E-commerce sales department.

Because Manager Wang is still on leave, the entire department's workload has fallen entirely on Lu Li.

He took leave on Friday, leaving many pending tasks unaddressed, and now he's busy in the office.

Knock, knock knock.

The door was knocked on.

Outside, Xiaoqing's voice came through, "Deputy Manager Lu, the influencer and agent from Guochun Economy Company have arrived and are waiting in Meeting Room 3. Do you want to go over now?"

Lu Li paused his work, looked up, and replied, "Yes. Has Manager Zhu gone over?"

Xiaoqing said, "She's there."

Lu Li tidied up and walked out.

He opened the door and saw Xiaoqing waiting.

His gaze moved between Brother Cheng and Xiaoqing.

Lu Li looked at Xiaoqing and said, "You can come along."

Brother Cheng showed a bit of disappointment.

Xiaoqing, however, was full of joy and smiled sweetly, "Okay."

The two started walking outside while discussing work.

During the walk, they constantly exchanged about business matters.

"How's the livestreaming room setup coming along?"

"Halfway done. It's barely usable, but President Wang said the special effects and equipment aren't ready, so it's best to wait another three to five days."

"Why didn't Guochun come over the past few days? Did they give an explanation?"

"Yes, Agent Zhang said Flame Babe wasn't feeling well a few days ago and got delayed with IV drips at the hospital."

"I asked you to turn on the surveillance and recording in Meeting Room 3. Is that done?"

"The video and audio recordings are on."

In a few words, Lu Li and Xiaoqing reached the entrance of Meeting Room 3.

As he pushed open the meeting room door, he was still recalling snippets of a conversation he'd overheard with super hearing when Vice President Du was on the phone with a young woman earlier that day.

Lu Li estimated that Flame Babe and the Guochun Economy Company not coming for the interview a few days ago wasn't so simple.

As they entered the room,

They saw a tall woman in a sexy, sheer long dress sitting with her legs crossed.

The woman's figure was stunning, paired with an incredibly gorgeous face; no wonder she became a third-tier selling influencer even with just average communication skills.

Lu Li looked at her closely, knowing she was Flame Babe.

Yes, he glanced deeply indeed.

Sitting next to Flame Babe was a middle-aged man wearing glasses.

This person looked rather shrewd and was probably Flame Babe's agent.

Manager Zhu was already there. Seeing Lu Li and Xiaoqing enter, she immediately stood up, turned her head, and smiled as she introduced, "Agent Zhang, Miss Li, this is the person in charge of our livestreaming sales project, Lu Li, Deputy Manager Lu."

Agent Zhang stood up, reached out his hand, and greeted calmly, "Hello, Deputy Manager Lu."

Lu Li shook his hand and responded with some polite words.

Up until this point, everything was going smoothly.

However, a small incident occurred when shaking hands with Flame Babe.

Lu Li habitually shook hands and then instinctively tried to withdraw his hand.

Unexpectedly, Flame Babe not only had a flicker of emotion in her eyes but also lightly scratched Lu Li's palm with her fingers.

Lu Li smoothly withdrew his hand.

He could tell that Flame Babe might be a somewhat restless woman.

After the introductions,

Everyone sat down.

Xiaoqing served tea and water.

Lu Li and Agent Zhang began to converse, "Agent Zhang, we previously discussed cooperation terms over the phone. Are there any aspects of the conditions I proposed that you're dissatisfied with?"

Agent Zhang replied with a smile, "Aside from the thirty thousand contract fee being a bit low and the commission being a bit small, everything else is fine. I was expecting a commission of thirty percent of sales. That's the industry standard. In the past, Flame Babe got a thirty-five percent commission when endorsing snacks in livestreams."

The agency surely wants more, as they still have to split with the influencer.

Lu Li knew Agent Zhang was asking for a lot initially, but it's normal to ask high and settle lower. Negotiation is part of the process.

He glanced at Manager Zhu.

Manager Zhu understood and said, "As a well-known livestream seller, Flame Babe is certainly worth more than thirty thousand, and taking a thirty percent commission is fair. However, this is our first collaboration, and we're unsure of the exact livestream sales impact, which is why we dare not offer too high a signing fee and sales commission. Of course, if the collaboration goes well, the signing fee will surely increase during the next contract renewal."

Her words were very comforting, first affirming Flame Babe's value while gently letting them know that a price increase wasn't possible.

Bargaining in business is quite normal.

As the project leader, Lu Li would have to cooperate with Flame Babe in the future, so it wouldn't be suitable for him to be harsh; such matters are best handled by Manager Zhu.

After Manager Zhu finished, Lu Li looked at Agent Zhang and Flame Babe, ready for them to counter-offer.

Unexpectedly, Agent Zhang didn't haggle. "Manager Zhu makes a valid point. My Flame Babe primarily focused on livestreaming snacks before. This is her first attempt with high-tech home products, so it's understandable if the signing fee and commission you offered are a bit lower."

Flame Babe nodded slightly, supporting Agent Zhang's words.

Xiaoqing and Manager Zhu were a bit surprised.

They were prepared to allow room for a ten-thousand increase.

But the other party didn't push the price up.

Lu Li remained calm, seemingly not particularly excited about it.

He smiled and said, "I really appreciate Agent Zhang and Miss Li being so understanding."

"Oh!" Agent Zhang waved his hand, "Deputy Manager Lu, don't thank us just yet; we have some requests."

"Oh?" Lu Li looked over, "What are your requests?"

Agent Zhang and Flame Babe exchanged a glance, then said, "Manager Zhu suggested basing the signing fee on capability. While Flame Babe hasn't sold high-tech home products before, I'm confident she has the ability. So, I propose an idea for you to consider."

"Go ahead."

"We're listening."

Lu Li and Manager Zhu nodded.

Agent Zhang cleared his throat, "Let's have Flame Babe record a promotional short video, which you can then post on the platform. Spend a bit to boost its visibility and inform the public that Flame Babe will be promoting Vox products tonight. After a livestream session, we can discuss the signing fee and commission based on the sales performance. How does that sound?"

Determining the signing fee and commission based on performance seems reasonable.

Even though Lu Li previously overheard the contents of Vice President Du's phone call, he now felt that the opposite party was being quite sincere.

He wondered if Vice President Du hadn't settled things with Guochun Economy.

Thinking this, Lu Li said, "Livestreaming tonight might be a bit rushed. Our company's livestreaming room isn't fully set up yet."

Agent Zhang blinked and said, "Didn't I just hear that it's barely usable? It should be fine for just one night."

"I just found out the livestream room is barely usable, how did you know?"

Lu Li felt increasingly uneasy, but still couldn't pinpoint the other party's flaws.

After a brief pause, he said, "Alright, I'll go report this to the leadership. If nothing unexpected happens, how about we go live at 8 PM tonight, on time?"

"Sounds good." Agent Zhang stood up with a smile and said, "Looking forward to our cooperation."

Lu Li got up and shook hands with him again, "Looking forward to our cooperation."

...

8 PM in the evening.

The multi-function conference room on the west side of the second floor of the company.

This place had already been converted into a livestream room, and the big screen was long installed.

Perhaps everyone knew that the department's first livestream was happening tonight.

Therefore, except for Manager Wang, who was on leave, all the e-commerce salespeople worked overtime and gathered in the livestream room.

It was not just the entire e-commerce sales department.

As the direct superior department, the marketing department also sent a lot of people.

Manager Zhou, Vice Manager Lin, and more than a dozen other people were present.

Additionally, the quality control department and the procurement department also sent a few people to assist.

For a moment, the room was full of people.

"Isn't the Flames Baby here yet?"

"Manager Zhou, I just called. She's on the way."

"Tell her to hurry up! Look at the time!"

"Yes, I'll… I'll call again to urge her."

Manager Zhou, Vice Manager Lin, and other company executives looked grim.

Lu Li stood there with furrowed brows.

He had already suspected that there might be some issues with Agent Zhang and Flames Baby.

But he never expected that they would actually stand him up.

Forcing them to prepare for a livestream.

And now, when the livestream time was fast approaching, Flames Baby still hadn't appeared?

Lu Li finally understood what Vice President Du was hiding.

Undoubtedly, he wanted their department's first livestream to become a company-wide joke.

Then, Vice President Du could use this as an excuse to make things difficult, extending his influence into the department.

As for the Guochun Economy Company, they hadn't signed a formal contract.

Under normal circumstances, it seemed impossible to do anything about them.

Lu Li had prepared some leverage against them.

But at this point, discussing it was useless.

The livestream tonight couldn't happen.

Setting aside the possibility of Liu Kexin facing embarrassment at the company—

Focusing just on himself, he would never be able to assert himself in the department again.

He might even get someone parachuted in to take over his authority.

He could be indifferent to the company.

He could also hand over the department's authority.

But absolutely not in a way where it's snatched from him.

I can give it, but you cannot take it!

Time ticked away.

Co-host Li Shishi reminded, "Three minutes left."

Manager Zhou was furious, "Damn it, is Flames Baby still not here?"

Brother Cheng looked down, barely daring to breathe audibly.

Silence.

Endless silence spread throughout the livestream room.

Let alone Brother Cheng not daring to respond.

Not even Vice Manager Lin dared to respond to Manager Zhou at this moment.

Perhaps seeing no one speaking up,

Manager Zhou, burning with fury, abruptly turned to Lu Li and scolded, "Look at the mess you've made! Humiliating!"

Lu Li was not one to back down, "Why are you barking at me?"

These words shocked everyone present.

Deputy Manager Lin looked surprised.

Brother Cheng, Xiaoyu, and other members of the e-commerce sales department were almost scared out of their wits.

Meanwhile, the marketing department and others who came to assist with the livestream were all dumbfounded.

Nobody expected Lu Li to be so bold, actually saying that Manager Zhou was barking!

"You! You! You!"

Manager Zhou was so angry that his finger trembled, almost fainting from Lu Li's words.

Li Shishi looked at the time and weakly said, "One minute and fifty-nine seconds left... fifty-eight seconds..."

Manager Zhou was infuriated and flung his sleeve, "If nobody goes live today, let's see how you explain this to President Liu tomorrow!"

With that, he turned to leave.

Others also shook their heads, ready to disperse.

Nobody expected to hear Lu Li's calm voice from behind, "Who says no one is going live today?"

Upon hearing this, everyone was speechless, thinking if Flames Baby isn't here, who else could lead the livestream?

Yet just as everyone was filled with confusion, they caught sight of Lu Li stepping up to the host station.

Lu Li said to the scene controller Qian Yu, "Open the livestream interface!"

Huh?

You're hosting the livestream?

Manager Zhou was stunned.

Vice Manager Lin was also left in a daze.

The rest of the e-commerce sales department, the marketing department, and the dozens of others there all had expressions of utter shock!

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