Chapter 32: 32: Meet the Sparta—Employees.

The old man’s gaze drifted toward the reception desk.

Then he suddenly asked, "Then why hire a receptionist?"

Lucy blinked.

The old man gestured toward the young woman standing nearby.

"If you’re not accepting clients, what exactly is her role?"

It was admittedly a reasonable question.

Lucy smiled.

"A company still has people."

The old man waited.

"We hire employees, for that we conduct interviews. We also receive deliveries."

She glanced toward the reception desk.

"Someone has to make sure those things don’t become everyone else’s problem."

The old man followed her gaze.

The receptionist immediately straightened.

Lucy continued.

"If an applicant arrives, she helps direct them. If a courier comes, she handles the paperwork and if someone is looking for a particular department, she points them in the right direction."

"At a glance, they’re all small things but when nobody handles the small things, they become big interruptions."

The old man nodded slightly as that made some sense.

Lucy smiled.

"Besides, she’s usually the first person everyone sees in the morning."

The receptionist looked surprised.

Lucy continued casually.

"A good morning greeting costs nothing."

In the meantime, outside the office, of dog street, building 69.

Benny stepped inside the building carrying a large basket of donuts.

Behind him followed a delivery boy carrying several boxes of coffee.

"I’m telling you, Supa Strikas are winning the World Cup." Benny commented.

The delivery boy looked horrified. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Brother, they’ve only recently qualified."

"So?"

"They’re underdogs!"

Benny scoffed.

"That’s because you people don’t understand football."

The delivery boy opened his mouth to retort but before he could continue, Benny suddenly stopped walking.

"We’re here."

He pointed toward the reception desk.

"Give me that."

The delivery boy handed over the boxes and Benny accepted it before pulling out his phone.

"I’ll give you a tip, however you’ll have to you say Supa Strikas are the best team in the world."

The delivery boy didn’t hesitate for even a second.

"Of course they are."

His expression turned into one of complete sincerity.

"Anyone who says otherwise is just jealous."

Benny stared at him.

Then sighed.

"Tsk. Tsk. You should have some backbone and stick by what you say."

Despite saying that, he happily transferred a thousand yuan into the dilivery boy account.

The delivery boy glanced at his phone and his eyes widened.

"Thank you, Brother!"

Benny waved him off.

"You should deliver here more often."

The delivery boy immediately nodded.

"Definitely!"

Benny then walked towards the reception desk.

Taking the coffee, Qin Xiuran looked at Benny and immediately gave a small bow.

"Good morning, Boss."

The office instantly became quiet.

Since the reception desk sat in plain view of the main office area, almost everyone had already noticed the newcomer.

Now every pair of eyes landed on Benny.

The old man also looked over then his expression froze.

This was the owner? This young man?

The enthusiasm he had shown earlier vanished without a trace.

For several seconds, he stared at Benny, then he suddenly laughed.

"So that’s how it is."

Shaking his head he didn’t even hide his dissapointment.

"No wonder this company refuses outside capital."

He glanced toward Lucy.

"If your boss is a child, you should mention that earlier."

Lucy opened her mouth but the old man had already turned around.

The butler followed and the pair left as abruptly as they had arrived.

When they passed Benny, neither of them slowed down.

Nor did they offer a greeting.

A few moments later, the elevator doors closed.

Silence filled the office.

Benny stood there holding a basket of donuts.

"...Who was that old man?"

Nobody answered, Even Lucy looked slightly speechless.

Fortunately, the awkward atmosphere didn’t last long.

The employees quickly stood up.

"Good morning, Boss!"

"Morning, Boss!"

"Good morning!"

Benny immediately smiled.

"Yes, yes. Good morning to all of you too."

He lifted the basket.

"I brought donuts."

He placed the basket on a nearby table.

"Before I hand it out, let’s get to know each other."

The employees exchanged glances and Benny pointed at himself.

"I’ll start first. My name is Benny."

The room became quiet.

A few employees instinctively waited for more, something like a motivation speech from the boss for their first day of work for the month.

Instead, Benny simply stood there smiling, waiting for their turn.

The employees stared and Benny stared back.

After several seconds, he tilted his head.

"Why are you all looking at me?"

Lucy pinched the bridge of her nose.

Then, seeing the increasingly awkward silence, she stepped forward.

"I’ll go next."

The employees immediately turned toward her.

"My name is Lucy."

She gave a small nod.

"I’m the assistant manager and currently responsible for administrative operations."

Benny immediately clapped.

"Very good."

Lucy ignored him and stepped aside.

The employees exchanged glances.

Then the older man who had spoken earlier about investment capital stood up.

"My name is Chen Wei."

He adjusted his glasses.

"I previously worked as an equity research analyst."

Benny nodded despite not entirely understanding what that meant.

"Welcome aboard."

After him came a young woman.

"My name is Li Na."

She smiled confidently.

"I’ll be assisting with market research and industry analysis."

"Great."

Benny nodded again.

He sill no idea what that involved.

Another employee stepped forward.

"Wang Jie. Financial modeling and valuation."

"Excellent."

Benny nodded even harder.

The next person also introduced herself.

"Zhao Lin."

"I’ll be responsible for gathering company reports and investment-related data."

"Wonderful."

Then another employee stepped forward.

"My name is Xu Ming."

He adjusted his glasses before continuing.

"I’m responsible for risk analysis."

Benny’s smile immediately stiffened.

Risk analysis?

His gaze lingered on Xu Ming for a second longer.

Do I need to get rid of this guy?

Out of all the job titles he’d heard today, this was the first one he actually understood.

At least, he thought he did.

The others had been talking about market research, valuations and various other things that sounded impressive but might as well have been another language.

Risk analysis, however, sounded straightforward.

The man literally analyzed risks.

This sounded like a direct counter to his entire career plan.

Still, after thinking about it for a moment, Benny calmed down.

If a risk analyst could guarantee profits, every company in the world would be making money.

Businesses still failed every day, clearly, risk analysis wasn’t magic.

At best, it just improved the odds.

With that thought, he felt much better.

"Very good."

Xu Ming nodded and returned to his seat.

One after another, the remaining employees introduced themselves.

Every title sounded very professional.

The more Benny listened, the more he realized something.

He had absolutely no idea what any of them were talking about.

At first, that worried him, then it reassured him.

Professionals were supposed to know things he didn’t.

Otherwise, what was the point of hiring them?

Satisfied with this logic, Benny nodded along to every introduction as though he understood everything perfectly.

The employees, meanwhile, became increasingly impressed.

Look at the boss.

Not once had he interrupted anyone.

Not once had he asked any question to assert his dominance.

He simply listened and nodded calmly.

The demeanor of a true professional.

Little did they know that Benny was only nodding because he hadn’t understood a single thing since the third introduction.