If everyone is reborn, who will work for capital?

Chapter 72 Honest Showdown

The next morning, instead of heading straight to the library to study for the exam as usual, Geng Zhi first went to Conference Room 401 in the Science and Technology Park.

Today, a new core employee joined "Jiaotong University Matchmaker," and he still has to attend the morning meeting.

When he pushed open the door to conference room 401, the small conference room was already packed with people, and the office space was clearly insufficient.

In addition to the four veteran employees, Li Haipeng, Sun Xiaowen, Shu Beibei, and Yang Mingxia, there are three new employees:

Zhang Xinxin and Zhao Jie, who were promoted from outstanding volunteers, and Du Yujiao, an administrative supervisor recruited by the new organization.

"Hello, boss!"

As soon as Geng Zhi entered, Zhang Xinxin, Zhao Jie, and Du Yujiao almost reflexively stood up to greet him, their faces showing the awkwardness and excitement of newlyweds.

Li Haipeng and the other three sat calmly, simply smiling and nodding at Geng Zhi, saying "Good morning."

"Please sit down, please sit down. We don't do that here." Geng Zhi smiled and gestured with his hand, then casually pulled up an empty chair and sat down.

After everyone was seated, Geng Zhi first led the way in welcoming the newcomers, and then got straight to the point:

"Our team doesn't follow that seniority-based system. We have a flat organizational structure, focus on practical results, and encourage open and honest communication—that's our culture. Anyone with an idea can just bang on the table."

After speaking frankly, Geng smiled and looked at Zhang Xinxin, Zhao Jie, and Du Yujiao, who all nodded earnestly.

"Okay, let's get efficient and share our recent progress and future plans." Geng Zhi signaled that the meeting was getting down to business.

"I'll go first!" Yang Mingxia always insisted on being the first to speak.

Her straightforward manner made her speak very quickly: "The marketing copy for the campus activities for the next month is all done, the official Weibo account is online and being nurtured. In addition, I've conducted preliminary interviews with five interns, one a marketing major and the other a journalism major who seem promising; the boss will give them the final approval."

Shu Beibei continued, "I've completely outlined the standardized operating procedures (SOPs) for offline events. Next, I'll be working with Xinxin and Zhao Jie to fully implement them, so they can quickly become independent. Also, regarding the interactive elements at the event..."

Seeing that no one objected, Sun Xiaowen continued, "With the help of Hong Zhenbo and Lü Bo, the soul matching model has completed its third iteration, and the accuracy has improved. But the biggest bottleneck now is still that the amount of sample data is too small, not enough to feed the model."

"Don't worry, senior, our sample size will grow exponentially soon," she reassured him with a straightforward tone.

"Really? That's fantastic!" Sun Xiaowen's eyes lit up, her face beaming with pure joy.

Geng Zhi didn't say anything more, only giving Sun Xiaowen an approving look.

This morning meeting wasn't supposed to require any reports from newly hired employees, but Du Yuqiao, the newly joined administrator, still spoke up confidently and naturally:

"Boss, colleagues, I'm new here. Judging from the team size, simple administrative tasks won't take up all my time. If anyone needs any support or coordination, please let me know, and I'll do my best to cooperate."

Geng Zhi was pleased with her proactive attitude and asked, "Yu Jiao, I remember your resume mentioning that you previously worked in HR for a while?"

"Yes, boss. I'm familiar with all the procedures, from recruitment to basic onboarding." Du Yujiao nodded immediately.

"Great. I'm planning to launch a round of external recruitment and need someone reliable to oversee the initial screening and coordination. Can you handle that?"

"No problem, boss!" Du Yujiao replied without hesitation. "Just arrange it, I'll do my best!"

After the previous speakers had finished, Li Haipeng cleared his throat and gave the closing speech.

"Everyone, I have three things to discuss simultaneously. First, the marketing director of Baihe.com contacted me, saying they want to discuss a collaboration with us."

After Li Haipeng finished speaking, he glanced at Geng Zhi, and seeing that Geng Zhi didn't intend to interrupt him, he continued:

"The second thing is that a person who claims to be the publicity director and external liaison producer of Jiangsu Satellite TV, named Lin Zixia, contacted me through public channels and specifically asked to meet with our company's CEO."

He paused, then added, "But she was very tight-lipped. She never revealed her specific purpose on the phone, only emphasizing that she had to talk to the CEO." After saying that, he looked at Geng Zhi with a questioning gaze.

Geng Zhi frowned slightly upon hearing this.

Jiangsu Satellite TV? The "If You Are the One" program team?

He was just planning how to proactively approach the "If You Are the One" program team to ask for a collaboration, but they came to him first?

This level of initiative is somewhat beyond expectations.

But this setup... doesn't seem like they're seeking cooperation. If it were really a good thing, why would a director personally step in, and be so secretive?

Geng Zhi had a feeling that the visitor was up to no good, so he said to Li Haipeng, "President Li, tell her that our CEO has been away for a while, and you can represent the company to talk to her first."

"Boss, what if she insists on seeing the CEO?" Li Haipeng asked.

"Then let's not talk about it," Geng Zhi said decisively.

Li Haipeng paused for a moment, then nodded emphatically: "Understood!"

He then proceeded to discuss the third point, his tone noticeably more enthusiastic:

"Thirdly, our 'Jiaotong University Matchmaker' has already made a name for itself in Shanghai's university circles! According to our established strategy, the next step is to target Shanghai's white-collar market, paving the way for future cross-city expansion!"

He mimicked Geng Zhi's usual manner, glancing around with a somewhat commanding air:

"I have initially shortlisted a group of target companies, including Huawei, Ping An Insurance, Baidu, Ctrip, and major financial institutions..."

"Next, we will build a real BD (Business Development) team and launch customized networking services for businesses! This will be a crucial step for us as we move from campus to the professional world and from consumers (C-end) to businesses (B-end)!"

This was the roadmap that Geng Zhi had agreed upon with him earlier, and now Li Haipeng was speaking of it with the excitement of a dream coming true.

For Li Haipeng, who came from a sales background and had always longed to lead a formidable team, this day was one he had waited far too long.

He spoke with great emotion, and Shu Beibei, Yang Mingxia, and others were also deeply moved.

In just over a month, the team went from nothing to something, from being popular on campus to becoming popular outside of campus, and now it is about to enter a broader market. This feeling of "super-fast growth" makes everyone's adrenaline surge.

Geng Zhi looked at the excited crowd, pursed his lips slightly, but quickly returned to normal.

"Seeing everyone's enthusiasm is excellent." Geng Zhi continued to boost morale. "I also have some good news to share: the development momentum of our 'Jiaotong University Matchmaker' is not only felt by ourselves, but also by external capital."

He paused briefly, giving everyone a few seconds to process what he had said, before continuing:

"Recently, a well-known investment institution with a strong background has contacted us and expressed a clear intention to invest."

"Wow—!" Shu Beibei and Yang Mingxia exclaimed almost simultaneously.

Immediately afterwards, enthusiastic and sustained applause erupted in the small 401 conference room, and the three newlyweds were so excited that their cheeks turned red.

The favor of investors is the most solid recognition of all the team's past efforts.

"This is the result of everyone's hard work, through countless events and late nights of overtime!" Geng Zhi raised his voice. "But this is just the beginning! Let's keep going and work together to take 'Jiaotong University Matchmakers' out of Shanghai and onto the whole country!"

"come on!!"

Once the excited atmosphere in the meeting room had calmed down a bit, Geng Zhi stood up and patted Li Haipeng on the shoulder, who was still immersed in excitement.

"Mr. Li, come here for a moment, let's have a private chat." Geng Zhi's tone had completely returned to calm.

He was ready to confront Li Haipeng.