Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

”KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—!”

Tao Jingwen raised her hand and knocked on the door. She knocked gently three times, with just the right amount of force and a 0.5-second interval between each rap, as if it were muscle memory.

”Come in!”

A deep voice called from inside.

Tao Jingwen pushed the door open and led Chen Yansen inside.

The office wasn’t very large, and the furnishings were sparse: a desk, a bookshelf, two chairs, and a pot of asparagus fern by the window.

A man in his fifties, wearing a gray jacket, stood there. The slightly upturned collar revealed an exquisite lining, which was surprisingly made of fur.

’No wonder he’s only wearing a seemingly thin shirt and jacket in the dead of winter,’ Chen Yansen thought.

Others might not notice such a minute detail, but to Chen Yansen, Meng Yuanzhi’s attire, micro-expressions, and even the trajectory of his finger movements were all under his observation.

Chen Yansen had read many books like *The Definitive Book of Body Language*, *Reading People*, and *What Every BODY is Saying*, but he could glean very little from Meng Yuanzhi.

It meant the man concealed his true emotions so well that it was nearly impossible for others to discern his mental state from his expressions, gestures, or posture.

At that moment, Meng Yuanzhi was also observing Chen Yansen.

He had met many young entrepreneurs, but this was the first time he had seen one as young as Chen Yansen.

Even someone as formidable as Shi Yuzhu took five years to make it onto the Forbes list of billionaires.

Yet Chen Yansen, in just one year, had achieved what took Shi Yuzhu twenty years, leaving established tycoons like Lei Yijun, Huang Guangyu, and Wang Chuanfu in the dust.

”Mr. Meng, a pleasure to meet you.”

Chen Yansen offered a slight smile and greeted him first.

With this tycoon’s patronage, the process of establishing the Orange Phone Factory in Luzhou would naturally be a smooth ride.

”Please, sit.” Meng Yuanzhi nodded, gesturing for him to sit down and talk.

Chen Yansen didn’t stand on ceremony and plopped right down.

Tao Jingwen silently left the room, gently closing the door behind her.

”You’re from Zhou Lai. How did you end up studying at a university in Xucheng?”

Meng Yuanzhi didn’t bring up the Orange Phone Factory, nor did he mention the Jingdongfang equity swap. His tone was more like that of a university counselor.

”I missed the cutoff score for a Tier 2 university by one point and got into Xucheng Academy through supplementary admissions. I originally wanted to get into Huake University, but I didn’t make the cut.”

Chen Yansen replied with a perfectly straight face.

Even with his deep composure, Meng Yuanzhi couldn’t help but be amused by his shamelessness.

Never mind that Huake University doesn’t have a liberal arts program; with a score one point shy of Tier 2, you were tens of thousands of applicants away from Huake University’s admission threshold.

Chen Yansen would only have a chance if Huake University increased its enrollment to one million students.

”If you had gotten into a university in Luzhou, we might have met last year.”

Meng Yuanzhi teased with a smile.

”It’s not too late now. Timing is crucial; sometimes being too early or too late isn’t a good thing.”

Chen Yansen shrugged, his tone noncommittal.

’Aside from young, pretty girls, nothing else about university held any appeal for him. He was only studying to give an account to Chen Guobin and the mother he had never met.’

”Lately, Kuai Pao has been expanding rapidly in Luzhou. The restaurant industry saw a slight uptick in growth in December, but the rate of traffic violations by electric vehicles is also rising quickly.”

Meng Yuanzhi said slowly, his tone taking on an interrogative edge.

”Timeliness is the most critical performance metric for a food delivery platform. Kuai Pao’s promised 29-minute delivery time already accounts for waiting at red lights, and we purchase accident insurance for all our riders. For the individual riders who commit violations, Kuai Pao has internal penalty regulations.”

Chen Yansen replied seriously.

’Every single delivery rider was his personal money-printing machine; he couldn’t bear for anything to happen to them.’

”It’s good that you understand that. I heard you’re providing the ’five insurances and one fund’ for all your delivery riders, couriers, and general factory workers. That must be an extra expense of tens of millions a month. Doesn’t that hurt?”

Meng Yuanzhi asked again.

This was also the main reason he was pushing so hard for this partnership. Once the Orange Phone Factory went into production, Luzhou would gain ten thousand workers paying into social security.

”Actually, I earn much more.”

Chen Yansen smiled. ’Their base salaries were practically nothing. Without overtime pay, commissions, and housing subsidies, his monthly labor costs could be cut by more than another 50%.’

”If Luzhou had a few more young people like you, my job would be much easier.”

Meng Yuanzhi sighed with feeling.

Chen Yansen just smiled silently. Meng Yuanzhi was flattering him, but he wasn’t going to fall for it.

It was just like his negotiation with Xu Minggang earlier. Business was business; if you wanted something, you had to show some sincerity.

Seeing that Chen Yansen wasn’t taking the bait and was just wearing a ’whatever the big boss says is right’ expression, Meng Yuanzhi’s face froze for a second. He cursed inwardly, ’Little fox,’ then continued,

”Xucheng’s talent pool and transportation convenience can’t compare to Luzhou’s. Why not move Orange Technology and Pinbei Mall to Luzhou? I can sort out the office building for you. If you want to build your own, I can also provide you with a plot of commercial or industrial land.”

”I’m sorry, Mr. Meng, but I have no plans to relocate at the moment. After all, I’m still studying at Xuyuan, so it would be inconvenient to manage things from afar.”

Chen Yansen’s refusal was polite and well-reasoned.

Meng Yuanzhi looked at Chen Yansen, and seeing his firm attitude, he dropped the idea.

To put it bluntly, aside from its agriculture, forestry, and coal industries, Xucheng had finally produced a Chen Yansen. If Meng Yuanzhi dared to pack up Orange Technology and Pinbei and move them to Luzhou...

...Xu Zhenhui wouldn’t dare curse him to his face, but he would definitely bad-mouth him to death behind his back.

However, if Chen Yansen had agreed, Meng Yuanzhi wouldn’t have actually cared what Xu Zhenhui thought. After all, Luzhou had a reputation for being the ”magnet of Huian.”

”That plot of land in Luyang District is a little over 100,000 square meters. It’s the former site of the Hegang Third Plant. They restructured and moved to a new factory area last year, so the utilities like water, electricity, and network infrastructure are all ready to go.”

Meng Yuanzhi changed the subject, turning his gaze to a map of Luzhou on the wall.

Chen Yansen followed his gaze. The factory area was next to an elevated highway and was well-connected, but it was indeed remote.

It was a full 15 kilometers in a straight line from the city center, a drive of over half an hour.

”It looks pretty good. Thank you for your consideration, Mr. Meng.”

Chen Yansen thanked him politely.

’It’s not like it costs anything. A few extra words of thanks are free.’

”Do you have any other needs in other areas?” Meng Yuanzhi asked.

”An interest-free loan, tax incentives, and policies for talent acquisition... I could use all of those,”

Chen Yansen replied with a smile.

He wasn’t going to be shy. If he didn’t speak up now, who knew if Meng Yuanzhi would still be this attentive after the Orange Phone Factory was up and running.

’This kid really has the guts to ask!’

Meng Yuanzhi was so surprised he laughed. But after a moment of thought, he replied, ”You can forget about an interest-free loan. The most I can approve is a 1 billion low-interest loan at 2.9%. I can also lower your corporate income tax rate to 15% for the first three years. Talent acquisition is no problem either. Talk to Tao Jingwen about it later; she’ll handle it for you.”

’One billion?’

’That’s only enough to buy the equipment for five fully automated mobile phone production lines, or twelve semi-automated ones.’

’And for a 100,000-square-meter factory, the equipment costs alone would be nearly 3 billion yuan.’

Chen Yansen looked at Meng Yuanzhi and saw his calm expression, so he gave up the idea of haggling.

The two continued to chat for another half hour, until Meng Yuanzhi intentionally or unintentionally let his gaze fall on the door. Chen Yansen immediately took the hint, stood up, and took his leave.

As soon as he stepped out of the office, he saw Tao Jingwen approaching him.

Then, Tao Jingwen led him back to the conference room from before.

”Boss, it’s all settled. We’re swapping 3% of Orange Technology’s equity for 6% of Jingdongfang’s. President Zhou from DST has also been informed.”

Gao Weilin stood up, walked over to Chen Yansen, and reported.

”Good. I can always count on you to get things done.” Chen Yansen patted Old Gao on the shoulder and said with a light chuckle.

”President Chen, see you at Luzhou Prefecture at 6 p.m.”

Xu Minggang reminded him again before leaving. It was clear his earlier words weren’t just polite pleasantries; he genuinely wanted to build a connection with Chen Yansen.

”Of course, President Xu.”

Chen Yansen responded with a smile, planning to bring a couple of bottles of good liquor to the dinner.

The three parties agreed to formally sign the contract tomorrow.

Wang Qingsheng, having lost face because of Chen Yansen, left without even saying goodbye.

They left the Central Bureau and returned to the hotel.

Chen Yansen sent Old Gao out to buy liquor, while he took Meng Jie back to their room to rest.

”Sigh, a working man’s life is a hard life.”

Gao Weilin rubbed his lower back, which was sore from sitting all morning, then turned and headed straight for a high-end shopping mall nearby.

When he returned, he was carrying two bottles of 80-year-old Moutai.

He knew that most bosses in the Mainland weren’t fond of whiskey or red wine, but had a special preference for baijiu.

「They rested at the hotel for the afternoon.」

It wasn’t until 5:30 p.m. that Chen Yansen left for the dinner with Gao Weilin.

This meal with Xu Minggang was simply a chance to gain a deeper understanding of the multifaceted situation in Luzhou.

”President Chen, don’t pay any mind to that Wang Qingsheng. The guy’s just a blockhead. With Meng Yuanzhi backing you, he wouldn’t dare pull any dirty tricks behind your back. At most, he’ll just bark a little.”

Xu Minggang cursed, his face flushed after three glasses of liquor.

It was obvious he and Wang Qingsheng didn’t get along, otherwise he wouldn’t be insulting Wang Qingsheng so openly in front of Chen Yansen.

”Does he have connections higher up?” Chen Yansen pressed.

”A few, but not many. Otherwise, he would have stormed out this morning instead of swallowing his anger and toughing it out until the negotiation was over.”

Xu Minggang didn’t hold back. He whispered a few words, revealing everything about Wang Qingsheng’s background.

After hearing this, Chen Yansen’s worries instantly vanished.

The two of them exchanged toasts, and after a few rounds of drinks, they headed to the restroom together.

”President Zhang, look over there. Isn’t that President Chen Yansen from Pinbei?”

Just then, in an adjacent private room, a young man nudged his boss.

’Pinbei?’

Hearing that name, Zhang Liaoyuan instantly sobered up. He looked closely and immediately confirmed that his assistant wasn’t mistaken.

In mid-December of last year, he had emptied his entire savings and, with funding from several other bosses, founded Three Squirrels.

’He was preparing to focus on online sales channels!’

’Now the big shot was right in front of him. How should he go over and build a connection?’

Zhang Liaoyuan’s mind raced. Seeing the two men walk out of the restroom and about to return to their private room...

...he couldn’t afford to overthink it and hurriedly got up and rushed out!