Chapter 130: Black-Hearted

Li Mochen ultimately could not give William any guidance in combat skills. This was not because William himself was unwilling, but because a sudden call came from the Rising Sun company, saying they had found three suitable store locations and wanted Li Mochen to see if they were satisfactory. Additionally, the company had identified several specialists in sales and distribution that required his personal approval.

Cadrien Jebson's pace of progress was astonishing. In less than a week, he had already made headway in various aspects. He had even secured two sales channels, pending Li Mochen's signature.

"I've done a preliminary investigation and found that across America, several home appliance brands from Japan—such as Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Toshiba, Sharp—and from the Teutonic Republic, Siemens and Bosch, are the best-selling and most popular. The Japanese products are affordable and of good quality, while the Teutonic ones are finely crafted, durable, and have an excellent reputation. I've already secured distribution agreements with Mitsubishi and Toshiba, and negotiations with Siemens and Panasonic are ongoing. None of these companies have regional sales agents on the East Coast; they only entrust sales to a few distributors. Oh, and there's Samsung Electronics from Korea, but I don't know about the quality of their products."

While riding together to one of the store locations, Cadrien Jebson meticulously briefed Li Mochen on the progress of the comprehensive store plan.

Li Mochen flipped through the documents: "The key is price. If we don't have the right prices, it's useless to attract customers."

"The prices will definitely not be higher than those of other distributors. They've also promised that if we reach a certain sales volume, they'll give us a rebate of two to four percent. You can check the contract for the specific terms. It's roughly divided into three tiers: one million, ten million, and thirty million gold shields. Two of them even offer door-to-door delivery; we only need to pay thirty percent of the advance payment before selling, and so on. I expect the situation will be similar once we finalize agreements with Siemens and Panasonic. However, things aren't going smoothly with American home appliance manufacturers."

Cadrien Jebson shook his head involuntarily, looking troubled: "Their sales channels are relatively well-established, and they are very arrogant, dismissive of us. Even if we manage to secure one or two, I doubt we'll have any price advantage."

"It's fine. If we can't reach an agreement, we can just get some products for display. If our plan succeeds, they'll come to us."

Li Mochen had already finished reviewing the contract and signed his name without hesitation.

This was because the contract already bore Li Mei's signature. Women are usually very sensitive to prices, and a financial professional even more so.

At this stage, he didn't think these two were untrustworthy.

Then came the inspection of the store locations, all of which Li Mochen found quite satisfactory. The three sites Cadrien Jebson had chosen met his requirements: they were near middle-class communities, had a decent flow of people, and the public security was relatively good. The problem was that the property owners' asking prices were relatively high, and the lease terms were not ideal, but these could be negotiated.

Li Mochen preferred six years; if that wasn't possible, four years would be acceptable.

"I'll secure the leases as soon as possible. If negotiations really fall through, we'll keep them as backups. Atlanta is a big city with plenty of options."

Cadrien Jebson then took out several more documents: "As for the renovation, I've consulted several renovation companies. According to your requirements, I asked them to come up with the most minimalist and cost-effective renovation styles. They've provided several plans and renderings, along with quotes per square meter."

"You're in charge of this, Cadrien. No need to report to me."

Li Mochen casually flipped through the drawings: "I only have a few requirements: ensure it's spacious and bright, and somewhat durable—after all, we'll be using it for five years or more. Also, the renovation must be fast, with no peculiar odors after completion, and it must not harm the health of employees and customers. Oh, and the restrooms are a priority; they need to be decent."

This busywork took a full three hours, and by the time Li Mochen returned to the Unicorn Apartment, it was already late at night.

But the next morning, Li Mochen had to take two more classes off to go to the company to meet the applicants.

Li Mochen's interviews were simple; he only needed them to answer a few questions.

This seemed casual, but afterward, he eliminated nine people from the group.

Li Mochen suspected that three of them were either sent by enemies like Antonio or by his sister Jennifer.

In any case, they couldn't pass Li Mochen's psychological test; when answering his questions, they all showed signs of guilt.

The remaining ones either lacked mental resilience or had moral shortcomings. Another two didn't believe in the future of the Rising Sun company and were only applying for short-term employment.

Such people are easily swayed and unlikely to endure the company's initial hardships.

Li Mochen didn't mind paying high salaries, but he needed fighters who could help the company conquer new territory, not employees who just wanted to coast along.

In the end, only four passed his interview. Li Mei couldn't help but look frustrated and complained: "Look, with just a few questions, you've eliminated most of the people we selected. You can't do this, A-Mo. You should at least pick half of them. We're going to open eight or nine stores, which requires over a hundred employees and salespeople. We're far from having enough staff."

"Just these four. We'd rather go without than settle for less. Store locations, renovations, and sourcing inventory—we still have at least a month before opening. We have time, don't we? Let's take it slow."

Li Mochen didn't intend to change his mind: "If it really doesn't work, the company can expand the recruitment scale appropriately. I've emphasized before: as long as we have a reliable core team, the rest can be newcomers without work experience, or even working students. What I want is a workforce that is upwardly mobile and full of fighting spirit, especially the salespeople."

Cadrien's eyes flickered with a strange light: "I roughly understand what you mean, Boss. But if it's just about saving money, you might consider hiring immigrants."

He saw the essence of the matter: although Li Mochen spoke loftily, he was still a capitalist at heart. He wanted to minimize overall wage costs while maintaining combat effectiveness.

"Illegal immigrants, you mean?"

Li Mochen was slightly tempted, but then shook his head.

That would bring legal risks to the company, and the enemies he would face in the future would not hesitate to exploit such weaknesses.

To prepare for the coming war, he needed as few vulnerabilities as possible.

"Just do as I say. Newcomers may lack sales experience, but they have enough enthusiasm. With a short training period, they can handle the job."

"Also, I've thought of another idea. We can set a probation period of three or five months. The base salary can be lower, say 2,000 gold shields, but we can design a sales commission system to motivate them—"

"2,000 gold shields?"

Li Mei looked puzzled: "But if that's the case, will anyone apply?"

"We don't have to write that in the job posting."

Li Mochen raised an eyebrow: "With commissions, the monthly salary could reach 10,000 gold shields. I think an excellent salesperson can earn that much."

At this time, the average monthly salary across America was only 5,000 gold shields.