Chapter 417: Freeloading a Building

By the end of September after the start of autumn, Feng Nanshu, now officially a boss, wore her work badge everywhere and made frequent “inspections” at Xitian and Room 208.

Naturally, both 208 and Xitian thus welcomed a phase of fruit liberty.

Jiang Qin had only one comment, “Such a spendthrift boss lady.”

To seek thrills, Gao Wenhui suggested that the words ‘boss lady’ on the work badge should be replaced with ‘hubby’s slave’, and just like that, he lost a month’s salary quicker than a blink of an eye.

Meanwhile, the HR department’s recruitment was in full swing due to Pintuan’s reputation and prestige in Linchuan, attracting a continuous stream of applicants, making Wanzhong Mall quite crowded.

At this time, Pintuan’s salary levels had surpassed the local average and were nearing those of first-tier cities.

Once the HR department was established, Pintuan promptly started to standardize the attendance system, enhance the welfare system, and set up an official archive.

When can a motley crew be considered a regular army? Actually, it is at this moment.

Of course, to align with the robust HR system, Xu Yu’s finance department also underwent a recruitment drive to expand the team once again.

Currently, the largest department at Pintuan was marketing since Jiang Qin signed official employment contracts for all the field promoters, making up sixty-eight percent of the enterprise.

Before the establishment of the HR department, salary distribution at Pintuan was handled by supervisors at various branches, but now the authority began to gradually transfer.

By mid-October, the merchant recruitment at Wanzhong Mall was completed, and President He returned to Linchuan planning a long vacation.

However, when he reached the top floor of Wanzhong, seeing his office turned into a kennel, he couldn’t help but grimace, feeling utterly upset.

“Does this make any sense? President Jiang, you can’t just fleece me alone.”

“Just a temporary solution, a temporary solution.”

Jiang Qin explained with a sheepish smile, “Pintuan has expanded too quickly; as our numbers grew, I had to think of places to accommodate everyone.”

He Yijun gave him a look, “How temporary is temporary? My main base is almost gone because of your ‘temporary’ solution.”

“Not much longer, I have a feeling I’ll be moving soon. Cool down, President He, let’s go. I’ll treat you to hotpot on the third floor of your own mall!”

“?????”

At the hotpot restaurant, Jiang Qin handed the menu to President He, telling him plainly to order without hesitation, suggesting he should feel at home.

Feeling the familiar flavors, He Yijun nearly teared up, thinking to himself how the city’s schemes are deep, yet the countryside’s are even deeper.

What he didn’t expect was that Jiang Qin’s temporary solution was actually real.

On October 16th, the day after President He returned, the Linchuan city government leaders invited him and Jiang Qin over as guests and held a small private meeting, then kindly inquired about their wellbeing.

After the meeting, a leader arranged for them to be driven to the intersection of Xinghong Road and Min’an Road.

Maybe every city has such a place: locked doors, covered with blue metal sheets outside, appearing deep yet unused for years, also located in a decent area.

Many would think this was left by some big boss who failed in business, but actually, it might belong to the collective.

“What do you think of this place, President Jiang?”

“It’s really nice, large and great,” Jiang Qin praised generously.

The leader turned with a smile, “I heard Pintuan started a big recruitment drive recently and needed more office space. This place has been idle for a long time. A clean-up would make it quite decent.”

President He, following behind, looked at Jiang Qin and suddenly realized whose temporary solution this was really aimed at.

31(continued): At night, they returned to Wanzhong and continued enjoying their hotpot and songs.

“What exactly did you do? Why would the Linchuan city government suddenly grant you a building?”

“Recently, I held open recruitment in Linchuan offering not low salaries. It caught attention from all walks of society. There was even a reporter who came for an interview, snapping pictures of your cramped break room. I didn’t hide it, just said it was borrowed from you.”

Jiang Qin picked a meatball from the hotpot, “We won’t discuss the tax revenue or merchant attraction for now. Just providing jobs alone, I’ve already exceeded our local government’s targets. They can’t afford to see me leave.”

He Yijun paused, “When did you say you were leaving?”

“I didn’t. Those are just rumors swirling around that I wanted to establish our headquarters in a first-tier city. But personally, I love Linchuan; that’s nonsense.”

Jiang Qin furiously bit off a chunk of the meatball.

He Yijun immediately got it, “Like how you helped Liu Xiliang spread the rumor that he couldn’t afford KFC as a kid and then went on to start Burger King?”

“Not exactly the same because everyone knows once an internet company has money, they head to first-tier cities. Besides, I’ve always been using your place, not willing to buy my own building. The rumors about me planning to leave Linchuan aren’t entirely unfounded.”

“No wonder they don’t charge you rent.”

“Everyone understands, growth is mutual. Only mutual benefits ensure sustainable development and a win-win situation.”

He Yijun nodded, “Mutual needs, you’ve really played that card well.”

As the steam from the hotpot rose, Jiang Qin let out a satisfied burp and pulled out a tissue to wipe his mouth.

Many might think Jiang Qin’s most notable achievements in the past two years were establishing the national college student forum Zhihu and changing consumer habits with Pintuan. Strictly speaking, these are just the surface.

Over the past two years, Jiang Qin’s most core achievement was integrating resources and improving the business environment in Linchuan.

Linchuan business services, Golden Silkwood Fund providing investment, Pintuan and Zhihu offering channels for business development, and finally integrating into the Xihan Heqing business closed-loop, even considering the future city complex at Wanzhong, this is his biggest commercial combination punch to date.

Since early this year, many external businesses and factories have established branches in Linchuan, just trying to test national branding.

The market is a battlefield, especially the national market filled with perilous waves. How easy is it to fight alone?

But in Linchuan, it’s different now. What is Linchuan now? It already has the traits of a springboard for national branding.

The marketing strategy of the Reborn, winning by half a step, the Daring Eight of the wealthy investment scene, cost-effective promotional tools, and the always ready online channels, who wouldn’t be tempted?

Hence, the contribution Jiang Qin has made to Linchuan is far more than just what’s visible on the surface.

The most direct evidence is the posts in Linchuan Tieba. In previous years, posts were all about going out to work, but in the last year, posts everywhere are about people from outside asking about working in Linchuan.

Under such circumstances, Linchuan indeed couldn’t let him leave, and even less could they watch him build headquarters somewhere else.

“Really nice, no dog neighbors anymore,” He Yijun remarked somewhat wistfully.

Jiang Qin grinned, showing his teeth, “If you really miss me, I can stay for another half year.”

“Shut it. Don’t ever say such unlucky things again. I’m sensitive and can’t hear such things.”

“….”

Hearing this, Jiang Qin looked distinctly upset. Damn it, when it was time for reforms, they asked me for more, and now when it’s developed, they tell me to shut it. They say I am a dog, but actually, President He is even more of a dog.

He reached for the ladle by the pot and executed a Tai Chi punch along the pot’s rim, scooping out all the meat into his own plate.

The group buying war has now reached the point where one has to act. Not just upgrading the internal system’s dispatch efficiency, but also minimizing the lag in information transmission between_departments—having their own office building is necessary.

Otherwise, with such scattered operations, calling for a meeting involves traveling here and there, tiring oneself out before even starting.

Now having a formal office building to integrate all departments together is indeed completing the most important step in the early planning.

“Guys, I’m back.”

It’s evening, and as the streetlights first come on, Jiang Qin returns to Room 302. The dormitory is quiet with only Cao Guangyu and Zhou Chao present, Old Ren is likely out on a date again.

Chao reached out and handed over a banana, “Jiang brother, I just bought some fruit. Want some?”

“Huh? How do you know the Linchuan city government approved a building for me? You’re well informed.”

“?????”

Cao Guangyu suddenly turned, “Old Jiang, what did you say?”

Jiang Qin pulled up a stool and sat down, “The Linchuan city government approved a building for me, quite large, spans a few thousand square meters. Want to visit?”

Hearing the words ‘a building’, Old Cao suddenly held his breath, his mind went blank.

Damn, fooled by this damn dog again. A building? That’s not just a piece of cabbage.

But young master Cao quickly recovered and immediately waved his hand in refusal, “No going, I’d die first. You’re definitely planning to trick us over there, lock the door, and force us to clean up for you.”

Jiang Qin looked mildly surprised, “How did you know?”

“I still remember, last time just to have a meal with you, Chao and I mopped at 208 all morning!”

“Not so easy to fool anymore, eh Cao brother.”

Cao Guangyu smirked, “Staying with you, even a dog would turn sly.”

Jiang Qin patted his thigh, “Then I say, I allow you to take photos, claim it’s your newly acquired building, planning to do some small business for fun. What would you do then?”

Instantly, young master Cao felt like he’d been caught by the neck.

Damn, this is an overt scheme.

“Visiting is fine, but I don’t want to work.”

“Forget it, just teasing you. A building plus a courtyard, you’d die of exhaustion before finishing. If I really let you go, Ding Xue would fight me to the death.”

Cao Guangyu pursed his lips, “Then why make such a fuss?”

Jiang Qin smiled faintly, “I just wanted you to know, the Linchuan city government approved a building for me.”

Best friends fight over blankets, catching a cold, dizzy and blurry…