Chapter 107: Chapter 105: Little Pills

Once this startup team was mature, he would model its management and implementation on Huawei’s corporate structure.

He would keep 70% of the shares for himself and dedicate 20% of the annual profits to domestic charities.

An employee trust would be established to manage the remaining 10% of the shares, directly implementing full employee ownership.

This way, employee compensation would consist of three parts.

First, their regular salaries.

Second, annual profit-sharing.

And third, once the company went public, the appreciation of their stock value.

Of course, the employees would hold virtual shares, granting them rights to profit-sharing but not voting rights.

Gao Yuan would remain the company’s de facto controller.

He wouldn’t reveal this idea just yet. It could wait until after he had completely weathered the coming siege from the major foreign brands.

During that phase, it wouldn’t just be him facing pressure from all sides; the employees would face it too. Those who remained would be the ones truly committed to building this business with him.

Besides, Gao Yuan had no intention of relying solely on the system. He planned to build upon its foundation with his own research and development, constantly innovating and releasing new products.

Moreover,

he had a premonition that a massive storm was on the horizon.

Even some domestic skincare brands would likely join the fray to crush him.

Gao Yuan wasn’t sure if the authorities would step in to protect him, so before this skincare war fully erupted, he had to be capable of protecting himself.

The most reliable solution, of course, would be a system reward that granted him an ability sufficient to save his own hide.

But there was no telling how many quests he’d have to grind to get something like that. He couldn’t pin all his hopes on the system; he had to have a backup plan.

But that was all a matter for the future.

For now, the most important thing was to assemble his team.

"Sister Sun, don’t worry!"

"I just want to give it a try. I’m still holding all the cards, so if I want to make adjustments, it’ll be a piece of cake."

Gao Yuan naturally saw Sun Qiang’s astonished expression, but he didn’t want to overexplain. Paths are forged by those who walk them. Once enough people tread the same way, it becomes a well-paved road.

He reached into the back seat, grabbed a Helena skincare set, and handed it to Sun Qiang.

"With our history, you really don’t have to be so formal!"

Sun Qiang took the skincare set from Gao Yuan, a smile so broad that the crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes all bunched together.

As the saying goes, you can never be too courteous.

Even if Gao Yuan had come empty-handed, Sun Qiang would have likely agreed to help him organize his team.

But with this skincare set, she would put in even more effort.

While she might not treat the matter as her own, she would at least give it her all and be his biggest cheerleader every step of the way.

"Since I’m getting into the skincare business, I wanted to get Sister Sun’s opinion on a competitor’s product first."

"I’m just a guy, I don’t have any experience with this stuff!"

Hearing this, Sister Sun felt a little dazed all over again.

"You’re benchmarking your product against Helena?"

"That’s right! Is there a problem with that?"

Sun Qiang couldn’t tell if Gao Yuan was genuinely clueless or just playing dumb.

’He was an e-commerce director for so many years. How could he not know Helena’s standing in the world of skincare?’

’Entering the domestic skincare market was certainly a viable path.’

’You could just start a price war, targeting other domestic brands.’

’Or you could just buy a foreign trademark, create a compelling brand story, and claim it’s a niche international brand.’

’But to go after Helena right from the start? That’s no different than Cinderella challenging the queen to a duel.’

Seeing Sun Qiang’s expression, Gao Yuan knew it was too much to expect anyone to believe in him blindly.

’Thankfully, even the system’s "ordinary" skincare formula was superior to those of the major brands.’

’Otherwise, his entrepreneurial journey would have started on nightmare difficulty.’

"I have a secret skincare formula, and the product it makes is every bit as good as Helena."

"As for the price... it’ll be just one-tenth of theirs."

Gao Yuan’s claim suddenly reminded Sun Qiang of a short video she had scrolled past on TikTok.

The video was about a woman in a lab who was making her own "Black Bandage" cream from a recipe.

"Your secret formula wasn’t reverse-engineered from a Helena product, was it?"

"Those things are unreliable. They might look the same, but they’re completely different products."

"And even if it were the same, you couldn’t mass-produce it. You’d be sued."

"..."

What Sun Qiang had rattled on about actually made a lot of sense.

But none of it applied to Gao Yuan’s situation. His formula was a system reward, and it came with both domestic and international patents.

It wasn’t a copy or an imitation.

Although Sun Qiang was only saying all this for his own good, Gao Yuan still cut her off. "Sister Sun, my formula was independently developed. I have the patent certificates."

An embarrassed look flickered across Sun Qiang’s face.

’I can’t believe I went on for so long, only to find out his venture is completely legitimate and above board.’

"Well, in that case, there’s no problem."

She said as much, but deep down, she was still skeptical of Gao Yuan.

To be precise, she didn’t believe in the secret skincare formula he mentioned.

’If it were that easy to achieve, would the domestic skincare market still be getting squeezed into a smaller and smaller corner?’

But none of that was important. It certainly didn’t stop her from accepting the skincare set Gao Yuan had given her.

As for the skincare product Gao Yuan was going to produce, she had no intention of trying it.

Perhaps when he actually made a name for himself, then she would give it a try.

The two chatted for a bit longer in the car before Gao Yuan sent Sun Qiang a list of names via WeChat.

The people on the list were ones he had handpicked. He needed Sun Qiang to sound them out for him; if possible, he hoped to bring them on board.

"President Gao, rest assured."

"I’ll get the job done!"

...

After saying goodbye to Sister Sun, Gao Yuan drove straight to Jiangnanli.

He was back from Xudu City, and with Lin Wanyu’s mother having injured herself in a fall, it was only right for him to pay a visit.

Besides, he hadn’t seen Lin Wanyu in several days and was starting to miss her.

He didn’t plan on buying any expensive nutritional supplements; stopping by the fruit market near Jiangnanli to pick up a fruit basket would be sufficient.

Given his current status as the second-largest shareholder of the Lin Group, he could have shown up empty-handed without issue.

But it was still important to observe basic courtesies.

The gift itself was secondary; the sentiment behind it was what mattered most.

Just as Gao Yuan had this thought, the system issued a new quest.

[Ding! Quest Chain "Charming Uncle - Healer’s Sacred Touch" has begun.]

[Quest]: Earn the approval of Lin Wanyu’s mother once again.

[Reward 1]: Restoration Pills x10.

[Reward 2]: 5 EXP.

[Note: Has a significant restorative effect on physical injuries and provides a minor boost to bodily functions.]

This quest was a timely blessing for Gao Yuan.

The system was being quite generous, too, rewarding him with ten pills all at once.

If used correctly, these things could grant him a great deal of intangible influence.

Take Lin Wanyu’s mother’s injury, for example. A healthy person who can move about freely can never truly understand the misery of being bedridden. But once injured and confined to a bed, unable to move, the experience is agonizing.

In a situation like this, helping Lin Wanyu’s mother recover faster would be like providing a lifeline in a desperate time.

Moreover, when it came to matters of physical health and recovery, there wasn’t a single person who didn’t take it seriously.

Any normal person, regardless of their power or wealth, would treat a doctor who could cure their illness with exceptional respect.

They would even become as obedient as a first-grader in front of their teacher.

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