Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Chapter 54: Chapter 53: The 0 Yuan Bargain Is Launching Soon

”Brother Sen, why don’t we each invest half?” Song Yang proposed eagerly, caught up in the heat of the moment after hearing what Chen Yansen said.

Chen Yansen smiled faintly. ’This kid really thinks of me as his generous big brother,’ he thought. After a pause, he said, ”If I’m the one bringing up this business idea, it means I don’t think much of it myself. If you want to do it, you have to rely on yourself. Otherwise, even if you succeed, no one will ever truly respect you for it.”

Song Yang froze, his brow furrowed. It took a long moment for his expression to relax. He then raised his glass and said, ”Thanks for the advice, Brother Sen.”

”Work hard!”

Chen Yansen said no more, just lightly clinked his glass against Song Yang’s.

Tang Zhenzhe and Wang Zhengqiang exchanged a glance, both making a silent vow to start going to the library every day to study. ’We’re going to crush everyone else academically.’

After the six of them had finished two cases of beer, Song Yang stood up unsteadily. Just as he was about to call the waiter for more, Chen Yansen stopped him with an outstretched hand. ”A light buzz is enough.”

”Whatever you say, Brother Sen.” Song Yang grinned.

After leaving the restaurant, the group strolled casually along Xue Lin Road, letting the gentle breeze help sober them up.

”I passed my interview for the school’s student council. I’m a member of the Publicity Department now.”

”Song Yang, you should join the Recitation Club. It’s full of cute girls with amazing voices.”

”I heard we’re picking PE electives next week. What class do you guys think we should choose?”

The group chatted and laughed as they ambled along, stopping here and there.

”Aerobics should be the top choice. It’s guaranteed to have the most girls,” Zhu Xiaopeng said, pushing up his glasses with a matter-of-fact air.

”Go for a dance class! You might even have a perfect meet-cute with a girl from the Music Academy.” A wistful expression appeared on Meng Xibo’s face.

”Brother Sen, what class are you thinking of picking?” Song Yang asked curiously, nudging Chen Yansen’s shoulder.

”Soccer, of course,” Chen Yansen replied without a second thought.

”Soccer? I never would’ve guessed you liked to play, Brother Sen.” Wang Zhengqiang’s eyes lit up, thrilled to have finally found someone who shared his hobby.

”It’s not really that I like soccer. It’s just that every year during course selection, our school has way more guys than girls. The girls can never get into the popular electives, so they end up having to pick the unpopular soccer class. The quantity—and quality—of girls is much better there than in aerobics or dance.”

Chen Yansen shared his wisdom with the group.

In his past life, he’d taken Meng Xibo’s advice and signed up for dance. When he walked into the classroom, he was met with a sea of guys all staring at each other in bewilderment.

”For real?” Tang Zhenzhe was skeptical. What Chen Yansen was saying seemed to defy common sense.

”Believe it or not. I’m picking soccer either way,” Chen Yansen said with a knowing chuckle, replying nonchalantly.

When they reached a fork in the road, Chen Yansen glanced into the distance and spotted a faint light on the second floor of the Innovation Park.

On an impulse, he waved goodbye to Tang Zhenzhe and the others and headed straight for the Innovation Park.

Once on the second floor, he found things just as he’d expected. Song Yuncheng was there with her head down, her fingers clattering away on the keyboard. She was so engrossed in her work that she didn’t notice Chen Yansen approach.

”Ahem!”

Chen Yansen walked closer, and when she still didn’t react, he cleared his throat.

”Ah!? When did you get here?”

Song Yuncheng looked up at the sound. When she saw it was Chen Yansen, the panic in her eyes slowly subsided.

”Did the salary I paid you not go through? Why are you still wearing these old clothes?”

Chen Yansen’s eyes fell on the gray T-shirt she was wearing, its collar curled with age, and his expression soured.

”It’s not old. It doesn’t even have any holes.”

Song Yuncheng stood up and, as if afraid Chen Yansen didn’t believe her, even did a little spin.

Chen Yansen chuckled, struck speechless. ’She probably takes the phrase ’old clothes’ completely literally,’ he realized.

He plopped down on the edge of her desk and ordered, ”Get me a glass of water.”

”You... you’ve been drinking?”

In the overhead light, Song Yuncheng could now see that Chen Yansen’s face was flushed and she could smell the faint scent of alcohol on his breath.

”Mm-hm.” Chen Yansen nodded. He casually picked up Song Yuncheng’s notebook and began to idly flip through it. It was filled with notes on product selection strategies and customer service scripts.

”Here, it’s warm water.” Song Yuncheng returned with a glass and gently offered it to Chen Yansen.

”You don’t seem to eat much, so how are your cheeks still so chubby? Is that a natural gift?”

Chen Yansen raised his hand, but instead of taking the glass, he reached out with two fingers and gently pinched her cheek.

’Soft and supple,’ he thought. ’And silky smooth.’

”Chen Yansen, let go!” Song Yuncheng protested fiercely, worried she’d spill the water in her hand onto the computer.

”Oh? You dare to snap at me?” Chen Yansen lowered his head until the tip of his nose was almost touching hers. ”You want me to dock your pay?” he threatened.

Song Yuncheng’s brow furrowed and she instinctively tried to pull away, but Chen Yansen had anticipated this, cupping the back of her head with his hand to stop her.

Unable to retreat, Song Yuncheng could only stare directly at Chen Yansen. His eyes were bright, and a roguish, devil-may-care smirk played on his lips. He raised one of his sharp, blade-like eyebrows, and the simple gesture seemed to tug at her very heart.

”What are you trying to do?” Song Yuncheng asked, her voice trembling slightly. All the earlier fierceness was gone, replaced by timidity.

”I imagine... you wouldn’t want to lose this job, would you?”

Chen Yansen’s eyes narrowed. He caught her faint, girlish scent and, on some strange impulse, lowered his head and moved even closer.

Song Yuncheng froze on the spot, her eyes misting over. With tears welling, she clenched her small fists and said helplessly, ”Chen Yansen, a guy like you can’t be short on girlfriends. Can you please just leave me alone?”

Her voice was a hoarse whisper, and her expression was utterly heartbroken. With reddened eyes, she pleaded pitifully.

”You don’t want to be my girlfriend?” Chen Yansen felt a pang and took a small step back, asking with some annoyance.

”But you already have a girlfriend,” Song Yuncheng said, her logic clear as she shook her head.

”What if I didn’t have a girlfriend right now?” Chen Yansen pressed.

”I... I don’t know.” Song Yuncheng lowered her head, remaining silent for a long moment before giving a vague, noncommittal answer.

*Mwah—*

Chen Yansen kissed her. ’Just as I imagined,’ he thought. ’Moist and incredibly soft.’

Song Yuncheng’s mind went completely blank. Her legs trembled violently, and she had to grab the corner of the desk to keep from falling. With a SPLASH, the water from the cup in her hand spilled all over the floor.

After who knows how long, just as Chen Yansen was about to deepen the kiss, a sharp pain shot through his tongue.

”Hey! Are you a dog or something? Why did you bite me?!”

Chen Yansen hissed in pain, launching his accusation before Song Yuncheng even had a chance to speak.

”I... Why did you kiss me?” Song Yuncheng demanded, snapping back to her senses. She grabbed a notebook and threw it at him, her voice thick with tears.

”I kissed you because I felt like it. Do I need a reason?” Chen Yansen scoffed, his tone utterly nonchalant.

”But you have a girlfriend!” Song Yuncheng yelled.

”I don’t mind,” Chen Yansen said with a shrug.

”Well, I mind!” Song Yuncheng was so furious she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ’When it comes to being shameless, no one can beat Chen Yansen.’

The words had barely left her mouth before she turned and fled.

Chen Yansen chuckled in spite of himself. He licked his lips, and then suddenly burst out laughing—a loud, wild laugh that reeked of not giving a single damn.

Hearing his laughter behind her, Song Yuncheng ran even faster. Her mind was reeling, replaying the kiss and his smirking voice: ’You wouldn’t want to lose this job, would you?’

She had just gotten a raise, bringing her salary to 3,000 a month. With overtime and bonuses, her income could approach 4,000.

After all, her previous part-time jobs in the cafeteria and library took up most of her free time and only earned her 1,200 a month. She really, really didn’t want to lose this job.

’Should I still go to Room 206 tomorrow?’

Song Yuncheng wondered. For the moment, she couldn’t find a clear answer.

「The next day.」

Chen Yansen showed up in Room 206 carrying a textbook, held the morning meeting with the team, and then disappeared for the rest of the day.

That evening, Song Yuncheng stayed late in Room 206 to work overtime. She had a brick hidden in her drawer. ’If Chen Yansen tries to take advantage of me again,’ she had decided, ’I’ll definitely crack his head open.’

To her surprise, though she spent the whole evening listening intently for his footsteps, Chen Yansen never showed up. Instead, Zhang Wenbo and Xiang Pengfei came by to discuss development issues with the ”Bargain for Free” feature.

On the third day, Chen Yansen was in Room 206 for most of the day but didn’t say a single unnecessary word to Song Yuncheng. He didn’t come by in the evening, either.

For the next ten-odd days, Chen Yansen was busy managing ad campaigns and working with Zhuang Rui on strategies to improve user retention. He didn’t say a single casual word to Song Yuncheng.

Song Yuncheng breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

By late October, Wang Zihao’s external ad placement team had finally become proficient at selecting ad creatives, testing links, and managing ad spend. Their CPM and CPA data was gradually approaching the targets Chen Yansen had set.

The ”Bargain for Free” feature was in its final stages of development, with only the last round of testing and acceptance left.

”Alright, everyone, listen up,” Chen Yansen announced, clapping his hands. ”The ’Bargain for Free’ feature is about to launch. Aside from the official testing team, I want everyone to go through the entire bargain process from start to finish. Let’s try to find all the bugs before we go live.”

”Okay, Brother Sen!”

”No problem!”

”Wenbo and Pengfei are seriously fast!”

The team members replied one after another, all of them smiling.

”Also, since we don’t have a payment system, once ’Bargain for Free’ is online, all the orders will have to be manually imported by the operations team. I know it’s going to be a lot of extra work, so thanks in advance,” Chen Yansen added.

”It’s no problem for us, Brother Sen,” Chen Xu and Hu Li quickly replied.

”Don’t worry. Later on, I’ll have Pengfei develop a program to automatically import and export orders to lighten your workload.”

Chen Yansen said gently, patting both of them on the shoulder.

Afterward, he pulled Wang Zihao’s group of three into Room 204 for another brief meeting. Once they had finalized the ad placement strategy for the day, he walked out, phone in hand.

”Your friend has successfully assisted you, knocking 5.90 off the price!”

’The pop-up notification is pretty crude,’ he thought. ’It doesn’t even have an animated graphic. But hey, it works.’

Chen Yansen put his phone down and strolled into Cao Dahua’s office as if he’d been there a hundred times.