Chapter 955: Joining Forces

“I see your college major was business administration—do you have any understanding of human resources?”

“It’s just helping people find jobs, like a middleman. People often don’t understand themselves, don’t know what they want to do, and have no long-term life plan—we help them. In the process, we earn a commission. We help others, help employers save time, energy, and the cost of ineffective hiring, and we make money too—everyone benefits, all sides happy.”

Sitting across from Xiong Qingchun was a twenty-something recent graduate named Huang Zimu. He wore glasses, had a buzz cut, looked sharp, spoke naturally, and sounded insightful. He was a native of Nanning, spoke fluent Mandarin without the local accent.

Before Xiong Qingchun could ask more, he said: “I just want to work here. My education is only associate degree—most places require at least a bachelor’s, so I don’t qualify, and my resumes get ignored. Only sales jobs hire a lot, but I don’t want to do that. Since you’re hiring, I figured I’d submit my resume and see.”

Xiong Qingchun laughed: “You’ve had plenty of interviews—you’re already jumping in to answer.”

“Everyone asks the same thing. I figured I’d be proactive and say it first.”

“Do you understand how our employment agency works?”

“Honestly, no—but I guess it still involves making phone calls, right?”

“Pretty much—you’ve got to contact people.” Xiong Qingchun nodded with a smile. “What are your salary expectations?”

“I saw you wrote three to five thousand—I think four thousand is just right.”

“Two options: no social insurance, you get four thousand; with social insurance, you get three thousand. But we pay social insurance based on your full salary—you probably know a bit about it already, social insurance…”

Xiong Qingchun gave a general overview of social insurance contributions, then said: “You’ve seen it ourselves—we’re a startup, just the two of us. Conditions are like this. If you accept this pay, I can sign your labor contract right now. If not, best of luck finding your ideal job.”

“Fine, three thousand it is. If I do well, won’t my salary go up later anyway?”

“Let me be clear: we’re a small company, everyone matters. You’re new, you know nothing—you’ll need training. It’ll take at least one or two months before you can work independently. If you sign the contract and quit after two months, we’ll have problems. So think carefully—are you really planning to stay?”

“No problem. I can’t promise what’ll happen later, but I’ll definitely stay at least a year. Honestly, I’m here to earn tuition for self-study exams, upgrade my education, and maybe take the civil service exam later.”

He agreed quickly and spoke plainly. Partly because of his naturally outgoing personality, partly because Qingchun Employment Agency was so tiny—he felt relaxed about this job.

Especially the second point mattered more: small company, low-end workplace, job seekers are usually relaxed. But if you give job seekers a high-end impression first, they get nervous during interviews. Even if you only pay three or four thousand, they’ll subconsciously cling to the opportunity because of the supposed “prospects” of a big company.

Wang Yan sat on the broken sofa, legs crossed, listening to the entire interview. He clearly sensed Huang Zimu’s ease. He spoke clearly, was outgoing—just those two traits made him usable.

Human resources, headhunting—sounds impressive, but when you dig into the actual work, it’s no different from sales. The key is being able to communicate clearly and speak up—that’s basic competence. After that, you can refine techniques, but those can all be trained.

In fact, Wang Yan had seen this kid around the shop over the past two days—he’d come early to check things out. Probably because it was close by, he just dropped in, then decided to apply.

Seeing Xiong Qingchun look at him, he nodded slightly—accepting Huang Zimu.

“Good, then you’re with us. When can you start?”

“Now.” Huang Zimu spoke firmly.

“Alright, I’ll print the contract right away. Do you have your ID?”

“I have it.”

Immediately, Xiong Qingchun got to work—printing the contract, registering the new employee: for state record-keeping and statistics, and also for social insurance contributions…

This was already a month after Zheng Qiudong had left. Under Wang Yan’s rapid expansion, Qingchun Employment Agency’s business had exploded—though there was no legitimate business, only short-term gigs.

Nanning was a big city. Big cities mean diverse jobs and lifestyles. The so-called “Sanhe Gods” were here too. They took light short-term jobs, earned some cash, then spent it—nothing extravagant, just internet cafes and meals, homeless, living in the moment.

After a month, Wang Yan and Xiong Qingchun had gathered a solid group of such workers. When needed, they could easily assemble a hundred or so. All kinds of short-term gigs: event crowd-fillers, decoys, security, manual labor—endless variety, each person earning tens of yuan a day.

With a large number of these short-term jobs, where each one earns you a few dozen yuan, the accounting from a few days ago showed that I made over 30,000 yuan in the past month, with over a thousand yuan coming in each day.

With more business came more contacts to manage. Xiong Qingchun was now busy from morning till night—she couldn’t handle such a heavy workload alone, so she hired someone to share the load, even replace her. That way, she could free up to handle other matters.

After all, they couldn’t stay in this part-time gig business forever. They needed to build ties with medium and large companies, develop real business—that’s where the real money was. One person’s success fee was twenty to thirty percent of their annual salary.

Of course, the commission wasn’t fixed—everything was negotiable. In fierce, brutal competition, to survive and grow without breaking laws or engaging in fraud or substandard services, there were only two paths: be better, or be cheaper—universal rules.

But no matter what, expanding into true human resources services—headhunting, labor dispatch—was far more profitable.

Soon, Xiong Qingchun signed the contract with Huang Zimu and turned to Wang Yan: “Our business is growing. Should we go out for dinner tonight to celebrate? Welcome our new comrade.”

Before Wang Yan could answer, a rolling suitcase sound came from the doorway, followed by a voice: “Definitely need to eat.”

“Zheng Qiudong?” Xiong Qingchun jumped up in surprise. “You’ve decided? You’re joining us?”

“What else would I do?” Zheng Qiudong laughed, dragging his suitcase in. He glanced at Huang Zimu holding the labor contract. “Only a month, and you’ve already grown? I didn’t come too late, right? The promised terms still stand?”

“Of course they do. Let’s sign the contract now, clarify shares. The two hundred thousand is separate—I’m good for it, I’ll pay you back later.”

“No rush. Professional matters should be handled by professionals—that way, everyone feels secure.”

Wang Yan nodded with a smile: “First, rent a place to settle in.”

“I think instead of renting me a place, we need a bigger office. We’ll definitely expand business later. Even if clients don’t matter, job seekers coming for interviews here won’t be impressed.”

Xiong Qingchun looked at Wang Yan, shrugged helplessly, raised an eyebrow, and spread her hands: “No money!”

“I still have two hundred thousand. I know Yan Ge’s ability—he’s the one who’s been feeding me. But I won’t take free rides. Before I came, I’d already decided: I’ll put in two hundred thousand for twenty percent equity. That gives us startup capital, we keep things clear between brothers, and I’ll feel at ease.”

“This…” Xiong Qingchun couldn’t decide, so she looked at Wang Yan.

In fact, over the past month, amid the shop’s explosive growth, she’d unconsciously come to see Wang Yan as her anchor—a sense of security she’d never felt before.

Wang Yan nodded: “Fine, we’ll take your offer. Tomorrow, find a lawyer to draft the contract. It’s still early, afternoon just started—you haven’t eaten lunch yet. Let’s grab a quick bite. First, let’s find an office. What do you think? Zimu—you’re here too, weigh in. Be part of the company’s development.”

Huang Zimu glanced at Xiong Qingchun, then at the new shareholder boss who’d just appeared, and finally fixed his gaze on Wang Yan—the man with the tattooed arms, distinctive aura, clearly the boss.

“I don’t think we need anything too big. We don’t have much capital—step too far, you’ll pull a muscle. We don’t need it. Just bigger than this. I think a two-story street shop is perfect. I passed by one when I interviewed—it’s not all expensive. Some streets have low foot traffic and cheap rent. We find one that’s not too shabby, buy some secondhand office supplies, and open right away.”

Xiong Qingchun nodded with a smile: “I agree with Comrade Xiao Huang. We’re not ready for fancy office buildings yet. With just four of us, expanding the team will take time. A two-story shop is enough for twenty to thirty people—it’ll hold us for a while. Zheng Qiudong, what do you think?”

“You know I’d love a high-rise office—more upscale the better.” Zheng Qiudong laughed. “But right now, we don’t need it. Our business hasn’t reached that stage yet. A two-story shop is enough—mainly because it’s bigger. Right now, we can’t even all work in this space.”

“But honestly, what I care more about is when we can expand into the Yangtze River Delta. That’s where we’ll truly grow and shake things up.”

“As I told you before, we must first solidify our base in Nanning. Right now, we’re still doing part-time gigs—we can’t abandon this, we must keep expanding it. At the same time, we need to build ties with other companies and launch human resource services—whether headhunting or labor dispatch—we’ll build it up slowly.”

“If things go well, a year here will be enough to stabilize us. Then we can move into the Yangtze River Delta—bright future ahead. Especially you, Zimu—you need to study hard and get involved in the work quickly.”

“Though we might sound like we’re bragging now, once you work here a while, you’ll realize we’re not exaggerating. You’re already an original member—if you grow well enough, handing you full responsibility for Nanning’s operations isn’t out of the question.”

“I’ll work hard.”

“Not just work hard—learn well. Everything has its methods. Working hard creates wealth for us, but learning creates value for you. Calling you an original member is just a joke—it’s about staying long-term.”

“But life is changeable, colorful. You’re young, your path is long—you might do anything later. But what you learn in this industry applies everywhere: communication skills, reading people, researching companies—all practical.”

Was Wang Yan being kind? Definitely. He didn’t deceive Huang Zimu—he spoke plainly, words Huang Zimu, a fresh graduate, had never considered. But once he heard these words and experienced the work, Huang Zimu would likely never leave—he’d become utterly loyal.

Seeing Huang Zimu, and Zheng Qiudong beside him, Wang Yan thought of Zheng Qiudong’s first employee when he started his own business—Hui Chenggong. His choice wasn’t smart. He left right when Zheng Qiudong was rising, and as an original member who’d grown with him, even if he couldn’t see the future, he should’ve known things would only get better. That wasn’t a wise move.

But then again, Hui Chenggong quit for better pay—this suggests Zheng Qiudong neglected his team’s salary concerns. That’s a core issue in company operations. He’d even worked as a compensation director at Valley Group—he should’ve understood its importance.

Wang Yan patted Huang Zimu’s shoulder, then turned to Xiong Qingchun: “You explain things to Zimu first, then coordinate tomorrow’s short-term jobs. I’ll go out with Qiudong—we’ll look for a suitable shop nearby. Try to finish it within two days. Then we’ll go out for a good dinner.”

“Alright.” Xiong Qingchun nodded, then suddenly said, “Hey—we need to update our business registration when we move. And right now we’re still an individual business. I think we should form a company. We’re three partners—‘Qingchun Employment Agency’ doesn’t fit anymore.”

“Mm, you’re right. But let’s discuss this over dinner tonight. Let’s go.”

Wang Yan waved goodbye, picked up his car keys, and left with Zheng Qiudong to find their next base…