Chapter 858: Qiu Wen Isn’t Burned Silly, Is She? (2)

Chapter 858 -310: Qiu Wen Isn’t Burned Silly, Is She? (2)

“Alright, I owe you one. I’ll keep an eye out for you, but I can’t promise there will be anything suitable!”

“Then I’ll thank you in advance, Mayor Zhao.”

“…”

If nothing unexpected happens, before New Year’s Eve comes, apart from a few special places, every city in each province will have at least one directly-operated New Era store.

Moreover, New Era made two big moves this year: a 1-billion-dollar land acquisition to build a super headquarters, and an exclusive sponsorship of CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala, showcasing its financial power. Besides the directly-operated stores, some investors are also applying to open franchise stores, although the numbers are not large yet.

Before officially appearing on the Spring Festival Gala, New Era’s reputation is not prominent enough in the national market, and potential investors in provinces outside the Zhejiang-Jiangsu-Shanghai region are still observing, planning to see how the directly-operated stores perform before making a decision. However, Su Zelin predicts that franchise stores will also see a big boom after the New Year.

Everything is ready; the east wind is all that’s needed, just waiting for the Spring Festival Gala to arrive.

The Spring Festival hasn’t come yet, but the new year on the Gregorian calendar has arrived; it’s New Year’s Day.

However, compared to many companies having holidays on New Year’s Day, New Era isn’t that luxurious.

It’s the busiest time for the company right now. Apart from Su Zelin, Yang Fen, Kang Baohong, and all the departments’ employees are also actively preparing.

This will be one of New Era’s most important battles: succeed or die trying.

If we can’t break through the first time, it won’t be so easy to try a second time.

Many well-known companies within the province face the frustration of failing to expand into the national market and then never recover, forever shrinking back into the province.

The operations department, advertising department, marketing department, finance department, tech department, network department, and even the HR department are very busy because market expansion requires absorbing a lot of talents.

As time passes day by day, New Era’s directly-operated stores are opening more and more in various provinces and cities. Su Zelin is keeping a close eye on the progress every day, and it’s generally quite smooth, with almost no major trouble.

So during the New Year’s Day holiday, the top management issued an announcement; as it’s a special time, they hope everyone can work overtime and double down, with salaries increased to three times the usual rate.

Of course, there’s no mandatory requirement for every employee to work overtime.

However, very few employees take the holiday off.

This company is mostly staffed by young people, full of energy.

To win this battle, everyone is highly motivated, affected by the company’s overall atmosphere; seeing everyone else working overtime makes it embarrassing to take a day off at this point.

Moreover, anyone who’s not too simple knows the meaning behind that announcement.

It’s said to be voluntary, but if you take the holiday off, upper management will definitely notice.

They might not make things difficult for you, but your hopes of advancing later on will be slim.

If you don’t help out in times of crisis, how can you expect opportunities in the future?

If you give up the New Year’s Day holiday and give it your all, you might gain your superior’s favor in the future.

Dingsheng Mansion, New Era’s headquarters.

Night falls, yet the office remains brightly lit. Su Zelin, absorbed in reading document after document, only comes to his senses when his phone rings.

It’s a call from Qin Shiqing.

His girlfriend went on a business trip yesterday.

As the company’s market analyst, Qin Shiqing is not just sitting in the headquarters doing paper analysis all day; she has to go to other provinces for field research from time to time.

Especially now, her analysis reports are very important for Su Zelin’s decisions, so Qin Shiqing is working hard.

Pressing the answer button, the sweet, pleasant voice of his childhood sweetheart comes through the receiver.

“Hey, Xiaolinzi, have you eaten yet?”

“Nope, still at the company.”

Su Zelin leans back in the wide, leather office chair, feeling comfortable.

“Why haven’t you eaten at this hour? Busy or not, you need to eat on time; it’s bad for your stomach otherwise.”

Qin Shiqing sounds a bit distressed.

Su Zelin laughs, “It’s okay. If my stomach gets bad, I’ll just become a kept man. Wife, how about you support me, hehe.”

“Dream on, I can’t afford to support you!”

“Then I’ll find a rich older woman.”

“Go ahead, if you have what it takes!”

“…”

Though Qin Shiqing is on a business trip these days, the couple still keeps in touch by phone every day, usually just chatting and joking with no serious talk.

After chatting for a while, Qin Shiqing hangs up first.

Since Su Zelin is still working overtime, she doesn’t want to disturb her boyfriend for too long.

Attention back to the files, he looks over them for a while longer until it’s almost eight o’clock in the evening, then stands up to leave the office.

The operations department still has many employees who haven’t left, all busy with their tasks.

The lazy ones are quite satisfied with the department’s atmosphere.

An outstanding team has to have this kind of cohesion and passion at crucial moments.

In addition, a leader can also influence the subordinates.

If the operations director were someone lazy and only half-heartedly working, you couldn’t really expect much initiative from the department’s employees.

The lazy ones have been staying late at the company every day after work during this period, and seeing them take the lead, the other employees naturally feel a sense of urgency as well.

Passing by Yan Qiuwen’s office, he finds the female consultant still there.

But Su Zelin is not surprised.

Yan Qiuwen is one of the most exceptional employees in the company, and there’s no restriction on her for overtime. Such talent is what every company dreams of, and if she’s willing to work at a developing company like this, it’s already great; Su Zelin doesn’t dare to demand too much.

However, even during the New Year’s holiday, the female consultant comes to work every day and occasionally stays late after work.

Su Zelin steps in and asks, “Qiuwen, still here?”

“Yeah, there’s nothing much to do at home, and I’ve got something here that isn’t done yet, so I’m staying a bit longer.”

Yan Qiuwen’s eyes remain on the computer screen, her pale, slender fingers flying across the keyboard with amazing speed, almost creating afterimages comparable to Kato Forest twirling his pen all day.

Suddenly, Su Zelin notices her pretty face is quite flushed, particularly red, and can’t help but pause: “Qiuwen, are you okay?”

“What’s wrong?”

Yan Qiuwen frowns.

“Your face, it’s really red.”

Su Zelin can’t help but put his hand on her smooth, jade-like forehead.

“What are you doing?”

Yan Qiuwen’s face turns even redder.

“Qiuwen, you’re having a fever!”

The burning sensation makes Su Zelin quickly conclude.

“It’s nothing, I’ll just take some antipyretics later.”

Yan Qiuwen is dismissive.

“You idiot, why are you even working overtime with a fever like that, and it seems like you’re not having a light one? You need to go to the hospital immediately, come on, I’ll take you!”

No matter how Yan Qiuwen reacts, Su Zelin insists on pulling her out of the office.

Instinctively, Yan Qiuwen struggles a bit but fails to free herself and just follows along with him.

Taking her to the underground parking lot, he drives straight to the municipal hospital, the same tertiary hospital where he was hospitalized after a car accident last time.

At the emergency department, her temperature is measured at 41 degrees Celsius, requiring an immediate IV drip.

Su Zelin smiles wryly, “Qiuwen, with such a high fever, didn’t you feel anything at all?”

Yan Qiuwen pouts, “Just suddenly felt my face was hot, thought it was a mild fever, so I didn’t bother.”

“This is 41 degrees! Do you know what the consequences of such a high fever are?”

The boy looks grave.

“I know, this level of fever can lead to increased intracranial pressure and cause brain damage, and in severe cases, the patient might even go into a coma or experience febrile convulsions.”

Su Zelin: “…”

Are you Baidu Encyclopedia? How do you know everything?

The boy shakes his head, “Knowing that high fever can cause brain damage, and you’re still carefree about it.”

“Well, damage is damage. Sometimes being too smart isn’t a good thing for a woman. Being a bit dumb is actually nice too.”

Yan Qiuwen suddenly says something leaving Su Zelin a bit confused.

He knows the female consultant takes pride in her intelligence.

Could it be that Qiuwen is really feverish enough to be muddled?