Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Although the university offered some work-study positions, the number was pitifully small. Across the entire Xuyuan, there were far too many applicants for the few spots available.

With that, Chen Yansen waved goodbye and continued driving away.

The streamlined body of the Bentley Mulsanne gradually receded, leaving behind an afterimage that inwardly stunned many onlookers.

”Senior, who was that just now?” a female student with a sweet voice asked curiously.

Tang Zhenzhe turned toward the voice, his eyes instantly lighting up. It was the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth time he’d been smitten today. He enthusiastically explained, ”That’s Chen Yansen, the founder of Orange Technology. He’s a legendary figure here at Xuyuan. Want me to send you his WeChat contact?”

”Wow! So that was Senior Chen Yansen? He’s even more handsome in person than in his photos! I didn’t even recognize him.” The young woman lowered her gaze, feigning disappointment. But the moment she heard the word ”WeChat,” she immediately pulled out an Orange C3 and added Tang Zhenzhe.

「Meanwhile.」

Chen Yansen drove out of the East Gate and sped all the way to the Zuxianzhuang Science and Technology Park.

He parked his car and stepped into Building 9.

He took the elevator straight to the top floor, pushed open his office door, and plopped down into his chair.

He turned on his computer, logged into the data backend, and first checked Pinbei’s daily numbers.

Total registered users had reached 390 million, with 249 million on PC and 141 million on mobile. The mobile share was as high as 36%, which showed that Huang Zheng had been strictly executing the strategic plan for mobile growth.

The average daily sales volume in August was 870 million, a 5.3% increase from July. It didn’t seem like much, but if they could maintain a 5% month-on-month growth rate, Pinbei’s daily sales would break the one-billion mark before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Jingdong, the former number two in e-commerce, had seen its recent daily sales data drop to 400 million, less than half of Pinbei’s.

This showed just how much pressure Handsome Dong must be under.

In Chen Yansen’s view, Jingdong’s transition had come too late.

For the past few years, they had been stubbornly focused on the 3C digital and large home appliance categories, creating consumer scenarios that were all low-frequency and had low repurchase rates. By the time Liu Qiangdong finally reacted and wanted to expand the company’s business scope to increase profitability, it was already too late.

Although Jingdong had thrown a lot of money at the mother-and-baby, liquor, snack, book, and home goods categories in the last six months, the results were minimal.

After reviewing Pinbei’s core data and finding no anomalies, Chen Yansen opened the business report for Orange Technology. The total sales for the Qingcheng D1S and Orange C3 in August reached 6.017 million units, capturing nearly 35% of the market share.

Mountain Star’s mid-to-low-end market had been shattered by Orange Technology’s assault. Even sales of the Apple 4S were affected, with daily sales figures dropping lower and lower.

After some deliberation, Cook moved the scheduled release date for the Apple 5 up by a week, with the new product launch event expected to be held on September 6th at the Fangcaodi Art Center in San Francisco.

Chen Yansen wasn’t concerned. ’Knowing how people from the Lighthouse Country operate, it’ll take at least three months of preparation between the launch event and the official market release.’

After all, Apple didn’t even have its own production facilities and still had to negotiate production plans with Foxconn. The first batch of shipments would most likely be supplied mainly to Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea.

’By the time the Apple 5 goes on sale,’ he mused, ’the total sales for the Orange C3 and Qingcheng D1S will have probably long since broken the 20 million unit record.’

Next, Chen Yansen went through his work emails one by one before starting to work on coding Aurora Future OS.

「At 10:30 a.m.」 Pei Yi called to report on the progress of the investigation into the leaked Yanjing residential building layout maps.

After tracing the original screenshot, they had easily identified the responsible Kuai Pao Rider based on the invisible watermark on the image.

After collecting and securing the evidence, Pei Yi didn’t report it to the Market Supervision Association or sue Meituan. Instead, he acted as if he knew nothing, lowering Wang Xin’s guard.

At the same time, a dozen or so management trainees from the ”Thousand Talents, Hundred Cities” program successfully secured interview opportunities at Meituan through headhunters and public recruitment channels.

”Fire him, revoke his stock options, add him to the blacklist, and never rehire him,” Chen Yansen ordered in a flat tone.

In other words, this delivery rider, who had sold Kuai Pao’s core data for money, would not only be unable to get a job at the Orange Phone Factory, but he wouldn’t even be able to work for Cloud Speed Express.

In the future, as Senlian Capital grew, the scope of this blacklist’s influence would also expand.

”Yes, Boss,” Pei Yi quickly replied.

In fact, his plan was to wait until Meituan was on the verge of defeat. If the people Kuai Pao sent over hadn’t been exposed by then, he would bring up this old score. Not only would he hold the delivery rider accountable, but he would also take the opportunity to kick Wang Xin while he was down.

Thinking this, Pei Yi laid out his entire plan.

”In the future, you can make decisions like this on your own, understand?” Chen Yansen said casually after listening.

”Understood.” Pei Yi was a smart man; he got the hint immediately and replied with a smile.

He paused for a moment before adding, ”Our people have spotted storefronts for Qian Du Delivery stations in Yanjing.”

The implication was that Qian Du was also about to enter the food delivery war in the Yanjing market.

”So, the competition in both the Group Buy and food delivery industries has really just begun. Once you defeat Meituan and Qian Du, I’ll issue another round of stock options for Kuai Pao. Everyone will get some.”

Chen Yansen made these grand promises as easily as breathing.

After chatting for ten minutes, they both hung up.

「Meanwhile.」

「Yanjing, Qian Du Headquarters.」

The Qian Du Delivery app had been completed, and a channel entry point had been added to the icon section on Lashou Network’s homepage.

Using Lashou Network’s merchant resources, they had already roped in their first batch of food delivery vendors.

In terms of building their delivery fleet, they had carefully selected 100 riders from a pool of unemployed couriers.

Wang Zhongpu believed that Kuai Pao’s strategy of using mainly full-time riders supplemented by part-timers could easily put them in a passive position during industry competition. On the other hand, Meituan Takeout’s approach of using only part-time riders was too extreme; it would be difficult to improve delivery times and user satisfaction with punitive policies alone.

He therefore combined the advantages of both models and designed a fleet development plan that focused mainly on part-time riders, supplemented by full-timers.

Kuai Pao’s full-time to part-time rider ratio was 9:1, so Qian Du would do the opposite, aiming for a 1:9 ratio.

After listening to Wang Zhongpu’s work report, Li Yanhong smiled and gave a slight nod of approval.

”We’ll go live on the 3rd. At that time, Qian Du Search, Tieba, News, Maps, and our browser portals will all direct traffic to Qian Du Delivery. Yanjing will be Qian Du Delivery’s first stop, and the Southern China Region will be the second.”

Li Yanhong said with a smile.

Kuai Pao’s presence was weakest in the southern market, and its operational scope didn’t yet provide full coverage there. Qian Du Delivery would develop from the south, first accumulating strength before seeking a decisive battle.

Avoid a direct confrontation, build up power, and then strike!

”No problem, Boss,” Wang Zhongpu replied, his gaze firm.

He knew in his heart that if he won this battle, he would enter Qian Du Network’s core decision-making circle. If he lost, a lateral transfer would be the best he could hope for. But the most likely outcome would be getting marginalized!

At the same time, Wang Xin also learned of Qian Du Delivery’s impending launch, and he immediately felt the pressure intensify.

Faced with Senlian Capital and Qian Du Delivery, Meituan was like an ant trying to shake a tree. To have any chance of winning this fight, they couldn’t be short on capital.

Therefore, he unhesitatingly called Ji Gang. To his surprise, however, the other man’s attitude was ambiguous—he neither agreed to nor refused the investment.

When pressed, Ji Gang simply said he didn’t have the authority and would need to request instructions.

Wang Xin’s heart sank. He secretly mulled over Ma Liyun’s attitude. He knew Ah Li had invested in Kuai Pao; perhaps Ma Liyun hadn’t yet decided who to ultimately back.

Left with no other choice, he then called Shen Nanpeng.

”Redwood Capital can make a follow-on investment, but you have to promise me that you’ll merge with Dianping once the time is right,” Shen Nanpeng said, seizing the opportunity to state his terms.

”I have no objections,” Wang Xin agreed through gritted teeth. He had no other choice.

Ah Li had refused him. If Redwood Capital also turned him down, his only option would be to seek other financing opportunities.

But in 2012, after a year of brutal competition, the Group Buy market was not viewed favorably by investment firms. Even if he did secure funding, the terms certainly wouldn’t be any more lenient than Redwood Capital’s.

The initial sunk costs were too high. Shen Nanpeng could either cut his losses and let the 40 million US dollars he had previously invested go down the drain, or he could double down and trust in Wang Xin’s ability to run the company.

In early September, the great war began. The chaos in the food delivery industry was no less intense than that of the Group Buy and ride-hailing markets.