Chapter 34: Chapter 33:1 Choose to Be Happy 1
Translator: 549690339
“Here are the lyrics and sheet music for ‘A Dull Life.1 Get familiar with them, but don’t rush to finish the recording, and especially don’t rush to release it. Wait until ‘Boring’ has been officially released for a month, or actually, two weeks.”
Harrison Clark instructed.
Carrie Thomas nodded, “Alright.”
She didn’t dare to ask why.
She didn’t need to ask; she knew what Harrison Clark’s answer would be.
It was definitely that after the official release of ‘Boring,’ it would become popular, her value would rise, and others would actively come to contact her and so on.
“By the way, if conditions permit, find a reliable local studio in Oxfordshire for long-term cooperation. Otherwise, it would be too time-consuming to travel to Beiduo for every recording session,” Harrison Clark continued to instruct.
Carrie Thomas had no objections, “Yes, in fact, practicing singing usually needs more than just my voice. Putting on good monitoring headphones and listening to the reverb in the recording studio is very helpful for me. But…”
“But what?”
“But I’ve actually inquired, and the best recording studio in Oxfordshire seems to have some connections with that rich second generation, Eric Mitchell.”
Harrison Clark raised his eyebrows, “Forget it then, just go to Beiduo for now. But how much would it cost to set up a studio like this by myself?”
“A low-quality one wouldn’t help much, but if you want good equipment, it would cost at least five million to start.”
Harrison Clark turned to look out the window, “Tonight’s moon is big and round indeed.”
And so, the matter was settled for the time being.
Starting from the second day, Harrison Clark resumed his old working habits.
However, as the saying goes, the tree wants to be still but the wind keeps blowing.
This was the situation Harrison Clark was facing now.
He had everything ready; he just needed the fair wind of ‘Boring’ to be released on No. 1 Fly.
Without any unexpected setbacks, when the money started pouring in, he would have short-term financial freedom as long as he didn’t buy a house.
He wouldn’t have to be meek in the company or struggle for petty profits with intrigue and deceit.
He could live a more relaxed life.
But for now, before the eastern wind rises, mischievous winds have been blowing around him.
In the afternoon, in the company’s meeting room, a monthly Chesterton Apartment High-Branch regional summary meeting was being held.
Usually, during these meetings, Linden Brown would give a speech, take everyone through a look at the future, and convey the company’s headquarters’ spirit.
But this time, the atmosphere didn’t seem quite right, starting from when Harrison Clark had accidentally become absent-minded earlier.
“Harrison Clark. Harrison Clark? Harrison Clark!”
Lost in thought, he was suddenly poked in the thigh by a colleague next to him and vaguely heard the call that seemed to come from the distant horizon.
It seemed to be Linden Brown, the chairman of the meeting, calling him.
Harrison Clark raised his hand and replied, “Here.”
Up on stage, Linden Brown’s face looked displeased, apparently not satisfied with Harrison Clark becoming absent-minded during the meeting.
“What do you mean, ‘here’? Get up and give an explanation. Why did the occupancy rate of Weston Community, which you are in charge of, rank bottom in the High-tech Zone for two consecutive months? Give me an explanation.” Harrison Clark was stunned.
Why did they change their approach this time?
This couldn’t be blamed on him.
Weston Community was positioned as a mid-to-high-end property with higher rents and low occupancy due to the surrounding office buildings’ lack of development.
When he took it over, the occupancy rate was just 80%. After working on it for half a year, and counting Carrie Thomas’ recent move-in, the rate reached 91.25% with only seven suites remaining vacant.
Although it was still the lowest in the High-tech Zone, he had not only avoided making mistakes, but he had also made contributions, and Linden Brown had never argued about this matter before.
Harrison Clark felt displeased and shrugged, “Mr. Brown, you know how things are in the Weston Community. What kind of explanation could I give? Besides, our occupancy rate exceeded 90%, which meets the company’s assessment criterion.”
Already eager to find fault, Linden Brown didn’t expect Harrison Clark to speak sarcastically, implying that he wasn’t even aware of the situation in the District’s communities and holding a stiff attitude.
Feeling his face slapped, Linden Brown was immediately furious, “Bullshit! That’s only because you live in one of the units! Without that, it wouldn’t reach 90%! And take a look at this chart! Look at the number next to your name!”
The number Linden Brown pointed to was the number of newly-developed housing units managed by each housekeeper in the District this month.
Some had seven or eight units, some had one or two, but the only Harrison Clark had zero next to his name.
Harrison Clark had an explanation.
“When you asked me to go to Weston, you arranged for me to focus on digesting the existing housing stock. In the past six months, I’ve increased the occupancy rate from eighty to around ninety while maintaining the existing customers. So unless it’s a really cost-effective unit, I haven’t wasted my energy on it.”
Linden Brown was publicly rebutted and couldn’t put on airs.
“You…”
Seeing a good summary meeting suddenly stall, other employees started to speak up, trying to smooth things over.
But while they were all persuading, some people were still secretly fanning the flames.
“Harrison Clark’s apartment has failed to reach 90% for six consecutive months, below the assessment standard. Starting from this month, 20% of your monthly bonus will be deducted. When it exceeds 90%, you’ll start receiving it again! Dismissed!”
With those words, Linden Brown turned and left.
He no longer mentioned Harrison Clark’s leaves and absences during work, focusing on his performance as a reason, which was solid enough and well within his power, making him the final say.
Harrison Clark was left stunned.
With Linden Brown’s cut, he would be getting around 500 less each month.
Although not much, who could bear having their income slashed for no reason?
Of course not!
As Linden Brown left first, the crowd in the meeting room dispersed quickly.
Many people glanced at Harrison Clark, who was still sitting there, as they left. They wondered what was running through their minds.
Some felt sympathy, some enjoyed his misfortune, while others considered it none of their business.
Mr. Brown’s anger today seemed somewhat unfounded, but who could blame Harrison Clark for giving him a handle on the situation?”Harrison, I think Mr. Brown went a bit too far today.”
About a minute or two later, a voice suddenly sounded beside Harrison Clark.
Harrison turned his head, it was David Mitchell.
They gave each other a sarcastic smile.
Harrison smirked, “You’re still here? You think so too?”
David nodded, “But, companies naturally have their own rules and regulations, and there’s nothing we can do about it. You just have to try harder next month.” “Do you think I should just accept it?” Harrison asked.
David counteracted, “If not, what else? Of course, If it were me, I definitely wouldn’t be able to accept it, and it would be hard to breathe.”
“So, if it were you, what would you do?”
“If there’s no place for me here, there’ll be another place for me. Cough, cough… I don’t mean that exactly, you should consider it yourself. I’m leaving now.”
Watching him leave the conference room, the smile on Harrison’s face gradually dissipated.
David Mitchell was quite interesting.
When Harrison first started working here, he was assigned to a mature community with more than 60 properties, slightly inferior to Weston Community but with a 100% occupancy rate.
Later, somehow, it was changed to Weston Community with only a 70% occupancy rate at the time. The previous mature community was assigned to David’s jurisdiction.
Compared to other property managers, David was responsible for three communities, with nearly 200 apartments in total.
Interestingly, all of David’s communities were close to Weston Community.
Clearly, Linden Brown and David Mitchell thought the fruits were ripe and ready to be picked.
However, do they think I’m that easy to bully?
Instead of going to Linden Brown’s office, after leaving the conference room, David went to a corner, took out his phone, and sent a WeChat message to Linden Brown.
“Boss, I just had a chat with him, and he seemed very unconvinced. I don’t think he can hold on for long.”
Linden Brown quickly replied, “Well, I’ll add some more fuel to the fire in a couple of days, and he’ll be ready to roll on his own.”
“Thanks, Boss.”
“What are you thanking me for? The company needs to consolidate resources. It makes sense that an experienced employee should be in charge of a mid-to-high-end community like Weston. If it weren’t for Harrison living in one of the units, I would have simply taken it away.”
“Yes!”
In the corner, David’s face showed satisfaction.
Initially, when they wanted to assign Weston Community to him, he was unwilling because it would lower his performance. So, he threw it to Harrison.
Now that Weston Community has reached the standard, David obviously wanted to reap the fruits of victory without doing much work, and his performance bonus could be more than two thousand every month.
However, they must pay attention to their influence within the company. After all, it was Harrison who slowly raised the occupancy rate of Weston Community. Directly taking it away would discourage other property managers. If they pressured him to quit, it would make more sense.
Linden Brown had changed his mind about Harrison slightly but held on to it since he ran into him at the Internet cafe. It came just in time to stoke the fire again.
In the blink of an eye, two more days passed, and Linden Brown and David Mitchell still didn’t see Harrison resign.
They thought they needed to add more fuel to the fire but just as they were about to, Linden Brown was called upstairs to the company headquarters.
The regional director responsible for the entire Oxfordshire market talked earnestly with Linden Brown for almost half an hour, hinting that managing subordinates required a balance of strictness and leniency.
For some special communities, since they were handed over to their subordinates during the most difficult time, it would be inappropriate to use overly rigid systems to discourage them now that they have obviously seen an improvement.
Although the words were unclear, Linden Brown understood the meaning.
After coming down from upstairs, Linden Brown called Harrison into his office with a solemn face.
“Did you go complain?”
He asked.
Harrison shook his head, “This is not complaining. This is fighting for my own legitimate rights.”
“Do you know that you’re breaking the rules by doing this?”
“What rules?”
“Inner matters should be solved internally. If you poke it up, you’re breaking the rules.”
Harrison shrugged, “I can’t solve it internally. My immediate superior is trying to screw me over. Who am I supposed to turn to? We’re already in the 21st century. Are you suggesting I should start a company revolution?”
“Don’t be so harsh with your words. No one’s screwing you over. I’m just holding you to high standards.”
“Mr. Brown, isn’t that a bit too much? I only make a few thousand a month. You can’t expect me to have the ambition of someone making a million a year, right?”
Linden Brown suddenly lowered his voice, “I’m saying, isn’t it hard for you to stay here like this?”
Now he was blatantly trying to force Harrison to leave.
Harrison, without panic, countered by leaning on the table and lowering his voice as well, “You want me to resign? How much compensation are you prepared to give me?”
“Impossible! You haven’t even worked here for a full year! You don’t have any compensation.”
“What about my apartment? Can I still live there?”
“In your dreams!”
Harrison asked again, “So, if I resign voluntarily, that means I’m stupid, right?”
Linden Brown remained silent.
Harrison drove the point home, “You want to get rid of me? Two conditions. First, let me continue renting my current apartment at the original price for two years. Second, compensate me with three months of salary and bonuses, a total of twenty-five thousand, not a cent less! Otherwise, I’ll stick around, even if I have to be shameless about it.”
Actually, it wasn’t that important to have more or less money.
Harrison didn’t care about this job at all.
But since Linden Brown and David Mitchell had been doing disgusting things all day, if Harrison were to give in easily, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.
I’ll stay here just to bother you guys.
I love the look on your faces when you’re annoyed but can’t do anything about it.
Making people who dislike you unhappy is the key to living a happy life!
Harrison chose to be happy..