56. Hangzhou Urban Ring E-commerce

Near noon, the blazing sun beat down, making people's skin sting.

With July fast approaching, the temperature in Hangzhou had reached the point where parasols were an absolute must for women heading outdoors.

After a twenty-minute ride, Chen Che took a taxi to the Science and Technology Industrial Park on Binxing Road.

Guo Jingling had actually set up the company inside the park. That kid had gone all out and rented a space measuring 1,140 square meters.

This time, Chen Che was here to give him a thorough lecture. Dammit, money needed to be saved; what a spendthrift.

"Yucai, come out and pick me up."

Chen Che arrived inside the park and sent a voice message via WeChat, which received a quick reply:

"Oh, I'm busy, come up yourself."

"F***, I'm going to finish you when I get up there."

Knowing that Guo Jingling wouldn't come down, Chen Che found the building mentioned in the WeChat message and walked inside.

The building had nine floors in total, and their company was located on the sixth floor. Not a bad choice of floor.

Taking the elevator to the company's location, about a week had passed, and Guo Jingling's efficiency was quite high.

Coming out of the elevator and turning right to the very end was their company. The glass doors were wide open, facing directly toward the background wall and the front desk.

The four characters "Huanke E-commerce" were striking as one walked closer, and the red-and-black color scheme paired with English lettering gave it a strong international vibe.

Though why was there no one at the front desk?

Just as this thought crossed Chen Che's mind, the very next second he stepped into the office, a popping explosion echoed loudly by his ears.

"Whoosh—"

Colorful confetti drifted down, and the previously empty front desk instantly swarmed with people.

Most of them were in their early twenties, and Guo Jingling was prominently among them, holding an empty party popper and shouting excitedly:

"Welcome, Boss, to inspect our workplace!"

"Welcome, welcome, a warm welcome!"

With Guo Jingling taking the lead, the others joined in on the hype. Several of the young women were quite pretty.

Chen Che was instantly surrounded by people. Looking at the scene before him, he smiled helplessly, raised his hand, and said:

"You're too polite. This makes me a bit emotional and embarrassed—lunch is on me today!"

"Long live the Boss!"

Some of the girls jumped up joyfully, smiling brightly and vibrantly. The atmosphere at the scene was fantastic.

Only for Chen Che to immediately turn around and say:

"However, you guys startled me just now. A deduction of 100 yuan from everyone's salary."

"Ah!—"

A chorus of wails echoed across the room. But seeing Chen Che's beaming smile, no one took it seriously.

Guo Jingling walked up to Chen Che, waved the party popper in his hand, and with a grin, spoke up on everyone's behalf:

"I say, Kaixin, we put on this welcome ceremony counting on you to give us a raise; how come you're deducting money instead?"

Most of the people at the site were hired by Guo Jingling, but the financial director had been interviewed online by Chen Che.

Deductions and raises were genuinely up to Chen Che.

"It's not a real deduction, a raise is definitely happening, but right now we're missing one thing."

Chen Che swept his gaze across the surrounding employees and said with a smile.

Guo Jingling asked curiously:

"What thing?"

"Today I'm treating you to lunch, but you're paying the bill. How about turning the money I save into red envelopes for everyone?"

"Get lost, you're taking all the credit for being a good guy."

Hearing this, Guo Jingling laughed and cursed playfully. Looking at Chen Che with an involuntary smile, he waved his hand to the surroundings and said:

"Alright, everyone go tidy up. We'll head out for dinner in a bit, and work hard after we've eaten our fill!"

Amidst cheerful laughter, people came and went in a hurry. Soon, only the cleaning auntie remained at the front desk.

"Where is Liangzi?"

Looking at the reasonably bright and decent office environment, Chen Che stood at the front desk and asked casually.

Indeed, Zhang Liang was nowhere to be seen.

"Liangzi is over at the warehouse. The batch of goods ordered this morning arrived, and he's keeping an eye on things over there."

Guo Jingling explained, resting his arm on the front desk counter to take out his phone. After unlocking it, he continued:

"He should be done by now. Let's have him head straight to the restaurant; it's not far from either the park or the warehouse."

"Mhm."

Chen Che nodded. He had been busy with matters in Tianjin and Beijing lately, and truly hadn't had the time to manage things here much.

Aside from keeping indirect control over the finances, he basically only listened to reports regarding the company and the warehouse.

It was already past 12 o'clock. Since everyone had essentially been waiting for Chen Che, the main group soon began leaving in batches.

Most of the employees chose ride-hailing services, and Guo Jingling led Chen Che to the park's parking lot.

Sitting inside the top-trim Tesla Model S, Chen Che fastened his seatbelt and asked with surprise:

"Is this car newly bought?"

"No, it's my sister's."

New energy vehicles were extremely fast; it felt like it could move without even shifting gears. Guo Jingling offered an explanation and added:

"This car drives pretty well. Once you start paying me a salary, I'm definitely getting one myself."

"You, oh you."

Chen Che was speechless. He smiled and didn't say much more.

Guo Jingling, however, was quite the chatterbox. After chatting about the company for a bit, he transitioned to the main topic, pretending to ask casually:

"Kaixin, I heard something happened at home. What's going on with that, and why didn't you mention it to me?"

Yes, something had happened at home.

Over these past few days, in Guo Jingling's eyes, that certainly seemed to be the case—Hongye Construction was in deep trouble.

The developer had defaulted!

In this lifetime, because no official seal had been stamped, Hongye Construction Group had not become the target of public criticism.

Yet, the resulting impact was still very much there.

Take the suppliers, for instance. Everyone knew Hongye Construction might not have the money to cover upfront project costs, but so what?

You owe me, and paying debts is only right and proper.

Chen Che had money now; giving his dad ten million to handle the emergency first wouldn't be difficult, or even more.

However, he was currently waiting for court documents. Only through such legal procedures could Huakai Group and Hongye achieve a win-win situation.

There was a huge difference between this money being provided by Huakai versus being provided by him personally.

The current situation could only be resolved by Huakai; any other resolution would just be splashing dirty water on Huakai.

He knew his old man was anxious, but there was no need to panic just yet.

Aside from his father, people like Guo Qidong were also deeply concerned about the difficulties facing Banghe Real Estate.

Taking on the Banghe Mansion project this time had been a rather unconventional move by his father, and personal connections had already been leveraged once before.

Consequently, no one was currently helping Hongye Construction.

Take the Guo family, for example. Having invested a significant amount of money alongside Chen Tianhong this time, their own capital was tight as well.

Not to mention that helping Hongye right now looked like throwing money into a bottomless pit, making some favors even harder to ask.

Everyone was shrewd.

Favors involving tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan could be overlooked, but Hongye was facing a hole exceeding one hundred million this time.

Who could help? Who would be willing to help?

Talk of brothers going through thick and thin together sounded nice when heard, but you couldn't blame a brother for showing no mercy either.

It was only human nature.

As long as they weren't kicking someone when they were down, it wasn't wrong—especially for those who didn't actually owe Hongye Construction anything.

Compared to his past life, although Hongye Construction's crisis was massive, the pressure was much smaller.

After all, it was merely a developer defaulting; Gong Yaowu hadn't absconded with much money, and those funds were still sitting in the bank.

It was just like ofo bikes: if the company hadn't misappropriated and squandered user deposits, it might have met a relatively better end.

A lot of Banghe Mansion's funds had been misappropriated, but the bank was still holding onto a portion.

That portion of money was Hongye Construction's hope—it wouldn't leave them entirely devoid of hope like in his past life.

In Guo Jingling's view, as long as the government coordinated and handled this matter properly, Hongye could still survive.

That was why he was somewhat worried about Chen Che.

Yet, that was also why he hadn't burst into tears right off the bat.

"Family matters? My dad is handling them, what is there to be afraid of? The two of us just need to focus on doing our own thing well."

Chen Che's carefree expression opened Guo Jingling's eyes. Relaxing his tone in response, Guo Jingling said:

"You certainly know how to look on the bright side. But you're right, Kaixin, this isn't the kind of problem we can solve."

Hearing this, Chen Che's eyes flickered. A trace of a smile played at the corner of his lips as he offered no further explanation, nor was he in any rush.

As for starting a business...

To Chen Che, it was both important and unimportant. His mindset and goals were very clear.

Setting aside the desire to take a leave of absence fair and square.

The reason entrepreneurship mattered to him was because he came from the year 2024, equipped with sufficient self-confidence.

If he were to idle away these six years, by 2025 he would lose his preemptive advantage and sink back into being good for nothing.

What was rebirth? It was playing a story-driven video game you had already beaten all over again, armed with first-hand authentic intelligence.

Information could toppled nations; used properly, it was worth more than a million elite troops.

To name just a small example, with the beverage market warming up right now, franchising two Mixue Ice Cream shops would be enough to secure a comfortable and modest livelihood.

Even borrowing money to franchise—how hard could it be?

Mixue Ice Cream was going to make a fortune in the next two years.

The reason starting a business was usually so difficult was the uncertainty of the future; uncertainty made every step a struggle.

What would the opportunities of 2050 be?

Who could tell me, who could truly be certain?

Ordinary people wouldn't dare, but a time-traveler would.

Once 2024 passed, Chen Che would once again become blind, losing his most crucial cheat code.

If he wanted to strike gold, he had to do it these next few years.

By 2024, he would only be twenty-six years old—right at the very beginning of life, he could retire with a clear conscience.

This was the biggest reason driving him to start a business.

Yet, entrepreneurship wasn't that important to him either, because he harbored no ambitions or ideals of leaving an eternal legacy.

Just like how he lacked internet industry experience yet went to battle in the internet sector anyway.

He was simply playing for the thrill.

Huakai Group was his base camp, his future foothold, and his solid backing.

As long as Huakai Group didn't fall, he could mess around and play as much as he wanted, even engaging in high-stakes thrills.

If the startup failed, it didn't matter.

He still had his dad, and he still had Huakai Group.

He started a business purely for fun, to experience a different life, and to try being a trendsetter of the era.

Whether it was coffee or short videos, he harbored no excessive ambitions or desire to win.

If it succeeded, great; if it didn't, he could accept that too.

This was why he felt entrepreneurship wasn't that important.

Career shouldn't be the main melody of his life, nor would he let work dictate his existence.

He had never once thought about becoming a dedicated, diligent internet tycoon.

He would go to the office when he felt like it, and stay away when he didn't; certain things he would do if he wanted, and skip if he didn't.

Money was the most fundamental safeguard.

It was the confidence that allowed him to do whatever he wished to do, and refuse whatever he didn't want to do.

It was his ultimate veto power.

Making money was a given.

Yet, he still preferred to occasionally put on airs, enjoy sweet romances, and live the carefree life of a wealthy second-generation heir.

In his past life, when Chen Che worked overtime at the company, tossing and turning unable to sleep at 3:00 AM, he would go outside for some fresh air, gazing at the bright skyscrapers of Wangjing and the empty, amber-lit streets.

He had thought to himself...

I don't like Beijing.

Yet I cannot leave Beijing either.

Before his rebirth, he lived for six pence.

Now that he was reborn, if he still fell back into a six-pence existence.

Then wouldn't his rebirth have been utterly wasted?