On a late autumn afternoon in Beijing, the sun still shone brightly. Murong Feng sat leisurely by a window at Starbucks. His hot latte was already half gone. Surrounded by expatriates, business professionals in suits, and many fashionable women, all conversing in either Chinese, Taiwanese-accented Mandarin, or English, he was dressed in fine casual wear and was engaged in an enthusiastic conversation.
Located in the bustling foreign business district of East Beijing, FengLian Plaza on Chaoyangmen Outer Street of the Second Ring Road, is adjacent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building and located within the embassy area. It's a landmark building combining a shopping mall with high-end office towers, housing numerous international brand stores. It's also one of the popular shopping destinations for the city's stylish white-collar workers.
The office of TOM Beijing Media Co., Ltd. is located on the 15th floor of Building A in FengLian Plaza.
After returning to Beijing, Murong Feng invested time and effort into this company, frequently visiting the office. With the help of Ouyang Lanruo, he gradually established his authority within the company. With Ouyang Lanruo as the chief editor, and the recent recruitment of a new advertising director and distribution director from a headhunting company, all aspects of the company were progressing smoothly, allowing Murong Feng some leisure time. Recently, he developed a habit of enjoying a coffee at the Starbucks downstairs while chatting with Ye Zi on MSN, finding it much more comfortable than staying in his own office. Because of this, Ouyang Lanruo often teased him, saying he had the mentality of a bourgeoisie despite being a wealthy man.
As the elevator doors opened, a few well-dressed women stood at the entrance. Seeing Murong Feng exit, they stepped aside and greeted him with smiles, "Mr. Murong!" Murong Feng recognized them as the fashion editors from Ouyang Lanruo's department and nodded with a smile.
He entered his office, where Ouyang Lanruo and Ding Jun were chatting on the sofa. Seeing him come in, they both stood up to greet him. Ding Jun joked, "Murong, what's gotten you interested in Starbucks coffee all of a sudden? Could it be the atmosphere?" TOM Group's cross-investment had instantly increased Ding Jun's 5% stake tenfold, deepening his relationship with Murong Feng, allowing for a more casual tone.
Ouyang Lanruo, her eyes sparkling, smiled and said, "Xiaofeng, Mr. Ding said you invited him over to discuss the integration of resources between Fengxing and TOM." Working with Murong Feng had put her in a great mood, making her look even more radiant. Even a seasoned individual like Ding Jun found himself momentarily dazed by her beauty.
Murong Feng motioned for them to sit down and took a seat on another sofa, smiling, "Yes, I had previously discussed this with Zixian and Sister Lan. I hope we can explore how to integrate TOM's rich traditional media content with Fengxing's mobile new media channels, which cover millions of users, to create synergy. I invited Old Ding here today to discuss this with you, hoping you can find actionable ways to proceed."
Both Ding Jun and Ouyang Lanruo were veterans in their respective fields, and their discussions brought many insights. With their different perspectives, they often introduced new ideas, leading to productive brainstorming sessions. Through their communication, they discovered more potential cooperation models and were very excited.
Seeing his proposal quickly lead to practical discussions about collaboration, Murong Feng smiled, feeling fortunate to have such capable assistants. Honestly, with his companies developing rapidly, he could still enjoy a leisurely lifestyle because he had found the right people to help him.
Once they had discussed most of the details, Murong Feng suddenly said something that caught them off guard.
"You can continue discussing the specifics later. In a couple of days, I need to go to Jiangsu for a while, so I'll leave the company affairs entirely in your hands." Murong Feng casually instructed, but his words elicited different reactions from the two. Ding Jun noticed that after his trip to Hong Kong, Murong Feng's previously serene demeanor had acquired a touch of authority, which he secretly appreciated. After all, Murong Feng was his boss and collaborator with an astonishing background. Such a demeanor suited him. Ouyang Lanruo, however, felt a twinge of sadness. Jiangsu—wasn't that where Ye Zi had gone for her business trip recently?
She hesitated before asking, "Xiaofeng, are you going to accompany Ye Zi? But there's so much work at the company right now..." Murong Feng waved his hand with a smile, "That's just a side thing. How could I abandon my responsibilities to just go accompany her? It's because Professor Chen's research team has now confirmed the enterprise research schedule. The company I'm visiting is a large group in Jiangsu, so I'll be there for a while. I'm relying on you to handle things in Beijing while I'm gone. I invited Old Ding over partly to discuss cooperation details and partly to inform you both in person."
Upon hearing this, Ouyang Lanruo had no choice but to nod in agreement. Murong Feng invited the two of them for dinner in the evening. Ouyang Lanruo exclaimed, "Oh, I'm sorry, Xiaofeng. I have plans with Qing'er tonight. You haven't seen each other in a while, why not join us?"
Murong Feng suddenly recalled the intimate embrace on Victoria Peak. Lately, he had been busy with TOM company matters and hadn't visited the fencing club much. He didn't know why Tang Qing hadn't contacted him either, and it had been some time since they had seen each other. Quickly waving his hand, he laughed, "Never mind, you and Janney can enjoy your girls' night. I'll pass this time."
Ouyang Lanruo gave him a puzzled look, sensing something amiss between him and Tang Qing. She decided to ask Tang Qing about it later that evening.
Two days later, Professor Chen called Murong Feng back to the school. With thorough preparations and strong support from regulatory bodies like the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the research group was ready to take the second step in their in-depth investigation. The enterprise culture research team, which Murong Feng was part of, had already communicated their assignments over the phone. Murong Feng and Li Suyan were to conduct a three-month comprehensive investigation at Huaxia Group, a renowned private enterprise in Jiangsu.
On the same day, Wang Ruoyun attended the research group's discussion and subsequent work arrangements at the school. He specifically discussed with Murong Feng and Li Suyan about their investigation at Huaxia Group. "Murong, Huaxia Group is a leader in our private enterprises. I made special arrangements with President Li there; they will fully support your research." He then glanced at Li Suyan and continued, "During your time at Huaxia Group, observe, listen, and learn a lot. I'm confident that besides the research, you'll gain much more."
Murong Feng was grateful for his concern, nodding and keeping the advice in mind.
Huaxia Group, named one of the top ten most influential companies globally by Business Weekly, is a leading telecom solutions provider. The group employs over 80,000 people worldwide, with more than 100 branches globally, and an annual global sales revenue of $23.3 billion. It is one of China's most renowned and successful private tech companies.
What makes Huaxia Group particularly notable is its unique corporate culture advocated by its founder, Li Zhengyi. As a former soldier, Li Zhengyi promoted various cultural aspects like "thought," "kill or be killed," and a cohesive spirit rooted in love for the country, the people, the profession, and life. He emphasized learning from the hero Lei Feng while ensuring not to suffer losses, reinforcing material civilization with spiritual civilization and vice versa. Since its establishment in 1988, Huaxia Group has maintained rapid and vigorous growth, closely linked to its corporate culture. The corporate culture integrates advanced management practices from famous foreign companies with the essence of traditional Chinese culture and innovative management ideas from the group's leadership, embodying contemporary characteristics and Chinese cultural heritage.
When Professor Chen considered researching corporate culture in the context of economic development, Huaxia Group was the first company that came to mind.
Thanks to the arrangements and support from relevant leaders in the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Huaxia Group readily agreed to let the research group conduct an in-depth investigation within the company. As Li Zhengyi put it, "If the beneficial aspects of Huaxia's corporate culture can be promoted more broadly through this research, our Chinese enterprises will gain more synergy in international competition. This is a good thing and must be supported!"
Jiangsu, Nanjing.
The headquarters of Huaxia Group is located in the Nanjing Economic and Technological Development Zone in the northeastern suburb of Nanjing. Due to Huaxia Group's significant presence in the development zone, a 3.5 square kilometer area was specially designated as the Nanjing Huaxia Industrial Park. Huaxia Group invested nearly 10 billion yuan to build the industrial park, which includes the offices of dozens of subsidiaries under its four major business units, a training center, an R&D center, a pilot testing center, an administrative center, a production center, a data center, a machining center, and the Baicao Garden employee apartment complex.
Such massive investments naturally created a beautiful park-like environment. When Murong Feng first stepped into the Huaxia Industrial Park, he was struck by its classical and charming architectural clusters, clear and serene artificial lakes, well-arranged plants, and vast green lawns. It felt more like a meticulously designed theme park than an industrial park!
The administrative department's Director Qin was responsible for receiving Murong Feng and Li Suyan. They were picked up from the airport and taken directly to the park, where they were accommodated in the department head-level rooms of the Baicao Garden employee apartments. Murong Feng was again amazed at the luxurious decor of the apartments, comparable to suites in some five-star hotels. He and Li Suyan were in adjacent rooms, each a fully furnished two-bedroom suite with all appliances. Beyond the bedrooms, the study rooms with massive floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled with various books astonished Murong Feng. If Huaxia Group provided such study rooms for all department heads, it was no wonder that the middle management had a deep understanding of the corporate culture.
On the first night in Jiangsu, Murong Feng declined Director Qin's invitation for entertainment and instead relaxed alone in the lounge of Baicao Garden's clubhouse, calling Ye Zi, "Ye Zi, guess where I am?" he said, lighting a top-quality Havana cigar with a smile.
On the other end, Ye Zi, being astute, immediately understood the implication and exclaimed, "Murong, you're in Jiangsu? Are you in Nanjing now?" Murong Feng smiled, "Yes, I checked the map. Wuxi, where you are, isn't too far from here. I'll drive over to see you tomorrow!" He hadn't seen Ye Zi for almost two months since his trip to Hong Kong and had been busy with various matters. Now that he was in Jiangsu, he was eager to see her.
"Great! Murong, I'll take a day off tomorrow too, and we can go to Taihu Lake!" Ye Zi joyfully exclaimed. They chatted sweetly for a long time before reluctantly hanging up.
Murong Feng savored the cigar, raised his wine glass, swirling it gently. The delicate aroma was indeed that of a fine wine. He silently acknowledged the high quality of life enjoyed by Huaxia Group's employees. Taking a small sip and letting the smooth, delicate nectar swirl in his mouth, he relished the lingering fragrance that made him enjoy red wine so much.
Suddenly, a charming female voice interrupted his thoughts, "Excuse me, are you Murong Feng?"