The Heiress's Game

Nan Zhenquan hadn't even finished his resignation procedures when he received an interview invitation for a new job.

The call was from a headhunter, whose overly solicitous tone made him feel a little uncomfortable.

"Mr. Nan, there is a company in Dahai City that is very interested in you and would like to invite you to come for a meeting."

All-inclusive package: airfare and hotel, first class, five-star hotels, all expenses reimbursed.

When Nan Zhenquan asked what company it was, the other party only said it was a cultural media company under a new capital group, and the boss personally conducted the interview.

He hung up the phone and thought to himself—since the resignation procedures were stuck in the group's approval process and would take a while, going to Dahai City to take a look wouldn't hurt, just to clear his head.

It was already evening when the plane landed in Ocean City. Nan Zhenquan's impression of Ocean City had always been limited to the night view of Victoria Harbour and the luxury mansions on Victoria Peak.

But the car that picked him up didn't drive to the city center; instead, it drove into a wetland park whose name he didn't know.

The car stopped at the end of the winding wooden boardwalk, where a teahouse with an all-glass structure was nestled deep in the reeds, with floor-to-ceiling windows on all four sides, offering a wide view.

It offers excellent privacy; as far as the eye can see, there is nothing superfluous except for reeds and water birds.

Nan Zhen thought to himself, "This place is quite interesting."

Then he pushed open the door to the tea room and saw Gu Yunjin sitting behind the tea table.

She was wearing a navy blue silk shirt, her hair was casually tied back, and a set of Kung Fu tea utensils was placed in front of her. She was using a tea needle to stir the tea cake.

Hearing footsteps, she looked up and nodded slightly to him with her chin: "Mr. Nan, please have a seat."

Nan Zhenquan's first reaction was to stand at the door for two seconds in a daze, and then subconsciously look around to make sure there was no one else in the tea room.

His expression changed from anticipation to disappointment—the woman in front of him looked to be no more than twenty years old, younger than his project manager.

Several images flashed through his mind: He Jiawei squatting by the pool, putting the dog into the mineral water; the absurdity of Young Master He arranging for eight people to coordinate the elevator so as not to wait a second.

At the annual meeting of Daheng Group, a row of He family members sat at the main table, each with their own tableware flown in from France.

His patience with these rich kids had been exhausted in that pool of mineral water that the dog had splashed around in.

He sat down, accepted the tea, and was polite but distant. In his mind, he was already planning how to end the interview as soon as possible, call the headhunter back, say that the industry was not a good fit, and move on.

Gu Yunjin poured out the first brew of tea and poured in boiling water again.

She looked up at Nan Zhenquan.

"Mr. Nan, I know what you're thinking right now."

"Another clueless rich kid, no different from He Jiawei. He sits in front of you pretending to make tea, but he hasn't even seriously looked at your resume."

Gu Yunjin pushed the brewed tea in front of him.

"Many people think this way when they first meet me. My age, my gender, my position as the least favored member of the Gu family—everything about me can lead people to view me with prejudice."

But you've worked at Daheng Group for fifteen years, rising from a site technician to the CEO of Xuecheng. You should know better than anyone that superficial things are often the least valuable.

Nan Zhen didn't say anything, but he abandoned his plan to "just give a few perfunctory words and leave" and picked up his teacup to take a sip.

While he was drinking tea, Gu Yunjin continued speaking slowly and deliberately.

She said that Xingyao Media is currently producing an S+ level reality show featuring ordinary people, which has already been launched and is performing very well. They have also received offers for a second season, but this is only the first step.

What she plans to do next is to create a complete closed loop of content e-commerce—clothing, jewelry, and cosmetics, all under her own brand, using variety shows as a promotional platform and e-commerce as a sales channel.

She needs someone who can oversee the entire Xingyao Media and build this closed loop from scratch.

She paused there, picked up her teacup, took a sip, and gave him time to process it.

Nan Zhenquan put down his teacup and remained silent for a few seconds.

He had already made up his mind to leave, but now he's changed his mind.

—It wasn't her project that impressed him, but her statement that "superficial things are often the least valuable."

He himself had climbed up from the very bottom, and he knew all too well what it was like to be misjudged by superficial appearances. He decided to at least listen carefully to the end.

"Miss Gu," he began, his tone noticeably more serious than before.

"I don't understand media or entertainment. My biggest worry about this position isn't that I can't learn it, but that it's like being in a completely different field."

But I can tell you how I did it in Syracuse; you can judge for yourself whether I'm capable or not.

For the next hour or so, Nan Zhen didn't engage in any grandstanding or use any fancy management jargon.

He dismantled the Syracuse redevelopment project from start to finish—from how he negotiated with government departments during the land acquisition phase.

How to balance the conflicting interests between the developer and hundreds of homeowners during the demolition phase, and how to coordinate the entry of dozens of suppliers, control costs, and ensure that the construction period is not delayed during the construction phase.

Everything he said was supported by specific figures and case studies. At the end, he pulled a self-compiled review report on the Xuecheng urban renewal project from his briefcase and handed it to Gu Yunjin:

"This was written before I left the company, and I originally intended it to be a reference for my successor."

It contains the pitfalls I encountered and the lessons I learned during my fifteen years at Daheng.

Management, regardless of the industry, boils down to three things: managing people, managing tasks, and managing money.

Managing people is interconnected, managing affairs is interconnected, and managing money is even more interconnected.

As for industry knowledge, when I first joined Daheng, I couldn't even understand the blueprints. Within six months, I had memorized the operating procedures for all the trades on the construction site better than the project manager.

Gu Yunjin took the review report and flipped through a few pages.

The edges of the paper were worn, and the contents were densely packed with handwritten notes and hand-drawn flowcharts, with traces of revisions on every page.

She looked at the report for a while, then closed it and looked up at him.

"Mr. Nan, one last question."

If I asked you to set up the supply chain for a brand incubation project within three months—including contract manufacturers, quality control systems, warehousing and logistics, and e-commerce operations—what would be the first thing you would do?

"First, visit the factories. Go to all the contract manufacturers that can do small-batch flexible customization, check their equipment, quality control processes, and how cooperative the bosses are."

Instead of sitting in the office listening to reports, they went down to the workshop to see for themselves.

Then select three companies as backups, and place a small order with each to test their quality control, delivery time, and after-sales response speed. Three months should be enough to complete the first round.

"That's fine," Gu Yunjin said.

She picked up the teapot and poured him a cup of tea, her movements carrying a more casual and friendly air than before, as if she were entertaining a partner with whom she had already confirmed their cooperation.

She told him about the salary and onboarding details, and mentioned the number.

Nan Zhenquan picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said "Good" when he put the cup down.

Nan Zhen wasn't afraid of being tired, nor was he afraid of learning from scratch; he simply didn't want to work for a boss who wasn't worth it anymore.

The woman before me was young, but not frivolous; she spoke directly, but not harshly.

She never made any grand promises; she simply laid out the necessary conditions and let him decide for himself.

Gu Yunjin leaned back in her chair, picked up her cup of tea, and watched as Nan Zhenquan put the review report back into his briefcase.

The setting sun streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the wetland park, bathing the tea room in a golden-brown hue.

Her approach was the same as all bosses—to use them for now. Xingyao Media needed someone who could oversee the entire operation, and she hadn't found a suitable candidate after several rounds of interviews. No one could guarantee whether Nan Zhenquan was up to the task.

But she wasn't worried.

Okay, then she'll have another great general at her disposal. No, just like with Old Ma, she can simply replace him.

She has a long line of candidates from headhunters, so she doesn't lack options.