Chen Long spoke, and Liu Chen was not polite, directly giving him the formula for his patented shredded pork.
"Uncle Chen, this is my new product prepared for the New Year's goods market. It includes the patent certificate. I hope to get the certificate as soon as possible, start production, and preferably before the Spring Festival shutdown. Let's stock up a few thousand pieces first."
Liu Chen said as he handed the file bag to Chen Long.
"Alright, then you two go to the living room and rest. I'll go to the study to look at this document and see if we can process the certificate after the holiday, and procure the ingredients in advance. We'll start production as soon as the certificate is issued."
Hearing Chen Long arrange things so directly, Liu Chen understood that Chen Long's position in the Beauty Brand factory seemed to be rising rapidly. Otherwise, his request would have at least occupied a production line. For a large factory like Beauty Brand, even if one production line was occupied, it would reduce the production volume significantly, potentially leading to insufficient stock.
Chen Long saw Liu Chen chuckling and realized what Liu Chen might have misunderstood.
"You don't know because you haven't been home these past few days. Your e-commerce department, the Beauty Sausage, has a huge sales volume. The old man is worried about not having enough stock for the New Year, so the production lines have been running 24 hours a day recently."
"Oh~~" Liu Chen nodded in understanding. Old Master Chen was indeed capable of building Beauty Brand, such a large food factory, from scratch. He had just stepped into e-commerce, and the old man dared to expand production. His foresight was sharp.
Liu Chen helped his mother into the living room with underfloor heating. Liu Fang took off her coat and lay on the sofa with a sigh of relief. She gently placed her hands on Liu Chen's stomach.
"Chen Chen, come, feel your mother's belly."
As soon as Liu Chen placed his hand on his mother's stomach, separated by the thickness of a knitted sweater, he felt a movement.
"It moved!"
Liu Chen, touching his mother's belly, looked shocked.
"It's rubbing my hand!"
This was not an illusion. Liu Chen was very sure that after he placed his hand on his mother's stomach, the child inside first touched his hand, and then, as if discovering a novel toy, leaned towards his hand.
Liu Fang clearly felt it too and smiled, saying, "It seems this child is close to you. Your Uncle Chen Long has been teasing her almost every day since he knew she could move. She just wouldn't move. If she favors you this much, he'll probably be so jealous, haha!"
Liu Chen's hand rested on his mother's stomach, experiencing the feeling of blood being thicker than water for the first time. Honestly, when he had persuaded his mother to have this child, there was a bit of selfishness in his heart. He simply hoped that having a sister or brother would help alleviate his guilt for not taking better care of his mother. But now, feeling the slight bulge of her belly, Liu Chen felt for the first time that this was his own sister or brother. He even had the thought of raising this child well and ensuring she grew up happy.
Just as Liu Chen was puzzled by his own thoughts, Old Master Chen came to call them for dinner. Although it was New Year's Day, both the Chen family, Liu Fang, and Liu Chen didn't really care about the Western New Year's Day. It was merely the start of a new year on the calendar. Therefore, the meal tonight was a simple five dishes and one soup, nothing special.
After dinner, Liu Chen accompanied his mother for a walk around the estate. It took over forty minutes, and their hands and feet started to sweat before they finished. He handed his mother over to Chen Long, said goodbye, and then Liu Chen went upstairs, took a shower, had a bath, and went to bed early.
The next day, after breakfast, Liu Chen took Old Master Chen's car back to his e-commerce department. Looking at the nameplate above the office door, Liu Chen was sure this was his e-commerce department, but... The e-commerce department, which was previously only the size of a corner office on the first floor, now occupied all three offices on the first floor.
"Boss!"
As Liu Chen stood at the office door, dazed and wondering what had happened, a loud female voice came from diagonally behind him. Liu Chen turned around and saw Yu Bing.
"This office?"
Liu Chen pointed to the clearly expanded office and asked Yu Bing, who was walking towards him.
"The old factory director wanted to give you a surprise. He said our e-commerce department is developing rapidly. He originally wanted to build a separate office building for us, but after hearing Manager Chen's opinion, you want to buy land and build a factory yourself, so that's settled. However, even so, the old factory director still allocated these two offices to our department. I am now responsible for taking orders and customer inquiries. Chen Hu leads the team for shipping and after-sales service. He was saying that with our e-commerce department's good business, we should be able to negotiate better terms with the express delivery companies."
Liu Chen listened while walking and entered the now expanded e-commerce department office with Yu Bing. As Yu Bing said, there were now four computers in the office, and a small opening had been made between the office and the next one, connecting to the express delivery printer in the adjacent office. Liu Chen stayed in the office for the entire morning, watching Yu Bing and Chen Hu orderly arrange their staff to process orders and pack shipments. He suddenly realized... if he found the right employees, he could actually be a hands-off boss.
Just as Liu Chen had to admit that he didn't seem to be of much use here, his phone, which had been silent, rang.
"Hello?"
"Tomorrow?"
"Okay, fine..."
Liu Chen walked out while answering the phone. After the call ended, he turned back and said to Yu Bing.
"I have something to attend to, so I'm leaving. You guys are doing a great job. There will be new products launched this month. Specifically, wait for Qiu Lin to take the promotional photos for the new products, and then you can prepare to list the new items."
As Liu Chen spoke, Yu Bing nodded, taking notes with a pen and paper. After Liu Chen finished, Yu Bing had also taken notes.
"Alright, Boss, don't worry. Chen Hu and I will prepare thoroughly."
With Yu Bing in charge, Liu Chen was very relieved. He nodded and walked towards the gate of the Beauty Brand factory. It was Guo Da who had called. He and his wife, Yu Li, had arrived in C City last night. This morning, there was a land auction at noon, and he wanted to bring Liu Chen along to see the process.
As Liu Chen reached the gate, a pure black Mercedes-Benz van was parked there. Opening the middle door, Yu Li sat in the second row of seats. Seeing Liu Chen, she waved cheerfully.
"Liu Chen, good morning! The land auction starts at 10:30. Come up first, and we'll discuss the details on the way."
Liu Chen nodded and got into the car, with a walkway between him and Yu Li. Before Guo Da started driving, Yu Li turned slightly towards Liu Chen and said, "The land auction we're attending today is the most expensive one for the next three days. The plots being auctioned are almost all residential, which developers like to acquire. Guo Da's friend revealed that today's auction plots are almost all already spoken for; the auction is just a formality. So, our focus today is not to look at the auction plots, but to observe the auction process and the companies represented by the bidders. Our main targets are the plots for the following three days. Here is the information Guo Da's friend gave us, including the addresses and estimated reserve prices of the plots."
With that, Yu Li pulled out a file bag from the left side of her seat and handed it to Liu Chen, who was listening attentively. Liu Chen took the file bag but didn't rush to open it. After all, they were in a moving car, and the road from the Beauty Brand factory to the auction site was not smooth. There were occasional large potholes. Liu Chen was worried that if he read the documents now, he would feel dizzy during the auction and wouldn't be able to concentrate.
Yu Li saw Liu Chen's patience and couldn't help but nod. She had previously worried that Liu Chen might be nervous at his first land auction, but now, even if she were nervous, Liu Chen probably wouldn't be.
The car gradually drove into the underground parking lot. Guo Da handed two passes from the front row to the back row. After hanging the passes around their necks, Liu Chen got out of the car. Liu Chen had expected that a venue involving tens of millions or even hundreds of millions, like a land auction, would be held in a high-end hotel or something similar. However, after entering the elevator for the underground garage, Liu Chen looked at the button indicating a single floor labeled "C City Land Auction Center." Liu Chen couldn't help but feel confused: "Is this Land Auction Center just sandwiched between ordinary office floors? What if someone tries to rob the place? After all, participants in land auctions are at least worth tens of millions!"
Hearing Liu Chen's words, Guo Da chuckled, "I say, kid, your question is hilarious. Most people attending land auctions are authorized representatives. The boss gives them a psychological price, and if they reach an agreement below that price, the boss gives them a bonus. If it's above the psychological price, these professional representatives will maintain constant phone contact with their employers, and the employers will decide whether to continue bidding. They will only receive a basic agency fee. So, you don't need to worry about robberies. Basically, only agents are present. In fact, I suggest that given your high profile now, if you were to personally bid for land, someone might maliciously drive up the price. It's better to hire an agent."
As Guo Da finished speaking, the elevator reached the floor of the auction center. The elevator doors opened, and Liu Chen looked at the people standing in the hallway outside the elevator, all wearing suits, ties, and polished leather shoes. He couldn't help but take a deep breath. He stepped out of the elevator.