KC | Chapter 37

On Christmas Day in 2021, Chen Xi lost a client.

The client was the Yucheng branch of a nationwide chain doors and windows factory. The person in charge had signed the contract with Chen Xi yesterday, but today suddenly said they would not cooperate, for the reason that, the headquarters had not approved the promotion budget.

This situation was as absurd as in a movie, when both sides are making a deal and the client suddenly says they forgot to bring money.

The client could be shameless like that in a movie, but Chen Xi could not tear up the ticket like in a movie. He was holding in his anger and feeling stifled and frustrated.

At the end of the quarter, he was being pushed to hit performance targets, and Chen Xi had no choice but to find Wang Shuang to make a callback. Wang Shuang did not like him. He took his briefcase and left his desk, saying, “I’m going to a meeting.”

Less than 10 minutes later, a colleague who had gone downstairs to smoke came back and told Chen Xi, “Wang Shuang is buying food at the supermarket downstairs.”

Chen Xi was furious, but he still had to do the assessment. It was better to rely on himself than to beg others.

There was no time to dwell on it now. If this client was gone, he would move on to the next one. There was less than a week left until the end of the month, and it was too late to contact new clients now. So Chen Xi opened his address book and looked for old clients he had signed before to get through the immediate crisis.

Chen Xi had been doing sales for more than a year and had never overpromised clients. Even if the client no longer cooperated with Lanhai, it was because they were not satisfied with the effectiveness of the ad products, not because they did not认可 him. The old clients were in many industries that were well suited for advertising, and they had a lot of friends around them. Chen Xi had a good relationship with those old clients, and he wanted them to refer friends around them for advertising.

After making more than 30 calls, one old client who had continued cooperating with Lanhai said, “I’ll ask around with my friends, they might want to do it.” How could Chen Xi just sit and wait? He rushed downstairs, took the subway, and headed straight to the old client’s company.

The old client’s friend did not understand advertising very well. Chen Xi painstakingly explained everything for three hours, and finally, after seven in the evening, he got the order signed.

Lihua Building was by the subway exit, on Chen Xi’s usual route home. By the time he came out of the subway, it was already past eight. There was nothing much to eat around the old residential area. Chen Xi had wanted to grab a meal at the company entrance before going home, but looking at the signs on the street, he still did not feel like eating anything.

Every quarter-end drained all of Chen Xi’s strength, and today had really worn him out.

Fine snow began to drift down from the sky. Pure white snowflakes landed on the top of his head. Chen Xi held out his hand and caught a few ice blossoms. The cold wind cut right through him, and in just a moment his hand was about to freeze stiff.

Pedestrians came and went on the street, some wearing reindeer antlers, some holding balloons, and some young people wearing Christmas outfits. Chen Xi realized only belatedly that today was Christmas.

Chen Xi bought a ping an fruit from a roadside stall. The bright red wrapping symbolized peace and smooth everything, and he liked that color.

A couple walked toward him. The girl carried a bag in her left hand and held onto the boy with her right arm, without gloves on. He had only caught snowflakes for less than a minute himself, and he was already freezing. That girl’s hands must be very cold.

If I had a girlfriend, I would definitely treat her well and make sure she wore warm clothes and was wrapped up tight.

But… could I really find a girlfriend?

Do I really like girls?

The joy from just signing the order vanished in an instant, replaced by huge frustration.

Chen Xi suspected that the work pressure was too much and had somehow changed his orientation. When he was in college, he clearly was not like this.

After discovering this “problem,” Chen Xi even became cautious when going to the restroom, but he soon found out that he had been worrying too much.

He had no feelings for any man other than Lin Yiran.

He had fallen for someone he should not have liked. The other person had a family, and was also a man. Chen Xi had told himself countless times, “Don’t like him,” but every time he saw Lin Yiran from afar, he would still be drawn to him.

Lin Yiran was like a tumor, impossible to cut out or shake off, annoying to look at, and impossible to cure completely, so it had to be hidden by any means necessary.

Chen Xi used the tip of his shoe to write the character “Lin” on the snow-covered ground ahead, then immediately wiped it away with the sole.

Luckily, the tumor was still not big. He had to cut it out quickly.

The snow gradually grew heavier, but Chen Xi still stood in the snow, not having decided what to eat.

He passed by the McDonald’s dessert shop, and there were especially many people lining up today.

Chen Xi had not eaten a McFlurry in a long time, yet he suddenly wanted to stand in this cold snowy day and line up together with the crowded couples to try one.

Buy one McFlurry, get one spoon for one yuan. Chen Xi bought two and stood in the snow eating them.

He had not eaten since noon, and the ice cream made his stomach hurt after just one bite. Chen Xi held the two cones and knelt on the ground, his eyes turning red.

Why did the cone taste so bitter?

Why would a deal that had already been set suddenly not get signed?

Why did I have to like him?

Since liking him had already become a settled fact and could not be changed, then it could only be hidden.

But liking someone, like coughing, only made it more obvious when one tried to cover it up.

So I have to be careful, I cannot act deliberately, I cannot reveal any clue.

So hard, it was really so hard.

His chest hurt a little. Chen Xi wanted to freeze himself completely in the minus 30 degree weather, so his heart would not beat, and it would not hurt anymore.

Falling snow and tears were the same, they made no sound.

Snow could still linger for a moment, but once tears fell to the ground, they disappeared.

On Christmas Day in 2021, the client on Lin Yiran’s side agreed to sign, but they needed to use another business license for the accounting.

Lanhai’s client protection system was very strict. Each client could only have one salesperson handling them at a fixed time, and the basis for judgment was the name on the business license.

Lin Yiran checked the sales system and found that the business license provided by the client was being followed up by Chen Xi.

He remembered Chen Xi, a clean and pretty little boy.

That kid was kind of slow and always just went “ah,” so he probably could not contact the key person, right?

Lin Yiran asked the client for the legal representative information on the license, dialed the number, and the other side said, “We’ve already signed the contract with Lanhai’s Chen Xi.”

The client was a leading steel enterprise in North China. Lin Yiran had followed up for half a year, found people to pull strings before he could even meet the boss, and then followed up for another half a year until the end of the year before the other side finally agreed to cooperate. Lin Yiran would not let a client he had spent a year painstakingly following up on be lost over one business license, and he also subjectively believed that the amount Chen Xi had signed absolutely could not be more than his.

But the problem was this client protection system.

The business license name was in Chen Xi’s private ocean, and he had already contacted the legal representative. Wouldn’t this count as me stealing it?

A scene flashed through his mind of Chen Xi working overtime at his desk. Such a hardworking person, having made so many calls to find the client, how could I steal it?

But if I don’t steal it, am I supposed to give it up?

A suave bastard who beautified strong-arm tactics and robbery had a completely justified conscience and very naturally convinced himself: this deal should have been mine in the first place.

Lin Yiran felt soft-hearted for two seconds, then dialed the legal representative again, identified himself to the other party, and told him to unilaterally void the contract and not cooperate with Chen Xi.

I treated you to ramen, guided you in talking to clients, taught you face-to-face visit techniques. This deal counts as you paying me back.

Lin Yiran was someone pushed over by the group boss, and the legal representative for the Yucheng region could only cooperate.

So, the client told Chen Xi they would not cooperate, Chen Xi stopped following up, and Lin Yiran added the client into his own sales system and successfully signed the contract.

As it was nearly time to get off work, the client group remitted 50W yuan, and Lanhai’s enterprise WeChat posted Lin Yiran’s good news. A lot of people privately messaged him “congratulations,” but Lin Yiran did not feel the excitement that usually came with signing a key client.

Wang Jingjing sent him a WeChat message saying, “Congratulations,” and he replied politely, “Thank you.” The distance between their offices was less than 30 meters, yet they communicated more online than offline on ordinary days. Married for two years, the two of them treated each other with polite respect, and Lin Yiran thought there was nothing wrong with that.

The other side called: “To celebrate you signing the order, let’s have dinner together tonight.”

“No need, I’m not really in the mood. I might already have plans tonight.”

Wang Jingjing said, “Oh, then count it as celebrating my upcoming resignation, keep me company for a meal.”

“I…” Lin Yiran knew Wang Jingjing’s resignation had an indirect connection to him, and he felt a little guilty, but he also felt there was nothing he could do. Their work nature determined that they were destined to go their separate ways, but even if Wang Jingjing did not work, he could still support her.

WeChat rang. The client sent over a notice for the evening banquet. Lin Yiran said, “I really do have plans.”

Wang Jingjing hung up.

After work, Lin Yiran drove straight to the client. After arriving at the scene, he discovered the client was holding a “Christmas banquet.”

So today was Christmas.

Lin Yiran sent Wang Jingjing a message, “Merry Christmas, let’s eat together later,” but the other side did not reply. Lin Yiran thought, she must be angry.

Busy work was destined to keep Lin Yiran from giving much energy to his family.

The banquet did not last very long. After it ended, Lin Yiran hurried home. On the way, he received a message from Zhang Guangming: “Send me this month’s KA signing details.”

Previously, when he was pushing performance at quarter-end, most of the data reports were done by Wang Jingjing for him. Now that he had made her angry, Lin Yiran was not in a position to ask her, so he had no choice but to return to Lihua.

There were a lot of cars on the road on Christmas, and there was a traffic jam below Lihua Building. It was already almost eight now. After finishing the report, it would be nine. What kind of good person would wait until nine to eat with him?

Lin Yiran irritably lit a cigarette. Wang Jingjing replied, “I’ve already eaten.”

“Damn it, why am I always doing things that make me owe people something today.” After cursing, Lin Yiran let out a sigh. He put the car in neutral, and even the traffic jam no longer made him anxious.

Suddenly, he caught sight of a thin figure by the roadside. Lin Yiran rolled down the window, stretched his neck out, and was about to call out to the person, when he saw that person suddenly squat down on the ground as if he was crying.

The name he had not called out got stuck in his throat. Lin Yiran raised the window back up, his chest feeling heavy.

Over these years, he had done plenty of underhanded things. Today, he suddenly found his conscience and cursed himself for really not being a decent human being.

Lin Yiran rarely had the desire to pry into someone else’s privacy. He opened Chen Xi’s Moments.

「晨曦：The cone is delicious.」

The picture was of two McFlurries, posted 5 minutes ago.

Lin Yiran looked closely at the person crouched in the snow, the cone in his hand basically matching the picture posted in Moments 5 minutes ago.

If it was really delicious, why weren’t you eating it?

It was so late and you were not going home, did you work overtime again? And the reason you were working overtime, was it because of me?

Because I stole your order and caused you to miss your assessment, you worked overtime to find clients.

You were crying here, clearly because you had not found a client, or because you could not make sense of why the client who had already signed the contract no longer wanted to cooperate.

You were very upset.

But why, when you were upset, did you have to act happy?

Was the cone really that good?

The road ahead was cleared, and a car horn sounded behind him. At the crossroads where he had unexpectedly run into Chen Xi, Lin Yiran drove forward.

He thought: if Chen Xi could make it through this assessment, then next year he would bring him over to KA.

I will teach you negotiation scripts, take you to visit clients, help you clear away every obstacle in the way of talking deals… I definitely won’t let you cry again.

Author’s note:

Babies, Merry Christmas~