Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

The next morning.

Song Yuncheng poked her head out from under the covers and saw Chen Yansen sitting upright at the desk in the living room.

Song Yuncheng was a little curious. She had noticed how incredibly self-disciplined Chen Yansen was. Every time they traveled for business, he would wake up early, no matter how late they had been up the night before.

She grabbed the white camisole beside her, casually slipped it on, and walked over in her slippers.

Chen Yansen heard the movement behind him but didn’t look up, continuing to flip through *The Character of Physical Law*.

Ever since his required sleep time had shortened, his way of passing the time had become reading these obscure and difficult physics and math books.

In Chen Yansen’s eyes, however, this material was as simple as elementary school arithmetic.

Natural laws, material structures, and mathematical models stacked up like bricks in his mind, gradually building a knowledge system that was logically rigorous and structurally complex.

”You’re up so early? Reading a novel?” Song Yuncheng asked curiously, placing her hand on Chen Yansen’s shoulder.

”Something like that,” Chen Yansen said, putting the book down without further explanation.

He pulled Song Yuncheng onto his lap, leaned in, and took a sniff. ”You smell so good, senior.”

Song Yuncheng’s face flushed slightly. She reminded him softly, ”Our meeting with President Min is at nine-thirty, and it’s a half-hour drive from here.”

The implication was clear: business first.

”This won’t get in the way of our morning exercise.”

Chen Yansen grinned mischievously and carried Song Yuncheng into the bathroom.

By the time the two of them had cleaned up and rushed to the Meiters Headquarters Building, it was already 9:20 a.m.

Min Jie, the general manager of Banggou, was on the ground floor talking with a man in his forties. Five other members of Meiters’ management team stood beside them.

Chen Yansen got out of the car and walked over with Song Yuncheng.

”President Chen, welcome to Meiters! Allow me to introduce you. This is my boss, Mr. Zhou Jiancheng, the founder of Meiters.”

As soon as Min Jie saw Chen Yansen and Song Yuncheng, he immediately came forward with a smile to introduce Zhou Jiancheng.

”President Zhou, a pleasure to meet you.” Chen Yansen extended his hand, and Zhou Jiancheng shook it.

Given his current net worth and influence in the industry, he had no need for flattery.

Zhou Jiancheng was wearing a blue, vertically striped shirt under an indigo business suit, clearly taking today’s meeting very seriously.

Meiters’ business had taken a sharp downturn between 2010 and 2011, and its market capitalization had plummeted from a peak of 39 billion last year to just 23 billion.

Although Zhou Jiancheng had been in the business for a long time, he didn’t dare act superior in front of Chen Yansen. He greeted him politely, ”I’ve heard so much about you, President Chen. Since you’re here in Hu City, you absolutely must let me make the arrangements.”

For a business tycoon like Zhou Jiancheng, who had clawed his way up from the world of offline retail, hospitality usually involved the standard trio of fine wine, fine food, and beautiful women. He couldn’t think of any other novelties.

”You’re too kind, President Zhou. You’re a senior in this industry. It’s my honor to be able to visit Meiters and learn from you.”

Chen Yansen replied with a calm smile, unhurried.

The other man was showing him respect, so he didn’t put on airs either, his reply carrying a similar note of deference.

Zhou Jiancheng nodded to himself, thinking, ’No wonder this kid earned tens of billions before he was even twenty. With that kind of composure, I was nowhere near his level at that age.’

With that thought, Zhou Jiancheng led Chen Yansen and Song Yuncheng into the headquarters building.

Unlike a typical e-commerce company, the Meiters Headquarters housed not only Banggou’s e-commerce division but also departments for knitting, weaving, fabric and accessory procurement, and quality inspection.

Zhou Jiancheng introduced each one and carefully explained to Chen Yansen the differences between various fabrics in terms of texture, cost, and manufacturing processes.

Chen Yansen nodded slightly, sighing inwardly. ’In 2011, Meiters was facing an inventory crisis but could still barely hold on. It was still a desirable place to work for many graduates in design and e-commerce.’

’It was nothing like a decade later, when its market value would plummet by ninety percent, not even reaching half of Feiyu Technology’s valuation.’

Seeing that the tour was more or less over, Zhou Jiancheng led Chen Yansen into his office. They all sat down, chatting casually over tea.

Zhou Jiancheng had heard from Min Jie that right after selling FoxTao to Ali, Lotte, and Augusta, Chen Yansen had immediately founded a new company whose main business was still product sales and marketing.

This sparked an idea in Zhou Jiancheng’s mind. He understood that Chen Yansen was planning to start over from scratch.

Moreover, after Ali formed the New FoxTao, he had no confidence that Meiters’ brand partnerships with New FoxTao would be as effective as before.

He knew the temperament of those Ali account managers all too well.

Therefore, he wanted to use this opportunity to strengthen his cooperation with Chen Yansen.

Seeing Chen Yansen just sipping his tea, seemingly with no intention of discussing a partnership, Zhou Jiancheng started to grow anxious.

Although FoxTao and Banggou had helped the group deal with some of its inventory, they had only managed to move about 30% of it.

To be honest, there was still at least 2 billion worth of overstocked goods in the warehouses.

Last year, he could still tough it out. This year, he had resigned himself to his fate. As long as he could sell the stock, recover his costs, and free up his cash flow, he didn’t care about the rest.

Min Jie, standing to the side, noticed the look on his boss’s face and quickly asked with a smile, ”President Chen, I heard that aside from Orange Technology, you have a new project?”

”Are you interested, President Min?” Chen Yansen took a sip of tea and asked with a smile in return.

His business trip to Hu City was just a casual excuse.

He didn’t really care whether he met with Zhou Jiancheng and Min Jie or not.

His new project did need firsthand industry resources, and Meiters was one of them. But for this kind of partnership, he could have just sent Song Yuncheng or Zhang Yifeng. There was no need for him to make the trip himself.

”President Chen, if it’s convenient, could you reveal a bit about the business model? If there’s a suitable opportunity, Meiters will definitely support your new venture,” Min Jie probed cautiously.

”There’s no harm in telling you. It’s similar to the FoxTao model—a flash sale site for brands. But this time, we’re not a shopping guide; we’re building a platform.”

Chen Yansen glanced up at Min Jie and said nonchalantly.

Since Min Jie had brought it up, he had no intention of being secretive. After the National Day holiday, everyone in the industry would know anyway.

’Building a platform?’

’This kid just sold FoxTao, and now he’s starting from scratch again to compete with Taobao and Jingdong?’

Even Zhou Jiancheng couldn’t help but admire Chen Yansen’s audacity.

After all, the e-commerce market share at this time was almost completely devoured by Taobao, Jingdong, Sunning, and Amazon. Snatching food from the mouths of these giants was easier said than done.

Banggou Network had been online for a whole year. If FoxTao hadn’t been driving traffic to it, its annual sales probably wouldn’t have even reached several tens of millions.

”President Chen, if there’s anything you need from Meiters, just say the word,” Zhou Jiancheng declared.

The subtext was that Meiters was willing to be one of the first merchants to join the platform.

”Thank you for your support, President Zhou. But the project is still in the preparatory stages, and the product is still in development. If we need anything later, I’ll have Director Song contact President Min.”

Chen Yansen pushed Song Yuncheng into the spotlight, replying with a smile.

Song Yuncheng had an excellent performance record in the key accounts group. Chen Yansen planned to have her continue managing KA merchants in the new project, which would both hone her negotiation skills and expand her network of resources.

”Alright.” Hearing Chen Yansen’s reply, Zhou Jiancheng knew he couldn’t press further. He understood that being impatient wouldn’t help, so he changed the subject and began talking about the difficulties the clothing industry had faced in the past two years.

Chen Yansen listened, privately sneering, ’The clothing industry has a 60-80% gross margin, just a little less than the beauty industry. Aren’t they just too greedy? Thinking consumers are easy to fool, trying to dominate the market with inferior designs? Where in the world do you find a deal that good?’

Meiters was a prime example. They had made money too easily before, blindly expanded their production capacity, and neglected design, causing them to fall out of touch with their target customers’ aesthetics. That’s why they were on a downward slope.

Take Han Du Yishe, which had become incredibly popular in the last two years. They had 300 product teams, released new styles quickly, and were developing at a breakneck pace.

They also focused on online channels, which meant they got fast feedback. If a new product sold poorly, it was replaced immediately.

Of course, a decade or so later, Han Du Yishe would also gradually fade away due to issues like having a single sales channel, fierce competition, and product quality problems.

But in 2011, Han Du Yishe completely crushed Meiters in sales and business volume, making it the undisputed king of online apparel.

When Zhou Jiancheng mentioned this competitor, his eyes filled with a mixture of hatred and envy. He even said that Meiters’ design department was planning to follow Han Du Yishe’s product team model to increase the number of new releases.

They chatted until noon, at which point Zhou Jiancheng had the administration department arrange for a car to take them to the Roosevelt Mansion at 27 Bund.

The table Zhou Jiancheng had booked offered a view of the Huangpu River and the Oriental Pearl Tower on the opposite bank.

”It’s a shame it’s noon. If it were nighttime, the view would be even more beautiful,” Zhou Jiancheng said with a smile.

The meal wasn’t terribly expensive—a little over 1,000 per person, not including drinks—but the atmosphere was truly excellent.

Song Yuncheng seemed to really like the ambiance.

Chen Yansen, however, felt nothing special. He had been to this very table before, with different women.

Compared to a decade later, the menu hadn’t changed much.

After the meal, Chen Yansen declined Zhou Jiancheng’s offer to extend their time together. He got up to leave and was now walking with Song Yuncheng along the Bund’s sightseeing promenade.

In the greenery to the side, cloud-like pink plants grew, attracting many tourists who stopped to take pictures.

Song Yuncheng stopped, and he could see she was tempted.

”Go on, I’ll take a picture for you,” Chen Yansen said with a smile, having read her mind.

”Thanks,” Song Yuncheng said with a grin.

She was wearing a simple, elegant blazer, her hair fluttering gently in the breeze as she looked softly at Chen Yansen.

Chen Yansen raised his phone, but he suddenly froze.

’In Song Yuncheng’s eyes, all I can see is my own reflection. A girl who adores me this much... am I really going to be a scumbag to her, too?’

Chen Yansen hesitated. Song Yuncheng was different from Zhou Keyuan and Ye Qiuping. She liked making money, and it seemed she also liked him.

”Did you get it?” Song Yuncheng asked with a smile, revealing a row of perfect, pearly teeth. A ray of sunlight fell upon her, making her seem to glow.

”Yeah, come and see.” Chen Yansen pressed the shutter button twice, capturing Song Yuncheng at her most beautiful.

When it came to photographing women, he had a knack for it.

Of course, President Chen’s preferred photography venues were usually hotels, villas, and private clubs. The environmental buffs they provided were what truly activated his strongest photography skills.

After a stroll around the Bund, the two headed to the International Exhibition Center, where a car show was being held for the National Day holiday.

Chen Yansen had long grown tired of his BMW 750. He was going to use this opportunity to reward himself with a few more cars.

They got out of the car, walked into the exhibition center, and browsed past the various brand displays.

Walking beside him, Song Yuncheng suddenly realized her savings were only enough to buy a mid- to low-end car.

As for the cars Chen Yansen was asking about, she could only afford half of even the cheapest one.

Chen Yansen bought cars like he was buying groceries. He stopped at the Bentley and Aston Martin displays, paid the deposits, signed the contracts, and ordered a Bentley Mulsanne and an Aston Martin Rapide, respectively.

The total price for the two cars was nearly 10 million. Gao Weilin would handle the rest of the paperwork for him.

The entire car-buying process took less than an hour.

Seeing that it was still early, Chen Yansen then took Song Yuncheng to a shooting range.

Watching a beautiful woman shoot a pistol was its own kind of fun. Chen Yansen stood to the side, watching Song Yuncheng wear noise-canceling headphones and adjust her posture with a Walther pistol under the guidance of an instructor.

”BANG!”

”BANG! BANG! BANG!”

Song Yuncheng’s face was flushed with excitement. Hearing the electronic score notification, she ran up to Chen Yansen with a smile and said, ”33 points in 10 shots, and I didn’t miss the target once.”

At that level, you couldn’t say she had a talent for it, but she was a bit better than the average person.

After all, the target was only 10 meters away.

”Was it fun?” Chen Yansen asked.

”It’s my first time shooting a gun. It was pretty thrilling.” Song Yuncheng’s face was flushed, radiating the excitement of an adrenaline rush.

”Next time, I’ll take you to Beibing Country. For ten thousand yuan, you can play with tanks and heavy machine guns as much as you want, and fire as many bullets as you like.”

Chen Yansen replied with a smile.

Perhaps it was because he sensed a quality in Song Yuncheng that was different from other girls that Chen Yansen had brought her to the shooting range.

”No need. Experiencing it once is enough,” Song Yuncheng said softly, sitting down next to Chen Yansen.

「Meanwhile.」

When Ma Liyun learned that Chen Yansen had founded another new company, and that its main business was once again e-commerce, he couldn’t help but ponder the young man’s intentions.

After a long while, he decided to have Zhang Yong sound out Chen Yansen. If possible, Ali would invest early.

Far away in the capital of Beibing Country, upon learning that Chen Yansen had rejected Digital Sky Technology’s valuation offer, Yuri pondered for a moment before deciding to make a trip to Hua Country himself.

He wanted to see with his own eyes how this young man, not yet twenty, had managed to create two companies valued at over ten billion each within a single year.