Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 387 The Group's Morning

After the two main leaders assigned their tasks, Huijin Building posted another recruitment notice.

The job applicants were all dumbfounded.

For more than a week, the Talent Market Daily and Xinmin Evening News have practically become special sections for Gu'an Group, with Changzheng recruiting, the headquarters recruiting, and then the Construction Group recruiting.

Years later, a Shanghai Jiao Tong University student wrote the following on Weibo:
“In mid-March 2007, one week, Gu'an offered me many opportunities. The recruitment content involved my undergraduate major, master's major, and doctoral major. Several of my friends and classmates went, and they all became billionaires. But I missed the opportunity to enter the senior management of Gu'an because of my girlfriend's second aunt's funeral in Suzhou. Later, my girlfriend cheated on me. Yu Lan, I hate you.”

—June 2019 recruitment season continues to be a hot topic:

#Yu Lan, I hate you#
#Jiaotong University PhD student proves with personal experience: Choice is more important than effort#
#Suggested to be included in university career guidance courses#
#Reborn as an HR at Gu'an: "Back in March 2007, I put up a recruitment poster at the entrance of her second aunt's funeral"#
March 20th, 8:00 AM.

The glass curtain wall of Huijin Building refracted the morning sun so brightly that it was dazzling. A bright yellow Porsche Cayman, even more eye-catching, was parked on the side of the road next to Huijin Building for quite a while.

"Give me a kiss."

"No kiss."

"hurry up."

"Hey, what are you doing? They can see us from outside! Hurry up, get out of the car, I'm going to be late for work!"

"You don't love me anymore, huh?"

"Mua! Go quickly!"

The greasy young man finally opened the car door with satisfaction, climbed out of the passenger seat, straightened the hem of his suit jacket, and walked towards the company under the envious and jealous gazes of the job applicants who had arrived downstairs early to wait.

"Damn, who is this?!"

"Which department did you apply to? Did you receive an offer? Why are you being so arrogant?"

"Damn, that's gorgeous, and she drives a Porsche!"

"All the good cabbages have been eaten by pigs!"

The unpleasant things aren't over yet.

As the greasy young man walked to the door, he was stopped by a beautiful woman in a white dress, black stockings, and white high heels, with a bright smile and a sunny disposition.

"Mr. Chen! It's been a long time!"

"Oh?" Chen Xuebing saw Yin Xin standing at the door and put on a warm, leader-like smile. "You've arrived?"

"Oh! I just arrived yesterday! I was among the first batch transferred from Chongqing! Director Kan called me personally! He said I did a good job as the receptionist!"

"Oh." Chen Xuebing looked the tall, hot Chongqing girl up and down, and nodded involuntarily. "Indeed, good."

It's not that I'm lustful, it's just that the flowers are in full bloom, and if I don't look at them, I'd seem unromantic.

Yin Xin suddenly chuckled as he looked at Chen Xuebing, took out a pack of tissues from his bag, pinched out a tissue, and carefully wiped Chen Xuebing's cheek.

Apply a Clinique nourishing lipstick shade.

Then he waved the tissue at Chen Xuebing and laughed, "If you hadn't met me, you would have made a fool of yourself today!"

"Hiss," Chen Xuebing frowned. "Not bad! You've already done well on your first day at work! Come on, we have to get the cafeteria chef to reward you with a fried egg."

"Hey—you're being so stingy now."

"What do you mean by stingy! You don't know anything. Our cafeteria chef makes incredibly delicious fried eggs! Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and with a runny yolk!"

The two entered the building in a friendly manner.

The job applicants waiting at the door couldn't hear the two talking; they only saw the man get out of a beautiful woman's car and then openly flirt with another woman at the door.

His eyes widened in surprise.

"Damn, who is it?!"

"Who the hell is this?!"

The second floor.

"Wow."

"Wow--"

Yin Xin shouted and yelled.

The long restaurant, which is over 1,000 square meters, is not very lively, with only a few dozen people.

Gu An is still hiring. There are more than 400 employees in Huijin Building, most of whom are new employees. They live in relatively remote areas. Those who can make it to Huangpu for breakfast at this time are basically living in the inner ring of Shanghai.

Lunch will not be provided for free, because there is no such thing as a free lunch.

That's why there are more people in the afternoon.

However, the breakfast at the restaurant is still abundant and comparable to that of a five-star hotel buffet.

Moreover, most of the food is prepared fresh by the chefs.

On the marble dining table, Che Rumei, the newly appointed deputy director of risk control at Changzheng, wearing a Giorgio Armani suit, was carefully checking her phone while fiddling with slices of ham using silver-plated clips in her other hand.

Beside him, a smartly dressed intern assistant with a serious expression slowly poured a drizzle of maple syrup onto the French toast, as if afraid of not achieving the sweetness that Director Che wanted.

The moment the amber syrup covered the butter, the Shanxi chef at the opposite table, dressed in a snow-white stand-up collar uniform, swung his arms, his left hand deftly pulling out several strands of noodles, and with a flick of his wrist, tossed them into the boiling pot of bone broth.

"Two bowls of beef noodles! Almost ready!"

An intern carrying a bowl of shrimp dumplings rushed over from a distance: "I want a bowl of chicken giblet noodles!"

"Okay, chicken giblet noodles, do you want more chicken giblet noodles?"

"Master Pan, give me two bowls of pea and minced meat soup." Chen Xuebing took a cup of hot milk from the side and then pointed at Yin Xin: "Add a poached egg to her, freshly fried."

The people waiting in front of the stage quickly made way for Chen Xuebing.

"Hello, Chairman!"

"Good morning, Chairman."

Chen Xuebing smiled and nodded.

Upon seeing that it was Chen Xuebing, the master chef's smile warmed up: "Alright! Chairman, two bowls of pea and minced meat soup and a freshly fried egg! Xiao Liu, drizzle some scallion oil on the Chairman's bowl!"

"Master, I want scallion oil too!" Yin Xin said hurriedly. "Chairman." Che Rumei heard the voice and came over to greet him.

"Ms. Che." Chen Xuebing smiled, glanced at the lit phone in her hand, and raised his chin. "What are you looking at?"

Che Rumei handed over her phone; it contained several news articles.

—The Shanghai Securities Regulatory Bureau summoned local securities firms and demanded strict control over "illegal margin financing in the market".

— A surge of retired employees are queuing to open accounts at the Jing'an Temple Securities Business Hall, requiring security guards to manage and direct the flow of people.

—The front page of the Liberation Daily warns of “irrational exuberance.”

"Yesterday, the combined daily trading volume of the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges reached 1900 billion yuan, setting a new historical record," Che Rumei said.

"Oh, I know, the Shanghai Stock Exchange's 967 billion."

After Chen Xuebing finished speaking, he walked to a table where no one was around and sat down. Che Rumei, ignoring her own breakfast, quickly followed him.

"Chairman, at 7:30 this morning, the securities department held a meeting to decide to buy 300 million shares of Suning and Baosteel. The meeting only lasted five minutes before the decision was made. I think it was a bit rushed."

“Suning closed at 15.83 yuan yesterday, with its dynamic PE ratio climbing to 26 times. However, its Q1 financial report shows that it opened 23 new stores, with revenue per store declining by 4.7% year-on-year. I think they have over-expanded their channels a bit, and the weekly RSI has been overbought for two consecutive weeks, so they may face profit-taking pressure in the short term.”

"Moreover, Gome is about to acquire the remaining shares of Yongle. I predict that Suning will likely experience another drop in price, so now is not the best time to buy."

"Baosteel's long-term iron ore contract price has risen 9.5% in the past month, which is a major positive. The export tax rebate for cold-rolled steel sheets may be reduced soon, which will have a negative impact. However, from a fundamental perspective, the order for automotive steel sheets increased by 21% year-on-year in the first quarter, which can be considered a offsetting effect of the news."

"The recent launch of QDII has led to expectations of capital outflows, resulting in a divergence between consumer and cyclical stocks. The retail sector, to which Suning belongs, underperformed the broader market by 1.7 percentage points, while Baosteel maintained its strength due to merger and acquisition expectations."

Che Rumei expressed her opinion, clearly not optimistic about Suning, the leading stock in this round of bull market, but rather had some expectations for Baosteel, which issued warrants two years ago and ultimately pushed the closing price below the exercise price, causing the warrants to become worthless and severely harming shareholders.

It turns out that even elites who returned from the top-ranked LSE (London School of Economics and Political Science) and worked in the securities industry for six years couldn't understand the A-shares market.

However, this is actually a complaint.

The decision made by Changzheng Securities Department was too hasty and lacked risk control.

Che Rumei did not completely reject the securities department's judgment, probably to prove her impartiality.

Chen Xuebing smiled faintly, and then said:

"Regarding the steel sector, the recent expectation of a Baosteel-Pangang merger doesn't actually exist. You've just arrived, so Mr. Kan hasn't told you yet, right? I'm currently managing Pangang's iron ore business. They've made a little money on it recently, but this isn't a positive sign of Baosteel acquiring Pangang. Rather, it's a harbinger of Pangang breaking away from Baosteel's acquisition."

"On Suning's side, traditional home appliance stores have indeed declined, but the real estate boom has led to a surge in sales of more than 20% year-on-year. In the short term, there is still a large demand for home appliances to match new homes. However, if the online sales of our Qidian mobile phones are successful after May this year, it will inevitably have an impact on the traditional home appliance sales model. If Suning cannot quickly transform into online sales channels, the securities department will sell them off as appropriate based on the sales performance of Qidian."

“Your risk control department is too independent now, and there are problems with the channels for obtaining information. I know this is an industry standard for your department, but our group has involvement in and influence of the steel and home appliance sales sectors. You need to broaden your understanding internally, break through cognitive bottlenecks, and stop forming cliques. If you isolate your sources of information, the information will isolate you.”

Chen Xuebing offered a few words of advice.

He knew that the new deputy director of risk control was an iron lady. As soon as she took office, she raised many compliance issues within Changzheng, leaving Lao Kan somewhat helpless. He admired Che Rumei's ruthless and decisive nature, but he couldn't let her interfere recklessly and disrupt Changzheng's profit expectations for this year.

The steel is good steel; once it's honed, it will surely become a fine sword for internal refining, but it's not time to sharpen it yet.

Che Rumei could not hide her shock.

Is it really the chairman of Panzhihua Iron and Steel Group who is running things?

Will the online sales of Singularity mobile phones affect home appliance stores?

She could hardly believe that so many shocking secrets were hidden within the Gu'an Group.

If any one of these things were to be exposed, it could make a fund a fortune or allow it to avoid a disaster.

"Chairman, I understand. I will make a thorough understanding of the group's business in the near future. I apologize for coming to you to give feedback without doing my research properly."

"Don't overthink it. I'm not trying to discourage you. I'm planning to transfer Attorney Wei to the group's legal department soon, and I plan to let you take over the entire risk control department of Changzheng. However, there will be a probationary period. Make sure you comply with all the regulations of Changzheng and abide by the laws and regulations that must be followed. However, in terms of investment, President Kan has certain privileges in making decisions. Some things are authorized by me. If there are any problems, you just need to remind him and don't interfere for the time being."

Previously, Changzheng's risk control director was Wei Zhixing, who had worked in the risk control department of Chongqing Taikang Insurance and was a financial lawyer.

When Changzheng was still a fund company, it was okay to let it flounder around, but now that Changzheng is transforming into a financial group, the person in charge of risk control will definitely have to be replaced.

If other departments mess things up, it's not a big deal, but if this department has problems, someone has to suffer the consequences.

Che Rumei discovered numerous loopholes in the system as soon as she arrived, which proved Chen Xuebing's judgment.

"I understand." Che Rumei's sharpness softened slightly, replaced by a hint of expectation.

The extraordinary profits of the Long March were indeed not without reason.

After a few words, Che Rumei's intern assistant came over with a tray.

"Chairman, your noodles."

"Mr. Che, your toast."

"Thank you." Chen Xuebing accepted the bowl with both hands and smiled at the male assistant, "You should have a bowl too. Master Pan's beef noodles are delicious."

"Uh, okay, thank you, Chairman." The assistant bowed, deeply moved, thinking that the chairman was very classy and that he must speak well of the company to his father, the bureau chief, when he got home.

General Manager Chen is not polite to his managers and subordinates, but he is always kind to his frontline employees. This is all based on his social experience from his previous life.

After eating half of her noodles, Ren Ying entered the restaurant, spotted Chen Xuebing, and quickly walked over.

Che Rumei discovered that the most powerful woman in the group had lowered her guard considerably and made way for her.

Ren Ying smiled and nodded to Che Rumei, but didn't sit down. Instead, she stood next to Chen Xuebing and began to report:
"The bank transferred the land payment for Chengdu yesterday."

"We currently have 173 clients for trust financing, and the total financing has reached 200 million US dollars. Goldman Sachs has five days left on the contract period for the disbursement, so we can only raise funds for a maximum of two more days. Today is Tuesday, and we must contact the non-bank department of the China Banking Regulatory Commission on Thursday afternoon, and contact the State Administration of Foreign Exchange in Shanghai on Friday morning to make the disbursement."

"General Manager Cai tried calling you but couldn't get through. He said he was going to meet with several HR managers this morning and wanted to ask if you could skip the municipal government investment work meeting this morning, or if someone else could go instead."

“No way,” Chen Xuebing said decisively. “New Hope’s CEO, Chen Chunhua, is going to the Ziyang transit warehouse for a purchase agreement. I promised the Sichuan Provincial Department of Transportation that I would help bring New Hope into the deal. He needs to make arrangements with Chen Chunhua this morning so that I can meet with Liu Yonghao. I need to get this done before I go to Sichuan. President Bi is not in Shanghai right now, and the mayor is attending this meeting, which requires the company’s general manager or chairman to attend. So he has to go this morning. The HR director’s matter is not urgent and can be rescheduled for the afternoon.”

Chen Xuebing put down his chopsticks and pointed to the table next to him: "Bring me some chili powder."

Master Pan's noodles had a good broth.

However, this level of spiciness is not as high as Zhou Dongyu's.

"The next meeting of the 10th session of the 9th Standing Committee of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce will be held at the Shanghai International Convention Center on the 26th, and there is also the Pudong Development and Opening-up 17th Anniversary Economic Forum on March 28th. Since the city has sent us letters, we have to go. I am going to Sichuan soon, so I can't attend these meetings, but he has to go. Tell him to come early and not put on airs."

After adding two spoonfuls of chili powder and devouring half a bowl of noodles in a flash, Chen Xuebing wiped his mouth and got up.

"The city's new leaders are coming soon, so the group should be proactive in responding to the city's invitation and make a good impression."

(End of this chapter)