Chapter 5 — The day I disappeared, they realized their mistake

On the screen is— The PPT I made.

"You're the one who uploaded this version. Did you make it?" she did not raise her head.

“You studied data analysis?”

"Self-study. Online course."

“Last page of growth forecast, where do the data come from?”

“Quarterly report. Adjusted to industry average.”

She finally looked up. Look at me for about five seconds. I stood straight, my palms wet with sweat.

“You shouldn't just do administrative work.”

A week later, Ms. Lam sent me to the sales department. Position: business assistant. Basic salary 6,000 yuan, plus project commission. This news exploded in the company, especially in the administrative department. Tieu Chu pulled me aside after work: "What did you do? Was it because of a relationship?"

“I made a PPT.”

She doesn't believe it. The sales department also didn't believe it.

“From administrative to?” A three-year employee glanced at me, "What kind of meeting with customers?"

I didn't reply. The first time I met a customer was a cross-border e-commerce company. The person in charge of them is over forty, surnamed Hoang. I follow the training process, introduce products, present plans, and quote prices. Mr. Hoang listened for five minutes and interrupted:

“Girl, you don't even know our industry's return rate standards, what's your plan for me?”

I stopped. The meeting room was silent for three seconds. The two people on the other side exchanged a look—the “as expected of a newbie” look. Back at my seat, I pretended to look at the computer. Eyes turn red, but don't let tears fall. That night I did not return to the boarding house. Sitting in a KFC near the company, spending 22 yuan on coffee and a chicken roll, opening the computer, looking up all the public reports on the cross-border e-commerce industry. Return rates, logistics cost structures, platform discount rates, consumer complaint hotspots, competitors' pricing strategies— Over the course of a weekend, I dissected Mr. Hoang's company's business model to the hilt. On Monday morning, I asked Ms. Lam to let me see my guests again. She looked at me: "Are you ready?" The second time comes. Mr. Hoang saw that it was me again and raised his eyebrows. I open a new plan.

"Mr. Huang, last time you mentioned the return rate. Last year yours was about 12%, while the industry average was 8.7%. The main reason is not product quality, but logistics time—your transit warehouse is in Yiwu, but 70% of orders go to the West Coast of North America. If you switch to our front-line warehouse in Los Angeles, the shipping time from 14 days is reduced to 5 days, the return rate can drop below 6%."

Mr. Hoang put down the tea cup.

"According to the current unit, each year you lose about 1.8 million yuan due to refunds. Using our plan, the fee is 850,000 yuan per year, net savings are 950,000. If the first year is not successful, we will refund prorated."

The meeting room was silent. Mr. Hoang looked at the deputy general next to him. The other person nodded.

“Send me the contract.”

Contract 300,000 yuan a year. The first month I entered the sales department, I signed the first contract myself. Back to the company, I placed the contract on Ms. Lam's desk. She flipped through it, expressionless. Then closed it, leaned back in the chair, looked at me.

“To Niem, do you know what you're missing?”

I stood still.

“Not ability.”

She pointed at my eyes.

"It's here. When you look at the customer, your eyes seem to say 'sorry for disturbing you'. Wrong."

She stopped.

“Your plan is worth the price there. Her personality is also worthy. Don't always think you're not enough.”

I nodded. Unable to hold back, a tear fell. Just one drop. I quickly wiped it away. Ms. Lam pretended not to see. Picked up the phone and said: "Let's go, I'll invite you to eat." Celebration."

“Japanese food. You choose.”

That night, I ate the first Japanese meal of my life, more than two hundred yuan per person. Salmon melts in the mouth, grilled eel is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Picking up a piece of sushi, I suddenly remembered—before, every time I craved something, my first thought was not "going to eat", but "this money is enough for mom to work two more days". Now there's no need to think anymore. I put it in my mouth. Fresh fish. Warm rice. Life, in the end, is yours.