2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 372 Gu Qingqing's Private Space

"The weather in Ningbo will be mostly sunny for the next week. Thank you for watching. That concludes today's weather forecast."

As if it were a gift from God, after nearly half a month of continuous rain and unbearable dampness, Ningbo finally cleared up just before the Lunar New Year, making many people returning home very happy.

This also includes Zhao Xianbo and Qin Siyu, who haven't been online for a long time.

In the office of Orange Technology's CEO, Gu Qingqing stared at Zhao Xianbo and Qin Siyu, feeling momentarily dazed.

"Are you two going back to Lishui together for the Spring Festival? Are you planning to get married right after graduation?"

Zhao Xianbo glanced at Qin Siyu with a smile in his eyes: "Haha, we don't have any plans to get married for now, but we've officially confirmed our relationship."

Qin Siyu smiled but remained silent.

"That's great. I wish you a speedy marriage. Speaking of which, your surnames are quite compatible. That's fate."

Tan Jincheng, who initially planned to sell his products at high prices through several Taobao stores after 09, no longer needs to do so now.

At the same time, Gu Qingqing no longer had the energy to operate a Taobao store. If the CEO of a new social networking site were to be exposed as also operating a QQ lingerie store, wouldn't she be laughed out of the room?
The three Taobao stores have been separated from Tan Lihua's name and transferred to the e-commerce department established by Jinpeng Industrial, along with the two stores owned by Zhang Xupeng.

Women's clothing stores continue to sell what they need to sell, and QQ lingerie stores haven't closed either; they'll continue to sell what they need to sell—it's about making money, after all, and it's not shameful.

As for the men's clothing store, it has been changed to the GXG online store, but it does not sell clothing from the GXG brand. Instead, it is called gxg1978, which is also known as "Little G".

GXG's brand positioning is casual and mature, targeting men aged 20 to 35, while gxg1978 is more geared towards the post-90s generation, with a more flamboyant personality.

The oldest of the post-90s generation are only 17 years old this year and don't have much spending power, but that's okay. The flamboyant Little G can do business with non-mainstream customers.

With the Taobao store now operating in a formalized manner, part-time models like Zhao Xianbo and Qin Siyu are no longer suitable, and they have lost this job opportunity.

But it's okay. After more than a year of filming, the two of them have saved some money, so they don't have to worry about living expenses anymore.

Although Tan Jincheng used many underhanded tricks in business and was somewhat wicked, it must be said that he treated his employees very well.

The part-time filming fees earned by Zhao Xianbo and Qin Siyu were actually equivalent to those of a well-paid full-time employee, so they naturally did not face any financial difficulties.

Qin Siyu is from Lishui. If you were to choose a poor city in Zhejiang Province, the mountainous Lishui would definitely be one of them.

For a period in the last century, women from Lishui did not have a good reputation, mainly due to poverty.

However, Zhao Xianbo, who is from northern Jiangsu, does not come from a wealthy family. The two understand each other and know that life is not easy. During the time they spent filming together in Beicang, they gradually developed feelings for each other.

They eventually became boyfriend and girlfriend. Zhao Xianbo even planned to spend the Chinese New Year in Lishui this year. This time, they came to say goodbye to Gu Qingqing.

Although they had lost their filming jobs, the two of them did not lose contact with Gu Qingqing. Tan Jincheng and the others were too busy to reach her, but Gu Qingqing was their classmate and had worked with them before, so of course they had to keep her in touch.

Influenced by Gu Qingqing's career change to the internet industry, the two of them are now also learning computer programming. They come to Orange Technology for internships on weekends and during winter break to assist the employees and gain some work experience.

The clear, bright eyes of a freshman are no longer what a junior should have. These days, college graduates certainly don't have to worry about finding jobs, but all good jobs are highly competitive.

Having witnessed the excellent treatment of Orange Technology employees, the two felt even more strongly that they had to seize this rare opportunity.

As a child born into an ordinary family, not everyone has the opportunity to meet a billionaire, nor does everyone have the opportunity to witness the growth of the most beautiful CEO in the internet industry.

For them, getting a well-paid job at companies like Flash Group or Orange Technology after graduation is the best opportunity to quickly make money and change their destiny.

Especially after seeing dozens of cars parked in the parking lot, we were even more envious; if one of them were ours, we could drive home for the New Year.

Gu Qingqing took out two red envelopes from the drawer and handed them to the two people respectively.

"You are not formal employees now, so you can't get the same treatment as formal employees, but the company has still prepared a small token of appreciation."

After the company became formalized, many things needed to be done according to certain rules. This didn't help the company much; Qin and Zhao, who were just doing odd jobs, didn't receive a salary and only received some subsidies.

Unlike regular employees, they couldn't receive year-end bonuses during the Lunar New Year. However, even the law doesn't exclude human relationships, and Gu Qingqing, knowing their financial situation, prepared a red envelope for each of them.

Zhao Xianbo glanced at the red envelope and judged that it must contain at least four or five thousand yuan. For the two of them, that would be around ten thousand yuan. At Orange Technology, they wouldn't be worth that much money.

He couldn't help but feel grateful. As a poor student, the hardest thing about going to his girlfriend's house for the New Year was not having money to buy gifts. With this red envelope, he could be much more generous.

Money gives men courage; what Gu Qingqing handed over wasn't a red envelope, but courage.

Zhao Xianbo didn't stand on ceremony and smiled as he accepted the red envelope first: "Then thank you, President Gu."

Seeing this, Qin Siyu also thanked him and accepted the red envelope. Qin Siyu, who was usually carefree and unafraid of people, seemed to have become a different person after falling in love. She would let Zhao Xianbo speak for her whenever she had something to say.

"There are no outsiders here, why call me President Gu?" "Yes, we want to work at Orange Technology after graduation, so we can't break the company rules."

Their internship at Orange Technology made them realize that Gu Qingqing was no longer the classmate who used to take the bus with them to Beicang to do part-time work, but the CEO of a company valued at over 100 million yuan and with a net worth of tens of millions.

President Tan entrusted almost all of Orange Technology's affairs to her and rarely appeared at the company, which shows Gu Qingqing's authority in the company.

"No problem, you're welcome to work at Orange Technology after graduation. The company is even planning to hold a recruitment fair at the School of Engineering next graduation season."

Speaking of which, there is another person who also plans to join Orange Technology, namely Gu Qingqing's former roommate Zhao Wenjia, in addition to the agricultural assistance project in cooperation with Ningbo University, and the planned recruitment.

In the future, the imprint of Ningbo University on Orange Technology will become increasingly prominent, and it can truly be said to be Gu Qingqing's private domain.

Even if she no longer serves as the CEO of Orange Technology, with many alumni working here and collaborating with her alma mater, Orange Technology will never be able to shake off Gu Qingqing's mark.

Perhaps, this was my brother's plan from the very beginning?
Gu Qingqing couldn't help but start thinking.

Qin Siyu suddenly asked, "Speaking of which, it's been a while since I've seen President Tan. I should thank him for his help to us over the past year."

"He should be on the top floor right now."

Gu Qingqing couldn't help but laugh when she thought about the program that the administration department of Flash Motors had arranged for Tan Jincheng at the annual meeting.
-
Hangcheng.

Ms. Liu, who successfully reconciled with her rebellious daughter through the Happy Farm game and resolved her inner conflicts, received a phone call from a stranger today.

As soon as the call connected, they said there was a package for her.

"Express delivery? I haven't bought anything online recently?" Ms. Liu thought for a moment, somewhat puzzled.

However, considering that it might have been bought by her husband, Ms. Liu didn't think much of it after agreeing on a time to pick up the package.

Fun fact: these days, express delivery is all door-to-door. There are no delivery stations anymore. If you're not home, they'll arrange a time for delivery, or you can have someone at home wait for you.

At 6 p.m., Ms. Liu, who had already returned home from get off work and was busy cooking, received another call from the same deliveryman she had heard from that morning.

"Hello, this is SF Express. Please sign for this package." The courier said politely.

Ms. Liu looked at the address and phone number on the package, which were indeed hers. Then she looked at the package box, which had the logos of SF Express and Orange Technology, as well as the slogan of Happy Farm.

"Huh? Could these be the strawberries we grew, Mom?" Ms. Liu's daughter was the first to react, and said happily.

The mother and daughter no longer had any barriers between them. In order to improve their relationship and to help her daughter focus more on her studies, Ms. Liu persuaded her daughter to use the same account as her to grow and steal virtual crops.

They claimed that having two different races would make things faster, and that it would also make their daughter look better in front of her classmates.

It has to be said that Happy Farm is really like an addiction. Now it's not just the daughter who's addicted, but Ms. Liu herself.

The first thing she does when she gets home from get off work is to "steal vegetables" (a virtual crop of vegetables). She also sets an alarm clock at night. In winter, when she doesn't want to get up, she urges her husband to get up and help her harvest the vegetables. On weekends, she lets her daughter play.

The family had a great time.

With three people sharing one account, leveling up is naturally faster. And with the launch of the agricultural assistance project, their family's level also met the requirements to select a fruit or vegetable.

Among the available options, Ms. Liu chose strawberries, which her daughter wanted to eat.

However, after making the selection, neither she nor her husband thought that the strawberries would actually be delivered to their door. Winter strawberries are very expensive, or even if they were delivered, it would take a long time. But they didn't expect it to be so fast.

After signing for the package, my daughter couldn't wait to take it and open the box.

"Wow, these really are strawberries, and they're not spoiled yet. Happy Farm is amazing!"

"Really? This company is serious? They're actually using the money they make from games to help farmers?" The husband was also surprised.

In my mind, game companies are all wicked. When Orange Technology launched its project to help farmers, most players thought it was just a gimmick and didn't take it too seriously.

Ms. Liu couldn't resist opening the strawberry box, and it looked quite fresh.

There weren't many strawberries, only one kilogram. Ms. Liu didn't wash them; she just picked one and popped it into her mouth.

"It's quite sweet. I'll wash it and have it as my after-dinner fruit today."

"Haha, Mom, we planted these together."

The elderly father stood to the side, watching his happy daughter, and affectionately patted her hair.

It seems that, if children are guided within a controlled scope, games aren't so terrible after all?
(End of this chapter)