Chapter 212
Li Qingqing: Boss, don't you really want to consider expanding the scale or tightening management? What a shame! They said we were almost able to take over that deal, even though it was just polite talk.
Li Qingqing had been taking orders while still in school, and she wasn't a fresh-faced young woman. Facing the other party's verbal politeness, although she showed regret on her face, she secretly rolled her eyes in her heart: "Oh, yes, that's right. Some companies used to give me the same expression when they told me to go back and wait for news. Can't people be more sincere? I know our escort agency is small and can't take big orders."
Qiao Qiao: No need. There are only so many players in our Novice Village who can leave the store and travel far away to explore the world. The escort agency is not able to provide and maintain higher salaries. If the management becomes stricter, people will leave quickly.
Li Qingqing: Ha, that's true. I learned to paint because my sister's company is so strict about attendance, and I wanted to sleep in until I woke up naturally.
Li Qingqing: Well, I have earned a lot during this period anyway, enough for me to live on for a while... But boss, you really don't need to work harder.
Li Qingqing withdrew a message.
Qiao Qiao: What
Li Qingqing: It’s okay, thank you for your hard work, boss. Goodbye!
Closing the forum like she was running for her life, Li Qingqing patted her chest and said, "I'm really impressive. I actually dared to persuade the boss to make progress! Fortunately, my hands are fast... Oh, I'll tell the boss in a few days that I'm going to transfer to logistics. It's too tiring to go out and report while worrying about the escort agency."
Bei Qiao, who had also closed the forum, said: "I'm trying so hard, huh? But every time I try, I never get much results. It's easier to network when I'm just wandering around. What can I do?" And what good is it? As long as the Qiao Family Escort Agency doesn't expand, it's stuck in Yuanshan Village. It's stuck in Yuanshan Village... I can't just tell customers to go to the mountains and deliver the goods themselves, or that I'll go to the mountains and call a team to take them there. That sounds too weird.
It's not that Bei Qiao lacks ambition, nor has he considered expanding his escort agency. It's just that players can't stay in the alien world 24 hours a day. To expand, they either need to recruit more players or balance the relationship between players and the natives. The latter is incredibly difficult, and Bei Qiao's time in the alien world is still short, so he doesn't have the manpower and resources to carefully consider these issues.
There are many players who choose to pursue a career in the other world. Some rely on the system's own stores to develop small businesses and do everything by themselves, just like Beiqiao did at the beginning; some start recruiting players when they are too busy, just like Beiqiao is doing now; some start recruiting natives because there are not enough suitable players, and even the entire store is full of natives except themselves, just like the Qin Family Escort Agency that Beiqiao took over.
Most players who open chain stores ask for help from acquaintances in real life, but hiring real-life players to help manage the store also carries the risk of them running away. Previously, a player secretly transferred other people's property in another world. Because this person was the boss in public, he usually dealt with people on behalf of the player. When the player whose property was stolen went to court, two worlds had to testify. Even with the help of his subordinates who shared a lot of the work, the lawsuit still dragged on for a long time before it was concluded. Later, a lot of troubles were encountered when recovering the property. Some of the natives also assisted the evildoers or took advantage of the chaos to rob.
"If the Qin family's headman wasn't in the city, the escort agency would have changed hands quietly long ago. There have been players who were murdered by the natives for their lack of caution before..." Hearing the rhythmic knocking sounds coming from outside the window, Bei Qiao raised his eyebrows and looked at the shadow on the window: a bird knocking on the window actively...
Bei Qiao opened the window and looked at the pigeon squatting on the window frame and raised an eyebrow. This pigeon was bigger than the previous one, and the bamboo tubes on its legs were also a little bigger. Its eyes were a little fierce, like a hawk that had fought.
"The one who took the initiative to find me is indeed the Qin family's pigeon. The gossip last time was not enough... uh." Bei Qiao took out a very small notebook from the bamboo tube, and when he opened it, he found that it was an account book!
"So pigeons have this usefulness, it's quite convenient." Bei Qiao pulled a magnifying glass from her bag and flipped through the account book page by page. Compared to the account book for her own Qiao Family Escort Agency, this one contained more information. To reduce its size, the characters were very small, making it a bit difficult to read.
It's a much more labor-saving management method, if you can ensure the messenger isn't lying... After reading the account book, Bei Qiao rubbed his temples and took a sip from the teacup beside him. The pigeon that delivered the message unceremoniously pecked at the nuts in the fruit bowl on the table. Seeing Bei Qiao finish flipping through the account book, it walked over and glanced at the empty bamboo tube: "There's nothing there, so I can still eat for a while."
"This reaction means I have to write back..." Bei Qiao thought for a moment, took out a small piece of paper, and put a period on it.
I don't know who promoted the use of punctuation marks in the other world. The punctuation marks here are used in a similar way to those in reality, but they are more complicated. In addition to the symbols used to break up sentences, there are some more complex symbols, and some even have no meaning and are simply pictographic symbols used to show off skills.
Bei Qiao put the small account book into the inside of the backpack and found a suitable place to hide it. He folded the note with the period on it and stuffed it into the bamboo tube, carefully securing it.
After receiving the reply, the pigeon looked at the nuts in front of it, then looked at the sky outside, and finally flapped its wings reluctantly and left.
It may not be safe to consider expanding the scale after only operating for more than two months... Bei Qiao watched the pigeons leave safely and closed the window: Most of the orders during this period depend on the busy farming season and the care of the Qin family. After October, when the weather gets colder, the orders will probably decrease, and the Qin family will not always take care of this place. If we blindly expand the scale, we will not be able to hold on in a few months.
Bei Qiao had seen people go bankrupt after expanding their business. Before the expansion, they were high-spirited, ordering a table full of delicacies when entertaining relatives, looking like they were in charge of the country. But after doubling their production, they couldn't find a large enough market to absorb it. In the end, even selling their equipment and adding the compensation they received for the demolition couldn't fill the hole.
"Although being too cautious will lead to missing out on many opportunities, it is better to avoid rapid bankruptcy due to expansion..." Bei Qiao had not heard of this relative for a long time. However, before the bankruptcy, this relative's factory business was still very prosperous, otherwise he would not have wanted to expand the scale of the business.
After finishing up the escort agency business, Bei Qiao chatted with Yu Qian for a while. Last night, a strong wind blew through Yuanshan Village. When the wind died down, Yu Qian found a small fish in the courtyard's water tank. Since there was no fish food, Yu Qian fed it a few grains of rice. Perhaps because its throat was too narrow, the fish swallowed the rice and coughed it out. After several attempts, it still couldn't eat anything, leaving Yu Qian anxious.
"And then?"
"Later, the fish was taken away by Fan Ke." Yu Qian replied while lying on a lounge chair in the yard.
Fearing the fish would starve to death, Yu Qian poured the fish into a small basin and took it outside to see if anyone had fish food they could borrow. Fan Ke, who was adapting to his flying armor, happened to "land" nearby. Using his spiritual power to cushion his landing, he unexpectedly noticed something different about the fish: "Where did you get this fish?"
"What's wrong? Is there something wrong?" Yu Qian's hands trembled as she quickly set the basin on the ground. Having been possessed by a demon before, Yu Qian still felt a lingering fear. Hearing that this suddenly appearing fish might be suspicious, she wanted to get away from it immediately.
Fan Ke poked the seemingly dull fish with his finger. "Perhaps it's gained some intelligence and is responsive to spiritual energy, but its IQ isn't high enough." To put it bluntly, it's a low-intelligence fish, half demon, half spirit. Its memory is a bit better than a normal fish, but not much, essentially equivalent to mental retardation. Good news: it's gained intelligence. Bad news: it's only gained intelligence; its IQ remains unchanged.
Fan Ke didn't have any fish food, but this fish could also eat some spiritual energy in addition to food for emergencies. So Fan Ke took over the fish and planned to see if he could raise it into a spiritual pet.
Of course, the fish cannot be taken for free. Fan Ke touched his empty pockets and thought about how much he owed Song Tie. Finally, he discussed with Yu Qian and exchanged the ownership of the fish for taking her out for travel.
"Qiao Qiao, I still don't like going out. I feel really tired." At this point, Yu Qian suddenly sighed and typed a sigh symbol in the dialog box: "I like to see different scenery, but I really don't like to rush. In real life, you can take the high-speed rail, planes, and self-driving cars, but not here. Riding in a horse-drawn carriage is quite refreshing for a while, but it's so tiring after sitting for a long time."
Although Yu Qian initially appeared outgoing while pestering Bei Qiao, she was actually a lazy homebody at heart. While the destinations might be beautiful, the journey itself felt like torture to her. Bei Qiao was the opposite. Although she seemed reluctant to initiate socializing, she was the person who had traveled the farthest in Yuanshan Village, traveling thousands of miles without a word and meeting countless people.
"I want to be like you, but... I don't think I can do it." Yu Qian changed her position on the recliner: It's so comfortable lying down.
Qiao Qiao: What am I like?
Yu Qian: It means looking generous, capable, strong, outgoing and heroic!
Qiao Qiao: Speaking of generosity, you are actually quite generous. Most people wouldn’t come to someone’s door just when they are online and have not yet left the house.
If we talk about the first time the two met, Yu Qian was basically a burglar-style friend-making. Bei Qiao didn't expect at first that this person who was so shameless in making friends and clearly stated that she wanted to curry favor with someone was actually a nerd who was noisy in the village but timid outside the village.
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