“Have you heard that the CEO has been replaced? The eldest son of the Chu family has come to take charge personally.”
“Is it because of our poor performance here? Isn’t it going to change? Oh my god! I don’t want to be laid off.”
“What’s there to be nervous about? This Eldest Young Master is nothing like the second young master, who’s the chairman. He’s a well-known playboy! I’ve heard he’s only good at partying and chasing women, and he doesn’t have any real experience. I think he’s just here to put on a show and make himself look legitimate in the business world.”
“That’s true. But why does he have to come here of all places? With such a huge enterprise like Golden Eagle, couldn’t he pick somewhere better? The physical economy has been in decline for years; our company’s profits are dwindling year after year. I wonder when it will get better… Oh my. “
In the office area on the sixth floor, the sales department employees were gathered together, engrossed in gossip, completely unaware of anyone passing by. As they moved further around the corner, the chatter of the secretarial staff could be heard coming from the break room.
“Look, this is it.”
“Wow, he looks so handsome in the photo!”
“I know Zhang Lili, who works at the group headquarters. She said that she had met Eldest Young Master Chu once. He was even more handsome in person than in the photos. He was like a walking hormone!”
“No, the Chu family’s genes are too good. The sparkling Second Young Master Chu is already so handsome, and this one is even more… Only now do I feel that it’s great to be in the secretarial department. I’ll get to see him every day. My mood at work is going to change completely!”
“You’re not thinking about trying to flirt with him, are you?”
“I would like to, but I’m afraid he’s seen so many women that he wouldn’t even look at someone like me.”
“That’s not necessarily true. Isn’t it always like that in dramas? The prince doesn’t like the princess; he likes Cinderella. Look at his name, Chu Yunhan—it’s both elegant and romantic. Tsk tsk.”
“Hurry up and touch up your makeup. Maybe your Prince Yun will show up today.”
…
The young man walking in front stopped and listened for a while, then turned to the deputy general manager, Gao Jin, who followed behind him and said, “They are chatting during working hours, huh? It feels quite pleasant to work here.”
Gao Jin was already sweating all over his head and said anxiously, “These people… are really outrageous, I…”
“How should we deal with it according to the system?”
“Notification and criticism.1It typically refers to a practice in which individuals report issues or problems—such as misconduct, inefficiency, or violations of regulations—followed by a critical assessment or commentary on those issues.[\mfn]”
“Make them write a self-reflection and upload it to the company intranet homepage, and have the HR department issue a warning. If it happens a second time, they’ll be dismissed immediately.”
“Understood.”
“By the way, just keep two reliable and capable people in the secretary department. I don’t like having overly ambitious women around me.”
“…Understood.” Gao Jin nodded repeatedly, feeling unsettled. Initially, he thought the eldest young master was just here to put on a show, but when he asked for the materials the day before and returned them within an hour for a rewrite, it became clear that he was serious. Today, with his arm in a sling, Chu Yunhan had shown up at the company, ready to enforce a crackdown on discipline.
It seemed this eldest young master of the Chu family was not here to play. The Golden Prosperity department store was definitely going to undergo some changes.
Sitting in his office, Chu Yunhan stared at the complex financial statements on the computer screen, feeling a bit anxious. Although he had an MBA, he had no practical experience in managing a business. Now, Chu Yichen had handed him a poorly managed company without any assistance and expected him to increase the sales to a nearly impossible level. To put it bluntly, it was essentially just a setup for failure.
However, this was his only chance to get rid of that man, and he couldn’t give up just yet.
Even though he felt uncertain, he decided to start by addressing the internal issues first and then rectifying them. In the morning, Chu Yunhan reviewed all the financial documents. In the afternoon, he took the building renovation layout and toured the various floors, checking the counter setups and decoration details. By the evening, he called a meeting with the heads of each department to assess each supervisor’s capabilities and ideas.
At eight o’clock in the evening, he went to a private club on Donglin Road to have tea. Although it was called tea, he hardly touched the cup. He had a wide circle of friends, and among the wealthy young men he knew, while they were notorious for their extravagant lifestyles, they could be quite capable when it came to serious work. Many held positions in family businesses. Previously, Chu Yichen had confined him, cutting off his connections with these people, but now he decided to invite them over. This would help him reconnect and expand his network, as well as learn from them about how to run a company.
The always charming Eldest Young Master Chu actually asked them for advice in a serious manner, which aroused everyone’s ridicule.
“Young Master Yun, Young Master Yun, I never thought you would have such a day.”
“Hey, you didn’t let that iceberg cousin of yours beat up your arm, did you?”
“I guess so. He’s gone to work obediently after this beating.”
“Such a tragedy, such a tragedy! It truly makes those who hear it feel sorrow, and those who see it shed tears. Hahaha!”
“fvck you all. Hurry up and talk.” Chu Yunhan cursed and took out a notebook. Luckily, it was his left hand that was broken, so he could still write. After a whole tea session, his stomach was still empty, but his notebook was filled to the brim.
After such a long and exhausting day, he was completely drained of energy, so he fell asleep in the car on the way home. He slept so deeply, barely stirring even when the vehicle moved. It wasn’t until he was put on the bed that he suddenly woke up. He felt someone touching him and instinctively pushed the person away.
The situation became a little awkward.
Chu Yunhan looked at Chu Yichen, who was holding a blanket in one hand and was about to cover him. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said, “I… will do it myself…”
The man released his hand, said nothing, and walked toward the door.
“It’s…”
Chu Yichen turned around and looked at him.
“This place is too far from the company… It’s tiring to go back and forth… Well, I think… it’s more convenient to live in the company…” He said these words awkwardly, feeling a little guilty.
“Living in the company isn’t really appropriate. I’ll have Bai Xiao prepare an apartment for you, and you can move in anytime.” The man’s tone was very calm. “Is there anything else?”
Just like that…he agreed? Isn’t it too easy? The somewhat unreal feeling made Chu Yunhan pause for a moment, and then he said, “…That’s all.”
“Rest.” The door closed.
He breathed a sigh of relief, scratched his head, and suddenly thought of a question. How did he get back to the room?
The feeling just now was probably… being carried back. Who did it?
Who else could it be?
Who else dared to carry him?
…
Although Chu Yichen had promised not to touch him for three months, the previous training made Chu Yunhan tense up the moment he saw him, instinctively wanting to stay as far away as possible. So, on the very evening he received the apartment keys, Chu Yunhan eagerly moved into the apartment near the company.
He lay down on the unfamiliar but soft big bed. He just felt that he was in heaven at this moment. He wanted to get up and set off two firecrackers to express his joy. When he thought of the ‘eight percent’, he suddenly wilted again and quickly got up and went to the desk to work.
The following day, as soon as he started work, Chu Yunhan scheduled a meeting with the finance director. The director stated that with effective promotion, the store’s anniversary week sales could roughly match last year’s figures, but an 8% increase would be a challenging target. This left Chu Yunhan feeling a bit troubled. After much thought, a new plan formed in his mind.
With online sales gaining traction and physical retail on a steady decline, he realised it might be better to embrace this trend. Golden Prosperity originally had a website, but it was basically abandoned due to the low number of clicks. Revitalising the company’s dormant website could give the stagnant company a much-needed boost. However, restarting the site meant significant time and resource investments. It was unknown whether they could reach enough visibility, and meet the 8% sales growth goal before the store anniversary.
At this moment, he had two paths in front of him. One was to continue step by step on the road of traditional physical marketing, increase publicity, increase preferential activities, and attract customers to the door. The other option was to forge a new path and target online shoppers. It was a high-stakes gamble, one that would shape his future; a misstep would mean total failure with no chance of recovery.
Chu Yunhan closed his eyes and leaned back on the swivel chair. After a long time, when he opened his eyes again, his eyes were no longer hesitant. He said to Bai Yang, who was waiting aside, “Arrange for a meeting tonight with these people.”
Deputy General Manager Gao Jin hadn’t been sleeping well these past few days. Ever since the Eldest Young Master Chu took over, half of Golden Prosperity’s department heads had been replaced within a week, with newcomers carefully selected by headhunters who were well-qualified and highly capable. A team of network engineers was even brought in from overseas to revamp Jintai’s online platform, and he was assigned as project manager. At 47, Gao Jin usually only watched movies online and knew nothing about the intricacies of the internet. Now, handed this hot potato, he had no idea what to do. After several restless nights, he nervously approached Chu Yunhan, saying that his health was poor and that he was unfit for such a role.
Chu Yunhan was very kind. He gave him a holiday and asked him to have a good rest. The next day, he promoted the head of the network department, who had just joined the job as the acting deputy president, taking over his position. Only then did Gao Jin realise that, as a longtime employee, he had made considerable contributions even without significant achievements. It was not convenient for this guy to fire him directly, so he used this trick. On the bright side, Gao still retained his honorary title, which he took as a sign of Chu’s consideration.
When things got busy, time seemed to be insufficient. Chu Yunhan threw himself wholeheartedly into his work, almost wishing he could stretch each day to 48 hours.
After addressing issues with the website’s style, the backend listing pages, link errors, and server instability, two months passed. The cast on Chu Yunhan’s arm was removed, and the official website of Golden Prosperity Department Store entered its final testing phase. Merchants on Golden Prosperity started listing some of their products and initiated a first round of trial sales, while the marketing team launched a large-scale online and offline campaign simultaneously. During the trial sales, however, some issues emerged, such as payments being made for out-of-stock items or inventory not displaying on the page. Additionally, the return and exchange channels were inefficient, causing some customer dissatisfaction.
However, the surge in clicks on the website gave Chu Yunhan a glimmer of hope. He instructed the network department to refine the details further and brought in staff from sales department and planning department to design a ‘try offline, buy online’ clothing sale event. Collaborating with an online payment platform, they offered a discount to customers who paid online. Once the plan was ready, they would start promoting it immediately, aiming to launch it for the store’s anniversary.
During this period, Chu Yunhan spun around like a top every day, often spending entire days in the conference room, analysing data with senior managers and strategising. When he got tired, he would nap at the table, wake up, drink coffee, and continue working. Sometimes, he thought that if managing one company left him this exhausted, Chu Yichen, with so many responsibilities, must be exhausted to death. He would then mentally grumble things like, “That guy really is crazy,” “I can’t match him,” or “Why am I even thinking about him?”
Seeing their boss working so hard, the employees felt reluctant to slack off, making overtime a norm. Chu Yunhan, noticing their dedication, generously paid overtime wages, earning considerable goodwill among the staff.
Seeing that the store anniversary was getting closer and closer, his nerves became more and more nervous. He couldn’t sleep well for several nights in a row. He wanted to go out for some air and relax, so he asked Bai Yang to drive out for a walk. Catching the sight of a familiar golden sign in the distance, he felt a sudden urge and said, “Take me to Lihao.”
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