Three days later, both parties signed the contract with great formality, and the municipal agency agreement between Jiangyu Company and Hongda Trading Co., Ltd. was officially concluded.
Jiang Nan was ecstatic; she thoroughly enjoyed this game of transferring assets from one hand to the other. Zeng Yu was also quite pleased, after all, this was originally his entrepreneurial plan. Unexpectedly, by a twist of fate, the deal was actually done.
It seems the saying is true: one should always have dreams, just in case they come true.
Sitting across from them, Han Liren maintained a blank expression. Jiang Nan eagerly raised her hand to high-five Zeng Yu in celebration. At this moment, Jiang Nan was glowing with enthusiasm, while Zeng Yu appeared calm, yet he couldn’t entirely conceal the excitement in his heart.
Han Liren couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: Youth is wonderful; you can play around as you please.
This young man—was he lucky or unlucky? What would happen to him when Jiang Nan got tired of this game?
This was how Han Liren viewed Jiang Nan’s actions: a young person having fun. He believed that Jiang Ziliu and Han Jiayi were too indulgent with their daughter, but he kept his thoughts to himself; after all, it was their family business. Hongda Company only held the domestic agency rights for Sofi Winery, and it was already a mess. As for Han Jie, Han Liren didn’t dwell on it much; he saw it as a learning experience.
Everything went so smoothly that it was almost unbelievable. Zeng Yu felt incredibly lucky. Even though something didn’t feel quite right, he didn’t overthink it. Their entrepreneurial venture had just begun, and there were so many things to take care of—office location, hiring staff, and more.
As they left Hongda Company, Jiang Nan didn’t get into Yuan Lei’s car but instead joined Zeng Yu in his Wuling.
“Your driving’s pretty good,” Jiang Nan commented.
“Yeah, it’s alright. Back when I worked at Yuan Lei’s bar, I used to go with the driver to the wholesalers every evening for deliveries. It wasn’t really my job, but I learned a lot. Eventually, the driver got lazy and often let me drive. Later, when I worked at a trading company, I drove the company’s Ford a lot while running between the docks and warehouses,” Zeng Yu explained naturally, giving a glimpse into his past.
Diligent and eager to learn, Jiang Nan thought to herself.
In truth, Jiang Nan wasn’t very familiar with running a company. She realized Zeng Yu understood what needed to be done better than she did.
“By the way, Yuan Lei insisted on buying shares and wants to work at the company. I asked her to help manage the company’s finances and legal matters, while you handle sales, and I’ll take care of everything else. What do you think?” Jiang Nan asked, a bit uneasy. After all, she hadn’t discussed it with him beforehand. Even though she was the major shareholder, it wasn’t appropriate to let someone join the company without consulting him.
For Yuan Lei, joining this seemingly experimental Jiangyu Company was a last resort. Han Jiayi had little confidence in these two rookies and was still wary of Zeng Yu, so she had no choice but to have Yuan Lei buy shares and keep an eye on Jiang Nan and Zeng Yu.
Yuan Lei had told Jiang Nan that her bar was already well-managed and that she was bored and wanted something to do. She didn’t trust anyone else to partner with, but she had no worries about working with Jiang Nan.
Zeng Yu didn’t respond immediately, but it was clear he wasn’t pleased. Jiang Nan could tell and added, “Our families are close. She used to look after me when I was little.”
Zeng Yu quickly convinced himself, nodding, “Alright, no problem.”
Yuan Lei’s involvement quickly showed its advantages. They followed her car to a building.
After getting out of the car, Yuan Lei, carrying a small Chanel handbag, turned back and smiled at them, “Follow me.”
Inside the building, they took the elevator to the sixth floor. As they exited, they saw a sign on the opposite wall that read “Jiangyu Trading” with an arrow pointing to the left. They turned left and walked down the corridor for about ten seconds until they reached a large door with a brass plaque that read “Jiangyu Trading Co., Ltd.”
Zeng Yu was a bit stunned; all of this had been arranged without his knowledge.
Yuan Lei tossed a key to Jiang Nan, “President Jiang, please open the door.”
Jiang Nan rolled her eyes at her playfully before opening the door. Directly opposite the entrance was the reception area, with the office space on the right. Two rows of desks filled the office space, with offices, a finance room, and a conference room on the left.
“To save costs, the space is a bit small. Jiang Nan has her own office, while I’ll share an office with the finance and legal team. Zeng Yu, you’ll have to manage in the open office with the other employees,” Yuan Lei explained.
Jiang Nan’s expression darkened, but Zeng Yu remained unfazed, saying, “I’m fine with that.”
“Alright, since all three shareholders are here, let’s have a shareholders’ meeting,” Jiang Nan quickly changed the topic.
Yuan Lei had expressed a desire to invest, and out of politeness, Jiang Nan hadn’t turned her down. Yuan Lei also offered to handle the office space, and Jiang Nan had agreed. She just hadn’t expected Yuan Lei to act so quickly—everything was already prepared in just two days.
“I just feel like the rent here isn’t cheap. Starting a business is tough; we should save wherever we can,” Zeng Yu voiced his thoughts.
Yuan Lei interjected, “But we’re doing a wine agency business. If the office is too shabby, how can we maintain a high standard? Your plan emphasized the importance of taste and class. Are you planning to go back to selling in supermarkets? You can’t just invite clients over to your home, can you?”
Jiang Nan felt a headache coming on, sensing that Yuan Lei was targeting Zeng Yu.
And she was. Yuan Lei felt that Zeng Yu had conned his way into a 30% stake with just a business plan, whereas she had to invest a million for a mere 10% stake. The office was arranged by Han Jiayi; this building belonged to Jiang Ziliu, and a company had recently vacated this space. Han Jiayi had secured it with a single phone call, otherwise, even if Yuan Lei could find an available office, renovations would take time. These were things Jiang Nan couldn’t be told about.
The conference room wasn’t large, about ten square meters, with a large table and new chairs. After everyone took their seats, Jiang Nan, sitting at the head, cleared her throat, “First of all, I want to thank Zeng Yu. Without his plan, I wouldn’t have thought of starting this business. Secondly, thanks to Yuan Lei for joining us and saving us a lot of trouble. Now, let’s discuss what we need to do next.”
“First things first, we need to hire a dedicated finance and legal team. Once they’re in place, I won’t have to be here all the time, and the business will be up to you guys,” Yuan Lei emphasized the importance of finance and legal personnel and clarified that she didn’t plan to get involved in the company’s operations.
Zeng Yu shook his head, “There’s no need to hire a full-time finance person. We can get someone part-time, and Jiang Nan can supervise the accounts. This will save us some money. As for legal staff, that’s even more unnecessary. We’re not a publicly traded company or a cultural enterprise; as an agency, we have very few legal matters to deal with.”
Zeng Yu’s directness made Yuan Lei frown slightly. Her plan was to build the company as a large one, possibly aiming for a public listing, where a full range of departments would be essential.
“Then tell me, what kind of people do we need?” Yuan Lei asked seriously.
Zeng Yu calmly replied, “For finance, we can hire part-time help. We need three to four salespeople, preferably with driver’s licenses since they’ll need to deliver goods. There’s no need for a receptionist; we’re just starting, and hiring a receptionist would mean an additional salary. We also need a part-time cleaner and a warehouse manager. That’s it.”
Yuan Lei said nothing, quietly observing Zeng Yu, while Jiang Nan remained thoughtful. Zeng Yu’s staffing plan was designed to minimize payroll costs.
“Let’s go with Zeng Yu’s suggestion. Our company has just started, and we don’t have a lot of money,” Jiang Nan agreed with Zeng Yu’s proposal.
Yuan Lei smiled and nodded, “I have no objections.”
At this moment, Yuan Lei realized that setting up such a large office was indeed a bit excessive, but she wasn’t about to admit that.
Zeng Yu figured that Yuan Lei must have discussed the office matter with Jiang Nan, and Jiang Nan must have agreed to it. Since Jiang Nan approved and the office was already rented, there was no need to argue further. Focusing on staffing was a way to make up for any excesses. These two, he thought, seemed a bit inexperienced.
In fact, Yuan Lei did have experience, just not in running a small company like this. Zeng Yu was the opposite; the company he previously worked for wasn’t large—just a dozen employees who had to wear many hats.
Save where you can; what you save is profit. That’s the survival strategy for small companies.
After the meeting, Jiang Nan took charge of recruiting staff, while Yuan Lei organized training on wine knowledge.
In reality, Zeng Yu wasn’t entirely ignorant about wine, but he was eager to learn more. When he told Jiang Nan he understood sales, it was partly to brush her off. He hadn’t expected things to actually work out. Before this, Zeng Yu doubted that Hongda Company would agree to the deal, but everything went smoothly. It seemed that Hongda’s sales channels and marketing team had left Han Liren hopeless.
While driving, Yuan Lei glanced at Jiang Nan, who was standing by the car door, and teased, “Nan Nan, you still haven’t told him the truth.”
Jiang Nan smiled and nodded, “Yeah, how do I even explain it? I wanted to do something to prove myself. You know, I’m not one to be pretentious. I’m well aware that if I weren’t messing around, a new company like this wouldn’t get a shot at Sofi’s agency. I just want to prove that, with equal resources, I can manage this brand better than it’s been done so far. As for Zeng Yu… At first, I just wanted an assistant. But after getting to know him, I realized that if I told him the truth, he might not take it well. Besides, I owe him a favor, so if I bring him along, I won’t owe him anything. As for the truth… well, I’ll keep it from him as long as I can. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Jiang Nan had been holding these thoughts in for a long time, and she finally found someone to confide in. Yuan Lei, however, was secretly speculating that Jiang Nan hadn’t yet realized she had special feelings for Zeng Yu. This was something Yuan Lei couldn’t openly address; all she could do was follow Han Jiayi’s instructions to protect Jiang Nan as much as possible.
“I’ll handle the recruiting. You should go back and discuss the company’s direction with him. Previously, Han Jie’s poor positioning led to Sofi’s poor sales. Based on Zeng Yu’s marketing plan, he intends to deal directly with customers. How to position the brand, how to attract customers, and what to do with the supermarket channels are all urgent issues,” Yuan Lei instructed carefully. She had read Zeng Yu’s plan and found it somewhat idealistic.
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