Chapter 33: I Choose Happiness

Chapter 33: I Choose Happiness

“This is the lyrics and sheet music for ‘Monotony’. Take it to familiarize yourself first, but don’t rush to produce a finished version, and definitely don’t rush to release it. Wait until ‘Dullness’ has been officially released for a month… oh no, make it two weeks.”

Chen Feng instructed.

Zhong Lei nodded, “Okay.”

She didn’t dare to ask why.

She didn’t need to ask; she already knew what Chen Feng’s answer would be.

It was definitely that after ‘Dullness’ was officially released, it would surely become popular, her own value would rise, and people would take the initiative to contact her, and so on.

“By the way, if conditions allow, you should find a reliable local recording studio in Hanzhou for long-term cooperation. Otherwise, traveling back and forth to Zhonghai every time you need to record a song wastes too much time.”

Chen Feng continued to direct.

Zhong Lei had no objections, “Yes, actually, practicing singing shouldn’t rely only on the voice normally. Putting on good monitor headphones in a studio to listen to the playback is very helpful for me. But…”

“But what?”

“But I actually looked into it a bit. The best recording studio in Hanzhou seems to have some connection with that rich kid Zhou A.”

Chen Feng raised an eyebrow, “Then forget it. You’d better go to Zhonghai for now. By the way, how much money would it roughly cost to set up a studio like that yourself?”

“The kind by the roadside stalls aren’t meaningful. If you want truly high-quality equipment, it would start at least at five million.”

Chen Feng turned to look out the window, “Tonight’s moon is really big and round.”

The matter was tentatively settled for now.

Starting the next day, Chen Feng returned to his previous work routine.

But as an old saying goes, the tree may prefer calm, but the wind will not stop.

This was the situation Chen Feng now faced.

Now he was fully prepared, just waiting for Q Music to release ‘Dullness’, the east wind he needed.

If nothing unexpected happened, he would earn a large sum of money from that. If he didn’t buy a house, he should achieve financial freedom in the short term.

He wouldn’t have to keep his head down at the company anymore, sucking up to others. He wouldn’t have to scheme and fight over such petty gains.

His whole life could become much easier.

But now, before the east wind rose, a strange wind was swirling around him.

In the afternoon, the company conference room was hosting the monthly Kelai Apartment High-Tech Zone summary meeting.

Usually, this meeting was basically Lin De going up to spout some big talk, leading everyone to look forward to the future, and conveying a bit of the company headquarters’ spirit, and that was it.

But this time, the atmosphere was off. The trouble started when Chen Feng accidentally let his mind wander earlier.

“Chen Feng. Chen Feng? Chen Feng!”

He was lost in thought when his thigh was sharply poked by the colleague next to him. He faintly heard a call as if from a distant place.

It seemed Lin De, who was chairing the meeting, was calling him.

Chen Feng raised his hand and responded, “Here.”

Lin De on the podium had an unpleasant expression, seemingly very dissatisfied with Chen Feng’s distraction during the meeting.

“Here what? I asked you to stand up and explain the situation. Why has the occupancy rate of the Weston complex you’re responsible for been at the bottom of all the complexes in the High-Tech Zone for two consecutive months? Give me an explanation.”

Chen Feng was stunned.

What, so they were changing tactics again?

This wasn’t his fault.

The Weston complex was positioned as mid-to-high-end, with relatively high single-unit rents, but the surrounding office buildings hadn’t developed yet.

When he took over, the complex’s occupancy rate was even only about eighty percent. After his efforts for over half a year, and counting Zhong Lei’s move-in this month, it barely reached 91.25%, with only seven suites vacant.

Although it was still at the bottom within the High-Tech Zone, he was not at fault. On the contrary, he had contributed. Lin De had never made an issue of this before.

Chen Feng felt annoyed and shrugged, “Manager Lin, you know the situation at Weston, right? What explanation can I give? Besides, the complex occupancy rate has already exceeded 90%, meeting the company’s assessment standard.”

Lin De, who already intended to make trouble, didn’t expect Chen Feng to talk back, his words sarcastically implying that Lin De didn’t even understand the situation of the complexes within his own region, and his attitude was very stiff.

Feeling his pride wounded, Lin De flared up immediately.

“Nonsense! That’s because you live in one unit yourself! Remove your unit, and it’s not at 90%! And look at this chart again! Look at the number after your own name!”

The number Lin De pointed at was the number of new properties developed this month by each butler in the region.

Some had seven or eight, others had one or two. Only the number after Chen Feng’s name was 0.

Chen Feng had an explanation for this too.

“When you assigned me to Weston, the primary task you gave me was to digest the existing properties. In the past six months, besides maintaining existing clients, I raised the occupancy rate from around eighty to around ninety. So unless it was a very inexpensive bargain property, I didn’t waste energy negotiating.”

Lin De was publicly rebutted by him and was put in an awkward position.

“You…”

The other employees, seeing the summary meeting suddenly become tense, spoke up one after another, saying let it go, let it go.

But while they advised, some were actually secretly fanning the flames.

“The apartment complex under Chen Feng’s responsibility has failed to reach 90% for half a year continuously, falling below the assessment standard. Starting this month, 20% of your monthly bonus will be deducted. When it exceeds 90%, the full bonus will be reinstated! Meeting adjourned!”

Lin De threw down these final words, turned around, and left.

He didn’t bring up Chen Feng taking leave or slacking off during work hours anymore. Those were vague. The performance reason was hard enough. It was within his authority. What he said went.

Chen Feng was dumbfounded.

With this deduction by Lin De, he would lose about five hundred yuan every month.

It wasn’t a lot, but having his income cut for no reason, could he tolerate it?

Of course not!

Lin De left first. The people in the conference room soon dispersed.

Many people glanced at Chen Feng, who was still sitting there, as they left. It was unclear what they were thinking.

Some felt sympathy, some took pleasure in his misfortune, and others remained aloof and indifferent.

Manager Lin’s outburst today seemed somewhat unwarranted, but Chen Feng was the one who got caught.

“Chen Feng, I think, Manager Lin was a bit excessive today.”

About a minute or two later, a voice suddenly sounded beside Chen Feng.

Chen Feng looked back. It was Zhou Yunbo.

The two exchanged a smile that didn’t reach their eyes.

Chen Feng grinned, “Haven’t left yet? You think so too?”

Zhou Yunbo nodded, “But, the company naturally has its own rules and regulations. There’s no helping it. Just try harder next month.”

“You think I should just accept it?” Chen Feng asked.

Zhou Yunbo countered, “What else? Of course, if it were me, I definitely wouldn’t be able to accept it, couldn’t swallow the anger.”

“If it were you, what would you do?”

“The world is vast… Ahem… that’s not what I mean. You think about it yourself. I’m leaving first.”

Watching the man leave the conference room, the smile on Chen Feng’s face slowly faded.

This Zhou Yunbo was quite interesting.

When he first joined the company, he was originally assigned to another complex that had over sixty properties. That complex’s level was slightly lower than Weston’s, but its occupancy rate was a full one hundred percent, making it a mature complex.

But later for some reason, it was switched to Weston, which at the time had only a little over seventy percent occupancy rate. The previous mature community was assigned to Zhou Yunbo’s management area.

Compared to other managers, Zhou Yunbo was in charge of three communities by himself, totaling nearly two hundred apartments.

Oddly, Zhou Yunbo’s three communities were all very close to Weston.

Clearly, Lin De and Zhou Yunbo thought the fruit was ripe and it was time to pick it.

But, am I such an easy-to-bully soft persimmon?

After going out, Zhou Yunbo didn’t head to Lin De’s office. Instead, he went to a corner, took out his phone, and sent a WeChat message to Lin De.

“Boss, I just talked to him. He seemed quite unwilling and probably won’t hold on much longer.”

Lin De replied quickly, “Yeah, I’ll add some more pressure another day. He’ll probably leave on his own soon.”

“Thanks, boss.”

“No need to thank me. The company is integrating resources. Mid-to-high-end communities like Weston should naturally be managed by senior staff. If Chen Feng didn’t live in one of the units himself, I would have just taken it away from him outright.”

“Yeah!”

In the corner, Zhou Yunbo wore a smug expression, feeling very satisfied.

Back when the higher-ups wanted to assign Weston to him, he wasn’t happy because it would lower his performance metrics, so he tossed it to Chen Feng.

Now Weston was able to meet the standards. Calculated, it meant he wouldn’t have to do much work each month, yet he could get over two thousand in performance bonuses. Of course, Zhou Yunbo wanted to take over this success.

But in the company, image had to be considered. After all, it was Chen Feng who slowly increased Weston’s occupancy rate. Directly transferring him away would upset other managers. Squeezing him out until he left on his own was much more reasonable.

Originally, Lin De had started to think slightly better of Chen Feng in recent days. But bumping into him at the internet cafe this time and adding fuel to the fire came just at the right moment.

In the blink of an eye, two more days passed, and Lin De and Zhou Yunbo still hadn’t seen Chen Feng resign voluntarily.

The two figured they needed to add more pressure, but right then, Lin De was called upstairs to the company headquarters.

The regional director in charge of the entire Hanzhou City market had a serious talk with Lin De for over half an hour, hinting that the way to manage subordinates involved balancing tension and relaxation.

For some communities with special circumstances, since they were handed over to subordinates during the most difficult times, and were now clearly improving, he shouldn’t use rigid rules to discourage people.

Though the words weren’t spelled out completely, Lin De understood perfectly well.

After coming downstairs, Lin De, with a dark expression, called Chen Feng into his office.

“Did you go and complain?” he asked.

Chen Feng shook his head. “This isn’t complaining. This is fighting for my legitimate rights.”

“Do you know you’re breaking the rules by doing this?”

“What rules?”

“Internal matters should be resolved internally. Taking it higher breaks the rules.”

Chen Feng shrugged. “It couldn’t be resolved internally. My direct superior is trying to get me. Who do I go to for a solution? This is the 21st Century. Am I supposed to start a company revolution?”

“Don’t put it so harshly. No one is trying to get you. I’m just holding you to high standards and strict requirements.”

“Manager Lin, isn’t that too much? I only earn a few thousand a month. You can’t expect me to have the drive of someone with an annual salary of a million, can you?”

Lin De suddenly lowered his voice. “Look, isn’t it uncomfortable for you to stay here like this?”

He was blatantly trying to persuade Chen Feng to quit.

Chen Feng remained calm and leaned over the desk, also lowering his voice. “Want me to resign? Then how much compensation are you prepared to give me?”

“Impossible! You haven’t even worked here for a full year! There won’t be a single cent in compensation.”

“Then can I continue to live in my apartment?”

“You’re dreaming!”

Chen Feng countered, “So if I resign voluntarily, wouldn’t I be stupid?”

Lin De fell silent.

Chen Feng directly laid down a tough line. “Want to force me out? Two conditions. First, let me continue renting my current apartment at the original price for two more years. Second, three months’ salary plus bonus compensation, twenty-five thousand in total, not a penny less! Otherwise, I’ll stick around even if I have to cling on.”

Actually, the amount of money wasn’t that important at all.

Chen Feng didn’t care about this job one bit.

But Lin De and Zhou Yunbo kept doing all sorts of annoying, petty things every day. If Chen Feng gave in to their wishes so easily, it would go against his own peace of mind.

I’ll stay right here to annoy you.

I just love how you can’t stand me but can’t do anything about it.

Making people who dislike you unhappy makes you live happily!

Chen Feng chose to be happy.