Love Affairs in Melbourne-Chapter 208 - 205 Purely Coincidental

Yan Yan met Ye Mo purely by coincidence.

During her freshman year winter break, Yan Yan returned from Xiamen to Wenzhou for the New Year celebration.

At that time, Qin Shaohua was still the deputy manager of the foreign trade department at Yanlu Machinery.

Ye Mo was not recruited through standard procedures for the position of manager of the foreign trade department; there seemed to be some nepotism involved, at least that’s how it appeared.

However, Qin Shaohua’s personality was such that he never entertained the idea of giving anyone special treatment.

Qin Shaohua enforced an "equality for all" policy in the foreign trade department, focusing solely on performance without considerations for relationships.

If someone failed to secure a single order within three months, they could be directly dismissed.

When Yan Yan returned home for the holidays, Ye Mo had already been working unproductively in the foreign trade department of Yanlu Machinery for two and a half months.

The system was designed by Qin Shaohua, and he generally took new employees under his leadership.

Qin Shaohua adopted a rather unique approach toward "nepotistic" Ye Mo—he left him to his own devices.

He simply ignored him, acting as if he didn’t exist.

Thus, the new employee Ye Mo didn’t know what he was supposed to do, nor did he know how to obtain his first foreign trade order. The two and a half months could be described as fruitless.

At that time, Qin Shaohua and the foreign trade department manager’s conflict were reaching a peak.

Deputy manager Qin Shaohua, young and vigorous with good performances, was undaunted.

The legitimate manager felt extremely uneasy as he couldn’t spare the energy and attention to focus on new employees.

Consequently, Ye Mo was treated like air even by those connections of his.

Just starting out and completely ignorant about office politics, Ye Mo had no clue where to start in terms of business.

Naturally quiet and further confused by the ongoing struggle between the two managers, Ye Mo, due to his personality, never asked questions even when he didn’t understand something.

Like a headless fly, Ye Mo randomly navigated, facing rejections everywhere.

With only half a month left to his three-month deadline, Ye Mo still hadn’t managed to contribute even the slightest to the foreign trade department.

Unable to fulfill the "newcomer’s order-taking task," Ye Mo’s emotions collapsed at this point and his self-awareness reached an unprecedented low.

At Yanlu Machinery, aside from technical matters, Lu Bingran managed all other medium and minor issues, paying attention to every detail.

Due to his poor performance that made it impossible to justify his role, others didn’t plead for him to stay, and Ye Mo had no face to remain at the company.

The day Yan Yan saw Ye Mo was also the day he returned to the company after being absent without excuse for two days.

Yan Yan "passed by" Lu Bingran’s office, where Ye Mo was trying to resign.

His reason for resigning was that he felt after spending over two months in the foreign trade department without selling a single machine, he was seriously holding back the department, and thus he believed this job was probably not suitable for him.

Ye Mo was treated by Qin Shaohua as a connection of the foreign trade department manager, but in reality, Ye Mo and that manager couldn’t be more distant.

Ye Mo was recommended by a key technical person at Yanlu Machinery, possibly a family relative or something similar, though the specifics were not clearly stated.

If the technical lead wanted to refer someone to the company, naturally he would approach Yan Da.

Yan Da always helped his capable subordinates, but he didn’t handle these matters himself; instead, he passed Ye Mo’s resume to his wife.

Lu Bingran, having seen the resume and noting his studies in Italian, asked the foreign trade department manager to arrange an interview.

Normally, the hiring process for the foreign trade department involved letting Qin Shaohua conduct the first round of interviews, after which the outcome would determine whether the manager would interview him to decide his fate in the company.

At that time, the manager of the Foreign Trade Department was deeply worried about his position in the company, so he didn’t follow the usual procedures and directly hired "the person the boss wanted."

This abnormal procedure was also the root cause of a series of subsequent events.

____________________

Ye Mo, who had developed a major doubt about his own abilities, had initially intended to leave the company directly.

This was why he had been absent from work for two days prior to this.

The technical backbone who had recommended Ye Mo scolded him bitterly when he found out about this.

Speaking very strictly to his own younger relative, he told Ye Mo that if he intended to leave, he should do it with dignity, like a proper individual.

Thus, Ye Mo was compelled to go to Lu Bingran to resign.

When Yan Yan entered Lu Bingran’s office, Ye Mo was explaining his reasons without any assertiveness, "I feel... maybe... I’m not cut out for sales. I’ve tried for over two months... with no results at all. Instead of waiting to be fired next month, I might as well... resign on my own initiative."

"I think you’re especially cut out for sales though." Yan Yan always entered her mother’s office without hesitation, not intending to stay, but purely just "passing by."

With this unexpected remark, Yan Yan made her presence felt before heading straight to the wardrobe room behind Lu Bingran’s office to check out the new bags and shoes her mother had amassed over the last six months.

Yan Yan’s family had long considered the factory as their home.

So, when Yanlu Shoe Machine was upgraded to Yanlu Machinery and a new office building was constructed, Lu Bingran, who considered dressing up as a top priority in life, had no particular requests apart from wanting a huge wardrobe and makeup room in her office.

Lu Bingran’s love for beauty was inherent, and since the office building of Yanlu Shoe Machine was self-built and Yan Dabang loved his wife deeply, he could not deny her even this small wish.

That day, Yan Yan was picked up by her own driver directly from the train station to the factory.

Knowing that Ye Mo was introduced by a technical backbone and that Yan Dabang had given her his resume, Lu Bingran did not immediately accept Ye Mo’s resignation but just mentioned she would think it over.

When Yan Yan left for university, it was the first time Lu Bingran had not seen her daughter for a whole semester. After sending Ye Mo away, she immediately went to the dressing room as well.

"Why do you think Ye Mo is particularly cut out for sales?" Lu Bingran hurried to her wardrobe to see her daughter, but she didn’t start with the cliché greeting of "Come here and let mom have a look at you."

When Yan Yan was a freshman, Mr. and Mrs. Yan still hoped to see if they could groom their daughter as their successor.

Yan Yan seldom mentioned topics related to business, so the offhand remark she made about Ye Mo became something Lu Bingran took quite seriously and questioned further.

"That guy named Ye Mo? It was just a casual remark," Yan Yan honestly admitted.

"How could you make such remarks in front of him?" Lu Bingran was a bit disappointed, feeling the small hope that had just risen inside her vanish instantly.

Whether Yan Yan could succeed her was, at that time, a crucial matter relating to when she could retire.

"Ah, mom, the expression on your face when you see your darling daughter seems a bit off~

Plus, I wasn’t exactly talking nonsense.

The most important task of a salesperson is to sell things, right?

But being able to sell doesn’t necessarily mean one is naturally good material for sales.

It’s just that he happened to be doing this job.

Similarly, not being able to sell doesn’t always mean one isn’t good material.

Having no achievements and feeling completely frustrated, needing orders to feel accomplished...

Such a person inherently has good material for sales; he just hasn’t found the method yet.

Doesn’t dad always say that jade must be carved to become a useful object?" Yan Yan had been joining debate competitions since high school, and her speeches could always pour out some seemingly profound principles.

"So, Miss Yan, how do you think this raw jade should be handled?" Lu Bingran couldn’t directly expose Yan Yan’s flowery rhetoric and simply continued with a smile as she questioned Yan Yan.