Chapter 685: Ouyang Sheng's Grand Move

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, all companies under Chen Yang's name resumed work. As the boss and major shareholder, Chen Yang gave each employee a 100-yuan opening red envelope.

In Chen Yang's view, the best way to boost employees' work enthusiasm is to offer them benefits. High wages, high bonuses, good benefits—even if he doesn't manage things, employees will work diligently.

However, Chen Yang didn't expect that a reporter from Dongjiangsheng Satellite TV, while conducting a work-resumption interview, happened to interview a delivery worker from the Common People Agricultural Products Trading Company.

Upon hearing that the Common People Agricultural Products Trading Company gave each employee a 100-yuan opening red envelope, she found it unbelievable and therefore reported it on the evening satellite TV news.

The news quickly spread online and rapidly became a hot topic of discussion among netizens.

Then everyone discovered that not only employees of the Common People Agricultural Products Trading Company received the 100-yuan opening red envelope; employees of all companies under Chen Yang's name—including those in which he merely held shares, such as Tianqi Pharmaceutical, Common People Meat Industry Co., Ltd., Dongjiangsheng Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Starlight Financial Investment Company, Luosen Construction Co., Ltd., and the newly invested Sanmu Technology Co., Ltd. —also received the 100-yuan red envelope.

Moreover, some enthusiastic netizens conducted a full tally, ultimately calculating that Chen Yang had distributed a total of ten million yuan in opening red envelopes this time.

This meant that the number of employees in companies affiliated with Chen Yang had reached 100,000.

This number even surprised Chen Yang himself. After calling Shen Anna to ask, he learned that alone, the Common People Agricultural Products Trading Company's nationwide full-time staff exceeded 50,000.

Among them, the most numerous were the logistics department's delivery personnel and the offline chain store sales clerks. Especially in Deep City and Goat City, the employee numbers in these two regions accounted for half of the company's total.

What also surprised Chen Yang was Ouyang Sheng. This kid actually developed a hundred offline chain stores and over five hundred delivery stations in just one year. Adding the staff of the logistics park and administrative department, the total number of employees in Goat City exceeded five thousand.

The key point is that, despite this frantic expansion speed, the Goat City side still achieved a profit of twenty million yuan!

To verify that Ouyang Sheng was not falsifying figures, Chen Yang decided to personally go to Goat City for an inspection.

"Boss, welcome to Goat City to inspect the work."

In the parking lot of White Cloud Airport, Ouyang Sheng and his wife specially drove an extended Bentley to greet Chen Yang.

"Ouyang Sheng, you little brat, you've been hiding deep! I haven't been here long, and you've pulled off such a big move!"

"Boss, I just wanted to give you a surprise." Facing Chen Yang's questioning, Ouyang Sheng said with a grin: "Actually, the early stage was all about laying groundwork; only in the second half did we formally roll things out. At that time, you were busy dating, so I didn't dare to disturb you."

Chen Yang replied unhappily: "I had no time before the year, so I didn't say anything. When I called you during the New Year, I didn't see you reporting any good news either!"

Upon hearing this, Ouyang Sheng feigned modesty and said: "Boss, you're used to big scenes. How could I possibly claim credit for such a small matter in front of you?"

Chen Yang scrutinized him for a moment and, in an interrogative tone, said: "When did you change, you little brat? Not claiming credit for achievements is not your nature."

Ouyang Sheng glanced at his wife beside him, gave a simple smile, and said: "Boss, I originally wanted to report to you. But my father-in-law disagreed, saying what I've done pales in comparison to the weight of the shares you gave me. To claim credit, at the very least, Goat City's performance would have to become the company's top."

Chen Yang hadn't expected that He Guangming would still value Ouyang Sheng, his son-in-law, so much as to have him compete for the company's top spot.

But frankly, the difficulty is somewhat great. Zhao Xiaoxiao's layout in Deep City is already very mature; its overall scale and business volume are not something the current Goat City branch can compare with. Once the Common People Commercial Building is delivered and put into use, that side will replace Xingcheng as the company's core.

Of course, Goat City also has a large floating population and very broad development prospects. As long as Ouyang Sheng perseveres and catches up, surpassing Xingcheng to become the second‑best performing region is certainly no problem.

His only shortcoming is his low education and severely insufficient management experience. Suddenly managing nearly five thousand people, over time it's easy for things to go wrong.

Chen Yang thought for a while and decided to remind him: "Ouyang Sheng, the expansion on the Goat City side is too fast, prone to problems. In management, you had better bring in experts to assist. As long as they can get up to speed quickly, spending extra money is fine."

Ouyang Sheng nodded and said: "Boss, I've already contacted an elite team through a headhunting firm; they will report for duty before the Lantern Festival."

Seeing that Ouyang Sheng already had a plan, Chen Yang felt relieved. He then reminded him: "Goat City's current scale is already sufficient; the present task is to consolidate the foundation. Once all operations are on track, you can then consider further expansion."

Ouyang Sheng said there was no problem. Then he glanced at Chen Yang with a smile and, in a consultative tone, said: "Boss, those stores of mine are all rented. Could you buy them all? That way, the branch could save a considerable amount of rent."

Chen Yang gave him a sideways glance and said: "You little brat, you have money to buy a luxury car—won't you save that money to purchase the shops instead?"

Ouyang Sheng said solemnly: "Boss, this can't be blamed on me. It's Director Luo who said that if we want to expand our business in Goat City, we must do well in outward appearances. If our official vehicles are too shabby, nobody will bother with me."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yang felt moved. Doing business in China is like this: to smoothly negotiate deals, one must first package oneself well.

Although the Common People Agricultural Products Trading Company has appeared on the Spring Festival Gala for several consecutive years, it still hasn't reached the scale of the Global 500. At this point, when going out to discuss business, one still has to look at others' faces to some extent.

Thus he said to Ouyang Sheng: "Go talk to the owners of those shops. If they are willing to bear the pain and let go, I can purchase these shops in my personal name at a premium, thereby maximizing the reduction of investment cost pressure for the Goat City branch."

Upon hearing this, Ouyang Sheng repeatedly expressed his gratitude.

Next, Chen Yang, under the guidance of Ouyang Sheng and his wife, hastily toured the offline chain stores of the Goat City branch.

He deliberately counted them in his mind, and indeed there were a hundred stores. Each store was operating normally, and business was still good.

This efficiency made him feel that his shares were truly not given in vain.

The stability of Goat City's business is a great aid to the nationwide layout of the Common People Agricultural Products Trading Company.

Once the southern business is stabilized, he can focus on expanding operations in Modu and the Capital City.

And just as Chen Yang, weary in body, was returning to the hotel, he suddenly saw a familiar red sports car.