Chapter 613: Identity Is Self-Given

After calling Liu Shijie back, Chen Yang thought he could rest for a while. He didn't expect that, just a few days later, Deng Jiaming would come to him to complain.

"Director Chen, could you ask Director Liu to spare a construction team to build the employee dormitories? The technical staff from Hong Kong are arriving soon; I can't have them living in sheds with the construction workers."

Chen Yang sensed Deng Jiaming was getting anxious and soothed him: "Manager Deng, our factory isn't built yet; calling your people over now would give them nothing to do. Why not let them rest in Hong Kong for a while? They can come over once the company officially starts operations."

Deng Jiaming sighed: "Director Chen, those veteran employees of mine also need to support their families. If I don't call them over now, once the factory is built they'll have gone to work for other companies."

Chen Yang thought that made sense. Living costs in Hong Kong are high; if ordinary people go months without work, the pressure becomes huge. But calling them over too early would leave them with nothing to do here, and he'd end up supporting them for months for free.

Thinking this through, he tentatively asked Deng Jiaming: "Manager Deng, if your veteran subordinates all go to other companies, could we hire suitable replacements inland?"

Deng Jiaming said with some difficulty: "It's possible, but I'm used to working with those veteran subordinates. Switching to new people, I'm not sure how long it would take to get them up to speed."

Upon hearing that, Chen Yang had no choice but to change his mind. He called Liu Shijie and said: "Brother Jie, could we split the construction into two phases on the site—one building the factory, the other the dormitory building?"

Liu Shijie replied helplessly: "Chen Yang, I already have five projects running at once; there's no spare manpower to build dormitories. You'd be better off arranging lodging for them in town. That Hong Kong young master is extremely pampered; the people he brings are likely the same. If you let them stay out in the boonies, they'll all run away within a week."

Chen Yang thought about it and agreed. Even Deng Jiaming finds Qingshui City's urban area backward; if he housed his people at the construction site, they'd probably leave before the factory is even finished.

However, Liu Shijie is severely short-staffed; if he contracted the whole project, it might not be delivered even after a year. Moreover, his agreement with Nike requires delivering qualified samples within three months and the first batch of orders within six months.

As for the samples, Deng Jiaming's people could handle those. But fulfilling orders would require hiring large numbers of workers for centralized production. Without dormitories, town workers would be fine, but workers from the county or other cities—we can't have them eating, drinking, and relieving themselves inside the factory, can we?

Suddenly, Chen Yang thought of someone and said to Liu Shijie: "Brother Jie, why not let your company handle the factory construction? For the dormitory building, I'll find another construction firm."

Liu Shijie had no objection.

After explaining the reason to Liu Shijie, Chen Yang then called Li Yongfa, the boss of Yongfa Real Estate.

"Director Li, I have a project—are you interested?"

"Director Chen, is this the project for Laobaixing Shoe Industry Co., Ltd.? I heard you weren't doing it for Director Liu of Sunlight Real Estate."

"Director Liu has too many projects on his plate and not enough manpower. I'm planning to split off the dormitory construction—do you have availability at your company?"

"Yes, yes! Director Chen, I'll call a construction team over right away."

"No rush—I need to set this straight first: it must be completed within five months, with quality guaranteed. If not, I'll have to split the project again among other companies."

"Director Chen, no need to bother other companies—I can finish it in four months."

"Then let's give you five months! Money isn't an issue, but the construction quality must be assured. If an accident occurs, I won't let you off the hook."

"Director Chen, you're my lifesaver—I couldn't possibly screw over anyone, let alone you!"

"All right, then I'll wait for you in Qingshui City."

After hanging up with Li Yongfa, Chen Yang told Deng Jiaming: "Manager Deng, I'll first rent a factory here for you and the workers to use as an office. As for housing, discuss it with Deputy Manager Zhang—have her arrange accommodations in town for everyone."

Deng Jiaming had already learned from Chen Yang's and Li Yongfa's conversation that the dormitory building would take five months to complete, and he immediately had no objection.

After he left, Chen Yang called Zhang Linlin and asked her to arrange personnel to handle the factory lease and employee housing matters.

"Director Chen, I heard the old factory of Laobaixing Meat Industry Co., Ltd. is currently vacant—could we borrow it for a while?"

"I'll go check with the company first and then get back to you." Chen Yang recalled that when he brought Lu Guojie, who was familiar with Laobaixing Meat Industry Co., Ltd., he had indeed seen that the old factory was vacant. However, he hadn't inquired into the specific reason for the vacancy.

After ending the call with Zhang Linlin, he drove straight to Laobaixing Meat Industry Co., Ltd.

Lu Guojie was reviewing internal documents in his new office when he saw Chen Yang arrive; he grinned and said: "Director Chen, your timing is perfect—I need your help with something!"

Chen Yang casually asked: "What is it?"

Lu Guojie said: "I have two classmates whose business skills are strong. I want to bring them into the company to develop out-of-province business. But figuring out how to place them is a major problem. If I make them ordinary sales staff, people will think I don't respect them. If I directly appoint them as marketing department manager, it violates procedure. How can I avoid being accused of nepotism?"

Chen Yang replied: "If your classmates are truly capable, what's wrong with starting as sales staff? Out in the field, identity is self-assigned. Even if they claim to be the regional head, who would know?"

Lu Guojie widened his eyes at Chen Yang, surprised this could work: "Director Chen, what if the business deal goes through and they discover my classmates' identities are fake? Wouldn't that ruin the company's reputation?"

Chen Yang laughed: "Once the business is settled, they become the regional head. If your classmates are uneasy, you can issue a notice in the marketing department: anyone with the ability to independently develop a new market can become that area's head. Besides promotion, there are corresponding bonuses and commissions."

Upon hearing this, Lu Guojie's mood instantly brightened, and he lavished praise on Chen Yang.

Chen Yang waved his hand, then asked solemnly: "Does our company have any other use for the vacant factory?"

"The vacant factory isn't useful for now," Lu Guojie said, looking puzzled at Chen Yang, then asked seriously: "Is it because our delivery speed is too slow, affecting the shipments of the trading company?"

"No!" Chen Yang explained: "My shoe company needs to submit samples to Nike first; I wanted to temporarily rent the company's factory."

Upon hearing it had nothing to do with Laobaixing Meat Industry Co., Ltd., Lu Guojie readily said: "We're all our own people—talking about rent feels too formal; just go ahead and use it."

Chen Yang shook his head: "Public is public, private is private. The rent that's due must still be paid—I don't want to become a petty person who takes advantage of public property."