Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Hu City. The Huaxing Pullman Hotel.

The banquet sales manager stood in the ground-floor lobby, repeatedly wiping the cold sweat from his face.

Half a month ago, he had received a call from Cloud Speed Express headquarters. They had booked the largest banquet hall, one that could hold over a thousand people. He had wondered at the time, ’Does Cloud Speed really have that many employees in Hu City?’

But the customer is always right, so he didn’t overthink it and just accepted the deposit.

This evening, a call from the lobby manager informed him of a guest complaint.

The ground-floor lounge area was completely occupied by Cloud Speed’s couriers. Hotel guests who wanted to sit down for a cup of coffee couldn’t find a single open seat.

He rushed down to the ground floor and was instantly dumbfounded.

A dense mass of people, at least several hundred strong, was packed into the space. There were even couriers with their children.

Every last one of them was wearing a Cloud Speed Express windbreaker.

”Excuse me, everyone! I’m sorry to bother you, but are you all here for the Cloud Speed Express annual meeting?”

The sales manager wore an apologetic smile, hoping to find someone in charge to speak with.

Hearing this, the surrounding couriers instinctively nodded.

”Would it be possible for you all to move up to the banquet hall on the 24th floor? By gathering here, you’re inconveniencing our other guests,”

the sales manager continued.

”No way! We’re waiting for our boss here!”

”That’s right! We’re guests, too. Why can’t we wait in the lounge area?”

”Ignore him. We’re staying right here. Let’s see what he’s going to do about it!”

A few of the couriers saw through the sales manager’s intentions. Their expressions soured, and they shot back without a hint of politeness.

Just a moment ago, a middle-aged man in a sharp suit had been pointing at them while complaining to the lobby manager.

But they were all dressed cleanly, nothing was out of place. ’Are couriers not allowed to be paying customers here or something?’

Just then, a Mercedes-Benz GL550 pulled up to the entrance. Liao Wei got out with Zhai’an and walked over, arriving just in time to witness the scene.

”What’s going on?”

Liao Wei frowned, demanding unhappily.

”Sir, are you in charge of Cloud Speed Express? Please, don’t misunderstand. I meant no harm. It’s just that your employees have all gathered in the lounge, which is affecting other guests. I was just suggesting that they head up to the banquet hall to wait,” the sales manager hurriedly explained.

Liao Wei glanced around the lobby and instantly understood the situation.

Normally, he couldn’t be bothered with such matters and would have just told Zhai’an to send the couriers up to the banquet hall.

But today, the big boss had come all the way from Xucheng to Hu City for this meeting. Any misstep, no matter how small, could leave Chen Yansen with a bad impression.

At that thought, Liao Wei asked coldly, ”Were they causing a disturbance?”

”Er... no, not at all.” The sales manager, sensing this was going south, replied with a strained smile.

”Then how are they ’inconveniencing’ other guests? Are those people guests, but my Cloud Speed employees are not? Get your general manager down here. If you can’t give me a clear explanation, we’ll settle this in court.”

Under Chen Yansen’s influence, Liao Wei had taken to saying things like, ”I’m a legitimate businessman,” and, ”Believe me, I’ll have my lawyer send you a letter,” at the drop of a hat.

”It’s mainly because a guest complained... Sir, you have to understand, I’m just an employee...” The sales manager gestured apologetically, apologizing profusely.

”You seem rather worked up, President Liao.”

A teasing voice, laced with amusement, came from behind him.

Liao Wei spun around at the sound of the voice and, sure enough, saw Chen Yansen striding toward them, flanked by two other people.

”Boss, someone was picking on our people. As the CEO of Cloud Speed Express, I naturally had to step in and handle it.”

Liao Wei broke into a wide, ingratiating grin.

Ever since he started working for Chen Yansen, his status in their circle had skyrocketed, even though it had nearly cost him his life once.

Before, Chen Dejun of Shentong had looked at him like he was some stray dog on the street. Now, Liao Wei wouldn’t give Chen Dejun the time of day!

He had sent the ”Three Passes and One Reach” into a steady retreat. Shentong and Yuantong had dropped their base price to one yuan, and they were still no match for Cloud Speed.

”Who complained? Tell them to step forward!”

After hearing Liao Wei’s explanation, Chen Yansen fixed his gaze on the sales manager.

A conflicted expression appeared on the sales manager’s face. Both parties were guests. He was filled with regret. ’If I’d known this would happen, I never would have come down here.’

”I’m the one who complained. What of it? This is a five-star hotel. Do you hicks really think this is some kind of flea market?”

An impeccably dressed middle-aged man, escorted by the lobby manager, slowly approached, a flicker of disdain in his eyes.

In his opinion, the boss of this courier company was insane. ’It’s one thing to hold the annual meeting at the Pullman, but to actually invite all the couriers? The man must be out of his mind!’

He had to be out of his mind!

”’Hick?’ Your accent isn’t from around here either. Where did your family crawl out from?”

Chen Yansen had spent over a decade in Hu City in his past life and dated more than a dozen local women. He could tell instantly that the man’s Shanghainese accent wasn’t authentic.

Hearing this, the middle-aged man’s composure shattered. His face flushed crimson as he pointed at Chen Yansen and cursed, ”You little bastard! You have no manners, you uncultured son of a b—”

SMACK!

The middle-aged man’s head snapped back, feeling as if he’d been hit with a hammer. He nearly passed out.

”You hit me? How dare you! I’m calling the police!” the middle-aged man yelled as he came to his senses.

Chen Yansen looked at the courier who had thrown the punch. He looked to be about eighteen or nineteen and had a shy smile.

”Boss, please head on up. I’ll take care of this.” Liao Wei was furious. ’After all our hard work for the past six months, for a disaster like this to happen at such a critical moment...’

”No need. It’s still early,” Chen Yansen said with a wave of his hand.

The hotel security guards saw a guest get hit and immediately rushed over. As the situation threatened to escalate, the Pullman’s general manager could no longer stay put.

Others might not have been aware, but he knew a great deal about Cloud Speed. He knew they were backed by Senlian Capital.

They were no ordinary courier company!

”My apologies, Mr. Chen. The hotel handled this situation poorly. I will discipline both the sales manager and the lobby manager accordingly. Furthermore, I can offer a five-percent discount on your company’s bill tonight. I hope this will help cool your anger.”

General Manager Jiang Minghao hurried over, apologizing as he shot a fierce glare at his two subordinates.

”So my employees aren’t allowed to be customers here?”

Chen Yansen barely raised his eyes to look at the hotel’s general manager, his tone severe as he questioned him.

”Of course they can. This was entirely our mistake. I apologize to all of you. These are vouchers for the Pullman’s buffet. It’s just a small token, but I hope you will all accept it.”

Jiang Minghao replied with a smile, pulling a thick stack of the vouchers from his pocket and handing them to the couriers standing nearby.

There was no point in arguing with someone who was smiling and trying to make amends. Chen Yansen smiled back and decided to drop the matter with the hotel. He led Liao Wei, the rest of the Cloud Speed executives, the station heads, and the couriers to the elevators, and they all made their way up to a brightly lit banquet hall.

Zhai’an, however, stayed behind to handle the remaining loose ends.

A short while later, a car from the Inspection Institute arrived. Two Inspectors pulled the lobby manager, Jiang Minghao, Zhai’an, and the courier who had thrown the punch aside for questioning. They soon learned that the trouble had started because of the middle-aged man’s foul mouth.

”Do you want to go to the hospital? These people were here for their company meeting, not causing a ruckus. What did you have to go and provoke them for?”

the younger Inspector said, clearly annoyed.

”Hey! I’m the one who got hit! I didn’t throw the first punch! You should arrest that young guy in charge. He’s the one who put him up to it!”

the middle-aged man yelled, clutching his face and grimacing.

He wasn’t seriously hurt, just a nasty bruise forming on his cheek.

”That ’young guy’ you’re talking about... he’s the big boss of Cloud Speed Express and the founder of Pinbei and Orange Mobile Phone. He has tens of thousands of employees and a net worth in the tens of billions,”

the older Inspector, who had been standing to the side, quietly reminded him.

The implication was clear: You can press charges, but only if you’re not afraid of the consequences.

The middle-aged man’s heart sank. He understood the Inspector’s unspoken warning.

He had heard the names Pinbei Mall and Orange Mobile Phone before.

And rumor had it that the big boss behind both companies was a very young man.

”Forget it, just forget it! My bad luck, just my damn bad luck!” The middle-aged man instantly backed down, making it clear he wouldn’t be pursuing the matter.

”So, it’s Boss Ye Yizhi. I suppose you could say we’ve gotten properly acquainted now. Since Boss Ye is in the wholesale apparel business, I simply must give you a ’parting gift’.”

Zhai’an, holding the report from the Inspectors, had already looked up the man’s details.

Just some small-time clothing reseller from Qipu Road. He didn’t have two coins to rub together, but he certainly put on a good show.

Hearing Zhai’an’s thinly veiled threat, Ye Yizhi raised an eyebrow. ”Cut the sarcastic crap. You think I’m afraid of you?”

”All the better if you’re not.”

Zhai’an watched him with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Seeing this, the two Inspectors offered a few parting words before getting in their car and hastily driving off.

Though Ye Yizhi talked tough, he couldn’t help but feel a growing sense of dread after learning Chen Yansen’s identity.

But then a thought occurred to him, and he relaxed. He ran a brick-and-mortar business; their paths would never cross.

He dismissed Zhai’an’s threat as nothing more than bluster!

With that, he returned to his private room upstairs and resumed drinking and making toasts with his business partners.

”Boss Ye, I hear e-commerce is all the rage these days. They say if you know what you’re doing, you can sell over ten million yuan in goods a year online. I just have no idea how it works.”

”Lao Zhou, I know a bit about that. You guys remember Xiaozheng, from the stall on the second floor? He opened a shop on Pinbei last year, and two months later, he was driving a brand-new BMW.”

”Whoa! So e-commerce is really that profitable!”

”Huh? Boss Ye, you don’t seem to be in a good mood tonight. How about I take you over to Jin Yulan to blow off some steam?”

Ye Yizhi listened to his friends’ banter, forced a smile, and asked with curiosity, ”Is the boss of Pinbei really that powerful?”

”’Powerful’ is an understatement! You’ve heard of Cloud Speed Express, right? All the small-time Taobao shop owners on Qipu Road were still using the ’Three Passes and One Reach’ last year. This year, every single one of them has switched to Cloud Speed. I even heard the CEO of Cloud Speed Express was nearly taken out by someone with a semi-truck!”

”Fuck! Don’t tell me it was Yu Weijiao from Yuantong?”

”What are you thinking? The guy who did it was Chen Feilei, the boss of Speed Peak Express. He’s been behind bars for a while now.”

”President Ye, how come you look paler and paler?”

Ye Yizhi wasn’t just pale; his hands and feet had begun to tremble. He was truly terrified.

When he came into the hotel earlier, he had just been posturing, showing off. He’d mocked them a little and even filed a complaint with the lobby manager.

He never imagined his luck would be so bad that he’d end up messing with someone so far out of his league.

”That Liao Wei is a ruthless piece of work, too. He had his couriers tear down more than a dozen of Speed Peak’s depots,”

a businessman sitting next to Ye Yizhi gossiped with great interest.

Businessmen like them, with cars and property in Hu City, loved nothing more than to gossip about the local business world.

At this point, Ye Yizhi had lost all appetite for drinking. He was terrified he’d show up at his storefront the next morning only to find it demolished.

In reality, dealing with him wasn’t nearly that much trouble.

When Zhai’an returned to the banquet hall and reported the outcome to Chen Yansen, Chen Yansen just grunted, pulled out his phone, made a single call, and Ye Yizhi’s fate was sealed.

「An hour later.」

Ye Yizhi, still in his private room, began receiving one call after another from his partner factories. The message was simple: they would no longer be supplying him with merchandise.

The final call was from his storefront’s landlord, telling him to vacate the Qipu Road property within three days.

Ye Yizhi hung up the phone, completely devastated.

For Chen Yansen, crushing a man like Ye Yizhi required nothing more than a single word. If the man hadn’t insisted on making a scene right in front of him, Chen Yansen wouldn’t have even deigned to give him a second glance.