I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

Chapter 162

After leaving the client's house, Shen Kang took Pan Siyu back to Anjia. After conducting a final summary interview, Pan Siyu left.

Before leaving, Pan Siyu asked Shen Kang for his phone number: "The editor-in-chief may have some suggestions for revising this news report, and we may need to ask you about the details, so it would be best to leave your phone number."

Shen Kang then exchanged phone numbers with her.

After doing all that, Pan Siyu left.

After being tense all day, Kang Zhengyang finally let out a long breath, loosened the tie that was almost suffocating his neck, and said regretfully, "I thought they were going to take pictures."

He even went out of his way to pick out this suit last night, but it turned out to be completely useless. He should have just followed Shen Kang's example and come in any clothes he could find.

"There will be another chance next time. When our Anjia business grows bigger and bigger and reaches new heights, the TV station will definitely come to interview you. At that time, it won't just be photos, but probably videos too. They'll film you and broadcast it on TV." Shen Kang casually painted a picture of a bright future for him.

Kang Zhengyang, however, ate the pancake seriously, thought for a moment, gave Shen Kang a look, and signaled him to go out with him.

Shen Kang understood, so he followed him, and the two of them arrived at the big tree in front of the shop.

Kang Zhengyang chimed in, "President Shen, you've used so many connections, getting policy support and contacting reporters. Once this report is published, the government should naturally approve our subsidies and three-year tax exemption, right?"

"You need to be careful with your words. I don't have any problem with that," Shen Kang pointed out a mistake in his statement.

Kang Zhengyang thought to himself, "People like President Shen are really cautious. They won't admit it even when there's no one else around."

However, following Shen Kang's correction, he removed the modifier "related" and asked the question again.

Shen Kang said, "I reckon there shouldn't be any major problems. Make sure your application materials are prepared properly and that there are no slip-ups."

"There definitely won't be any problems," Kang Zhengyang assured, patting his chest. He then eagerly added, "Now that we have these two favorable policies, can we start developing in cities outside Yangcheng?"

Shen Kang nodded. "We can start planning now. My idea is to start with the cities in Qianlin Province that have the best economies, based on their size. And within those cities, we shouldn't have as many districts as Yangcheng, since the economies of those cities aren't as large as Yangcheng's. We can focus on one or two of the best-performing districts in each city, building up this provincial-to-municipal management system first, filling in any gaps, and then replicating it to other provinces once it's mature."

Prior to this, Shen Kang had two plans for Anjia Household Services' development path after leaving Yangcheng: one was to "play checkers," which meant that after doing well in the Yangcheng market, they would go directly to Huacheng, the capital city of eastern Guangdong, and then to the capital cities of other provinces, skipping over cities one by one.

Secondly, it's like "playing Go." After establishing a foothold in the Yangcheng market, the strategy is to expand outwards from Yangcheng throughout Qianlin Province, conquering key cities one by one until a "province-wide domination" is achieved, before expanding to other provinces.

Both options have their advantages, so he hasn't decided which one to choose yet.

However, now that there is such a sudden event as "Qianlin Province giving policies", the advantages of the "playing Go" option have been amplified, and there is no need to make a choice anymore.

After discussing a few key matters with Kang Zhengyang, the general direction of Anjia Household Services' expansion path was initially decided.

With nothing else to do here, Kang Zhengyang took his leave and went back to the temporary office compound.

Shen Kang was about to leave when his phone rang. He took it out and saw it was Xiao Bonian calling. As soon as he answered, Xiao Bonian's voice came from the other end.

"Shen Kang, are you aware of Xuanxuan's recent situation?"

She was relatively calm, but there was still some anxiety in her tone, which Shen Kang noticed.

Shen Kang slapped his forehead. After he left Xiao Qingxuan with Li Xiangjun, he really hadn't paid any attention to her anymore; he'd almost forgotten about it. Then, without saying a word, he asked, "You seem to know, right? What's wrong?"

"She's been leaving early and coming home late these past few days, going out very early in the morning and not returning until after 10 a.m. every day. I tried to gauge her feelings a bit, and she didn't seem to find it tiring at all; on the contrary, she seemed to find it quite interesting —"

After listening for a while, Shen Kang finally understood: Xiao Qingxuan seemed to enjoy her work at Anjia.

Xiao Bonian had originally thought that if Xiao Qingxuan personally experienced the hard labor, she might be scared off and choose the shortcut of studying. But what if Xiao Qingxuan was not scared off but actually persevered and stayed in the An family? So after a few days, he finally started to get anxious.

"What if she really stays at your Anjia?" Xiao Bonian finally voiced this concern.

Shen Kang blurted out instinctively, "That's a good thing!"

"Hmm?" Xiao Bonian's questioning voice came from the other end. Shen Kang could almost see him frowning and looking at him suspiciously.

So he quickly changed his tune: "I mean, Professor Xiao, you don't need to worry. It's only been a few days. An Jia's cleaning job is very monotonous day after day. I even secretly told her to increase her medication dosage—I mean, to give her as much work as possible. So she definitely won't be able to handle it. You need to be patient."

On the other end of the phone, Xiao Bonian sat on a bench on the Yang University campus, his brows slightly furrowed.

For some reason, he always felt that Shen Kang was a bit unreliable. Before, he thought that Shen Kang had the same idea as him: to send Xiao Qingxuan to labor reform so that she would give up and choose to study. But now he vaguely felt that Shen Kang didn't seem to care about Xiao Qingxuan's final choice.

It seems that even if Xiao Qingxuan chooses to continue working at Anjia Household Services and never studies again, Shen Kang wouldn't care.

With this suspicion in mind, Xiao Bonian asked a few more probing questions. Shen Kang on the other end of the phone simply patted his chest and assured him that as long as he had a little more patience, Xiao Qingxuan wouldn't be able to hold out and wouldn't be able to get anything out of her. In the end, he could only hang up the phone first.

Sitting on the bench, after thinking for a while, Xiao Bonian couldn't come up with a better solution, so he could only sigh, get up, and walk towards the laboratory.

Meanwhile, at the Anjia store, Shen Kang stared at the already disconnected call screen in his hand, not putting his phone away for a moment.

Just as Xiao Bonian had guessed, he wasn't actually too concerned about what Xiao Qingxuan would ultimately choose.

Perhaps in Xiao Bonian's view, Xiao Qingxuan joining Anjia Household Management instead of going to university would be ruining her future. But Shen Kang might not think so.

In his eyes, Xiao Qingxuan's future fate has three paths.

The first path is mediocre:

After joining Anjia Housekeeping, Xiao Qingxuan didn't learn or improve herself; she just drifted through each day aimlessly, which didn't offer much of a future. In the end, she might only reach the level of a store manager by virtue of joining early.

The second option is the best:

After joining Anjia Household Services, Xiao Qingxuan, like Li Xiangjun, continuously learned and improved herself. Therefore, with the continued development of Anjia, her future is limitless.

The third point is what Xiao Bonian hoped for:

Xiao Qingxuan withdrew from the An family and went back to university. She might get into a good university, study hard, and graduate smoothly in the future. But by then, the An family would have already been developing for four years.

Even if Shen Kang were to give Xiao Qingxuan a chance to join the An family, she would most likely only be able to reach a middle-level position and would find it difficult to climb to a higher position because she had missed the window of opportunity and the positions above hers were already filled.

Of course, it doesn't mean that Xiao Qingxuan's choice of the third path is necessarily worse than the second path—perhaps she will encounter another excellent opportunity and seize it?

But more likely, her future monthly salary will be capped at 10,000 to 20,000 or 30,000.

In Shen Kang's view, attending a good university and obtaining a good degree actually guarantees a minimum standard of living.

The upper limit of one's life depends on opportunities.

Of course, the path Xiao Bonian chose for Xiao Qingxuan was not wrong; it was the safest path, the one that guaranteed the lowest possible standard.

However, this minimum guarantee can also be guaranteed through the first path—thanks to her seniority and Shen Kang's support, Xiao Qingxuan's future monthly salary will not be too low.

Therefore, this is why Shen Kang doesn't care what choice Xiao Qingxuan makes.

Just as Shen Kang was pondering, his phone rang again. The caller's name appeared on the screen; it was Xiao Qingxuan.

Shen Kang glanced at it twice, seemingly sensing something.

On the other end of the phone, Xiao Qingxuan was squatting by the roadside, wearing an Anjia cleaning uniform, with an Anjia electric scooter behind her and Anjia's toolbox on the footrest.

Listening to the ringing of the phone on the other end, Xiao Qingxuan's thoughts returned to the day Shen Kang had brought her to the An family:

That day was the first time she met Li Xiangjun.

After Shen Kang's brief introduction, Xiao Qingxuan immediately took a liking to Li Xiangjun, a liking that even surpassed her admiration for Ding Ling. This was because Ding Ling at least had a higher education, while Li Xiangjun only had a junior high school diploma!

Clearly, Li Xiangjun is more in line with the kind of person she wants to be: "successful without a degree"! — Although Li Xiangjun is still a bit behind Ding Ling, according to Shen Kang, with the rapid development of Anjia, it is only natural for Li Xiangjun to surpass Ding Ling.

As a result, Li Xiangjun became Xiao Qingxuan's new idol.

Then Xiao Qingxuan began her official career as a homeowner. The first step, naturally, was to receive cleaning training.

"Generally speaking, our Anjia Housekeeping's cleaning training takes seven days. Excellent employees can complete it in three days. These excellent employees will also have a greater chance of being given priority in future promotions."

"The best employees can accomplish this in just one day. These are the employees we prioritize developing!"

Shen Kang was talking nonsense at the time.

Li Xiangjun had been working at Anjia for several months, training batch after batch of people and seeing more and more people. She had gradually become skilled, so when she heard Shen Kang's words, her facial expression didn't change much, only her eyes looked a little strange. Then she nodded, confirming President Shen's statement: "Yes."

Xiao Qingxuan then resolved to become the best kind of employee.

During her school years, she was always the best, after all, she had such an outstanding uncle. Her family and relatives always told her about Xiao Bonian's excellent academic achievements, spurring her on.

Xiao Qingxuan did indeed achieve this, consistently ranking first in her grade from first grade through the third year of junior high. With such outstanding grades, she was admitted to Yizhao No. 1 Middle School, a prestigious high school.

In her first year of high school, she was still ranked first in the grade. It wasn't until her second year that she finally lost her top spot and began to linger in the top ten.

With such a sharp mind and excellent memory, she memorized the content of Anjia's cleaning training, Anjia's 36 standards, and various sales pitches in just half a day.

Two more rehearsals were conducted afterward, and there were no mistakes.

This amazed Li Xiangjun, who was in charge of training her.

She had trained those uncles and aunts before, and had seen all sorts of people: most of those who came to Anjia for job applications and training were not very educated. Some didn't even know many words, some couldn't understand or remember the simplest action even after being explained several times, and some couldn't even distinguish between their left and right hands, which was quite absurd.

Teaching is naturally tiring and time-consuming, and getting them to memorize the training content is even more time-consuming.

Compared to these people, Xiao Qingxuan has an almost photographic memory. She can remember most things after hearing them only once, and even after hearing a few things twice at most, she can still remember them perfectly. Naturally, she is far superior and astonishing.

Xiao Qingxuan was delighted to receive Li Xiangjun's praise and felt a sense of satisfaction. She couldn't wait to get started on her work that very afternoon.

Because she hadn't received any training in selling rice cookers, the orders assigned to Xiao Qingxuan were all from households that already had smart rice cookers and didn't need any sales pitches.

Xiao Qingxuan still remembers that the first family she served was a family of three. She provided the service according to the training, working diligently and enthusiastically throughout the process without feeling tired at all. The praise she received from the family after completing the task gave her a great sense of accomplishment.

Then in the evening, she was assigned to her second household.

Because of Shen Kang's special instructions, the dispatchers were given a full load of orders to deliver to Xiao Qingxuan, three orders a day.

Anjia only had this many orders when they first opened in July and were short-staffed. After that, when they had enough staff, they tried to assign 2 orders a day most of the time and 3 orders a day on some days, so that the cleaners could get as much rest as possible and not be too tired, so that they could work long-term.

This time, thanks to Shen Kang's special care, the dispatcher made sure to give Xiao Qingxuan three orders a day.

However, Xiao Qingxuan did not feel tired.

She was very excited after her first day of work, feeling like she was starting a new life.

Then, on her second day at work, she started to encounter some problems:

First, there's her health problem.

Perhaps because she had never done such a long period of high-intensity labor before, when Xiao Qingxuan got up, she felt sore in her hands and feet, and several parts of her body ached. She didn't even want to go to work.

Xiao Bonian noticed that she hadn't gotten up by the time it was almost time, so he came over to check on her. Seeing that she seemed unwell, he thoughtfully prepared to call the An family to ask for a day off for her.

This provoked Xiao Qingxuan's rebellious spirit. Despite her aches and pains, she got up, rode the electric scooter that Anjia had given her to work, and for the first time felt that this job was not as comfortable as she had imagined.

Then came her customer for the next morning's order.

It was a middle-aged couple. When Xiao Qingxuan arrived, the husband's eyes lit up, and he kindly offered her tea and cookies. The wife, on the other hand, quickly called Anjia Housekeeping and asked them to send a different cleaner.

Seeing that she had been inexplicably replaced, and that the middle-aged wife treated her coldly and with a look of disdain, Xiao Qingxuan was furious and even argued with her. In the end, someone from the An family came to replace her and took her away.

As she left, the middle-aged wife said things like "little vixen," which made Xiao Qingxuan linger after going downstairs. She sat down at the entrance of the building and cried in distress.

Then the dispatcher sent her a new text message with the address of her next customer.

Xiao Qingxuan didn't even have time to cry anymore. She could only wipe away her tears, feeling a little scared, but she still mustered up her courage and went to the home of the next client who had been temporarily assigned to her.

Fortunately, nothing went wrong at this new client's house, and the job was completed smoothly.

Despite her aching body, she finished the remaining two orders for the day. After completing the evening order, Xiao Qingxuan felt an unprecedented level of exhaustion. So much so that after driving her electric scooter back to Xiao Bonian's place, she intended to lie down on the bed for a while before taking a shower, but as soon as she lay down, she fell asleep and slept until the next day.

If the alarm hadn't gone off, she probably would have continued sleeping.

Afterwards, feeling less tired, I ate a simple breakfast and went to work.

After another long day of work, Xiao Qingxuan encountered yet another peculiar client. Exhausted both mentally and physically, a thought even flashed through her mind: she was starting to miss her school days. But she quickly dismissed the thought.

So what? She can handle it!

Even so, Xiao Qingxuan felt exhausted these past few days and needed someone to lean on if she wanted to keep going. So she went to her new idol, Li Xiangjun, hoping to talk to her and find some spiritual energy to help her keep going.

Listening to the experiences of this successful new female idol and giving myself a pep talk will definitely encourage me to persevere! That's what Xiao Qingxuan thought at the time.

When she went to the training base to find Li Xiangjun, she found her reading a management book, taking notes as she read, very seriously.

Li Xiangjun didn't say anything when Xiao Qingxuan disturbed her study time. She simply put down her book and chatted with Xiao Qingxuan.

Xiao Qingxuan came to hear about the experiences of this successful new female idol and to motivate herself, so naturally she asked a lot of questions about it.

Li Xiangjun also quite liked this smartest employee she had ever taught, and she didn't hide anything: "—After graduating from junior high school, I worked in a factory and also waited tables. Before coming to Anjia, I was selling beer."

At this point, Li Xiangjun paused, then said in a low voice, "If Shen Kang hadn't pulled me into the An family back then—" She didn't continue, but returned to the topic of the An family, "Shen Kang said I could do this job, so I thought it wouldn't be too difficult, but after actually doing it, I realized that there were so many things I didn't know and so many things I needed to learn."

As she spoke, Li Xiangjun looked at Xiao Qingxuan with a very envious expression.

"I wish I were as smart as you, but I'm too stupid. Many books are quite difficult to learn; I have to understand them repeatedly, and I also have to look up information and so on, in order to comprehend and remember them."

At this point, Li Xiangjun curiously asked Xiao Qingxuan about her studies, whether she had good grades at school.

Li Xiangjun was stunned when she learned that Xiao Qingxuan had been first in her grade from first grade to first year of high school.

Seeing the surprise and admiration in her newest idol's eyes, as well as his admiration for her academic achievements, made Xiao Qingxuan feel somewhat strange.

During their subsequent conversation, Li Xiangjun also took Xiao Qingxuan to her rented apartment—Li Xiangjun had moved to a new place in the same neighborhood as the training base for work convenience.

After entering Li Xiangjun's home, Xiao Qingxuan saw many books and study materials, including management, economics, and even some high school and junior high school math textbooks.

"I used to think that studying wasn't important, since I'd end up working anyway. But now I realize that the knowledge in books is crucial for doing things well, for climbing the ladder, and for reaching higher levels."

Xiao Qingxuan listened to Li Xiangjun's reflections, feeling somewhat bewildered: she had come to Anjia Home Management precisely because she didn't want to go to school anymore, wanting to achieve "success without going to school." And now, her new idol was telling her that even if she didn't go to school and wanted to pursue a career at Anjia Home Management, she still needed to study?

If you have to study whether you go to university or not, then isn't her decision not to go to university a waste?

Xiao Qingxuan came to find her idol, but instead of finding encouragement, she became confused and lost.

Her work for the next day was also carried out under this double pressure: on the one hand, the mechanical and tedious work not only lost its initial novelty but also became a torment, leaving her physically and mentally exhausted; on the other hand, the reality that "you have to study even if you don't go to university" kept pricking her.

In the end, she made the call to Shen Kang.

As soon as the call connected, Xiao Qingxuan's first words came out: "Shen Kang, I want to take a shortcut."