Chapter 13

Lin Koukou had been navigating the Hunting Ground for years. While some of her titles might have been slightly exaggerated, the moniker “HR Enemy” was one she’d earned through sheer capability.  

With her skills, countless major corporations had extended olive branches, hoping to poach her as their HR director—or at least to oversee their recruitment efforts.  

But Lin Koukou had flatly refused every offer.  

Otherwise, a year ago, she wouldn’t have clashed so fiercely with Quantum Group over their attempt to transfer her Headhunting Elite Recruitment Team, leading to that ugly fallout.  

After delivering remarks that would undoubtedly trend if leaked, Lin Koukou remained utterly unruffled, stating calmly, “But principles aside, the work must go on. Since Director Su isn’t answering our calls, we’ll pay her a visit in person. Commissioner Wang, we’d appreciate it if you could arrange a meeting for us.”  

Wang Liang immediately looked horrified. “Just… show up directly?”  

Lin Koukou said, “I prefer face-to-face discussions.”  

As the old saying goes, meeting in person fosters goodwill.  

A headhunter’s golden rule: meet if possible, call if you must, and avoid text at all costs.  

Humans are social creatures. Face-to-face, even the most insincere courtesy demands a veneer of civility—things rarely escalate to outright humiliation.  

Wang Liang hesitated, unsure whether Su Ying would agree.  

Lin Koukou said, “If we lose this deal, your job will be on the line too.”  

Hearing this, Wang Liang knew he had no way out.  

Gritting his teeth, he said, “I’ll try. I’ll notify you as soon as I have news.”  

Wang Liang left, with Yuan Zengxi seeing him out.  

Only Lin Koukou and Pei Shu remained in the conference room.  

Pei Shu, seated to the side, watched her before suddenly applauding. “Impressive. Truly impressive. A whole morning gone, and we’ve got absolutely nowhere.”  

Kicking someone when they were down was his specialty, and sarcasm was his forte.  

Lin Koukou gathered her things, then paused as if struck by a thought. She flashed him a smile. “Who says we’ve got nowhere? The lead is sitting right in front of me.”  

Pei Shu’s expression turned peculiar. “Me?”  

Lin Koukou nodded. “Since this is a dead deal as assessed by Consultant Pei, I assume you must’ve done some preliminary research before making that judgment—drafted a Talent Map for the liquor industry and a Talent Persona matching the role’s requirements, right?”  

Crossroads was a professional headhunting firm, and Lin Koukou was familiar with their workflow.  

After receiving a case from a client, they would analyze the position’s needs, conduct industry Mapping—creating Talent Maps and Personas—to understand the sector’s landscape. With these profiles, they could pinpoint specific talents, list them as “Candidates,” and gradually identify the best fit through interviews and interactions.  

Even if this was a dead deal, it was a three-million-yuan dead deal.  

Given Pei Shu’s style, he wouldn’t have abandoned it without investigation.  

Clearly, she’d guessed right.  

Pei Shu found it unbelievable. “You’re taking over a dead deal I assessed, and now you’re asking me for its data?”  

Lin Koukou said, “Right now, all I’ve got is Yuan Zengxi. You’re not expecting me to handle this alone, are you?”  

Pei Shu: “…”  

Lin Koukou pressed, “Are you giving it to me or not?”  

Pei Shu clenched his jaw, realizing he had no choice. After glaring at her for several seconds, he finally turned and called out the door, “Meng Zhixing, bring me the Mapping Report for the Jiang Shangbai case!”

Meng Zhixing came in carrying a file folder.  

Lin Koukou smiled and thanked him.  

Pei Shu asked, “What’s your next move?”  

Lin Koukou looked at him. “Want to know?”  

Pei Shu had a bad feeling.  

Sure enough, she gave him a benevolent smile and said leisurely, “Can’t tell you.”  

With that, she took the documents and left.  

Pei Shu remained seated, nearly choking on her words.  

It had to be said, the headhunting team at Crossroads was truly exceptional. Based on the Mapping Report Lin Koukou had obtained, it covered the industry’s current state, Jiang Shangbai’s position within the sector, and provided a nearly complete Talent Persona and Talent Map for the Market Director role.  

However, the final conclusion was: almost no one in the report truly met Jiang Shangbai’s needs.  

The last page even had Pei Shu’s handwritten note.  

Lin Koukou saw the line of fluid cursive: “Doable, high difficulty, poor ROI, not pursuing.”  

Doable, but not pursuing?  

So, the only reason Pei Shu had labeled this deal a dead deal was because the return on investment was too low—not enough money?  

That was just like him.  

Lin Koukou immediately called Yuan Zengxi over, removed the last page, and tossed the entire report to him. “Study this. Based on the Talent Persona, find me a few resumes—they don’t have to be the most recent.”  

She briefly explained her requirements.  

Yuan Zengxi didn’t understand why she wanted it done this way, but he knew how to follow instructions. He accepted the task and hurried off to work.  

The next day, five resumes were placed on Lin Koukou’s desk.  

Wang Liang also sent word that he had scheduled a meeting with Su Ying for 2:30 p.m., but time was tight, so he hoped they wouldn’t be late.  

Lin Koukou took Yuan Zengxi and the resumes, heading straight out.  

From his office across the way, Pei Shu watched her leave.  

Not long after, Sun Kecheng came looking for Lin Koukou with a stack of documents but didn’t find her. He knocked on Pei Shu’s door instead. “Where’s Consultant Lin?”  

Pei Shu replied irritably, “She’s out.”  

Sun Kecheng was surprised. “Where to? I’ve got some onboarding documents to confirm with her.”  

Pei Shu lowered his gaze. “Probably went to Jiang Shangbai.”  

Sun Kecheng let out an “Oh” and turned to leave, but noticing Pei Shu’s displeased expression, a mischievous thought struck him. He turned back and said, “She just got here and is already working on your dead deal. You don’t seem too happy about it.”  

Pei Shu shot him a cold glance and snorted. “Let’s see if she can pull it off first.”  

In the time it would take to complete the Jiang Shangbai deal, they could’ve closed a 20-million-yuan contract. Lin Koukou must be out of her mind.  

Jiang Shangbai Distillery was located in a remote industrial park, occupying its own standalone building.  

Lin Koukou and Yuan Zengxi arrived early. Wang Liang was still in a meeting upstairs and couldn’t come down yet, so they waited at the reception.  

The receptionist didn’t neglect them. Upon learning they were visiting headhunters, she proactively brought them water.  

Just then, a man walked in from outside.  

He looked about twenty-six or twenty-seven, young and dressed in a clean, well-tailored suit. Tall and lean, he had sharp, hawk-like eyes. Without glancing at anyone else, he addressed the receptionist directly. “TalentRise Headhunting, scheduled appointment with HR Director Su at 2 p.m.”  

Lin Koukou looked up abruptly upon hearing this.  

Yuan Zengxi was even more surprised. “TalentRise?”

The four top headhunting firms in the industry: Refine, Jiasin, Truer, and Sino-foreign joint venture Tonghui International.  

Each name carries significant weight in the field.  

Truer is one of the more established among them, second only to Refine. Its Headhunting Department Director, Lu Taosheng, is a renowned top headhunter in the industry. Over the past year, a newcomer named Xue Lin has rapidly risen through the ranks, achieving the position of Deputy Director at lightning speed—rumored to be exceptionally skilled.  

The fact that this person was from Truer inevitably commanded respect.  

Hearing the voices, the man turned around, giving the two a quick glance. He barely paid attention to Yuan Zengxi but took a longer look at Lin Koukou before asking, “And you two are…?”  

Lin Koukou remained silent.  

Yuan Zengxi, still a newcomer to the industry, was brimming with curiosity about the Big Four headhunting firms. Seeing someone from one in person for the first time, he was both thrilled and awed, instinctively rising to his feet. “Hello, hello! We’re also headhunters.”  

The man responded politely, “What a coincidence. I’m from Truer—Zhou Fei.”  

Yuan Zengxi eagerly pulled out his business card from his pocket and handed it over. “Yuan Zengxi, from Crossroads Headhunting.”  

Crossroads?  

Zhou Fei let out an “Ah,” his enthusiasm noticeably increasing. “Crossroads headhunters are quite famous in the industry. I’ve heard a lot about you.”  

Yuan Zengxi quickly waved his hands. “No, no, I… I don’t count yet. I’m still in the new talent pool, just an assistant consultant.”  

At those words, Zhou Fei’s earlier enthusiasm instantly deflated.  

Taking the card, he saw it bore no formal title.  

Crossroads was indeed well-known, but its new talent pool was infamous for its fierce competition—nine out of ten recruits were weeded out every month, and even the remaining one wasn’t guaranteed to stay.  

He had assumed this was a proper headhunting consultant.  

Just an assistant?  

A hint of disdain flickered in Zhou Fei’s heart. But since he’d already taken the card, he couldn’t openly show it. He forced a smile. “Well, that’s alright. Crossroads has great prospects. We at Truer are just riding on the company’s reputation to scrape by—nothing too impressive. We still have much to learn from our peers. Oh, my appointment’s almost due—I should head up now. Is this your WeChat? I’ll add you later.”  

Lin Koukou watched his seemingly warm smile with cold eyes, a trace of mockery curling at the corner of her lips.  

Yuan Zengxi, however, was momentarily stunned, completely unprepared for such politeness.  

Overjoyed, he said, “That’d be great! We won’t keep you—please go ahead.”  

Zhou Fei nodded and strode toward the elevator.  

Around the corner stood a trash bin.  

Once out of sight, his earlier courtesy and warmth vanished. Glancing at the business card in his hand, he scoffed and casually tossed it into the bin.  

Yuan Zengxi was still elated, about to share his excitement with Lin Koukou, when he turned and noticed her gaze fixed intently in a certain direction.  

Puzzled, he asked, “Consultant Lin?”  

Then, following her line of sight, his smile froze abruptly, the color draining from his face—  

Though the trash bin was around the corner and theoretically out of view from the front desk, the polished glass wall opposite the elevator clearly reflected what happened in the hidden alcove.  

All smiles to their faces, yet tossing the business card away the moment their backs were turned.  

And this was someone from Truer…

Only a year has passed, how could someone like this get into Turui? Didn’t Lu Taosheng even vet them?

Lin Koukou glanced at Yuan Zengxi and said, “Yuan…”

She tried to offer some comfort.

Unexpectedly, Yuan Zengxi’s eyes reddened, but he remained silent. Zhou Fei had already taken the elevator upstairs. Yuan stepped forward and retrieved his business card from the trash bin.

The name “Yuan Zengxi” was printed on it, but the white edges were stained with grime from the bin, like a gaping mouth mocking him.

Lin Koukou walked over and stood behind him.

Yuan Zengxi clenched the card, wiping away the stains with his fingers, forcing down the surge of emotions. He forced a smile and said to Lin Koukou, “It’s fine, it’s fine. Maybe they already saved my contact info. Crossroads might be impressive, but I’m just a small-time amateur—can’t compare to proper headhunters from big firms like them…”

“Proper headhunters from big firms?”

Lin Koukou chuckled at this, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Most headhunters were shrewd and knew how to handle people.

But in a big forest, you’ll find all kinds of birds.

With so many newcomers flooding into the industry these past years and no real barriers to entry, it was inevitable that some bad apples would slip through. Some headhunters from major firms, convinced of their own elite status, looked down on peers they deemed inferior. Occasionally running into someone who lacked basic decency wasn’t exactly rare.

She simply remarked, “If big firms are full of people like this, they’re probably not far from disaster.”