Chapter 55: Giving Too Much
“Mr. Lu, this is Zone B.”
Lu Liang followed Liang Juntao to the B area of the exhibition and spotted Su Wanyu sitting on a bench from a distance.
The booth had about four or five people, but it was rather quiet. There were fewer investors visiting than members of the core creative teams.
This was typical. The venture capital firms and independent investors invited to this startup fair totaled fewer than fifty, while there were over two hundred entrepreneurial teams.
Most attendees came more to save face for their schools than out of genuine interest; otherwise, they wouldn’t bother showing up at all.
An investment director once confessed that he randomly deleted a hundred startup proposals from his inbox every day.
He bluntly said that those unlucky ones didn’t even qualify to waste his time.
After all, receiving over two hundred proposals gave him ample choice.
External entrepreneurs had already been harshly tested by society and generally approached investors with a humble attitude.
On the other hand, internal student entrepreneurs often believed their ideas were revolutionary and that all they needed to become a unicorn was a single round of seed funding.
Little did they know, business ideas were actually quite worthless. The ones that failed the worst were often pioneers. Whenever capital sensed profit, it was like the group-buying wars years ago.
In the end, only Meituan, Dazhong, and Nuomi survived, yet no one remembered that the first group-buying site was called “Qijia.”
Su Wanyu boredly stared at the ground, watching ants carry food, when suddenly a pair of sneakers came into view.
She looked up and saw Lu Liang, surprised, she quickly stood up. “Hello, Mr. Lu.”
“Do you have a stake in this company too?”
Lu Liang smiled as he picked up a brochure on the table.
It was an online one-on-one foreign language education platform called “Foreign Teacher,” offering fourteen languages.
Currently, 122 teachers and students from Shanghai International Studies University were registered, seeking 250,000 yuan in conceptual financing to build the website platform.
“No, I’m just a registered English online teacher,” Su Wanyu answered honestly, with an inexplicable air of innocence.
Lu Liang chuckled softly and didn’t ask further. After greeting her, he left the startup fair.
“Xiaoyu, why were you so stupid? You should have just said you had a stake,” her best friend complained indignantly.
“Why lie?” Su Wanyu didn’t understand.
Her friend scolded her for lacking ambition: “If you said you had a stake, maybe Boss Lu would have invested.”
“Why do you assume he would invest just because I said so? Whether he wants to or not is his business,” Su Wanyu replied seriously.
Her friend was dissatisfied: “How will you know if you don’t try? Do you know how much Zheng Qin sacrificed for this team?”
Su Wanyu’s expression changed slightly, already unhappy, but unwilling to argue further. She whispered, “Xiaomin, I have something this afternoon, so I’ll leave first.”
Zheng Qin was Xiaomin’s boyfriend. Even if he was, Su Wanyu wouldn’t act that way.
She wasn’t close with Lu Liang, and even if she were, it was a matter of principle.
Xiaomin was also angry but said nothing.
Su Wanyu sighed, unwilling to say more.
Scenes like this repeated throughout the exhibition.
For student partners in startups, the first hurdle wasn’t funding but deteriorating relationships.
…
Leaving the Finance University, it was nearly noon.
Lu Liang called Chen Jinchun to ask if she was busy today. The company was a bit short-staffed, and he planned to hire a few more people.
Hearing this, Chen Jinchun hurriedly crawled out of bed, and they agreed on a time and place.
Lu Liang, detecting that she had just woken up, laughed in surprise: “Where are you? I’ll come pick you up. Sister Tang has a flight at noon; let’s all have lunch together.”
Hearing that Tang Caidei would accompany them, Chen Jinchun relaxed: “Mr. Lu, how about you wait for me at the south gate of Jinqiao Community? I’ll be out soon.”
“Okay, I’ll be there in half an hour.”
Lu Liang picked up Chen Jinchun and headed to Hongqiao Airport to fetch Tang Caidei. The three then went to the Xintiandi Villa Hotpot for a belated company lunch.
“Do you have any dietary restrictions?”
Lu Liang glanced at the menu and waved over a waiter, sensing they were reluctant to order. He decided to just order for them.
Since the villa hotpot was quite upscale, each dish could cost several hundred yuan, with a per-person average of at least a thousand.
Tang Caidei took a sip of water and shared her impressions of Dalian. The film industry there was small, and companies investing in film even fewer.
They were newcomers who had invested in a grassroots film. After the press conference, they received many project proposals.
“What kinds of projects?”
Lu Liang focused on eating the beef chunks. He liked them fully cooked with a slight char, the instant burst of beef fat melting in his mouth.
“There’s ‘City of Amnesia,’ ‘Death Performance,’ and about a dozen others. I’ll print them out for you later.”
Tang Caidei didn’t know Lu Liang’s investment preferences and didn’t comment, planning to let him choose.
Lu Liang nodded and mentioned a company he had invested in that morning: “They’ll come to sign the contract on Monday. You’ll receive them.”
Tang Caidei agreed, and Lu Liang asked, “Sister Tang, what positions do you think our company still needs?”
At first, he had planned just to run a shell company and focus on making money in the financial market, but plans never keep up with changes.
He had invested in a film and a new enterprise.
More investments might follow, so staffing should match the company's growth.
Tang Caidei thought for a moment: “Mr. Lu, at our current scale, we need to hire four more people: a deputy general manager, a finance officer, a clerk, and an assistant for you.”
The deputy would oversee administration, finance would keep checks and balances, the clerk would handle daily documents, and the assistant would manage Lu Liang’s trivial affairs.
She added, “If finance isn’t under your direct control, multiple people need to check each other to avoid mistakes.”
She had wanted to mention this earlier but didn’t since the company had only one project and one finance staff was enough.
With more investments, it was better not to have finance auditing done by a single person.
Adding one more person would ease both Lu Liang’s and her own worries.
Lu Liang considered this carefully. An old hand at home was like a treasure, and with four more hires, the basic structure would be established.
Suddenly, he asked, “Sister Tang, I want you to be the company’s deputy general manager. What do you think?”
Tang Caidei was well-educated and experienced. Had she not resigned, she could easily have been deputy general manager at any major company. Limiting her to finance was a waste of talent.
She looked surprised. She hadn’t expected to be offered the deputy general manager position at nearly forty.
After much thought, she asked, “Mr. Lu, what salary are you offering?”
Lu Liang suddenly smiled: “An annual salary of 400,000 yuan to start. When the time comes, take some time off and pick out a car worth 300,000 yuan.”
He admired Tang Caidei’s straightforward personality.
Work was like this:
No emotions, only interests.
If Tang Caidei couldn’t meet his expectations, he wouldn’t hesitate to let her go.
“Alright, I agree.”
“Deputy General Manager Tang, welcome aboard.”
Lu Liang smiled and raised his cup, using tea instead of wine.
Chen Jinchun imitated him but still felt dizzy.
The adult world was just so straightforward. One moment, Sister Tang was just an ordinary employee; the next, she was deputy general manager.
Lu Liang suddenly turned to Chen Jinchun: “Xiao Chen, do you have a boyfriend?”
Chen Jinchun looked blank: “No.”
“I still need an assistant. Are you interested?”
Lu Liang smiled and asked. Thanks to Tang Caidei’s reminder, he realized they indeed lacked an assistant.
The job wasn’t technically demanding, so it made sense to promote internally. Those with boyfriends were naturally unsuitable since the assistant had to be on call 24/7.
“Mr. Lu, what does the assistant’s job involve?”
Chen Jinchun was nervous, twiddling her fingers, nowhere near as confident as Tang Caidei.
Tang Caidei dared to negotiate salary because of her experience and confidence. Chen Jinchun lacked both.
“Basically, you’ll be a clerk in the company and respond whenever I need you. Your phone must be on 24/7.”
“The tasks include handling trivial matters for me, like serving tea, booking flights and hotels, and reviewing documents.”
Chen Jinchun looked conflicted. The job sounded like being a nanny. Though it was similar to what she usually did, going from part-time to full-time felt odd.
Lu Liang smiled calmly and mentioned the benefits: “You’ll be made permanent immediately, and your salary will increase to 10,000 yuan.”
“Mr. Lu, from now on I’ll be your assistant.”
Chen Jinchun’s face lit up with joy, feeling ecstatic.
From now on, she would be earning a five-figure monthly salary.