After hearing Yang Hao’s words, everyone was taken aback.
Even Xu Meizhu was surprised; she knew that Yang Hao was ready to start a business again but had prepared herself for the struggle of starting from a small shop.
However, now Yang Hao was talking about reopening Yang’s Hot Pot, which, even in its smallest branch, covered over a hundred square meters!
Opening such a large-scale hot pot restaurant, just the rent alone would be a considerable amount.
The last time Xu Meizhu saw Yang Hao, he was still delivering takeout, so naturally, she didn’t think he had that much money.
“Hao, where are you planning to open the new store?”
After a brief moment of shock, Hao Xiaoshuai tentatively asked.
The rest of the people also turned their gazes to Yang Hao. This was an important question, as the location of the store determined its scale and positioning.
Hearing this question, Yang Hao slowly stood up from his seat and walked over to the window of the private room, waving everyone over, “Come here.”
Not understanding why, they all still gathered around.
Under the puzzled gazes of the crowd, Yang Hao pointed across the street to a large, vacant storefront: “The new store is right there!”
“Ah??”
“This??”
Upon hearing this, everyone was again shocked, with incredulous expressions spreading across their faces.
That’s because the storefront Yang Hao was pointing to was very large, clearly over a hundred square meters, and at least two hundred square meters when combining both floors.
Moreover, this place was on Star Cloud Commercial Street, where the rent was definitely very high.
Starting this store would cost at least a million or even two million yuan.
Yang Hao had chosen Maji Hot Pot as the meeting place just for this moment—to let everyone see the store directly and have the most intuitive impression.
“Hao, the rent here isn’t cheap,” Xu Meizhu said.
“The storefront is mine, so there’s no need to worry about rent!”
Yang Hao’s strategy today was to be sincere, without any hint of mystery.
However, this sincerity once again stunned everyone present, and Xu Meizhu’s mouth hung open in shock, especially since the last time she saw Yang Hao, he was still delivering takeout!
Now, in the blink of an eye, he owned such a large storefront—it was indeed magical.
The rest of the people were also dumbfounded. They had come to this gathering out of old loyalties but hadn’t expected Yang Hao to give them such a big surprise.
“Hao, have you struck it rich?” Hao Xiaoshuai exclaimed with a sigh, which also served as an inquiry.
“Just lucky, inherited a bit of an estate,” Yang Hao casually replied, then gestured for everyone to sit back down.
Once everyone was seated, he continued: “The property is three hundred square meters when you combine both floors, so as long as you’re willing, you can all come help me.”
“Those of you who can sit here have been with me for at least three or four years!”
“Now that life is better, I won’t let you down. Come back to help me run Yang’s Hot Pot, and your salary will increase by two thousand on top of what you’re already earning!”
“Ah?”
“Two thousand!!”
“Damn!!”
A chorus of exclamations rang out from the private room, everyone looking incredulously at Yang Hao.
Some among them were still waiters; some had changed careers.
Hao Xiaoshuai and He Wei, who were doing relatively well, were already at the level of store managers, earning a monthly salary of about eight thousand yuan.
But for both the waiters earning around four thousand and the managers making eight thousand, a direct increase of two thousand was very significant.
Especially since they all really acknowledged Yang Hao as a person, otherwise they wouldn’t have continued to work with him.
“Hao, since you’re reopening the store, I will definitely join you, but a regular salary is fine. If the hot pot restaurant becomes profitable later, then we can talk about a raise,” Hao Xiaoshuai was the first to take a stance.
“Right, Hao, you don’t need to lure us with high salaries. Just give us a call, and we’ll follow you to the end!” He Wei chimed in.
“Exactly, we’re all following you for your character, Hao!”
“I’ll resign right away and follow you, Hao!”
“Yeah, I’ll go resign too…”
Once two people took the lead, the others quickly followed suit, all stating they didn’t need a raise to come work with him.
Yang Hao’s gaze swept over everyone, feeling warmth in his heart. It seemed he had been quite successful as a boss, earning their recognition. Although it’s unlikely they truly didn’t want a pay increase, their words were loyal enough.
Yang Hao gestured for silence and jokingly scolded, “Are you guys not getting the situation here?”
“I just said life’s improved. I’m not calling you back to struggle with me!”
“Let’s set the salary matter as is. Everyone gets a two-thousand increase on your current wages, no more discussions!”
Yang Hao asserted his authority as the boss.
Although he was reopening Yang’s Hot Pot because the System had given him a mission with benefits.
His recent words were heartfelt; he wasn’t getting his brothers and sisters back together to suffer!
On the contrary, he wanted to take them soaring!
If it were a normal business opening, blindly increasing salaries would indeed not be viable.
But this wasn’t a normal business opening.
Not to mention the System had given him ten million as starting capital, just the double cashback on turnover alone put the soon-to-open hot pot restaurant on unbeatable grounds.
Moreover, Yang Hao wasn’t opening this restaurant for profit, as reflected in the mission’s name: “The Tycoon’s Original Intention.”
It was more for sentimentality, for the sake of bringing together those who had been loyal to him.
Most of these people had followed him for over five years, standing the test of time.
As the main missions would officially start later on, Yang Hao would certainly need helpers, and everyone present was someone he could count on.
Ability is just one aspect, the most important is loyalty!!
“Alright, a raise, happy!”
“To Hao!”
Seeing that Yang Hao had made himself clear, Hao Xiaoshuai didn’t waste any more words and raised his glass with a big smile.
“Right, to Hao!”
He Wei chimed in, followed by everyone else lifting their glasses.
The group was already happy to be back together after a long time, and now with such great news, their happiness quickly turned into excitement.
As a result, there was no lack of drinking, and many people got quite drunk.
But Yang Hao didn’t drink too much, because he needed to pick up Xixi from school later and then go celebrate Li Manni’s birthday.
So, he had to stay sober.
The gathering dispersed.
After Hao Xiaoshuai, He Wei, and the others had left, Yang Hao took Xu Meizhu to his own retail space.
Standing in the empty rough room, Yang Hao handed the keys to the retail space over to Xu Meizhu: “Meizhu, from now on you’re not just the manager of this store, you also own 20% of its shares!”
“This…”
Xu Meizhu was shocked. She wasn’t surprised that Yang Hao wanted her to be the manager, but giving her a 20% share was beyond her expectations.
“You’ve earned it!”
“How many decades can a girl have!”
Yang Hao chuckled and patted Xu Meizhu on the shoulder, who had been with him since she was eighteen and was now already 28 years old.
Now that Yang Hao had the “System” to assist him, he naturally didn’t care about such a small amount of money. Even giving the whole store to Xu Meizhu wouldn’t matter, but things had to be done one step at a time; he couldn’t rush.
“I wasn’t working for you for nothing, I got paid!” Xu Meizhu replied.
“Alright, those shares aren’t for nothing, you’ll have to work for them!”
Yang Hao waved his hands, pointing to the empty space and said, “You’re in charge of all the prep work before the store opens, but this time we have plenty of budget, so you don’t need to save money.”
“Oh? How plentiful?”
Xu Meizhu asked with a hint of teasing in her voice.
“The budget is ten million!”
Plentiful enough??” Yang Hao shrugged.
“Ah?”
“Ten million??”
Xu Meizhu was shocked. “Hao, stop joking, this store can’t possibly need ten million!”
“That’s why your task is important; ten million isn’t that easy to spend!”
“Yeah, I have to go pick up Xixi from school now, think it over yourself…”
“Work hard, Manager Xu!”
After saying that, Yang Hao patted Xu Meizhu on the shoulder again and then strode out of the retail space, with his booked driver already waiting at the entrance of Maji Hot Pot.
Watching his tall figure, it took Xu Meizhu quite a while to come back to reality.
Today’s experience felt like a dream to her. She had braced herself for hardship, but Yang Hao told her she was here to enjoy the good life!
She was happy but also stunned!
Especially after Yang Hao told her about the ten-million budget for the new store, she was utterly bewildered!
Just as Yang Hao had said, it wasn’t that easy to spend ten million, and she indeed needed to plan well to ensure that every penny was well spent.
Half an hour later.
Yang Hao picked up Xixi.
Since they had a designated driver today, father and daughter, for a change, sat together in the rear seats.
It turned out the back seats of the Wei Ying U8 were quite spacious; Yang Hao, with his build, didn’t feel cramped at all.
“Daddy, did you prepare a birthday present for Auntie?”
Xixi knew they were going to celebrate her aunt’s birthday and asked in a milky voice.
“Of course, I’m prepared. Are you prepared, Xixi?”
Yang Hao asked in return with a laugh.
“Of course, I am!”
“I made a pretty card for Auntie!”
Xixi said as she dug out a card from her backpack and proudly showed it to her dad.
Yang Hao took the card and looked at it with interest. It was a handmade card with cartoon stickers on the cover, quite adorable.
“Did you make the card yourself?” Yang Hao asked curiously.
“I made it with Mrs. Qiqi, I can’t do it well by myself…”
Xixi answered honestly.
“Well, that’s also great, Auntie will definitely love it!”
Yang Hao said and gave the card back to the little girl.
“Daddy, what about the birthday present you prepared for Auntie?” Xixi didn’t forget and continued to inquire.
“Daddy’s gift is a bit big, you’ll find out in a little while…” Yang Hao said, indulgently touching his precious daughter’s forehead.
“Daddy, when is my birthday?” Xixi blinked her large eyes and asked.
“In two more months, why do you ask?”
Yang Hao looked at the little girl; her birthday was on May 10th, and it was only March now.
“Because I want a birthday present!” Xixi pouted.
“Oh, what present do you want?” Yang Hao asked with curiosity.
Xixi tilted her head up, glanced at her dad, and then said seriously, “I want a new mom!”