Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Yan Liang suppressed his fury and questioned him in a cold voice.

’It’s the end of 2011, and someone still dares to pull this kind of stunt right under my nose? Do they really think they won’t be found out?’

’A Cloud Speed truck crashed into a Speed Peak Express station?’

’Was Liao Wei that ruthless?’

’Damn it, didn’t I tell him to stick to legal means?’

He looked at Liao Wei’s assistant, a questioning look in his eyes.

The assistant gave a slight nod, tacitly confirming Yan Liang’s accusation.

”As for the specifics, I’ll need to wait for a report from the Yiwu station and the local Inspection Institute.”

Chen Yansen didn’t give a clear stance, simply replying in a soft voice.

Yan Liang stared intently at Chen Yansen, but he couldn’t see a single trace of nervousness or panic on his face.

Yan Liang then left with his men without another word.

After all, just as Chen Yansen had said, suspicion was useless without evidence.

”President Chen, you should head back to the hotel and get some rest. I’ll stay here. The moment President Liao wakes up, I’ll notify you,”

the assistant said.

”Alright. Thank you for your hard work,” Chen Yansen replied, patting the assistant’s shoulder.

”Let me walk you out.” The assistant followed behind Chen Yansen, making a call as they walked.

When they reached the hospital entrance, a black Mercedes-Benz was already parked by the curb.

In the front passenger seat and the left rear seat sat two young men in crisp suits. They sat bolt upright, their gazes sharp and alert as they scanned their surroundings.

”These are trying times. I hired two bodyguards from a security company, just in case.”

Zhai’an opened the car door, gesturing for Chen Yansen to get in as he explained.

”What’s your name?” Chen Yansen asked with a smile, impressed by his thoroughness.

”Sir, my name is Zhai’an,” Zhai’an answered hurriedly when the big boss addressed him.

”Take good care of Lao Liao,” Chen Yansen said before getting into the car.

Back at the hotel, Chen Yansen soon received the results of Zhai’an’s inquiries: a Cloud Speed Express truck had lost control and crashed right through the main gate of a Speed Peak Express station.

The crash happened right at the dispatch time, so apart from the dispatcher and the station manager, none of the couriers were present. Fortunately, no one was injured; there was only damage to property.

Chen Yansen shook his head. ’This is clearly Liao Wei’s retaliation.’

’The truck just happened to lose control? The other station just happened to be empty? And it just happened to only damage cargo and vehicles? How could there be so many coincidences?’

’No wonder that inspector, Yan Liang, suspected I was the one who ordered it right from the start.’

With the limited information he had, this was the only preliminary conclusion Chen Yansen could draw.

「The next morning.」

Chen Yansen returned to the hospital by car, the two bodyguards following behind him.

’Though he didn’t think he needed them. With his current strength and reaction speed, these two bodyguards were completely useless to him.’

”President Chen, you’re here! President Liao is awake,” Zhai’an said, hurrying over.

”Take me to him,” Chen Yansen said.

Zhai’an led Chen Yansen to a private room and stopped. Two more bodyguards stood guard at the door.

Entering the room, he saw Liao Wei in a hospital gown, lying weakly on the bed. His face was covered in dark bruises and scrapes.

His left leg and abdomen were wrapped in thick layers of gauze.

”President Chen, sorry to make you worry. And to trouble you with making a trip all the way out here,” Liao Wei said with a wry smile as Chen Yansen came in.

”There’s no one else here. Tell me exactly what happened,” Chen Yansen said, his eyes fixed on Liao Wei.

”Boss, it was really an accident! I never ordered my men to do it.”

Liao Wei looked completely innocent, so furious he wanted to start cursing.

’If he had actually done it, he would have felt better about being in pain and suffering a little. But he really hadn’t done it!’

’An accident?’

’Isn’t this too much of a coincidence?’

It wasn’t that Chen Yansen didn’t believe Liao Wei, but the incident just didn’t seem like an accident at all.

”Alright. The important thing is you’re not dead.”

Chen Yansen didn’t want to press the issue. If Liao Wei said it was an accident, he would treat it as one for now.

’But if the inspectors find something else... even if Chen Feilei lets Liao Wei off the hook, I won’t.’

’When Chen Yansen chose his people, ability was secondary. The most important thing was obedience.’

’If Liao Wei truly did retaliate against Speed Peak Express on his own authority, then his time as CEO of Cloud Speed Express was over.’

The two of them talked for a while before Yan Liang arrived with his men.

No matter what Yan Liang asked, Liao Wei insisted that the traffic incident in Yiwu was simply an accident.

Unable to get anything from Liao Wei, Yan Liang switched topics to the incident from the previous night.

As expected, the one who hit Liao Wei was a truck driver from Speed Peak Express. The driver claimed his brakes had failed, causing him to crash.

However, Yan Liang had checked the surveillance footage and discovered that the truck had been circling the Cloud Speed headquarters for more than ten hours. It had been waiting at the intersection, making its intent perfectly clear.

But when Yan Liang presented the surveillance footage, the driver changed his story, claiming he had been drinking that day and was just resting in the area.

Unable to extract any useful information, Yan Liang had no choice but to leave and wait for the results of the coordinated investigation from the Yiwu side.

”I never thought the competition in the express delivery industry would get this ugly. Hire a few more bodyguards. The company will pay.”

Chen Yansen joked with a smile.

”Maybe I should move the company headquarters to Hu City. I don’t feel safe staying in Tang City.”

Liao Wei had almost lost his life; of course he was scared.

Speed Peak’s headquarters was right there in Tang City. Being so close, Liao Wei felt no sense of security whatsoever.

”Alright. We’ll talk about it after you’ve recovered,” Chen Yansen agreed with a nod.

An hour later, Liao Wei’s wife arrived with their child to see him.

Seeing that Liao Wei was able to eat and drink normally, Chen Yansen got up, said his goodbyes, and left the room.

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ—!

He pulled it out and saw it was Liu Zhiping from Penguin. After a moment’s thought, he answered the call.

”Hey, Brother Martin. Calling me for a chat?” Chen Yansen said, half-joking.

”I heard about what’s going on with Cloud Speed Express. Chen Jiahai from Quanfeng asked me to mediate. He wants you to raise your price back to three yuan. What are your thoughts?”

Liu Zhiping got straight to the point.

”I want half the market share in the express delivery industry. If he can persuade Three Passes and One Reach and Shunfeng to give it to me, I’ll raise my price.”

Chen Yansen made no attempt to hide his intentions, his tone brazen.

The moment Liu Zhiping heard that, he knew negotiations were impossible. He laughed and said, ”Alright, I get it. Come visit Shencheng City when you have time. Pony’s been talking about you lately.”

Penguin had invested tens of millions in Quanfeng in the first half of the year, making it one of Quanfeng’s shareholders. That was why Chen Jiahai had asked Liu Zhiping to step in.

However, it was clear from Liu Zhiping’s attitude that he was just going through the motions. Between Quanfeng and Chen Yansen, he was obviously biased toward Chen Yansen.

Soon after, the members of Three Passes and One Reach received a message from Chen Jiahai. He was blunt:

There’s no room for negotiation. We fight!

That son of a bitch Chen Yansen said he won’t budge unless we’re willing to cough up all of our market share!

In the final month of 2011, the four express delivery tycoons of the Tonglu System were forced into the fray, announcing a series of price cuts.

On e-commerce platforms, products that originally offered free shipping for 9.9 yuan soon dropped to 8.9 yuan, and even 7.9 yuan.

The number of low-end group-buying items on the Pinbei platform instantly surged by 30%.

A flood of small sellers from Yiwu flocked to the platform. Taking advantage of Cloud Speed Express’s 2.2 yuan base delivery fee, they sold products like dish sponges, nail clippers, toilet paper, and drying racks at an incredible rate.

The daily sales for some individual items soared to between 400,000 and 500,000 orders.

When Chen Yansen learned of this, he immediately had Zhuang Rui reduce the exposure weight for low-priced items.

He wasn’t against low-priced goods, but their exposure needed to be controlled and kept within a reasonable proportion.