Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

The implication was clear: let the legal department handle it. A little compensation money and it would all be settled.

”What about Cheng Jinhui?”

Pei Yi breathed a sigh of relief and pressed on.

”He’s... mostly okay. Just broke a part of his tooth. Legal says it’ll most likely be classified as a minor injury. We can get an official injury assessment done first, then go after the other party.”

Kou Zhen answered.

”As long as he’s okay.” Pei Yi’s taut nerves finally eased. He had been worried the whole way from Xuhui that the incident would escalate.

A full-blown brawl would have been a huge mess.

After a moment’s thought, he decided to call Chen Yansen.

This could either be a minor issue or a major one. If he waited for his boss to read about it in the news tomorrow and then ask questions, he’d be on the back foot.

Chen Yansen had been on his way back to his villa, but after hearing Pei Yi’s report, he had the driver turn the car around.

”Have you gotten everyone out?” Chen Yansen asked.

”Not yet. Too many people were involved. The fine is the least of our worries; they’ll probably be detained for ten to fifteen days. The lawyer said he’ll do his best to negotiate,” Pei Yi answered.

”Alright, I understand.” Chen Yansen promptly hung up.

”Back during the Group Buy wars, this sort of thing was common. It was usually just a fine and detention,” Song Yuncheng added.

”The problem is, one of the guys they took in is a student from Tongji University. That complicates things.”

Chen Yansen stated frankly.

The kid took a beating, but he threw some punches too. If they dug into it, he’d have to be detained for a few days to cool off, at the very least.

If he were a full-time employee, it would be much simpler. We’d just keep paying his salary and give him a bonus for his trouble when he got out.

But of all things, the kid had to be a university student!

Song Yuncheng frowned. She had dealt with the Market Departments of many Group Buy websites before and knew of plenty of similar cases. She understood exactly what made this situation so difficult.

”It’s fine. It’s not a big problem. Let’s get this kid out first, and we’ll take it from there.”

Chen Yansen said with a relaxed smile.

By the time he arrived at the Inspection Institute, dusk had fallen. The last sliver of golden afterglow was vanishing below the horizon.

Pei Yi, Kou Zhen, and Kuai Pao’s legal counsel were sitting in the main hall, getting an earful from a middle-aged man. ”Is Kuai Pao a food delivery company or a fighting gym?”

”Mr. Wei, you can’t put all the blame on us,” Pei Yi argued, trying to reason with him. ”It started as a minor dispute. But an Eleme rider hit someone, refused to apologize, and then beat our employee, causing minor injuries. When his coworkers went to talk some sense into them, they got beaten and cursed out too...”

”I don’t want to hear any of it. In short, everyone from Kuai Pao is doing the full fifteen days.” Wei Zhe waved his hand dismissively, his face a mask of impatience.

’He couldn’t imagine the tongue-lashing he would have gotten from his superiors if a full-blown riot had broken out that afternoon. He might have even been formally reprimanded.’

”Uncle Wei, what are you doing here?”

The moment Chen Yansen walked in, he spotted Wei Zhe. He immediately put on a smile and approached him.

”This is my turf. Why shouldn’t I be here? You’re just in time. What kind of training do you give your employees? They start fights at the drop of a hat.”

Wei Zhe turned at the sound of his voice and, upon seeing Chen Yansen, launched into his questioning.

”You’re right, Uncle Wei. I’ll reprimand them as soon as I get back. I’ll start by docking a month’s pay from them. That should teach them a lesson,” Chen Yansen said with a smile.

”They’re not going anywhere. Come back to pick them up in half a month,” Wei Zhe said, his face stern.

”Uncle Wei, there’s a student from Tongji in there. He’s the one who got hurt. Can you let him go to the hospital first?”

Chen Yansen asked tentatively.

’A Tongji University student?’

Wei Zhe recalled the details and shook his head. ”Can’t do it. He threw punches too.”

Seeing Wei Zhe’s by-the-book attitude, Chen Yansen felt a surge of helplessness. He didn’t bother arguing further and simply stepped outside to make a phone call.

’He wasn’t some nobody without connections. As long as he was willing to pull some strings, was a small matter like this really going to be a problem?’

After the call, he returned to the main hall and plopped down in a chair.

”Boss, I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble,” Pei Yi said, his head lowered.

”In business, you can’t be afraid of trouble. When a problem comes up, you solve it,” Chen Yansen said, patting Pei Yi on the shoulder.

’In his eyes, Pei Yi was quite capable. With the right nurturing, he could definitely hold his own one day.’

’He just lacked the necessary resources. Otherwise, he could have easily handled this himself without me having to show up.’

Twenty minutes later, Wei Zhe returned. He stared intently at Chen Yansen. ’I really underestimated this guy.’

”Cheng Jinhui can leave. The others need to pay the fine first. Have your company lawyer come back in ten days.”

Wei Zhe said with a frown.

”Thank you, Uncle Wei,” Chen Yansen said with a slight smile.

”This has nothing to do with me. Do you have any idea how serious the consequences would have been if a real brawl had broken out this afternoon?” Wei Zhe stressed.

”Uncle Wei, I understand. Like I said, I’ll reprimand them when I get back. I’m not joking,” Chen Yansen replied seriously.

”Good. As long as you know.” Wei Zhe nodded and got up to leave.

’If it weren’t for the connection to Meng Zhen Country, he wouldn’t have bothered saying any of this.’

About ten minutes later, Cheng Jinhui emerged, walking unhurriedly behind an Inspector.

Chen Yansen beckoned to him. When Cheng Jinhui reached him, he said in a serious tone, ”You’re still a student. Don’t be so impulsive next time.”

”If the boss hadn’t stepped in for you, you could’ve lost your spot at the university,” Kou Zhen warned, worried the kid wouldn’t learn his lesson.

”Thank you, Boss. I’ll remember,” Cheng Jinhui said, full of gratitude. He knew he was supposed to have been detained for a full fifteen days, but just an hour later, the Inspector had told him something completely different.

”Next time, if you can’t win, just run. We’ll find a way to get even later. The company employs all these lawyers specifically to help you guys out. We’ll make sure the people who hit you are held accountable. For now, just focus on recovering. Go home and rest.”

Chen Yansen added a few more instructions.

Cheng Jinhui obediently agreed. Then he heard his boss add that the company would cover all his medical bills, the cost of a dental implant, and even nutritional expenses during his recovery. Suddenly, he felt that taking that beating hadn’t been a complete loss.

Kou Zhen stood up, offering to take him to the hospital.

”By the way, where are the guys from Eleme? Doesn’t their company even have a legal team?”

Chen Yansen asked, looking at Pei Yi.

”They haven’t shown their faces. No one’s even come to pay the fines,” Pei Yi said with a shrug.

”Except for the rider who started it with Cheng Jinhui, go ahead and pay the fines for the other eight unlucky souls who took a beating.”

Chen Yansen said.

”Pay their fines for them?” Pei Yi froze, thinking he must have misheard.

”Frankly, this incident doesn’t really have much to do with them,” Chen Yansen said, his expression serious. He wasn’t joking.

”Okay, I’ll take care of it right now.” Pei Yi sighed and headed for the service window with the lawyer.

Once everything was settled, Chen Yansen said a brief goodbye to Pei Yi and left with Song Yuncheng.

Meanwhile, the delivery riders cooped up inside the Inspection Institute all wore miserable expressions.

The Kuai Pao riders were in a relatively better position. They only had to stay for ten days, and word from the legal team had come in: ”The company will deposit ten days’ worth of wages into your accounts, calculated from your daily average.”

The Eleme riders, however, were in a pitiful state. Their company still hadn’t sent anyone.

When Zhang Xuhao heard about the incident, his first move was to urgently dispatch ten riders to the affected Eleme station. Only after that did he send a lawyer to the Inspection Institute.

”What? Someone already paid the fines?” The lawyer from Eleme was completely dumbfounded, asking again in disbelief.

The food delivery world in Hu City was only so big, and the news spread like wildfire.

”That President Chen from Kuai Pao is a real class act. He told the inspectors that Kuai Pao was also at fault, so he paid the fines for the Eleme guys.”

”Tell me about it. I heard Kuai Pao announced that their guys will get full pay for these ten days, plus a bonus when they get out.”

”Damn it! Being an Eleme rider makes you feel like a second-class citizen. I’d be better off at Kuai Pao!”

The next day, when Zhang Xuhao heard the rumors flying around that Eleme didn’t give a damn about its riders, he felt deeply wronged. He *had* sent a lawyer, hadn’t he?

But a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. Absolutely no one paid any attention to Zhang Xuhao’s statement on Weibo.

His already small pool of riders shrank by several dozen overnight. It wasn’t hard to guess where they had all gone: Kuai Pao.

At ten in the morning, the Inspection Institute summoned the heads of both Kuai Pao and Eleme for separate talks. The core message was clear: normal business competition was acceptable, but malicious brawling was not.