Chapter 37
Charlotte turned around and was quite surprised to see her cousin dressed like that - it wasn't the style she'd expected at all.
She looked nothing like a professional white-collar worker who'd climbed to general manager in an office. Instead, she looked more like some internet influencer heading to a bar party who'd beg for gifts during a livestream.
Charlotte looked Nora up and down, raising her eyebrows slightly.
For some reason, being watched by those almond-shaped eyes made Nora feel uncomfortable all over.
How dare this girl, who was lower in rank than her, look at her with such contempt, completely disregarding her!
Nora walked right over in her high heels, glaring at Charlotte with an intimidating presence, sizing her up.
"So you're the new deputy manager? I'm telling you, what's wrong with HR? They're just stuffing anyone into the sales department!"
Scattered snickers rose from around them, clearly agreeing with what Nora said.
Charlotte's expression didn't change. She said calmly, "If you're not satisfied, you can go talk to Ms. Langley about it."
"Don't try to use Victoria to pressure me! As long as I have a word with her, you think I can't get you fired? It's just that she's busy managing the whole Langley Group, so I don't even get to see her at the company."
Nora pursed her lips, crossing her arms and staring hard at Charlotte.
When she'd heard today that a deputy manager had been promoted, she was shocked and had someone look into it, but they couldn't find any information.
All she knew was that this so-called deputy manager had gotten in through internal company decisions.
This meant the girl had connections in the company, and like her own father, was connected to someone in the decision-making layer.
Either one of her uncles, or possibly some shareholders.
She couldn't afford to offend such people, and couldn't go to great lengths to investigate either.
Thinking about this made Nora even more annoyed.
"Fine, you got in through connections, and I can't do anything about you right now."
Nora reached out and snatched the paper from Charlotte's hand. After glancing at it, she tore it in half, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it in the trash.
Charlotte looked down at the freshly printed rules and regulations in the trash, her eyes becoming completely cold.
"The sales department is my territory, and I make the rules. On your first day, you're pulling this kind of thing to show your authority - are you deliberately disrespecting me?" Nora demanded aggressively.
The employees around them all showed gleeful expressions, wanting to watch the drama unfold.
Someone said quietly, "This deputy manager is way too bold, daring to put on airs in front of Nora. Even if she has connections, can her background be deeper than Nora's?"
"Nora is Mr. Langley's daughter, a young lady of the Langley family. This deputy manager is probably just some distant relative of some executive at best, right? How can she compare to Nora?"
Charlotte's gaze was very calm. "Ms. Langley, the system I created is based on market conditions and the sales department's actual capabilities. You tore it up without even looking - isn't that disrespectful to me?"
Nora's expression changed. "Disrespectful to you? So what!"
Charlotte glanced at these employees' desks.
"The entire sales department has loose discipline, people doing all sorts of things, noisy like a farmer's market. Only an unprofessional person could run a department like this."
Nora's face completely darkened. "You're saying I'm unprofessional?"
"I'm just stating facts."
Charlotte looked at her fearlessly, her eyes remaining indifferent throughout.
"As the sales department of the Langley Group, you should originally be the number one revenue department, but your performance for an entire quarter accounts for less than one-third of the group's total revenue."
Everyone was stunned.
"But according to the group's structure, your sales department should contribute at least fifty to sixty percent of the revenue."
Charlotte paused and walked up to the somewhat dazed Nora.
"This shows that there are major problems with the current sales department management. There's no clear target assessment mechanism, and employees are just coasting along."
In one breath, she had lectured Nora and criticized the entire department.
Nora's face instantly flushed red with anger, her teeth clenched tight.
She hadn't expected this girl to embarrass her like this in front of the entire department!
Her eyes turned terrifyingly cold as she said word by word, "Stop showing off here! Deliberately using professional jargon - who do you think you are? Just because someone in the company promoted you and got you in here, you really think you're the one calling the shots in the sales department?"
Nora raised her chin. "Let me tell you, I'm in charge of this department. If I don't agree with your stuff, it's just waste paper to me, useless, understand?"
Charlotte didn't get angry, just smiled slightly.
"So you're saying that in this department, only you can make decisions, and everyone else has no say?"
"So what if that's true?"
Nora became arrogant. "I'm your superior anyway. Even if I suppress you and don't let you make these rules, you can only listen obediently! Do you have any objections?"
Charlotte stared at her steadily. "What if I'm more capable than you? Wouldn't I be able to manage the sales department instead of you?"
As soon as these words came out, everyone's expressions changed, their eyes full of disdain as they looked at Charlotte.
What capability could Charlotte have?
From the looks of her, she was clearly just here to coast along.
Nora narrowed her eyes. "How are you going to prove it?"
Charlotte stared at her coldly. "Let's make a bet."
Nora became even more wary. "What bet?"
"The bet is that I'll personally close a difficult deal."
Charlotte glanced at Lily.
Lily immediately handed over the schedule of clients the sales department was receiving today.
"Coming later is Ms. Garcia from Sterling Group. She's coming personally to discuss jewelry raw material procurement. If I can close this deal, wouldn't that prove my capability is fine and that I'm qualified to make rules here?"
"What if you can't close it? Will you give up your deputy manager position?" Nora asked eagerly.
Charlotte nodded. "Fine. If I can't close it, I can resign to take responsibility."
As soon as she finished speaking, everyone froze, looking at her in disbelief.
Someone gasped, "Sterling Group - that's a notoriously difficult company to deal with."
"Exactly, and this Ms. Garcia is famously difficult too. Last time people from our department went three times in a row, and she wouldn't see them."
"This time, only because the Langley family is hosting a reunion banquet and invited her, she's giving us face as a long-term partner of the Langley Group and coming to discuss cooperation in person. And even then, she might not actually work with us."
"This newcomer really doesn't know her limits, stupid as hell."
Everyone looked at Charlotte with eyes full of contempt.