29: Chapter 29 Getting Involved

In the afternoon, the atmosphere in the third-floor conference room of the Shuicifang Binjiang Branch was not as relaxed as it had been at the welcome banquet; it was slightly heavy.

Ouyang Xintian placed a red-headed document in front of Yang Shiguang, who was sitting at the head of the table.

"Young Master Yang, please take a look at this document first."

Yang Shiguang flipped through it.

"Jianning City Catering Sewage Treatment Management Plan, regarding the implementation of..."

Too long; didn't read.

Yang Shiguang tossed the document onto the table and said to everyone:

"Tell me the situation first."

Soon, Ouyang Xintian spoke first.

"Young Master Yang, this is the red-headed document issued by the city to initiate the catering sewage treatment work in order to implement environmental protection."

"In short, the city is requiring all catering enterprises in the city to install a series of facilities such as oil fume purification equipment, oil cleaning equipment, and sewage oil-water separation equipment."

"After the red-headed document was issued, Deputy Director Yang from the Municipal Government Office contacted us, hoping that you, as a representative of Jianning's emerging catering enterprises, would set an example and take the lead in carrying out sewage treatment renovations."

"He also hinted that this is the intention of Executive Deputy Mayor Zhu Tianming, and indicated that Mayor Tianming invites you to his office to discuss this matter."

Yang Shiguang thought for a moment and turned to look at Liu Yao beside him.

"Manager Liu, have the investment estimates been calculated?"

Liu Yao opened the notebook in her hand and replied:

"The estimated investment for installing a full set of facilities in our regular stores is around eighty thousand to one hundred thousand, while the investment for the Binjiang Branch will be higher, expected to reach one hundred and fifty thousand. Subsequent continuous investment cannot be predicted for the time being."

"Hmm, what about other situations?"

Upon hearing this, You Li handed a document to Yang Shiguang and said:

"This is a letter from President Huang of the Jianhua chain, who is also the president of the Jianning Catering Association."

"The purpose is to suggest that everyone jointly request the municipal finance department to bear this part of the renovation costs."

"Large, medium, and small catering enterprises in Jianning have all received the invitation, and currently, two-thirds of the enterprises have given a positive response."

Upon hearing this, Yang Shiguang tapped his fingers on the table and began to think.

Sewage renovation is imperative; this is the national policy.

The current point of contention is that catering enterprises are unwilling to bear this investment, which cannot generate benefits.

The Municipal Government wants him to set this example, which is both an olive branch extended and a powder keg stuffed into his hands.

If he accepts, not to mention the loss of profits, he will also bear the hostility of the entire catering industry.

If he doesn't accept, the Municipal Government will definitely make an example of Shuicifang by investigating it regarding sewage and other aspects.

However, it is not that simple, so Yang Shiguang intends to wait and see for now.

"What are your opinions? Everyone, speak up."

The first to speak was You Li.

"I suggest that we set this example and support the Municipal Government. Although profits will be damaged and financial pressure will increase, the support of various functional departments will still be of huge help to our expansion and development."

She paused and continued:

"The association is, after all, a loose organization, and the enterprises within it are all in competitive or indirectly competitive relationships with us. If we must offend one side, then offending the association will have less negative impact."

Upon hearing these words, Yang Shiguang's opinion of You Li improved significantly. It was not because her analysis was very spot-on, but because she was truly considering things from the company's perspective without calculating personal gain or loss.

Just as Yang Shiguang had expected, her speech was opposed by three people.

Purchasing Department's Cai Yuan was the first to object:

"I think otherwise. Although the association is a loose organization and most within it are in competitive relationships, the bosses of each enterprise in the association all have various resources to some extent."

"For example, Association President Huang has various beverage distributor resources. If we offend him, there will be some resistance in beverage procurement in the future; at the very least, the price will certainly increase."

"And this is just one president."

The Human Resources Department Manager followed closely behind:

"Manager Cai is right. If we are targeted by the entire association and our reputation is affected, then Shuicifang will also be affected in terms of employee recruitment."

The last to speak was the Finance Department Manager, Liu Yao:

"The most important thing is the investment issue. Such a large amount of capital investment will have a serious impact on Shuicifang's expansion. This is the golden period, and the opportunity for expansion must not be missed."

Yang Shiguang looked at Ouyang Xintian and A Long, but neither expressed an opinion, indicating that they would obey Yang Shiguang's decision.

As for An Miaomiao and You Ge, the two were merely shareholders and did not participate in the company's daily operations and management, so he ignored them directly.

Moreover, they always listened to him.

Yang Shiguang lit a cigarette and thought.

Currently, it is three against one. However, is the negative impact of offending the association really that great? Actually, it is not.

A large part of the reason for this situation is the virtual equity system for management formulated by Yang Shiguang.

The so-called virtual equity means giving the management personnel dividend rights to a certain amount of company shares, but not actual ownership.

Therefore, they can earn income from the company's earnings, and personal interests are linked to company profits.

This can stimulate enthusiasm during normal times, but in this special situation, it easily makes people have a certain bias due to personal interests.

Are they wrong? Not really; after all, if one doesn't look out for oneself, heaven will destroy them.

In this way, this matter was the biggest challenge since Yang Shiguang established Shuicifang.

If handled improperly, he would either offend the Municipal Government or the association, and no matter what he did, it would lead to damage to the company's interests.

More importantly, the current management team had just been established, hearts were not aligned, and he was too young. Apart from You Li, others were more or less skeptical of his ability.

Once it was handled improperly and affected their interests, it would likely have a huge negative impact on the company's internal unity or even lead to a direct breakup.

Yang Shiguang smoked, racking his brain for a way to break the deadlock; the atmosphere was very heavy.

An Miaomiao felt very distressed watching Yang Shiguang, who was frowning and smoking non-stop.

She moved her chair to sit beside him, held his hands with both of hers, looked up at him, her peach-blossom eyes full of worry.

Yang Shiguang turned his head and saw An Miaomiao, who felt distressed for him. He squeezed out a smile, patted her head to indicate that he was fine, and then began to flip through the documents they had submitted.

Suddenly, he saw a name, a breaking point hidden among the numerous pieces of invalid information.

He immediately asked You Li:

"Sister Li, what is the attitude of President Wang of Yihong Hotel, this association vice-president unit?"

You Li had obviously done her homework; she thought for a moment and replied:

"President Wang's attitude is relatively ambiguous; he has not expressed his position yet, and his stance is unclear."

This answer was just as Yang Shiguang had expected. He immediately said to Ouyang Xintian:

"Brother Tian, help me set up an appointment with President Wang of Yihong Hotel, just say I am inviting him to dinner."

Yang Shiguang looked at the documents on the table—the Municipal Government, the association, the company, the management—all their interests were entangled.

He knew that in this game, both he and Shuicifang were the weaker side in terms of both size and reputation.

Destined to become a pawn.

But who says a pawn cannot become the chess player? By entering the game in person, one can also stir up the situation.

Looking at Yang Shiguang, whose eyes were reignited with confidence, An Miaomiao also shed her look of worry.

Because she knew that confident Brother Shiguang was capable of anything.

It was precisely this that made her deeply fascinated by him.