E-Ladies: Navigating the Wired World-Chapter 74 - Episode 74 You Get What You Pay For Applies

Chapter 74: Episode 74: You Get What You Pay For Applies Everywhere

Chapter 74: Episode 74: You Get What You Pay For Applies Everywhere

With money in pocket, who could fear not finding a well-located office space to rent?

As it turned out, Zhou Xueyin had worried too much once again.

Why do they call it “Gold March and Silver April”? After the Spring Festival, it is mostly the time for businesses to renew their leases, and the well-located office spaces were often reserved in advance.

Thinking of renting in May? By then, even with money, one wouldn’t be able to rent a good office space.

Following the building’s salesperson through Dinghao’s annex, Zhou Xueyin looked at several vacant offices. Either the lighting was poor, or the area was impractical, or it faced the toilet or a marketplace; or the previous tenant had left the place in shambles, and it was too much of a hassle to clean up…

Even the slightly more expensive ones had these issues, offering very low value for money…

In the end, picking the best of the worst, Zhou Xueyin chose 3 relatively, comparably cost-effective offices and brought the other three employees to see them as well.

“Yinyin, isn’t there any other option left?” Kang Siyin was dead set against choosing an office right across from the bathrooms.

“At least these three are relatively clean; their floors are all laid out, and although the walls are a bit dated and some of the paint is peeling…” Zhou Xueyin casually touched the wall, her hand coming away dusty… “We can get a cleaner to tidy up, and then we can move our desks in and start working.”

“Exactly, the ones we visited yesterday all needed remodeling, to knock down the partitions. Or they were cluttered with the previous tenant’s junk that wasn’t cleared… Or they were twice as expensive and with worse lighting,” the salesperson chimed in, backing her up.

“Is that so?” Kang Siyin, who was picky about the working environment, looked at Zhou Xueyin for confirmation.

Zhou Xueyin nodded with difficulty: “Who told us to miss the best time to rent an office? Now, having a place to work isn’t too bad…”

“Or… should we wait a bit longer?” Yao Shanshan also felt that having the office door facing the bathroom was less than ideal.

“Ladies, don’t wait, or even this space will be gone. There are current promotions for renting at Dinghao: a discount price of 1,000 yuan per square meter per month. Once the promotion ends, it’ll go up to 5,000 yuan! You all need to think this over carefully,” the salesperson warned them.

It wasn’t so much a scare tactic; what he said was indeed the reality. Dinghao was offering rental discounts to attract tenants in response to the street’s call.

No one knew exactly when this promotion would end; it could really disappear at any moment.

“If you don’t trust your friend here, I can take you to see other offices…” The salesperson was desperate for a deal.

“Let me tell you this, if you really have the money, go rent in the main building! The vacancy rate there is still quite high. Plus, those offices have better lighting and environments. But the basic area is above 50 square meters…” The salesperson continued his pitch as they walked.

“This annex is indeed cheaper, but you’ve seen the hardware for yourselves; it’s just as it is. And there are suitable small meters of 15 and 20 plus square meters, enough for a small company like yours to fit.”

Though this comment was unpleasant to hear—what did he mean by “a small company like yours”? The company was small now, but it would expand, wouldn’t it? It couldn’t always just be these few people, could it?

But they had to admit the salesperson was making sense. With offices over 50 square meters, when would they be full? It really would be a waste of money.

In the end, they all returned to the first office they’d seen. Although its main entrance faced the restrooms, it was the only one with windows. The rest were like sealed cans, never seeing the sunlight all year-round.

“Let’s just settle for this one… Worst case, we move to a better office in six months…” Although the conditions and environment of residential buildings were better than this, it was impossible to recruit staff there or even meet with clients.

After all, an office building was more formal than a residential building.

With no better alternative, the four of them signed a six-month lease.

After a week of cleaning, tidying, and decorating, and after hanging the company’s sign and sticking the company’s logo on the door, they moved in…

Thankfully, there was a reception area by the door and windows in the room. The restroom’s cleaning staff was diligent, and the office’s odor wasn’t as strong as imagined—it was still acceptable for work.

With an official office location settled, the next step was recruitment.

The first to be recruited, as promised, was Curly Cat, real name Liu He, who took on the role of website editor-in-chief, taking full charge of content from then on.

For finances, Zhou Xueyin brought in her childhood friend Wang Anqi, who specialized in accounting, to take charge of their financial power.

Ji Xiaoxi also called over her high school bestie to be the deputy editor and head of recruitment.

With these additions, a reasonably decent company began taking shape.

And since everyone was more or less familiar with each other before, the seven quickly bonded, often eating and shopping together, among other activities.

“Xixi, hand me the recruitment plan. I’ll post the content on the recruitment website. Don’t forget,” Ji Xiaoxi reminded Zhou Xueyin, who was working on the advertising budget.

“Sure!” Zhou Xueyin nodded, asking in the group chat, “Who needs an assistant? Let me know your needs…”

“I need two!” Yao Shanshan was the first to respond.

“I don’t need one for now…” Kang Siyin could handle all of the website’s situations for the time being and seemed not too keen on training newcomers.

“I don’t need one either for the time being. Having Xixi is enough!” Ji Xiaoxi glanced at Ji Xiaoxi.

“I guess I’ll need about three… one for fashion styling, one for makeup, and another for food and forum order,” Liu He estimated roughly.

“Great! Xixi, that’s the list—two designers and three editors.” Zhou Xueyin summed up, “Oh, do we need a receptionist?”

“What do we need a receptionist for? Just to look good?” This was the consensus among them.

“Yes, to look good. Otherwise, the entrance looks so bare. How will interviewees or those coming to talk about advertisements know they’ve come to the right place?” Zhou Xueyin questioned after repeatedly confirming the sign by the door before entering the office.

“Me too…” everyone agreed, indicating that without a familiar face at the door, it was hard to be sure if they were in the right office, even though the company logo was stuck on the door. They would still double-check.

“Then that settles it. Xixi, we need to recruit six people in total, females only! Be sure to make it clear in the requirements that we’re only hiring women!” Zhou Xueyin reiterated the company’s unique feature.

“I got it! I got it!” Ji Xiaoxi nodded, drafting the recruitment rules and conditions for applicants.

Perhaps May was also an off-season for hiring. Once the job ad was posted, only a handful of resumes trickled in daily, mostly from current students looking for internships to secure their diplomas.

“Hello… Are you holding a recruitment here?” A plainly dressed girl with glasses hesitantly peeked out from behind the partition, “I saw the job posting and came directly for the interview… You wouldn’t mind, would you?”