Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 57 - 48: Strictly Abide by Company Rules and Regulations

Chapter 57: Chapter 48: Strictly Abide by Company Rules and Regulations

The youth’s passion always comes quickly. In just a few minutes, the three of them had pulled Wang Jiu along to form a small company called Jiuminglu. Shen Qingming took the highest-paid position of general manager and director, Wang Jiu was pushed to the highest position as chairman of the board, Li Chaolu naturally chose the role of board secretary and chairman’s secretary, and Li Xinyu, after several rejected attempts to claim a position, was finally appointed as Intern A.

When the organization was established, they all signed their names on the contract — due to QingCyan Cloud yun City’s own laws and regulations, which did not support the corporate organization of the Jiuzhou Era, the contract’s effectiveness was limited to among themselves, with Divine Sense imprints as a guarantee that anyone who broke the contract would suffer Divine Sense backlash, causing great pain.

After a series of complicated and cumbersome procedures, this small company of only four people was officially established, and as a founding ceremony, one of the founders, Li Xinyu, took out four pieces of jade pendants and distributed one to each person.

"What is this?" Li Chaolu asked disdainfully.

The chubby man chuckled and said, "Communication Spirit Jade. Even if we’re separated by mountains and rivers, we can contact each other with this Spirit Jade. After all, we’re colleagues now, strengthening our connection isn’t a bad thing."

"Who wants to strengthen ties with you!" Li Chaolu said as she tried to snap the jade pendant, but then thought about the piece in Wang Jiu’s hand, smiled, and put it away.

Shen Qingming suspiciously said, "Did you prepare this in advance?"

"No, I just always wanted to give it to Chaolu to deepen our sibling bond."

"You two, yet you prepared four jade pendants?"

"Knowing Chaolu’s temperament, she’d definitely snap the jade pendant and cut ties with me when angry, so I prepared spares in advance."

"..."

Anyway, the company’s founding was now assured, and the next problem to face was...

"So, what exactly should we do?" Intern A eagerly asked.

Then Li Chaolu and Shen Qingming both looked at Wang Jiu.

Wang Jiu said, "Next, you should consider the company’s development and operational direction and strive tirelessly to achieve profitability."

Shen Qingming widened her eyes and asked, "Wait, you don’t have a ready-made idea?"

Wang Jiu said, "If I did, I would have brought it up the first time you cried poor. I’ve always focused solely on Sword Dao cultivation; these mundane tasks of making money have always been delegated to others."

Li Chaolu intoxicatedly exclaimed, "So cool!"

Shen Qingming angrily said, "What’s so cool about this idle young master!"

Li Xinyu said, "I did come up with a method. Nowadays, many people are interested in the undergarments of pure-hearted girls..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was knocked to the ground rolling with several strikes of Hundred Flowers Sword Qi and heavy fists from Immovable Tyrant Body.

"I, I wasn’t finished! I just thought you could use the convenience of being female to gather other girls’..."

Then came the second round of Hundred Flowers Trample and Unmoving Divine Fist.

Until Li Xinyu could no longer speak, the two girls, having thoroughly enjoyed themselves, couldn’t help but high-five each other in congratulations. But they quickly started wiping their hands with handkerchiefs in disgust, pulling a pained expression.

After a while, Li Chaolu said, "I think, since we’re cultivators from prestigious families, if we offer sparring or instructing services..."

"Don’t think too highly of yourselves." Shen Qingming unceremoniously threw cold water, "Our skills are insignificant in QingCyan Cloud yun City; those instructing and sparring at Immortal Cultivation Clubs are far more professional. Their cultivation techniques may not be profound, and their talents may not be as excellent as ours, but their professional qualities can’t be compared to us amateurs."

Li Chaolu said, "Then let’s hire those professionals."

"People are doing well in clubs and sects, why would they come to us?"

Li Chaolu said, "I can beg dad and mom to draw people from the compound."

"Beg dad and mom? Why not just kneel and ask them to give you money directly. Ha, our company’s main business is you siblings begging for funding everywhere. So high-end and classy!"

Hearing this, Li Chaolu was immediately embarrassed and angry: "Then what do you suggest? You can’t come up with a decent idea either!"

"At least I can point out that your idea isn’t viable! We founded this company to make money independently. If we have to rely on so-called family power, then why form a company at all? What organization is better at making money than wealthy families? As long as I’m the general manager, don’t even think about using the Li Family’s resources!"

Li Chaolu fumed, "If you don’t want to do it, you can leave! Who invited you here?"

Shen Qingming said, "How can you speak to the general manager like that, you secretary? Slap your mouth!"

"Dammit, the board secretary is a senior executive, a senior!"

"Who isn’t, except for the fat guy?"

Li Xinyu, labeled as the fat guy, feebly said, "I’d add that we probably can’t use family power. If Mom finds out we’re not studying hard and wasting time making money..."

Li Chaolu shivered all over.

Although their mother was usually gentle and kind, it was conditional kindness. If her children weren’t focused on the right path, Zhao Yan’s cold demeanor was terrifying...

"If we can’t let the family know, not to mention using resources, even our freedom to act will be greatly reduced..." Li Chaolu said, somewhat dispirited, "Then what’s the point of making money? If there really was an easy money-making idea, someone else would have thought of it by now. I hear the Qian Family has a New Information Hall dedicated to collecting market money-making ideas, and they handle things themselves if feasible. If someone else has already jumped the gun, they try to acquire them."

Shen Qingming asked, "Wang Jiu, how did Shang Lanfei do it back then? Did she use family power?"

Wang Jiu explained, "Although the Shang Family is a prestigious clan, Shang Lanfei has always had a poor relationship with her family. She left Qing Province back then to be independent, to avoid dealing with the fools in her family. How could she possibly rely on her family’s power?"

Shen Qingming asked eagerly, "Then how did she become rich on her own? Is there a secret to it?"

"Her IQ is 9," Wang Jiu stated concisely. "It’s roughly equivalent to the sum of the three of you."

Shen Qingming was instantly filled with a sense of humiliation and couldn’t help but sneer, "Then why, with an IQ of 9 yourself, can’t you think of any money-making ideas?"

Wang Jiu replied, "Because all my intelligence is devoted to Sword Dao cultivation. So even with my eyes closed, I can beat five Shang Lanfeis with just my fingernails."

"..." Shen Qingming was left speechless for a long time.

Li Chaolu, listening on the side, though not fully understanding, knew that directly copying Shang Lanfei’s path to success was impossible. So, she asked, "Mr. Wang Jiu, are there any other cases for reference?"

Wang Jiu thought for a moment, "If Shang Lanfei’s path doesn’t work, you could refer to Zhao Yuming’s path. Although she isn’t the richest, she has never worried about money in her life."

"Huh, huh? Is there a secret to that?!"

Wang Jiu said, "She’s the number one beauty in Jiuzhou."

"..." Everyone present immediately fell silent, feeling that this statement was almost useless.

Wang Jiu explained, "You misunderstood. Being the number one beauty in Jiuzhou can certainly make money, but being second or third doesn’t mean you’ll starve. As long as enough people like you, you can make money no matter what you do." After a pause, Wang Jiu pointed at himself, "For example, I’ve earned five hundred Spirit Stones just from a portrait."

Li Xinyu lamented, "I wasn’t born with your good looks!"

Wang Jiu earnestly said, "It’s not just about looks to be liked by people. Conversely, just being good-looking doesn’t guarantee that many people will like you."

Shen Qingming frowned, "What are you trying to say?"

"I’m saying, if you’re really eager to make money, you could consider becoming idols."

—

A group of fourteen or fifteen-year-old boys and girls, determined to become financially independent and self-reliant, resolutely decided to become idols... No matter how you look at it, such a story seems too bizarre.

So when Wang Jiu shared his thoughts, it didn’t receive an enthusiastic reaction.

"First of all, I need to ask, what is an idol?" Shen Qingming asked.

Wang Jiu said, "An idol is someone who is widely followed and loved and makes a living from it. There are many ways to gain attention and love, but the most basic element is catering to what people like. Performing arts people love, saying lines people like to hear, dressing in ways people like... doing such things to attract people’s attention, and then extracting resources from them."

Shen Qingming felt something was off, "Isn’t that just like a performer?"

Wang Jiu corrected, "It’s different. Performers usually have some level of artistic ability, while an idol doesn’t need artistic skills, just the ability to attract attention and affection."

"Isn’t that even worse than a performer!"

"Well, can you act?"

"...Of course not."

"So you can only become an idol." Wang Jiu said seriously.

Shen Qingming opened his mouth several times to say something, but it was like having a bone stuck in his throat. After a long pause, he said, "If you’re so popular, why don’t you do it?"

Wang Jiu said, "I don’t need money."

"..." This incredibly strong reason immediately silenced Shen Qingming.

But Li Chaolu seemed thoughtful, "What Mr. Wang Jiu said does make some sense. At least as far as I know, fangirls do spend money on the people they like. Just in the past few years, I’ve spent over a thousand Spirit Stones myself..."

Li Xinyu was horrified, "A thousand Spirit Stones? Where did you... Oh my god, your Immortal Cultivation Savings! Did you spend all your New Year’s money and cultivation medicine funds chasing idols!? No wonder you just barely pass Mom’s assessment tests! With your talent, you should be doing much better!"

Li Chaolu’s cheeks flushed, but she immediately raised her eyebrows, "None of your business! Don’t you dare tell anyone, or I’ll beat you to death!"

After stepping on the dead fat guy a few times, Li Chaolu asked, "Mr. Wang Jiu, are you suggesting we cultivate an idol ourselves and profit from it? But who should we choose as the idol? Of course, if Mr. Wang Jiu is willing to take on this role, I will spare no effort to help you..." As she said this, the starlight in Li Chaolu’s eyes shone as brightly as a starry river, her fair throat bobbing up and down as if swallowing something.

Wang Jiu earnestly said, "As the company’s chairman, it is not my duty to manage specific business operations."

"Aw, what a pity," Li Chaolu lamented, but then suddenly realized, "Wait, if we follow the company’s bylaws, the person responsible for the specific business operations is..."

Wang Jiu nodded, "Yes, it’s the general manager of the company."

After saying this, Wang Jiu looked at Shen Qingming, making the latter’s hair stand on end.

"Wha—what do you want to do?"

"I want you to become an idol."