Rebirth of the Godly Prodigal

“Even… even this one cannot make it?” The HR manager felt dizzy. If he doesn’t want even this kind of talent, then what exactly does he want?

One by one, Hong Dali passed the third, fourth, fifth person… and gradually got restless. The surrounding employees watched on in bewilderment, unable to fathom what was going on in his mind. However, since he was the chairman, they were powerless to say anything. Furthermore, they had already taken the 2,000 yuan red packet. Thus, all they had to do was tolerate and wait for it to end.

Very quickly, the last person for the interview came up. The employees didn’t hold any hope, because the first words that he said were: “Greetings to all, my name is Zhang Wenyang. I graduated from… I shall just skip mentioning this since it’s just a third-class university, there isn’t much point in mentioning it.”

Upon hearing his words, quite a number of female employees couldn’t help but laugh.

The HR manager was immediately angered to the point of amusement. “We’re hiring a director to be the head of the business service department. You… are you sure you are capable?”

Hong Dali lay on the office table with his eyes half-closed and casually took a look. This Zhang Wenyang was sloppily dressed, his hair was in a mess, and he was tan skinned. He looked like a brick-carrying worker from a construction site. Even so, it didn’t cause Hong Dali’s first impression of him to be bad, but only asked weakly, “Yep, I got it. What are you capable of?”

“I know how to spend money!” Zhang Wenyang stood with his head held high and chest puffed. “I believe that the most important thing to do for Zhong Dian in the current situation is to spend money on it as much as possible!”

“I choose you!” Hong Dali’s spirit immediately lightened up. He smacked the table fiercely with a bang, causing everyone to be shocked. “I choose you. Finally, I found someone who suits my taste. That wasn’t easy!”

Crashing sounds of jaws dropping on the floor could be heard.

The HR manager violently covered his chest with his hand. “My heart, oh mine… what rule is this small ancestor abiding by in choosing people…”

The nine lackeys were thinking: Look at these country bumpkins, do they think they can fathom Young Master’s thoughts?

Those people with high qualifications who were already interviewed all exclaimed and objected. That country bumpkin Zhang Wenyang who graduated from a third-class university beat them to the job, how could they accept that!

A few even shouted: “Underhand dealings, this is an underhand dealing!” Then, they were dragged out of the meeting room by the lackeys.

Hong Dali totally ignored the sighs and exclamations from the people around. Eyes glowing, he asked Zhang Wenyang, “Tell me how you are planning to spend money! If your plan is good, I shall reward you!”

“It’s a must to spend.” Zhang Wenyang gradually said. “In my opinion, if a website wants to succeed, the numbers of authors must be large. Therefore, the scale of their treatment must be increased. Currently, the largest online novel website in the country is Turkey Bookstore, and of the profit there, 60% belongs to the website and 40% to the authors. They also have a reward for full-time attendance—the website rewards the authors a hundred yuan if they renew their chapters at a rate of 5,000 characters per day for a month. There are also some more minor rewards.”

Speaking to up to there, Zhang Wenyang paused before continuing, “Therefore, since Turkey Bookstore is our largest rival, we have to beat them in terms of our treatment toward the authors. Only then will we be able to attract more authors. My plan is for our website to split the profit—40% for the website and 60% for the authors—and a monthly reward of 200 yuan if they maintain a rate of 6,000 characters per day.”

The general manager couldn’t help but feel like giving Zhang Wenyang a kick. Does this rascal know that we’re already making a loss now that our treatment is on the same level as them? If we increase the treatment, how much money will we lose?

Unexpectedly, Hong Dali laughed and said, “Very good, I like your idea! I didn’t plan to make money anyway. We shall follow your plan. Do you have any other suggestions?”

Zhang Wenyang continued, “Then, there’s also advertising. There must be advertisements of our website everywhere. As long as one reads, they must be aware of our website. Even if they have never heard of Turkey Bookstore, they must know of Zhong Dian!”

The HR manager couldn’t tolerate it anymore. “Young man, do you have any idea how much money we will need to spend? At least millions! Who can afford that?”

“That shall be how it will be done!” Hong Dali ignored the HR manager and directly decided. “This is how I like things to work!”

Sounds of exasperation came from the employees. The performance of the company wasn’t high in the first place; thus, they would definitely make a loss if they followed Zhang Wenyang’s plan. It wouldn’t be long before the company wouldn’t be able to sustain its operations at this rate. Even if Hong Dali had the money, he would not be able to afford such a loss. Advertising was totally different from other investments. Unlike others which only needed a single investment, there was no limit to how much one would need to spend on advertisements.

After Zhang Wenyang finished his previous sentence, he paused for a moment before concluding: “Currently, it’s not the best timing to start doing advertisements. Novels and entertainment are similar in that their value both depends on their quality. Goddess Li Nianwei would not have been able to rise to fame in just a single concert had she not been highly talented in the first place. If a second-rate singer had taken her place, no matter how much money and resources one spent to support her, it would have been in vain. It will be meaningless.”

“En, you have a point there.” Hong Dali nodded. “Then, just follow the plan for now. Start from raising the treatment of the authors. Oh right, don’t do four-six, do three-seven. We’ll take just 30% profit.”

“Prodigal, what a prodigal…” The general manager face-palmed. “How will we make any profit, then?” Of course, he didn’t dare to say this out loud.

“Alright, you’re all dismissed. Oh right, the editors stay back, I have some questions to ask.” Hong Dali chicly waved his hand. “Those of you who have nothing left to do can go back home now.”

Soon, those unrelated left the meeting room. Now, only Hong Dali, his nine lackeys, and 10 plus editors were left behind.

Hong Dali asked, “I have one question to ask. I plan to seek some authors. You guys help and see if you have met someone like this before.”

“Young Master, please state your mind.” A bald-headed editor asked amidst the crowd.

“En, I want the kind that writes about fighting and killing; if you stare at me, I will beat you up; if you scold me, I will kill your whole family; those kinds. Is there any?” Hong Dali’s eyes almost glowed to the point of being comparable to 200-watt lightbulbs—he depended on this kind of stuff to pass his time in class.

“This… this…” The editors were all violently wiping their sweat and staring at one another. Finally, the bald-headed editor nervously said, “I did meet this kind of authors before. I secretly remembered their names because of the novelty of their novels…”

“Really!?” Hong Dali’s spirits were finally lifted. “What’s your position in the company now?”

Baldy replied, “Young Master, I’m the main editor of group one now. My name is Tang Jinghui.”

Hong Dali snapped his fingers. “From now on, you shall be the chief editor!” Upon hearing his words, a middle-aged man at the side shuddered. Needless to say, he must be the previous chief editor, an ill-fortuned guy.

“These authors you’re talking about, recommend them to me.” Hong Dali said matter-of-factly. “Let me see if they’re able to satisfy me.”