Chapter 12

The next morning, Lin Koukou arrived a little late.

After yesterday’s meal, everyone had warmed up to her. Someone at the door spotted her and greeted with a smile, “Good morning, Consultant Lin.”

Consultant Lin nodded and entered, only to find the office area much emptier than the day before. There was no sign of Pei Shu or Sun Kecheng at all.

Most people hadn’t arrived yet at this hour.

Ye Xiang, however, was dutifully seated at her desk. She had just finished a phone call and immediately smiled upon seeing Lin Koukou. “Consultant Lin, you’re finally here. That person from Jiang Shangbai is already waiting for you in the meeting room.”

She pointed in the direction.

Lin Koukou knew she was referring to Wang Liang and thanked her.

But Ye Xiang didn’t leave. She glanced around and whispered, “Consultant Lin, how confident are you about closing this deal?”

Lin Koukou was puzzled. “Why do you ask?”

Ye Xiang looked at her with sparkling eyes. “They’re placing bets, and I put my money on you—wagering a meal!”

Lin Koukou: “…”

She didn’t understand Crossroads, but she was deeply impressed.

Seeing her expression, Ye Xiang mistook it for gratitude and quickly added, “No need to be moved. It’s what I should do. Just believe in yourself and do your best, Consultant Lin. I’ve always been your fan!”

Lin Koukou: “…”

She remembered now—this was the girl who had bombarded her with questions last night.

A headhunter having fans?

After a moment’s thought, Lin Koukou smiled and thanked her before heading to the meeting room.

Wang Liang had already been waiting for ten minutes.

Yuan Zengxi was keeping him company.

Compared to his agitated state when he came to make a scene yesterday, he seemed much better now. His deeply sunken eyes had regained some vitality, and his crumpled suit had been replaced. Though still somewhat anxious, he no longer displayed the furious outburst from before. Instead, he sat upright with his hands folded on the table.

The moment Lin Koukou entered, he spotted her and quickly stood up. “Consultant Lin.”

Lin Koukou said, “Sorry, traffic was bad. I’m a little late.”

Wang Liang hurriedly assured her it was fine.

Lin Koukou then took a seat opposite him and opened the file on the Jiang Shangbai case. “Yesterday, we only discussed the general situation. Today, I’d like to ask for more details. Would you mind spending some time walking me through it?”

Wang Liang had no objections.

Yesterday, he had stormed in, furious and ready to demand answers. He had expected another shouting match with Yuan Zengxi, the so-called fraud, but instead, he encountered Lin Koukou.

This woman, a stranger who claimed to be a headhunter, saw right through the crisis beneath his anger with just a few words. She told him, “Anger won’t solve your problem. But if you’re willing to sit down calmly and tell me what’s really going on, maybe I can help.”

He asked, “And if I refuse?”

Lin Koukou smiled kindly and replied, “Then I guarantee you won’t solve your problem—and in five minutes, security will drag you out, followed by a lawsuit.”

At that moment, her gaze was the calmest yet most intimidating he had ever seen.

Yuan Zengxi sat beside her, meek as a quail.

Realizing she was no ordinary person, Wang Liang weighed his options and finally sat down.

What followed needed no elaboration.

Lin Koukou shed her earlier sternness and coldness, asking for the full story.

Wang Liang recounted everything, growing more aggrieved with each word.

Perhaps it was the other party’s quiet listening attitude, or perhaps it was the sudden remark “You haven’t slept well for days, have you?”—but he finally couldn’t hold back, his eyes reddening as his defenses completely crumbled.

This was a man whose home life was in shambles, currently fighting his wife for custody of their child, yet on the verge of losing his job at any moment.

Lin Koukou asked, “What did your boss say today?”

Wang Liang lowered his head. “Director Su is very unhappy. You haven’t recommended a single candidate in two months, and she’s already started contacting other headhunting firms. As for me… I might be fired soon.”

Undoubtedly, trusting Yuan Zengxi’s bragging had been a huge professional mistake.

Someone like Su Ying, the HR director, wouldn’t care how difficult his current situation was.

Yuan Zengxi had only learned about Wang Liang’s predicament yesterday while listening to his conversation with Lin Koukou. Now, guilt crept in, and he muttered softly, “I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to…”

Wang Liang flared up at the sound of his voice. “Sorry my ass! Where were you earlier?”

Yuan Zengxi grumbled, “It’s not like I didn’t try to find someone for this deal. But you never told me how ridiculously hard this position would be to fill. Which firm in the industry could handle a role like yours? What’s the point of blaming me?”

Wang Liang fell silent, like an engine stalling out.

Admittedly, this deal was a bit absurd.

Jiang Shangbai Liquor was a seven- or eight-year-old baijiu company looking to hire a marketing director with an annual salary of three million.

By all accounts, the compensation was quite generous—there should have been plenty of suitable candidates in the market.

Even without outsourcing to a headhunting firm, Jiang Shangbai’s own HR department should have had no shortage of eager applicants.

Yet the opposite was true.

Because they weren’t looking for just any marketing director—they wanted one who could sell baijiu to young people!

When Lin Koukou first heard this yesterday, even she thought it was ridiculous: What young person drinks baijiu these days?

Even without deep knowledge of the baijiu market, it was common sense:

Low-end baijiu targeted men in third- and fourth-tier cities; high-end baijiu was for corporate clients or served in Chinese restaurants.

Either way, the consumers were predominantly older men.

It had absolutely nothing to do with young people!

Yuan Zengxi had immediately scoffed, “Isn’t this a joke? With such an unrealistic company target, what qualified candidate would dare take this job? The only ones willing would be those tempted by the salary. But how shortsighted would those people be? Even if they joined, they’d probably just be looking to cash in and leave—might not even last the probation period. What’s the point of me recommending them? Not sending anyone is actually me doing you a favor!”

For all his bluster, he had his own judgment and principles.

Though there was some suspicion he was just making excuses, Lin Koukou didn’t disagree on this point.

After a moment of thought, she said, “I mentioned yesterday—this deal can actually be done.”

“How do you plan to do it?”

A voice suddenly came from behind.

Lin Koukou frowned and turned to see Pei Shu.

Judging by his stance, he had been there for a while, the door half-open as he listened in on their conversation.

She said, “Isn’t this the dead deal Consultant Pei abandoned? Why the sudden interest?”

Pei Shu had changed into a suit, holding a coffee as he strode in confidently. Undoing a button, he took a seat at the conference table with an infuriatingly smug grin. “Consultant Lin claims to have a solution for the dead deal I rejected. As a partner of this company, can’t I satisfy my curiosity and learn something new?”

Four words flashed through Lin Koukou’s mind: persistent as a ghost.

She simply ignored him and turned directly to Wang Liang. “The baijiu market is essentially saturated. At the high end, you have Moutai and Wuliangye; mid-range brands include Jiannanchun and Xifengjiu, not to mention countless smaller brands. I’ve never even heard of Jiang Shangbai. To carve out a path in this market, there are only two options. One is to go head-to-head with established brands dominating market share. But obviously, none of the top players are pushovers—they won’t lose easily in any competition. That path isn’t easy.”

Wang Liang, unfamiliar with business strategy, instinctively asked, “What’s the second option?”

“If the main road is blocked, take a shortcut,” Lin Koukou replied with a faint smile. “All existing baijiu brands target middle-aged consumers. Selling baijiu to young people might sound far-fetched at first, but if successful, it would create an entirely new lane, avoiding direct competition with established brands. It’s a bold strategy that could very well work.”

Put that way, it made sense.

But…

Yuan Zengxi frowned in frustration. “The problem is, the current baijiu market has zero overlap with young consumers. For Jiang Shangbai’s ideal marketing director, they’d need someone who understands both baijiu and today’s youth. Where would we even find such a person?”

That was indeed the core challenge.

But Lin Koukou wasn’t overcomplicating it yet. “It won’t be easy, but that doesn’t mean their strategy is flawed. Our priority is communicating with the client to salvage this deal—only then can we focus on candidate sourcing.” She turned to Wang Liang. “You have their HR director’s number, right?”

Wang Liang nodded reflexively. “Yes.”

“Give it to me. I’ll call to schedule a meeting,” she said.

Wang Liang hesitated, glancing inexplicably at Yuan Zengxi before handing over the number.

Lin Koukou didn’t notice the exchange as she dialed. When the call connected, she introduced herself politely: “Hello, Director Su? This is Lin Koukou from Crossroads Headhunting—”

*Click. Beep beep beep…*

Silence lingered briefly on the line before the call abruptly disconnected the moment “Crossroads” was mentioned, leaving only the cold drone of a dead line.

Lin Koukou: “……?”

Wang Liang looked wholly unsurprised.

Yuan Zengxi seemed ready to bury his head in the ground.

Pei Shu, watching from the sidelines, couldn’t suppress a chuckle.

Initially assuming a dropped call, Lin Koukou finally grasped the situation upon seeing Wang Liang and Yuan Zengxi’s reactions—and hearing Pei Shu’s laugh. She set her phone down and fixed Yuan Zengxi with a stare. “Explain. Why did they hang up the second they heard ‘Crossroads’?”

Yuan Zengxi had no choice but to confess honestly, but he also felt wronged: “This isn’t my fault. I did contact Su Ying before. After all, for a three-million position this big, I had to reach out to someone who actually has a say at Jiang Shangbai. I swear, I really tried my best on this deal. But this so-called Director Su wouldn’t even listen to my explanation about how difficult this position is—she just kept demanding candidates from me. When I tried asking for more specifics about what kind of candidate she wanted, she straight-up ignored me! It’s just…”

By this point, Yuan Zengxi’s face had flushed red.

He clearly had no good impression of Jiang Shangbai’s HR director: “She’s exactly the worst kind of HR—eyes on the back of her head, nose stuck up in the air. We headhunters are supposed to be equal partners with them, but she acts like we’re her grandsons!”

To put it mildly, Yuan Zengxi’s communication with her had been extremely unpleasant. It had gotten so bad that the moment Lin Koukou called and introduced herself, the other party hung up immediately.

Yuan Zengxi was upset and regretful: “I really did try to communicate properly. It’s my fault for losing my temper back then…”

He wanted to explain further and reflect on his actions.

But unexpectedly, Lin Koukou cut him off: “No, you weren’t wrong.”

Wang Liang looked at her, confused.

Pei Shu, however, seemed to realize something, his brow quirking slightly.

Sure enough, the woman who had once been boycotted by nearly every HR in Shanghai proceeded to drop a bombshell without batting an eye: “HR often doesn’t do human things. Nine out of ten HR people are terrible, and the one decent one has already been fired by the capitalists. We’re professional headhunters—if they give us attitude when we try to communicate, it’s their problem. How could you be wrong? Believe in yourself.”

“…”

Wang Liang was stunned. Yuan Zengxi was stunned too.

If not for her final line—”Believe in yourself”—they might have thought she was being sarcastic!

Pei Shu could only marvel: It was nothing short of a miracle that this woman hadn’t been hunted down by every HR in Shanghai and was still alive and well.