For mid-level core employees like these, they generally didn’t sign non-compete agreements.

The reason was simple—there were too many of them.

Non-compete agreements weren’t something you could just sign at will. Employees weren’t stupid; they would weigh the pros and cons before joining. Signing a non-compete agreement meant significantly increased difficulty in job-hopping in the future, or even completely cutting off that path. So unless it was an industry-leading, top-tier company with excellent benefits that truly offered irresistible compensation, people would choose not to sign non-compete agreements.

Shengrun Group would at most have their high-level executives sign them; how could they possibly cover all mid-level and entry-level employees?

Besides, mid-level employees might seem important, but they weren’t that crucial in reality.

If only one or two mid-level employees resigned, people from lower positions could be promoted to temporarily fill those roles while targeted recruitment took place. It wouldn’t be a big problem.

But now the issue was that mid-level employees were being poached in batches!

Generally, this kind of situation was unlikely to occur because there shouldn’t suddenly be such a large demand gap in the market, nor should there be a company that completely outmatches others in the industry in terms of compensation and benefits.

Everyone had similar business models—how could one company push employee costs so high?

But now, this situation had genuinely materialized.

The logic behind this wasn’t actually that complicated.

Headwind Logistics was one of Tenda’s industries. It could afford to lose money because Tenda Group continually injected funds into it. But Shengrun Group only had its courier business with no other revenue streams. If the courier business wasn’t profitable, then the entire group had no reason to exist!

The consequences of mass poaching mid-level employees were naturally very serious.

If one or two mid-level employees were missing, they could promote lower-level employees to fill the gaps or make emergency hires.

But with so many people gone, how could they fill all those positions so quickly?

Of course, theoretically, Shengrun Group could require these employees to properly hand over their work. But the problem was that legally, formal employees could leave directly 30 days after submitting their resignation without requiring the employer’s approval.

Filling all these vacancies through recruitment within 30 days? That was clearly an extremely difficult task.

Force them to stay? Require employees to successfully hand over their work before leaving? Withhold their wages?

In the past, these tactics might have worked to some extent, but now, these employees were probably eager to file labor arbitration claims.

Nie Yunsheng even suspected that many employees who hadn’t yet resigned were gathering evidence and looking for ways to seek labor arbitration. Because after successful arbitration, they could take the special recruitment exam to join Tenda!

Nie Yunsheng angrily slammed the table: “Tenda Group has gone too far!”

“I believe this Lü Mingliang must be acting under Mr. Pei’s instructions! Otherwise, they couldn’t have coordinated so well—the special recruitment exam, targeted poaching, and the courier war all launched simultaneously!”

“If you don’t show your teeth, they really think you’re a sick cat!”

Li Meng couldn’t help but shudder. In his memory, he had rarely seen Nie Yunsheng so angry.

This wasn’t Nie Yunsheng’s fault or a matter of poor self-control—too many aggravating factors had converged at once!

First, Shengrun Express had technically initiated this courier war. They had decided to completely cut ties with Headwind Logistics in second and third-tier cities, which prompted Headwind’s resolute counterattack.

Starting trouble but getting brutally defeated was certainly something that could easily break one’s composure.

Second, the turning point in public opinion during this courier war should have been that livestream debate, where Nie Yunsheng was publicly refuted by Lü Mingliang and left speechless. For Nie Yunsheng, this was naturally something difficult to accept—a complete loss of face.

Every time he thought about this incident, he felt terrible all over and deeply regretful.

Both these matters stemmed from his own misjudgments; he couldn’t shift the blame elsewhere, which made it even more painful!

Finally, there was Headwind Logistics’ aggressive stance, showing every intention of driving Shengrun Group to extinction.

In previous battles between courier companies, they all knew where to draw the line. After all, everyone had similar business models, each with certain advantages in specific areas, but truly becoming hostile would make everyone look bad.

Moreover, Shengrun Express had always held the dominant market position. Others who wanted to become hostile simply didn’t have the qualification.

Everyone exploited their delivery workers and maintained similar service levels, thus preserving a comfortable profit margin. This made for very pleasant earnings.

But now, Headwind Logistics had completely abandoned business ethics. They were clearly determined to reshuffle the entire courier industry and break everyone’s rice bowl. How could Nie Yunsheng not be angry?

Li Meng tentatively asked, “So… Mr. Nie, what should we do?”

This question deflated Nie Yunsheng again.

Because there truly weren’t many good options…

In the current situation, whether considering timing, resources, or support, everything favored Headwind Logistics. On all battlefronts, Shengrun Express was being beaten badly and retreating continuously. Even if he was furious but powerless, what could he do?

After a long silence, Nie Yunsheng said, “Relying on our company’s strength alone is definitely not enough.”

“Tenda Group has made enemies everywhere, affecting interests across various industries. We’ve been hit the hardest, but companies in other sectors are suffering too!”

“One company alone is certainly not enough, but if we can unite with other companies, there’s still hope.”

“The more companies that join us, the greater our chance of success!”

“For instance, Zhujai Group, whose stock prices recently plummeted because of Sloth Apartments and Chixing Studio, must share our aspirations.”

“And it’s not just in the courier and rental housing sectors. In which field hasn’t Tenda made enemies—food delivery, livestreaming, gaming, movies? If we calculated Tenda’s enemies by valuation, they might amount to hundreds of billions or even trillions!”

“Now Tenda can concentrate all their departmental resources to support Headwind Logistics, making it impossible for us to resist. But if all companies unite to attack Tenda’s various departments, forcing them to become overwhelmed, the situation will naturally reverse!”

Li Meng suddenly understood: “Mr. Nie, that’s brilliant!”

“However… convincing these companies to lend a hand might be difficult. Although their interests have also been affected by Tenda, they’re not in as desperate a situation as we are. Counting on their help—is that realistic? The chances of success seem slim.”

Nie Yunsheng firmly stated, “No, the chances are very high!”

“What Lü Mingliang said during that livestream can essentially be considered a declaration of war against most major companies in China. The business model we at Shengrun Group have adopted is precisely the model used by many major domestic companies, including emerging companies that received substantial funding during their early stages.”

“Tenda’s goal is to completely dismantle this model, which naturally means declaring war on all companies of this type!”

“If it were for other purposes, these companies might be difficult to unite. But now it’s about protecting their own interests—there’s no reason they would remain indifferent!”

“As long as we can convince Zhujai Group and unite several major companies to take the lead, with the push from some large investment firms, smaller companies will naturally join in droves. Once the momentum builds, reversing this trend will become extremely difficult!”

“No matter how powerful Mr. Pei is, he is still just one person, and ultimately, no individual can fight against capital.”

With this realization, Nie Yunsheng immediately stood up: “Regarding the resignations, handle them by the book. There’s no need to deliberately try to retain employees, lest we create more negative publicity for ourselves. Our main battlefield is no longer here but elsewhere.”

“I’m going to visit Zhujai Group right away!”

…

…

March 7th, Thursday.

Pei Qian sat in his office, alternating between looking at the outline of his research paper that he had just started writing and thinking about the new game project.

He had absolutely no inspiration!

At this moment, Pei Qian was like someone standing at a crossroads, looking left and right. Looking left seemed like a dead end; looking right also seemed like a dead end!

This was quite frustrating.

The key was that both matters were quite urgent.

The paper’s first draft was due April 10th, with only a month left, and Pei Qian’s paper was still mostly in the conceptual stage.

As for the game project, he definitely needed to complete the general design concept this month. Otherwise, considering the time needed for detailed design and production, things would get tight.

Although there was still more than half a year until the end of the year, the key was that Pei Qian wanted to create a major production this time, hopefully resolving issues with both Tenda Games and Shangyang Games departments in one go.

If he could also resolve Fei Huang Studio in the process, that would be even better.

If he let these two game departments each make smaller games, he could guarantee they would complete development, but the possibility of losing money would be greatly reduced. Even if they did lose money, it wouldn’t be much—a waste of ideas.

But what theme should such a massive AAA game with enormous investment focus on?

This was truly perplexing.

“Should I think about the paper first, or the game?”

“Hmm… at the very latest, I must arrange the game matters by next Tuesday, then wholeheartedly focus on tackling the paper.”

“But I have absolutely no ideas for the game…”

Pei Qian felt quite desperate.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Looking up, he saw that Wu Bin had arrived.

Wu Bin’s face was beaming with joy as he handed over a report: “Mr. Pei, I’m here to report on the special recruitment exam. Overall, the response has been extremely enthusiastic, completely beyond my expectations!”

“Many mid-level employees from various companies have eagerly applied, including some with impressive resumes and solid abilities. Some are even willing to take pay cuts to join us because they appreciate our company’s work environment, atmosphere, development prospects, and other comprehensive benefits!”

“Despite limiting the application requirements, the talent we’ve actually filtered out is even stronger than those selected through our regular exams!”

“Of course, this strength primarily refers to real capabilities. After all, written test scores carry significant weight in regular exams, and some company backbone employees can’t compete with students in written tests. In the special recruitment exam, the overall written test scores have decreased, but practical abilities have improved!”

“Regular exams mainly recruit promising young people, while special recruitment exams bring in mature mid-level backbones. With these two recruitment channels running in parallel, plus the targeted headhunting quotas for each department, Tenda’s personnel structure is rapidly adjusting in a very healthy manner!”

“This special recruitment exam has gone smoothly. Mr. Pei, your envisioned transformation plan has been a great success!”