163: Chapter 163: A spending task for Fan Jinding! Wei Mei Jia Restaurant opens!

Chapter 163: A Spending Task for Fan Jinding! Weimeijia Opens!

Firstly, a law firm, much like Spark Media, was a versatile addition to his portfolio.

Whenever online promotion was involved, Spark Media could be utilized.

And whenever business activities were involved, dealing with lawyers was unavoidable.

This ranged from small matters like shop leases, labor contracts, civil disputes, and infringement cases...

...to large-scale affairs like company formation, mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, business collaborations, criminal cases, international trade, and so on.

Lawyers were present in almost every aspect!

China is a civil law country, so the role of top-tier lawyers isn't quite as powerful as those in the USA.

However, they were still extremely important for enterprises.

If he acquired a law firm, it would be useful for Jiuxiang Catering, Jiuxiang Food, Fengyuan Ingredients, Spark Media, Spark Fitness, or any new companies he might establish in the future!

Sometimes, they could even play a pivotal role!

Secondly, a law firm was quite compatible with Su Yang's golden finger system.

Su Yang's golden finger was a rebate on wages and benefits. Conveniently, law firms didn't have high requirements for equipment or venues, nor did they face inventory pressure; the bulk of their expenses was precisely employee wages and benefits!

There was no need to purchase expensive industrial machinery or high-end equipment, and no need for strictly controlled sanitary environments.

All it required was recruiting a group of professional lawyers and renting a suitable office space.

Equipping it with some standard office equipment like computers, photocopiers, and printers would generally suffice.

The only drawback of a law firm was perhaps that it wouldn't accommodate a very large number of employees.

But Su Yang didn't really care about that!

Like Spark Media, the law firm would serve a primary support role.

Their mission was to help Su Yang's other industries develop healthily!

A law firm could not only help Su Yang's companies avoid and resolve various legal disputes and protect their legitimate rights, but it could also strike at competitors!

After all, many domestic companies were quite shameless...

Plagiarism, infringement, and character assassination were all too common!

Jiuxiang Media frequently encountered such issues now, where original copy and plots written with great effort by employees were simply copied and pasted by others...

With a law firm, he could issue 'Lawyer's Letters' as warnings!

High-end business warfare like truck accidents, poisoning, or assassinations were rare domestically.

Common business disputes could all be resolved using legal weapons!

Su Yang thought it over and felt that opening a law firm to safeguard his other companies was a sound move.

His only deficiency might be a lack of connections!

But that wasn't a major problem.

By using money to poach lawyers who already had those connections, he would have them too!

Most domestic law firms operated on a partnership model, making them difficult to acquire.

However, some were structured as corporations, which would be easier for Su Yang to target!

If all else failed, he could just start his own company; in short, as long as there was money, it wasn't a big issue.

Closing his computer, Su Yang looked up to see Jiang Yuzhen already pouring tea for him.

She seemed to have regained her composure, though Su Yang could still detect a hint of lingering gloom in her eyes.

Seeing the smile at the corner of Su Yang's mouth, Jiang Yuzhen pursed her lips and couldn't help but give him a playful glare.

By now, she realized that Su Yang had been teasing her earlier.

But to be honest, she didn't mind it at all!

“Jiang Yuzhen, have Manager Fan Jinding from the legal department come see me!”

“Yes, Boss!”

Hearing Su Yang's instruction, Jiang Yuzhen immediately returned to her usual professional self.

She actually showed a bit of Chen Li's poise!

Jiuxiang Catering didn't have a legal department before; it had only recently been established.

When Su Yang acquired Fengyuan, the legal department staff had assisted in the process.

Of Su Yang's five companies, only Jiuxiang Catering had a legal department.

Generally, smaller companies wouldn't set up a legal department and would instead just hire legal consultants.

Su Yang didn't have a deep understanding of the legal industry, but he had the right person to consult!

Fan Jinding was in his forties, with a round, chubby face and a buzz cut.

He was somewhat portly with large ears and a beer belly, dressed very formally in a suit.

Fan Jinding was considered a senior lawyer, though his abilities were relatively average.

However, he had at least been active in the legal industry for many years!

Entering Su Yang's office, he gave a respectful smile. “Boss, did you need something from me?”

“Sit!”

Su Yang pointed to the chair opposite him.

“Alright!”

Once Fan Jinding was seated, Su Yang said, “I want to acquire a law firm!”

“Huh?”

Fan Jinding was slightly surprised.

He had thought the boss wanted to consult him on some legal matters!

He hadn't expected his boss to want to acquire a law firm.

“Any thoughts?”

“Boss, acquiring a law firm isn't easy. Most are partnerships, and the equity structures are quite complex!”

“Aren't there corporate-style ones too?”

Fan Jinding replied, “Those are relatively rare!”

“Money is no object. Help me find a law firm suitable for acquisition, or just help me recruit people to build a corporate-style law firm from scratch!”

“This...”

Seeing Fan Jinding's hesitant expression, Su Yang smiled and said, “Today is the 7th. If you get it done by the 15th and to my satisfaction, I'll give you a 300,000 bonus. If you finish by the 20th, I'll give you 200,000. If it's by the 30th, I'll only give you 100,000!”

Fan Jinding's small eyes finally lit up.

“If you're unwilling, I can find someone else to do it!”

Su Yang also knew that this was technically outside Fan Jinding's scope of work.

That was why he was willing to offer him some bonuses!

He didn't care much about the money; what he cared about was whether he could spend it quickly and effectively.

“No! No! No!” Fan Jinding said hurriedly, “Boss, let me do it! Let me do it!”

Getting a 300,000 bonus for finishing by the 15th—only a fool would refuse!

And since this involved acquiring a law firm, if he was a bit lucky, he might find one very quickly!

He did have his own network within the industry.

“Good!”

Su Yang nodded with satisfaction.

Fan Jinding asked seriously, “But what kind of law firm does the boss want?”

Su Yang thought for a moment and said, “It shouldn't be too small, the lawyers' abilities must be strong, and the valuation should be around ten million!”

Hearing this, Fan Jinding clicked his tongue inwardly. His boss's opening move was ten million.

He really was wealthy!

A ten-million valuation was enough to eliminate ninety percent of law firms.

The range of options suddenly became much smaller.

“If you can't find a suitable one, poaching a few senior lawyers to form a company should work too, right?” Su Yang stated his requirements. “I want senior lawyers who excel in corporate affairs, intellectual property, patents and copyrights, arbitration, and litigation!”

“I understand!”

The boss made it sound so easy, but Fan Jinding suddenly felt that this 300,000 might be hard to earn!

How could these senior lawyers in the industry be so easy to poach?

Most of them held shares in their respective law firms!

“Salary isn't an issue; as long as it's reasonable, I can accept it,” Su Yang added after a thought. “I can even accept a slight premium. I'm not short on money, and I certainly won't mistreat my employees.”

“I understand!”

With Su Yang's promise, Fan Jinding gained a bit more confidence!

At least the boss was willing to pay; who couldn't be poached?

Su Yang said softly, “Then go ahead and get to it!”

“Yes, Boss!”

Receiving Su Yang's command, Fan Jinding quickly walked out of the office.

Once Fan Jinding left, Jiang Yuzhen asked in surprise, “Boss, you're going to open a law firm?”

“Yes!”

“Don't we already have a legal department?”

“A law firm is more powerful and has more comprehensive capabilities. It'll definitely be useful in the future!”

What Su Yang was after was primarily the special buffs of a law firm!

With a group of elite lawyers coupled with the golden finger's buffs and the company's growing influence, he might eventually become the 'Rongcheng Pizza Hut'!

Otherwise, he wouldn't go through the trouble of making a whole plate of dumplings just for a saucer of vinegar.

After all, he could still afford to hire lawyers.

Jiang Yuzhen curled her lip. “Alright then!”

As a newcomer to the workplace and an ordinary person...

...she didn't have a great impression of the legal profession!

After all, in the eyes of ordinary people... the reputation of the legal industry wasn't actually that good.

When ordinary people needed to consult a lawyer, it was usually because they were in trouble.

Yet many of them lacked the time and capital to go through litigation.

So, lawyers often played the role of lackeys!

This was especially evident in old Hong Kong and Taiwan movies!

Beside the big villain boss, there was usually a lackey lawyer who was skilled at exploiting legal loopholes to help the villain escape justice, causing the protagonists no end of headaches.

Thinking of this, Su Yang suddenly felt like he was trending toward becoming a villain!

After delegating the task to Fan Jinding, Su Yang had a bit of free time.

Once An Yukun, Dai Danian, Zhan Yuxiao, and the others took over Weimeijia, the preparations for Weimeijia became even faster.

After all, Ji Guoxiong and his team were best at hot pot chains, not Chinese fast food!

They also had to divide their attention to handle other business for Jiuxiang Catering.

An Yukun, Dai Danian, and Zhan Yuxiao were all quite satisfied with the preliminary work done by Ji Guoxiong.

They were most satisfied with the chefs!

They found that these chefs' skills were truly superb, and the taste of the Chinese fast food was excellent.

Even though the food was prepared in a large-scale canteen style...

...the taste was not inferior to the good chefs in many roadside stir-fry shops!

As for the pricing of the meals, everyone agreed that Chinese fast food needed to be affordable enough and profit margins had to be kept low; this was the consistent style of other Chinese fast food chains on the market!

However, considering the higher cost of living in Rongcheng and the rental costs...

...An Yukun, Dai Danian, and Zhan Yuxiao all kept the fast food prices below 40 yuan.

The price for a purely vegetarian meal was set at around ten yuan, while dishes with meat started from fifteen yuan.

If an ordinary person wanted to treat themselves a bit better, they could fill their stomach for about 15 to 25 yuan.

The dishes provided by Weimeijia were naturally focused on common favorites.

Such as stir-fried shredded potatoes, tomato and egg stir-fry, stir-fried bok choy, steamed egg custard, Mao Xue Wang, Mapo Tofu, Kung Pao Chicken, poached pork slices, spicy chicken, poached fish, potato and beef stew, Dongpo pork hock...

At certain intervals, Weimeijia would change the menu to give consumers more choices!

Weimeijia had a central kitchen and the cooperation of Fengyuan Ingredients and Jiuxiang Catering.

They could lower costs by purchasing ingredients in large quantities.

So, even with such low prices, Su Yang could still make a profit.

The costs wouldn't be much different from other Chinese fast food chains on the market.

But Su Yang was certain that the taste of Weimeijia was absolutely top-tier among Chinese fast food!

Great taste had always been the core competitiveness of Su Yang's catering shops!

By the 10th, professional cleaners began a thorough cleaning of the three Weimeijia stores.

By the 11th, the Weimeijia employees were in place, and final checks and task assignments were carried out.

On the morning of the 12th, food delivery trucks transported the prepared meals to the three stores.