Chapter 20
“That food-supply mart you recently secured. Can you put your material up beside this for comparison?”
At CEO Jeong's words, I immediately stood.
The food-supply mart contract I had reported to Manager Kwon.
Only three people in this room knew about it.
Me.
Manager Kwon.
And CEO Jeong.
Employees needed to know which clients belonged to which salesperson.
That prevented us from accidentally approaching someone else's account.
But brand-new contracts were different.
Unless they were announced in a weekly meeting like this, other employees often did not know about them yet.
The moment I secured the contract for the largest food-supply mart in Honam, I immediately reported it to Manager Kwon.
He then reported it directly to CEO Jeong.
Of course, upper management had probably already heard about it when I requested the unusually low supply prices.
Outside of the people involved in that approval...
No one knew.
The client Lee Sejun had just proudly announced was a food-supply mart in Damyang, Jeollanam-do.
It was a new account, so no one knew exactly how much sales it would generate.
But just based on scale...
It was not a large business.
It was basically a neighborhood mart.
Of course, actual sales could always surprise you.
But after several years in the food industry, I could judge this much.
Its location was not strong.
There were not many businesses around it.
There was not much foot traffic either.
The store was somewhat far from nearby homes and apartments.
In comparison...
The food-supply mart I had secured had almost every condition needed for strong sales.
It was also somewhat distant from residential areas.
But it was enormous.
So enormous that it was being advertised as the largest food-supply mart in Honam.
Even people living farther away would likely visit because of its scale.
And because the store itself was huge, it would naturally carry a much wider range of products.
Just from briefly looking at Lee Sejun's numbers...
I had already won this comparison.
CEO Jeong seemed to want everyone else to see that too.
I walked to the front beside Lee Sejun.
Then I opened my prepared material next to his.
“I'll begin with the food-supply mart contract you mentioned, CEO Jeong.”
I skipped through the earlier pages about last week's routine sales report.
Lee Sejun glanced sideways at me.
That look alone seemed to reveal what he was thinking.
Did he really secure something better than mine?
He was clearly cautious.
But at the same time, because he had always believed himself superior to me, there was still a dismissive arrogance in his expression.
I ignored him and cleared my throat.
“This is the food-supply mart account I secured last week.”
At the words food-supply mart, Lee Sejun was not the only person who focused.
Manager Jang Woojin, sitting farther back with his arms crossed, also leaned forward.
“The store is scheduled to open on September 1st.”
I displayed photos of the construction site.
“It will be the largest food-supply mart in Honam.”
I then displayed the contract details and product list.
The employees immediately reacted.
“Donggil-ro...? A food-supply mart is opening there?”
“I've driven past that place before. It just looked like a construction site.”
“How did Assistant Manager Choi even find out about that?”
“Wow. His performance has been crazy lately.”
“Assistant Manager Choi, the largest in Honam?”
Employees from junior staff to assistant managers and managers began commenting.
Only two people looked completely frozen.
No.
More accurately...
Two people looked openly upset.
Lee Sejun.
And Manager Jang Woojin.
Neither of them had known.
Their faces turned red.
Especially Lee Sejun.
He forced a smile and whispered through barely moving lips.
“How did you secure that account?”
I answered without hesitation.
“Why are you asking a salesperson how he sold something?”
I smiled.
“I worked hard.”
“Didn't you work hard for your Damyang food-supply mart too?”
We spoke quietly enough that only the two of us could hear.
CEO Jeong, unaware of our exchange, smiled proudly.
“I'm really proud seeing two of our top assistant managers bringing in food-supply mart contracts side by side.”
“Thank you.”
“Especially Assistant Manager Choi. Not just an ordinary mart or some typical account... How did you even find information like this?”
CEO Jeong stood and pointed toward the screen in amazement.
The employees listened as he continued praising the contract.
“Seeing our people work this hard gives me strength.”
He walked over and patted my shoulder.
“Let's finish the rest of the meeting properly too. Everyone, keep pushing this week.”
“Yes, CEO!”
CEO Jeong raised a hand and left the room.
He did not regularly attend weekly meetings.
Whenever he did, he often left before everyone else.
The moment he left the meeting room and disappeared from the office...
The employees immediately began talking.
