Interviewing a Manager

He slept until the afternoon.

The next day, Chen Yi came downstairs from the third floor.

Qin Xiaoyu, who had accepted the task last night to go out and purchase brainwave toys and custom-order titanium alloy components, had yet to return.

Xia Keke, who was monitoring the store's data, handed Chen Yi several contact numbers.

"Whose numbers are these?"

Chen Yi took them and glanced over them. "Reject all wholesale inquiries for the time being."

"They're not inquiries. They're the professional managers we were looking for. The headhunting company got back to us.

Three people meet the requirements and want to join Yifei.

Boss, take a look. When should we arrange to meet them and conduct interviews?"

"Since when have headhunters become this efficient?"

Chen Yi found it strange. "I don't remember paying extra."

Chen Yi had dealt with headhunting companies before.

When the store had been in trouble, he had gone through a headhunting company to look for several core technical talents in turbojet model aircraft.

Unfortunately, truly outstanding talents looked down on an e-commerce workshop like Chen Yi's.

Ordinary talents lacked the technical ability to help solve the store's problems, so Chen Yi had no interest in them either.

Still, although he had not found suitable talent, that experience had taught Chen Yi how headhunting companies operated.

Generally speaking, headhunters earned commissions.

The commission was calculated as a certain percentage of the annual salary offered by the hiring company.

The annual salary Chen Yi was offering this time for a professional manager was not particularly high within the industry. Nor was this the kind of labor-intensive company that hired thousands or tens of thousands of employees at once, so the headhunter's potential earnings were hardly substantial.

An order like his would normally only be matched casually within the headhunting company. They certainly would not devote many resources to searching for candidates.

Yet after just one day, the headhunter Xia Keke had contacted reported that it had found three professional managers who met his requirements.

Chen Yi could not help wondering whether the headhunting company he had used before had been fake.

"Boss, you have no idea how popular Yifei is right now.

On the first day, we livestreamed a drone charging toward space. On the second day, we livestreamed assisting in the capture of white-powder traffickers. The internet has gone crazy over our drones."

Xia Keke said regretfully, "If you hadn't insisted on not increasing engine preorders or accepting wholesale orders from other merchants, then with each engine selling for 28,999, our revenue would have broken one billion long ago.

These people saw Yifei's popularity and technology, then proactively contacted headhunters to find us."

"Is that so?"

Chen Yi's mind stirred, and the Fireseed Program interface appeared before him.

[Consciousness Waves: 2078136↑]

Thirteen or fourteen hours had passed since last night, and he had still collected nearly two hundred thousand consciousness waves.

It seemed he really had become quite popular.

"It's past two now. Contact them and arrange for all three to meet today. Find a nearby café or something. One at four, one at five, and one at six. Let's get this done quickly."

"Yes, I'll contact them right away."

With Chen Yi's approval, Xia Keke took out her phone and began arranging times with the three candidates.

A few minutes later, Xia Keke hung up and reported, "Boss, they accepted the invitation. We'll meet at the Rendezvous Café next door."

"Good. Let me know when it's time."

Time passed.

At 3:50 in the afternoon.

Chen Yi went to the Rendezvous Café across the street and ordered two coffees.

After only a few minutes, a middle-aged man in a suit entered the café. He wore gold-rimmed glasses, looked to be just over forty, and carried himself like a business elite. He looked around before walking toward Chen Yi.

"Hello, President Chen. Sorry to keep you waiting."

The middle-aged man approached Chen Yi and greeted him politely.

"It's fine. I just got here too."

Chen Yi replied, opened the documents provided by the headhunter, skimmed past the long list of impressive credentials, and finally looked at the name.

"President Zhang, I've been running a business for four years. At most, I only had a few dozen employees under me, and most of them were workers. Calling me a self-employed businessman would not be inaccurate.

I don't really understand company management or operations.

Let's keep this interview simple. I'll ask a few straightforward questions. How does that sound?"

"No problem." Zhang De nodded.

"First question: what do you think of Yifei? If you were asked to manage and plan Yifei's future development, how would you proceed?"

"I think Yifei is a company with both strong popularity and strong technology. The reason I came today was also because of Yifei's strength and popularity.

If I were to manage Yifei, I would first seek financing, then expand production capacity, and finally plan for an IPO.

I have sufficient experience and financing channels in this area.

The Guangda Company and Xinghang Company where I previously worked both went public within three years, helping their assets and market share expand more than tenfold.

Given Yifei's current popularity, attention, and aircraft model engine technology, I believe this process could be completed in under two years, with a market value no lower than ten billion."

Zhang De spoke eloquently, his expression and tone brimming with confidence.

Indeed, Zhang De was highly capable, and his extensive credentials proved that his words were not empty boasts.

If it had been anyone else, hearing such a two-year plan for financing and an IPO would likely have left them howling with excitement and inviting Zhang De back like a revered Buddha.

But for Chen Yi, neither financing nor an IPO was something he needed for the moment.

In the technology industry, whoever possessed the better technology held the right to speak.

With the system's Fireseed Program, technology was not a problem at all. He held absolute control.

Under such circumstances, handing over his shares for a temporary injection of capital would undoubtedly be foolish.

Even if he truly wanted to go public, Chen Yi would wait until later, spin off a certain technology or business into an independent subsidiary, and have that company seek financing and go public, rather than putting all of Yifei on the market.

Having made up his mind, Chen Yi chatted for a while before tactfully expressing his position. He politely asked Zhang De to leave, saying they could cooperate if there was an opportunity in the future.

He had the waiter take away the coffee across from him.

After waiting a while, it was five o'clock.

Chen Yi ordered another coffee for the seat across from him, and the second professional manager arrived.

A nice name.

Yang Qianxue.

Twenty-six years old, with a master's degree in business administration.

She was a slender woman with gentle features and a hint of capable sharpness in her demeanor. Once seated, she held herself straight and poised.

Chen Yi glanced at Yang Qianxue and did not go easy on her just because she was beautiful.

He directly repeated the question he had asked Zhang De.

Compared with Zhang De's plan centered on financing and capital, Yang Qianxue's plan was far more hard-core.

She wanted Yifei to shift from civilian products to specialized military-industrial supply, and she stated that she had excellent connections within military-industrial enterprises.

At the companies where she had previously worked, the projects she led had all established good cooperative relationships with military-industrial enterprises.

With Yifei's current technology, as long as it passed security reviews, joining the military-industrial system would not be a problem at all.

Chen Yi considered it carefully for a while before politely declining Yang Qianxue.

The reason was simple.

Given Yifei's situation, joining the military-industrial system was indeed a good option.

But military industry often meant confidentiality.

He wanted to collect consciousness waves, and military confidentiality would become a fatal problem.

"Ordinary managers rarely have military-industry connections. Could this be an olive branch the military tossed out to test the waters after noticing Yifei's drone technology?"

Watching Yang Qianxue leave, Chen Yi recalled the capable air between her brows and her upright posture, unable to stop himself from pondering it.

The performance of Two M" battlefield drones had already demonstrated the importance of drones on the battlefield.

Now, he had unveiled a drone capable of charging into space, flying at supersonic speeds at low altitude, and remaining airborne for thousands of kilometers.

It was perfectly normal for that to attract the military's attention.

Chen Yi pondered for a while, and the third managerial candidate arrived.

He Yu.

Twenty-nine years old, with a master's degree in business administration.

She was a beautiful woman with a graceful, voluptuous figure, slim where she should be slim, a cool and aloof temperament, and the bearing of a president.

After graduating, she had served as a supervisor at a company before being promoted to regional director, achieving considerable results in both positions.

After inviting her to sit down, Chen Yi ordered a coffee and posed the same question, firmly keeping control of the interview.

"Yifei's future development..."

He Yu pondered for a moment, her expression falling into thought.

Clearly, compared with Zhang De's eloquent approach of taking financing and an IPO all the way through, or Yang Qianxue's hard-core focus on the industrial chain and bringing Yifei into the military industry—

He Yu's thoughtful response appeared much more serious and well-considered.

"President Chen, I watched Yifei's livestreams over the past few days.

I found that Yifei should have mastered a new material for manufacturing engines, as well as a completely new top-tier turbojet engine technology capable of supersonic flight and powerful high-altitude endurance.

Am I correct?"

"That's right."

Chen Yi did not deny it.

Neither point required an investigation. Anyone with even a little knowledge of drone manufacturing could see it, so there was no need to deny it at all.

"President Chen, these two technologies, combined with Yifei's self-media account that has exploded in popularity over the past few days..."

By then, He Yu had formed a rough draft of her ideas. Looking at Chen Yi, she answered confidently, "I suggest combining an internet company model with a technology company model and opening up a new track in the drone field."

"Oh? Tell me more."

Chen Yi grew somewhat interested and gestured for He Yu to continue.