"Thank you, Director Qiao," Xu Fang said, sitting down opposite her.
Qiao Yu pretended to look at his resume and acted surprised. "I see. You just graduated half a month ago?"
"Yes, didn't you notice before, Director Qiao?" Xu Fang's heart skipped a beat.
"I honestly didn't. I thought you were experienced and just wanted to change jobs," Qiao Yu said with regret. "I'm sorry, but our distillery is in a crucial stage of development. We need experienced workers, the kind who can start immediately. Here's fifty yuan to reimburse your taxi fare. You can go now."
Work experience? That old catch-all excuse again!
Now that he possessed an incredible ability, Xu Fang's mindset was completely different from before.
How could he not see that Qiao Yu was deliberately trying to get rid of him?
Sitting calmly, Xu Fang said with a smile, "Director Qiao, even though I just graduated, that doesn't mean I'm not capable. I've studied our distillery, and I believe I can do this job."
Qiao Yu hadn't expected the young man before her to take the initiative to fight for an opportunity. She couldn't help but think a little more highly of him. Her expression unchanging, she questioned, "You think you're qualified? On what grounds?"
"I've looked into our distillery's business situation. Our products are basically invisible on the market. The distillery urgently needs to sell its liquor, or else expenses will exceed revenue. It's only a matter of time before we go bankrupt."
Qiao Yu gave a nearly imperceptible nod. The distillery's current situation did indeed require an urgent influx of cash, but she still held a deep prejudice against Xu Fang, so she immediately pointed out the flaw in his argument. "Every distillery urgently needs to sell its liquor."
Xu Fang didn't panic. He replied, "Director Qiao, if you'll allow me to be blunt, our distillery has almost zero name recognition. Compared to the major distilleries, we have no fame and no reputation, which makes sales incredibly difficult. If a salesperson is experienced and capable, would they choose our distillery or a major one? Unless, of course, you can offer a salary so high that no one could refuse it.
"As for those salespeople with experience but no talent, they couldn't get results at the big distilleries. Why would you believe they could sell our liquor?"
Hearing Xu Fang's words, Qiao Yu's heart sank. What he said was the truth. The small distillery was like an older, average-looking bachelorette: the top-tier candidates looked down on it, while it looked down on the underperformers.
Just as she was about to speak, Xu Fang continued, "As for me, I don't need a base salary. I'll work for commission only. If I can sell the liquor, it's good for the distillery. If I can't, the company loses nothing. Director Qiao, won't you consider it?"
Qiao Yu was indeed tempted.
Given the distillery's current situation, employee salaries were a huge expense. She had no reason to reject an employee who didn't cost anything upfront. Even if this brat had seen her naked, she could just observe him for a while. If his performance was poor after a month, she could simply fire him.
"If it's commission only, fine. We can set your commission at eight points of the sales revenue. How about that?" Qiao Yu asked.
"Employees at major distilleries get a base salary and still earn a commission of around seven percent. Leaving the size of our distillery aside, do you really think your offer is appropriate?" Xu Fang retorted.
Displeased, Qiao Yu asked, "How much do you want, then?"
"Twenty points," Xu Fang said firmly.
Qiao Yu slammed the table. "What kind of j—"
Before the word "joke" could leave her lips, she was interrupted by Xu Fang's words: "I promise to sell a minimum of 5,000 boxes in the first month!"
Qiao Yu's anger vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Her tone gentled as she looked at him suspiciously. "Five thousand boxes?"
"Yes, at a minimum," Xu Fang nodded. "If I don't meet that standard, I won't take any pay for the month. You can write that into the contract."
Qiao Yu quickly made a mental calculation.
A commission of twenty points was quite high. However, if he sold at least five thousand boxes of liquor, not only could it clear out their massive backlog of inventory, but the profits would also allow the company to operate smoothly again.
After a long moment, Qiao Yu said, "Fifteen points. That's the company's absolute limit. If you don't agree, then there's nothing more to discuss."
Xu Fang knew that any commission rate over ten percent was already good; reaching fifteen points was a very high rate in the industry.
"Fine, I agree," Xu Fang replied.
"When can you start work?" Qiao Yu asked.
"Today is fine." Since he had nothing else to do, Xu Fang didn't want to delay.
"Alright, let's sign the employment agreement. Then I'll show you around the distillery so you can get to know the company," Qiao Yu decided quickly, adding, "Right. If your sales for the first month are less than five thousand... no, five hundred boxes, I'll fire you."
"No problem," Xu Fang said nonchalantly.
The contract was drafted quickly. Qiao Yu added the terms they had discussed, and after it was printed, both parties signed and stamped it, finalizing the agreement.
Next, Qiao Yu took Xu Fang to meet his colleagues.
Because the distillery was so small, the only colleague he'd have regular business with was the accountant. For everything else, he would just report directly to Qiao Yu.
Room 206 was the finance office. After knocking, Qiao Yu opened the door and led Xu Fang inside.
"Qin Yue, let me introduce our new colleague, Xu Fang. He's now in charge of liquor sales. Xu Fang, this is our accountant, Qin Yue," Qiao Yu introduced them.
"It's you." Xu Fang's heart skipped a beat when he saw who it was.