Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 47 (Part 1)
Pure: Wow this chapter was the longest so far! Enjoy!~
Translated by Pure
Edited by Qing
Chapter 47.1 Taken aback, the smile on Qi Kai’s face gradually froze.
On the other side, Qi Kai was lounging on the sofa in his reception area with a cigar in his mouth. He didn’t bother with pleasantries for the two guests who specifically came to visit him. But the harsh reality for Jiang Qiaqia and Qi Qing was that they had no say. The couple made a special trip almost every day, but it was not every day they were lucky enough to be received by Qi Kai.
Qi Qing put his company's personnel list, which had undergone drastic changes recently, on the coffee table. He glanced at his wife Jiang Qiaqia, who shared the same sad sentiment as he.
Although their company in Qunnan had never made a formal announcement, it was on the brink of bankruptcy. The two had arrived in Yan City to prepare for a comeback and they had indeed planned to recruit some outstanding employees. To be honest, when Qi Kai first thought of using this trick to deal with Lin Jingzhe, they were still very happy to do so. After all, there was a shortage of personnel and all capable people have rushed to big companies with long-established foundations or upstarts with high developmental prospects. With their lack of connections and reputation in Yan City, it was difficult to recruit people in a short period of time. So Qi Kai's order was also helping them solve their own problems!
At the beginning, everyone was really happy. With Qi Kai's means, they obtained the qualifications to participate in the auction that were impossible to obtain. They were able to rent an office building that was impossible to find in Yan City. And to top it all off, they were able to recruit excellent employees who met their development stage criteria in a short period of time. Many of the talents who applied to New Beginnings Real Estate had made a name for themselves during the ‘land king’ incident, and were also recruited through high salaries. With a formal venue and corresponding staff members, the image of Qiqing Real Estate, which had appeared to be singing on a wild stage, quickly formalized.
Moreover, because of the publicity from the many job seekers, they suddenly gained a lot of presence in the real estate industry in Yan City. Recently, even without Qi Kai's operation, people began to apply for their company’s jobs on their own initiative.
Qi Qing was elated. When he chatted with Jiang Qiaqia, he talked about his initial anxiety deciding to follow Qi Kai and thus offending Lin Jingzhe. Now it seemed that they had indeed made the right decision.
Unfortunately, this joyous atmosphere didn't last long. Within a few days, the complacent couple discovered something quite beyond their expectations.
Qi Qing looked at Qi Kai, who was slouching back on the sofa looking completely relaxed. After contemplating on how to word his report, Qi Qing opened his mouth and said, "Mr. Qi, more and more people have come for interviews recently. We listened to your instructions and hired everyone who was applying for real estate-related jobs. As of this morning, we hired a total of thirty-seven people."
Qi Kai uncrossed his legs and shook his knees. His upper body was completely rested against the sofa. The back of his head was on the sofa top and faced the ceiling. He closed his eyes and took a puff of his cigar, unwilling to talk to the two people opposite to him. He just gave a lazily hum at Qi Qing’s words, and didn't even bother to look at them.
Although he asked Qi Qing and Jiang Qiaqia to do things for him, Qi Kai didn't necessarily like them. Qi Kai didn't like anyone who migrated to Yan City from other cities for a living, let alone Qi Qing and Jiang Qiaqia, who had no background. There was a huge gap between them in terms of identity.
Qi Qing could clearly feel Qi Kai’s indifference and inwardly felt a bit depressed. Once upon a time, he was also like Qi Kai! Back then, in Qunnan, he had the identity and status most people wished they had in their lifetime. His capable parents had the vision and the ability to run a promising business. The people around him originally praised him like they would praise Qi Kai, but when he arrived in Yan City, he suddenly became a nobody.
He had his own pride. Qi Kai didn't want to see him and he also didn’t want to come, but reality was cruel.
Qi Qing was silent for a moment. He then suppressed his inner emotions and continued docilely, "...of these thirty-seven people, four of them were originally unwilling to stay. I raised the remuneration as you had suggested and enticed them with the salary of the company's management positions of one thousand two hundred yuan a month. Take a look at the remaining thirty-three new hires, everyone's salary is about seven to eight hundred yuan a month."
Qi Kai took a look at the provided information, and immediately widened his eyes. "Why are there so many?"
The monthly staff salary totaled close to thirty thousand yuan. The number of employees in Qi Kai’s company was several times more than thirty-seven, but the total monthly salary distributed was only a little more than this amount.
Qi Qing smiled wryly. "You had said the price didn’t matter as long as we can retain these people. However, some were quite stubborn, so we could only offer a higher price. This news may have spread, so many people had come and directly stated that they wanted a monthly wage of seven or eight hundred. This number is the result of us having controlled the situation. HR has accumulated numerous resumes, including those who are working in other companies and want to change jobs. We have delayed these interviews until the end of this month. Otherwise, not to mention thirty thousand, even fifty thousand may not be enough for expenses."
Qi Kai fell silent. After all, this was his err in judgment.
But he was never a person who was willing to admit his mistakes. Although he felt embarrassed, Qi Kai’s expression became more and more unyielding. He frowned, slammed the document on the sofa, and squinted at Qi Qing. "So what is your intention of having come here to say this?"
Of course Qi Qing was here to ask for monetary reimbursement. When Qi Kai brought up this matter, Qi Qing’s only thought was that he could also benefit. Thinking that it would be difficult to please his backer,and having wanted to increase the affinity between them, Qi Qing had desperately tried to do everything himself.
Whether he really forgot or was just pretending, Qi Kai never mentioned the issue of money. Qi Qing was also too embarrassed to ask, so the recruited employees were all paid for by him and Jiang Qiaqia.
In fact, he still had some savings. This money was supposed to be the funding for the real estate project developed by Qiqing Real Estate in Qunnan Province. After the project’s failure, he simply delayed paying the money back and took it to Yan City as their company's start-up capital. But no amount of money could afford such a disaster. Jiang Qiaqia had quarreled with him many times in the past few days because of this, her main ideology was that Qi Kai was too dishonest. They had thought that a pie had dropped from the sky, but after they took a bite, the filling turned out to be so bitter!
The office building that Qi Kai snatched from Lin Jingzhe looked okay at first. The area, natural lighting, and installments were all suitable, but after signing the contract, Jiang Qiaqia realized that the place was very impractical for them. It was too expensive and too big. Qiqing Real Estate was different from when it was in Qunnan. They didn’t have many employees to resettle, and they didn't have enough project income to support paying rent for such an expensive office space. Qi Kai was not a saint, so of course it was impossible for him to reimburse them. Jiang Qiaqia and Qi Qing dared not go back on their word after making a promise, so the rent for the whole two years had been paid through gritted teeth.
The office was for their own use, so it’s fine to pay for it themselves. But what about the salary expenses of employees?!
Qiqing Real Estate had no projects now, so it was enough to recruit a dozen or so people, the rest were all a result of Qi Kai’s demands. Under normal circumstances, there was absolutely no need to offer wages twice the market price as they were doing now.
What was the reason for these extra expenses? Everyone knew the obvious answer, so how could Qi Kai remain so calm and not contribute anything?
Qi Qing hesitated. Before coming, he and his wife had agreed that they could not suffer anymore by remaining mute. However, he was also worried that pointing out their grievances to Qi Kai, who was pretending to be stupid, would directly break their relationship. This was not a consequence he wanted to see.
But before Qi Qing could open his mouth, Qi Kai's brick phone, which had been thrown on the sofa, rang loudly. Qi Kai sat up lazily and connected the call. After listening to a couple words, his original lethargic state changed immediately. As if injected with adrenaline, he became more energetic.
He sat up straight, threw the cigar aside, and asked, "Are you sure? Is the source of the news absolutely correct?!"
Perhaps because he got an affirmative answer, Qi Kai’s eyes immediately became brighter. His whole body was filled with excitement and eagerness.
"Okay! Okay! I got it!" He said into the phone, "Come to the company this afternoon to have a detailed discussion with me. Keep an eye on New Beginnings Real Estate’s movement! Don't ever let them find out!"
Qi Kai threw the brick phone aside, stood up excitedly, and paced around the room. He seemed to be deep in thought while circling around. He kept nodding thoughtfully and even said to himself, "Very good..."
Qi Qing was taken aback by his sudden change and immediately became nervous. He swallowed what he wanted to say just now. "Mr. Qi, what's the matter?"
With his thoughts interrupted, Qi Kai glanced at the couple. Perhaps he needed someone to share his inner joy with, so he immediately went back to the sofa area and sat down. He then leaned forward and tapped his finger on the table. "That surnamed Lin is such a f*cking rat. Do you know about the auction at the end of next month?"
"I know." How could he not know? Qi Qing hugged Qi Kai's thigh just for this auction. He worked hard to get this qualification certificate, just to get a small plot during the bidding. For a bite of that fast-growing real estate cake in Yan City.
Qi Kai had a special meeting with them with regards to this auction. He had listed and analyzed the plots of land that would be auctioned and the companies that would compete with them. This time, Qi Qing was a little puzzled. "Didn't you say that New Beginnings Real Estate would not participate in this bidding?"
Qi Kai bitterly retorted, "Yeah, everyone was fooled by him! If I hadn't had someone keep watch on him, I would also have been fooled! Do you know what they reported to me on the phone just now?!"
Qi Qing had a vague speculation in his heart. "Could it be...they suddenly applied for the auction?"
"That's right!" Qi Kai patted his thigh. "Probably because he was afraid that the news would leak out, Deng Mai even entrusted the work to an acquaintance. And they only handed it in this morning! Sh*t! I almost got f*cking cheated!"
not repost!