crazily shaking its feathers at the female.

The white-collar worker nodded, trying hard to blend into the scene, and said one thing while meaning another, “Mm-mm, Brother Lin is the best.”

The sedan sped along the Third Ring Road. Chen Xi’s face was burning red from all the yellow trash filling his head. He often blushed when facing Lin Yiran. He blushed when praised, blushed when his face was touched, blushed even when he was bullied…

A bright red Chen Xi was very cute, very vanilla.

The refined scum temporarily had no skin as a human being, and the words he said fully revealed his hooligan nature: “The effort spent on this deal will all be taken back from you.”

The moral model wanted to cooperate with the old rogue and play around, and when he thought of some lewd words, he could not bring himself to say them.

The split-personality patient was torn in every possible way, wriggling like a maggot in the front passenger seat.

Hot-tempered No. 1: Lin-dog wants to hear some dirty talk. What’s so hard to say? Just say it.

Reasonable No. 2: Yeah, you’re already going home with him to prepare to do it, what else is there that can’t be said…

Coward No. 3: Wuwuwu, how am I supposed to say that? That’s way too shameless.

No. 1 with hands on hips: Didn’t he say, “tear down my stage, mess up my plan, and almost blow the deal”? I’ll learn from him too, and let him “also tear me down, mess me up, and fuck me to the point of collapse”!

No. 2 gave a thumbs-up: 666!

No. 3’s face turned red: If I really said that, wouldn’t I get fucked into the hospital?

No. 2: Uh… then maybe be a bit cautious, don’t say something that狠.

No. 1: Lin-dog just got it up behind the rack, he’s been talking dirty the whole way. Once we get home he’ll definitely do me right away. I’m just a little white-collar worker being kept by my boss, what kind of act am I even putting on?

No. 3: True, no need to act, just let things take their course.

No. 2: No, Lin Yiran is lousy in bed and wants it badly, he can’t even do the basic steps right, he insists on doing fancy stuff, I need to get myself some benefits. Rather than trusting that technically awful guy, I might as well think about execution plans that can actually be carried out.

“Does Brother Lin’s house have anything to eat? If we pass a supermarket on the way, let’s buy some?” I want to go to the supermarket and buy something else.

Lin Yiran understood in a second that the key word in this sentence was “supermarket” and not “buy food,” so he went along with it and said, “There aren’t any snacks at home, we’ll buy some in a bit.”

Chen Xi nodded obediently.

Lin Yiran parked the car by the roadside near a Lawson convenience store.

“I’ll go buy it. Brother Lin can just rest in the car,” Chen Xi said, then trotted out of the car. In just a moment, he came back with an opaque bag and got back in.

Lin Yiran casually fiddled with the bag, heard a clatter inside, and deliberately said, “Jars and bottles, did you buy canned food or chips?”

“Uh…” Chen Xi took out a bottle of cola from the bag, trying to divert Lin Yiran’s attention and cover up the other things in the bag.

Lin Yiran glanced at the cola. Oh, sugar-free, really thoughtful, but did you not know this stuff kills sperm?

When waiting at the traffic light, Lin Yiran twisted open the cola and gulped down more than half the bottle. After he finished drinking, he touched the bottle to the area between Chen Xi’s legs, his tone flirtatious, “You’re hurting the enemy a thousand and losing eight hundred yourself.”

Chen Xi held his forehead, thinking, You just said you were thirsty, and I was afraid that little bit of coffee wouldn’t be enough for you. I just wanted to buy you a bottle of sugar-free water, I really didn’t think about that much.

The two of them rarely matched each other’s wavelength, what they said was completely off from each other, and the generation gap was deeper than the Mariana Trench.

–

Lin Yiran felt that communicating with Chen Xi was even more exhausting than dealing with a key client, but he was still more than happy to do it. Chen Xi was like his toy, one he had not known how to play with when he first got it, and had accidentally broken off an arm and a leg. Now that it had been assembled back together, the more he looked at it, the better it seemed, and he wanted to hold it on the bed and sleep with it every day.

Chen Xi felt that communicating with Lin Yiran was not only exhausting, but also draining, yet he accepted it gladly. Lin Yiran was the guide on his sales journey, the regulator of his bitter life, the embodiment of his longing for beautiful love, and the only steadfast thing in his uncertain future.

The light breeze of early autumn carried a faint chill, and the bustling crowd outside the window stood in sharp contrast to the quiet journey of the two people inside the car.

The afterglow of the setting sun fell on Lin Yiran’s handsome and elegant features, his knuckles lightly resting on the steering wheel, and amid the surging crowd, he held onto his own rhythm and direction firmly.

“Brother Lin, you’re so handsome.” That was what Chen Xi thought, and then he said it.

Lin Yiran’s hair swayed with the breeze, carrying a touch of unruliness and ease, and his figure, illuminated by the setting sun, was tall and straight, like a mountain that could not be crossed.

The mountain turned back, took his hand, and their fingers interlocked.

“A client once said that with this face of mine, if I went into the trade and hung up a price tag, it would definitely go over ten thousand.” Lin Yiran held the steering wheel with one hand, smiling in a roguish way.

“Haha, then I’d have to pay, huh?”

“Yeah, the one doing the hard work is me, so of course you have to pay. Or else, you can do the moving, and I’ll pay, that works too.”

“How much?” Chen Xi’s eyes lit up green, looking very much like he could make money off this.

Lin Yiran gave a soft laugh. “Can’t get money out of key clients, so you come squeeze your brother instead, you really are something.”

Chen Xi laughed until he bent forward and back. “Yeah, if it weren’t for Brother Lin, maybe I wouldn’t have become a salesperson. You led me onto this path of no return, of course you have to take responsibility.”

“Oh? You can’t even learn proper negotiation, but you’ve already learned how to cry foul first?”

Chen Xi looked at his mountain and said solemnly, “Actually, the first time I saw Brother Lin wasn’t in Lanhai, but at the job fair.”

“That day, you were sharp in your suit, walking through the crowd. When I looked at you, I couldn’t move my eyes away. These past few years, every time I was physically and mentally exhausted and almost couldn’t hold on anymore, I would think of you, think of the distance ahead.”

Lin Yiran let his head lean against his own shoulder and said with a smile, “Sales is not easy. When you’re tired, when you’re worn out, you have to say it. Your brother will help you carry some of it, wouldn’t that get you through it?”

A shallow dimple appeared on Chen Xi’s cheek.

“Brother Lin, I think sales is just like climbing a mountain. I’m at the foot of the mountain, and you’re at the top. I kept moving forward step by step, climbing from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside. I thought, as long as I keep moving forward, one day I’ll catch up to you.”

The crowd outside the car hurried past in waves, while inside the car Chen Xi’s eyes were bright and burning. He had set a fire in early autumn, igniting Lin Yiran’s pulse.

The depths of those dark eyes became clear and bright. Lin Yiran lifted their joined hands and told him, “You caught up.”

Author’s note: