Reborn in 2012, building a new energy empire

At nine o'clock the next morning, Jiang Haoran pushed open the glass door of Jiutian Investment's office.

Hearing the noise, Chen Jingge looked up: "Haoran, I was just about to tell you about those two cars that Young Master Zhou gave us yesterday..."

"I've thought it over." Jiang Haoran sat down on the sofa. "We'll accept the car, but we'll handle it through the company accounts. We'll have the finance department treat it as a fixed asset purchase, deducting what's due and depreciating what's due. This way, we can legally avoid taxes and not take advantage of Zhou Mingyu's favor for nothing."

Chen Jingge was taken aback: "Won't Zhou Shao think we're being too formal?"

"He'll understand," Jiang Haoran said with a faint smile. "Business is business, and personal relationships are personal relationships. A professional company should have professional practices."

Chen Jingge pondered for a moment, then nodded. "By the way, I have two interviews scheduled today. You'll have to keep an eye on them, finance manager."

"Okay, when?"

"Let's begin immediately."

At 9:30, the knocking sounded on the door right on time.

The woman who entered was about forty years old, dressed in a well-fitting dark gray suit and skirt, her hair neatly tied up in a bun at the back of her head. She handed over her resume with brisk movements and sat down with her back straight.

Chen Jingge took the resume and glanced at it, his eyebrows twitching slightly: "Ms. Zhang Han, I see your experience: fifteen years of professional experience, formerly serving as the deputy director of the finance department of a listed company."

He looked up, his gaze scrutinizing. "With your qualifications, you should have many options. Why would you consider a startup like ours?"

Ms. Zhang remained silent for a few seconds.

The office was quiet, with only the slight hum of the central air conditioning.

"I was laid off from my previous company," she finally spoke, her voice as calm as if she were talking about someone else. "Last year, the company... ran into some problems. Management wanted to manipulate the financial statements, but I disagreed."

She paused, then continued, "Because of this incident, my reputation in the industry... isn't very good; I've been essentially blacklisted."

Chen Jingge and Jiang Haoran exchanged a glance.

"Tampering with things?" Chen Jingge pressed, "What exactly do you mean?"

Ms. Zhang glanced at him, her tone remaining calm: "Our company is in the aquaculture industry, so there are some financial operations involved..."

"For example, if a loss needs to be recorded in a given year, they would say that the scallops 'swam away' during the inventory count and centrally accrue the impairment loss. If a profit is needed in the following year, they would say that the scallops 'swam back' and the profit turns positive."

She shook her head slightly: "There are many similar operations."

Chen Jingge was somewhat stunned by what he heard.

Jiang Haoran, however, remained calm; he was all too familiar with these tricks.

In the current A-share market, many companies are simply packaging themselves for listing, taking a "financial bath," and suffering huge losses this year but making profits next year, all in an effort to avoid delisting.

If something really goes wrong, the maximum fine will be 600,000 yuan, the finance staff will take the blame, and the boss will have already cashed out and left.

This has been an unspoken "basic operation" in the A-share market for many years.

"Why do you disagree?" Jiang Haoran suddenly asked.

Ms. Zhang looked at him, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes, before she quickly regained her composure: "At the time, the supervisor claimed to be on sick leave, and I was the actual financial manager in charge; the reports required my signature. A lie is a lie; you can fool people for a while, but you can't fool them forever."

She paused, her voice soft but firm: "I can quit this line of work, but I won't sign this kind of document. Besides, investors' money... doesn't come from thin air."

They then asked some more professional questions, which Ms. Zhang answered fluently.

The interview ended twenty minutes later.

Ms. Zhang got up and left, her steps still steady.

Chen Jingge picked up the resume and looked at it again: "Your abilities are indeed outstanding, but this experience..."

"It works," Jiang Haoran said. "Having a bottom line is a good thing. In the future, when the company grows bigger, we will also go public, but we rely on solid performance, not financial magic. Operating legally and paying all taxes due, a financial manager like this is reassuring."

He drew a checkmark in the upper right corner of his resume.

At 11 o'clock, the fourth interviewee arrived.

The girl looked to be in her early twenties, wearing a white shirt and black trousers, with her hair tied in a high ponytail.

She hesitated slightly when she knocked on the door, and after pushing it open, she bowed respectfully and said, "Hello, I'm Zhang Xiaomin, here for the interview for the receptionist position."

The voice was clear and crisp, carrying a hint of barely concealed nervousness.

Jiang Haoran gestured for her to sit down. The girl sat down with her back straight and her hands neatly placed on her knees, like a student listening attentively in class.

The resume is very simple: Associate degree, secretarial major, recent graduate.

As usual, Chen Jingge asked a few basic questions. Zhang Xiaomin's answers weren't fluent; she would sometimes pause for a few seconds to think, but each answer was practical and straightforward, without any fancy clichés.

When asked why she chose Jiutian Investment, she blushed slightly: "I checked downstairs while I was waiting, and the monthly rent here is extremely expensive... A company that can operate in a place like this must be very powerful."

She paused, her voice even softer, "I...I need money, I haven't finished paying off my student loans."

Jiang Haoran was amused by her simple and honest answer.

Seeing this, Zhang Xiaomin became even more nervous and quickly added, "I... I've also looked up some information about the investment industry. Although I don't know much yet, I have a strong learning ability, really!"

Before the interview ended, Jiang Haoran asked a slightly off-topic question: "If you were working at the front desk, and a stranger wanted to come into the company to see a manager without an appointment, how would you handle it?"

Zhang Xiaomin thought about it carefully: "I would first ask him which leader he was looking for and what the matter was, and then say that I would contact him for him. If the leader is indeed unavailable, I would politely ask him to leave his contact information and say that I would pass on the message."

She paused, then added softly, "But we can't just let anyone in. What if... what if they're bad people?"

She looked very serious when she said "bad people," as if she were talking about something of utmost importance.

After the girl left, Chen Jingge looked at the resume and shook his head: "Associate's degree, no experience. There were several college graduates interviewing today, and their communication skills were much better than hers."

"I'll take her," Jiang Haoran said.

Why?

"Honest." Jiang Haoran smiled. "Those undergraduates before were too 'smart,' answering every question fluently, but they were just using tricks they learned online. This one looks honest."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Ms. Zhang will be appointed for the finance position. Notify her to come and sign the contract. The receptionist will send an offer letter to Zhang Xiaomin, with a three-month probationary period."

Chen Jingge looked at Jiang Haoran and suddenly felt that this nephew was becoming more and more unfathomable.

It's not that it's become unfamiliar, but rather like a piece of uncut jade, its outer layer of stone gradually worn away, revealing the warm yet hard texture inside.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, Jiang Haoran picked up the car keys on the table.

"I'm back at school. I still have classes these next couple of days," he told Chen Jinge. "Get the vehicle paperwork done as soon as possible. Once Zhang Han takes over the finances, hand it over to her. Your focus should be on the investment side. You've made a lot of profit in futures. You could consider investing 2000 million in the stock market. I see that your previous positions are gradually being filled."

"Okay, I'll arrange it in a bit," Chen Jingge replied.

A silver Panamera was parked in the underground garage of the Shanghai World Financial Center. Its streamlined body gleamed with a cool sheen under the lights, and its four-door design combined the sharpness of a sports car with the practicality of a sedan.

Jiang Haoran opened the car door and sat down, the leather seats providing a comfortable, enveloping feel.

He started the engine, its deep roar echoing through the underground parking garage. As he drove out of Lujiazui, the evening sunlight bathed the towering buildings in a golden glow.