Big Data Cultivation

Both of them advanced in their cultivation? Zhang Caixin received the news and felt the pressure was immense.

She always said she wanted to surpass Feng Jun, but she knew in her heart that it would be enough to not fall too far behind him.

In the past, she wasn't convinced and tried to chase like crazy, but no matter what, she couldn't catch up. Some people are just born to outshine others.

But this Yu Qingzhu… really progressed a bit too fast. In just half a month, she advanced from beginner to the third level of Transformation.

Zhang Caixin remembered that in the early stages of her cultivation, her progress was also fast, but Yu Qingzhu's speed still gave her a lot of pressure—I am destined to be the second-in-command of the manor after all.

So she devoted herself to cultivation even more.

When Feng Jun finished his seclusion, he found that apart from the two protectors, everyone else was seriously cultivating. The entire manor was quiet. Looking at everyone's situation, he felt gratified, yet also somewhat troubled: Obviously, there are so many people, yet no one to do the work?

Let's leave it at that for now, Feng Jun was also a bit helpless; recruiting wasn't possible.

If he recruited more, as they stayed longer, they would also start pursuing cultivation. Could Feng Jun refuse?

If this cycle continued, the manor would not only need more Spirit Gathering Arrays, but Feng Jun might not be able to sustain it all.

As he was pondering this, an idle person came over—not entirely idle, Li Shishi had just returned from the care center.

"Huh, in broad daylight, you're not cultivating?"

"I wish I could cultivate," Li Shishi replied gloomily. "There was a cancer patient who said a worm crawled out of her mouth and asked for insecticide. The nurse didn't give it, and it turned into a fuss."

Gu Insect treatment for cancer isn't foolproof; some slip-ups are inevitable, and Hua Hua didn't have a great solution either.

Feng Jun laughed, "Well, you've worked hard. As the legal representative, you have to endure a bit more."

Li Shishi's eyes twinkled; she was feeling the pressure too. Yu Qingzhu had already reached the third level of Transformation like her, and soon she'd be at the bottom again. "Boss, now Steward Gao isn't managing anymore, he's busy cultivating every day. It's so unfriendly to me… I'm still a kid, you know."

"In ancient times, you'd already have had five kids," Feng Jun gave her a glance, "You don't hold shares in the care center, but you do have management dividends, so why complain?"

"But I'm still handling the manor's affairs," Li Shishi began to argue. "Steward Gao used to help, but now he's withdrawn. He won't come out unless called; it's not working out."

Feng Jun glanced at her again, "If you have any ideas, just say them—stop beating around the bush."

Li Shishi spoke her mind immediately, "Boss, I think we need to recruit more people."

Feng Jun snorted in irritation, "Do you think you can just sit back and relax now?"

Li Shishi used to be afraid of him, but not so much anymore. She spoke with a smile, "Boss, the loyalty of us veteran employees has been proven. Achieving cultivation breakthroughs sooner allows us to better help you solve problems."

"Isn't that nonsense?" Feng Jun replied with an amused frustration, "When new employees become old employees, they will also have cultivation needs. Don't you think… I can afford it? Maybe I should cut your benefits?"

"Boss, you're overthinking it," Li Shishi responded seriously, "You don't understand management."

Feng Jun almost burst out laughing, "Oh, I don't understand management, and you do? My dual degrees must be fake then… Fine, go ahead, I'm all ears."

Li Shishi was clearly flustered but continued to explain, "I'm not saying you don't understand management, but this Luohua… shouldn't be managed with your modern management mindset. Just ask yourself, is our Luohua a company?"

Feng Jun thought about it and vaguely understood something. He was someone who valued face but had the advantage of being open to others' suggestions—especially in private, there's no issue at all, "Hmm, you're right, it's not a company. I'm just a tree planter; go on."

The more courteous he was, the more nervous Li Shishi became, but she still expressed her thoughts, "So, we shouldn't recruit publicly from society…"

Then she continued nonstop, "Let our own people at Luohua make recommendations. Family and friends can come, but when they can cultivate isn't up to them. The introducer is responsible for sorting these things out, and finally… you make the decision, boss."

"Huh?" Feng Jun's eyes lit up, "This… is actually worth considering."

"That's a good idea," a voice sounded behind Feng Jun.

Feng Jun turned to look; wow, it was another idle person—Yang Yuxin's cultivation was currently the laziest in Luohua, no doubt about it.

Director Yang wasn't the type to give up on cultivation; it was just that her status and age made it awkward to continuously cultivate with everyone—Even if I lose face, my daughter has to keep hers, and Feng Jun has to keep his.

Now when she cultivated, it was usually at the third Spirit Gathering Array. She might not be able to hide it from others, but she could play ostrich. In fact, she was the only one who dared to cultivate there so boldly.

However, in recent days, Feng Jun chose to advance his level there, leaving her with nowhere to cultivate.

Seeing Feng Jun come out of seclusion, she walked out of the house and happened to hear Li Shishi's words, "Our Luohua is essentially a closed-loop system, there's no need for external recruitment, we can tap into internal potential."

Feng Jun thought about it and acknowledged the reasoning, but he also had concerns, "Is this… planning to stage a family drama?"

Introducing people through internal connections can easily breed malpractices, and it could also lead to factional conflicts.

There are only so many resources; everyone wants a bigger share, what if they can't get it? They form cliques.

"It's not as complicated as you think," Yang Yuxin answered with a smile, "Each family takes care of its own relatives and friends, you just need to manage the current people, why worry about how they coordinate internally?"

"Even for cultivation resources, you don't need to provide them… If someone can't afford them, let their relatives complain, it's not your problem."

Hmm… This was indeed reasonable. Feng Jun found the suggestion very logical; it could encourage the current disciples to strive and progress. However, he still had doubts, "Could it lead to a situation that's hard to control?"

Yang Yuxin couldn't help but look at him with a smile, "With you around, who would dare be uncontrollable?"

What if I'm not around? Feng Jun couldn't help but want to ask this, but he restrained himself—everyone was discussing an operational model for a group, not something as immutable as an empire.

He frowned as he spoke, "Then, there might be a phenomenon of forming cliques."

"No party outside the party, the emperor's thought; no faction inside the party, countless oddities," Yang Yuxin recited a sixteen-character maxim right off the bat.

Then she asked aloud, "Take me as an example, I believe I've achieved today's success because of my competence, but… do you think so too? Do others think so too?"

Feng Jun was taken aback for a moment before giving her a thumbs-up, "Director Yang, you're brave at self-deprecation, I admire you!"

"Whether I'm self-deprecating or not, you know in your heart," Yang Yuxin said with a nonchalant smile, "There's no need to over-interpret nepotism, it exists because it's rational… It's common not just in Huaxia, but also in the West."

She spoke animatedly, "Small families, clans… the existence of these social groups has necessary and positive social significance. The most basic self-protection units are clans and families. This enhances people's ability to resist risks. That's why Huaxia, as Huaxia, has endured—because we value family more than others."

"Uh… Director Yang, could you slow down a bit? Can't keep up nutritionally," Feng Jun said with a wry smile, "I only want to manage a manor, not an entire nation."

"If you can't clean your own house, how can you sweep the world?" Yang Yuxin glanced at him with a half-smile, "I think a family-style management is suitable for this manor… You don't think the professional manager management style is more suitable, do you?"

Feng Jun, having spent time in Yangcheng, said, "Professional manager? Haha."

We won't go into details here; in short, professional managers essentially target family businesses, while in state-owned enterprises, those leaders are all professional managers.

The advantage of professional managers is their high professional level, preventing the emergence of wastrels within the family, or incapable descendants from ruining the family business—hire a capable person, pay a bit more salary or even bonuses, wouldn't everyone enjoy the fruits of labor?

But the key problem is, who guarantees the ethics of professional managers?

What if the family business becomes someone else's family business?

Yang Yuxin could ask this question because she understood this point. Seeing his awkward smile, she nodded slightly, "Seems like you don't have any biases against family-style management."

The drawbacks of family-style management are indeed many; that's also why many businesses emphasize they are not family businesses.

This tests the ability and quality of the successors too much, and within the family, it's easy to have all sorts of trivial matters, making it hard to discern who's right—an honest official finds it difficult to settle family disputes.

But no matter how many drawbacks family-style management has, it must be acknowledged, loyalty is high.

Feng Jun thought for a while and spoke thoughtfully, "Seems like it's time to issue some benefits to everyone?"

"Benefits shouldn't be distributed randomly," Yang Yuxin stated straightforwardly, "Friends and relatives of Li Shishi shouldn't be introduced."

Upon hearing this, Li Shishi instantly exploded. She had a girlfriend in the village with whom she got along well, who had always wanted to work at Luohua.

She previously arranged for a group of villagers to work at Luohua, currently planting trees and raising chickens at Luohua, earning a base salary of eight thousand a month, which gave her quite a reputation in the village.

Her girlfriend graduated from high school, then went out to work. This year she returned, tearfully saying she couldn't make money in the South. She suggested, Shi Shi, could you help me find a job locally?

Li Shishi felt it was her duty, so she mentioned it to Feng Jun—she believed she wasn't wrong in her thinking.

Though she had always revered Director Yang, she had no way out at this moment, so she unhesitatingly retorted, "Director Yang, if my friend can't come, have I done something wrong?"

(The third chapter is out, calling for monthly votes.)