The twenty-sixth of the twelfth lunar month, only three days left until the New Year.
Qin Chuan returned to his electronics factory at noon.
With the New Year approaching, there were too many matters to attend to. He had originally wanted to stay in the provincial capital with Teacher Yang for a few more days, but he simply had no free time.
The accounts for the real estate project needed to be settled, along with worker wages, material costs, and bank loans.
The same applied to the Yaohui Decoration Company.
As soon as Qin Chuan returned, he was busy rushing between the two.
Meetings, year-end summaries, plans for the coming year, purchasing New Year's gifts, and so on.
With the New Year so close, every family needed money. Qin Chuan, born into poverty, understood the hardships of ordinary people too well. Many families relied solely on the money they received at the end of the year to get through the New Year.
Therefore, Qin Chuan issued a strict command: regardless of whether his own units were making a profit or a loss, workers' wages, bonuses, and gifts must not be delayed. Any discovery of such delays would be dealt with severely.
The twenty-seventh of the twelfth lunar month, only two days left until the New Year.
Many businesses and factories had already started their holiday breaks.
Qin Chuan drove to Xinhua Electronics Factory early in the morning. He had been busy elsewhere yesterday and hadn't visited this place.
He saw many workers sitting outside on large stones, basking in the sun, listless. Some were even cracking melon seeds. The entire electronics factory had a somewhat negative atmosphere, completely lacking the passion and vitality of previous times.
Qin Chuan knew this was because the machines at the electronics factory had stopped operating, and the reason was simple: they had run out of money!
Not long ago, to expand production, the machines had been running twenty-four hours a day with workers on three shifts. Even the stored materials had been used up.
Several days ago, the workers had already been sent home to rest. Everyone was waiting for a result, which was the advertising effect.
It could be said that Xinhua Electronics Factory's current move was a desperate gamble. If successful, they would soar to prosperity and make a complete turnaround.
But if it failed, half of their assets would be lost, and everything would have to start from scratch.
Not only were the workers at the bottom waiting for this, but so were those in higher positions.
However, in the past few days, the so-called advertising effect had not yielded the expected results, which had dampened the enthusiasm of many.
This had caused a sense of anxiety, negativity, and idleness throughout the electronics factory.
There were even rumors that Xinhua Electronics Factory was cursed, a place under a spell.
Any boss who operated or took over Xinhua Electronics Factory would not have a good outcome; failure was almost a certainty.
Qin Chuan drove slowly past. Seeing the factory he had invested the most energy in in such a state, his brows furrowed tightly. This situation was not a good sign.
For the past two days, he had been busy celebrating his two girlfriends' birthdays. He hadn't gone to the electronics factory after returning yesterday. Those under him, not knowing the reason, had not reported the situation of the franchise department to him.
Parking the car below the office building, Qin Chuan got out and headed straight for the franchise department.
He needed to understand the latest situation of the franchise department. It wouldn't still be like the previous few days, only receiving a few consultation calls a day, would it?
If that were the case, let alone others, even he would have to ponder carefully which part had gone wrong.
Qin Chuan arrived outside the franchise department office. Before even entering, he noticed a crowd of people standing at the entrance, all craning their necks to look inside.
"What's going on?"
"Why are there so many people at the franchise department?"
Qin Chuan's heart pounded, and he strode over.
Inside, as he had expected, it was indeed crowded. The small office was packed, with everyone gathered around the two receptionists at the office desk.
Qin Chuan's sudden appearance startled everyone. They all showed nervous expressions and greeted their boss.
"What are you all doing? Why are so many people gathered here?"
Qin Chuan frowned.
"Boss, we are witnessing history for our electronics factory with our own eyes!"
A young man saw his boss and quickly said excitedly.
Despite the heating in the room, it was a cold winter day, and the temperature was just so-so. Sweat was still beading on his forehead, and he exuded an agitated mood.
"What history?"
Qin Chuan was completely baffled, his face full of confusion.
"Boss, don't you know? The phones at our franchise department have been almost ringing off the hook these past two days!"
As Qin Chuan was lost and confused, another employee said excitedly, "So many people are calling to inquire about franchising!"
"We were all idle, so we gathered here to see for ourselves how many calls the franchise department would receive today!"
Hearing the employee's words, a barely suppressed excitement flickered in the depths of Qin Chuan's dark, inky eyes.
"How many consultation calls did the franchise department receive yesterday?"
Fortunately, Qin Chuan had strong self-control and quickly managed the surge of excitement within him. He asked calmly.
This time, a receptionist who had just hung up the phone stood up immediately and said quickly, "Boss, we received one hundred and twenty calls yesterday."
"Look, this is the information of all the people who have inquired about our products that we have recorded over the past few days."
Qin Chuan took it and quickly opened it.
It indeed contained the information of all inquiring personnel since the advertisement began airing.
On the first day, only three calls came in, from Modu, Qiongzhou, and Rongcheng.
The second day there were eight. Subsequently, there was detailed information such as the city, phone number, and name of each person.
The third day, which was the twenty-fourth of the twelfth lunar month, Qin Chuan was busy celebrating Li Ya's birthday and didn't pay attention.
Unexpectedly, the consultation calls surged to fifteen, which was not a small number.
After all, this was about franchising, not retail.
The fourth day, the twenty-fifth of the twelfth lunar month, Qin Chuan went to celebrate Teacher Yang's birthday in the provincial capital. The number of people inquiring on this day surged, directly reaching fifty-four.
The table recorded two full pages of information.
The fifth day, which was yesterday, the number of people inquiring about franchising increased again, doubling to one hundred and twenty-one!
This number completely exceeded Qin Chuan's expectations. Looking at the densely packed information about each person, it covered almost every corner of the country, north and south, from all regions.
Qin Chuan's slight gloom, which had arisen from seeing the workers' passive attitude upon his arrival, was immediately blown away by the wind, replaced by an unprecedented excitement and thrill.
This was simply the best news he had received recently, making him happier than successfully conquering Teacher Yang's granary.
"How many calls have we received today?"
Qin Chuan asked.
It was only eight-thirty in the morning, and only half an hour had passed since work began.
"Boss, we've already received ten calls!"
The receptionist said quickly, her pretty face also full of excitement.
Qin Chuan's heart skipped a beat, and he clenched his fist subtly.
There were two reception phones and three receptionists in the franchise department.
With two phones, ten calls were handled in half an hour, averaging one call every six minutes, which was an astonishing number!