The National Day holiday ended, and the class of 2006 freshmen had finally shed their "freshman" label, fully integrating into university life.
Xiao Chen BBQ's Sports Institute branch unexpectedly became an instant hit.
Within days of opening, its sales even showed signs of surpassing the main branch.
This was due to its location behind the large Huamao Jiayuan residential compound, plus the high proportion of male students at the Sports Institute who often gathered for skewers and drinks.
This also made Chen Pingjiang look at Zhu Yuanlan's capabilities with new admiration.
In fact, he hadn't helped much with the preliminary preparations for the Sports Institute branch.
Personnel recruitment and even liaising with advertising design companies were all handled by Zhu Yuanlan.
Some people, when given a stage, can truly shine.
Wei Xiaoqing was also an unyielding girl, subtly competing with Zhu Yuanlan.
Chen Pingjiang was happy to see such healthy competition, which was nothing but good.
The two branches contributed nearly 10,000 yuan in net profit to Chen Pingjiang daily.
In 2006, Dongjiang's average monthly income was only 2,780 yuan.
Chen Pingjiang's two branches earned in one day what an ordinary person made in three and a half months.
This also laid a solid foundation for Chen Pingjiang's upcoming SNS project, allowing him to expand faster without being constrained by traffic monetization.
At the same time, Chen Pingjiang took the time to visit the Normal University, University of Technology, and University of Traditional Chinese Medicine to scout locations, planning the third, fourth, and fifth Xiao Chen BBQ branches.
He had to quickly open BBQ shops across the entire Xianlin University Town before the weather turned cold.
Miao Bingwei of Dongjiang Focus Software Development Company had been in agony these past few days.
He had seen many clients, but he had truly never encountered such a diligent one, who even took on the product manager's work.
Chen Pingjiang practically stretched a 20,000 yuan order into product requirements worth 200,000 yuan.
Their daily QQ chat logs were always extensive.
Whenever Chen Pingjiang thought of something, no matter the time, he would immediately send a QQ message to Miao Bingwei, not even sparing him at two in the morning.
Miao Bingwei felt he would soon need to buy minoxidil spray from the pharmacy, and probably some finasteride tablets too.
Chen Pingjiang proposed product requirements, Miao Bingwei developed; Chen Pingjiang proposed revisions, Miao Bingwei reworked.
Miao Bingwei would sometimes offer his own suggestions, thinking where things could be better, or which features were impractical or impossible to implement.
As the two continued to work together, the general appearance of the website gradually emerged.
"Bingwei, have you considered a job change?"
"No, I feel pretty good right now."
"Bingwei, have you considered a job change?"
"Uh, I'll see later."
"Bingwei, have you considered a job change?"
"If there's a suitable one, I can consider it."
Chen Pingjiang worked Miao Bingwei to death, completely molding him into his own shape, finding Miao Bingwei surprisingly effective.
Having graduated from Beihang, his professional capabilities were self-evident.
Moreover, as the direct designer, no one was better suited for subsequent adjustments, modifications, and updates than Miao Bingwei.
Of course, the most crucial thing was Miao Bingwei's resilience; he endured daily torment without a single complaint.
Miao Bingwei also gradually developed a strange feeling.
Watching a new SNS social platform being built step by step in his hands, the sense of satisfaction was unparalleled, as if it were his own child.
But the thought of not being able to participate in the later stages of work felt like having a child but being unable to accompany its growth, a painful sense of loss.
Most importantly, many product requirements proposed by Chen Pingjiang were initially not understood by Miao Bingwei, but later he increasingly felt they were brilliant touches, even believing they held great potential.
Chen Pingjiang always intentionally or unintentionally threw out bait, making Miao Bingwei's heart itch, and he increasingly wanted to grow alongside his "child."
While working with Chen Pingjiang was painful, Miao Bingwei felt he was improving rapidly.
Especially the efficiency and drive of this young person were not something his current company could offer.
Focus was a stagnant company, working on small subcontracted projects, and most colleagues' technical skills were mediocre, largely just passing time.
This made Miao Bingwei, fresh out of school, quite uncomfortable.
After graduating from Beihang, he returned to his hometown of Dongjiang, joined a state-owned enterprise, found it somewhat unsuitable, and eventually resigned to join Focus.
When Chen Pingjiang asked for the fourth time:
"Bingwei, have you considered a job change?"
This time Miao Bingwei replied:
"When do I start?"
The boss of Focus never dreamed that doing a project would result in losing his technical backbone.
Chen Pingjiang sent a QQ message:
"Bingwei, just you watch, I will build a great empire for you."
Miao Bingwei replied with a GIF:
A truck full of pies, with text saying "Stop drawing, stop drawing, no more room."
Chen Pingjiang paid the final installment to Focus Software, and with the semi-finished website, informed them that the contract was over.
At the same time, Miao Bingwei didn't wait until the fifteenth for his salary, directly giving up a month and a half's pay and left abruptly.
When Miao Bingwei arrived at Dongjiang University of Finance and Economics with his backpack, he was completely disheveled, a sudden regret lingering in his heart.
Chen Pingjiang warmly welcomed Miao Bingwei at Xiao Chen BBQ and generously ordered Set Meal B plus two bottles of beer.
"So, boss, you're only a freshman?"
Miao Bingwei speechlessly stared at the empty beer bottles in front of him, really wanting to see if smashing one on his head would kill someone.
Chen Pingjiang waved his hand, his face neither red nor his heart racing:
"Heroes are judged by their deeds, not their origins. I know I'm excellent, and you don't need to be too surprised by my age."
Miao Bingwei: "I think you misunderstood my meaning."
Already on the pirate ship, Miao Bingwei could only bite the bullet and continue.
But at the same time, Miao Bingwei had to admit Chen Pingjiang's capabilities.
A freshman starting from scratch, daring to entrepreneur, and most crucially, possessing outstanding vision and ideas.
As the project unfolded, Chen Pingjiang had more and more to do.
Office space needed to be secured for Miao Bingwei and the subsequent team, and more people needed to be recruited to establish the personnel structure for the technology, content, and marketing departments.
Dongjiang University of Finance and Economics had a University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Park, but Chen Pingjiang felt that as an undergraduate freshman, he probably wouldn't qualify for an office that typically required master's or doctoral students.
Furthermore, there would be a lot of complicated procedures, such as preparing a project plan, submitting it for review, and then enduring a long wait, by which time "even the day lily would be cold" (meaning it would be too late).
After much deliberation, Chen Pingjiang rented a split-level storefront on the commercial street outside the campus, not far from Xiao Chen BBQ.
The second floor was for Miao Bingwei's accommodation, and the first floor for office use, with each floor nearly one hundred square meters.
Miao Bingwei was truly a man of action; without a word, he pulled in one of his former colleagues, jokingly saying that he shouldn't be the only fool.
The marketing department was primarily responsible for the early promotion of the website.
The initial stage simply involved handing out flyers, organizing events, and ground promotion.
This could be perfectly handled by part-time university students, and most importantly, it was cheap.
The main job of the content department was to fill the website with content in its early stages, also primarily by university students.
To this end, Chen Pingjiang posted many part-time recruitment advertisements on campus.
(End of chapter)
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