Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

It wasn’t until eleven o’clock at night that Chen Yansen, carrying a bag of clothes, snuck into Song Yuncheng’s room.

”Director Song, I got you some little gifts.”

Chen Yansen said with a grin as soon as he entered.

Song Yuncheng’s cheeks flushed red. She instantly understood that Chen Yansen’s ”little gifts” were definitely not anything proper.

When Chen Yansen opened the bag, it was, as expected, full of strange and peculiar clothes and props.

”Boss, can I... not wear these?” Song Yuncheng pleaded, blinking her eyes and speaking in a soft, hushed voice.

”You don’t have to wear them,” Chen Yansen replied, taken aback for a moment.

Song Yuncheng was momentarily speechless, then broke into a smile, her eyes glistening.

「The next morning.」

The four of them, dressed neatly, drove to the Hang City International Conference Center.

On the surface, this networking event was hosted by the Hang City Youth Entrepreneurs Association, but Chen Yansen knew that the Hang City government had definitely put in a lot of effort. Otherwise, how could they have secured the International Conference Center as the venue and invited so many young entrepreneurs from home and abroad?

After getting out of the car, Chen Yansen walked toward the check-in area.

Gao Weilin, Song Yuncheng, and Wang Zihao followed close behind.

”Hello, sir. Please present your invitation,” a staff member at the check-in desk greeted politely.

Wang Zihao, who was behind him, handed over the invitation.

”Chairman of Senlian Capital, Chen Yansen...” Upon seeing this, the smile on the staff member’s face grew even wider. He quickly said a few words to a colleague beside him, then put down his work and led the four of them toward the conference hall.

Clearly, someone had given special instructions.

”Mr. Chen, your company’s seats are in the front row. I’ll take you there,” the staff member said as they walked.

Chen Yansen nodded slightly and followed him inside.

After passing through a corridor several dozen meters long, they arrived at a conference hall of over a thousand square meters, which was already filled with quite a few people.

”Is that?”

”Holy shit! It’s Chen Yansen from Orange Technology!”

”The organizers invited him too?”

”Now that’s a real big shot!”

The few people who had just been sucking up to Cheng Ou immediately switched their focus, their gazes landing on Chen Yansen.

After all, Cheng Ou’s Jumei Youpin was currently only valued at 200 million US Dollars, not even comparable to a single one of Chen Yansen’s leg hairs.

Cheng Ou was also sizing up Chen Yansen. The man was wearing a light blue suit, the cut fitting his frame so perfectly it was clearly custom-made.

His tall, six-foot-one frame stood out like a crane among chickens amidst the other young entrepreneurs. In terms of looks, he made Cheng Ou feel utterly inferior.

In the crowd, a short, slender man pushed up his glasses, a hint of admiration in his expression.

Twenty-eight-year-old Zhang Yiming had just resigned from his position as CEO of Jiu Jiu Room and was planning his fifth startup. But as for what to do specifically, he didn’t have any ideas yet.

He came to this networking event, first, to find funding, and second, to find a project.

He never expected to actually see Chen Yansen here.

Although he was nine years older than Chen Yansen, in the eyes of the many ’80s and ’90s generation entrepreneurs, Chen Yansen was considered a leading figure among young entrepreneurs.

Barely twenty years old, he had already amassed a net worth in the tens of billions and held two companies each valued at over ten billion.

Even a 20-year-old Ma Wenteng or Ma Liyun would have a hard time not feeling inferior in front of Chen Yansen.

”President Chen, hello. Welcome to Hang City. I’m Cheng Weixing, the executive director of the Hang City Collegiate Entrepreneurs Alliance.”

While others were still staring in a daze, a young man in a suit and black-framed glasses took the initiative and approached him.

’Cheng Weixing?’

’Executive director of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Alliance?’

’Never heard of him!’

’Probably just some small-timer.’

But, as the saying goes, you don’t slap a smiling face. Chen Yansen returned the smile and exchanged a few simple pleasantries before following the staff member’s guidance to his seat.

Cheng Weixing stared at Chen Yansen with a burning gaze. He was both a staff member at this networking event and an invited guest.

As the CEO of Pan City Technology, he actually really wanted to chat with Chen Yansen about his entrepreneurial experiences. Although he had earned his first pot of gold with *Magic Academy*, his subsequent releases—*Dream City*, *Legend of the Apocalypse*, and *Heroes of the Water Margin*—had all failed to meet profit expectations.

Squeezed by Penguin, NetEase, Shanda, Perfect World, and Giant, Pan City Technology was having a hard time.

Cheng Weixing was increasingly feeling that the gaming industry was a tough business to be in. After seeing Chen Yansen’s success, he had even considered entering the shopping guide e-commerce sector and had put his thoughts into action, investing two million to fund Mogujie.

But under the pressure from New FoxTao, Mogujie still showed no signs of taking off. Although it was growing, it was completely incomparable to the original FoxTao.

The conference hadn’t started yet. Just as Chen Yansen sat down, someone next to him took the initiative to introduce himself. ”President Chen, hello! I’m Wang Shubin from Shangtongda.”

’Great, another young entrepreneur I’ve never heard of.’

Chen Yansen smiled and gave a couple of perfunctory replies, immediately feeling that this networking event was just as he’d thought—pointless.

Looking around, aside from Cheng Ou, he didn’t recognize anyone else.

’Huh?’

’This guy looks a little familiar.’

Chen Yansen stared at Zhang Yiming as a sense of familiarity washed over him.

’The founder of Byte?’

’The future hundred-billionaire?’

’But what’s with the admiration in his eyes?’

After it dawned on him, Chen Yansen couldn’t help but give a faint smile.

”Does President Chen know me?”

After confirming that Chen Yansen was looking at him, Zhang Yiming came over to greet him.

He had just left Jiu Jiu Room and only had a little over five million in cash. If his new project could get Chen Yansen’s support, venture capitalists would surely take a second look.

”No, I just thought you looked familiar. And you are?”

Chen Yansen extended his hand, casually making up an excuse.

”Zhang Yiming, former CEO of Jiu Jiu Room,” Zhang Yiming introduced himself simply.

’Former CEO?’

’So Zhang Yiming must have resigned and is most likely preparing a new project.’

After failing at four consecutive startups, even though Zhang Yiming felt he was exceptionally capable, he was starting to have some doubts about his life.

His former boss and fellow townsman, Wang Xin, had invited him to join Meituan, but Zhang Yiming refused.

He didn’t want to be constrained by others; he wanted to try building his own product.

He had also left Jiu Jiu Room because his equity stake was too small. The title of CEO sounded nice, but in reality, he was just a high-level employee.

Chen Yansen nodded in acknowledgment but didn’t say much, only mentioning that they could chat when they had time.

’He didn’t think that just by casually tossing out a few tens of millions, he could make the man bow down and pledge allegiance.’

’Zhang Yiming understood technology, had connections, and could even come up with a few million on his own. His father owned an electronics factory, so his family was well-off.’

’His repeated rejections of Wang Xin’s offers showed that, underneath it all, he was definitely not the non-competitive, uncontriving tech guy he appeared to be on the surface. His ambition must be immense.’

’If the Sect Leader of a company lacks goals and ambition, they will never make it big or go far.’

Just as Chen Yansen was lost in thought, many of the young entrepreneurs attending the conference cast envious glances toward Zhang Yiming. Among them was Cheng Weixing from earlier.

They might be big shots in their own projects, companies, and fields, but the way they looked at Chen Yansen was clearly filled with reverence.

Among everyone present, there was almost no one who could compare to Chen Yansen in terms of net worth and achievements.

Even the few outstanding graduates from Evergreen Ivy and Qingbei who held titles like General Manager or President at various companies were, when it came down to it, just high-level employees.

Although Chen Yansen’s educational background was likely the worst among them, these elites, graduates of Ivy League Schools, were all thinking about how to suck up to him, get an investment from him, or become a mid-to-high-level manager at Senlian Capital or Orange Technology.