From Wage Slave to Tycoon

"Hello, Boss!"

As soon as Su Chen stepped into the company, he saw Pei Rang and Secretary Li leading a group of people standing by the entrance, shouting in unison.

The grand display startled him.

Looking at the people behind Pei Rang, Su Chen was a little surprised.

He had originally thought the investment team Pei Rang poached from Wall Street would be all foreigners. He hadn’t expected to see so many Asian faces, and judging by their accents just now, they were most likely from Huaxia.

’This is interesting. I’ll have to ask what’s going on later,’ Su Chen thought to himself.

"Hello, everyone. Welcome to Yunmengze Capital! I’m not going to paint you pretty pictures—let’s get straight to the real stuff. From now on, five percent of all profits will be distributed as bonuses!"

As soon as he said this, everyone was ecstatic and shouted, "Thank you, Boss!"

Su Chen had been fed plenty of empty promises in the past; he knew that only money was real.

Once everyone had celebrated enough, he spoke again. "Alright, get familiar with the office for now and get into the work mindset as soon as you can."

"Yes, Boss!"

Su Chen nodded and then gestured for Secretary Li and Pei Rang to follow him to his office.

As they walked toward the office, Su Chen noticed the company felt a bit empty. Besides him, Secretary Li, Pei Rang, and the dozen or so people from the investment team, there was no one else.

He stepped into the CEO’s office. The entire room was completely transformed, a world of difference from when Su Chen first saw it.

Su Chen sat in the boss’s chair and spun around once. Seeing that Pei Rang and Secretary Li were still standing, he quickly beckoned for them to sit.

After they were seated, Su Chen began, "The company has just been founded, and many things aren’t in place yet. I’ll have to ask the two of you to put in some extra effort."

"Of course, Boss!" Pei Rang was full of fighting spirit, but Secretary Li looked worried sick.

"Secretary Li, if you have something on your mind, just say it. No need to keep it to yourself."

"Boss, the company has many problems to solve right now. The first is a lack of personnel. Many positions are unfilled, so we can’t move forward with subsequent work."

"If there’s no one, then go hire people!"

Hearing Su Chen’s words, Secretary Li didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

She was currently juggling multiple roles—HR, finance, and procurement were all her responsibility. But she was just a personal secretary! If she was in charge of hiring, there was no telling how long it would take. Besides, top-tier talent circulated through internal networks; without the right channels, it was impossible to recruit anyone!

Su Chen quickly understood. He smiled at Secretary Li and said, "You’ll have to work hard for a while. Once the company is on the right track, I’ll give you a ten-day vacation."

Su Chen paused here. "How about this... Contact Aik later and ask him when the CFO he found for me will be available."

"While you’re at it, give him a list of all the important positions the company is missing. I want to see those roles filled within three days!"

At Su Chen’s words, Secretary Li shot up from her seat. This was exactly what she had been waiting to hear. After saying, "I’ll contact Aik right away," she hurried out of the office.

Seeing this, Su Chen shook his head with a smile. Only then did he turn his gaze to Pei Rang. "Pei Rang, no problems on your end, I hope?"

"No problems!"

"Good. Have your team get in the zone. We only have a week. Once the company is staffed up in the next couple of days, we’ll hold an opening ceremony. After that, we’re heading straight to Xiangjiang. Don’t drop the ball when the time comes."

"Don’t worry, Boss!" Pei Rang was deeply moved by Su Chen’s trust in him.

Just based on his analysis, the boss was willing to put up a huge sum of money and let him take a shot. This was a legendary display of trust.

"By the way, I saw quite a few Asian faces in the investment team. Are they all from Huaxia?"

"Yes! They’re all from Huaxia. There are quite a lot of us working in finance on Wall Street, but the vast majority are low-level employees. Making it to middle management is already considered outstanding. As for senior executives..." Pei Rang shook his head helplessly as he trailed off.

Just then, Secretary Li, who had stepped out to make a call, came back in, a trace of excitement on her face.

After asking a few questions, Su Chen learned that Aik had access to a wealth of talent resources they needed. Many of them could start within the next two days.

As for the CFO, Su Chen’s main concern, one had already been found—a senior executive from PricewaterhouseCoopers. She was already on a flight to Shanghai!

In just two days, the company underwent a massive transformation.

In terms of personnel alone, the headcount had already reached around forty people. All positions were filled, and even the CFO Su Chen had been constantly talking about had started.

Surprisingly, the CFO was also from Huaxia, and a woman at that, named Zong Xinyao. She was only thirty-five this year!

If Aik hadn’t been the one to find her, he would have never believed she was a senior executive from PricewaterhouseCoopers. To become an executive at a world-renowned company at such an age was a testament to her immense capabilities.

As for why she would resign from PwC to return to the country and develop her career, Su Chen asked about that too. The answer he received made his jaw drop.

"I missed the food back home!"

Su Chen didn’t have the energy to figure out if that was true or not. As long as she could benefit the company, he couldn’t be bothered with her private life. As for her character, he had complete confidence; she had been carefully vetted by Aik.

Su Chen had paid a fee of one million for this service, which of course also included the recruitment of Pei Rang and the other executives.

With the company on the right track, Su Chen officially announced Pei Rang as the Executive President of Yunmengze Capital. Although the company wasn’t large yet, Su Chen was setting up the positions according to corporate group standards.

He also transferred twenty million into the company’s account to cover operational expenses.

As for Su Chen himself, he now only had a little over one hundred million left.

「No. 8 Cafe on the Bund」

"What? You’re going to Xiangjiang tomorrow?" Sicong asked curiously, putting down his coffee.

"Yeah, I have some business to take care of. I’ll probably be there for ten days to half a month."

He was originally supposed to leave today, but just as he was about to set off, Pei Rang asked, "Boss, do you have a travel permit?"

Su Chen was completely baffled. He had never even been to Xiangjiang or Macau, so how could he possibly have a travel permit? Helpless, he had no choice but to delay his trip by a day to get one. Fortunately, it didn’t disrupt his plans.

"Staying that long? What are you planning to do?"

"What else? Make money, of course!"

Hearing the words "make money," Sicong instantly perked up. Thinking of the investment company Su Chen had just founded, he immediately knew what Su Chen was up to.

"Are you going to trade foreign exchange or futures?"

Sicong’s question stunned Su Chen. ’I didn’t say anything. How does this guy know?’ he thought in astonishment.

"How did you know?"

"You said it yourself—you’re going to Xiangjiang to make money! If you were just making regular investments, would you need to go in person? And to a place like Xiangjiang, of all places... Besides speculative trading, I can’t think of any other reason."

Su Chen was secretly amazed. He couldn’t believe Sicong had figured it all out from just that tiny bit of information. ’Looks like I’ll have to be more careful with my words in the future,’ he thought. ’Can’t just blurt everything out.’

"Yeah, you’re right. Want to come along?" Su Chen decided to just admit it.

Sicong nodded, then shook his head.

"I can go to Xiangjiang with you, but as for the trading, count me out. I can’t get a handle on that stuff."

Su Chen opened his mouth, wanting to give Sicong some inside information, but on second thought, he decided against it. After all, whether he could actually make money was still an unknown.

He learned a valuable lesson today: loose lips sink ships.

Some things were best kept to himself for now.