Quarterly Assessment

The woman who was once outrageous in everything she had done was now sobbing with tears as she turned to face Lie Feng. She wanted him to help her clean up this mess.

Unexpectedly, he laughed and said, "You can have any limited edition jewelry in the world. Why did you go through so much to do this? How embarrassing. I bought the Xia Corporation. If you must know, the company's mine. When has it ever been yours?"

Xia Zhiya was rendered speechless by his straightforwardness.

She had obviously done it to pull a stunt on Xia Zhiwan. It was because of her greed that she had failed to consider the possibility that the useless piece of trash named Li Yiyun might fail in carrying out her tasks, leading to her implication in this case.

Lie Feng asked the question when he already knew the answer just because he wanted her to realize how dumb she really was.

He had picked her to carry the title of Xia Corporation's president. If someone had laughed at her and the stupid things she did as the president, did it mean that they would have reservations about the decisions he would make later on?

An aristocrat's ambitions would be dashed if they had committed enough of these merciless acts.

That was why Lie Feng allowed the police to take her away. He would bail her out after she had given her statement. It would be a great testament to her character. 

Without her nagging by his side, Lie Feng let out a sigh of relief and got on the phone with someone. A sinister smile tugged at his lips.

"Qin, a new quarterly assessment is around the corner. You'll be responsible…"

The hardworking Xia Zhiwan did not know that she had incited someone's interest.

As the salesperson of the store, Xia Zhiwan was the one who was going to be the closest to the customers and who was going to interact with them the most, as compared to those jewelry designers and staff working at the management department. 

It might be true that a lot of people working in sales were envious of those who were working in an excellent office environment at the headquarters and wearing fresh white-collared professional attire. In contrast, they had to always put on a fake smile for the customers and sustain their livelihoods by appealing to their every whim. 

Summer was a luxury brand. Most of the sales assistants in its outlets had to maintain a haughty demeanor to keep up with the brand's elegant image. 

Nevertheless, Xia Zhiwan thought this was a perfect chance for her to understand what the customers were thinking and to get close to the jewelry that was being put on sale. 

The aristocratic education she had received since young had taught her to move in a dignified and charming manner. She remained the most attractive one in a row of uniformed saleswomen. Customers naturally liked her suggestions more.

Besides, Xia Zhiwan would not deliberately recommend expensive jewelry only but would try to search for gemstones that matched the customer's outlook. She knew every product in the store by heart, and everything she said was reasonable to a fault. 

She would not look down upon customers who entered the store wearing plain clothes. After all, who knew if these customers had another identity in disguise? 

Her outstanding appearance and manner of speech as well as her experienced and precise vision had led Xia Zhiwan to be crowned first place in sales in her very first month of work. This news astounded everyone.

She was not only the champion in monthly sales, but she also broke the record for the most monthly sales in the past five years since Summer had opened its first outlet. 

Li Man was extremely pleased with her performance. She would proclaim her flagrant admiration for Xia Zhiwan during their regular meetings. This had exacerbated the envy her colleagues had toward her.

"Our store's performance has risen because of Xia Zhiwan. I hope the rest of you can keep up with her, especially now since the quarterly assessment is just around the corner. When the time comes, I'll do nothing but what's necessary if the special investigators find that your professionalism doesn't pass their test!"

"Quarterly assessment? When is that?"

"A quarterly assessment doesn't have a specific timeline. The investigators will take on different identities and disguise themselves as customers when they visit the store. They'll test you when you least expect it."

All of the store employees would usually grow anxious as that time of the year approached. They were afraid that those investigators would make things difficult for them. If they did not handle it well, they would get their points deducted, or even worse, they would be laid off.

As the flourishing monthly sales champion, the store Xia Zhiwan was working at had attracted much attention. It was also one of the first stores that managed to lure investigators to visit. 

One day, a shabby-dressed woman walked into the store. A few of the employees pretended not to see her, thinking that she was one of those poor people who wanted a taste of the upper-class society.

Even so, the disheveled woman lingered in the store. One could detect a rancid smell radiating from her body if they got close enough. She even used her grubby hands to touch whatever she could get her hands on. How ridiculous!

A store employee named Wei Lin eventually tried to see her out, but Xia Zhiwan interrupted her and reminded her that she might be an investigator.

Wei Lin's body went cold as she took in the slovenly appearance of the woman and the other grimacing customers in the stores who were covering their mouths and noses. She became impatient all at once.

"You are new here, so you've never been through a quarterly assessment before. What do you know?"