Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

”You want Kuai Pao to expand into new business areas?”

After listening to Pei Yi’s explanation, Chen Yansen’s brow furrowed slightly. He hadn’t expected him to propose such an idea.

Typically, entering a completely new sector requires careful consideration of industry risks and the stability of the profit model.

Meituan, Dianping, and Lashou had already seen some success in the Group Buy field, proving the business’s feasibility and market potential.

By entering the market now, not only could they skip the market education phase, but they could also seize the initiative, dragging Meituan and Dianping into the competitive quagmire of the Group Buy market. This would, in turn, buy more time for their food delivery sector to develop.

The best defense is a good offense!

Kuai Pao wasn’t lacking in manpower, resources, or capital. The execution of its business development and on-the-ground promotion teams was also among the best in the industry.

”President Chen, I’ve actually had a similar idea for a while. I was so busy competing with Eleme before that I couldn’t spare the energy, but the more I think about it now, the more feasible it seems.”

Pei Yi replied with a smile.

He then clearly and logically laid out his vision.

First, food delivery is a high-frequency activity. Users open the Kuai Pao website or app two to three times a day, far more often than they use low-frequency services like Group Buy. Through integration, we can direct this high-frequency food delivery traffic to our Group Buy business.

Use high-frequency to drive low-frequency!

For example, we could display ’Group Buy coupons for nearby restaurants’ on the order completion page for food deliveries. This would leverage the post-meal decision-making moment to increase the Group Buy conversion rate.

Second, we can leverage user data from our food delivery business—like purchase frequency and preferred categories—to provide users with targeted recommendations for Group Buy deals.

Finally, our offline merchant resources can be repurposed, and the productivity of our on-the-ground promotion team can be improved.

This would create a synergistic ecosystem between our food delivery and Group Buy businesses, building a dual moat of ’at-home’ delivery and ’in-store’ services.

Chen Yansen smiled faintly. Without much deliberation, he approved Pei Yi’s plan.

If Kuai Pao went too long without a worthy opponent in the food delivery market, its on-the-ground promotion and operations staff would inevitably grow arrogant and complacent.

Going head-to-head with Meituan, Dianping, and Lashou Network might even expose some of the flaws in Kuai Pao’s own organizational structure and operational management.

How can you forge an iron-willed team without fighting a corporate war?

Aside from its struggle with Eleme, Kuai Pao’s journey had been far too smooth.

Chen Yansen also wanted to use this opportunity to sharpen Kuai Pao’s employees.

This would prevent them from being caught off guard if a few new competitors suddenly emerged in two or three years.

After hanging up, Pei Yi immediately relayed the news to Kang Guodong at the Luzhou Headquarters.

The implication was that both Kuai Pao’s PC and mobile platforms would need to be redesigned.

”Enter the Group Buy market? Did President Chen approve?” Kang Guodong asked.

”I’ve spoken with President Chen. He gave us the green light to go all out,” Pei Yi said with a smile.

Go all out?

Go after who?

Meituan, Lashou, Dianping, Nuomi Network, and all the other competitors, of course!

”Alright, I get it. I’ll send you the product proposal and redesign plan as soon as I can.” Kang Guodong didn’t ask any more questions, just nodded in agreement.

He might not have been an outstanding manager, but he had an exceptional talent for rider route optimization and intelligent order dispatching.

To put it bluntly, Kang Guodong’s technical skills were impeccable, which was evident from how he had bested Zhang Xuhao’s technical team from Jiaoda.

”Brother Dong, thanks,” Pei Yi said softly before hanging up.

”Dragon Scale Horse, spare me the formalities. You’re a better fit for Kuai Pao’s CEO than I am. President Chen made the right call.”

Kang Guodong retorted with a laugh, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

”You little punk, it’s President Pei during work hours!” Pei Yi joked.

”Get outta here! Bixia Sect, show some respect! I have more equity than you, got it?” Kang Guodong shot back.

The two traded a few more barbs, then shared a knowing smile and a burst of hearty laughter before getting back to their respective tasks.

Pei Yi began coordinating with Cheng Weixing while simultaneously conquering market share across Huian Province.

Meanwhile, Kang Guodong gathered the key members of the product and technology departments to reorganize Kuai Pao’s page layouts and draw up a development schedule. The plan was to launch Kuai Pao’s Group Buy channel by late July.

At that moment, Wang Xin of Meituan, Zhang Tao of Dianping, and Shan Jiawei of Lashou Network had no idea that before they could even make a move on the food delivery industry, Kuai Pao was already launching an assault on the Group Buy sector.

After finishing his work, Chen Yansen leaned back in his executive chair, leisurely flipping through a copy of *Microelectronic Circuits*. Aided by the examples and exercises, he quickly grasped the basic principles and design methods of the field.

When it came to knowledge of the semiconductor industry, Chen Yansen’s philosophy was: ’You don’t have to be in the business, but you can’t afford to be ignorant of it.’

Having been an employee and a subordinate himself, he was well aware of the bad habit employees had of trying to pull the wool over their boss’s eyes.

Of course, bosses had their own nasty habit of making empty promises to their employees.

The morning passed in a flash. Chen Yansen glanced at his watch, then put down his book, pulled out his phone, and started scrolling through the news.

’Ali Baba to Delist from Hong Kong Exchange After 5 Years, Paving Way for Full Group IPO.’

’Group Buy Transaction Volume Fell 23% in June to Only 2.08 Billion Yuan Nationwide; Industry Enters a Deep Freeze.’

’Apple Drops Google Maps in iOS 6.0 for In-House 3D Maps; Google Stock Tumbles.’

’Pop Idol Su Xing Assaults Teammate Backstage at Awards Show, Gets Blacklisted by Agency, Career in a Nosedive...’

Chen Yansen skimmed the headlines. Nothing particularly noteworthy.

Just then, a KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK came from the door.

”President Chen, the cafeteria made fried bean curd cakes and stir-fried beef today. I brought an extra portion up for you,” the young receptionist explained with a sweet smile, holding a takeout container.

”Okay, just put it there,” Chen Yansen replied.

As the number of employees at Orange Technology and Pinbei grew, even though the cafeteria had doubled its serving windows, the wait time was still around twenty minutes.

Chen Yansen found it too much of a waste of time, so he stopped going to the cafeteria and simply tasked the administration department with fetching his meals.

He was just about to pick up his chopsticks when a call came in from Ma Liyun.

”Mr. Ma, what can I do for you?” Chen Yansen asked, feigning ignorance.

”Wang Wei from Shunfeng, Chen Dejun from Shentong, and Yu Weijiao from Yuantong have all agreed to the plan to form Cainiao Logistics. President Chen, what’s your take on it?”

Ma Liyun began slowly.

”I have no objections, but who’s going to be the CEO of Cainiao Logistics? And who’s getting the majority stake?” Chen Yansen countered.

Ma Liyun’s expression froze. ’I’m the one who came up with this plan, so who the hell do you think is going to be CEO?’ he thought.

But he didn’t dare say that out loud, afraid of angering Chen Yansen. After all, Cloud Speed Express accounted for half of the entire private express delivery market. So, forcing a smile, he asked, ”Does President Chen have someone in mind?”

”Cainiao’s solution for last-mile delivery is flawed. Establishing Cainiao Network stations is an effective method for townships and especially rural markets. But for counties and for first-, second-, third-, and fourth-tier cities, setting up service stations near residential areas is a completely user-unfriendly move.”

Instead of answering directly, Chen Yansen steered the conversation toward the shortcomings of the Cainiao Logistics plan.

Take office workers in places like Luzhou, Jinling, and Hu City, for example. After getting off work, they’d have to go hundreds of meters out of their way just to pick up a package. Where’s the convenience of online shopping in that?

It’s the same as setting up food delivery lockers in residential communities—a completely redundant and pointless exercise.

But Cainiao wasn’t without its merits.

It had real value, at least when it came to solving the last-mile delivery problem in rural markets.

Due to the vast, sparsely populated areas, scattered packages, and high delivery costs, nearly all courier companies, including Cloud Speed, could only deliver to the county or town level. For smaller villages and local communities, no one besides the national postal service could afford the exorbitant costs.

Take Shan Jue Town in Chunshen, for example. It had 12 administrative villages and two sub-districts, but only received about a hundred packages per day. At a delivery fee of 0.6 to 1.5 yuan per package, a courier would only earn 60 to 90 yuan for delivering all of them.

And those hundred-odd packages were spread across the town’s 166 square kilometers. Even if you paid a courier 10 yuan per delivery, no one would be willing to do it.

Furthermore, if the delivery fee were raised to 10 yuan per package, merchants’ shipping costs would skyrocket.

Over time, merchants would simply stop serving customers in these areas.

Cainiao’s solution was to establish two or three pickup points in Shan Jue Town and have recipients collect their own packages.

It sounded like a raw deal for the customer, but it did solve the last-mile delivery problem in rural areas.

This was why Chen Yansen was willing to join Cainiao Network—the move would be beneficial for Pinbei and Cloud Speed as well.

”Does President Chen have a better solution?” Ma Liyun asked with a nonchalant shrug.

His goal in creating Cainiao wasn’t to improve the user experience anyway. He just wanted to leverage the logistics networks of companies like Cloud Speed, Shunfeng, Shentong, and Yuantong to sell products to more customers.

At the same time, he could use Cainiao Logistics to earn money from advertising, data, and technical service fees.

Additionally, when companies like Cloud Speed, Shunfeng, Shentong, and Yuantong left packages at Cainiao service points, he could skim a cut from the fees.

Down the line, he could package it all up, take it public, and rake in another fortune.

He was a master at the art of using other people’s resources for his own gain.

”We should operate by zones. In areas with high population mobility, concentrated demand for single pickups, and a high need for speed and convenience, we use delivery lockers to solve the ’last 100 meters’ delivery problem.

”In areas with stable residential populations, diverse logistics needs, scattered packages, and high delivery difficulty, we set up Cainiao service points to provide comprehensive ’last kilometer’ services.”

Chen Yansen explained unhurriedly.

In short, prioritize deploying delivery lockers in places like office buildings and apartments in the urban core to meet immediate demand. In large factories, industrial parks, townships, and rural areas, the focus should be on Cainiao service points, supplemented by lockers.

Ma Liyun’s eyes lit up as he listened. He instantly realized that Chen Yansen’s idea was far smarter, more flexible, and more efficient than a simple one-size-fits-all approach.

But he knew Cloud Speed already had extensive experience in designing and using delivery lockers.

He had wanted to borrow their hen to lay his own eggs, but Chen Yansen was even more ruthless. By editing and revising the Cainiao Logistics plan, he was trying to seize control of the entire project.

’This is a cuckoo stealing the magpie’s nest!’

For a moment, Ma Liyun looked troubled, unsure how to respond.

On one hand, he didn’t want to have a falling out with Chen Yansen.

On the other, he didn’t want to just hand over the fruits of the Cainiao Logistics project to someone else.

But deep down, he knew that Cainiao Logistics was dead in the water without Cloud Speed Express.

”President Chen’s plan is excellent,” Ma Liyun said dryly, his expression bitter.

”I think so, too. So, regarding the specific cooperation model, data sharing, and equity split... what are your thoughts, Mr. Ma?”

Chen Yansen asked with a light chuckle.

He knew what Ma Liyun was after, and Ma Liyun understood his calculations. They were both probing each other, back and forth.

”Why don’t we discuss this in person?” Ma Liyun suggested.

It was clear they wouldn’t reach an agreement so quickly.

He wanted to secure maximum profit from the Cainiao Logistics project, while Chen Yansen had his eye on the jobs the network could create.

”No problem,” Chen Yansen agreed readily.

’If we can make a deal, great. If not, I’ll just do it myself!’

’And I’ll use the very same Cainiao Logistics plan that Ma Liyun provided!’

After the call, Chen Yansen went back to eating his lunch.

Ma Liyun, on the other hand, had a grim expression as he pulled Lu Zhaoxi and Zhang Yong into a meeting to discuss how they could persuade Chen Yansen to join while still retaining a controlling stake.

Meanwhile, across the Pacific, a new product appeared on the shelves next to the home electronics at retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, and Target.

Alexa smart speaker?

Luo De stared at the product label, completely puzzled. He knew what a speaker was, but what the hell was a Smart Speaker?

Priced at 199 US Dollars, it wasn’t cheap.

The packaging had a QR code and instructions on the side. It was a speaker with a built-in Alexa smart voice assistant. Users could use a wake word to talk and interact with it.

Luo De’s eyes instantly lit up. To him, this was an artificial intelligence product straight out of a science fiction movie.

He immediately grabbed an Alexa Smart Speaker and rushed to the checkout counter.