61. Sister Zeng and I Hit It Off Instantly

Interested: Agree.
Uninterested: Disagree.

Zeng Qianxin was not too surprised by Chen Che’s proposal to set up a valuation adjustment mechanism. After a moment of hesitation, she raised her hand and said, "Please go ahead, Mr. Chen."

Interviews of this nature were generally two-way, placing the enterprise and the talent on an equal footing.

In fact, Zeng Qianxin was fully qualified to dive straight into her own questions rather than answering the other party's.

It was simply that she was not a competitive person by nature, and Chen Che seemed exceptionally skilled at steering the rhythm of the conversation.

"Very well, then I will be direct."

Seeing that Zeng Qianxin intended to keep listening and seemed to give him a preliminary endorsement, Chen Che crossed his hands and said earnestly:

"Just as Ms. Zeng is likely thinking right now, my personal willingness to offer original equity is both an acknowledgment of Ms. Zeng and an invitation for her to become a partner."

Indeed.

Startups were not the only ones to offer original equity, but when used as a bargaining chip during an interview, the scale was usually not small.

Zeng Qianxin had indeed guessed as much, but her beautiful eyes flickered without her rushing to speak.

Seeing this, Chen Che grew even more satisfied with Zeng Qianxin. Adopting an attitude of utmost sincerity, he took the initiative to introduce himself:

"I believe Ms. Zeng has already learned through Sister Fang that our company is a cultural media firm. Our focus will revolve around building upon the local industrial chain—Ms. Zeng should be well aware of Hangzhou's advantages. Although the company is a startup, I am personally extremely optimistic about the field of live-streaming e-commerce, and I have related background and resource support from my family."

When Zeng Qianxin first walked in and saw Chen Che, she had been slightly taken aback because he looked very much like a fresh graduate.

Yet she had seen her fair share of young talents, and apart from being handsome, Chen Che did not appear particularly special among them.

Entrepreneurs right out of college or wealthy second-generation heirs starting businesses were hardly surprising sights nowadays.

As Chen Che finished speaking, Zeng Qianxin felt a flutter of excitement internally while maintaining a calm exterior. With a light smile, she asked softly:

"Is Mr. Chen referring to influencer-led product seeding? I have some understanding of this field; it is indeed very cutting-edge."

"More than that."

Chen Che leisurely interrupted.

Zeng Qianxin was momentarily stunned, but seeing Chen Che's confident gaze, she inexplicably felt a greater sense of reassurance in her heart.

One particular thing Chen Che had said earlier struck a deep chord with her: his mention of Hangzhou's advantages.

Whenever people spoke of cultural media companies nowadays, their first thoughts usually went to talent agencies and live streamers.

This was the first time Zeng Qianxin had heard someone explicitly propose combining media and e-commerce together.

Such a combination already existed—just as she mentioned earlier with influencer-led seeding for traffic generation—and it possessed immense development potential.

Influencer-led seeding represented the first generation of live-streaming e-commerce, where streamers sold goods through shops on e-commerce platforms.

What Chen Che meant by "more than that" encompassed short-video live-streaming e-commerce, something people might have conceptualized by now, but which no one had truly executed yet.

Kuaishou was currently preparing for live-streaming e-commerce, but true scale would not be achieved until the second half of the year.

While Chen Che had originally intended to wait for Douyin to enter the fray, he could lay the groundwork now and perhaps start with Kuaishou first.

Zeng Qianxin blinked in surprise: "What does Mr. Chen mean?"

Having already reeled in the woman across from him, Chen Che felt quite satisfied. Relaxing slightly, he took a sip of tea and asked:

"Does Ms. Zeng agree to work together?"

"We can give it a try."

Zeng Qianxin nodded. She was genuinely tempted, whether by the original equity or by everything Chen Che had articulated.

A boss who also believed in the potential and shared common ground in their analytical reasoning—that was more than enough reason to agree.

"May I boldly ask, does Ms. Zeng have children?"

The handshake she had imagined did not materialize. Chen Che remained seated, quite leisurely posing a personal question.

Hearing this, Zeng Qianxin raised an eyebrow slightly. Looking at the man who was clearly a full zodiac cycle younger than her, she smiled and replied:

"I have a two-year-old son, and I currently live with my parents and a nanny, so it won't affect my normal work."

"Ah."

Despite his young age, Chen Che had kept the somewhat composed Zeng Qianxin on the defensive from the very beginning.

Now, seeing her willingly put aside the pride she was entitled to, he put down his teacup, raised a hand, and feigned nonchalance:

"Sister Zeng has misunderstood. Personally, I prefer people of passion, loyalty, and substance. Work is merely a safeguard for our families and ourselves; it is not the entirety of life."

Though she had no way of knowing how much truth there was in Chen Che's words, listening to them brought genuine comfort to Zeng Qianxin.

Before getting married, she had considered herself a high-intensity career woman, but having a child naturally brought a touch of tenderness.

She could certainly return to that high-intensity state, but Chen Che saying this made all the difference.

"I can see that Mr. Chen is indeed a person of true sentiment. I'm sure the future working atmosphere will be very pleasant."

Deeply moved, Zeng Qianxin maintained her composure on the surface, offering impeccably flawless diplomatic pleasantries.

Yet the very next second, Chen Che...

Poured a massive bucket of cold water over her.

"Since Sister Zeng and I hit it off immediately, I won't beat around the bush—I am not settling down in Hangzhou."

"??????????????????????!!!"

As Chen Che's words landed, Zeng Qianxin's face was a mask of question marks. Failing to grasp his meaning for a moment, she asked in astonishment:

"What does Mr. Chen mean by that?"

"Hehe."

At this, a touch of the youthful awkwardness proper to a man in his early twenties appeared on Chen Che's face as he smiled and said:

"I am very optimistic about Hangzhou's development, but due to some family matters recently, I cannot stay in Hangzhou indefinitely. Therefore, for the time being, I will need Sister Zeng to devote more personal attention to this."

Forget recently; Chen Che had no plans to settle down in Hangzhou for the next decade either.

Yet a boss's mouth was a deceiving thing.

He had to reel Zeng Qianxin in first and figure out the rest later.

As for Mr. 韩 and the others over in Beijing, they had been introduced through Qin Yanan, so there was little need to win them over.

As for Li Lei, the administrative director of Huanwei E-commerce—the company was already established when Chen Che interviewed, and both the second and third shareholders were present in the company—he hadn't needed to consider such factors then.

This time, however, was completely different.

Chen Che was playing a thoroughly hands-off role; it was no exaggeration to say that right now, he was a commander with an army of one.

Still, he was not entirely unprepared. By bringing it up cryptically now, he wanted to observe her reaction.

Naturally, Zeng Qianxin's reaction was numbness.

Absolute numbness.

What on earth?!

Looking into Chen Che's sincere eyes, Zeng Qianxin felt a mix of laughter and tears inside. Truly, there was always someone more formidable.

When Chen Che said earlier that he liked loyal and affectionate people, it turned out he had been laying a trap for her right here.

"Perhaps Mr. Chen should just speak plainly..."

"All right, I'll be direct."

Since the two of them had not yet signed a contract, Zeng Qianxin could simply turn around and walk away, yet she did not rush to leave.

This indicated that she was open to negotiation.

Let's see how Chen Che plans to persuade her next.

Utterly sincere, Chen Che went straight to the point:

"OGS (Orient Glow / Leqi Culture) has just been established. The paperwork is not yet fully processed, but the registered capital is ten million RMB, which will be paid in full within a month."

A thousand beauties on the internet, and OGS claims half.

In less than a few days, Hangzhou Leqi Culture Media Co., Ltd. would obtain its license.

OGS was the MCN brand name.

Orient Glow was the media company name.

Leqi Culture was the controlling parent company behind it.

At present, no prominent MCN agencies had established a presence in Hangzhou, leaving the field wide open for OGS to take the lead.

Well, the concept of an MCN didn't even formally exist yet.

While some people were dabbling in this direction, they were merely doing short-video media without forming an industrial chain.

An influencer incubation matrix.

An Orient Night (annual gala).

An Orient Fashion Show (beauty pageant).

He was going to bring all of these to life in this lifetime, spearheading the development of the MCN industry and shaking up the entertainment circle.

What would the Huakai Group transform into in the future?

Chen Che felt he could spare a fraction of his energy to manufacture live-streaming equipment, as the technology involved was not particularly difficult.

Self-produced and self-marketed—not a bad idea.

Of course, these were all blueprints; the most urgent task at hand was figuring out how to retain a talent like Zeng Qianxin.

"I need Sister Zeng... how about starting Monday? Your scope of work will be helping me build the team and set up the organizational structure. We have other partners in Hangzhou whom we can work with together."

After offering a couple more words of explanation, seeing that Zeng Qianxin seemed to be gathering her thoughts to counterattack, Chen Che took a sip of tea and said:

"Sister Zeng, I can advance you half a month's salary starting Monday. If you feel uneasy, you can simply treat it as having played around for a month, and you can decide whether to stay or go when the time comes."

This time, Chen Che's reasoning was spot-on, striking straight at the heart of Zeng Qianxin's greatest apprehension.

A perfect ending would bring her countless benefits with zero drawbacks, while failure would simply mean wasting a month.

She could afford to spend a month.

"Then let's do as Mr. Chen says."

Zeng Qianxin let out a soft, pent-up breath. When she raised her gaze to look at Chen Che once more, her eyes shimmered with brilliant colors.

In truth, based solely on what Chen Che had said today, she sensed that she might not be able to leave in the future.

This young man gave her a different kind of feeling, whether through the rhythm of his conversation or the infectious quality of his words.

"Then it's settled!"

Delighted, Chen Che stood up from his chair and shook hands formally with Zeng Qianxin, saying:

"I believe Sister Zeng may face some hardships and fatigue in the future, but you will certainly not regret today's decision."

Hearing this, Zeng Qianxin arched her delicate brows. Looking at Chen Che, who looked far too young compared to her, she beamed with a faint smile and replied:

"Mr. Chen is certainly confident and knows how to boost morale. Regardless of what happens, I will undoubtedly give it my all."

"Haha, happy cooperation."