445: Recruiting soldiers and buying horses

"A refund plus triple damages? Man, you must be thrilled!"

After coming back to his senses, Wan Yuanliang's eyes were filled with envy:

"This one payout is more than what my family earns after working hard for an entire year!"

Ye Su chuckled: "That's why I'm saying, I don't know if buying that car was bad luck or good luck."

Envy aside, Wan Yuanliang was well aware that the reason Ye Su was able to get this compensation was because his connections were strong enough.

If an average person encountered such a situation, let alone getting the compensation so easily, they would probably have to swallow a lot of frustration and anger.

"You're lucky. To be able to squeeze such a large sum out of a 4S dealership—no wonder you haven't come to my little shop lately. So that's where you've been off having fun."

"What fun? I've just been busy with some small business lately, that's why I haven't had time to come over."

"Oh?" Wan Yuanliang was interested upon hearing this: "Besides that Secondhand Shop, what other business are you working on?"

"Nothing much, just started a self-media company, recruited a few people around me to be streamers, and I'm also planning to open a Hot Pot Restaurant in Joyful Gathering. We start renovating the storefront tomorrow, so I'll invite you all to come show your support then."

"Not bad at all! You're taking on one business after another. No wonder as soon as you walked in, I felt an air of prosperity surrounding you."

Wan Yuanliang feigned poverty: "Unlike me, I can only work for the family, and I have to tighten my belt every month to get by."

Hearing Wan Yuanliang feign poverty, Ye Su was about to offer a flattering remark when a thought suddenly struck him. He summoned the system and used the [Discernment Eye] skill on him.

[Name: Wan Yuanliang]

[Specialty: Antique Appraisal]

[Recommended Career Path: Antique Shop Owner (Excellent), Antique Appraisal Streamer (Excellent)]

Ye Su was not at all surprised that one of the recommended career paths for Wan Yuanliang was Antique Shop Owner.

In their line of work, those with a fixed physical storefront who can directly connect with buyers are called "settled merchants."

Those without a fixed storefront who do business everywhere, handling inventory and reselling on a large scale, are called "itinerant merchants."

As for those who rely on a sharp eye to scavenge for deals everywhere and then resell them, they are commonly known as "peddlers."

The fact that Wan Bowen was letting Wan Yuanliang gradually take over Bowen Antique Shop proved that he was indeed suitable to be an Antique Shop Owner.

But the other recommendation, Antique Appraisal Streamer, was a pleasant surprise for Ye Su.

His self-media company was currently in a phase of recruiting talent, and he desperately needed streamers with specialized skills who could help him expand the company.

The Wan Yuanliang before him was undoubtedly a very suitable candidate.

Even without the career path recommendation provided by [Discernment Eye], Ye Su had no doubt that Wan Yuanliang could be an excellent Antique Appraisal Streamer.

In terms of antique appraisal skills, he might be a bit inferior to an expert like Wan Bowen.

However, after spending a few months in contact with him, Ye Su had seen Wan Yuanliang's appraisal skills for himself; he was absolutely worthy of being called a professional.

When it came to eloquence and social savvy, Wan Yuanliang was like a fish in water; otherwise, how could he be so successful in Guangzhou and have acquaintances in every industry?

As long as resources were invested, operations were managed properly, and they added some engaging content to the livestream, the probability of him becoming popular should be quite high.

No sooner said than done, Ye Su immediately decided to extend an invitation to Wan Yuanliang.

[Ding!]

Before Ye Su could open his mouth, a digital prompt from the system suddenly rang in his mind.

[After identification via the [Discernment Eye] function, Wan Yuanliang is suitable for the Antique Appraisal Streamer industry. This time, the [hidden task - Recruiting Talent] has been triggered for the Host!]

[Task Name: Recruiting Talent!]

[Task Content: Recruit Wan Yuanliang into the Host's self-media company (part-time or partnership recruitment is permitted)]

[Task Reward: 660,000 cash, 5 points of durability increase for [Working Cat]!]

"Recruiting Wan Yuanliang to the company gives a cash reward of 660,000. Now I have to get him on board!"

"Hello?"

Just as Ye Su was lost in thought over the suddenly popped-up [hidden task], Wan Yuanliang suddenly called out, snapping him back to reality:

"What's wrong? You stopped talking the moment I mentioned I have to tighten my belt every month to get by. Are you afraid I'm going to ask you for a loan?"

"It's not that." After coming to his senses, Ye Su smiled:

"I was just thinking that my MCN company was just established, and I'm short on people. Do you want to come over and be an Antique Appraisal Streamer for me?"

"Me?" Wan Yuanliang pointed at himself in surprise, then smiled and refused:

"Forget about me. Not to mention whether I'd cause you to lose money, just the fact that I have to watch this shop means I can't get away to work for you."

"You don't have to worry about the work schedule. I don't have any requirements for clocking in or specific streaming times. Joining my company absolutely won't affect your work at the shop.

For the videos posted on your account, I'll have someone help you edit them. You just need to open a livestream in the shop when you have time; your venue is already set up anyway.

If needed, I can also arrange for a director to come over and assist you with the setup when you're streaming.

As for compensation, considering you'd be working part-time, I can't offer you a base salary. However, for the profits from your account, after deducting the traffic investment costs I put in, we can split the remaining money 30/70.

Don't worry, dude, I would never cook the books. I'll provide you with a breakdown of all the traffic investment expenses every month for your confirmation."

Ye Su persuaded him patiently: "Anyway, you're bored alone in the shop every day. Just think of it as finding something to do to pass the time. If you actually lose money, I'll take the hit, so you won't have much to lose, right?

If by some chance your livestreaming takes off and you become a big streamer with millions of followers, besides having another source of income, wouldn't it also give you another trading channel to bring more business to the shop?"

Ye Su's words really tempted Wan Yuanliang.

If he could really get the account off the ground, the income from livestreaming and short videos could be set aside for a moment.

The online trading channel that would open up alone would be enough to benefit him significantly.

Furthermore, the compensation Ye Su offered was truly very generous.

Apart from the lack of a base salary due to it being part-time work, 70% of the profits was definitely much higher than other MCN companies.

"dude, what you said really tempted me. It's just that I've tried livestreaming before, but unfortunately, after streaming for a while, there was no one in the livestream room, so I had to give up.

You're asking me to join your company and spending money to invest in traffic for my account, but I can't guarantee that I'll actually be able to make the livestreaming work in the end."

Hearing Wan Yuanliang's tone, Ye Su knew he was already moved and just needed one final push:

"Don't worry about that. I suspect the reason there was no one in your livestream room before was because no one was investing in traffic for you.

The competition in this industry is so fierce now that it's normal for no one to be able to scroll to your livestream room if you don't spend money on traffic.

Your professional ability is definitely not a problem, and your looks aren't any worse than those other streamers. As long as we spend money on traffic so others can find your livestream room, I believe we can definitely make the account successful."