Rebirth: Starting with Capturing the Goddess Mentor

Chapter 237 The Subsidy War Intensifies! Zhou Wei Sells His House! [Quick Read]

December 2014, 8.

Wang Shen, a high school graduate, is working a summer job at a Cantonese restaurant next to Jinji Lake in Suzhou.

By 2 p.m., almost all the customers in the restaurant had left.

The central air conditioning was humming softly, and a few crumbs of shrimp dumplings were scattered on the dining table.

Wang Shen took off his oil-stained apron and slumped down on the plastic chairs in the employee rest area with several other summer workers.

The foreman had just announced in the WeChat group that "the hygiene inspection must be completed before 4 p.m.," but no one moved at that moment, all wanting to make the most of these two hours of peace and quiet.

"Sigh, there are so many customers today, I'm exhausted."

A pretty girl with her hair in a bun sighed and broke the silence.

The girl who spoke was named Bai Jie. She was also a high school graduate and attended the same school as Wang Shen.

After saying that, she suddenly leaned forward, her hair brushing against Wang Shen's wrist, which was resting on the armrest of his chair: "Wang Shen, what app did you use to find this part-time job?"

Wang Shen paused for a moment, then noticed the tiny beads of sweat on Bai Jie's eyelashes, and his heart began to beat faster.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket. "I'm using [Daily Jobs], and there's a 20% salary subsidy right now."

"Hehe~ Your information is outdated, isn't it?"

Bai Jie smiled slyly, her eyes curving into crescents, and tapped her phone screen with her fingertips. "【Easy Part-Time Job】Now with a 25% subsidy, you can earn an extra 5 yuan for the same day's work."

She suddenly leaned closer and lowered her voice: "I've calculated it, and after get off work I'll have just enough to buy a cup of Mixue Ice Cream's Lemon Four Seasons Spring."

"What? Such a good thing!"

Before Wang Shen could speak, a boy wearing black-rimmed glasses next to him sat up straight in his chair with a "whoosh," his phone almost slipping from his fingers. "Damn it, I found this job on 68.com, and there's not a single penny of compensation!"

"If I had used [Easy Part-Time Job] earlier, wouldn't I have earned several hundred more!?"

Bai Jie raised her eyelids to look at the boy and said with a smile, "It's not that exaggerated. [Easy Part-Time Job] used to offer a 10% subsidy, but the 25% subsidy was only launched today."

The man with black-rimmed glasses picked up his phone and said angrily, "Damn it, I'm downloading 'Easy Part-Time Jobs' right now..."

……

Similar incidents are unfolding throughout Jiangsu Province. Just one day after [Daily Part-Time Jobs] announced a 20% subsidy, [Easy Part-Time Jobs] immediately upgraded the subsidy to 25%.

Many users of 【Daily Part-Time Jobs】 heard that the subsidies next door were higher, so they flocked to 【Easy Part-Time Jobs】 as well.

Daily Technology Jinling Branch.

Zhou Xiaobing's expression was solemn, clearly indicating that he already knew about this.

"Boss, we just bought advertising space on various outdoor LED screens in Jiangsu Province yesterday. If they do this to us now, the advertising space we spent a lot of money to buy may end up benefiting them."

"After all, part-time workers are very well-informed. If even one person in a store knows that the subsidies for [Easy Part-Time Jobs] are higher than ours, then within two days, all the part-time workers in that store will know."

"oh oh."

While listening to Zhou Xiaobing's report, Chen Yan was engrossed in playing the Penguin Racing mobile game. "Wait a minute, I'll finish this race first."

Zhou Xiaobing's lips moved, and finally he slowly uttered four words: "Okay, boss."

Ten minutes later, Chen Yan finished the game.

He seemed to be in a good mood because he came in first place.

Chen Yan glanced at Zhou Xiaobing, who looked distressed, stood up, and walked over to him to comfort him, saying, "Xiaobing, relax. It's just a 5% increase in subsidies compared to us. What's there to worry about?"

"So, starting tomorrow, we'll increase our subsidies to 50%."

As soon as he said that, the office fell into a brief silence, and even the cold air from the air conditioner vents seemed to freeze.

Zhou Xiaobing's knuckles turned white as he gripped his phone, staring at Chen Yan's expressionless face. His Adam's apple bobbed. "Boss, a 50% subsidy... isn't that a bit much to raise all at once? We could easily raise it to 30% first."

Chen Yan didn't answer his question, but instead asked, "Xiaobing, do you know anything about auctions?"

"auctions?"

Zhou Xiaobing looked completely bewildered.

"Correct."

Chen Yan returned to his seat, crossed his legs, and explained: "For example, at an auction, both A and B are determined to win a world-famous painting."

"At this point, the host starts the bidding with a bid of 100 million. A bids 110 million. Now, assuming B bids 120 million, how do you think A will bid?"

Zhou Xiaobing thought for a moment and said, "A will offer 130 million."

"That's right!"

Chen Yan snapped his fingers and continued, "A offered 130 million. Will B follow suit? Of course they will. Nobody wants to miss out on this world-famous painting for a mere 10 yuan."

Zhou Xiaobing suddenly realized: "Boss, you mean that if the price difference between us and [Easy Part-Time Jobs] isn't that big, then they might grit their teeth and go for it, since not going for it would mean losing all their initial investment."

Chen Yan rubbed his fingers against the fountain pen, the nib making a soft, scratching sound as it scratched across the table.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the neon lights of Jinling City were lighting up one after another, casting a cold, hard light on the profile of his face. "That's right, and the longer we drag it out, the more money we waste. It's better to just kill them out in one go."

Zhou Xiaobing looked at Chen Yan with admiration: "Boss is wise, I will give the order right away."

"Ah."

After receiving Chen Yan's permission, Zhou Xiaobing walked out the door, but he turned back shortly after.

"Boss, what if they follow us again?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Yan curled his lips into a smile and tapped his fingertips lightly on the table, producing a rhythmic sound.

He looked up at the dazzling night view outside the window and said calmly, "As long as they haven't reached the point of exhaustion, they will definitely follow."

Hearing this, Zhou Xiaobing was a little at a loss: "Then...then what about us?"

"Then of course we'll keep increasing our bets!"

"Continue to increase the stake?"

Zhou Xiaobing's pupils contracted slightly. "If this continues... when will it end?"

The pen twirled gracefully in his palm, and Chen Yan said slowly:
"When subsidies become so high that one party can no longer afford them, we can choose to cut our losses and withdraw from the Jiangsu market, but for them, it means complete disappearance and everything being wiped out."

Zhou Xiaobing took a deep breath: "So we have to fight this battle. If we win, we'll win the entire Jiangsu market. If we lose, we can return to our home turf and continue to develop stealthily."

Chen Yan got up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, where his cold profile was reflected in the glass. "Xiao Bing, after winning this battle, I think you're qualified to be the first regional manager of [Daily Part-Time Job]."

"The regional manager?"

Although Chen Yan's words were perfectly calm, Zhou Xiaobing felt as if a fire was burning inside him.

It's worth noting that although he currently serves as the city manager for four cities—Nanjing, Wuxi, Xuzhou, and Suzhou—the only difference between him and an ordinary city manager is that his salary is slightly higher.

Moreover, it's only double. A regular city manager's salary is 2, while his is 4, but his workload has actually increased fourfold.

But for the past few months, he has been leading the team diligently without ever uttering a single complaint.

Moreover, even though [Easy Part-Time Jobs] had already established a presence in Jiangsu Province six months in advance, he still led [Daily Part-Time Jobs] to snatch a large share of the market.

Chen Yan saw all of this.

That's why he proposed making Zhou Xiaobing the first regional manager, rather than Wang Tie or Zhou Yi, who had become city managers earlier.

It's important to understand that although there's only a one-level difference between city managers and regional managers, they are two completely different levels.

There may be hundreds of city managers in the future, but there will only ever be seven regional managers! (These are the seven regional managers for East China, South China, North China, Central China, Southwest China, Northwest China, and Northeast China).

Once you reach the position of regional manager, your status in the company is second only to the top leader!
Zhou Xiaobing's hands trembled slightly with excitement. Gazing at Chen Yan's composed and strategic back, he could only manage to utter one sentence amidst his myriad thoughts:
"Fuck you!"

........................

For the next two weeks, the part-time job market in Jiangsu Province was exceptionally hot.

It's so popular that many students and working professionals who hadn't originally planned to do part-time work have downloaded and registered on the "Daily Part-Time Jobs" and "Easy Part-Time Jobs" platforms, starting to scan the leaderboards and search for tasks.

Any part-time job postings on these two apps are snapped up within 20 seconds.

Because of the hype surrounding these two software programs, the subsidies have now reached 100%.

For example, the original hourly wage for part-time workers at KFC was 12 yuan, but now, thanks to the constant price gouging by two different apps, the actual take-home pay for part-time workers has become 24 yuan per hour.

It doubled!
………………

Jinling Easy Part-Time Job Technology Co., Ltd.

Zhou Wei stared at the constantly changing user data on the computer screen, his knuckles turning white from excessive force.

The floor lamp cast a dark shadow under his eyes, his once neatly combed hair now looked like a tangled mess, and stubble covered his chin, even his glasses were covered in a layer of dust—he hadn't been back to his apartment for three days, a wrinkled shirt was lying on the sofa in his office, and the air was filled with the smell of cold coffee and a faint odor of sweat.

"Mr. Zhou, what about the finance department..."

Assistant Xiao Yang stood at the door, her fingers gripping the edge of the report. She suddenly fell silent as she looked at the boss's red eyes.

Zhou Wei slowly turned his head, his bloodshot eyes darting behind his glasses: "What's going on with the finance department?"

His voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping against a tabletop.

Xiao Yang swallowed hard, about to speak.

With a "ding," my phone vibrated, and a message popped up in the work group.

Zhou Wei stared at the screen, his pupils suddenly contracting.

Assistant Xiao Yang saw Zhou Wei's Adam's apple bob violently and his knuckles slam heavily on the table: "100%? They've gone mad?!"

The coffee cup was knocked over, and the brown liquid meandered across the document like a hideous wound.

"In just half a month, they raised the subsidy to 100%! Even charities aren't this generous!"

The background data in the lower right corner of the computer is still jumping. Behind the soaring user activity is real money burning every minute - [Daily Part-Time Job] is trying to burn the fire to his food supply.

Zhou Wei rubbed his temples, annoyed, and said, "What did you just say happened with the finance department?"

Assistant Xiao Yang timidly began, "The finance department said that if the company doesn't receive any new funding, then next month's employee salaries..."

The conversation ended there, but anyone could tell what the second half of the sentence meant.

Zhou Wei suddenly laughed, a laugh tinged with madness. His glasses slipped down to the bridge of his nose, revealing reddened eyes: "Contact the bank's account manager. I want to mortgage my apartment."

Xiao Yang's eyes widened: "Boss, this..."

"No need to say more!"

Zhou Wei looked up, his eyes almost bulging with red blood behind his glasses. "Have the tech department update the subsidy ratio tonight and increase it to 120%!"

"Ok."

…………

Just as Zhou Wei was completely out of control and preparing to sell his house and gamble everything, Chen Yan had already quietly left Jiangsu Province.

Originally, the battle between the two sides had reached a fever pitch, and at this point, he, as the supreme commander, should not have left the front line.

However, Chen Yan had a reason for having to leave.

Because tomorrow is his 19th birthday!

Originally, he didn't want to celebrate this dog's birthday at all, but Jiang Zhixin insisted on doing so for him.

If it were just Jiang Zhixin alone, that would be one thing, but the problem is that Ruan Yusang insists on spending time with him too...

So, what will happen if the two of them appear in front of him at the same time tomorrow?
Just thinking about it sends chills down my spine!
Therefore, Chen Yan decided to return to Hangzhou today.

This gives him time to take a roundabout approach.

………………

At 6 p.m., the Mercedes-Benz was parked in the underground parking garage of Longhu Yanlanshan residential community.

After getting off the bus, Chen Yan went straight to apartment 801 in building 12.

Pushing open the door to room 801, the room was filled with a faint scent of white tea aromatherapy. The pale purple hydrangeas placed in the entryway were still covered with water droplets, trembling gently under the wall lamp.

Chen Yan looked around but didn't see Jiang Zhixin in the living room.

He changed into a pair of slippers in the entryway and then walked straight to the bedroom.

The bedroom door was ajar, and the cool air from the central air conditioning wafted out, carrying a faint citrus scent.

Chen Yan gently pushed open the door and saw a languid silhouette on the bed.

Jiang Zhixin lay sprawled on a beige down pillow, her light blue silk robe loosely half-open, the straps slipping down to her elbows, exposing large expanses of her fair skin to the air.

Her jet-black hair cascaded down her pillow, and the cold light from her phone screen reflected on her flushed cheeks.

She must have seen some funny joke, because her charming and amorous peach blossom eyes were smiling, and her eyelashes cast fan-shaped shadows under her eyes.

Upon hearing the door open, Jiang Zhixin hurriedly grabbed a thin air-conditioning blanket and haphazardly covered herself with it.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the person who came was Chen Yan.

The next moment, her eyes suddenly lit up, like fireworks bursting in the dark night.

Before Chen Yan could speak, she had already sat up. Her silk nightgown had slipped down quite a bit due to the large movement, revealing a large expanse of snow-white skin on her shoulders and neck, which shimmered like pearls in the setting sun.

"You got here so quickly? Didn't you say you were going to get here at 7 o'clock?"

…………

(End of this chapter)