Chapter 587 – Class Monitor’s Wife
Lu Xia was surprised when she heard it. She hadn’t expected the class monitor to be quite romantic. Upon finding out that they were going in the same direction to pick up his wife from work, she asked for the address.
“Well, I’m heading that way too, so let’s go together.”
“Sure! I also wanted to ask you about the recent academic performance of the students in your class.”
So the two of them rode their bicycles towards the company.
As they proceeded, they realized that not only were they heading in the same direction as the class monitor’s wife, but their locations were also quite close. However, when both of them stopped at the company’s entrance, she was extremely surprised.
The class monitor hadn’t noticed yet and casually said, “You’re coming here too, quite a coincidence!”
“Yeah, it’s quite a coincidence,” Lu Xia smiled and said, “I wonder what the class monitor’s wife’s name is?”
The class monitor smiled and said, “My wife’s name is Zhu Mei; she’s the accountant for this company.”
Lu Xia understood; it was indeed her. When she thought back to Zhu Mei’s experiences she had shared earlier, it wasn’t hard to guess.
The class monitor didn’t know what Lu Xia was thinking and was about to ask if she knew anyone in the company.
But before he could say anything, Zhu Mei walked out of the company.
Seeing the class monitor, she smiled and walked over, then turned to see Lu Xia beside him and greeted her.
“General Manager Lu is here? No wonder Deputy General Manager Ye asked us to leave after work.”
Lu Xia nodded, “I came over for a meeting with her.”
The class monitor, astonished, asked, “You know each other?”
“Yeah!” Lu Xia smiled and didn’t hide it, “I didn’t expect Accountant Zhu to be the class monitor’s wife. What a coincidence!”
After saying that, she saw that Ye Lin was already waving at her from inside the company, so she nodded at them and said, “I’ll go in first, and we can chat later.”
Saying this, she went into the company, leaving the two people standing in place, stunned.
After she went in, it was Zhu Mei who reacted first, looking at the class monitor and asking, “Do you know our General Manager Lu?”
“Who is General Manager Lu? Lu Xia? She’s my classmate. She’s currently working at Peking University and is teaching English to the students I oversee.”
“Oh my, what a coincidence!” Zhu Mei was astonished to hear this.
The class monitor asked surprisingly, “Did you call her General Manager Lu because she owns this company?”
Zhu Mei nodded, “Yes, she interviewed me back then. But the company isn’t solely hers; she and Deputy General Manager Ye and Director Zhong are partners in the business.”
Director Zhong was the head of the Product Development Department in the company.
The class monitor sighed, “Indeed, it’s Lu Xia. She had impressive abilities back when we were in school. She almost went to work for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before. I don’t know why she didn’t go, but after staying at the university, she has been an excellent teacher. I didn’t expect her to be so successful in business as well.”
“Yes, hearing you say this, I also think she’s very capable. She holds so many positions. But after this, I’ll work harder in my job; I can’t embarrass you.”
The class monitor smiled and said, “Don’t worry, you’re competent. Otherwise, Lu Xia wouldn’t have hired you. Just continue as you have been.”
Both of them were honest individuals and wouldn’t take advantage of this relationship for anything. They just hoped to do their respective jobs well.
Lu Xia was unaware of the conversation between the couple after he left.
After going inside, she was pulled into a meeting by Ye Lin.
This time, the meeting was attended by the three of them.
Currently, the company had mostly stabilized after the initial development phase, and they were about to discuss the upcoming work.
“At present, all the procedures that the company needs to go through, including operations and the business involved, as well as the qualifications for selling cosmetics that require testing, have all been implemented. We can now focus on expanding production,” Ye Lin said, taking the lead.
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Chapter 588 – Start of Cosmetic Sales
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Master Zhong continued, “We’ve already rented a factory building, just waiting for the personnel to be in place to start working. I will supervise to ensure there’s no compromise on quality.”
Lu Xia nodded, “Let’s start recruiting tomorrow. The sooner we get things in order, the sooner we can move on to the next steps.”
Both nodded, indicating their understanding.
Later, Lu Xia asked, “How are the preparations for franchising and opening branches going?”
Upon hearing this, Ye Lin responded, “Branches can be opened anytime. However, we already have our stores in several major areas of Beijing. Opening more might lead to internal competition for business. I’m more inclined to focus on developing franchise opportunities, preferably in other cities. However, promoting ‘Xia Lin’ in other cities might be a bit challenging.”
Lu Xia nodded, “That’s for sure. But when a company wants to grow, it’s bound to face these issues. These are things we need to figure out.”
Ye Lin nodded in agreement and continued, “I mentioned this in the company earlier. To my surprise, Liu Song showed genuine interest in this and approached me, expressing his desire to develop the franchise business.”
Lu Xia was a bit surprised to hear that, “He wants to be a business manager?”
“Yes, he sees this job as quite challenging and wants to give it a try.”
Lu Xia nodded in understanding. It was indeed something Liu Song would say. Truly young and ambitious!
“In that case, let him do it. Tell him to focus on developing other cities. We can offer him a corresponding commission for every successful franchise, but the commission for Beijing will be minimal. So, the priority is in other provinces.”
Ye Lin asked, “Doesn’t this mean he’ll need to travel?”
“Yes!” Lu Xia nodded, “We can reimburse him for some travel expenses but set a limit. Let’s see how he handles it.”
“Alright, I understand!”
Franchising was still not in sight, so their main focus in the upcoming discussions was the operation of the cosmetics factory.
This was becoming urgent because if franchising succeeded, they would need to supply products.
Ye Lin had rented what she called a factory, but it was actually a large compound in the suburbs. It used to be a grain factory and had a reasonably large area. She had arranged for separate rooms inside where each step of the process could be carried out.
Of course, they were currently operating manually, as there were no machines yet. They anticipated the need to purchase machines as the factory expanded later.
Lu Xia went to inspect and was very satisfied with Ye Lin’s arrangements. Then they began recruiting people.
There were many unemployed individuals at the moment, so the hiring process was swift. Within a few days, the factory was up and running.
When they had accumulated a certain quantity of products, they started advertising in the store, indicating that the products were available for sale.
Needless to say, many loyal customers purchased immediately.
Although the cosmetics and skincare products in the beauty salon were considerably more expensive than those in the department stores, the results here were superior, justifying the price. So, everyone was quite pleased.
Some individuals even bought several sets for themselves and also gave them as gifts to their relatives and friends. They all praised the products, causing the reputation of the beauty salon’s products to spread quickly in Beijing.
Of course, these were all stories for later.
After handling the company’s arrangements, Lu Xia returned to school to continue teaching.
After a semester of learning, the students’ English proficiency gradually improved.
Lu Xia was quite satisfied. To motivate them, she told them that once their abilities improved, she could help them contact magazines for translation work. This spurred the enthusiasm for learning in all three classes!
Lu Xia initially thought that mentioning this would enhance everyone’s interest in learning. However, before long, someone came to see her…
