After leaving the finance office, Tan Jincheng called Sun Yuming and Zhang Xuhui to his office to discuss how to prepare for the construction of the new factory.
Sun Yuming's upcoming work tasks would be heavy; not only did he have to ensure the smooth flow of the supply chain, but he also had to take charge of the new factory's preparation work.
He would be back to the busy state of May and June after barely two comfortable months.
Sun Yuming had no resistance to this; instead, he embraced it.
Ever since he started overseeing the supply chain, Sun Yuming could clearly feel the change in his status.
Firstly, within the company, those in charge of procurement were generally people the boss trusted, which led to significant respect from internal staff towards him.
Secondly, with the suppliers, the attitude change was truly obvious; large suppliers might not have been so overt, but the smaller suppliers, whose products could be replaced at any time, were truly deferential.
This was real work, unlike before when he ran sales like a subordinate, having to constantly smile at people everywhere, often failing to close deals, earning only money seasoned with frustration.
"If you're in a hurry, I can work through the National Day holiday,"
Sun Yuming said with a smile.
Tan Jincheng rolled his eyes at him and said,
"Even if you don't rest, Brother Xuhui needs to rest. A few days won't make a difference; rest when you should."
"Huh? I can also not rest, I'm fine, learning is the priority,"
Zhang Xuhui quickly said.
"Alright, stop arguing. It's Brother Xuhui's first year working; aren't you planning to go home for National Day? And Brother Sun, you also need to find a wife. Now that your income is stable, you can slowly save up to buy a house."
Of the three people there, although Tan Jincheng was the youngest, he was the only one with a girlfriend.
And from a psychological age perspective, he had the confidence to lecture these two bachelors.
With Sun Yuming's current income, he could indeed buy a house.
After being transferred from his previous assistant position to the marketing department as the procurement department head, Sun Yuming's base salary was adjusted to 7,000 yuan per month.
Plus some bonuses and performance pay, and factoring in some implicit benefits from Tan Jincheng, his combined monthly income, both legitimate and informal, totaled around ten thousand yuan.
With an annual salary of 100,000 yuan, he could entirely afford to buy a house in Beicang.
"Water that is too clear has no fish."
Unless Tan Jincheng personally oversaw the procurement department, anyone else in charge would be unable to avoid some grey income; even Tan Lihua wouldn't be able to.
Therefore, Tan Jincheng naturally turned a blind eye to some within the acceptable range.
The adult world is not simply black and white; everything just needs to be kept within limits.
"Then, Boss, are you going home?"
Zhang Xuhui asked.
Speaking of which, the titles for Tan Jincheng within the company were quite varied.
Sun Yuming always called him "Boss," while Zhang Xuhui was used to calling him "Boss," and other senior management preferred to call him "General Manager Tan."
"I'm not sure yet, but if you don't want to go back, you can go to Yangcheng to visit Xupeng and have him pay for your plane ticket."
Tan Jincheng hadn't really decided what to do for National Day, but he would definitely be with Gu Qingqing.
Also, he had previously promised his uncle to bring his younger male cousin over, so he needed to make arrangements; he couldn't go back on his word.
"Alright, that's pretty much all I've thought of for now. Remember to inform me promptly if you have anything to add later. I'll go check on the R&D department first. Also, next year we'll be working in the bonded zone, so be mentally prepared."
"I'm fine with anything, no problem at all. Anywhere is good, as long as I'm working with the boss."
"Enough flattery, get to work. Arrange the holiday matters, and Xuhui, go remind Manager Chen from HR to properly arrange holiday duty staff."
It was 2005, and although the Skynet system already existed, it was still far from comprehensive coverage.
The safety of the factory during holidays was paramount, which was why some large-scale enterprises had police stations at their entrances.
The current factory was quite close to the police station, but even so, there was still some distance, so safety issues still depended on themselves.
Also, attention needed to be paid to the warehouse.
The National Day holiday was manageable, but special attention was needed towards the end of the year.
Fortunately, Flash Drive was currently in short supply, with shipments typically sent out once a week.
Before National Day, all scheduled goods had already been dispatched, so there was currently no inventory in the factory.
After dismissing Sun Yuming and Zhang Xuhui, it was already lunchtime.
There was no longer any need to go to the R&D department at this point.
At this moment, in a cafeteria on the East Campus of Yongcheng University, four beautiful figures were gathered together, eating lunch.
"National Day is coming; should we go out and have some fun together? We've lived together for two years and haven't gone out to play together yet. Qingqing, what do you think?"
Xu Manli teasingly interjected,
"Qingqing has to accompany her Boss Tan, doesn't she?"
"Then let's invite her Boss Tan along. He can be our driver, which would be perfect. I just wonder if Qingqing would be willing."
Gu Qingqing smiled softly.
Lately, her friends would occasionally tease her, and she was clearly immune to such harmless banter.
"I don't know if he's free. He recently rented another factory building, so he's probably busy."
"Why don't you ask? We really don't mind bringing him along."
"Exactly, and it's more convenient with a car. I haven't ridden in an Audi A6 before."
Gu Qingqing thought for a moment and said,
"Alright, I'll ask him later. When I spoke to him this morning, he was in a meeting, so I don't know if it's over yet."
Wenjia was right; they had been together for two years and had never gone on a group outing.
The reason, of course, was that Gu Qingqing often did part-time jobs before, although the other three had gone shopping together several times on weekends.
Originally, someone like Gu Qingqing, who was unsociable, would likely be ostracized by other dorm mates.
However, Gu Qingqing was quite lucky and hadn't encountered such a situation, at least not openly.
There's a joke online that four women in a dorm can create up to 17 chat groups, and four people can have eight hundred schemes, but such a thing had not happened with Gu Qingqing.
Although the four had different family backgrounds and occasionally had minor conflicts, their temperaments were generally quite gentle.
Since they had all brought it up, she would naturally have to respond.
But was it appropriate for her to be the only one bringing a boyfriend on a dorm outing?
And would he even be willing?
"Hey, you said your Boss Tan rented another factory building. Has his business gotten that big now?"
Chen Yanan asked curiously.
Gu Qingqing nodded somewhat proudly and said,
"Yes, he rented it a few days ago. It's in their district's bonded zone, and it's 3,000 square meters."
The talk of dreams before the Mid-Autumn Festival had been a psychological preparation period for Gu Qingqing regarding Tan Jincheng's career, but to begin expanding production capacity at three times the speed in less than half a year was still very surprising.
When asked the reason, she learned that Flash Drive was in short supply in the market.
After the September orders were completed, the December orders were already fully booked, and the customer service hotline responsible for contacting retailers received several calls daily urging for shipments.
Furthermore, some counties and cities subordinate to existing markets, as well as surrounding counties and cities, would also call after seeing advertisements to inquire if they could stock a batch of goods to try out there.
Take Yingzhou, for example.
The reason Zhao Chuanbing was so keen on securing the agency rights for Yingzhou was because it had a vast market.
As a large city with a permanent population of over 8 million, Yingzhou had three subordinate counties with populations exceeding one million.
If he could secure the regional agency rights for Yingzhou, Zhao Chuanbing was confident that he would definitely make a fortune.
"3,000 square meters is more than four mu of land. How much would that cost, and he still needs to buy equipment? Boss Tan is truly rich!"
Zhao Wenjia exclaimed.
Her family was from the countryside and also owned several mu of land, so she had a better understanding of 3,000 square meters than others.
Gu Qingqing laughed and said,
"How could he have that much money? It's all loans. Factory owners actually don't have much cash on hand; most of their assets are inventory and fixed assets."
Wenjia's confusion was actually Gu Qingqing's initial confusion as well, but after Tan Jincheng explained the basic process of real industry to her, she understood.
At the same time, she also understood why Tan Jincheng had such a high net worth but lived not much differently from an ordinary person.
In the company's early development stage, Boss Tan was often short on cash.
To be honest, he might not have lived as comfortably as her own father.
Gu Qingqing's family owned 35 stalls in Yiwu International Trade City.
The annual rent for each stall ranged from over 100,000 to 200,000 yuan, generating an income of four to five million yuan annually just from rent, not counting her father's other minor incomes.
Speaking of which, Tan Jincheng didn't know about this yet.
He only knew that Gu Qingqing's family had shops in the trade city and their income was certainly not bad, but he had never actually inquired about the specific amount.
If he knew, he would inevitably feel another wave of depression, thinking that working oneself to death was not as good as someone winning by just lying down after demolition.
Zhao Wenjia then continued to ask,
"Aren't you afraid of losing money with loans? Such a large area must require a significant loan, right? If there's a loss, how would it be repaid? Wouldn't all the previous efforts be in vain?"
"How can one do business without any losses? But if you're afraid of losing, you can't do business. Perhaps this is a man's ambition,"
Chen Yanan interjected.
Her family also ran a factory, and her father often talked about business matters at home.
Among the four, Chen Yanan had the deepest understanding of doing business, but she had never heard of someone doing business like Boss Tan.
Growing up, she had only heard her parents say that doing business was difficult and money was hard to earn.
Her parents had never mentioned someone like Boss Tan, who accumulated tens of millions in assets within a year.
"Oh, right, Qingqing, my family makes auto parts. Does your Boss Tan's company have any need for them? If so, could you put in a good word for me? I want to get some business for my dad."
Chen Yanan was from Yinzhou.
Her family ran a small factory of over 200 square meters, mainly producing auto parts.
It was difficult for small factories like theirs to make auto parts; most of their orders were second-hand or third-hand, with average profit margins.
When business was slow, they even had to take some orders from other peer manufacturers to make ends meet.
In previous summer holidays, to reduce labor costs, Zhao Wenjia and her older brother had often worked in the factory.
Perhaps it was knowing from a young age that life was not easy that shaped Chen Yanan's very rational personality.
Among the four dorm mates, Chen Yanan was the most rational; although not the oldest, she subtly had the demeanor of a leader, and it was usually she who came up with ideas.
Chen Yanan's words made Gu Qingqing hesitate for a moment, but she still firmly refused:
"Uh, I can't really say about that, but if he agrees to go out with us, you can ask him yourself."
Tan Jincheng had once told her that one should learn to refuse and not be a pushover.
(End of chapter)