Liang Qianfan explained: “Of the furniture manufacturers who previously expressed interest in working with us, basically all the big brands rejected our cooperation terms.”

“Only some lesser-known small brands were willing to let our inspection teams supervise and monitor them.”

“We did a simple screening and selected several that seemed relatively reliable.”

“However, interestingly enough, there were actually a few small brands that were very willing to cooperate with us and fully accepted supervision from our inspection teams. Some even actively invited us to visit.”

“For instance, this sofa was designed jointly by me and the owner of Fanglan Residence just a few days ago and was only recently delivered.”

Only then did Pei Qian notice that the sofa in this room was distinctly different from the one in his own residence.

Liang Qianfan explained: “It’s a genuine leather sofa, and it’s electric. Both the leftmost and rightmost single seats can be adjusted electronically to raise or lower the backrest, making it very comfortable to lie on.”

“Compared to the sofa in the developer’s showroom on the third floor, it doesn’t have a chaise lounge, so the overall look isn’t bulky, conforming to the ultra-minimalist design style. And compared to the Sloth Apartments 1.0 sofa, it can meet the needs for reclining.”

“Additionally, the sofa legs and armrests are slender and made of wood—North American black walnut with clear grain patterns. The wood is dense and fine-textured, feeling somewhat like fine fabric to the touch. It has excellent feel, not only displaying clear patterns but also having a natural luster, making both its appearance and tactile sensation quite good.”

“Besides that, its hardness, density, and stability are also good. It has always been one of the high-end woods used for furniture.”

“One breakthrough compared to the Sloth Apartments 1.0 model is that I designed this sofa together with the owner of Fanglan Residence, successfully combining black walnut armrests with an electric leather sofa. While conforming to the ultra-minimalist style, it also maximizes the sofa’s practicality and quality feel.”

“I suppose this is a product of combining Chinese and Western cultures. I was initially worried that it might look unnatural when placed here, but now I see the effect is quite good.”

Pei Qian asked: “Fanglan Residence… is it a brand that makes sofas?”

Liang Qianfan smiled and shook her head: “Oh, no. Fanglan Residence is a furniture brand that was established not long ago. They make all kinds of furniture—sofas, cabinets, everything.”

“But unlike other furniture brands, their owner is a designer whose greatest interest is actually in design, striving to create unique styles for all their furniture.”

“Take this sofa, for example. They’re trying to combine traditional Chinese wooden furniture with electric sofas—it’s quite a bold idea. I also thought it wouldn’t work at first, but when we actually started designing, it turned out surprisingly well.”

“They’re one of the manufacturers most eager to cooperate with Sloth Apartments, and they even actively invited our inspection team to visit their workshop and factory.”

Pei Qian: “Why?”

Liang Qianfan explained: “Because their product philosophy aligns perfectly with Sloth Apartments.”

“The founder of Fanglan Residence is a designer who wants to pursue a high-premium route. That means guaranteeing quality, after-sales service, and design aesthetics, but selling at higher prices.”

“However, a little-known small brand simply can’t succeed on this path.”

“The furniture industry has many hidden pitfalls. Take walnut wood as an example. Some brands claim their furniture is made of walnut, and if you ask further, they’ll say: ‘This is African black walnut or golden silk walnut, which is the same wood as North American black walnut, just from a different origin.'”

“But in reality, these trees are not only different species but belong to different genera and families. They’re basically unrelated in botanical terms, and their appearances differ greatly. Manufacturers using these lower-grade woods often aren’t particularly meticulous in their craftsmanship. If they’re not careful, the furniture they produce might visually look worse than ordinary solid wood.”

“The only truly reliable one is North American black walnut.”

“But ordinary consumers don’t understand these differences. They often just compare prices and buy the cheaper option.”

“For brands like Fanglan Residence, without extremely high recognition and reputation, they simply can’t sustain high premiums. After all, other furniture brands can easily cut corners on materials, and the same piece of furniture might sell for half the price of Fanglan Residence’s, making competition impossible.”

“This is also why many big brands are unwilling to cooperate with us: on one hand, big brands think they’re too established to be subjected to outside control; on the other hand, it might be because these big brands have their own tricks that they don’t want us to discover.”

Liang Qianfan gently stroked the sofa’s armrest: “But companies like Fanglan Residence are different. They have confidence in the materials and quality of their products and are eager for our inspection teams to provide free quality checks.”

“Moreover, after cooperating with us, they can use Sloth Apartments’ brand endorsement to prove that their products are indeed of high quality.”

“In other words, what they lack most is consumer trust, which we can provide.”

Pei Qian sat on the sofa: “How much does this sofa cost?”

Liang Qianfan: “Around 30,000 yuan.”

Pei Qian nodded with great satisfaction: “Good, we can cooperate more with this Fanglan Residence in the future.”

Wasn’t this exactly the kind of cooperative brand he was most satisfied with?

First, the quality was solid, pollution-free, ensuring that Sloth Apartments’ tenants’ health wouldn’t be harmed, and these pieces of furniture wouldn’t develop serious quality issues even after extended periods of use.

Second, the premium was high—it was expensive, which was crucial.

Because Sloth Apartments’ model was essentially Pei Qian paying for the houses, renovations, and complete sets of furniture and appliances, then renting them to customers.

So, the more expensive the furniture, the more money he would spend!

The sofa Pei Qian had provided for Tenda headquarters’ office area cost as much as 60,000 yuan, but that was the standard for reception room office furniture, representing the company’s face, so the system had made an exception by allowing such a high budget.

For Sloth Apartments’ sofas, he couldn’t use such expensive ones, and 30,000 was already considered quite high.

However, compared to many ordinary sofas that cost three to five thousand yuan, a 30,000-yuan sofa was already very high-end.

Spending over 20,000 more on a sofa for one apartment, what about for a hundred apartments? And considering kitchen cabinets, TV cabinets, sideboards, dining tables, bookshelves, and various other furniture?

When calculated this way, small amounts add up!

Pei Qian walked around the room and nodded with satisfaction: “Good, Sloth Apartments 2.0 model is doing well, keep pushing forward.”

“By the way, don’t neglect the original Sloth Apartments. Remember to maintain them properly. If any issues arise with the houses, the building managers must report and address them promptly. Don’t be afraid to spend money.”

Liang Qianfan hurriedly nodded: “Yes, Mr. Pei.”

…

…

November 18th, Friday.

Tenda Spirit compatibility test.

The recruitment tasks from the beginning of the month had all been completed, and a large portion of the new employees had been working for over a week, so it was time for the first spiritual compatibility test.

Pei Qian made a special trip to the company just to see the effects of the modified Tenda Spirit test firsthand.

However, Pei Qian didn’t go to the main conference room to supervise the test.

Because he didn’t want to give everyone the wrong impression. Once people learned that “Mr. Pei seems to particularly value the Tenda Spirit compatibility test,” the situation might become even more unmanageable.

So, Pei Qian remained in his own office, pretending he was there for work and had no interest whatsoever in the Tenda Spirit compatibility test.

After the test was completed, he would secretly take a look at the new employees’ answers to determine exactly where the problem with the Tenda Spirit compatibility test lay.

The new employees entered the main conference room one by one with serious expressions, sat in their respective seats, and began answering the questions.

However, upon seeing the questions, many people’s faces showed surprise, and they instinctively looked at those sitting nearby.

Why were there fill-in-the-blank questions?

When they had asked senior colleagues earlier, weren’t they told there would only be multiple-choice questions?

The colleague from the Human Resources Department responsible for supervising the test cleared their throat lightly to remind everyone to maintain order.

The new employees didn’t dare look at each other anymore and hurriedly buried their heads to start answering.

Wu Bin was also present supervising the test, but he had been treating it as a mere formality and wasn’t taking this supervision too seriously.

Because through his and many department heads’ unremitting efforts, the originally profound and abstruse Tenda Spirit had gradually spread throughout the company and become easier to understand.

The Tenda Spirit manual that he and Cui Geng had painstakingly written had also been distributed to the heads of various departments.

Although this manual couldn’t be directly given to all employees, especially newly hired ones, as long as the department heads grasped the Tenda Spirit, they could subtly influence the core staff, who would then gradually influence the new employees.

Sometimes, a single action or word from a veteran employee would inadvertently reveal the Tenda Spirit, serving as a model for new employees.

Over time, new employees would quickly adapt to this way of thinking. Before the test, with just a slight hint from the department head or veteran employees, these new employees could pass the test smoothly.

So far, the pass rate for the Tenda Spirit compatibility test had remained very high. Even if someone couldn’t pass on the first attempt, they would definitely pass within four tries.

Wu Bin thought this was just a formality, so he didn’t pay much attention.

But he soon frowned, realizing that this test seemed somewhat different from previous ones.

Because he noticed that all these test takers were using their keyboards?

This seemed a bit off.

Wu Bin had taken the Tenda Spirit compatibility test himself and had supervised many sessions. He clearly remembered that previous tests were all multiple-choice questions that only required clicking with a mouse.

Why did they need to use keyboards now?

Could it be… had the test been upgraded? Were there now subjective questions?

That didn’t seem right either.

The Tenda Spirit compatibility test had answers determined by Mr. Pei himself, with scores automatically generated by the system. If subjective questions were now included, how would those be scored?

Mr. Pei couldn’t possibly review subjective questions for so many test takers individually, and the Human Resources Department hadn’t received any instructions to “grade the Tenda Spirit compatibility test.”

So… what was going on?

Wu Bin felt very puzzled.

Could it be that the Tenda Spirit had been upgraded again?

Did he have a new mission?