Second Assistant

The next call he received was from Fang Bin.

"Boss Si, the interview for the recruitment session you had asked me to be organized will be occurring in two days. Will you be coming for this?" Fang Bin's slightly deep voice could be heard.

Si Chen thought for a while, before he responded, "No, I won't. You can just help me to sift out any suitable and potential candidates, and I will double check with you. If there is truly no one good enough, this is only fine with me, and there isn't a need to push yourself too hard."

"I understand." Fang Bin directly answered.

"Are you done with the researching on the branch store locations yet?" Si Chen glanced at his computer screen while asking.

"No, not yet. I have found a few places though, but I still need a bit more time to consolidate and analyse the information further." Fang Bin dryly coughed.

"Okay, I got it. Have a nice day." Si Chen bid him farewell, then placed his phone back down.

Lightly tapping his index finger onto his desk, he thought about his other investments.

The Crystalline Bubble Tea shop should be on its rise right now, since he had already instructed for the new drinks to be released.

And although the Orchid Garden Café had a smaller market as compared to the other drink shops, it still held a noticeable portion, just that he would not be placing as much attention on it as the other investments.

He typed a few letters on the keyboard, and went straight to the OnShop website. Taking a casual glance at it, his eyebrows rose up in satisfaction.

It had indeed changed for the better.

A week creeped past.

An in this one week, there were quite a bit of changes that had occurred.

The first change, was the Crystalline Bubble Tea shop. It had long released its signature drinks, but since the shop had a bad reputation in the past, there weren't many that hopped onto this train.

But in the end, it still took some time before it went popular amongst the crowd, especially because of the chewy pearls and the sweet taste that catered to the taste buds.

Some people were drawn to the place after they knew that the drinks they were selling was of a similar type as the Great Milk Tea which Hui Yuan Drink Store was selling.

Out of curiosity, they went to try out and see if the taste would be the same, and to their utter astonishment, they found out that the taste was great, and even slightly better than the Great Milk Tea.

After this, it did not take long for long queues and lines to appear outside the sole Crystalline Bubble Tea shop.

Just like the Hui Yuan Drink Store, they were a few companies that showed their interest towards their shop, and requested for an investment in exchange of funds and a larger platform for expansion.

Naturally, Si Chen had ordered for Wen Xing to reject every single one of them.

One thing he felt was amusing, was the fact that the Northwest Drinks Company was also part of the parties that had offered them a deal.

Although the popularity of the Crystalline Bubble Tea shop could still not match up to the Hui Yuan Drink Store, it was still quickly catching up to it.

On the other hand, Yang Deng had negotiated rents for the 3 locations that Si Chen had pointed out, for a grand total of $5000 monthly.

The places were of a higher populated region than where their other shops were located in. Since the location was better, its rent was greater.

Yang Deng had confirmed with the construction company that it would take around a week before the moving in process will be completed.

A drink store did not need much to be set up, so the time taken will be lesser, as compared to if a restaurant was being set up.

As for the side of the Seafood Restaurant, Fang Bin was currently in the midst of discussion with 2 renters.

He had already completed a deal with two other renters, which had ended up in a total rent of $4000.

And the interview that had taken place had found 2 suitable candidates.

One was a woman at 25, while the other was a man at 24.

They both graduated from prominent Universities, and have a tad bit of experience in their belts.

After he had gone through another interview process with the both of them, he settled for the young man rather than the woman, since he felt that the young man was a more reliable person.

That young man went by the name of Li Wang, and he was now sitting beside Si Chen within the Orchid Garden café, while in talks with each other.

"Look at the contract, and tell me if you have a problem with anything within it. If you do, I will try my best to rectify it, but if what you are asking is to ridiculous, then I am sorry to say, but I will definitely not accept it." Si Chen unblinkingly looked at Li Wang, who was dressed in a presentable business suit.

In contrast, however, Si Chen was wearing a classic plain white t-shirt. There was a huge difference between both of them, and from a natural standpoint, it should be Li Wang who had the advantage over Si Chen.

But from the public standpoint, it was Si Chen who was suppressing Li Wang, be it in terms of his calmness and tranquillity, or his presence.

"Okay." Li Wang swiftly read the contract. He didn't know why, but whenever he met with Si Chen's gaze, he felt like he was being stifled. It was only after repressing this sensation within him, could he focus his attention on what he was reading.

The confidentiality part of the contract raised no eyebrows from him, since he knew that it was common practice to not reveal the personal details of his employer.

But as his eyes went over the line that specified his salary, his eyes involuntarily widened in shock. He went through that line around 3 times, trying to check if it was true, and found that the numbers written in black and white were still the same as he had last saw it.

He did not raise his head to ask Si Chen if this was true, because this was a legal contract that had to be abided by, and he was also afraid that if he had questioned this, Si Chen would change his mind.

Taking a pen, he signed the relevant pages, and after he was done, Si Chen pursed his lips and did the same as well.

"Why do you want to earn money?" After the contract was signed, Si Chen abruptly asked a question out of nowhere.

"I earn money to provide for my parents." Li Wang unhesitatingly replied, then, not knowing where he got the confidence from, he lightly chuckled to himself.

"I'm sure that many people will also say the same thing as me. I don't know about them, but my reason stems from the bottom of my heart. I was that typical smart, yet poor person in the class. There were many lessons that I wanted to attend because of my curiosity, and my parents also paid for me."

"Everything I was given, was paid for me by my parents, and I didn't know what this concept meant, until that one day where I understood how much they had done for me."

"This suit that I am wearing right now, "Li Wang pointed to his business suit, "Was provided by my parents. I would never have spent so much money on myself, because I cherish money. But my parents went against my wishes and bought me this, because they said that I had to make a good impression on my employer, and they didn't want me to lose face."

"That, is my reason." Li Wang lifted his eyes, and Si Chen found that they shined with a resolute and passionate light, that was filled with unyielding determination.

"That, is why I hired you." Si Chen slowly parted his lips with a look of appreciation on his face.

Li Wang dryly coughed as he reflected on his display and abruptly found it quite embarrassing. Looking up at Si Chen's dark eyes, he was surprised to find that other than that trace of sincere appreciation within, there was a hint of…envy?

He wanted to clearly examine to see if he had saw correctly, when Si Chen next words threw him off guard.

"Look around this café. Do you know what this place is?" Si Chen carelessly pointed to the surroundings while asking in a languid manner.

Li Wang looked around his four corners, and his voice contained a bit of hesitation as he replied, "The Orchid Garden Café? A popular café?"

"No." Si Chen clasped his hands on the table, and leaned forward, "This is my café."

"Well, at least, I own a great part of it." He added.

"This…this…" Li Wang stammered in astonishment. When he had went for the interview at the Seafood Restaurant, he was already dumbfounded to find out that the true owner of that place was the youth in front of him.

And now, that youth was revealing to him that he owned another business other than the already famous Seafood Restaurant.

He was normally a rather composed person, but Si Chen had simply toppled his world views by the surprises that he had given him.

Not only that, he also felt a sense of reproach at himself, for not even achieving much in his life, when a youth a few years younger than him already owned two businesses.

"Your first task, is to find a few rental locations to branch out this shop into." Si Chen suddenly stood up while saying.

Patting down his white t-shirt, he unhurriedly continued to speak, "I will give you the money to carry out this task. And I genuinely hope, that you will be able to achieve this task within 2 weeks at maximum."

Lifting up his lips into a light smile, he commented, "If not, I have to say that your desires and dreams do not match up to your actual capabilities."

After he left down this sentence, Si Chen walked out of the café in a slow and elegant manner, while not forgetting to bid farewell to the waiter who had passionately waved at him.