Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Chapter 40: Chapter 39: 0418, Tonight I Will Personally Interview You

Ever since the government started championing the slogan of ”student entrepreneurship” in ’08, all the undergraduate institutions in Huian Province rushed to respond.

Xucheng Academy, for example, built a small, two-story building on the empty lot between the Music Academy and the basketball courts. Each floor was over 600 square meters and was partitioned into 16 individual rooms to support student entrepreneurs.

However, the school’s leadership hadn’t anticipated that very few students at Xucheng Academy actually had any entrepreneurial ambitions.

Two years went by. More than half of the startup spaces on the second floor were vacant, while the ground floor was filled with fruit stands, boba shops, electronics stores, and small gift shops. It looked more like a night market, without a shred of the ”Innovation Park” it was supposed to be.

Although the principal had often wanted to kick out all the people selling boba and snacks, he knew in his heart that without them, the Innovation Park would become a complete ghost town.

Over time, the Innovation Park became a shelved project for Xucheng Academy. The supervising teacher assigned to it became little more than a ”gatekeeper,” occasionally gathering a group of ”night market vendors” to read from a PowerPoint presentation about entrepreneurship training—content that he himself didn’t even believe.

’If starting a business were this easy, why would I still be a teacher?’

Cao Dahua scoffed to himself. He sat in his office, sipping tea, humming a tune, and enjoying the air conditioning as his salary came in. ’Start a business, my ass!’

Just as he was humming contentedly, a crisp knocking sound suddenly echoed. A moment later, a sharp, well-defined face appeared at the glass door.

The person flashed a bright, white smile and asked, ”Hello, Teacher. Excuse me, how do I go about renting an office in the Innovation Park?”

Cao Dahua quickly took his feet off the desk. He had to at least look like a proper teacher in front of a student. He cleared his throat and asked, ”What do you plan on doing with the office space?”

”E-commerce.”

Chen Yansen’s reply was crisp and direct.

”E-commerce?”

Cao Dahua was taken aback, a look of confusion on his face. After a moment’s thought, the words tumbled out, ”So, you mean opening an online shop?”

”Uh, something like that.”

Chen Yansen frowned, a flicker of disdain in his eyes. ’Is this the caliber of teacher they have at the Innovation Park? Even if you’re clueless, you can’t just equate e-commerce with opening an online shop.’

Just a moment ago, he had seen the man with his feet propped up, looking like he was just coasting. He had immediately labeled Cao Dahua as ’someone who got the job through connections.’

’If he hadn’t pulled some strings, how could he have landed such a cushy job?’

”Hmph. As long as you’re not selling snacks, it’s fine.”

Cao Dahua grumbled, pulling a form from his drawer and tossing it to Chen Yansen. ”Fill this out first. Once the head of the Innovation Park approves it, you can come pick an office. Oh, right, rent is two hundred a month per room, and you have to pay for a minimum of three months upfront.”

Two hundred yuan might not sound like much, but this was 2010. Ninety percent of university students had a living allowance of less than 1,000 yuan a month. Who had spare cash to start a business?

”Teacher, how long does the approval process take?”

Chen Yansen picked up a ballpoint pen and began scribbling on the form.

The form only asked for basic information and questions about his entrepreneurial vision. For him, it was as simple as ’1+1=2’. He finished it in less than two minutes and handed it back.

”Very fast!”

Cao Dahua took the form without even looking at it. He then pulled a stamp from his drawer, huffed a breath of hot air onto it, and slammed it down with a THWACK. He then looked up and asked, ”Fast enough for you?”

”Teacher, may I ask your last name? How should I address you?”

Chen Yansen was so speechless he almost laughed, but he managed to hold it in. He asked with a polite smile.

He had assumed the man was just a powerless idler, but it turned out he was actually the head of the Innovation Park.

He would be dealing with him a lot in the future, so it was only natural to get on his good side. He couldn’t very well meet him again without even knowing his name, could he?

”The surname is Cao. Dahua. From now on, just call me Director Cao.”

Cao Dahua said flatly, his arms crossed over his chest.

”Director Cao, this is twelve hundred. Please count it.”

Chen Yansen took out his wallet again, pulled out twelve bills, and placed them on the desk.

”Young man, are you hard of hearing? Didn’t I just say? The minimum is three months, so you only need to pay six hundred.”

Cao Dahua’s face fell, and he spoke with displeasure.

”Director Cao, I’m renting two rooms.”

Chen Yansen smiled slightly and held up two fingers.

”Two rooms is also... Oh, *two* rooms. Well then, no problem.”

Cao Dahua swallowed the second half of his sentence. In the entire Innovation Park, no one had ever rented two rooms at once.

He sized up Chen Yansen again. Only now did he notice that the young man was well-dressed. The fabric of his clothes looked expensive at a glance, and his phone was pricey too.

’So he’s a rich kid!’

’He probably won’t last six months!’

Cao Dahua sneered inwardly. It took more than just money to succeed in business. There had been plenty of wealthy students at Xucheng Academy before. Basically, after three months, their enthusiasm would fade, and without a sustainable business model, they would ultimately give up.

Money paid, rooms selected, keys in hand!

Chen Yansen politely said goodbye to Cao Dahua. After going downstairs, he had 100 copies of a recruitment notice printed at the print shop by the entrance.

”Dude, is this... for real?”

The student helping him print glanced at the contents. His eyes shot wide open, his mouth hanging agape. He quickly turned his head and asked.

”Do I look like I’m joking?”

Chen Yansen dangled the two keys in his hand and retorted with a smile.

”Awesome!”

The guy gave him a thumbs-up in praise, but inwardly he cursed, ’Dumbass.’ He thought to himself that this was probably another rich kid who didn’t think twice about burning through his parents’ money.

In less than three minutes, the 100 recruitment notices were printed.

Chen Yansen tossed down ten yuan. He was about to leave but turned back to buy two rolls of double-sided tape. Only then did he stroll leisurely to the main entrance of the Innovation Park and post a row of recruitment notices on the information board.

It was an aggressive move, but Chen Yansen was sure the effect would be undeniable.

”Senhai Technology Co., Ltd. Recruitment Notice”

”Front-End Developer (2 positions): Responsible for page layout, user interaction implementation (HTML/CSS/JavaScript), compatible with major browsers like IE; Salary: 2,000-4,000 yuan...”

”Back-End Developer (2 positions): Use PHP or Java to develop core functions, including user registration/login, rebate calculation, order processing, merchant management interfaces, etc., and interact with the database; Salary: 2,500-4,000 yuan...”

”Back-End Developer (1 position): Design MySQL database structure, optimize query performance, manage user data, order records, merchant information, etc.; Salary: 2,000-4,000 yuan...”

”UI Designer (1 position): ... Salary: 2,000-4,000 yuan...”

”Test Engineer (1 position): ... Salary: 2,000-4,000 yuan...”

”Project Manager (1 position): ... Salary: 2,500-4,000 yuan...”

If this salary were offered at a major internet company a decade or so later, people would definitely laugh it off as ”slave wages.” But in 2010 at Xucheng Academy, it was guaranteed to immediately become the focus of the entire campus.

In fact, no sooner had Chen Yansen left than someone posted the content of the recruitment notice on the campus BBS, which was then cross-posted to Qian Du’s Tieba.

”Senhai Technology Company? The address is Rooms 206 and 208 on the second floor of the Innovation Park?”

”Anyone at the Innovation Park? Go up and see if it’s real.”

”I went up and took a look. 206 and 208 are still empty rooms. It’s probably a prank by some asshole with no dick.”

”Everyone disperse, it’s just a farce!”

But some people who had saved Chen Yansen’s phone number found the number on the notice incredibly familiar. It wasn’t until they pulled out their phones that they exclaimed, ”It’s Senior Brother Chen!”

The news spread quickly. Before long, the dean of the literature and communications department heard about it, and soon after, the principal of Xucheng Academy also received the news.

”Teacher Cao, there’s big news from the Innovation Park. Why didn’t you report it to me sooner?”

A call from the principal sent a jolt through Cao Dahua, startling him to his feet.

”What are you referring to, sir?”

Cao Dahua was completely baffled. He muttered to himself, ’What ”big news”? Things have been quiet at the Innovation Park today, aside from some spendthrift kid coming to rent two startup rooms.’

”Sigh... Teacher Cao, it seems you’re not paying close enough attention to your work at the Innovation Park. There’s a freshman named Chen Yansen, isn’t there? He posted a recruitment notice at the entrance, supposedly looking to hire ten part-time students...” the principal said slowly.

”Yes, yes, I understand! I know what to do. You can rest assured, sir.”

Cao Dahua puffed out his chest and gave his assurance. After hanging up, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and let out a long sigh of relief.

Although Chen Yansen’s startup project hadn’t even gotten off the ground yet, his sheer audacity in throwing money around had certainly stunned many people.

After a little digging, the school leadership developed a tiny sliver of hope for this freshman—the one who had secured the campus-wide distributorship right off the bat and led a team of sophomores and juniors to achieve the top sales performance for the telecom company.

As long as Chen Yansen’s project showed some signs of success, it would give the principal something to brag about when meeting with his peers from other institutions in the province. It would give him ”face.”

’What kind of background does this kid have? Even the principal knows about him?’

Cao Dahua wondered to himself. The principal had told him to do everything he could to support Chen Yansen’s project, but he had no funds and no resources. What the hell was he supposed to support him with?

After mulling it over for a long time, he called over a few students, dug out some dusty old office equipment from the storage room, and had it all piled up right outside the doors of Rooms 206 and 208.

”Heh heh, this way, no one who comes by can find any fault.”

Cao Dahua was quite pleased with himself. After finishing the task, he turned around and went back to his office to slack off again.

「Meanwhile.」

After leaving the Innovation Park, Chen Yansen called Wang Zihao at a street corner and told him to return the car to the rental company.

”Sure! I’ll come down and get the keys.”

Wang Zihao agreed immediately and was downstairs in less than two minutes. He then drove Chen Yansen, dropping him off at the entrance of a KTV outside the campus on the way.

Just as Chen Yansen was about to head into a private room, he received a call from a familiar number.

”I’m very proficient with PS, AI, and CDR. Do I meet the requirements for the UI designer position?”

The voice was soft and sweet, even a little cutesy.

It was the first time Chen Yansen had ever heard her speak in such a tone. He cursed inwardly, ’What a money-grubber,’ then thought for a moment before replying, ”Tonight, 8 p.m., Faculty Apartments, room 0418. I’ll interview you in person.”