Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

The two of them each took up half of the large desk, one poring over documents while the other reviewed reports.

During breaks in their work, they would look up and see the other’s focused profile, and suddenly feel a surge of motivation. It made the work itself feel more energizing!

When it was time for lunch, the two of them went to the company cafeteria together.

Ni Bingyan was surprised to find that the food in the company cafeteria was a feast for the senses. The ingredients were high-quality, on par with what you’d find in a fine-dining restaurant.

Besides the three main meals, the bulletin board also read: 1. Tonight’s free late-night snack will be Japanese Sukiyaki. 2. For tomorrow’s late-night snack, employees should use their employee ID to vote on the company’s internal attendance app. The deadline is 4 AM tomorrow morning, before procurement.

”This has been a company tradition for over a decade. Every night, the cafeteria prepares the dish that gets the most votes for the employees working late. We do a headcount in advance, so everyone gets a portion. At midnight, if someone who ordered a meal hasn’t shown up, the cafeteria staff will even call to remind them. We don’t want anyone to get so caught up in their work that they miss their snack and go hungry.”

Noticing her lingering gaze, Sang Yuan proudly explained.

It was his idea, and he was the one who pushed it through. At first, the rest of the industry condemned him for it, calling it a publicity stunt and accusing him of disrupting industry norms and engaging in unfair competition for talent. But from the very beginning, the initiative earned unanimous praise from his employees.

Now, over a decade later, Yuan Yan Venture Capital had attracted countless top talents in the field, all thanks to its incredibly people-focused management style.

You could say that for finance graduates in the country, Yuan Yan Venture Capital was the number one choice. They wouldn’t even consider applying elsewhere unless they were rejected here first.

The status of an industry giant isn’t so easily established.

”With the company feeding everyone four meals a day, you must have a gym to go with it, right?”

Ni Bingyan was speaking purely from a health perspective.

Sang Yuan gave her a mysterious smile. ”It’s on the second floor.”

Ni Bingyan couldn’t help but laugh.

’She could just imagine it. With benefits this good, if she were an employee here, she’d definitely live at the office.

Forget about saving on rent.

Just think about it. Other people worked nine-to-five, eight hours a day. She could finish dinner, take a two-hour break, and then work from seven to eleven.

The workstations were so spacious and the desk cabinets so large, you could easily fit a cot and a full set of bedding inside.

After finishing a day’s work, she could enjoy a warm, free late-night snack, wash up in the restroom, head back to her desk for a leisurely skincare routine, and then sleep comfortably until seven in the morning.

She’d get a full eight hours of sleep, work out in the gym for an hour, and still have an hour left for makeup and breakfast.

She’d be working half a day longer than her peers, all while living a leisurely and incredibly healthy lifestyle.

She would be crushing the competition without even trying, her bank account balance would keep growing, and in her spare time, she could manage her own investments...

Sheesh...

Being an actress suddenly seemed a lot less interesting.

But the receptionists at Yuan Yan all had master’s degrees. She’d have to go back to school before she could even work here. Otherwise, people would definitely say she got in through connections.’

Sang Yuan had no idea what was going through her mind just then. If he did, he would’ve surely said that no sane person would ever do something like that.

After getting their food, they found a corner to sit down and began whispering to each other.

”A cafeteria like this must have a pretty high overhead, right?”

The Ni family was in the restaurant business. While other kids might have learned to count on their fingers, she had grown up sitting in a crate counting eggplants. At a young age, she already knew how to clack away on an abacus, calculating costs.

When she was getting her food earlier, she noticed the prices were incredibly low. To keep this going, the company must be subsidizing it.

With today’s prices, who would believe that a serving of Longjing shrimp was only three yuan?

”Our employees work overtime, go on business trips, and do whatever is asked of them without a single complaint. They pour their blood, sweat, and youth into this company. In the grand scheme of things, how much can they really eat? The more they give, the more they get in return!”

Sang Yuan covered his mouth with his hand, a mischievous, capitalist-like grin escaping.

Ni Bingyan nodded. ”That’s a smart way to do business. A lot of people are penny-wise and pound-foolish. If the boss is stingy, talented people definitely won’t stick around.”

Sang Yuan was happy to see that she understood.

”See? If I can treat my employees this well, I’ll be even better to my wife and kids.”

He always found a way to slip in these well-reasoned, never-exaggerated compliments about himself. Ni Bingyan didn’t actually find it annoying.

But she would never admit it out loud or play along.

”The employees get special treatment because they’ve made huge contributions. I haven’t contributed anything to you, yet you’re being so good to me. It’s actually kind of scary when you think about it.”

’That’s a loaded question!’

Sang Yuan just laughed, sidestepping the question with one of his own. ”You’ve been here at the company for a while today. Have you noticed one particular problem?”