Chapter 33: Working from Home Without an Office?

Another company in a loss-making state.

And this time, the situation was even worse. If no one acquired or invested in it, the company would likely go bankrupt soon.

Could it be that Mr. Chen had some particular preference? Why was he always acquiring this type of company?

…

“Mr. Chen, most of the company’s positions have been filled, but there’s a problem—our current office space isn’t enough!”

As soon as Chen Mo hung up the phone, Shen Rou walked over.

“I’ll figure something out,” Chen Mo said, deep in thought.

Right now, all the offices were on the first floor, while the rooms on the second floor were used as employee dormitories.

If they converted the dorms into offices, there would be more than enough space.

But then, where would the displaced employees stay?

Chen Mo pondered for a moment before a solution struck him.

If employees had nowhere to live, he could simply find them a place.

He recalled that there was an empty two-story workshop behind the cafeteria. Each floor was about 160 square meters, which would be perfect for a dormitory.

Renting that space and renovating both the office and the dorms would cost money—potentially a significant amount of system funds.

With this in mind, he immediately called Li Maode, the industrial park manager.

Once the call connected, Chen Mo explained his intention to rent the workshop.

“Hahaha, Mr. Chen, that’s no problem at all!”

On the other end of the line, Li Maode’s warm and hearty laughter came through.

Since they had successfully rented a workshop before, the two quickly settled on a price—450,000 yuan for two years, with the contract signing scheduled for the next day.

“It’s settled. The upstairs dormitories will be converted into offices, and I’ve rented a new workshop to serve as the dormitory,” Chen Mo said to Shen Rou, leaning back in his chair.

With 1.5 million yuan allocated for the company acquisition, plus rent and legal fees, he had already spent 2 million yuan—half of his 4 million target.

Once he acquired the new company, spending the remaining funds would be easy.

Shen Rou acknowledged the plan but quickly realized a new issue.

“But Mr. Chen, if we convert the dorms into offices now, the employees won’t have a place to stay. But if we don’t, the new hires won’t have anywhere to work.”

“How about this: let the finance and accounting teams work from home for now. Once the new offices and dorms are ready, they can come in,” Chen Mo suggested spontaneously.

After all, he wasn’t hiring these people for actual work—each new employee just meant more payroll expenses, which was his real goal.

So whether they worked from home or came to the office didn’t really matter to him.

“Mr. Chen… is that really okay?” Shen Rou hesitated. She knew some jobs could be done remotely, but she had never heard of finance positions working from home.

“How could it not be? We should trust our employees,” Chen Mo said seriously.

“…Alright, I’ll go inform them,” Shen Rou replied. Since Chen Mo had made his decision, there was no point in arguing.

“Wait a minute.”

Just as she was about to leave, Chen Mo stopped her.

“If they’re working from home, they’ll have to cover their own meals, so the company will provide a monthly meal stipend of 1,500 yuan.”

Every bit of spending added up.

He wasn’t going to miss a single opportunity to burn through money.

Shen Rou blinked in surprise. A company that let employees work from home and even provided a meal stipend? She had never heard of such a thing.

…

“Hey, do you think this company is legit? How could they hire people without even considering office space?”

“No idea. But we already signed the contract, and the boss even paid us in advance, so it should be reliable.”

“True, this is the first time I’ve seen a company that pays employees before they start working.”

“Let’s wait and see. They wouldn’t hire us just to sit around doing nothing.”

Two newly hired women whispered in a corner of the company lobby.

They had interviewed the previous day—one for a finance position and the other as a cashier.

Today was supposed to be their first day on the job, but upon arriving, they realized the company hadn’t even prepared workspaces for them.

“There you are!”

Shen Rou exited the office and quickly spotted the two in the corner of the lobby.

“Assistant Shen, any updates on our situation?”

Zhao Lingling and Zhou Chen stood up immediately.

Shen Rou smiled and nodded, speaking gently to ease their nervousness.

“Mr. Chen has decided that, due to limited office space, you will work from home temporarily.”

“Work from home?”

The two women spoke in unison, momentarily wondering if they had misheard. It was their first day on the job, and they were already being sent home?

“That’s right. Since the office space is tight, you’ll have to work remotely for now. I’ll send tasks through your phones as needed.”

“But don’t worry—this is only temporary. Once the new offices are ready, you’ll be able to work in the company.”

Shen Rou reassured them earnestly.

The two women exchanged glances and finally nodded.

“Understood, Assistant Shen.”

“Oh, and since you’ll be covering your own meals while working from home, the company will provide a 1,500-yuan monthly meal stipend.”

After explaining everything, Shen Rou turned and left.

Meanwhile, Zhao Lingling and Zhou Chen stood there, utterly stunned.

After a long pause, Zhou Chen hesitantly spoke.

“Ling-jie, doesn’t this company seem a little… unusual?”

“…Yeah, it’s definitely strange.”

Zhao Lingling nodded. Not only were they being sent home to work, but they were also receiving a meal stipend. And not just a token amount—1,500 yuan!

She couldn’t help but wonder—could a company really be this generous?

Zhou Chen suddenly hesitated.

“So… should we even come in tomorrow?”

“I don’t know.”

Zhao Lingling shook her head. The company seemed unusual, but it didn’t feel like a scam either.

After all, the factory was right there, and real employees were working inside.

It wasn’t like the company had staged everything just to deceive them.

Ding!

Just as they hesitated, their phones both chimed.

Zhao Lingling instinctively took out her phone to check—and froze.

It was a transfer notification.