Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

”President, here is Cloud Speed Express’s social security contribution data. They have 14,735 employees on staff. In addition to the full social security and housing fund package, they also provide commercial medical insurance.”

At the Postal Association headquarters, the secretary handed the document to the president.

”Cloud Speed’s labor costs must be over 100 million a month. How long do you think they can last?”

Zheng Shengyu looked at his secretary and asked with a smile.

”Cloud Speed has Senlian Capital backing it, so lasting a few years won’t be a problem. Besides, it’s expanding rapidly. Once it achieves economies of scale, it can keep the business running even if the price per parcel drops by another 0.5 yuan.”

The secretary replied with a smile.

”It’s good to let them fight it out. The private express delivery industry doesn’t need so many players, especially not companies that refuse to pay social security for their employees.”

Zheng Shengyu said with a smile, his eyes narrowing.

In the past, whenever he had tried to discuss the matter with the heads of the Three Passes and One Reach, they always used high costs and competitive pressure as excuses, claiming that providing social security for their couriers would bankrupt them.

If their profitability was that poor, he figured it would be better to let Cloud Speed eliminate them.

「Meanwhile.」

Upon receiving the news, Wang Wei of Shunfeng couldn’t help but frown.

Though they were in the same industry, Shunfeng’s advantages—high speed, wide coverage, and door-to-door delivery—put its service quality far ahead of the Three Passes and One Reach, creating its own competitive moat.

But now Cloud Speed had also launched a door-to-door delivery service. Some customers who weren’t as concerned about delivery speed were now abandoning Shunfeng for Cloud Speed.

Although these customers were a small percentage, it was enough to give Wang Wei a sense of urgency.

”Notify the Market Department to lower the price of our Shunfeng Economy service by 10%. Have it adjusted within the week.”

Wang Wei instructed his assistant.

The battle between Cloud Speed and the Three Passes and One Reach was already affecting Shunfeng. If they didn’t cut prices soon, he feared Cloud Speed would take a bite out of them next.

「At the same time.」

Hang City Ali Headquarters.

Ma Liyun, Zhang Yong, Cai Xin, and several other founders were in a conference room, eating breakfast while discussing the Double 12 sales results from the various e-commerce platforms.

”Pinbei helped Jingdong generate 190 million in sales? Looks like Liu Qiangdong has invited a wolf into his house.”

Ma Liyun commented with a laugh.

In theory, the alliance between Pinbei and Jingdong should have been a blow to Taobao.

But Pinbei was growing too quickly. This stellar performance was bound to make Liu Qiangdong wary.

Furthermore, once Jingdong’s direct suppliers saw Pinbei’s sales prowess with high-value items, they would most likely bypass Jingdong and partner with Pinbei directly.

After all, since they held their own inventory, why let Jingdong take a cut?

”Pinbei is growing too fast. And that Chen Yansen... his skills and tactics are far beyond those of Paipai Network’s Zheng Chunbin. We have to be on guard.”

Zhang Yong put down his chopsticks, his expression serious as he gave the warning.

It was precisely because he respected Chen Yansen’s capabilities that he understood the threat the man posed to Taobao.

Both were backed by Penguin, yet Paipai Network was performing worse and worse. In contrast, Pinbei had broken into the top three e-commerce platforms in less than a month, right at the critical Double 12 sales event. This alone spoke volumes about Chen Yansen’s operational prowess.

”He wants to copy the Taobao of three years ago, using low-priced goods to drive traffic, while also trying to hold onto brand merchants. How can he have it both ways?”

Ma Liyun shook his head with a disdainful smile, seeing right through Pinbei’s platform strategy.

Low prices often meant low quality and counterfeit products. Ah Li had painstakingly built Taobao Mall for the express purpose of moving away from small sellers and funneling traffic toward mid-tier and top-tier merchants.

This strategy served two purposes. First, it boosted the group’s profitability and cash flow through various tools like security deposits, technical service fees, category commissions, and paid promotional features.

Second, it helped them crack down on the rampant counterfeit and low-quality goods on the platform.

After all, if Ah Li wanted to list on the Nasdaq, it first had to resolve the potential crisis of confidence that the counterfeit issue could trigger.

Paipai Network had never managed to take off precisely because its C2C business model was too dominant. It was plagued by fakes and shoddy products, which severely damaged the user experience.

With the rise of other major general and vertical e-commerce platforms, users gradually abandoned it.

”But from what we’ve seen so far, Pinbei seems to be managing that aspect quite well,”

Zhang Yong countered.

”That’s only because Pinbei’s order volume was low, so the problems haven’t surfaced yet. After Double 12, if Pinbei can’t handle the fallout, they’ll definitely be summoned for a meeting with the Market Supervision Association.”

Ma Liyun spoke with conviction. Ah Li had been through all these stages before.

”Orange Technology’s flagship store on Taobao had sales of 230 million yesterday,” Zhang Yong said slowly.

”Tell the Market Department to accelerate the onboarding of other phone brands. I refuse to believe they won’t be tempted after seeing Orange Mobile Phone’s sales figures,”

Ma Liyun said nonchalantly.

He wouldn’t suppress Orange Technology just because of Pinbei, but diverting some of Orange Mobile Phone’s traffic by introducing other brands was something that had to be done.

Sure enough, that very afternoon, Li Wanqiang from Xiaomi approached Ah Li’s Market Department to negotiate opening a Xiaomi flagship store.

When Huawei, High Technology Corporation, Coolpad, and others learned that Orange Mobile Phone had achieved a stunning 600 million in sales—nearly 300,000 units—in a single day across three online channels (Pinbei, Taobao, and Jingdong), they all scrambled to hold meetings to explore the feasibility of expanding their own third-party sales channels.

Back in Xucheng, Song Yuncheng also received a call from Li Wanqiang.

”That’s right! Xiaomi wants to join Pinbei. We can lower the price to 1,919 yuan. As for the promotional placements on opening day, we’ll have to count on your help, President Song.”

Li Wanqiang said with a laugh.

Due to poor sales, the official price of the Xiaomi Mobile Phone had already dropped from its initial 1,999 yuan to 1,969 yuan, and it had even gone as low as 1,949 yuan during sales events.

But a price of 1,919 yuan was a first.

Previously on FoxTao, Xiaomi had sold phones for the ultra-low price of 1,899 yuan, but that came with conditions: one, only FoxTao’s F5 Diamond-level users were eligible, and two, FoxTao was subsidizing 10 yuan per unit from its advertising budget.

To now be selling it openly at 1,919 yuan showed just how immense the pressure on Lei Yijun was.

”Please rest assured, President Li. I will certainly secure the best on-site resources for Xiaomi that are within my power.”

Song Yuncheng readily agreed.

But to Li Wanqiang, her words sounded extremely vague. He wanted to know the specific data and configuration for the promotional placements—things like pop-ups, homepage banners, or floating windows—but Song Yuncheng deliberately avoided discussing specifics.

After a moment’s thought, Li Wanqiang instantly understood. He tentatively offered a marketing fee of 10 million yuan.

Song Yuncheng immediately stopped beating around the bush. The two quickly came to a preliminary agreement over the phone, confirming the store’s launch date and the promotional package.

Li Wanqiang couldn’t help but give an awkward laugh. ’This Song Yuncheng is every bit the protégée Chen Yansen trained her to be. She won’t lift a finger without seeing a reward.’

After they finished, Song Yuncheng hung up the phone and sent the template contract prepared by the legal department to Li Wanqiang.

Once both legal departments confirmed there were no issues, they signed the partnership contract.

Afterward, Song Yuncheng left her desk, entered the elevator, and went up to the 11th floor.

”Boss, Xiaomi Mobile Phone wants to join Pinbei. On top of the security deposit, they’re adding 10 million in advertising fees to purchase promotional placements for their New Year’s Day launch.”

Song Yuncheng stood at the open office door. She knocked first and only entered to give her report after Chen Yansen nodded.

”It seems President Lei is under a lot of pressure. The Xiaomi phone has been on the market for nearly four months but has only sold 1.3 million units. He has no choice but to explore new channels.”

Chen Yansen leaned back in his chair and gestured for Song Yuncheng to close the door.

”There’s more! Li Wanqiang said that on their opening day, the Xiaomi Mobile Phone will be sold for 1,919 yuan. Should we adjust the price of the Orange Mobile Phone?”

Song Yuncheng pulled over a chair and sat down before asking.

”No need. Xiaomi cutting their price won’t affect the Orange Mobile Phone’s sales.”

Chen Yansen was quite confident.

The engineering prototypes of the Orange C2 and Orange D1 had already been sent to the Science and Technology Park, where the testing team’s engineers were conducting hardware tests. Once they were confirmed to be working correctly, the phones would be released in a limited quantity on the Orange Mall.

The first major production run would then be planned based on feedback from this initial batch of early adopters.

The official release date was estimated to coincide with the official mainland launch of the Apple iPhone 4S.

This would mark Orange Technology’s first true clash with Apple, since the iPhone 4 had already been on the market for nearly a year when the Orange C1 was released.

”Then I’ll get back to work,” Song Yuncheng said, preparing to stand up and leave, seeing that Chen Yansen wasn’t worried in the slightest.

”Come out with me for a bit,” Chen Yansen said.

”Is it for work?” Song Yuncheng asked in return.

”It’s not work, but are you saying you’d dare to refuse?” Chen Yansen raised an eyebrow slightly, looking at Song Yuncheng with a smile.

”...” Faced with such a blatant threat, Song Yuncheng forced a smile, while inwardly cursing Chen Yansen.

”Zhao Maolin from the telecom provider is about to be promoted and will be leaving Xucheng. And it just so happens the Orange C2 and Orange D1 are about to be released. Understand now?”

Chen Yansen explained with a smile, seeing her look of suppressed indignation.

To put it simply, he wanted to leverage the influence of Zhao Maolin and his boss to open up new sales channels for Orange Technology.

Take Lenovo, for example. Despite not having many popular phone models, it consistently ranked near the top in smartphone shipments purely by relying on its powerful connections with the three major carriers.

They could make a fortune just by selling contract phones!

What’s more, the three major carriers had a combined total of over one hundred thousand of their own and partnered retail stores across the country—all of them prime terminal ’marketplaces’.

Chen Yansen naturally had no intention of passing up this channel!

’Who doesn’t want to make money while lying down?’

”Okay, what time are we leaving?” As soon as Song Yuncheng heard it was for business, she quickly agreed.

”Half an hour. Sky Garden. Here are the keys.”

Chen Yansen tossed the Bentley keys to Song Yuncheng, clearly intending to use her as both a driver and a secretary.

Song Yuncheng caught the keys and turned to leave.

...

...

In the main Jingdong supplier group chat, a staffer from the data department posted the Double 12 sales leaderboard.

”Gree: 37 million!”

”HP: 21 million!”

”Lenovo: 43 million!”

”Dell: 19 million!”

These sales figures, all in the tens of millions, got a rise out of the small and medium-sized sellers in the group. As they were in the middle of a heated discussion, a small home appliance brand from Foshan suddenly commented: ”Gree and Aux’s sales are pretty similar.”

This message made the Jingdong staffer frown. Aux had only sold 8.3 million on Jingdong, far less than Gree.

However, Aux air conditioners had achieved an incredible 23.2 million in sales during one of Pinbei’s 10,000-person group buy events!

The staffer understood, and so did the various brand representatives who were lurking in the chat.

A dozen seconds later, the operations manager from that brand quickly retracted the message, then added another: ”Sorry, wrong chat, please ignore!”

It was obvious that this group of suppliers was privately discussing Pinbei’s Double 12 performance.

”Who the hell is Aux in the air conditioning industry?”

Zheng Zhou, Gree’s e-commerce head, saw this and snorted. He muttered the words under his breath, then immediately started pulling some strings to proactively contact Pinbei’s Key Account Investment Attraction Department, intending to join their platform.