Tycoon: I Have an Unlimited Modifier

Lai Manling was also pleasantly surprised. She hadn’t expected the big boss to remember her and felt rather flattered.

”Keep up the good work.”

Qi Sheng nodded and headed for Yuan Li’s office.

”Chairman Qi!”

Yuan Li heard a knock, and then someone walked in.

She was about to say something when she saw it was Qi Sheng.

”Boss?”

Yuan Li immediately stood up in pleasant surprise and walked over with a smile.

”You haven’t had lunch yet?”

Qi Sheng saw the unopened lunch box on the coffee table in the reception area.

Apparently, this exceptionally loyal employee of his had once again been too busy to eat.

”I was so busy just now that I forgot. Have you eaten? I’ll have someone get you a meal.”

”I didn’t eat much at the Spicy King restaurant just now. Manling, go get me a meal.”

Qi Sheng didn’t stand on ceremony, directly ordering Lai Manling around.

”Of course. One moment, please.”

Lai Manling joyfully closed the office door.

Running an errand for Qi Sheng was an opportunity for her.

’If you don’t perform, how will the boss ever promote you?’

’Besides, she wanted to get to the top in one go, so she naturally had to perform even better.’

The white-collar cafeteria was on the basement level.

It served both lunch and dinner, with a wide variety of cuisines.

All the employees in the building would eat there.

After Qi Sheng took over, he replaced the food service provider.

The new provider was much more capable than the last.

The variety of dishes and quality of service were also more outstanding.

Of course, the price for this was an increase in cost.

After negotiations, the standard meal price was set at 25 yuan per person.

Employees of Shengxuan-affiliated companies could swipe their work badges to eat for free.

Employees from other companies who wanted to eat there had to pay the full 25 yuan.

Although they also had meal allowances, it was still different from employees of companies like Spicy King, who could eat for free.

When Lai Manling returned with the food, she saw Qi Sheng and Yuan Li discussing Spicy King’s next phase of development plans.

”Chairman Qi, I’ve brought your meal. If the dishes aren’t to your liking, I can get you another one.”

Lai Manling carefully interrupted their conversation, not wanting the food to get cold.

”Thanks. I’ll scan and pay you.”

Qi Sheng took out his phone, knowing that Lai Manling must have paid for the meal herself.

”No, no, it’s not necessary. It’s just one meal.”

How could Lai Manling dare to accept such a small amount of money?

What she really wanted was Qi Sheng’s WeChat.

But with Yuan Li present, she was too embarrassed to ask.

”How about this? I’ll add you on WeChat. From now on, you’ll be in charge of regularly supervising President Yuan.”

”If she skips lunch again, report it directly to me, and I’ll be the one to criticize her.”

Qi Sheng had seen through Lai Manling’s little scheme and said this with great emotional intelligence.

”Thank you, Boss!”

Yuan Li was grateful, while Lai Manling was thrilled.

”You’re both my good employees. If you ruin your health by starving, wouldn’t I end up making less money?”

After adding Lai Manling on WeChat, Qi Sheng picked up the lunch box and started eating without any fuss.

Seeing the way Qi Sheng ate, Yuan Li, who had been so hungry she’d lost her appetite, suddenly felt her stomach rumbling again.

Lai Manling thoughtfully put a straw in the yogurt drink and placed it on the coffee table.

Then, she left the office, pleased as punch.

”I have to say, I didn’t expect you to make her your secretary.”

With Yuan Li, Qi Sheng naturally didn’t need to beat around the bush.

”The kid’s capable and she’s not afraid of hard work. You’d better not poach her.”

Yuan Li knew her boss’s personality well, so she warned him warily.

”Ahem... I’ll try.”

Qi Sheng would have preferred to leave Lai Manling alone.

But with Pop Mart on the verge of delisting, he was planning to make a big score.

Acquiring Pop Mart now would be an absolute windfall.

In the second half of the year, Pop Mart’s performance would start to skyrocket.

Its market value would no longer be a mere one-point-something billion.

”There’s really nothing I can do about you. Fine, I’ll just train another secretary.”

Yuan Li sighed and touched her forehead.

It was a shame that such a promising talent would just end up as a canary in a gilded cage.

”It won’t happen again.”

Seeing Yuan Li’s reproachful gaze, Qi Sheng felt a bit awkward.

But when he thought about the gold coins Lai Manling could generate for him, a little awkwardness was nothing.

Qi Sheng and Yuan Li had more or less finished discussing the plans for Spicy King.

The plan was to continue opening more restaurants.

Unlike before, when they focused on establishing a foothold in the Southwest, this time they would enter first-tier cities directly.

They would open six branches each in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, for a total of twenty-four locations.

Based on an investment budget of 20 million per store, they would need 480 million in capital.

For Spicy King, which had already raised 50 million US Dollars in funding, it was possible to start the preliminary renovation work for all these branches simultaneously.

The stores in the Southwest Region would be operational in just over a month.

By then, Spicy King’s cash flow would be more than enough to sustain the expansion.

Seeking external financing at this point would be very easy.

With Sequoia as a backer, many venture capital firms were interested.

But a mere valuation of one billion US Dollars was nowhere near enough to satisfy Qi Sheng and Yuan Li’s appetite.

For the next round of funding, the two had tentatively set the valuation at five billion US Dollars.

The final valuation would depend on the performance of the branches in the first-tier cities.

If their performance was strong enough, why couldn’t it soar directly to ten billion US Dollars?

Capital is always profit-driven, and now that the ”next big thing” had vanished, if Spicy King’s performance was eye-catching enough, it would inevitably trigger a bidding war among investors.

Reaching a valuation of ten billion US Dollars really wasn’t impossible.

After all, a valuation is just a valuation.

It’s a completely different matter from market capitalization.

Qi Sheng and Yuan Li talked for a long time.

The company’s daily operations were entirely under Yuan Li’s control.

He wasn’t afraid of being pushed out.

The system-locked loyalty was Qi Sheng’s greatest source of confidence.

That evening, Qi Sheng organized a get-together.

Zhou Huaiping, Yuan Li, Jie Chao, plus Peng Qingsong, Jian Zhenzhe, Liu Zheng, and his personal lawyer, Qiu Lei.

It wasn’t a large group, but they were all members of his inner circle.

He hadn’t eaten much of the hot pot at lunch, so this evening was the perfect time to make up for it.

Lai Manling, who had been hesitating to leave after work, was also specifically invited by Qi Sheng to join them for dinner.

Far from being unhappy, Lai Manling was incredibly excited and hurriedly thanked Qi Sheng.

Yuan Li couldn’t help but shake her head. ’This girl sure is lucky,’ she thought, ’to be noticed by Qi Sheng so directly.’

’From now on, she’ll transform from a little secretary into the boss’s wife.’

’Even I, Qi Sheng’s number one confidante and favored general, will have to treat her with respect and deference.’

However, Yuan Li wasn’t envious.

She had become Qi Sheng’s most valued person through her abilities.

Lai Manling was doing it with her face and figure.

They were simply taking different paths.

But the thought that the little secretary she had worked so hard to cultivate would likely be taken away by the big boss tonight made Yuan Li, in her role as a caring big sister, unable to resist giving Lai Manling a well-intentioned reminder.

She should be careful about protection.

After all, the boss’s official girlfriend wasn’t pregnant yet.

If a competitor suddenly appeared, secretly trying to use a child to climb the ladder, the boss would be put in a difficult position.

As his trusted confidante, she naturally had to take precautions.

Lai Manling hadn’t expected the ever-serious Yuan Li to suddenly say something like that to her.

’Could it be that tonight, I’ll really have the chance to climb into Qi Sheng’s ’dragon bed’?’