Chapter 942: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 942: Disagreement Arises Before Opening

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

"Erhai, when can I go work at your renovation company? My wife's urging me hard, I've got to find a job quick."

Liang Xinghua asked Wang Erhai humbly.

He sincerely hoped to be able to work at Wang Erhai's renovation company.

After all, Wang Erhai was a fellow villager; they'd see each other constantly, and no matter what, he couldn't possibly screw him over.

Besides, Wang Erhai had told him before that he'd pay his social security.

Social security, that thing — though it seemed optional to him, having it was definitely better than not.

"Xiong Hua Shu, wait a few more days. My renovation company is already being registered; it probably won't be long before it opens for business!"

Wang Erhai spoke truthfully.

He had just finalized a cooperation agreement with Huo Guoqiang and Wu Moli.

Just waiting for Wu Moli to find a site and Huo Guoqiang to finish the company registration, then the company could open.

"Then you've got to hurry. My wife nags me every day; I really can't take it anymore."

Liang Xinghua sighed and told the truth:

"Just last night we had another fight."

Wang Erhai couldn't help but sympathize with Liang Xinghua; he understood Liang Xinghua's feelings all too well.

Before, he also fought with Liu Meiqi every day.

Such fighting doesn't just affect your mood — it ruins the family feng shui too!

"Xiong Hua Shu, how about this: you go back and tell your wife you can start working in the county town tomorrow, then you go to the county town first and find a rental to settle in. Wait a few days until my company opens, then come work."

Wang Erhai gave Liang Xinghua an idea.

But Liang Xinghua said: "Going to the county town early, if there's nothing to do, that'll waste a lot of money."

He wasn't willing to waste money; his family was dirt poor, every penny saved counted.

Wang Erhai then said:

"You can just go find some day labor. In the county town, finding odd jobs is still pretty easy."

Liang Xinghua thought it over and finally accepted Wang Erhai's suggestion:

"Alright then. I'll go back and tell my wife, and this afternoon I'm heading to the county town. I'm not willing to stay in Shanggou Village another second. Every day that wife of mine despises me for being useless — it's annoying as hell!"

After Liang Xinghua returned home, he told Lan Menglian that he could start working at Wang Erhai's renovation company tomorrow, so this afternoon he had to go to the county town to find a place to live in advance.

Lan Menglian, hearing this, was overjoyed:

"For real or fake?"

Liang Xinghua felt a bit guilty; he was honest and simple, never good at lying:

"Cough cough, of course it's real. Why would I lie to you?"

Lan Menglian then asked:

"Then when can me and the kid move to the county town to live together?"

Liang Xinghua said:

"Let's talk in a few days. Once I'm settled in the county town, I'll bring you over."

But Lan Menglian said:

"I'm bored to death in Shanggou Village. How about me and the kid go to the county town with you this afternoon!"

Liang Xinghua was stunned:

"This... not so good, right? I haven't found a rental yet. What if we can't find one tonight?"

Lan Menglian said without a second thought:

"Then we'll just stay a night in a hotel!"

Liang Xinghua gave a dry heh-heh laugh:

"Staying in a hotel costs a fair bit. We're poor as it is; let's save where we can."

But Lan Menglian said:

"It's just one night in a hotel, won't cost much. Don't be so stingy! Anyway, you've already confirmed you're going to work at Wang Erhai's company, and didn't you say his pay is pretty high, benefits good too? What's the big deal spending a little now?"

Liang Xinghua was left speechless.

He couldn't win against his wife.

In the end he could only compromise.

Originally he planned to go to the county town alone first to escape his wife's nagging, but in the end it turned into the whole family moving to the county town together.

Lan Menglian didn't raise poultry or livestock at home, didn't farm, just had a small vegetable garden.

So once clothes and luggage were packed they could leave, no need to worry about this or that.

Actually, from the moment she returned to Shanggou Village, she never planned to stay long.

She used to live in a big city like Shenzhen; though she lived in an old house in an urban village, though conditions were hard, she still felt it was much better than living in the countryside.

At least daily life was far more convenient, and entertainment options were far more than in the countryside.

Back when Liang Xinghua wanted to stay in the countryside doing masonry, Lan Menglian strongly opposed it.

So now that there was a chance to leave the countryside, naturally she didn't want to stay another moment.

After Liang Xinghua left the Wang family, Wang Erhai specifically called Huo Guoqiang to ask about the progress of Liguo Mountain Decoration Co., Ltd.

Huo Guoqiang told him that everything was progressing very smoothly.

He estimated they could open for business by next Tuesday.

He also said:

"General Manager Wang, I've already formulated the renovation pricing plan on my end; you can go find orders when you turn back. Our new company is opening, so we can throw out some discounts, which will better attract customers."

Wang Erhai couldn't help but be stunned:

"Shouldn't we find good employees first, then take orders?"

Huo Guoqiang laughed and said:

"Employees are easy to find; there are plenty of freelance renovation workers on the market. We take the orders, then turn around and outsource them to those workers to do!"

Huo Guoqiang also said:

"Although we are a renovation company, I don't plan to keep renovation employees on staff. Renovation workers inherently have high mobility, and the barrier to entry is low. We don't lack talent in this area. Outsourcing can both lower risk and lower costs. Not keeping them on staff means we don't have to pay social security and such."

Huo Guoqiang's words left Wang Erhai momentarily speechless.

He had just promised Liang Xinghua that he would recruit him in.

And he had also said he would pay social security for him.

Now General Manager Huo explicitly said their renovation company would not hire formal renovation employees!

This seems absurd, but it is a very common phenomenon in the market!

Many renovation companies nowadays indeed do not keep renovation employees on staff!

When there's work, they call them to do it; when the work is done, they settle the wages and let them go!

Renovation workers also aren't willing to stay at one company forever; they don't want to be tied down. If the company has no work, they can only collect a base salary and can't go do other jobs, and they'd be unhappy too!

"Then General Manager Huo, what kind of employees do you think we need?"

Wang Erhai did not refute Huo Guoqiang, but asked this question instead.

After all, this Liguo Mountain Decoration Co., Ltd. was founded single-handedly by Huo Guoqiang.

Huo Guoqiang is the backbone of this company; he, Wang Erhai, is a partner at best, and at worst just someone here to assist Huo Guoqiang.

Huo Guoqiang said:

"We need marketing talent. We need to package the company well, grasp customer pain points, put out advertisements, so that people needing renovation will see our ads and proactively contact us to help them renovate their houses!"

Wang Erhai said:

"General Manager Huo, what you say is very reasonable. This can indeed quickly build up the company. However, marketing will probably cost not a little money. With that money, better to honestly keep a renovation team. We're not in a rush for quick success; first get quality control right, build up reputation. Then one tells ten, ten tell a hundred. Even without advertising, customers will naturally come knocking to ask us to help renovate!"

Wang Erhai was clearly inclined toward keeping his own renovation team.

Hiring temp workers for renovation, although it costs less money, quality cannot be controlled; it's clearly not a long-term plan.

Huo Guoqiang laughed and said:

"General Manager Wang, I don't deny your quality-first idea is correct, but the times are developing too fast now. Your development plan can't keep up with the pace of the times. Believe me, if you want to produce results in the short term, marketing is the most important! As long as we make a name for ourselves, we quickly open branch stores. Branch stores make a name, then we do franchising. Franchising reaches a certain scale, then we see if we can go public!"

Wang Erhai secretly sighed at this:

"General Manager Huo, didn't expect your ambition to be this big!"

Huo Guoqiang laughed:

"Doing business, without a bit of ambition won't do!"

Unexpectedly, before the company even opened, Wang Erhai and Huo Guoqiang had a divergence in business concepts.

He couldn't directly confront Huo Guoqiang, and in company decision-making, Huo Guoqiang's decision-making authority was clearly much heavier than his.

Wang Erhai had also promised to let Liang Xinghua come work.

Result: now General Manager Huo directly says they won't hire renovation workers.

What to do about this?