Chapter 184 - 121: After All, This World Is Full of ’Good People

Chapter 184: Chapter 121: After All, This World Is Full of ’Good People

The next morning, as soon as Zhang Lin arrived at the farm, he saw two people in police uniforms on patrol.

The two officers had batons and walkie-talkies clipped to their belts.

He recognized them as tourism police by the extra insignia on their sleeves, which set their uniforms apart from the standard issue.

’I didn’t expect the county to move so fast. Tourism police are already stationed at the farm this morning.’

’This is a good thing.’

’If any troublemaking tourists showed up, our security guards wouldn’t really know how to handle them. And if they handled it poorly, the tourists might even turn around and sue us. You really do find all sorts of people these days.’

Not long after he entered his office, Zhong Miaoying came in with a few documents. "President Zhang, these are two documents from the Operations and HR departments. They need your signature. I’ve already printed them out. Once you’ve signed them, I’ll take them to both departments."

"Give me the documents," Zhang Lin said with a nod. This was part of a secretary’s job, after all.

Previously, the Operations and HR departments had to come to him in person for everything, and when things got busy, there wasn’t always a convenient time to meet.

Now things were much simpler. The two departments could just send any files to Zhong Miaoying, who would then print them for his signature. Once signed, she would deliver them to the respective departments.

Zhang Lin looked over the two documents. One was a request from Lin Muxue for 500,000 yuan in operating funds, which would naturally be used for the moisturizing cream’s marketing campaign.

Once they launched the moisturizing cream online, the plan was to find some "helpful" bloggers to trash-talk the product and create a buzz. Then, once the negative sentiment reached its peak, they would orchestrate a dramatic reversal. This would leave a much stronger impression on the public and help forge the brand’s identity.

Making a memorable impression on the public was the best way to build a brand.

That way, once the farm had more specialty products, they could even spin off a subsidiary.

Of course, the prerequisite was that this campaign had to be executed perfectly.

But there weren’t necessarily that many "helpful" bloggers online, so they would have to pay to find some.

He was the one who had proposed this strategy last night.

So, Zhang Lin signed off on the funds Lin Muxue had requested without hesitation.

Next was the document from the HR department, which concerned employee benefits.

It outlined two things. First, the HR department had decided to distribute these benefits on the 5th of every month, meaning the first distribution would be the day after tomorrow.

With so many employees now, it was time to formalize this process.

The term for these benefits, `laobao`, could mean two things. The first is personal protective equipment for use during work. The second is a stipend for work-related necessities, a kind of welfare benefit that, while not large, is very popular with rank-and-file employees.

It was also stipulated by national law.

Companies could fulfill this monthly requirement by providing employees with things like shopping vouchers, health subsidies, living stipends, or even fitness equipment.

In office-based industries, shopping vouchers were common. The company would distribute them to employees, who could then use them at designated businesses.

Health subsidies were another common option. These could be used for regular check-ups or health supplements, subsidizing a portion of an employee’s medical costs to ensure their well-being.

However, in work environments like factories and farms, providing daily necessities was more typical—things like towels, laundry detergent, toilet paper, shampoo, toothpaste, and so on.

For this month’s distribution, Lin Mengyao planned to give out two bottles of laundry detergent, a bag of dried fruit, and a pack of tissues, totaling about 50 yuan in value.

Naturally, the items distributed each month would vary. He didn’t want to be like some companies that, for convenience’s sake, just handed out toothpaste and toothbrushes every month. Employees would end up with a huge, unused pile by the time they resigned.

Seeing this, Zhang Lin signed the document and had Zhong Miaoying deliver it to the two departments.

When Zhong Miaoying returned, she reported, "President Zhang, HR has scheduled interviews with a few accounting applicants for three days from now. They wanted to confirm your availability!"

"Three days from now is fine," Zhang Lin nodded.

’An accountant is an unavoidable position for any company. If he didn’t absolutely have to, he really wouldn’t want to hire one so soon.’

’Once an accountant was on board, he wouldn’t be able to use the farm’s funds so flexibly, even though he owned 100% of the shares.’

’Take buying this Mercedes S-Class, for example. Without an accountant, he could just transfer the money directly from the farm’s accounts. When a business is small and doesn’t have an accountant, all owners do it this way. As long as you pay your taxes in full, if anyone comes asking questions, you can usually talk your way through it.’

’But with an accountant, it’s a different story. To buy the same Mercedes S-Class, you’d have to at least file paperwork justifying it as a necessary company car and register it under the company’s name. The alternative would be to issue a dividend first, transfer the money to a personal account, and then buy the car. Or, he would have to formally borrow the money from the farm and repay it when dividends were distributed.’

’That’s right. Sometimes, even a 100% shareholder has to borrow money from their own company.’

’It’s such a hassle!’

’And that’s even if you pay all your taxes in full.’

’It’s called procedure. It’s what the laws and regulations require.’

’But if he didn’t hire an accountant, once the company reached a certain size, who would handle all the financial statements, tax calculations, and manage the employees’ social security contributions and tax filings?’

’And Li Yuan Farm had now reached that size.’

As Zhong Miaoying took out her phone to reply to Lin Mengyao, Zhang Zhao appeared outside the office with another person and knocked on the door.

He was with a man who looked to be in his late thirties.

"Zhao, come in and have a seat!" Zhang Lin immediately stood up to greet them. As Zhong Miaoying put her phone away, he instructed her, "Miaoying, please make some tea!"