Chapter 521 - 287: I Wouldn’t Trade It, Not Even to Be an Immortal

As the end of the year drew near, Shengxuan Group held a ’small’ annual meeting.

Though it was called ’small,’ the number of invited employees still exceeded ten thousand.

And that was after Qi Sheng had the heads of each subsidiary limit the number of attendees, selecting only employees with outstanding performance.

Otherwise, given the sheer size of Shengxuan Group...

...even the largest stadium in Chengdu might not have been able to hold everyone.

Banyan Tree Group, Universal Entertainment, Pop Mart, Spicy King, Zhuangyu Catering, Shengxuan Decoration, and Shengxuan Property.

As for Prada, Qi Sheng held a controlling stake remotely through a shell company under his name, so it wasn’t listed as a Shengxuan Group subsidiary.

Until he saw them all listed out, even Qi Sheng was taken aback by just how many companies he owned.

Spicy King, in particular, was a labor-intensive restaurant company.

It now had over 245 locations nationwide.

On average, each location employed no fewer than 200 staff members.

Spicy King alone accounted for a workforce of 50,000 people.

Government officials at all levels frequently came to visit and offer praise.

Frankly, the situation was a bit awkward.

Chengdu, the provincial capital, still didn’t have a single company with a market capitalization over a hundred billion.

The two major liquor giants in all of Sichuan Province with hundred-billion-plus market caps...

...Luzhou Lao Jiao and Wuliangye, were both pillar industries for their respective prefecture-level cities.

With Spicy King’s valuation skyrocketing and its IPO guaranteed to break the hundred-billion mark...

...the local officials couldn’t just sit back and watch. They began making frequent visits for inspections and symposiums.

They practically threw all sorts of tax incentives at the company, terrified that Spicy King would relocate.

Yuan Li, for her part, didn’t hesitate to accept. After all, they had earned these incentives.

And it wasn’t as if other municipal governments weren’t offering even more generous terms than Chengdu.

Hangzhou, for instance, had sent numerous invitations to Yuan Li.

Shengxuan Group’s annual meeting was a high-profile affair.

After a lengthy selection process, the Chengdu Performing Arts Center was ultimately chosen as the venue for Shengxuan Group’s annual meeting.

The venue was the perfect size, with a capacity of 12,000 people.

It wasn’t as if they were gathering every single employee from the entire group, after all.

A venue of this size was already incredibly extravagant.

Every employee invited to the annual meeting got a taste of just how rich and powerful the corporation was.

The group had directly chartered multiple planes from Jixiang Airlines to fly employees in for the event.

Given Qi Sheng’s relationship with Wang Han, a small favor like this was no problem at all.

Besides, it was a chance for Jixiang Airlines to make a tidy profit on the side.

As the Young Master of Jixiang Airlines, Wang Han had also come to join the festivities, bringing Fu Songyang and their friends along.

The entire annual meeting was being live-streamed on Bilibili.

Even employees who couldn’t attend could simply search for the official channel on Bilibili and watch the entire celebration live.

With its founder, Xu Yi, helping to coordinate, Bilibili had also sent a large team to set up the streaming equipment.

"An event this massive, and you, the chairman, aren’t even going to make an appearance?"

Wang Han asked, curious to see Qi Sheng sitting so casually with them.

"There’s no need. I’m perfectly content to run the company from behind the scenes."

Qi Sheng had no intention of being a public figure like Leizi or Old Ma.

Their identities were deeply intertwined with their companies.

They had essentially become symbols of their companies.

Among all the internet tycoons, the one Qi Sheng admired most was Huang Zheng.

Just as his net worth was soaring, he knew when to quit while he was ahead.

He lowered his public profile and quietly raked in a fortune.

Besides, Qi Sheng had a system that provided him with unflinchingly loyal talent.

He never had to worry about them lining their own pockets behind his back.

Besides, he was a magnate now.

Why would he get his own hands dirty? It would be beneath him.

"Where did you find this professional manager? I’ve never heard of him."

Wang Han said, looking at the invitation in his hand, which contained a brief overview of Shengxuan Group.

The most eye-catching name on it was undoubtedly the CEO, Lü Wei.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Shengxuan Group was an absolute behemoth.

It was just that many of its companies had long since been spun off as independent entities.

That was why Shengxuan Group itself wasn’t a household name.

"It doesn’t matter if you haven’t heard of him yet. You will," Qi Sheng said, his confident tone leaving Wang Han a little baffled.

Lü Wei had been created by synthesizing two Grandmaster Level Talent Cards.

His corporate management abilities were already at the Perfect Level.

In Qi Sheng’s plans, he and Shen Wan would become his right and left-hand men.

They would help him manage trillions in assets—and that’s in US Dollars.

Although his current assets hadn’t yet reached that scale...

...with his companies continuing to grow, it was only a matter of time before his assets surpassed a trillion US Dollars.

Spicy King alone was projected to be worth more than a hundred billion US Dollars in the future.

As the employees attending the annual meeting gradually took their seats, Lü Wei, standing on stage, began to deliver a speech on behalf of Qi Sheng.

"Thank you, Chairman Qi, for giving me this opportunity to welcome all of our leaders and employees on his behalf..."

Lü Wei was an excellent orator.

He could make even the driest speech engaging, cracking jokes here and there that sent the employees into fits of laughter.

"This guy you’ve got is a real silver-tongue. He should be a comedian," Wang Han chuckled, nudging Qi Sheng’s shoulder in jest.

"I couldn’t bear to let him go," Qi Sheng said with a smile as he applauded, not the least bit surprised by Lü Wei’s performance.

’As a Perfect Level talent, it would be a gross underestimation to think corporate management was his only skill.’

The dedicated Bilibili live stream for Shengxuan Group also attracted plenty of curious onlookers just there for the show.

"Damn, big corporations are on another level. This venue is huge! But I’ve never even heard of Shengxuan Group. Are they famous or something?"

"I’m from Chengdu. Don’t let the group’s low profile fool you. Its subsidiaries are all ridiculously profitable—Spicy King, Universal Entertainment, Pop Mart... Add them all together, and the market cap has to be in the hundreds of billions."