ABT Chapter 0049
In the following days, fueled by the publicity from the first batch of customers, the company's bustling activity remained unabated. Li Fanyu and Pan Qiang split up, frantically scouring neighboring cities for used cars, which they transported back to Tiancheng and modified at the X workshop before putting them up for sale.
The second-hand car dealers in the neighboring city were overjoyed—these old cars had been sitting around for so long, and finally, some fool came to buy them. And they were buying in bulk, taking as many as they could get.
With Li Ba's help, the company was temporarily managed smoothly. Despite urgently recruiting ten more sales staff, the entire company was still operating at full capacity.
Although the employees were working tirelessly, none of them complained about being tired. Looking at the daily performance reports prepared by the accountant, they wished they could work twice as hard. Even the new employees were shocked by the explosive performance; their daily wages now exceeded what they used to earn in a month.
After discussions between Li Fanyu and Pan Qiang, the company's personnel structure was supplemented and improved. One of the salesmen was promoted to sales director, responsible for guiding and supervising the sales staff.
In addition to advertising in local newspapers and media and recycling various used cars, the company also recruited several reliable purchasers to accompany Pan Qiang in sourcing goods.
In the workshop, Qi Wei, the oldest among Pan Qiang's recruits, took care of business while increasing the workload and maintaining confidentiality. Now, when customers came in for repairs requiring X technology, all work was conducted inside the workshop, and no outsiders were allowed in.
Fortunately, X technology and equipment greatly increased work efficiency, allowing customers to drive away after only a short wait.
Three more cashier stations were added, and the accountant, Wang Meimei, was promoted by Li Fanyu to head accountant, fully responsible for the accounts.
After all the planning was completed, the efficiency of the entire company suddenly increased, operating like a precise and efficient machine, running quickly and steadily.
Li Fanyu finally found some relief from the busyness and spent two days observing the company's operations, summarizing its progress since opening.
The unexpected success of the opening exceeded his expectations. Ultimately, it was due to powerful advertising and the company's technological and pricing advantages.
Now that discounts on prices had been removed, the company introduced several additional services to increase customer loyalty. While repair business remained steady and even increased, although the sales volume of used cars had decreased, overall profits had greatly increased.
Continued emphasis on technology and service was bound to yield even better results after settling in. At this rate, it was highly likely that the cost would be recovered within a quarter.
Making money felt great, but there was something even better.
In the past few days, countless cars had been sold and repaired using X workshop technology. As they joyfully raced on the roads, the points in the Xapp space skyrocketed.
The points in the Xapp space were like seedlings given growth hormone, constantly reaching new heights. In just a few days, the ten thousand points needed for the upgrade were almost all accumulated.
It seemed that upgrading would be done in the next couple of days.
With his hands behind his back and a non-existent general's belly, Li Fanyu wandered around the company in high spirits.
After circling around twice, he noticed a customer wearing a duckbill cap.
The man was tall and burly, sneaking around the company's cars for sale for quite some time, ignoring the salespeople's inquiries as if he were looking for flaws.
Li Fanyu frowned and quietly approached.
Before he could reach the man, he was noticed, and the man, upon seeing Li Fanyu, walked over.
Li Fanyu looked closely and exclaimed, "Captain Lin? What are you doing here?"
Lin Lei threw his arm around Li Fanyu's shoulder and said, "Shh, I'm on a mission. Did you report this company for selling smuggled cars again?"
Li Fanyu was baffled. What did he mean by "again"? Wait a minute, when did I ever sell smuggled cars? What the heck?!
"What? You think I reported myself?" Li Fanyu shook off Lin Lei's arm and pointed to his own nose, asking.
Lin Lei looked disbelieving. "You own this company?"
"Of course, why would I joke with you," Li Fanyu said, feeling annoyed.
Lin Lei pursed his lips. This time he wasn't sneaky. He looked around the parking lot openly.
Returning to Li Fanyu's side, he said, "We received a report that there are stolen and smuggled cars here. It's because we recently cracked a major smuggling case, and the bureau is paying extra attention, so they sent us."
Li Fanyu was speechless. He glanced at Lin Lei until Lin Lei felt uncomfortable.
"Ahem, but it doesn't look like it. Have you offended anyone recently?" Lin Lei asked awkwardly.
Li Fanyu was exasperated. "Offended someone? I'm doing legitimate business. Who could I have possibly offended?"
Coincidentally, a salesperson nearby overheard their conversation and leaned in, saying, "Boss, I used to work at a used car company in the north of the city. A former colleague of mine said on WeChat that they haven't had any business for days. Our business is booming so much. Do you think it's possible... it's the competition?"
Li Fanyu and Lin Lei exchanged a glance. Yeah, it was possible. They say competitors are like enemies. They were just too successful and conspicuous now, making it possible for someone to sabotage them.
Lin Lei hadn't noticed anything unusual. He then discreetly communicated with the hidden walkie-talkie in his collar and ordered his scattered colleagues elsewhere to withdraw.
Seeing Li Fanyu achieve such a big business at a young age, Lin Lei also felt curious. Under Li Fanyu's lead, he wandered around.
Suddenly, he remembered something, stopped in his tracks, and asked, "Kid, I have something I wonder if you can handle?"
"What is it?" Li Fanyu asked curiously. Did Captain Lin want to introduce some business to me?
"Well, our informants provided a tip-off recently, saying that a group of drug dealers smuggled drugs to Tiancheng. We managed to apprehend them overnight, but we found no evidence. I suspect they hid the drugs in the cars, but the cars have already been dismantled, and we found nothing, not even with police dogs. I suspect they used some means to interfere with the dogs' sense of smell and hid the drugs in a very secret place in the car. Now, we have no evidence, and they've hired a lawyer. If we don't find anything in two days, we'll have to release them."
Li Fanyu felt a bit hesitant, not because he couldn't handle the task, but because it involved drug dealers, who were ruthless criminals.
After a brief consideration, he said, "Ahem, Captain Lin, our company's business is car repair, not car dismantling. I can't handle this. Even if I could, the risk would be too great. Uh, uh, you'd better find someone else."
Lin Lei looked at him deeply, making a disappointed expression. "The risk isn't a problem. Since we asked you for help, we have a responsibility and obligation to keep it confidential. But if you can't do it, then there's nothing we can do." He sighed and added, "I was thinking, if you could help us this time, you'd be a real hero. Coincidentally, the city is about to replace the police vehicles as a whole, but considering the budget, they plan to buy good-condition used cars. I was thinking, with your involvement in solving two major cases, leveraging this relationship, it shouldn't be a problem for the bureau to secure this batch of purchases for you."
WHAT!? Why didn't you say so earlier? There's the entire Tiancheng city, a public security bureau, six or seven sub-bureaus, not to mention the countless police stations underneath. Let alone the traffic police! Roughly estimated, it must be around four hundred vehicles!
Li Fanyu gritted his teeth, grabbed Lin Lei's arm, and said, "Captain Lin, as a young person with awareness and responsibility, I feel I should go take a look! After all, safeguarding social prosperity and peace is the duty of every citizen!"
NEXT