In 2006, the most bustling and lively area in Beicang District was naturally the small night market near the post office and Xinhua Bookstore.
Every evening, there were all kinds of stalls here, making it very lively.
But if one were to talk about the most upscale area, it would definitely be the Changjiang Road vicinity, with high-end shopping malls, the Gangkou Building, and the Songshan Road Food Street nearby.
It also had the only Starbucks in Beicang District at the time.
In those days, Starbucks was still considered a high-end establishment.
However, Zhou Ao, as the marketing director of Shanchi Technology, was not unfamiliar with such places.
But he simply couldn't stand the taste of coffee; it was incredibly bad, and outrageously expensive, over 40 yuan a cup!
27-year-old Zhou Ao fit perfectly into Shanchi Technology's employee age structure, being part of the younger demographic.
He entered Tan Jincheng's radar starting with the planning proposal for Shanchi's first self-operated store in Beicang.
After that, he was responsible for multiple projects until he was promoted to his current position as marketing director.
It was working hours, and there were only a few people in the coffee shop.
Zhou Ao had been invited by a client to discuss a collaboration, but after looking around, he couldn't find the client.
Just as he was wondering, a mature woman walked over from the corner, extended her hand, and said,
"You must be Director Zhou of Shanchi Technology, hello. I am Xu Qihua."
"Hello, and you are...?"
Zhou Ao mechanically shook her hand, asking with a puzzled expression.
Xu Qihua smiled,
"Please have a seat first. I invited Director Zhou here because there's something I'd like to discuss with you."
After they sat down, Xu Qihua took out a business card from her satchel, handed it over with both hands, and smiled,
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Director of Human Resources at Shenzhou Talent. Shenzhou Talent is a recruitment company dedicated to providing comprehensive and refined services to enterprises nationwide and job seekers."
Seeing no reaction from Zhou Ao, Xu Qihua continued,
"In other words, a headhunting company."
Zhou Ao frowned.
It seemed that discussing collaboration was a pretense, and poaching was the real intention.
"I'm very happy at Shanchi and have no plans to change jobs for now."
"Director Zhou, wouldn't you like to hear about the compensation? And which company wants to poach you?"
Xu Qihua said with a smile.
Zhou Ao's reaction was within her expectations.
Abruptly poaching someone, without a foundation of trust between both parties, usually resulted in an initial refusal.
As a headhunter, she was long accustomed to such openings.
"Headhunting company" was still a relatively unfamiliar term in 2006.
Zhou Ao hadn't really known about it before; he'd only heard his boss mention it once.
A manager from his boss's Orange Technology company had been poached through a headhunting firm.
Of course, headhunting companies weren't used for ordinary employees; they were for those with a certain level of seniority.
Being approached by a headhunting firm, Zhou Ao felt a bit self-satisfied.
"So, I've made it, huh? Does this mean I'm also a notable figure in the industry now? Let's hear what she has to say."
Zhou Ao smiled,
"Alright, then Director Xu, please tell me."
"I believe Director Zhou must have heard about Tianjin's Aima Cycling entering the electric vehicle industry, right?"
"Yes, I know about that,"
Zhou Ao nodded.
Xu Qihua continued,
"My purpose in coming here this time is on behalf of Aima, to invite Director Zhou to serve as the Marketing Director at Aima, responsible for all of Aima's marketing planning, and to create brilliance together."
"Aima is a long-established bicycle company. They are new to the electric vehicle industry, but that doesn't mean they lack strength. Moreover, a new company would be more conducive to Director Zhou's talents. Imagine a new company becoming as well-known as Shanchi is now, all under Director Zhou's planning. What an honor that would be."
"Director Tan of Shanchi is extremely skilled in marketing. However, precisely because of this, the halo of everyone in Shanchi's Marketing Planning Department is overshadowed by Director Tan. At Aima, Director Zhou would be able to fully display his talents and shine as brightly as Director Tan."
"Drawing a pie" – immediately presenting a grand vision – is a negotiation tactic.
After a series of "pie-drawing," Xu Qihua was somewhat surprised to see that Zhou Ao still showed no reaction.
According to the information, Director Zhou was just an ordinary marketing planner a year ago.
Logically, he shouldn't be so inscrutable.
Aima's interest in him wasn't entirely due to his abilities; their ultimate goal was to extract some of Shanchi's Director Tan's marketing expertise through him.
For over a year, a diverse range of advertising plans, eye-catching strategies, and celebrity endorsements were all industry firsts and the reasons for Shanchi's rapid increase in visibility.
Now, not only the electric vehicle industry but also the advertising industry and other sectors are analyzing Tan Jincheng's marketing planning case studies.
As the marketing director personally promoted by Tan Jincheng, Zhou Ao was likely the most trusted by Tan Jincheng and had learned the most about his marketing capabilities.
Poaching such a person was indeed cost-effective, and it could also reveal some of Shanchi's secrets.
Since the "pie-drawing" wasn't working, it was time for the big move.
"Regarding personal compensation, Aima is offering Director Zhou an annual salary of 300,000 yuan plus year-end bonuses and other benefits like housing subsidies. All in all, if Director Zhou were to join Aima, his annual income should exceed 500,000 yuan."
Poaching a director-level talent for 500,000 yuan was an absolutely sensational move in the electric vehicle industry.
Aima, family-run for over a decade, had strong capital, living up to its reputation for being wealthy and ambitious.
But if one considered that 500,000 yuan could get them the essence of Tan Jincheng's marketing and some of Shanchi's secrets, then it wasn't expensive at all.
As soon as the 500,000 yuan figure was mentioned, Zhou Ao took a deep breath, clearly stunned.
And this was just the overt income.
His current monthly salary was 12,000 yuan, and with year-end bonuses, his annual income was roughly just over 200,000 yuan, which, to be honest, was already a lot.
Furthermore, Tan Jincheng had always been relatively good to his subordinates.
The principle that "water too clear has no fish" was a tacit understanding within Shanchi that Tan Jincheng more or less condoned.
Tan Jincheng knew well that human greed was unstoppable.
Tan Jincheng had spoken to managers who could access relevant business and gain some benefits, allowing for a certain amount of gray income.
However, it absolutely couldn't be excessive.
The first principle was not to affect the company's interests, and the second was not to be too greedy; the other party (Party B) needed to make a living too.
A colleague in the marketing department once went too far, causing an advertiser to retaliate, which was then reported back and eventually known by the boss.
The boss was usually tolerant, but when he got tough, he was truly ruthless.
He immediately threatened to call the police, scaring the guy to his knees.
In the end, they retroactively investigated all the business he had handled since joining, and he was only let go after returning every last penny.
It was that incident that made this group of rookies, including Zhou Ao, who had little legal awareness, realize that even in private companies, corruption could land you in jail "stomping on sewing machines."
And from then on, the company's atmosphere significantly improved.
What's yours is yours, and what's not yours, you can't take.
But overall, the boss was indeed a very good person, one of the few exceptionally generous bosses Zhou Ao had ever met.
"Please thank Aima for their appreciation. 500,000 yuan is indeed a lot, more than double my current income, but I still have no plans to change jobs."
After a long silence, Zhou Ao suppressed the turmoil in his heart and replied in a deep voice.
Aima being able to offer such a high price clearly wasn't just about his abilities.
More likely, it was because he was personally nurtured by the boss and knew many of Shanchi's secrets.
Aima was in Tianjin, but one shouldn't forget that Shanchi also had the largest electric vehicle industry base in the country in Tianjin.
He had signed a non-compete agreement and confidentiality clauses.
Whether he could safely receive that 500,000 yuan was truly a different matter.
If he were to betray information, it would be quite easy for the boss to deal with him.
Furthermore, Zhou Ao didn't believe he had the ability to single-handedly support an entire marketing department for a company.
Perhaps in three to five years, but definitely not now.
Unexpected, yet also expected, Xu Qihua didn't think she would be able to win over Zhou Ao on the first attempt.
"I understand. However, Director Zhou can go back and consider it. If you have any other requests, you can also bring them up. We can still discuss the price."
Zhou Ao smiled as he stood up and said,
"Thank you, but it's not necessary. Our boss once said that a person cannot earn money beyond their understanding. 500,000 yuan is very tempting, but my current ability is not enough to earn an annual income of over 500,000 yuan. But it's okay, I believe that in a few years, I can achieve this income at Shanchi as well."
"Also, Manager Xu, you've underestimated me a bit. I don't know if you did any research before finding me, but if you did, you should know that I don't like coffee; I absolutely detest the taste of it."
Xu Qihua was taken aback.
"Didn't they say Shanchi's Director Tan loves coffee?"
"Yes, but so what? Our boss wouldn't force us to do things we don't like. Also, if you want to poach others from Shanchi, you'd better do more homework. Shanchi's compensation is well-known in the industry, and trying to measure the value of what you're asking for with just money will cost you dearly."
With that, Zhou Ao left gracefully.
After leaving Starbucks, Zhou Ao called Tan Jincheng.
Aima's aggressive stance was significant; if they were willing to spend 500,000 yuan to poach someone like him, he believed other departments must also be targeted.
Whoever told the boss first would gain more of the boss's trust.
"Idiot, my kid just got born, and the boss even helped my wife get her job. Do I dare to risk going against the boss at a time like this?"
Hmm, a weakness, those who know understand.
Besides, the boss had indeed been good to him, practically his mentor.
If it were just a normal resignation, Zhou Ao wouldn't say anything, but betraying Shanchi's secrets was definitely out of the question.
When he received the call, Tan Jincheng was comfortably lounging in the CEO's chair at Orange Technology, his feet casually propped on the desk.
"What, someone's poaching your favorite protégé? Didn't you sign a non-compete agreement?"
Gu Qingqing asked nonchalantly.
It was too hot after running around all day, so Tan Jincheng was too lazy to move.
Gu Qingqing had put the call on speaker for him.
"What's the use of that? It's just to fool a bunch of uninformed people in the company. If you really want to poach someone, you don't even need to spend a penny. I could put the poached person under Juliang Engine, give them the title of investment consultant, and then have them actually work for Shanchi. What could anyone do to me?"
Lei Busi did exactly that back then, visiting Meizu and taking away a large number of talents, infuriating Old Huang into a furious outburst.
However, this tactic was a bit too brazen.
Under normal circumstances, Tan Jincheng wouldn't dare to use it lightly.
Gu Qingqing was also dumbfounded after hearing it, exclaiming "shameless" while repeatedly saying she had learned something.
"So how are you going to deal with it? Zhou Ao is right; Aima definitely isn't just trying to poach him."
"What can I do? Deal with it, I guess. It's quite normal for competitors to poach from each other. But this competitor really seems to have deep pockets,"
Tan Jincheng sighed.
Tan Jincheng had previously poached from Xinri and Yadi, and now karma was coming for him.
And they were even more ruthless than he was, poaching the absolute core of the marketing department.
If not handled well, the damage to the company would be immense.
Fortunately, Zhou Ao called him immediately, giving him enough time to react.
It seemed that being good to employees usually paid off.
Damn, 500,000 yuan a year, he really dared to offer that.
This was 2006.
Even in 2023, 500,000 yuan is an impressive figure.
It seems there was a reason Aima was able to break through quickly in his previous life.
(End of chapter)