The next morning.
After waking up, washing his face, and eating breakfast with Xu Fei, Wu Jun went out again.
Walking out of the supermarket, he thought to himself, ’Ever since Xu Fei started working here, I’ve been spending less and less time at the store.’
He had originally wanted to hire a clerk to help out, but she had ended up shouldering the main responsibilities.
He drove his pickup to the warehouse early, took out the inventory from his game, and summoned a Farmer to stack everything neatly. He left Xiaohong and No. 2 behind to handle loading the trucks and accompanying them on deliveries.
Wu Jun had already given Chen Lin full authority to handle the company registration. He had also delegated the task of organizing the office equipment to his aunt, Dong Lizhu, asking her to find people to clean and set things up.
Although the company hadn’t been officially established yet, Wu Jun had already assigned Dong Lizhu a position: managing human resources, which was her old line of work.
Once the company was formalized, there would be hiring, managing social insurance and housing funds, organizing physical check-ups, tracking attendance, distributing holiday bonuses, and handling work safety supplies. Just thinking about all those miscellaneous tasks gave Wu Jun a headache, so he simply handed them all over to his aunt and became a hands-off boss.
Her nephew’s company wasn’t as large as her previous one, but the salary was high, she was given significant responsibility, and she was the head of her department.
Having a job again, Dong Lizhu looked much younger these past two days. She had regained her radiance, was incredibly dedicated to the tasks Wu Jun assigned her, and was full of energy.
Good fortune lifts the spirits. The early menopausal symptoms that had been troubling her had also lessened significantly. Acquaintances in her residential complex all said she seemed like a whole new person.
Ma Chaoyun benefited from this as well, and their married life returned to normal. The couple was grateful to their nephew from the bottom of their hearts.
Throughout the morning, under Wu Jun’s direction, Wang Qidong rushed between the city’s major restaurants. By lunchtime, he had delivered two full truckloads of rice and returned to the warehouse with an empty vehicle.
Wang Qidong’s vehicle was a medium-sized container truck with a two-ton capacity. Two truckloads meant four tons, bringing in 40,000 yuan.
Others who sold 40,000 yuan worth of rice would be lucky to make a 4,000 yuan profit, but Wu Jun’s profit was the entire sales amount. It was an incredible feeling.
"Brother Wang, how’s the search for new drivers going?" Wu Jun asked Wang Qidong while they were waiting for their takeout. He had asked Wang Qidong to help him find two more delivery drivers.
Of course, these two drivers’ salaries couldn’t compare to Wang Qidong’s. They would use their own vehicles, but Wu Jun would reimburse them for gas and maintenance, and their monthly salary would be 5,000 yuan.
Wu Jun was generous, but he wasn’t a philanthropist. He couldn’t possibly pay all his employees the same salary.
A salary of 5,000 yuan was quite decent in a small, second-tier city like Shimen. It might not be the best, but it was better than most.
At first glance, it seemed similar to, or even slightly less than, what a freelance driver might make, but it was much better when you did the math.
Freelancing was all about luck. On a good day, you could earn over a thousand yuan, but on a bad day, you might get nothing at all. And if your truck broke down, you’d have to pay for repairs out of your own pocket.
Plus, no one would be paying your social insurance and housing fund. If you got sick or had an accident, not only would you lose income, but you’d also have to pay for hospital bills.
"All set," Wang Qidong said with a grin. "With the salary and benefits from our... Jun-something... as soon as I mentioned it, people were fighting for the chance. I found two honest, reliable family men. They’ll definitely be dependable workers."
"Great. I trust anyone you find, Brother Wang," Wu Jun said. "Once the company is up and running, have them come in to complete the onboarding process."
"Got it, Mr. Wu. I’ll call them in a bit to give them the good news," Wang Qidong said. Then, with an embarrassed look, he asked, "Mr. Wu, what’s our company called again? You told me once, but I forgot."
"Junheng Trading Co., Ltd.," Wu Guangkun said from the side, smoking a cigarette and teasing Wang Qidong. "Young Wang, your memory is even worse than an old man like me."
"That’s right, Junheng," Wu Jun declared heroically. "In the future, our Junheng will definitely become a household name, a major corporation."
Wang Qidong said with a laugh, "That’s for sure. With a product like ours at Junheng, everyone who tries it says it’s amazing."
While making deliveries recently, Wang Qidong had truly witnessed the appeal of Hongyun Rice.
Other sellers had to beg customers to buy their products, but in Wu Jun’s case, it was the customers who were begging him to sell.
The restaurant procurement managers were even polite to him, the delivery guy. They would offer him cigarettes as soon as he arrived. It was an incredibly gratifying feeling.
It was nothing like the delivery drivers from other companies, who practically had to grovel like grandsons before the procurement managers.
After a bit more small talk, the takeout Wu Jun had ordered arrived, and he invited everyone to eat.
"Mr. Wu, should we hire some loaders here?" Wang Qidong asked Wu Jun while eating his takeout.
Wu Jun paused for a moment, then said, "Yes. If you know anyone, recommend a few."
’Summoning Xiaohong and No. 2 back and forth every day is risky with so many people around. Although I’m already very cautious, it isn’t a foolproof solution.’
’If someone sees them one day, the trouble will be huge. I can’t just kill them to silence them, can I?!’
Wu Jun wasn’t short on the money to hire loaders anyway. It would be better to just hire a few and save himself the worry.
"Hey, I do know some people. They’re ready and available," Wang Qidong said. "The loaders we hired yesterday asked me to check with you, Mr. Wu. They’re also freelancers and are looking for stable jobs."
"That works," Wu Jun said. "Once things are set up at the company, you can bring them over to go through onboarding and get their physicals. They’ll report to you from now on."
"Alright!" Wang Qidong couldn’t have been happier. With more and more people under him, he was now a leader in his own right.
While they were eating, Wu Jun received another order for 50 bags of rice.
Hearing that Wu Jun had taken another order, Wang Qidong quickened his pace. As soon as he finished eating, he wiped his mouth and called for Xiaohong to go with him to load the truck and make the delivery, full of vigor.
Not long after Wang Qidong left, Wu Jun received a call from Dong Lizhu.
Cui Zhishen had finished the paperwork to return his car to the taxi rental company and had now gone to the West Sanzhuang Villa to report to Dong Lizhu.
Wu Jun gave Dong Lizhu a few instructions, then drove his pickup to the West Sanzhuang Villa.
In just one morning, Dong Lizhu had already hired a cleaning company and had the entire villa spotless.
The office equipment was all in place, the windows were sparkling clean, and signs with job titles had already been posted on the doors of each office.
"Mr. Wu, your office is on the second floor." Dong Lizhu greeted him as soon as he walked in. "Mr. Cui is waiting for you in your office."
Wu Jun smiled and said, "Aunt, you don’t have to be so formal with me. It sounds strange."
"Mr. Wu, didn’t we agree on this the other day?" Dong Lizhu said. "You can’t get anywhere without rules. A company like ours, especially, needs to have some structure, or everything will fall into chaos."
"Alright then, Director Dong, I’ll let you get back to it," Wu Jun said with a helpless smile and headed upstairs.
On the second floor, the largest, sun-facing office had a sign that read "General Manager’s Office." Wu Jun pushed the door open and went inside.
"Mr. W... Mr. Wu, you’re here." Seeing Wu Jun enter, Cui Zhishen stood up from his seat to greet him.
Seeing Wu Jun’s company—so impressive that it occupied an entire villa—Cui Zhishen’s respect for the young supermarket owner grew even deeper.
Wu Jun couldn’t be bothered to correct everyone’s form of address anymore. He motioned for Cui Zhishen to sit down and then explained the details of the job to him.
Chen Lin was still handling the company registration, so the official seal and other documents hadn’t been issued yet. According to her, it would take about ten days at the earliest.
For now, Wu Jun could only sign a temporary contract with Cui Zhishen, which Dong Lizhu had drafted earlier.
After talking for half an hour, the two went downstairs and headed to a nearby auto mall. They found an acquaintance Wang Qidong had recommended and spent a little over 100,000 yuan on a box truck identical to his.
The person Wang Qidong recommended was as reliable as he was. In less than an hour, the purchase tax and insurance were all taken care of.
They also selected a license plate at the vehicle management office. It would take a few days to get the official plates mounted, but they could drive on the road with a temporary plate.
Wu Jun drove his pickup and Cui Zhishen drove the new truck as they both headed for the warehouse.