“Only small, unknown brands were willing to let our inspection team oversee and supervise.”
“We did a simple check and selected a few more reliable ones.”
“Speaking of which, there are actually a few small brands who are very willing to cooperate with us. They have also completely accepted the supervision of the inspection team and even took the initiative to invite us.”
“Take this sofa for example. I actually designed it together with the owner of Fanglan Residence. It was just shipped over a few days ago.”
Only then did Pei Qian notice the obvious difference between the sofa in the room and the one in his own room.
Liang Qingfan explained, “The real-leather sofa is also power-driven. The leftmost and rightmost individual seats could be adjusted to rise and fall. People can lie comfortably.”
“Compared to the sofa in the third floor developer’s model room, the sofa would not look bloated and still fit the minimalistic design without the L-shaped sofa; Moreover, it would be able to satisfy the needs of lying down when compared to the sofa in Sloth Apartments Version 1.0.”
“At the same time, the legs and armrests of the sofa are very thin. What’s more, they’re made of wood. The texture of the North American black walnut is very clear. The wood is dense and exquisite. It feels like something finely woven. It feels very good. Not only does it have clear patterns, but it also has a natural luster. It looks and feels good.”
“Apart from that, its hardness, density, and stability are not bad. It has always been one of the high-end wood materials used to make furniture.”
“Compared to Sloth Apartments 1.0, the breakthrough this time is that I designed this sofa with the owner of Fanglan Residence. We successfully combined the black walnut armrest with the electric leather sofa. It maximizes the practicality and quality of the sofa while it still fits the minimalist style.”
“This could also be considered a product of fusion between Western and Eastern culture. At first, I was a little worried that it would look unnatural to be put on display. However, from the looks of it, the effect is quite good.”
Pei Qian asked, “Fanglan Residence… is a sofa manufacturing brand?”
Liang Qingfan smiled and shook his head. “Oh, no. The Fanglan Residence is a newly established furniture brand. They make sofa, cabinets, and other furniture.”
“However, unlike the other furniture brands, their boss is a designer. His biggest interest is actually designing. He wants all the furniture to be unique.”
“Take this sofa for example. I tried my best to combine the local-style wooden furniture with the power-driven sofa. This idea was quite bold. I thought it was unrealistic at first, but when I started designing it, I realized that it was actually not bad.”
“They are one of the manufacturers who are most eager to work with Sloth Apartments. They even took the initiative to invite our expedition team to inspect their workspace and factory.”
Pei Qian: “Why?”
Liang Qingfan explained, “That’s because their product concept is completely in line with the Sloth Apartments.”
“The creator of the Fanglan Residence was a designer who wanted to take the path of high quality premium products. In other words, he wanted to ensure quality, aftersales, and design. However, he wants to sell them at a huge premium.”
“However, a small brand with no reputation would not be able to walk this path.”
“The competition in the furniture industry is very steep. Take the walnut wood for example. Some brands would say that their furniture is made of walnut wood. if you probe, they would say, ‘This is African walnut wood or golden thread walnut wood. It’s the same type of wood as North American walnut wood, they just grow in different location.’”
“However, in fact, not only are these trees different, but they are also of different attributes. They are basically unrelated in terms of plant species, and there are also huge differences in their appearance. Manufacturers who use low-grade wood like this would usually not be particularly meticulous when making them. If you don’t pay attention, such furniture produced would not even be as good as ordinary real wood.”
“Only North American walnut wood is reliable.”
“However, ordinary consumers don’t understand these things. They would obtain similar things at a cheaper price.”
“Brands like the Fanglan Residence would not be able to support a high brand premium if they did not have a good reputation. Other furniture brands would skimp on their materials therefore the price of the same furniture might even be cut in half as compared to the one at Fanglan Residence. They would not be able to compete at all.”
“This is also the reason why many big brands are unwilling to cooperate with us: On one hand, they feel that their businesses are huge and have no reason to be controlled by others. On the other hand, it might be because there are some tricks hidden in big brands that we cannot know about.”
Liang Qingfan gently touched the armrest of the sofa. “However, it’s different for Fanglan Residence. They are more confident in the materials and quality of their products. They can’t wait for our inspection team to do a free quality examination for them.”
“What’s more, working with us, meant they could use the Sloth Apartments’ branding to prove that their products are indeed of good quality.”
“In other words, what they lack the most is consumers’ trust in them, and we can provide it to them.”
Pei Qian sat on the sofa. “How much is this sofa?”
Liang Qingfan: “About thirty grand.”
Pei Qian nodded in satisfaction. “Hmm, good. Cooperate more with this Fanglan Residence in the future.”
Wasn’t this the type of cooperative brand the kind he was most satisfied with?
First of all, the furniture was of high quality and had no pollution. It ensured that the health of Sloth Apartments’ residents would not suffer. What’s more, the furniture would not have any serious quality problems if they rented it for too long;
Second, the premium was high and the price was high. That was a very key point.
That was because the Sloth Apartments’ model was actually Pei Qian paying to buy a house, renovate it, and add a complete set of furniture and appliances before renting it to clients.
The more expensive the furniture was, the more money that could be spent!
The sofa that Pei Qian had prepared for the Tengda headquarters’ office was priced at sixty thousand yuan. However, that was the standard for office supplies in the guest room after all. It represented the company’s reputation. Thus, the system gave them a high limit.
The sofa in Sloth Apartments could not be so expensive. 30,000 yuan was already considered quite high.
However, compared to ordinary sofas that cost three to five thousand yuan, a sofa that cost thirty thousand yuan was considered high-end.
A sofa that cost more than 20,000 yuan for a unit, what if they were to use it for 100 units? What about the storage cabinets, TV cabinets, dining cabinets, dining tables, bookshelves, and other furniture?
How much would that be if it was accumulated!
Pei Qian walked around the room and nodded in satisfaction. “Hm, Sloth Apartments 2.0 is doing well. Keep pushing.”
“By the way, don’t forget about the Sloth Apartments in the past. Remember to maintain it well. If anything happens to the apartments, the housekeepers of each building must report it in time and deal with it. Don’t be afraid of spending money.”
Liang Qingfan quickly nodded. “Alright, Boss Pei.”
…
…
November 18th, Friday…
Tengda Spirit compatibility test.
The recruitment tasks at the beginning of the month had all been completed. A large portion of the new employees had already been in the office for more than a week. They could now undergo their first Spirit compatibility test.
Pei Qian had specially made a trip to the office so that he co
uld see the effects of the modified Tengda spirit test questions.
However, Pei Qian did not go to the big conference room to supervise.
That was because he did not want to mislead everyone. Once everyone knew that “Boss Pei seemed to take the Tengda Spirit compatibility test very seriously”, the situation would become even worse.
Thus, Pei Qian remained in his office, pretending that he was here for work with no interest in the Tengda Spirit compatibility test at all.
Once the test was completed, he would sneak a peek at the new employees’ answers to determine what went wrong with the Tengda Spirit compatibility test.
The new employees entered the conference room with serious expressions. They sat down in their respective seats and began to answer the questions.
However, many people looked shocked when they saw the questions. They subconsciously looked at the others.
Why was there space to be filled?
Didn’t the seniors say that there were multiple-choice questions?
The person in charge of invigilating the exam was a colleague from the HR department. He cleared his throat and reminded everyone to pay attention to the examination hall’s order.
The new employees did not dare to look at each other anymore. They quickly lowered their heads and started answering the questions.
Wu Bin was supervising the exam as well. At first, he was just going through the motions and did not take the exam too seriously.
Due to his and many other department heads’ tireless efforts, the originally profound and obscure Tengda spirit had gradually spread within the company and became easy to understand.
The Tengda spirit manual that he and Cui Geng had worked so hard to write had been distributed to the various department heads.
While this manual could not be sent directly to all employees, especially new employees, as long as the person-in-charge had the Tengda spirit, he could subtly influence the core employees and gradually influence the new employees.
Sometimes, an old employee’s actions or words would inadvertently reveal the Tengda spirit, giving new employees an example.
As time went by, the new employees would quickly adapt to this way of thinking. Before the exam, as long as the department head or the older employees gave enough hints, the new employees would be able to pass the test smoothly.
Thus, the passing rate of the Tengda Spirit compatibility test had been maintained at a very high level. Even if he failed the first time, he would definitely be able to pass within four tries.
Wu Bin felt that this was just a formality, so he did not pay much attention to it.
However, he quickly frowned as he realized that the test this time was different from before.
That was because he realized that all the candidates were using keyboards?
That didn’t seem right.
Wu Bin had participated in the Tengda Spirit compatibility test before and had invigilated many rounds. He clearly remembered that the previous tests were multiple-choice questions. All he had to do was click the mouse.
Why did they need to use the keyboard?
Could it be that… the test had been upgraded? Were there subjective questions now?
That was not right.
Boss Pei had set the answer for the Tengda Spirit compatibility test himself, and the system had automatically released the results. How was he going to grade the subjective questions if he added them in now?
Boss Pei could not possibly read the subjective answers one by one, and the HR department did not receive any orders to ‘mark the Tengda Spirit compatibility test’.
Then… What was going on?
Wu Bin was very confused.
Could the Tengda spirit have been upgraded again?
Did that symbolize a new mission for me?
Chapter 748 - I Need to Adjust the Tengda Spirit Test Questions
In the conference room, the new employees were all seriously answering questions. Every time they selected an option, they would type in the explanation on the keyboard. The length of their answers varied as well.
Wu Bin was invigilating the exam so it was not convenient for him to look at the specific questions and answers. In principle, the Tengda Spirit compatibility test was absolutely confidential. At the very least, it would not be good for him to look at the questions openly in the examination hall.
Therefore, Wu Bin could only wait for the exam to end before asking about the changes in the exam questions in private. Then, he could think of the deeper meaning behind Boss Pei’s changes.
Soon, the test ended.
The test duration remained the same since Pei Qian had deliberately adjusted the number of questions. The new employees submitted their answers one after another to check the test results.
Some employees’ screens showed that they had passed while the screen of the others asked them to work hard.
Wu Bin roughly scanned the computer screen that he could see. He could roughly see the final result even though he could not see the words of the questions.
Only a small portion of the new employees did not pass the test. This was only the first test after all. There were still three more. They would be able to enter the company successfully as long as they passed any one of them.
The passing rate was not much different from the previous batches of employees.
Wu Bin could not help but frown as he analyzed the situation.
“The results would still be released immediately after the exam. This means that the system would automatically calculate the scores based on the objective answers. The content that was filled out would not be counted.”
“Then… why did Boss Pei change it this time?”
“Could it be that he wants to see if there was any difference in understanding of the Tengda spirit by the new employees?”
“Or could there be a longer-term plan that I have yet to figure out?”
…
At the same time, Pei Qian was checking the results of the test in his office.
All results were transferred out for him to take a closer inspection, be it for the employees who had passed or failed.
There were not only options on the results of each test, but also employees’ own explanations of the options.
Pei Qian picked out two of the most representative questions.
The first question was: It was time to knock off, and you still had one more task to complete. What should you do now?
If he chose to “argue with the supervisor rationally” on this question, he would get five more points. If he chose “do it tomorrow”, he would get four more points.
Pei Qian’s original intention for this question was to let his employees establish the concept of never working overtime. The stronger the concept, the more it suited Boss Pei’s requirements.
Many of the new employees who passed the test chose these two options.
However, looking at their explanation of this option, Pei Qian could not help but frown.
“The Tengda spirit is to not work overtime therefore, I’ll not work overtime.”
“It’s impossible for the supervisor to request us to work overtime. Therefore, the option of ‘arguing rationally’ is not valid. The department will automatically knock off and lock the door. We can only wait until tomorrow.”
“If you don’t have a slot for overtime, you won’t be able to work over time even if you want to.”
“Resting is for better work. If working overtime affects my rest today, my work efficiency will decrease tomorrow, and I will fall into a vicious cycle. Rest well today to be able to finish all my work efficiently tomorrow.”
“An outstanding employee of Tengda should not have to work overtime to complete his work. If that happens, he should first consider whether he is too inefficient and work hard to improve efficiency. He should not use his tactical diligence to cover up his laziness.”
“The Tengda spirit has said before that we have to strike a balance between work and r
est and have a long-term goal. There’s no need to be in a hurry if it isn’t a pressing issue. As long as it doesn’t affect our work schedule, there’s no need for us to work overtime. What’s more, Tengda doesn’t support this.”
After reading these explanations, many question marks floated above Pei Qian’s head.
???
There were some explanations that seemed like they understood the Tengda spirit, but on closer inspection, it did not seem to be accurate!
While the thought of ‘no one is working overtime, so I’m not working overtime’, meant that ‘no overtime’ had become a trend within Tengda, if one dug deeper into the foundation of this trend, they would find that it was completely different from Pei Qian’s original idea!
The reason why most people chose not to work overtime was because they felt that compared to working overtime, they should work more efficiently. Taking a break was for the sake of more efficient work.
That way, whether they worked overtime or not, they would be able to fully utilize their working capabilities!
Many companies required their employees to work overtime without overtime pay in accordance to the 996 working hour system.[1.’996 working hour system’ is a work schedule commonly practiced by some companies in China, requiring employees to work from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm for 6 days per week.]However, regardless of whether the employees were slacking or being passive because of fatigue, the efficiency of most employees in this 996 working hour system would be greatly reduced. It would be good enough if they could work at fifty to sixty percent efficiency.
Tengda,however, was the exact opposite. Overtime was strictly prohibited, and the 996 working hour system was not allowed. Employees’ enthusiasm for work had been fully stimulated. Some of them were even encouraged and motivated mentally. Their working conditions were off the charts, and their efficiency was greatly improved.
Losing Money to Be a Tycoon c1-883 Page 488