While everyone was whispering amongst themselves, they heard Tang Yishu’s voice from outside: “Senior, everyone has arrived and is waiting in the meeting room.”

Everyone quickly sat up straight.

Sure enough, the meeting room door soon opened.

Pei Qian entered the meeting room, sat at the head of the conference table, while Tang Yishu sat in the empty seat to his left, notebook in hand ready to take notes.

Seeing Mr. Pei’s true appearance, everyone had different reactions.

Most had previously asked Tang Yishu and knew that Mr. Pei was a senior student who hadn’t even finished his undergraduate studies, so they had some mental preparation. However, after seeing him in person, his youth still exceeded everyone’s expectations.

He was completely like a peer!

At the same time, everyone sensed a special aura around Mr. Pei. His every movement seemed to exude strong confidence and a casual indifference toward everything, as if all matters were well within his control.

In reality, Pei Qian’s aura stemmed from two aspects.

This was his own company, and he was more familiar with it than his own home.

He had no revenue pressure for the company, so naturally, his every gesture revealed a sense of ease.

Therefore, this aura always successfully deceived those around him.

Some people looked completely bewildered, then suddenly realized.

Isn’t this the actor from “Mr. Pei’s Daily Life”?

Although “Mr. Pei’s Daily Life” was a short drama from over a year ago, and Fei Huang Studio hadn’t filmed sequels afterward as its popularity gradually faded, Mr. Pei’s image had still left a deep impression.

When Pei Qian occasionally encountered classmates at school, they treated him as a guest actor.

But today, seeing Pei Qian in person, these management trainees realized that the person who played Mr. Pei in the short drama was Mr. Pei himself.

Seeing their expressions, Pei Qian instantly understood their thoughts and raised his finger in a “shh” gesture.

Then, he smiled and said, “Keeping my identity secret is the responsibility of every Tenda employee. I believe you can all do that, right?”

Everyone hastily nodded in agreement.

Pei Qian knew his identity would eventually be exposed, but for now, it could still be barely concealed.

On one hand, those who knew his identity were aware that he didn’t want others to know, and they all had certain vested interests, so they helped maintain the secrecy.

For instance, school teachers, Ma Yang, and Tenda employees.

On the other hand, Pei Qian’s identities as a company owner and game developer were relatively less likely to arouse curiosity.

Most people, even if interested in a company owner or game developer, would at most search online, and if they couldn’t find photos, they’d give up. Few would dig deeper to discover what they looked like.

And even if his identity became known, it wouldn’t be shocking news with much gossip value.

In short, Pei Qian’s requests so far were just two: not to be surrounded by onlookers while walking to school; and not to let close people, especially his parents, discover his financial difficulties and form unnecessary associations.

Pei Qian was quite satisfied with the current situation.

These management trainees should be good at keeping secrets.

According to Tang Yishu, these people were from the same grade as her, from various departments, and they were all poor students who had a common point—they had all received living allowances that Pei Qian had previously provided for the school’s financially disadvantaged students.

Besides poor economic conditions, these students were also very introverted, with simple social relationships, and didn’t attract attention.

This was normal, as it was a highly probable situation for children from poor families.

Pei Qian was satisfied with this, feeling these people would make good candidates for his Imperial Guards!

Sweeping his gaze across everyone, Pei Qian began: “First, I have three requirements for everyone.”

“One, keep my identity secret. If you see me at school, just say hello.”

“Two, just call me ‘Senior.'”

“Three, unconditionally place my requests above the interests of various departments.”

“Can you do that?”

Everyone immediately nodded and said in unison: “Yes!”

Pei Qian smiled slightly: “Very good. No one has raised questions, and keep it that way in the future.”

“Your job is simple. As management trainees, enter various departments of the company, understand the department’s operation mode as much as possible, and stay informed about the department’s movements and plans.”

“I will convene you regularly, fixed on Saturdays, roughly once every two to three weeks.”

“Before the meeting, each person must summarize the department’s work during that period into a brief report. I might be interested in certain projects, and if I ask you about them, you’d better be able to answer with relevant details.”

“What everyone needs to especially note is that you are management trainees, and this identity is completely public. However, the fact that you report directly to me and Tang Yishu is confidential.”

“Including the regular Saturday meetings, don’t mention them to anyone, including your department heads and colleagues.”

“Everyone needs to sign an internship agreement and a confidentiality agreement. Please rest assured, we will provide internship wages far higher than other companies. At the same time, if you complete your work excellently, you can be directly admitted to Tenda without examination after graduation.”

“Take a few minutes to consider. Xiao Tang, go get the agreements for everyone to see.”

Tang Yishu left the meeting room to get the previously prepared internship and confidentiality agreements, distributing them to everyone.

A few minutes later, after reading through the agreements, everyone had no questions and signed one after another.

For them, this was clearly an opportunity that wouldn’t come again if missed—they could earn generous internship wages, intern at Tenda Group and understand business operation models, have the opportunity to be admitted to Tenda without examination after graduation, and most importantly, report directly to Mr. Pei in regular meetings.

Where else could they find such a good deal?

If they refused now, the company would look for others, and trying to reverse the decision later would be useless.

Pei Qian was very satisfied with everyone’s response—no one raised questions, which helped cultivate a group of absolutely loyal subordinates.

If any department tried to pull tricks behind his back, they wouldn’t escape his informants!

The reason Pei Qian selected candidates from lower-grade students, had them call him “Senior” instead of “Mr. Pei,” and let them report directly to him, was fundamentally to make them aware of the special nature of their positions while bringing them closer to himself, turning them into a direct team that followed his every command.

From the current situation, everything was very successful.

After everyone had signed the agreements, Pei Qian began assigning work.

“Now for department assignments. Consider your professional knowledge, interests, and objective abilities, and raise your hand if you feel suited for a department.”

“If multiple people raise their hands, Xiao Tang, you decide.”

“Tenda Games.”

“Shangyang Games.”

“Slackin’ Internet Café.”

“Slackin’ Takeout.”

“…”

For each department Pei Qian mentioned, someone would raise their hand. When multiple people wanted the same department, Tang Yishu would assign one person based on their major.

Tang Yishu had already considered this when selecting these candidates, choosing people from different majors, so the assignment was relatively straightforward.

Soon, all departments were assigned. A total of 17 management trainees were allocated to 17 different departments. Adding Tang Yishu, the initially established “Tenda Imperial Guards” had exactly 18 people.

Of course, if new business departments emerged in the future, the number of management trainees would need to expand.

“Alright, if there’s nothing else, everyone, prepare to officially report to your respective department heads next Monday, and then start working.”

“I’ve already had the Human Resources Department inform all department heads. If any department head doesn’t cooperate with your work, report to Xiao Tang immediately.”

Watching these management trainees leave one by one, Pei Qian felt satisfied.

These juniors had no workplace experience, their thinking was relatively simple, and they completely followed his instructions. With just a little cultivation, they would likely become his right-hand men and women in the future.

At the same time, Pei Qian couldn’t help but look forward to the first management trainee regular meeting.

As long as these informants and ears were well-cultivated, who could still backstab him when he wasn’t paying attention?

…

…

April 24th, Sunday.

Pei Qian strolled toward Custody Fitness.

Sunday was the peak time for gym foot traffic. If there were no people, then the fitness project would be half successful; if there were many people… it would indicate serious hidden concerns that needed urgent solutions.

On the way, he took out his phone and briefly checked the situation of the Scholar Express APP.

For now, it seemed to be under reasonable control.

The previous series of manipulations by Yuanmeng Venture Capital on the Scholar Express project had made Pei Qian earn to the point of a headache. Yu Pingan, who had been poached from Xude Education, initially seemed like a right-hand man, but ended up backstabbing him within a month of arrival.

Now, Scholar Express APP, as an educational software, could be described as quietly making money. Although its recent popularity had somewhat declined, the content promoted on the APP had been continuously directing traffic to Tenda’s other departments, while the APP itself also had certain profitability.

Pei Qian could only use the old method, based on the principle of “whoever earns money spends it,” letting Yu Pingan spend all this money—moderately advertising, spending money to develop new features, subsidizing users, and so on.

In short, it achieved a balance between income and expenditure.

There was no hope of turning profits into losses. Pei Qian was afraid that burning money too aggressively might create problems, so he could only burn a little, very cautiously controlling the heat.

Even so, two or three educational groups had already proposed to invest in or acquire Scholar Express APP at a high price, and Pei Qian’s attitude was, of course, very firm: Refuse!

For others, selling a profitable project was killing the goose that laid the golden eggs. For Pei Qian, he didn’t mind killing the goose, and even wanted to kill it, but the problem was that the egg extracted after killing the goose was too big to swallow.

Based on Scholar Express APP’s current valuation, if it were truly sold, making a loss in this cycle would be as difficult as climbing to heaven.

Anyway, letting go now was impossible, so he’d just make do and take it one step at a time.

Putting away his phone, Pei Qian arrived at the entrance of Custody Fitness.

Outside, as he wished, beautiful signs had been set up, detailing the gym’s various trivial regulations, which satisfied Pei Qian.

However, as soon as he pushed the door open, Pei Qian realized something seemed wrong.

There were quite a few customers?!

Although there wasn’t a scene of crowds, the number of people had increased, completely different from the previous situation of deserted doors!

Many customers were examining fitness equipment, inquiring about specific rules in the rest area, and some had already started exercising inside.

Coaches like Guo Licheng and Ya Ling were providing one-on-one attentive service, helping customers correct fitness movements, popularizing correct fitness concepts, and so on.

Pei Qian’s heart sank.

Could things have gone wrong so quickly?

No, that’s impossible!