Chapter 1375: Raise

In fact, sometimes in life, people really need to confide; keeping everything bottled up inside doesn't feel very good.

For Zhao Fusheng, chatting with Dong Guoxiang today and speaking his mind was quite pleasant.

"By the way, how have you been lately? Don't tell me you're still holed up at the company all day with those programmers."

After talking about his own matters for a while, Zhao Fusheng looked at Dong Guoxiang and asked with a smile, "Can't you have a life? I've heard you even spend your holidays at the company."

Dong Guoxiang shrugged: "There's nothing else to do anyway. If I'm at the company, I can handle any issues immediately."

Shaking his head helplessly, Zhao Fusheng couldn't be bothered to say anything more. Even if this guy became a diamond bachelor, he'd be the kind destined to be alone forever, completely clueless about life.

A tech company CEO who spends all his time huddled with the programmers and never goes out, leaving all external matters to managers—only Zhao Fusheng would tolerate it. Anyone else as the boss would have cursed Dong Guoxiang out long ago.

In fact, even Zhao Fusheng himself didn't know what benefits Dong Guoxiang's approach today would bring him in the future.

"By the way, shouldn't you find a girlfriend?"

Zhao Fusheng said to Dong Guoxiang with a smile.

This guy had always been single, ever since they started their venture.

Dong Guoxiang rolled his eyes: "Boss, can you care about the company's situation instead of always asking me about this?"

Zhao Fusheng waved his hand: "Why should I care about that? I trust you to handle things. I came today just to see you."

He was telling the truth. Future Network Technology Company was different from other Future Group companies. For this subsidiary, Zhao Fusheng invested with a long-term perspective. In other words, even if it lost money now, it didn't matter; he would still support these programmers.

But unexpectedly, Dong Guoxiang found a way to generate revenue on his own, securing the agency rights for World of Warcraft. Not only did it not require group resources, but it also brought in tens of millions of dollars annually. Naturally, Zhao Fusheng was quite reassured.

Of course, as his boss and old friend, he was also very concerned about when this perpetual bachelor would meet the right person.

Shaking his head helplessly, Dong Guoxiang had no way to deal with this unscrupulous boss.

Seeing Zhao Fusheng looking at him with expectant eyes, he had to shake his head: "I'm busy with work all day and have no time to date. Do you think everyone is like you, starting a business with a fiancée in tow?"

Everyone knew about Zhao Fusheng and Fan Baobao, so they often teased him about it.

Zhao Fusheng didn't mind and said seriously to Dong Guoxiang, "You're not getting any younger. Just find someone decent."

He paused and then warned earnestly, "But let me make this clear: don't go looking for some inexplicable naive girl. If you do find someone, make sure she's reasonable. I don't want your personal life affecting your work."

In movies and TV shows, there are always those inexplicable stories: a penniless Mary Sue meets a billionaire boss, they get trapped in an elevator, and then it turns out the man is the company's general manager. Never mind how unlikely it is for a low-level employee to interact with the boss; just the absurdity of such plots insults Zhao Fusheng's intelligence.

In those scriptwriters' minds, the IQ of business elites is completely abandoned. Where do they get the courage to think a naive Mary Sue girl could be likable?

Even Zhao Fusheng himself looked down on girls who were clueless and ignorant. In his view, if a girl was naive in school, it could be attributed to innocence. But if she still knew nothing after entering society, that wasn't innocence—it was stupidity.

Stupidity is fine if she stays at home, but don't come out and harm others.

"Don't worry, I'm not crazy. Who would look for a girl like that?" Dong Guoxiang didn't know why Zhao Fusheng brought this up, but he nodded with a smile.

"Good," Zhao Fusheng said casually. "Let's go. Take me to meet your elite team. I'll treat everyone to lunch later."

All the previous talk was just a lead-in; the last sentence was the key point.

For Zhao Fusheng, as the boss, how could he not pay attention to the subsidiaries, especially one like Future Technology, which he considered a core industry? But since Dong Guoxiang was in charge, he needed to be careful not to make it seem like he was trying to sideline him or didn't trust him, so he made gestures to win people over.

Thus, Zhao Fusheng chose this approach to show his emphasis on Future Technology.

…

…

The lunch banquet was held at a hotel near the company. There were only about three hundred employees. The waiters served the dishes and arranged the drinks. After everyone sat down, Zhao Fusheng poured himself a glass of beverage and said to everyone, "I want to thank you all for this meal. The agency rights for World of Warcraft have brought huge economic benefits to the company. I'm very happy. This year's year-end bonus will be three extra months' salary. Cheers!"

No long speeches, no inspirational chicken soup—just straightforward, hitting the core issue, and then getting on with things. Zhao Fusheng was a man of action, talking only about money, not ideals.

But precisely because of this, everyone was very happy.

The atmosphere at the hotel heated up immediately. No one disliked the prospect of more money.

As employees, since they had put in the hard work, they naturally hoped for rewards. Salary was their reward, and Zhao Fusheng's bonus increase was his recognition of their hard work as the boss.

In fact, Zhao Fusheng sometimes couldn't understand those young stars in the entertainment industry who constantly talked about how hard they worked. Wasn't that supposed to be expected?

If you eat from this bowl, why talk about effort? Bricklayers earn bricklayers' money, actors earn actors' money. Those who earn more should be more tired. There's no need for so many complaints.

What makes this society increasingly restless is that people often flaunt what they should do as a capital for false effort.

As for hardship, everyone is prepared for it before entering a profession. The reason they still complain about being too tired after entering the industry is, in the end, just dissatisfaction in their hearts.

The people at Future Technology had complained about the hard work, but after Zhao Fusheng offered a year-end bonus increase of a quarter of the annual salary, everyone was satisfied.

"That's too much."

After sitting down, Dong Guoxiang whispered to Zhao Fusheng.

Obviously, in his view, offering such a high reward was excessive.

Zhao Fusheng smiled slightly and shook his head gently: "It's not too much. The agency for World of Warcraft will bring us more money in the future."

He wasn't joking. No one except Zhao Fusheng knew that this game would be popular in China for many years, especially starting now. For at least the next three years, Zhao Fusheng believed World of Warcraft could bring him nearly two hundred million dollars in pure profit.

"Alright, you're the boss. You decide." Dong Guoxiang shook his head helplessly. Since Zhao Fusheng said so, he couldn't argue further.

Moreover, seeing the excited expressions on the faces of the employees who followed him, Dong Guoxiang felt that Zhao Fusheng might not be wrong. If a company couldn't give its employees the motivation to strive, then the company's reason for existence was lost.

No one likes to work in a lifeless enterprise. It not only erodes one's ambitions but also turns one into a parasite waiting to die.

Why did most state-owned enterprises begin to die in the mid-to-late 1990s? The reason was that the entire state-owned sector, from top to bottom, had become stagnant and lost its drive.

And now, clearly, the employees of Future Technology had had their passion ignited by Zhao Fusheng.