Chapter 224: Chapter 223: No Losing Deals
Shi Yang summarized and organized the survey results into points and sent them to the store manager in the provincial capital, suggesting she use them as references when sorting merchandise. He planned to take her with him to the headquarters to place orders for the spring collection.
The new store manager Shi Yang hired used to be a sales assistant in a mall selling children’s clothes. She was excellent at selling goods, and crucially, she was sharp-minded and adaptable, effortlessly handling other sales assistants in the store.
Shi Yang valued her not only for her personal capabilities but also because he believed that smart people like her, as long as their interests are met, would behave themselves and work diligently in the short term, striving to perform.
Once everything settled down, Shi Yang planned to directly transfer the local Naughty Castle and relocate his family to the provincial capital. By then, Qu Chaozong could manage multiple store managers, and the current store manager could be promoted to help train new employees in the company. The company could be officially established when everything started to take shape, expanding the franchise.
Shi Yang aimed to implement all these before Zhao Meimei moved from her first year to her second year in college, which meant he had a year and a half to complete the transfer of the Naughty Castle and nursery installation business. Additionally, he needed to arrange new positions for his staff, stabilize the provincial capital’s store customer base quickly, and plan for recruiting franchise partners. When he finally listed everything, he was struck by how tight the timeline was.
On New Year’s Day, Shi Yang shuttled between the mall and clients who needed to receive festive gifts from morning until 3:30 in the afternoon, wrapping everything up. He then delivered pre-prepared gifts to Liu Xiue, not forgetting to bring two boxes of client-rewarded blueberry jam to his parents’ house.
Racing against the clock, he returned to the company at closing time to distribute New Year’s gifts to all employees, giving out two boxes of eggs, two boxes of fruit, and a 100-yuan subsidy bonus per person.
Qu Chaozong arrived promptly, took the gifts delivered for the workers away with two accompanying workers, and stayed behind himself.
After all the company’s employees had left, Shi Yang and Qu Chaozong closed the door and sat across the desk, discussing the recent arrangements.
On a previous call, Shi Yang had casually mentioned his plans to Qu Chaozong, which left him feeling like a thunderbolt had struck a clear sky. It seemed like the stability they’d just managed for two years was going to unravel again.
Perhaps, after so many years of being accustomed to Shi Yang’s rhythm and pace of change, Qu Chaozong, though initially overwhelmed, managed to keep his composure. Rather than rushing back to the company to argue, he calmly listened to Shi Yang’s future plans over the phone and continued his tasks after hanging up.
Shi Yang pulled two bottles of juice from the desk drawer, tossed one to Qu Chaozong, and opened the cap of his own to take a sip, saying, "I thought you’d oppose it."
Qu Chaozong held the drink in his hand and glanced sideways, "Does opposition have any effect?"
Shi Yang chuckled, "Trust me, in less than five years, we’ll definitely establish roots in the provincial capital. Would you relocate your family there with me?"
Qu Chaozong jokingly scolded, "Oh sure, you’d drag your whole family, including me?"
Shi Yang said seriously, "Not only you, I even considered your mom. At first, we might have to rent an apartment due to circumstances, but once stable, we’ll officially buy a house in the provincial capital."
Qu Chaozong sighed, "You’ve got one thing after another, but what about the business we currently have? Do you know what our annual net profit is just from installations?"
Shi Yang closed the bottle cap and casually placed it to the side, "The installation segment looks promising now, but precisely because of its potential, some people have started thinking of following suit. As far as I know, our city has already seen someone head to Wenzhou to find factories and start their own businesses. In a few years, the sector will likely become saturated. If we can’t monopolize, we’ll have to watch business slow down."
Qu Chaozong opened his mouth, raising the drink bottle to his lips, but before taking a sip, he closed the cap and completely forgot his previous intentions.
Shi Yang continued, "We should seize the current favorable conditions and directly transfer the operations of Li Shuren."
Qu Chaozong hesitated to let go of the installation business, having painstakingly built the business chain over the past two years, everything had just begun running smoothly. Now, to suddenly have to let go felt like watching a painstakingly cultivated orchard, only to find someone had stolen it as it bore fruit.
Before arriving, Qu Chaozong had resolved that the company was essentially Shi Yang’s. Whatever decisions he made, he’d follow through, knowing that Shi Yang always thoroughly considered plans before officially announcing them.
But often, things don’t unfold as planned.
At least for Qu Chaozong, the present situation left him feeling frustrated and wanting to vent.
Qu Chaozong pushed himself to stay rational, controlling his tone, "How to transfer the Naughty Castle installations? This isn’t a store selling physical goods, if you hand over Li Shuren’s contact information, people will just get in touch themselves; it’s basically handing over business freely."
Shi Yang replied indifferently, "How could that be? Since it’s a transfer, if there’s no compensation, they can’t just get things for free from me, unless they’re you."
Qu Chaozong couldn’t help but smile and curse, "Get lost! Even if you handed it to me for free, I’d have to consider it!"
Shi Yang also laughed, "Rest assured, I’ve thought it through. To transfer this business, the person must be capable of independent work, well-versed in the industry, and ready to run it upon takeover. We don’t have extra time to teach someone step by step. Actually, I plan to hand the business over to Third Brother."
Qu Chaozong showed surprise, gradually widening his eyes and his expression softened.
If Third Brother is the one taking over, all concerns will be resolved.
Shi Yang detailed his plan to Qu Chaozong, "For Third Brother to take over the business, I don’t plan on directly transferring it to him. Instead, I want to appoint him to sit in the city, allowing him to manage his own town and county businesses, while we continue earning commissions like now, paying him a salary. Once the time is ripe, we can discuss salary adjustments gradually and, when it’s time to officially hand over, agree upon specific transfer details. We act as intermediaries between Li Shuren and Third Brother, earning transaction fees until the complete handover."
Qu Chaozong was intellectually convinced, turning to stare at Shi Yang, finally squeezing out, "You sure are cunning!"
Shi Yang’s raised corners of the mouth showed satisfaction, "A businessman never engages in losing trades."