The next morning’s meeting, after everyone finished their work reports, Manager Wang casually asked Lu Nan a question. 

Yesterday, despite being very busy, Lu Nan remained calm and quickly summarized her work from the day before. 

“What are your thoughts on your work yesterday?” Manager Wang asked with a smile. 

Lu Nan replied, “There’s still a lot for me to learn.” 

Actually, before the morning meeting, Manager Wang had already spoken with Li Li and Zhou Tian. Both of them had a favorable impression of Lu Nan. 

At this moment, Manager Wang nodded satisfactorily, pleased with Lu Nan’s clear and focused work report, as well as her humble attitude. He then turned to Chen Xiao, who sat to his right, and asked, “Brother Xiao, what do you think?” Don’t misunderstand; Manager Wang was definitely older than Chen Xiao, who had graduated just last year. He called him “Brother” just to indicate that the meeting was over, and it was now time for casual conversation. 

Sure enough, everyone around the conference table started packing up their belongings and getting ready for their respective tasks of the day, paying no mind to whom Manager Wang referred to as “brother”. Outside of official discussions, Manager Wang was always so humble when not talking about business. 

Chen Xiao smiled and said, “I’ll show Lu Nan around today.” 

As soon as he said this, Sasha, who was sitting to his right, paused for a moment while closing her laptop. 

Lu Nan nodded, “Okay, Brother Chen.” She didn’t ask where they were going or what they would be doing. Instead, she swiftly gathered her notebook and pen, glanced at Chen Xiao, and indicated that she was prepared to leave whenever he was ready. 

Manager Wang imitated Lu Nan, clearing his throat and jokingly saying, “Does ‘Brother Chen’ sound good, or does ‘Brother Xiao’ sound better?” 

“Don’t tease me, Brother Wang.” Chen Xiao said as he put away the tablet and tapped the conference table lightly. Seeing Lu Nan’s confused and bewildered look, he added seriously, “Let’s go.” 

Sasha hurriedly packed everything into her bag in one swift motion, and quickly followed Chen Xiao and Lu Nan out of the office and into the same elevator. 

“Chen Xiao, are you heading to Feixiang Advertising? I’m going that way too; shall I give you a ride?” Sasha asked casually. 

Chen Xiao was briefly taken aback, then smiled and said, “Sure, thanks, Sasha.” 

Lu Nan quietly observed everything without a word. 

When they reached the parking lot, Lu Nan proactively opened the back passenger door and got in. 

Chen Xiao maintained a polite smile and calmly opened the front passenger door. 

Inside the car, jazz music played softly as the silver Audi pulled out of the garage and merged into the bustling traffic. 

Since starting the car, Sasha seemed to be in a good mood. Along the way, she chatted with Chen Xiao about recent events and interesting things in their lives and work. Occasionally, she included Lu Nan in the conversation and invited her to participate. 

“So, you’re saying you’ve managed to persuade Director Yang?” Sasha asked subtly. 

Chen Xiao tapped the leather armrest with his finger and said helplessly, “Nothing can escape from Sister Sha’s sharp eyes. 

Sasha quickly explained, “When Manager Wang called me and my uncle to ask about the payment arrangements, I overheard Manager Wang say that the city was going to sign a Classic Wine distributor recently. Thinking about where you’ve been recently, I made this guess.” 

“It’s fine. There were no definite plans before, and it’s not something to boast about at the office. Director Yang called me last night, saying he’s almost decided and asked me to come by again. I reckon signing the contract will happen in the next couple of days. There’s nothing to hide… but it’s probably best to wait until everything is settled before sharing it openly. What do you two beautiful ladies think?” 

Sasha expressed a mixture of cleverness in guessing the truth and delight in being entrusted by Chen Xiao. “Don’t worry, I haven’t told anyone else what you’ve told me.” 

Chen Xiao seemed not to notice Sasha’s overly familiar tone and turned to the back seat, asking, “Lu Nan, what about you…” 

Lu Nan nodded, “Don’t worry, Brother Chen, I understand.” 

… 

Sasha kindly dropped off Chen Xiao and Lu Nan as a courtesy at the entrance of Feixiang Advertising Company. She seemed somewhat reluctant and asked, “Well, I don’t have much to do this morning anyway. How about I join you guys?” 

Chen Xiao chuckled, “I’ll be discussing business with Director Yang, and Lu Nan is here to observe and learn. If you join us, when we walk in and they see me with two lovely ladies, who knows what they’ll think. You go ahead with your work. Finish up quickly and leave early, okay?” 

“Alright then, I’ll head off. If our timing aligns, maybe we can grab lunch together?” 

Chen Xiao casually replied, “We’ll see later.” 

Lu Nan got out of the car right after Chen Xiao and quickly said thank you before closing the door. 

Once out of the car, Chen Xiao confidently made his way to the security post for visitor registration. He explained to Lu Nan, “Feixiang Advertising Company is the designated advertising agency for Yuan Chuan in Hailin City. They handle all sorts of advertising brochures and materials for events.” 

“Last week, Yi Wei brought me here once, and I met Sister Pei who manages Feixiang,” Lu Nan said, indicating she wasn’t completely clueless. 

Chen Xiao nodded. “Alright, let’s go in.” 

Last time, Lu Nan and Yi Wei came to pick up the completed banners from the advertising company’s warehouse, and then they went to Sister Pei at Feixiang, who manages both the operations and finances, to sign the receipt. 

This time with Chen Xiao, the treatment was completely different. The boss of the advertising company, Mr. Yang, personally greeted them at the office door. 

Mr. Yang was about 40 years old, with a good figure, good looks, and a loud voice. He didn’t have the greasy feeling of a middle-aged man at all. It was obvious that he and Chen Xiao were already very familiar with each other. “Manager Chen, come, sit down, and have some tea.” 

Chen Xiao sat down naturally. “Mr. Yang, today I came to discuss our distribution contract with you.” 

“Well, Manager Chen,” Mr. Yang said as he fiddled with the purple clay tea set, pouring a small cup for Chen Xiao and Lu Nan. “I’ve thought about it carefully these past few days. I can increase the contract amount a bit. Four million doesn’t sound right, but adding one million is no problem. So, let’s sign a five million contract with your company and open a showroom in the city. However…” 

At times like this, any “however” was normal. 

Chen Xiao listened attentively. 

Mr. Yang continued, “However, I want to sign a full-channel contract, and regarding manufacturer subsidy costs, I need Manager Chen to negotiate for more.” 

“Mr. Yang…” Chen Xiao smiled helplessly. “There are strict rules regarding the support costs for distributors of different scales.” 

“You don’t need to tell me these theoretical things. We’ve been cooperating for three or four years. Although previously it was just making materials for your company, I still know some profit margins and distribution models in the liquor industry. Your city office must be eager to sign with a high-quality distributor of classic liquors this year, right? And I happen to be quite confident in your classic liquors. Let’s benefit each other!” Mr. Yang cut to the chase, “I know you can help me apply for more discounts.” 

Chen Xiao glanced at Lu Nan, who immediately understood. She picked up the purple tea pot and brewed another cup of tea, taking the initiative to serve Mr. Yang, “Mr. Yang, since you’ve been so direct, then Brother Chen will definitely try to meet your requirements as much as possible. After all, on the way here, Brother Chen told me that you have always supported his work…” 

During this time, Chen Xiao took out his tablet, slid the screen, and occasionally switched to the calculator. 

Lu Nan cooperated with Chen Xiao to give him more time to think. This was probably why Chen Xiao brought her here today. 

“As a complete newcomer (though I don’t want to emphasize it, being a young and fairly attractive girl), in such an informal negotiation setting, even if I say one or two wrong things, they won’t be taken seriously. It’s suitable for playing along, and even in situations where the other party is excessively bargaining, a few coquettish remarks won’t offend anyone. 

At the same time, Lu Nan knows that Chen Xiao’s current behavior is just for show. Perhaps he didn’t anticipate that Mr. Yang would actively propose increasing the contract amount, but he certainly expected negotiations on subsidy costs. 

Therefore, Chen Xiao’s calculations at this moment were three parts real and seven parts fake. 

He is calculating the entitled subsidies under the company’s policy for distributors signing a five-million contract, and what additional terms can increase these subsidies without violating the company’s price protection policy. 

The temptation of five million is definitely greater than four million. What concessions need to be made to satisfy both Mr. Yang and company’s higher-ups? 

This isn’t exploiting loopholes in the company; rather, it’s a negotiating tactic that shows Chen Xiao is diligently advocating for the distributors’ interests to facilitate contract signing. 

After all, adjustments such as store rent subsidies, store decoration subsidies, and store employee salary subsidies are flexible subsidies that the company can adjust. These are returned not in cash, but in the form of wine rebates to the distributors… Hence, there’s plenty of room for negotiation.