Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Chapter 53: Chapter 52: Next Goal: 10 Million in Monthly Sales

As noon approached, Chen Yansen motioned for everyone to look at him.

”Our next goals: break ten thousand daily orders, exceed ten million in monthly sales, and hit one hundred thousand daily active users. We need to achieve this by the end of the year.”

Leaning against the edge of the table, Chen Yansen didn’t shout any rousing slogans or make any lofty promises. He simply stated the facts calmly, his eyes filled with an unconcealable confidence.

Standing in the corner, Song Yuncheng secretly stared at Chen Yansen, completely captivated. It was only after a moment that she snapped out of her daze and joined the others in applause.

Xu Xingxing took in the scene. She noticed Song Yuncheng’s plain, unbranded clothes made of simple fabric and immediately thought Chen Yansen was a real piece of work. ’He’s wearing a shirt that costs several hundred yuan, while his supposed girlfriend’s entire outfit isn’t even worth two hundred.’

”Wenbo, Pengfei, prioritize the development of the ’Bargain to 0 Yuan’ feature. Just keep the core functions and get it online as soon as possible!”

Chen Yansen directed, calling them by name.

Zhang Wenbo and Xiang Pengfei nodded, giving him an ”OK” sign.

”Hu Yun, give me the user data.”

Chen Yansen continued.

”Brother Sen, as of 11:08 AM on October 7th, FoxTao has a total of 142,000 registered users, 17,000 active users yesterday, and a weekly retention rate of 11.9%.”

Hu Yun from the data team responded, reporting from his laptop.

”Zhuang Rui, figure out a way to boost the retention rate. I’m putting you in charge of it.” Chen Yansen patted Zhuang Rui’s shoulder, his tone serious.

”You got it, Brother Sen.” Zhuang Rui took a deep breath, instantly feeling the pressure, but he agreed readily.

The word ’coward’ simply wasn’t in the vocabulary of an eighteen or nineteen-year-old.

”Zihao, you and the two new students will be in charge of FoxTao’s SEO starting today. Also, the advertiser accounts for Qian Du and the three major web portals are all set up. There’s a daily budget of 4,000 yuan. I want you to spend every last bit of it as required!”

Chen Yansen looked at Wang Zihao, instructing him with a solemn expression.

4,000 yuan a day. Unlike the last voting campaign, this was burning through cold, hard cash. That amounted to 120,000 yuan a month, so of course, it had to be handled with care.

”No problem!” Wang Zihao felt the pressure mount. To be honest, being told to spend 120,000 yuan in a month was daunting; he’d never even possessed that much money in his life.

Of course, Chen Yansen planned to personally oversee it. He wouldn’t just wash his hands of it and leave everything to Wang Zihao. Perhaps one day Wang Zihao could manage a monthly ad spend of hundreds of thousands, but for now, he wasn’t experienced enough.

”Song Yuncheng, you’ll be in charge of the UI and customer service teams for the time being. I’m increasing your base salary by 1,000.”

When Chen Yansen’s gaze swept over to Song Yuncheng, a fire ignited within him. ’I pay you 2,000 a month, and you show up looking like this? In these rags?’

”N-No, you don’t have to. I think my current salary is more than enough,” Song Yuncheng said, shaking her head and instinctively refusing the offer.

”Enough nonsense! Say one more word and I’ll dock your pay!”

Chen Yansen shot her a fierce glare, giving her no chance to refuse.

”Chen Xu, Hu Li, you two will start by following Song Yuncheng to get familiar with the backend operations and the basic logic of product selection. After that, I’ll train you personally.”

Chen Yansen said to the two new product operations hires.

”Okay, Brother Sen,” Chen Xu and Hu Li said in unison.

One of them was a junior and the other a senior, but like Zhang Wenbo and the others, they willingly called him ”Brother Sen.”

For one, Chen Yansen paid a generous salary. For another, he dressed in a shirt and slacks every day, his hair in a neat, swept-back style. When he stood among them, he looked more like a friendly upperclassman than their boss.

”Let’s do this! Hit our targets, and everyone gets a raise!” Chen Yansen said with a faint smile, offering a timely incentive.

A cheer went up, and joyful expressions appeared on everyone’s faces. To them, FoxTao was just a part-time job; none of them had given much thought to its long-term prospects.

They had joined FoxTao mainly for another internship opportunity and a chance to grow.

Chen Yansen picked up his phone and was about to head downstairs when he saw Meng Jie walking toward him. He went up and patted her on the head, and the two walked away, talking and laughing as they went.

”Wenbo, who’s that girl with Squad Leader Chen?”

Filled with confusion, Xu Xingxing glanced over at Song Yuncheng. Seeing that she didn’t seem the least bit concerned about Chen Yansen being so friendly with another girl, she tugged on Zhang Wenbo’s sleeve and asked curiously.

”Oh, that’s Brother Sen’s girlfriend, of course,” Zhang Wenbo said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Girlfriend?

’How many girlfriends does this bastard have?!’

’And how can Song Yuncheng just pretend she doesn’t see it? How does he get away with this?’

Xu Xingxing’s brain short-circuited. She had only ever seen a scene this absurd in old-school Qiong Yao romance dramas.

”Brother Sen is handsome and rich. Isn’t it totally normal for him to have a girlfriend?” Zhang Wenbo asked, looking at the stunned Xu Xingxing with a confused expression.

”But... doesn’t he already have a girlfriend in Senior Song Yuncheng?” Xu Xingxing’s eyes widened, and after a long pause, she couldn’t stop herself from asking.

”Who told you that? That’s just a baseless rumor!” Zhang Wenbo’s expression darkened as he asked, clearly displeased.

Xu Xingxing opened her mouth, about to say Chen Yansen’s name, but on second thought, she asked instead, ”Wenbo, is it possible you just don’t know all the details?”

”I’m employee number two at FoxTao. If there was really something going on between them, I would’ve known ages ago.” Sherlock Holmes-Wenbo smirked, smiling confidently.

Seeing his expression, which showed no signs of deceit, Xu Xingxing instantly came to a realization: ’Chen Yansen was messing with me!’

After lunch and an afternoon nap, Chen Yansen headed unhurriedly up to the second floor, sipping from a bottle of a yogurt drink as he walked.

His senses were sharp, and he immediately picked up on Xu Xingxing’s death glare. Seeing her gritting her teeth as if she wanted to devour him whole, Chen Yansen couldn’t help but let out a sly chuckle.

He walked straight over to Chen Xu and Hu Li’s desks, sat down, and started chatting with them about brands, e-commerce platforms, and product selection methods, completely ignoring Xu Xingxing.

He would also occasionally wander over to Wang Zihao and his two colleagues, joining their discussions on SEO optimization and advertising strategies for the various platforms.

Meanwhile, Zhu Xiaopeng and Meng Xibo, who had spent the entire afternoon doing customer service in Room 208, were finally realizing the gap between themselves and Chen Yansen.

They couldn’t understand any of the jargon Chen Yansen threw around, like ”CPM” and ”CPA.” They had originally felt that being assigned to customer service was a waste of their talents, but now they had a rude awakening.

Other than customer service, the two of them were probably not capable of much else.

As the sky outside began to darken, Chen Yansen finally called over Zhu Xiaopeng and Meng Xibo, and together they headed to Shuangqing Restaurant just off campus.

When they arrived, Tang Zhenzhe, Song Yang, and Wang Zhengqiang had already ordered and were waiting for them.

The stewed chicken in an earthen pot was bubbling away on a charcoal stove. The rich aroma hit them the moment they stepped into the private room.

”Brother Sen!” Song Yang quickly stood up, greeting him with a smile.

”Sit down! It’s only been a few days, why so formal? Your punishment is to drink a whole bottle.” Chen Yansen rolled his eyes and handed him a large bottle of beer.

”Brother Sen, that’s way too much,” Song Yang said with an awkward laugh as he took the beer.

”Then just have a glass.”

Chen Yansen smiled. He was just kidding, and no one would take it seriously.

The group went back and forth, downing their beers, and in the blink of an eye, the bottles on the table were empty.

They were all young men in their late teens. The cafeteria food was bland and unsatisfying, and the weather was hot and muggy. Every one of them ate and drank like a ravenous wolf, devouring the food and chugging the beer.

”Brother Sen, I got some spending money from my family, and I’m thinking of taking over a restaurant by the school gate. What do you think of the idea?”

Just as the group was starting to get tipsy, Song Yang suddenly asked his question.

Spending money?

Taking over a restaurant?

’The words made sense, but the meaning behind them was baffling!’

Tang Zhenzhe and the others were stunned. They’d never pegged Song Yang as a closet rich kid, and his sudden declaration left them dumbfounded.

”Yangyang, you call the money to take over an entire restaurant ’spending money’?” Meng Xibo said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

He had always assumed Song Yang’s family was on the same level as theirs. After all, he never wore designer brands, and his phone was just a Noaki that cost a little over 2,000 yuan—a bit better than theirs, but not by a wide margin.

But now, here he was, talking about taking over a restaurant. The message was clear. ’I’m done pretending. I’m laying my cards on the table. Your buddy here is a rich heir!’

Chen Yansen looked up at Song Yang and thought, ’In my last life, this kid coasted through four years of college without ever trying to start a business. It wasn’t until years after graduation that I learned he was the young heir to a hotel chain, raking in tens of thousands a day without lifting a finger.’

’In this life, it’s only been one month of college, and you’re already dropping the act?’

Song Yang gave a dry laugh. He had originally planned to keep a low profile, but after meeting a consummate show-off like Chen Yansen, he suddenly felt there was no point.

Plus, after seeing how the girls at school flocked to Chen Yansen, who was already finding success with his startup, he was inspired to try making a splash himself.

The others exchanged glances, then all turned in unison to look at Chen Yansen.

When it came to starting a business, they knew they couldn’t offer any sound advice.

”Do you know the price of beef today? Do you know the cost of melamine tableware? Do you know how to stop your chefs and cashiers from colluding to rip you off?”

Chen Yansen shook his head and fired off three questions in a row.

He was well aware of Song Yang’s capabilities. ’Even in his past life, after graduation, he relied on his family’s support to build a career within the familiar hotel industry. He never ventured into areas he didn’t understand.’

’Even someone as formidable as Liu Qiangdong, the founder of Jingdong, ended up taking a huge fall over matters of character, didn’t he?’

Chen Yansen certainly didn’t think Song Yang was any more capable than Liu Qiangdong.

Song Yang’s face flushed red. Chen Yansen’s questions felt like three hard slaps across his face. But perhaps out of youthful stubbornness, he retorted, ”I can learn all of that.”

”By the time you figure it all out, that ’spending money’ your dad gave you will probably be long gone.”

Chen Yansen’s tone was even; he wasn’t trying to mock Song Yang.

Song Yang stared at Chen Yansen. Seeing his calm expression, he realized Chen Yansen was offering sincere advice, not looking down on him.

He let out a long sigh, raised his glass, and downed it in one go. ”To be honest, my dad’s against it too. To put it bluntly, he thinks I’m an idiot who’d just get ripped off in business, all because I only managed to get into a Tier 2 university.”

”My point isn’t that you can’t do business, just that you can’t do the restaurant business. But there is a hidden money-making opportunity right here at Xucheng Academy.”

Chen Yansen paused before saying with a faint smile.

”Brother Sen, what opportunity?” Song Yang’s face lit up as he hurriedly pressed for an answer.

He’d taken 200,000 yuan from his family; it would be utterly humiliating to have nothing to show for it.

”A campus courier agency.”

Chen Yansen said, enunciating each word.

The year 2010 was an awkward transition period. Online shopping was on the rise but hadn’t yet hit its golden age. For a university like Xucheng Academy, with fewer than 20,000 students, you could get the campus agency rights for four major couriers—Huitong, Guofeng, Yunda, and Yuantong—for as little as 5,000 yuan.

A decade later, you wouldn’t be able to secure the rights to a single one of them, even for ten times the price.

Chen Yansen knew perfectly well that if someone got into this business now, they could do absolutely nothing and still sell the agency rights for ten times the price four years later.

Of course, he himself looked down on such paltry sums, but since Song Yang had brought up the topic, he mentioned it in passing.

Besides, FoxTao’s ”Bargain to 0 Yuan” feature was about to go live. In the beginning, without reliable suppliers, they would have to procure the items themselves and ship the prizes directly to the users.

Having someone he knew and trusted handling the logistics would also give him peace of mind.