HLnovel Chapter 348: They don't even want a holiday!
Chapter 348: They don't even want a holiday!
He paused, then quickened his pace: "As soon as the news spread in the internal group, everyone couldn't sit still. Many core team members, including the old buddies who co-founded Instant Sharing with me in the early days, volunteered to come back. After an emergency discussion with CEO Lu, he made the decision: those who voluntarily return to work will receive five times their statutory holiday salary, plus an extra National Day bonus package. CEO Lu also arranged the logistical support perfectly. Everyone is holding their breath, eager to see 'the baby' (Weiming) make another push!"
Xiang Hao's voice was filled with the team's pride.
These core technical staff members, who have been with him since Mewe was still known as "Instant Sharing," have poured extraordinary affection into this product that they created themselves.
Watching it go from being on the verge of death to its current vibrant state, the sense of accomplishment and the urge to protect it are enough to dispel any holiday laziness.
Ye Fan forced a holiday a couple of days ago, which was like putting a bird in a cage.
Ye Fan listened and understood, while secretly praising Lu Qinghe's handling of the situation.
High salaries are the foundation, thoughtful benefits show care, and more importantly, she accurately grasped and nurtured the team's invaluable spontaneous enthusiasm and sense of belonging.
The explosive growth in user numbers is attributed to both early promotional strategies and celebrity influence, as well as the "viral" spontaneous spread among users. When everyone around you is discussing celebrity updates on Weiming, participating in activities to win autographed albums, and your favorite idols starting to exclusively share their lives on Weiming, "downloading Weiming" is no longer just an option, but a "passport" to integrate into social circles.
This is exactly what Ye Fan wanted—to make Weiming as indispensable to people's digital lives as breathing.
The user downloaded it, and his first strategic step was a success.
An excellent user experience will firmly convert them into loyal users.
"Excellent!" Ye Fan affirmed. "President Lu handled it very well. User growth is good, but we need to focus more on retention. Xiang Hao, what else can we glean from the backend data?"
"President Ye," Xiang Hao's tone turned serious, "we've done cross-analysis. We found that a significant proportion of newly registered users have frequently used Weibo on their devices. This means we're successfully 'stealing' users from Weibo's user base! I just saw Weibo's Q3 data released yesterday: 1.67 million monthly active users, a 36% year-on-year increase—the momentum is incredible. And we expect to break the ten million mark in the next couple of days!"
Xiang Hao's voice carried the urgency and excitement characteristic of a technologist: "Therefore, I urgently hope to accelerate the development of those 'secret weapon' features you planned last time (such as a deeper social graph, interest communities, and a prototype of short videos), and launch them for testing as soon as possible! Only by continuously providing differentiated and better experiences can we truly retain these users and build a competitive advantage!"
A glint flashed in Ye Fan's eyes.
Being able to snatch food from the jaws of Weibo is indeed an encouraging sign.
"I understand. You will be in full charge of technology research and development, ensuring it progresses according to plan and with high quality. If you need any resources, just contact Mr. Lu directly. User experience and retention are of paramount importance."
He paused for a moment, then added, "Also, please convey my message to all the Context Technology employees who volunteered to come back to work overtime today: Thank you very much for your hard work and your love for MicroMing! I will personally award each of you an extra 10,000 yuan in cash, which will be distributed by President Miao after the holiday."
Xiang Hao on the other end of the phone was visibly taken aback for a moment, then his voice filled with excitement: "Understood! President Ye! Thank you on behalf of the brothers! This gesture will definitely motivate everyone even more!"
This unexpected individual award is not just about the monetary value; it is the greatest recognition of their spontaneous enthusiasm and team cohesion.
"Okay, stay in touch." Ye Fan ended the call crisply.
He put away his phone, his gaze returning to the lush green vegetable patch in the courtyard and the old wooden door emitting a warm light.
The turbulent world of commerce and the tranquil peace of the countryside before him achieved a wonderful balance in his life.
He turned around, carrying the information from the outside world, and reintegrated into this home that carried the past of the ancestral spirit and held her future hopes.
……
The atmosphere at lunch was warm yet slightly formal.
On the table were three dishes and a soup that Li Xiulan had carefully prepared.
The stir-fried beef with yellow peppers is fresh, fragrant, spicy, and numbing; the stir-fried pork with farmhouse style is full of wok hei (wok aroma); the stir-fried vegetables are lush and green; and in the middle is a large earthenware pot of farmhouse chicken soup that has been simmered for several hours over a wood fire. The golden and clear soup is dotted with oil and bright green scallions, and the aroma is irresistible.
This is a special occasion for the ancestral spirits, reserved for special festivals like Chinese New Year—the chicken was originally intended to be sold at the market for a good price in a few days.
There were only four people at the table: Ye Fan, Xian Zuling, Li Xiulan, and Grandma Xu Hua.
Grandpa Xiansheng is still at the market and has not returned.
Everyone tacitly avoided mentioning the brick factory incident from that morning, and the conversation was light and pleasant. Li Xiulan's craftsmanship won Ye Fan's sincere praise.
After the meal, Li Xiulan handed Xian Zuling a clean, faded rag: "Ling'er, go and wipe the car seat that Mom sat on this morning, make sure it's dusty."
Grandma Xu Hua also leaned on a small stool and slowly strolled to the edge of the vegetable garden in the courtyard to bask in the sun.
The room fell silent instantly, with only the soft clinking of dishes and the rustling of Li Xiulan tidying the table.
Li Xiulan lowered her head and mechanically stacked the bowls and chopsticks.
The air seemed to freeze, brewing a long-awaited storm.
Finally, she took a deep breath, as if using all her strength, raised her head, and looked directly at Ye Fan, who was sitting at the table with a calm expression.
Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried an indescribable heaviness and resolve: "Ye Fan... I know it might be presumptuous of me to ask this."
She struggled to choose her words, each one like a knife's edge: "But, as a mother, I... I really don't understand. Why... are you so good to Ling'er?"
When Li Xiulan asked that question, her heart was practically in her throat.
She knew this was a gamble—it might offend Ye Fan, it might cause him to lose his special care for Ling'er, and it might even jeopardize the job opportunity she had just obtained and her daughter's precious part-time job.
Fear clung to her heart like cold vines.
But she had no other choice.
She has seen too much of life's unpredictability.
She was scared!
I'm afraid that my daughter will be pulled out of the mud, taste the beauty of the clouds, and then be thrown back into hell!
The pain caused by that kind of disparity is a hundred times worse than being stuck in the mud!
Rather than let her daughter suffer heartbreaking disillusionment in the future, she would rather be the "bad guy" now and cut off this seemingly beautiful illusion with her own hands before anything has really begun—even if that illusion is so warm that she herself longs for it.