Chapter 96: The First Meeting of the Leadership Team

Chapter 96: The First Meeting of the Leadership Team

Xia Zhiqiu was still in shock.

She had only asked Zhang Chuncheng about work a few days ago.

Zhang Chuncheng had mentioned that they might start a childcare class and would keep an eye out for job opportunities for her if any became available.

She had even thought to herself that it would be great if she could become colleagues with Su Taotao, but she never expected Su Taotao to be so far ahead, already planning to open a factory.

Auntie Zhong nudged her elbow: "Little Xia?"

Xia Zhiqiu looked at her blankly.

Auntie Zhong thought she was unwilling and quickly said, "You hit the jackpot. I waited more than ten years for Director Su, and you just got here and already have such a great opportunity. Don't you want to get a job?"

Xia Zhiqiu quickly waved her hands: "No, no, it's just that I'm a bit surprised. I've only been here for a short while, and Taotao has already started a factory."

Su Taotao got up and placed some coconut candies on the table: "Have a taste."

Auntie Zhong and Xia Zhiqiu didn't hesitate and each took a piece to try.

Su Taotao called Chenchen over and asked him to take Dongdong to wash their hands and then come back to get some candy.

Chenchen finished washing his hands first and ran over with his short legs. Su Taotao wiped his hands dry with a cloth, and Chenchen grabbed a piece of candy, giving the slightly larger one to Dongdong.

He took a bite first: "My mom made this~~ It's so good~~"

Dongdong took a bite, his eyes lighting up: "Delicious!"

"How is it?" Su Taotao asked the two women across from her.

Auntie Zhong said, "In all my years, I've never tasted candy this fragrant. It's crispy, crunchy, and has a strong coconut flavor."

Xia Zhiqiu, being from the north, had never even seen a coconut before coming here.

"The taste is truly unique and very sweet. Is this the product we're going to make?" Xia Zhiqiu was smart, and with Su Taotao's question, she immediately understood her intention.

Su Taotao nodded: "For now, we'll start with this product and get the small workshop running. Once we accumulate enough funds, we'll expand and produce other things."

The base really couldn't allocate much funding in the early stages.

Auntie Zhong sighed: "Little Su, everything you make is delicious. That cake you made last time, our Uncle Mu couldn't stop talking about it. And your family's meals, Uncle Mu can't even walk past your door after school every night without stopping. You have the skills and the brains; this is the perfect fit for you."

Auntie Zhong was full of confidence in Su Taotao.

Su Taotao didn't shy away from the praise and nodded: "I'm just working with what we've got. As they say, 'rely on the mountains to eat from the mountains, rely on the water to eat from the water.' The most abundant things on our island are coconuts and various tropical fruits. Right now, the thing I can think of that requires the least resources and the lowest cost is to make this."

Su Taotao looked at Xia Zhiqiu: "Zhiqiu, what do you think?"

Xia Zhiqiu said, "I think you must be my lucky star. I must have done a lot of good deeds in my past life to have met you in this one."

Su Taotao and she exchanged a smile, understanding each other without words.

It wasn't just her and Xia Zhiqiu; the connection between their two families ran deep.

Fu Zhengtu and Zhang Chuncheng, Dongdong and Chenchen, her and Xia Zhiqiu.

Su Taotao pulled out two handwritten appointment letters from the leather bag.

One was handed to Auntie Zhong, and the other to Xia Zhiqiu.

"These are the appointment letters I prepared for you. Take them back, review them, and let me know if there are any changes needed. We can discuss further."

Both were once again stunned as they looked at the appointment letters handwritten by Su Taotao, feeling a mix of excitement and gratitude.

They both tacitly set them aside for the moment, not looking at them immediately.

Su Taotao continued, "Even though it's referred to as a small workshop, we'll officially register it as a processing factory, and the location will be on the empty lot behind the canteen.

At noon, Fu Zhengtu and I conducted a preliminary site inspection, and this is the preliminary draft of the blueprint."

Su Taotao then took out the blueprint Fu Zhengtu had drawn at noon from the leather bag and placed it in the center of the table:

"The top priorities in food processing are safety and hygiene, so the factory building must not be taken lightly, and the recruited personnel must be healthy and follow standardized operations.

Currently, we have two primary tasks ahead of us: one is the construction of the factory, and the other is personnel recruitment."

When it came to the issue of personnel recruitment, Auntie Zhong's eyebrows twitched slightly. She braced herself and asked, "Little Su, there's something I feel embarrassed to bring up, but could my eldest son come back to participate in the recruitment? I..."

"Of course," Su Taotao nodded. "As long as the family members meet the qualifications, they can participate in the recruitment, and we will select the best candidates. Except for the two of you, who I have specially approved, everyone else will be treated equally. If your eldest son doesn't meet the qualifications, he won't be given special treatment because of your relationship, and the same goes for the opposite."

Auntie Zhong finally felt relieved: "Thank you, Little Su, thank you."

Xia Zhiqiu had said something very true—Su Taotao was not only Xia Zhiqiu's lucky star but also the lucky star of their entire family. They must have done a lot of good in their past lives to have met her.

After looking at the factory blueprint, Xia Zhiqiu said to Su Taotao, "The food factory I used to work at has a batch of decommissioned equipment. I'm not sure if it's suitable, and I don't know if it would be convenient to transport it here."

This time, Su Taotao was the one who was surprised: "Your previous workplace was a food factory?"

Xia Zhiqiu nodded: "I was previously an accountant at the food factory. I'm not very familiar with production, but the decommissioning or scrapping of machines required our approval.

That batch of machines is in good condition; they were decommissioned because the production line was replaced and they were no longer suitable. At the time, we planned to sell them at a low price to a sister factory, but for some reason, the sale didn't go through, and they should still be there."

Xia Zhiqiu was an unexpected surprise for Su Taotao.

Su Taotao only knew that she was a good person, had a dignified appearance, and was a high school graduate, making her more than qualified to be a secretary. She hadn't expected that Xia Zhiqiu had previously been an accountant at a food factory.

Su Taotao thought for a moment and then asked, "What kind of food processing equipment is it? What's the scale?"

Xia Zhiqiu: "Our factory originally processed wedding candies and cakes. When it was first established, it was only a few dozen people, but later it expanded production and replaced the production line, becoming the canned food factory with hundreds of employees it is today."

Wedding candies are hard candies, and coconut candies can also be made as hard candies. In the future, we could even add mango candies or other fruit-based candies.

Handmade candies cater to a different market than machine-made ones, but machine-produced candies also have their own market. Sooner or later, we'll need them.

It depends on whether we have enough funds to buy new equipment or if we'll have to make do with the old ones.

Actually, the processing of hard candies doesn't require much technical expertise, and the production equipment doesn't need to be highly advanced.

Su Taotao smiled: "Zhiqiu, you're my lucky star. We might not need the equipment for now, but we'll definitely need it in the future. Once we stabilize, we'll have to expand production, and we'll have the opportunity to send people to learn production experience."

Xia Zhiqiu also felt reassured that she could be of help to Su Taotao, or rather, to the new factory.

Auntie Zhong felt incredibly lucky. Compared to someone like Xia Zhiqiu, who had both education and experience from a big city factory, she herself didn't have much to offer, and it made her feel a bit insecure.

Her network of relationships quickly came to mind, and she began to think about who among her connections was hardworking, healthy, and could bring value to the factory. She resolved to be extra vigilant and help Su Taotao filter out those who were cunning and lazy.

A little over an hour later, the first meeting of the leadership team concluded successfully and smoothly, with the two capable assistants leaving excitedly with their appointment letters.