After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future-Chapter 71: Deliberate Dilemma

Tang Caide was very efficient at her job. The very next day, the company had several new faces—receptionists, clerks, financial staff, and the analysts that Lu Liang had eagerly anticipated.

Chen Jinchun also breathed a deep sigh of relief. She only graduated from a second-tier university, so asking her to conduct market research was really putting her in a difficult position.

In the past few days, her head had been spinning from all the data gathering—it felt like smoke might billow from her ears at any moment, with her longing for stars and moons, finally looking forward to professionals arriving.

She couldn't help but clench her small fists tightly, cheering them on with punches in the air, hoping they would pass the interviews and join the company smoothly.

"A Fudan? A Beijing University?"

Upon seeing their resumes, Lu Liang couldn't help but wonder, "Tang, what kind of enchantment did you use?"

The highest qualifications in the company were held by Tang Caide, with a Ph.D. from Shangcai and a master's degree from Hua Shi.

However, it was because she was too old and wanted a job to support her retirement, that Lu Liang had discovered her and gradually promoted her to the Vice President's position.

But these two interviewees were no older than 25 years old, both graduated from finance departments, and could easily intern at big institutions like Redwood or Goldman Sachs.

Tang Caide's eyes twinkled with amusement, "Tianxing Capital certainly couldn't attract them, but you could, Mr. Lu. They all want to learn from you."

It wasn't hard to dig up Lu Liang's past. Anyone or any organization with a bit of capability could obtain his detailed information.

As of this March, he was still employed as a real estate broker at Green View Group, earning a guaranteed few thousand a month, occasionally getting a bonus of ten to twenty thousand depending on his luck.

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In just four short months, he had transformed, becoming the owner of a speculative finance spot at 88 Punan Road and founding Tianxing Capital with a registered capital of 50 million.

Those in the know would be curious about how he managed this.

It happened to be the graduation season, and as soon as the company posted job openings, their inbox was flooded with applications.

The applications from masters students of Fudan and Beijing University were the result of Tang Caide continually elevating the recruitment standards and filtering out candidates.

If she were willing to lower the hiring criteria, the number of applicants could easily increase tenfold.

Lu Liang suddenly understood and looked over two resumes that were nearly flawless: "Let them come in."

The Beijing University master's degree holder was Luo Juncheng, and the Fudan master's was Wen Chao. Both were young men in their early twenties.

Wearing neat suits with impeccably styled hair, both had participated in numerous debates on campus and received offers from major companies, possessing a confidence that other recent graduates lacked.

Lu Liang was no pretender and knew very well that education was merely a foot in the door; the key was whether they had real ability.

He arranged for them to work on two internship projects, analyzing the market prospects, strengths, and weaknesses of the shared bicycles and online video industries.

Whoever demonstrated stronger abilities and conducted more thorough analyses would be the one he'd keep close as his right-hand man.

Chen Jinchun was just an assistant, but Lu Liang also needed someone strong as his deputy, planning to have them assist in trading later.

Lu Liang made no secret of it, declaring bluntly, "I need a secretary who can help me handle everything."

A secretary was a position, while an assistant was a posting.

Secretaries had no overt power and couldn't directly lead others, but essentially, they represented the General Manager, and their suggestions often reflected the General Manager's ideas, which everyone had to follow—thus the saying, "Seeing the secretary is like seeing an officer one rank higher."

And because an assistant had a posting, they held some administrative power, hence the saying, "An assistant is half a rank lower."

To put it plainly, Chen Jinchun couldn't order Tang Caide around because she lacked the authority, but the secretary could because he represented Lu Liang.

While the secretary had no power, if Lu Liang ever intended to step back, the secretary would likely become the leader directly.

Both men's breathing quickened because they understood what being a secretary represented, not even bothering to inquire about benefits.

Discussing these matters was too premature and pointless at the moment. If Lu Liang considered one of them as his successor, what couldn't they have?

They didn't mention it, and Lu Liang couldn't feign ignorance: "Five thousand a month during the internship, excluding room and board allowances."

He had always felt that to survive in Modu, the monthly expenses needed to be at least five thousand.

Companies that offered only two or three thousand during an internship, without any benefits, were clearly suppressing newcomers and undermining their confidence.

Saving on intern wages wouldn't make anyone rich.

Thus, he established a rule that regardless of the position, internship pay would always be five thousand, with room and board adding up to six thousand four hundred.

"Thank you, Mr. Lu."

The two young men were delighted to hear this. With such a salary during their internship, they could support themselves without asking their families for money.

Luo Juncheng then asked, "Mr. Lu, is there a deadline for the two research reports?"

Lu Liang looked at the time, thought for a moment, and said, "Hand them to me before the 10th of next month."

Today was the 24th, and there was still more than half a month left.

By then, the next trend for Teli A would probably be initiated.

After that, he feared he would not have any more time.

"Research funding is limited to thirty thousand, see Mr. Tang for reimbursement."

Lu Liang looked at Tang Caide, thirty thousand was roughly the upper limit for personal market research.

If he needed more research funding than that, he might as well hire a professional research company.

"If the financial audit passes, then you can come to me."

Tang Caide nodded, showing them a benevolent smile, clear about her role. Being older, she was hard to tame.

If Lu Liang was willing to trust her, she would do her best to manage the company well and wouldn't harbor ambitions of power and profit.

If one day Lu Liang stopped trusting her, she would not hesitate to step down and vacate her position.

Her policy was to avoid conflicts and disputes, ring the temple bell for as long as she was a monk.

As for being the abbot, whoever wanted to take that role could have it.

Ultimately, becoming despised and detested, whether for more money or more power, what use would it be?

"Any other questions?" Lu Liang finally asked.

"Mr. Lu, Vice President Tang, we will leave first."

Leaving the office, Luo Wen and the other exchanged glances, both smiling, but the air was already charged with a gunpowder-like tension.

Better to be a chicken's head than a phoenix's tail; they wouldn't have come to interview at Tianxing Capital if it wasn't to become Lu Liang's deputy.

In this battle, both were determined to win.

Lu Liang, looking through the blinds, saw them and laughed, "Tang has a good eye; they are all quite excellent."

"Excellent they are, but one will always be more excellent."

Tang Caide saw the essence of this struggle.

Both were capable, but Lu Liang had still ruthlessly narrowed it down to one.

She had seen a lot of this before.

A great leader must learn to conjure something from nothing, to create undue pressure and anxiety out of thin air.

This way, their subordinates would work furiously, and the leader could reap the rewards.

But there was a prerequisite; it needed to be meaningful, not pointless.

Once it became pointless, it would evolve into internal conflict, starting to focus on superficial formalities.

However, they didn't have to worry about that just yet, as the company was in a growth phase; as long as they were willing to work hard, there would be gains.

Next, Lu Liang reviewed the new site location submissions that Tang Caide had made, which were mainly around Lujiazui area.

After all, it was the financial district; moving there would also elevate their company's prestige.

Although the location was good, the price was also high, starting at eight yuan per square foot, double the current cost.

Taking an office area of three thousand square meters, the monthly rent would be 720 thousand yuan. Including utilities, property management, and other basic expenses, it would be at least 800 thousand yuan per month, totaling over 8.6 million a year.

"We'll go check it out this afternoon; if it's suitable, we'll settle on it."

Lu Liang planned to finalize it in one go, to avoid future moves.

Moving to Lujiazui would make it easier to attract high-end talents in the future.

After all, a company's address, like a man's car, both represented its strength.

Unless one owned their own building, it was still necessary to follow the crowd.

"Then I'll go contact the property management."

Tang Caide planned to leave, but Lu Liang stopped her, "I remember you haven't bought a car yet?"

Originally, he had promised to buy Tang Caide a car worth three hundred thousand, but it seemed she hadn't made the purchase.

"I've been caught up with a few things recently; let's wait until after we move to the new address."

"That works. When the time comes, we'll buy a few more vans to register under the company's name."