Chapter 111: Clocking In and Out—As If I Never Worked at All

Nanmíng City.

“Grand opening sale! Enter our lucky draw for a chance to win fantastic prizes, with a top prize of ten thousand yuan!”

“Ten percent off storewide, ten percent off everything! Shopping here is earning money!”

...

From early morning, all eleven branches of Huakun Group in Nanmíng City opened simultaneously, creating a sensation that was hard to describe.

In an era when becoming a ‘ten-thousand-yuan household’ was still the envy of most, spending just five yuan in the store granted customers a chance at a lucky draw, with a top prize of ten thousand yuan—instantly elevating someone to that coveted status. The appeal to ordinary people was undeniable.

When Lu Kun arrived at the largest Huakun branch in Nanmíng City, he found a crowd already gathered outside the entrance.

Loudspeakers endlessly repeated the various opening promotions, while staff stationed at the draw area explained the rules to the eager crowd.

“Can someone really win ten thousand yuan? You won’t back out if someone actually draws the top prize, will you?” a bystander couldn’t help but interject.

No sooner had he spoken than the staff member running the draw replied, “Oh, don’t worry about that! Huakun Chain Supermarket Group is the first Sino-foreign joint venture in our An’gui Province. We already have over a hundred stores here. Would we really risk our reputation over ten thousand yuan?”

“Exactly! Huakun Supermarket has been featured in the newspapers and on TV. Just today, the group opened more than a dozen branches in Nanmíng City alone. How could they possibly renege on such a small amount?”

Informed members of the crowd chimed in to vouch for Huakun.

“That’s right, just look at the size of this store! I’d bet it’s tens of thousands of square meters!” someone exclaimed in awe.

“I heard from an inside source that the owner of this store is a big shot worth hundreds of millions. Even top provincial leaders have visited the Huakun headquarters recently...”

The last person, who spilled all the explosive details, was in fact a planted shill arranged in advance.

Listening to his employees and these shills singing the praises of Huakun Group and its owner, Lu Kun couldn’t help but feel a bit exasperated.

Where on earth did this ‘hundreds of millions’ fortune come from? By Lu Kun’s estimate, Huakun’s total assets probably didn’t even reach fifty million, and that was only if he counted the fifteen million Hong Kong dollars he’d made from stock trading.

Property prices weren’t high at this time, and every one of Huakun’s branch stores had been bought outright—none were rented. He’d never even heard Sun Bowen complain about the costs.

Finally, the planted shills entered the store.

Unable to resist the temptation, the rest of the crowd soon followed.

It’s human nature to gather where the excitement is.

As more people entered, even those who’d planned to wait and see found themselves unable to hold back. In no time, the store was packed.

People passing by the entrance saw the bustling scene and, thinking there might be some bargains inside, hurried to ask the staff. The employees, repeating their well-practiced lines, put in all their effort to coax the passersby in.

...

Lu Kun finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The grand opening was a success.

In business, nothing is more dreaded than lack of interest. Not every customer would make a big purchase, but at least this was a promising start.

He wasn’t afraid of customers coming in and not buying—what mattered was getting them through the door. The supermarket looked grand, but many of the goods were actually quite affordable.

With the opening promotions, many items here were significantly cheaper than elsewhere.

“Chairman, if somebody does win ten thousand yuan in the draw later, do we really have to pay out the cash? Couldn’t we give out a voucher instead?” Luo Chunhong, who had been transferred from Baolin County to Nanmíng City as the first store manager, nervously wiped the sweat from his brow and asked.

“No tricks,” Lu Kun shot him a glare. “Back in Gui’an our scale was small, we had no choice. But now, we have to mind our reputation.”

“And make sure your team follows the rules! If anyone tries to pull a fast one with the lottery prizes, they can pack their bags and go home.”

For anyone abusing their position for personal gain, Lu Kun would make sure they understood what it meant to be caught with nowhere to hide before the disciplinary committee.

In the year since Huakun’s founding, over a hundred ‘rats’ had already been rooted out.

Luo Chunhong straightened in alarm and nodded vigorously. He was, after all, something of an old hand at Huakun and knew Lu Kun’s temperament well.

Lu Kun would rather offer employees generous salaries and bonuses than tolerate anyone trying to play tricks under his nose.

In Lu Kun’s mind, there was a guiding principle: “What I choose to give you is yours. What I withhold, you must neither steal nor covet.”

The central idea was simple: “As long as I live, you are my subjects. If the ruler commands his minister’s death, the minister cannot refuse.”

Fully aware of how arduous starting a business was, Lu Kun had no intention of playing emperor, raising a giant leech like Heshen at the expense of the entire nation of Qing.

He found no pleasure in playing executioner.

After making a round of the branch and finding nothing amiss, Lu Kun left to inspect the other stores.

Of course, with this branch covering nearly sixty thousand square meters, it was unrealistic to expect the same overwhelming crowds as at other, smaller locations. At best, the atmosphere was lively.

Luo Chunhong watched as Lu Kun’s car drove off and finally let out a long breath.

There was no helping it—the pressure of facing the boss directly was simply immense.

...

“Boss, you’re here?” Sun Bowen, looking rather like a wronged wife, sprang up from the office couch when he saw Lu Kun.

“If you’re tired, why not rest in the lounge?” Lu Kun patted his shoulder.

Having made the rounds of the major Huakun branches in Nanmíng City and found no issues, Lu Kun finally remembered he hadn’t visited the new headquarters yet.

“It’s fine, I’m used to it. I’m just grabbing a quick nap here before getting back to work.” Sun Bowen looked haggard, struggling to keep up appearances.

“Take care of yourself,” Lu Kun said, glancing around. The office building had good bones, but much still needed to be furnished.

“Boss… um, why wasn’t our overtime pay from last month issued?” Sun Bowen rubbed his hands, hesitating.

“You did overtime? Oh right, I remember. But didn’t you also take compensatory leave? If you work overtime and then take time off, doesn’t that cancel out?” Lu Kun decided to tease him.

Sun Bowen: “???”

It sounded logical, but…

“Boss, if we come to work every day and then also leave work every day, does that mean we haven’t worked at all?” Sun Bowen was bewildered.

Lu Kun: “...”

“The overtime pay for last month hasn’t been calculated yet. It’ll probably be issued at the end of the month, together with the year-end bonus,” Lu Kun said, gazing up at the ceiling, at a bit of a loss.