“Not be trapped by immediate interests?”
To others, this simple sentence might just be a few words, but in the eyes of profit-focused merchants, it held the weight of a string of sub-new stocks. To them, if they weren’t trapped by interests, there was no point in being a merchant. Unfortunately, it seemed no one could firmly grasp the immediate benefits, often ending up handing them over to others. This was the embarrassing side of being a merchant.
If they knew this would be spread around—that they couldn’t even grasp such immense wealth—they wouldn’t have the face to talk about it. It wasn’t even about being trapped; it was simply being unable to seize a heaven-sent opportunity.
Because of her past experiences, Bai Ningbing wanted to persuade him to stay calm. She wanted him to relax properly before trying to solve everything. After all, if he didn’t relax, he would likely make wrong decisions in a moment of haste—decisions that were often irreversible.
“I know what you want to say, but if I don’t follow through with this, I’ll regret it for a long time,” Lin Guanqi said. “I’d rather do it than live with regret. To keep myself from feeling that way, I’ll accept whatever happens, even if there’s an accident. Perhaps it’s destiny, so I won’t regret it.”
Lin Guanqi’s words deeply touched Bai Ningbing. They reminded her of her parents when they were young; they had spoken with the same unwavering conviction back then. That was how her current family came to be.
However, what affected her most was the memory of her younger self. She had been just as competitive, striving to be the best in everything.
But eventually, because she took on too many responsibilities, she couldn’t handle every task properly. This led to various errors in judgment, and her professional knowledge couldn’t keep up. She slowly began to enter a decline. It wasn’t until a legendary turn of events occurred—one that seemed to come out of nowhere—that the current Baishi Group was finally established.
“I know you understand the logic, but I don’t want you doing these things. All this public pressure and project launch dates are insignificant,” Bai Ningbing said. “If your employees can’t solve these issues, then what was the point of hiring them? Are you paying them to be freeloaders? If that’s the case, you don’t even need employees, do you?”
Upon hearing this, Lin Guanqi had an epiphany. It seemed that ever since he founded the group, every matter, large and small, had been weighing on his shoulders. Initially, he had intended to hire employees to share his burden, but he had ended up keeping all the pressure on himself. It had become a habit; he instinctively felt every important matter was his responsibility. He had completely forgotten that he had a staff. If these employees couldn’t even solve basic problems and kept pushing everything back to him, why keep them?
Lin Guanqi immediately called them back.
“It’s your boss’s break time right now. You aren’t supposed to disturb me, do you understand?” he barked. “Don’t we have a Board of Directors for all these matters? Don’t we have a General Manager? Don’t I have an assistant? Why must you come to me for everything? Did I hire you to be freeloaders? These aren’t even major decisions that only I can make. Some of these are incredibly trivial! Fixing toilets, buying medicine, or buying water… you have to ask me for all of it? If that’s how it is, what use do I have for you?”
Saying those words made him feel incredibly refreshed. After all, if he didn’t speak up seriously, things would only get more troublesome, and he would never have the chance to say his piece. After he finished, the other party became much quieter. They didn’t dare trouble him with the remaining issues. In truth, if they had simply discussed things with the shareholders, the managers, or the directors, they could have found solutions. They were simply afraid of taking risks.
“Exactly, that’s how you should talk to them,” Bai Ningbing supported him. “If you don’t, they’ll bring you even more trouble at any time. You’re the owner of the company. Unless it’s a major decision, you don’t need to be involved. I saw the problem from the beginning, but I thought it was just your business model, so I didn’t want to interfere. But now, I can’t stand it anymore. You’re out on vacation, yet the work never stops. That’s definitely not right!”
The longer Bai Ningbing spent with him, the more she talked. She was no longer as quiet as she had been before.
“But what else can I do?” Lin Guanqi mused. “If I put too much pressure on them, they might mess up. If that happens, all our efforts will be wasted. I want them to do a good job, but I also need to check for flaws or signs of trouble. If the quality is poor, what’s the point of them doing it quickly? It’s useless. However, I think there is a solution: I need to find a second me.”
‘A second me?’ Bai Ningbing didn’t quite understand. Did her dear Lin Guanqi have a twin?
But clearly, she had misunderstood. By ‘second me,’ he meant someone with identical capabilities who could manage the company. Of course, this person’s rank wouldn’t be higher than his own. They would be one level lower, at the shareholder level. However, this person wouldn’t need to make an investment; the company would directly grant them shares. That way, they would loyally contribute to the company because their compensation would be tied to the company’s stock performance.
However, he had no plans for an IPO just yet.
Lin Guanqi wanted to wait until the livestreaming track was completely mature and popular before going public. That way, it would be the first new media company to be listed. He would face many limit-up days then. He might transform from a multimillionaire into a billionaire overnight.
Of course, listing also carried the highest risks. With a single misstep, the group’s stock could plummet. It was possible for the stock price to break below the offer price on the first day, leading to immediate delisting or bankruptcy. There were countless companies like that—ones that exploded and failed—but they were usually problematic to begin with, so he didn’t need to worry too much.