From Wage Slave to Tycoon

Jinmao Mansion, Yunmengze Capital!

The CEO’s office!

Su Chen gazed out the window and sighed with heartfelt admiration, "It really gives you that ’on top of the world’ feeling!"

Su Chen had taken the previous day to rest at home, but he’d woken up naturally around seven this morning and couldn’t fall back asleep no matter what he tried.

Resigned, he had no choice but to drag himself out of bed, have a simple breakfast, and head straight to the company.

One Shanghai View wasn’t far from Jinmao Mansion in Lujiazui—only about a ten-minute drive. By the time Su Chen arrived at the company, it was only eight-thirty, and the office was practically empty.

There were only three or four young people who looked like interns, tidying up their desks.

After wandering around for a bit and feeling bored, Su Chen made a beeline for Pei Rang’s CEO office.

He was able to enter so freely thanks to something he’d done when the company was first founded. Su Chen had entered his own information into the security system and given himself the highest level of clearance.

Otherwise, he’d still be stuck at the front door, in no mood to be standing in the CEO’s office admiring the early morning beauty of Shanghai.

"CLICK!"

The office door opened, and in walked Pei Rang, carrying a briefcase and humming a little tune.

Catching a glimpse of a figure by the window out of the corner of his eye, Pei Rang was startled. How could someone have gotten into his office?

Just as he was about to call for someone, he realized the figure’s back looked very familiar.

"B-Boss?" Pei Rang peeked his head forward, calling out tentatively.

Su Chen, who had been gazing at the morning sun on the distant horizon, heard Pei Rang’s voice. He turned his head and saw Pei Rang staring at him, completely bewildered.

"Morning! Didn’t expect you to get to the office this early!"

It wasn’t even nine o’clock yet. For the company’s CEO, arriving this early was actually quite impressive.

"Boss, what are you doing here!" Pei Rang quickly put down his briefcase and started boiling water on the tea table to make tea for Su Chen.

Su Chen shot him an exasperated look. "Who was it that told me to come to the company yesterday?"

Pei Rang chuckled sheepishly. "Boss, you can’t blame me for that. I figured you’d probably come in the afternoon. I never thought you’d be here this early!"

From the way Su Chen was acting, he must have been here for a while. ’He wouldn’t have been in the mood to stand by the window admiring the view otherwise. Isn’t that what you do when you’re bored stiff...?’

The kettle quickly came to a boil. Pei Rang’s fluid, practiced tea-making movements were almost dazzling to Su Chen.

Looking at the teacup before him, Su Chen picked it up, blew on it gently, took a small sip, and said, "How long has it been? Feels like your tea-making skills have improved again!"

Pei Rang’s hands paused, and he quickly explained, "Boss, you can’t blame me for that. The heads of the companies we’ve invested in often come to me to discuss their future development. All that coming and going has given my tea-making skills plenty of practice."

"Hmph. I never said you were slacking off. What’s with the explanation?" A smile crept onto Su Chen’s lips.

Pei Rang couldn’t help but roll his eyes, complaining silently in his head, ’He was clearly calling me out for having nothing to do all day but make tea. And now that I’ve explained myself, it’s still my fault!’

"Boss... has anyone ever told you that you’re a real troll?"

Although he was complaining internally, his face wore a look of melancholy. "Boss, please stop teasing me. I’ve been so busy lately I can barely tell which way is up."

"You’re from the south. Isn’t it normal not to be able to find north?"

The corner of Pei Rang’s mouth twitched. ’Since when did my boss get so witty?’ "Boss, don’t you think that was a pretty lame joke?"

"Alright, enough joking around. Let’s talk business."

Su Chen’s playful expression vanished. He even set down his teacup and spoke with a serious look on his face.

Hearing this, Pei Rang immediately stood up, grabbed his briefcase, and rummaged through it to pull out a proposal for the annual party, which he then handed to Su Chen.

"Boss, this is the annual party proposal that I discussed with a few of the other executives. Take a look and see if there’s anything that needs to be changed."

Su Chen took it and began to flip through it.

The entire proposal was just a few pages long. The content was no different from the talent shows Su Chen remembered from his school days—just singing and dancing, nothing particularly special.

Only the prize drawing section made Su Chen look twice.

"Third prize is two thousand, second is five thousand, and first is ten thousand? Old Pei, aren’t these prizes a little too low?" Su Chen said with a slight frown.

Pei Rang looked like he was about to cry but couldn’t shed a tear. "Boss, my hands are tied. The company only has a few million in its accounts right now, and we have to save that to pay everyone’s salary so they can have a good New Year. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have asked you for money yesterday!"

Su Chen shook the proposal in his hand and gave him an exasperated look. "So you brought out this proposal just to put me on the spot, is that it?"

"Boss, how could that be!" Although he denied it, he couldn’t hide the smile on his face at all.

Su Chen was so exasperated by Pei Rang that he actually laughed, tossing the proposal onto the table.

"Fine. How much funding do you want?"

Hearing this, Pei Rang pulled another stack of documents out of his briefcase!

That’s right, a stack.

Su Chen glanced at it. The pile was about four or five centimeters thick.

"Boss, take a look at our plan for next year and the development reports for the companies we’ve invested in!"

Staring at the thick stack, Su Chen felt a headache coming on. He quickly waved his hand dismissively. "Just tell me how much funding you need. Don’t make me read any reports. You think I can actually understand that stuff?"