No Talent

"Do you two have anything else?" Zhou Qi looked at Cai Xiaodong and Jiang Mingran.

Jiang Mingran looked at Cai Xiaodong, signaling for him to speak first.

"General Manager Zhou, it's like this. Our salespeople have hundreds of regular clients. Every month, we need to supply products to those clients. If you adjust the production lines like this, what happens to their orders?" Cai Xiaodong asked.

"We still have clients? Isn't this Tian Tai's contract manufacturing plant?" Zhou Qi asked.

"That's true, but in 2013, we also began building our own brand. By now, twenty percent of the factory's production capacity is supplied to Baofeng's own clients..." Cai Xiaodong explained.

"You salespeople should all have your clients' contact information, right?" Zhou Qi asked.

"Uh, we do!" Cai Xiaodong nodded.

"Then it's simple. Take your clients and resign. Go work for another pharmaceutical company. Since you come with your own clients, you'll be welcomed anywhere you go!" Zhou Qi said with a smile.

"Huh?" Cai Xiaodong was stunned. "No, General Manager Zhou, these are clients our pharmaceutical factory has slowly built up over nine years!"

"Can't be helped. Didn't I say it? The company won't be selling pharmaceuticals externally anymore." Zhou Qi shrugged. "Or, if anyone doesn't want to leave, they can switch to selling hawthorn slices. We won't stop producing those, since I like eating them too..."

Cai Xiaodong fell silent. For a moment, he could not tell whether this General Manager Zhou was joking or serious.

"Of course, if you really want to stay, that's fine too. But you might have to transfer to the workshop and work on the production line." Zhou Qi said, "Naturally, we definitely won't shortchange you on pay. Whatever you earned before, you'll only earn more in the future."

"This..." Cai Xiaodong understood. General Manager Zhou was serious.

"Can I go back and discuss it with my team?" Cai Xiaodong asked.

"Of course!" Zhou Qi nodded.

After watching Cai Xiaodong leave, Zhou Qi rubbed his chin. "Don't you think Manager Cai looks a little like someone? A singer."

"Jeff Chang?" Brother Bing said.

"Ah, right, him! Even his speaking voice sounds alike!" Zhou Qi said. "That Zhang Zeyu also looks a bit like Bai Jingting. This company has quite a few celebrity lookalikes."

"Cough, cough..." Brother Bing suddenly gave him a look. Zhou Qi followed his gaze and realized there were still people in the meeting room.

"Jiang Mingran? Do you still have something to say?"

"Didn't you tell me to stay?" Jiang Mingran said speechlessly.

"Oh, right, I forgot." Zhou Qi nodded. "I kept you here to discuss our future salary structure. How were salaries set before? Were employees ranked by levels?"

"Do you mean the method Alibaba and Tencent use, assigning employees grades with letters and numbers?" Jiang Mingran shook her head. "No. General Manager Luo once wanted to do it, but it eventually went nowhere."

"Then how are salaries calculated now?" Zhou Qi asked.

"For positions in the company, base pay differs according to department." Jiang Mingran said, "For example, on the production floor, front-line workers have a base salary of 1,850. Assistant team leaders, supervisors, and inspectors at the next level also have a base salary of 1,850, but receive an additional 300 yuan quality allowance each month. Team leaders one level above them have a base salary of 2,100, plus 300 yuan for leading the team."

"Above team leaders are production line leaders, whose base salary ranges from 2,400 to 2,600. Several production lines form a production section, with a section chief and deputy section chief earning base salaries of 3,000 to 3,500. After that come workshop directors. Ordinary workshop directors have a base salary of 4,000 yuan. Director Mo Jiakang is technically a workshop director, but he handles the work of the production, packaging, and quality control departments, so his monthly base salary is 4,500."

"Because the production department needs overtime year-round, the factory's overtime pay follows labor law requirements: 1.5 times pay from Monday through Friday, double pay on Saturdays and Sundays, and triple pay on statutory holidays. They work twelve-hour shifts, rotating between two shifts. Front-line workers earn roughly 4,000 to 6,000 per month, while line leaders and team leaders average over 6,000. Section chiefs earn between 6,500 and 8,000, and workshop directors generally make over 8,000."

Zhou Qi nodded. "What about the other departments?"

"The sales department has a base salary of 3,000 yuan. They work nine to five and don't need overtime, but they receive sales commissions, generally one percent of sales revenue. Veteran salespeople can earn ten or twenty thousand a month, while newcomers make around three or four thousand."

"The operations and design departments both have a base salary of 4,200. They can receive four percent of new product sales as commission. As for the three people in the media department, Lu Xiaowan was an outstanding broadcasting student at a media university and already had 800,000 followers across the internet when she joined, so her base salary is very high. Her junior schoolmates each have a base salary of 8,000. They also often livestream to sell products and can receive three percent of sales revenue as commission. In Lu Xiaowan's four months here, her lowest monthly salary was 14,000, and her highest was 16,000."

"Then there's the transportation department. Their base salary is 6,500, plus transportation allowances. The amount paid per trip depends on distance: 600 yuan within Dongguang Province, 1,000 in the Pearl River Delta, and 1,400 in the southeast. They don't go beyond the southeast."

"Wait..." Zhou Qi raised a hand. "Isn't the transportation department's pay a little high? Isn't transportation their actual job? Why do they get allowances too?"

"This..." Jiang Mingran froze for a moment, then looked around.

"What?" Zhou Qi was baffled.

"It's like this!" Jiang Mingran thought for a moment, first closing the meeting room door before getting up and sitting closer.

Was it really that serious?

Her behavior made Zhou Qi grow serious as well.

"The people in the transportation department are all big shots. They're hard to deal with!" Jiang Mingran lowered her voice. "Back when they were only making three or four thousand, we would constantly hear things like the fuel tank broke, fuel got stolen, the engine malfunctioned, or the filter element broke. Then they'd ask for several thousand in repair fees."

"General Manager Luo simply followed them on a few runs himself. Nothing happened to the truck whenever he was there, but the moment he stopped riding along, problems happened. They changed drivers several times, but it didn't help. The trucks still had issues..." Jiang Mingran spread her hands. "There was no choice but to raise wages and add allowances!"

"Now that their pay has been raised, allowances added, and transport times restricted, with money deducted if they miss the agreed time, the trucks have finally stopped having problems..."

Zhou Qi was speechless. Clearly, the trucks had not broken down on their own. Someone had been sabotaging them.

"But if they drive that fast, won't there be accidents?" Brother Bing asked from the side.

"There are accidents. Our transport trucks have killed eight people in crashes over the last five years..." Jiang Mingran spread her hands. "But when someone dies, the insurance company pays. If a truck breaks down on the road, General Manager Luo has to pay. He thought that was a pretty good deal..."

Zhou Qi was deeply shaken. All he could say was that this world was too absurd.

"How many transport vehicles does the factory have?" Zhou Qi asked.

"Oh, there are Dongfeng 6.8-meter box trucks for long-distance routes, plus three Wulings for local deliveries..." Jiang Mingran said.

"Are those vehicles still at the factory?" Zhou Qi asked. "Factory Director Luo didn't take them?"

"How could he take them?" Jiang Mingran said dismissively. "Linlang's accountants and government officials are watching over there. They can't let him move the factory's assets away. But there was nothing that could be done about the money in the company account. It had already been emptied before the decision to sell the factory."

Zhou Qi nodded. "Here's what we'll do. Have your finance department go back and study how exactly the salary structure should be adjusted, then submit a report to me. As for this month's payroll, I'll transfer money into the account later."

"Um, may I ask how exactly the salaries should be adjusted?" Jiang Mingran asked. "Should everyone's base salary be adjusted to 4,500? Or should capable people earn more, with higher positions receiving appropriate increases?"

"This..." Zhou Qi fell silent, then looked at Brother Bing. What the hell do I know about this?

"It definitely wouldn't be appropriate for everyone to earn the same. Wouldn't that turn into equal distribution?" Brother Bing said. "But the gap can't be too wide either. That would go against our original intention."

"Then what do you think we should do?" Zhou Qi asked.

"I suggest splitting salaries into three parts!" Zhou Yibing said. "Base pay, technical pay, and position pay!"

"Set the base pay at the same amount. Technical pay, naturally, goes to those who have mastered technical trades. As for which positions require technical expertise, let Mo Jiakang and the others discuss it!"

"As for position pay, team leaders and section chiefs can receive some extra, but definitely not as much as before!"

Zhou Qi nodded. After all, front-line workers' wages would certainly rise. The ones whose salaries would decrease were management staff such as line leaders and section chiefs.

But logically, they should not complain. What they lost would be made up through the cafeteria and housing. If they truly felt wronged, then they could leave!

"Right, isn't Linlang in this business? Let them handle it!" Zhou Qi said. "None of us understand this anyway, so we might as well let professionals do it!"

"We'd have to pay them, right?" Brother Bing said.

"If you want to do big things, you can't be afraid of spending money!" Zhou Qi waved a hand. "Right, hurry up and bring Yining over. Have her work in Human Resources, then call the family over. The sooner they come, the sooner they start earning wages! The cafeteria, dorm management, cleaning, and internet café attendants don't need much technical skill, so arrange all those jobs for family members. Anyone in the family who keeps dogs should bring them too. Give the dogs military dog positions."

"..." Even though he had heard this many times, Brother Bing was still speechless. He could only nod.

Come to think of it, he missed his younger sister too. He had not seen her in a long time.

"Um, Jiang, I'll transfer the money over later. As for the salary reform, I'll have Linlang's people coordinate with you."

"Oh..." Jiang Mingran nodded, though her expression grew somewhat dim.

She had already heard enough. This was another boss who favored his relatives. The position of finance department head probably would not go to her.

Still, she was used to it. After all, wasn't the previous department head Luo Baofeng's wife, who could not even recite the multiplication table...

Watching Jiang Mingran leave, Zhou Qi praised Brother Bing. "She's talented. No matter what you ask, she can answer immediately. She knows this factory extremely well."

"So you're going to put her in an important position?" Brother Bing asked.

"How could I? Her surname isn't Zhou!" Zhou Qi shook his head. "Haven't you seen enough news stories about finance staff running off with the company's money after following some handsome guy?"

"Then just turn her into a member of the Zhou family!" Brother Bing said. "This girl doesn't have a boyfriend yet. She's a little older, thirty, but she happens to be three years older than you. An older woman by three years is worth her weight in gold. As for her looks, she may not be a peerless beauty, but she's definitely decent. She's more than good enough for you."

"Forget it!" Zhou Qi shook his head. I'm busy developing another world. Who has time for romance?

Besides, no matter how capable she was, could she compare to Nico Robin?

"Still, that is one possible route!" Zhou Qi thought for a moment. "There are quite a few bachelors in the family. But we really need to settle this department head position soon. Who in the family do you think would be suitable as finance department head?"

"Someone who manages money has to be among the closest family. But I don't know much about your branch. What about Zhou Zhisui, your paternal cousin?"

Zhou Zhisui was the eldest daughter of Zhou Qi's fourth uncle. She had been close to Zhou Qi when they were children.

"No, she's already married!" Zhou Qi shook his head.

"Huh?" Brother Bing froze. "She isn't that old, is she?"

"How is she not old? She's already twenty-three!" Zhou Qi said.

"Uh, true..." Brother Bing nodded. In the Zhou family, people like them who were twenty-seven or twenty-eight and still unmarried were the odd ones out. Normally, people married just after turning twenty.

The reason Zhou Qi did not like going home was that some little brats who called him Uncle were already almost as tall as he was.

Zhou Qi added, "It doesn't necessarily have to be someone from our branch. Once the factory gets going, all eleven branches will be one family. So if you know anyone suitable from the other branches, tell me."

"Then what about Brother Bo?" Zhou Yibing brought up another name.

"Brother Bo?" Zhou Qi froze. "Teacher Zhou Wenbo?"

"That's him!" Zhou Yibing nodded. Zhou Wenbo was of the same generation as them, but Zhou Qi's grandfather was the fifth son while Zhou Wenbo's grandfather was the eldest.

That made Zhou Wenbo more than ten years older than Zhou Qi. When Zhou Qi had just started primary school, Zhou Wenbo had already been a teacher there.

"Since you moved away, you might not know. After our primary school merged with another school, Brother Bo taught at the township middle school for five years, then joined the village committee and worked as an accountant for more than ten years, up until now..." Brother Bing said. "Among us Zhous, he's the only one with accounting experience!"

"This..." Zhou Qi was speechless.

The Zhou family really had too little talent!

Later, they needed to establish an education fund, hire professional teachers, and open training classes in the village.

They had to produce a batch of college students somehow!

"Invite him over!" Zhou Qi said. "How much can a village accountant earn? Give him ten times that."

"Alright!" Yibing nodded. "I'll contact him when I get back..."

"Once your sister arrives, remember to fire every driver in the transportation department!" Zhou Qi said. "There have to be people in the family who can drive, right?"

"There definitely are!" Yibing nodded. "There are lots of retired soldiers in our family. Every one of them can drive trucks!"

"Then there's no problem!" Zhou Qi nodded. "That's it, then. Oh, clear out a place for me to stay at the factory too. I'm leaving for now. I'll come back in a couple of days. Send me a WeChat message if anything comes up. I'll check it around noon and in the afternoon. Don't call; I might not answer."

"Alright..."

After watching Brother Bing leave, Zhou Qi pulled out his phone, intending to call Yan Yun.

But after thinking it over, he chose someone else. Better to contact Zhou Mingde.