It felt like in the blink of an eye, Sufeng Express had gone from complete obscurity to nationwide ubiquity, crushing a slew of similar courier companies. Its efficiency was so high that same-city deliveries could arrive the very same day.
At the same time, online shopping was no longer a novelty. People had even started pooling orders to buy imported cherries and durians, with prices and quality that often surpassed those at the local market.
For those unfamiliar with the industry, it was just an interesting phenomenon, but those who understood it jumped on the bandwagon, investing in stocks and even considering starting similar businesses to ride the wave.
“Regular deliveries take three to four days, but Sufeng must be using some kind of sorcery or something. How the hell do they manage two-day shipping? Don’t they need time to sort and pack the goods?”
“Have you guys noticed how aggressive their pricing strategy is? Their headquarters must have poured a ton of money into capturing the Yuhan District market.”
“Shh, I’ve got inside info. They hired a strategist at a high price. Some genius with the last name Jiang…”
Jiang Wang took full responsibility for that.
He wasn’t particularly well-versed in logistics, but he was an expert in learning, adapting, and innovating. After poring over Sufeng’s internal data for weeks, the first problem he pinpointed was that the performance-based compensation system was still not optimized.
Once employee contracts were adjusted and QR codes were implemented, personnel and workflow efficiency skyrocketed, and naturally, so did company performance.
Running a business was sometimes like working with an endless mass of dough. Add water when it’s dry, add flour when it’s too wet. Wherever things felt off, adjustments had to be made. Although Jiang Wang’s contract didn’t require him to be present in the office, his absentee rate for meetings was close to zero. He quickly went from an outsider to a professional consultant, leveraging his understanding of market trends to propose ideas that won widespread approval.
By May 1st, the final awards for the National English Competition were announced, and all three of Ji Linqiu’s students had won prizes.
Only one could secure an early admission contract with a prestigious university, but between the past math competition and this English competition, two shining gold trophies now sat in the display case, making other parents envious.
Fu Er, who passed by the display case daily on her way to work, often stopped for an extra look.
One day, she had a sudden realization and ran to Jiang Wang.
“Boss! Can I put the trophies my students won under my guidance in there too?”
Jiang Wang thought about it. There was no reason not to. Wouldn’t it just showcase the caliber of teachers in their company? The display case was a little empty with just two trophies anyway.
“Sure, bring them in tomorrow.”
The next day, Fu Er rolled in with an entire suitcase full of competition trophies.
Sixty percent were her personal awards from over the years, and the other forty percent were from students she had coached, be it middle schoolers, high schoolers, even elementary school kids who competed in physics.
Jiang Wang squatted inside the display case, watching her stack the trophies row by row like a game of Tetris. He reached out to stop her.
“That’s… too many.”
Fu Er was surprisingly accommodating.
“How many do you want me to put up?”
“Four. At most four.” Jiang Wang said solemnly.
“Too many, and parents might think we’re running a pyramid scheme.”
The boss had foresight. Fu Er removed several crystal trophies and packed them back into the suitcase, then lifted a long, extravagant gold trophy.
Jiang Wang helped place it on a higher shelf, eyeing it with curiosity.
“The Mavis Cup Physics Competition. Mavis… Is that a scientist?”
Fu Er shook her head.
“Mavis was my Chihuahua. Had her for twelve years.”
Jiang Wang turned to look at her. She remained perfectly composed.
“The organizers let people vote on the competition name, and I took my students to cast a ballot.”
Alright. Respect.
With company matters settled, Jiang Wang took a trip to Beijing.
Fang Quanyou was already waiting at a new development in Zhongguan District, holding a thick ring of keys.
Beijing changed at lightning speed. Even after just six months, it looked completely different.
“Factories within the Fourth and Fifth Ring Roads have been ordered to relocate in batches to farther areas. If you’re looking to invest… there are still some affordable properties that could appreciate in value.”
Jiang Wang took out a permanent marker and gestured for Fang Quanyou to unfold the city map he always carried.
The top-ranked elementary and secondary schools had already been circled in red. They were gradually acquiring new properties this year, and the housing prices had already risen by 2,000 to 3,000 yuan per square meter within just a year. It was astonishing to see.
Jiang Wang marked another area in the core business district of Chaoyang, then drew circles around Haidian and Xicheng. Without hesitation, he added, “In the future, Xuanwu and Xicheng will merge. This area, and this one, these places need to be bought.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he realized he might have said too much. Sure enough, Fang Quanyou looked completely dumbfounded.
“Xuanwu District… is going to disappear? No way. It’s a whole big district, how could they merge it with Xicheng?”
Jiang Wang remained enigmatic. “It’s all inside information. But it’s not set in stone yet, so don’t spread it around, understand?”
“Yes! Of course!”
Of course, one can never buy all the houses available.
And blindly buying properties without strategic purpose could artificially inflate housing prices, which wasn’t beneficial to the overall economic environment.
Jiang Wang and Fang Quanyou reviewed all their real estate assets in Beijing, gradually forming a clear plan.
“I’m thinking about setting up a subletting company.”
A website was necessary. An app was necessary. Their own company’s programmers could be hired in greater numbers.
Fang Quanyou nodded. “Then your commission rate will be lower than standard real estate agencies, right?”
Jiang Wang shook his head slightly.
“No commission.”
No commission?!
How could an intermediary business function without charging a commission?
Jiang Wang, sensing his unspoken skepticism, replied casually, “We’ll just build the platform and rent out our own properties to reliable tenants. We won’t leave them vacant. But for other people’s rental transactions, we won’t take a cut. At the same time, we’ll provide property management and viewing services.”
“Then… isn’t this basically charity…?”
Jiang Wang chuckled.
“We’re here to do big data business.”
He was sharp-minded and decisive in action. The very day he returned to Yuhan, he began recruiting and assembling his team.
Ji Linqiu tacitly agreed to oversee Buwang Education for a while, seamlessly taking over most of the unfinished business deals.
As soon as Jiang Wang made a move, numerous venture capital firms caught wind of it and swarmed in, inquiring whether he needed angel investments, Series A, Series B, or even a “Ferris Wheel” round of funding — all of which he flatly refused.
He had already figured out his next move.
Even though the era of nationwide real estate speculation had yet to arrive, real estate agencies were already as numerous as the stars, making it impossible to distinguish a clear winner.
Most of these companies profited from the information gap and commission fees in housing rentals and sales.
But what if he didn’t take commissions and only capitalized on the information gap?
This was still the 3G era, but once 4G and 5G arrived, the value of information would skyrocket to astronomical levels.
And this very information was one of the biggest secrets he had brought back from twenty years in the future.
With his mind made up, he decisively resigned from his consultant position at Sufeng Group and even stopped overseeing Buwang Education, dedicating himself entirely to building a brand-new gold mine from scratch.
The Sufeng supervisor in Yuhan nearly lost her mind when she received his resignation letter.
“Jiang Wang, you can’t just quit again this time! Last time, you were just a small courier shop owner, so quitting wasn’t a big deal.”
“But now, everyone has watched you grow from the ground up—you’ve been burning the midnight oil studying materials and memorizing data.”
“And now you suddenly want to leave?! Did some big company offer you an outrageous salary to poach you?!”
“Nah,” Jiang Wang handed her a cigarette and smiled. “I just want to start another business.”
“…???”
This Boss Jiang, who already owns three companies, runs nearly ten tutoring centers, and operates eight bookstores, are saying that… he still want to start another business?
“Wait… don’t tell me you’re getting into the courier business too?”
“No way, we’re old friends, I wouldn’t be that shameless.” Jiang Wang grinned. “I’m going back to my roots. I’m going into real estate.”
Qiu Mo took a deep drag of her cigarette. “Fine. If I ever switch jobs, I’ll come work for you.”
“Deal.”
Once his resignation was submitted, Jiang Wang walked out of Sufeng Group, feeling like he had jumped from a reef into the open sea.
He strolled along the bustling streets, yet it felt like he was moving through a swirling ocean current teeming with opportunity. Everywhere his eyes landed, he saw infinite business potential.
Everything was just beginning.
He had already let go of past regrets, secured his current foundation, and was now stepping into an entirely new and unknown journey.
—This grand, ambitious atmosphere didn’t even last five minutes.
Mainly because Du Wenjuan called.
Jiang Wang, who had been trying to channel the energy of a protagonist in an entrepreneurial drama, snapped back to reality. “Hello? Mo— Sister, what’s up?”
“Wangwang, are you working? Sorry to bother you,” Du Wenjuan said apologetically. “It’s like this, Children’s Day is coming up, and I’d like to take a day off to spend time with Xingwang.”
“That’s great,” Jiang Wang exhaled, relieved that it wasn’t bad news. “Want me to book you a ticket?”
“No need, I can handle it myself,” Du Wenjuan hesitated. “It’s just… I still feel bad for Xingwang, so I was thinking… should I ask Peng Jiahui to come along too? Just for one day.”
“Even though he and I… have a lot of issues, that’s between us. I don’t want it to affect our child.”
“I think Xingxing would also want to spend the day with both of us, right?” She sounded uncertain, afraid of making the wrong decision and not knowing how to make it up to her son. “I talked to Peng Jiahui twice, and he kept apologizing, saying he’d take time off whenever I wanted. But I can’t figure out how Xingxing feels about it.”
Jiang Wang was silent for a few seconds, then chuckled softly.
“Xingxing knows how much you both love him. He’ll definitely be happy. Just go for it.”
He remembered a hazy memory from his own childhood. When he was two or three, his parents took him out for Children’s Day.
The plush mascots in the park, the acrobatic performances… he couldn’t recall the details anymore.
But he remembered that both his parents had held his hands. They had both been there.
And that was enough.
Encouraged, Du Wenjuan nodded quickly.
“That’s great. I was just afraid he’d feel awkward or uncomfortable.”
Before hanging up, she teased, “You’ve been so busy lately, why don’t you spend Children’s Day with Teacher Ji?”
“Of course,” Jiang Wang laughed. “I should definitely take him out on a date.”
But when the day actually came, the two of them both took the day off… and ended up sleeping the entire day.
By the time they woke up, it was already evening.
Ji Linqiu hugged his pillow and rubbed his eyes. “We… had plans, didn’t we?”
Jiang Wang rolled over in his blanket. “Forget it. Let’s order takeout, eat something quick, and go back to sleep.”
Take your time, bubus, take your time~
Thank You for the new chapter (*´･ω･)♡♡♡