2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 620 A unique farewell party

The eighth day of the first lunar month, Monday.

On the first day back to work after the New Year, FlashChi and Orange Technology's factories across the country held a unique event.

The executives of Flashpoint Technology, led by the boss and former CEO Gu Qingqing, gave each employee a red envelope to start the work week. The amount was not much, only 200 yuan, but it was a festive gesture.

This is something we learned from Pony Ma. It started on a small scale, but starting this year it has been extended to all employees.

Last year, two companies went public. Although the financial reports of Flash Group, ByteDance Engine, and Orange Technology have not yet been fully compiled, the known data already shows that their business was very good last year.

The subprime crisis had some impact on the entire group, but overall it was still positive, with both major systems maintaining a stable growth trend.

If the company makes money, it's always good to give employees some benefits so that everyone can start work happily.

Also, don't underestimate this 200 yuan red envelope. This single red envelope can significantly increase the post-holiday return-to-work rate. Many employees who didn't want to go back to work on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year changed their minds because of this 200 yuan.

"thank you boss!"

The employees of Flash Technology, dressed in blue work uniforms, happily accepted Tan Jincheng's red envelopes. In fact, many of the lower-level employees had not seen Tan Jincheng for a long time.

Many employees asked Tan Jincheng to take photos with them, which slowed down the progress.

Similar to the scene when Pony Ma distributed red envelopes, after distributing red envelopes at the headquarters building, the first company Tan Jincheng visited was the factory of Flash Technology in Dagan, where he stood at the factory gate distributing red envelopes.

FlashTech may not be the best-selling business in the entire FlashTech group, and it may not be the core business of the group in the future, but it will definitely be the most unique.

"Happy New Year!"

As Tan Jincheng handed out red envelopes, he also greeted the employees. Beside him were Li Yaohui and Zeng Jixiang, who led the president's office staff. It would take forever for one person to receive so many red envelopes.

Similar scenes were also observed in Wangjiang Industrial Park, Dexian Electronics Shenzhen Factory, Tianjin Industrial Base, as well as Luzhou, Chuzhou, and Xiangcheng.

Employees from big cities are well-traveled and experienced, so they felt fine. But employees from smaller places like Wangjiang Industrial Park and Chuzhou found it all very novel. 200 yuan isn't much, but it was their first time experiencing it.

"200 yuan per person, how much money will be distributed?"

"All employees are included, that must be a lot of money, at least one or two million."

The official website lists the group's number of employees as over 5000, but in reality, it has long exceeded that number. After acquiring Yangzi Automobile and Changfeng Automobile, the number of employees in the entire system has increased rapidly.

A red envelope containing one or two million yuan is required.

In the internet age, with the significant increase in mobile internet users, even without any publicity from Flash Group, many employees in various locations spontaneously took photos and posted them online. Some headquarters employees even included photos with Tan Jincheng.

Internet companies have a tradition of giving out "opening red envelopes" (a traditional way to give out gifts upon opening a business), but this is relatively rare among physical businesses, especially large private enterprises, which will stop at nothing to save costs.

Unintentionally, Tan Jincheng rolled up the money for everyone again.

The leaders of Beicang District and Ningbo City also heard about the opening red envelope campaign launched by FlashCar in the afternoon. They found it both funny and helpless. It was funny because FlashCar often does some unexpected things.

Unfortunately, whenever it comes to the real economy, Tan Jincheng doesn't promote it much, which leaves them feeling very helpless.

Gu Qingqing's last act of service to employees as CEO was to give them a red envelope as a way to open the door to business. In addition, Orange Technology also held a unique farewell ceremony for the former CEO.

Orange Technology, whose main color scheme is orange, has had its office area decorated in light purple today. This is the color that the former CEO liked. Each person has a flower on their desk, including lilies, peonies, and blue roses.

Every time Gu Qingqing gives a red envelope to an employee, that employee presents a small flower to express their blessings to their boss.

From initial misunderstanding to gradual admiration, this was how the first batch of employees at Orange Technology felt about their CEO, including Cheng Hao. To be honest, Tan Jincheng initially thought it was a bit of a joke to put Gu Qingqing in the CEO position.

How can a college student who knows nothing about the job become a CEO while attending classes?

At the beginning, Gu Qingqing did make mistakes frequently, which forced Cheng Hao, who was in charge of the technology, to step in and take over some of the work. However, it was during this process that Cheng Hao saw her efforts.

At the time, the technical staff at Orange Technology had strong opinions about CEO Tan's nepotism, even believing that such a company wouldn't last long, and that many would have left long ago if it weren't for the excellent benefits. However, CEO Tan didn't care. In his words, everyone starts from scratch, so why not give our own people a try when we have the opportunity and resources?
Perhaps at that time, Mr. Tan really just had a casual attitude towards Orange Technology, after all, his main business was in the physical industry.

Mr. Gu certainly lived up to Mr. Tan's expectations, becoming a qualified CEO through his own efforts. He has made great progress in both management and technology. And you know what? Mr. Gu can even write a few lines of code now.

"Mr. Gu, thank you for your hard work and dedication to the company over the past few years. I hope your career will go even further in the future."

Cheng Hao held a bouquet of lilies and handed it to Gu Qingqing, sincerely wishing her well. Lilies are used when parting to wish the other person a bright future, and their flower language also symbolizes feminine beauty. Today, the company employees have been given lilies the most.

"Thank you, Mr. Cheng, and I am also very grateful to all my colleagues for holding such a unique farewell party for me. I am very happy to have worked with you all, and I am also very grateful for your understanding of me."

Gu Qingqing was also a little emotional. This was her first formal job. Compared to the returns from investing in a listed company, she, who came from a well-off family, valued the sense of accomplishment in her work more.

Taking a startup to the point of listing is impossible if the CEO is merely a figurehead. Gu Qingqing played a significant role in both the collaboration with Ningbo University and the Yiwu government.

Her status as a college student was also Orange Technology's biggest asset in its early stages. People like Pony Ma, with their domineering style, didn't really care about Tan Jincheng's status in the company. On the contrary, they were somewhat wary of Gu Qingqing's status as a college student.

In China and even worldwide, never mess with college students. Just like scholars in ancient times had many privileges, in an era when college students were highly sought after, if an entrepreneur bullies a college student, you're really in for a world of trouble.

As Gu Qingqing finished speaking, Sun Tongyu, who was standing next to her, took the lead in applauding. As the vice president who joined the company later, Sun Tongyu did not have much contact with Gu Qingqing. After he took over Orange Products, Gu Qingqing began to intentionally withdraw from the operation of Orange Technology.

However, this did not prevent him from looking at the company's previous financial reports and various statements, as well as the employees' attitudes towards Gu Qingqing. It was definitely not easy for a girl in her early twenties to convince a proud and arrogant programmer.

In 2008, Orange Technology's revenue was US$3258.2 million, with a two-year compound annual growth rate of 58.34%, which is quite remarkable for an internet company that was less than three years old.

Take Orange Products Club as an example. It took Dangdang.com seven years to achieve this. Orange Products Club now has more than 300 partner brands, and its original core brands, Kaixin.com and Happy Farm, are still active.

The games developed by the newly established game project team last year for iOS and Android mobile devices, such as Talking Tom and Fruit Ninja, are already quite popular overseas, and the games are doing very well in terms of both reputation and revenue.

Gaming and online shopping support Orange Technology's cash flow, keeping this small internet company vibrant.

Wall Street remains optimistic about Orange Technology's annual and first-quarter financial reports, and Sun Tongyu has reason to believe that Orange Technology will continue to improve with the development of the internet.

Frankly, it's a bit of a pity that Ms. Gu resigned at this time; she could have achieved even greater success in the internet industry.

Looking at her somewhat emotional cousin, Gu Yanning felt conflicted. At home, she was the older cousin, but at the company, she was the subordinate. Her position remained unchanged—she was still the CEO's assistant—but her feelings were much more complicated.

She was actually a relative; without her cousin, she wouldn't have been able to get a job at Orange Technology, nor would her position and salary have risen so quickly after Fang Yi graduated.

After calming herself down, Gu Qingqing took two red envelopes from Liu Suman and handed them to Cheng Hao and Sun Tongyu respectively, saying with a smile, "Please accept one as well. The company will be in your hands from now on."

"Haha, thank you very much, Mr. Gu. We hope you won't forget us when you have any investment opportunities in the future."

Sun Tongyu accepted the red envelope with a smile. They all knew that Gu Qing should not take the position of vice president of ByteDance.

This person will be the head butler of Boss Tan from now on. ByteDance made a lot of money last year, especially with its short-selling of US stocks, which was incredibly shrewd.

Over the past six months, the investment community has come to know where the money came from for Tan Jincheng's acquisition of Changfeng Group and for Flash Technology's backdoor listing.

In the face of the global subprime crisis, he actually thought of making a move to short the US stock market in advance, and even invested almost all of the cash flow available in ByteDance's massive engine.

This wouldn't be surprising if it were Wall Street capital, but it's a bit strange to see it in Tan Jincheng's case; it really fits his ruthless and unscrupulous business personality.

Who would have thought?

Tan Jincheng, who was described as being dog-like and shrewish, was still sending out red envelopes, but now they were being sent to Jinyi Industry.

Around this time, Tan Jincheng received a call from Chang Zeyu, inviting him to Shanghai on the 4th.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Tan. I thought your company hadn't started work yet, so I didn't notify you in advance to avoid disrupting your normal work schedule."

"It's alright, please rest assured, Nagasawa-kun, I will definitely be there on time."

(End of this chapter)