Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

”Boss, the 16th floor is the office area for the tech, product, operations, and channel departments...”

Cheng Weixing said, pointing to the area ahead.

”Hello, President Chen!”

”Hello, Boss!”

A few R&D engineers who were working overtime heard the commotion at the entrance and subconsciously looked up. The moment they saw Chen Yansen, they immediately smiled and greeted him.

Cheng Weixing was the boss, while Chen Yansen was the big boss.

They knew full well that the whole range of benefits—housing subsidies, meal and transportation allowances, quarterly bonuses, holiday cash gifts, and more—had all been established by the big boss.

Compared to other internet companies, Fast Taxi’s monthly salaries weren’t considered generous, but they paid every last cent of overtime. Many recent university graduates in assistant or customer service roles had a base monthly salary of only 4,500 to 5,000 yuan. However, once overtime was factored in, their pre-tax income could reach 7,000 to 8,000 yuan.

Furthermore, the housing and meal allowances helped cut down on daily living expenses significantly.

As a result, among the internet companies in Hang City, Fast Taxi’s appeal to top talent far surpassed that of Ali Baba and NetEase.

”President Chen!”

Just then, a young man in his late twenties also called out.

The voice sounded familiar to Chen Yansen. He turned to look, and sure enough, it was an ”acquaintance.”

”Weren’t you with Jingdong’s Market Department?” Chen Yansen stopped and asked quietly.

”President Chen, you still remember me?” Xiao Bing looked astounded, his mouth hanging slightly open, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He had only met Chen Yansen once!

”Xiao Bing, planning manager for Jingdong’s Market Department.” Chen Yansen’s Spiritual Power had long surpassed 70, dozens of times that of an ordinary person. Even the term ’photographic memory’ was insufficient to describe how terrifyingly good his memory was.

”President Chen, your memory is incredible. Fast Taxi has great market potential and a wonderful work environment, so I left Jingdong to join.”

Xiao Bing quickly piled on the flattery, but his words rang hollow. He clearly wasn’t telling the whole truth.

The real story was that after Orange Technology poached Ye Qiuping, Liu Qiangdong had appointed a new director for the Market Department. To get things rolling, this new director brought in two of his own former subordinates to work under him.

As a member of the ”old guard,” Xiao Bing was pushed to the side.

To put it simply, he was expected to work overtime and take the fall for any problems, but he received none of the credit. Who could put up with that?

Xiao Bing endured it for over six months before he happened to see a job posting for Fast Taxi online. He didn’t hesitate to jump ship.

His rank wasn’t high, and he didn’t even have Jingdong stock options, so he had nothing holding him back.

Chen Yansen smiled. The man’s story was obviously fabricated, but he didn’t call him out on it. After a couple more pleasantries, he followed Cheng Weixing to the office.

As soon as they were out of earshot, his nearby colleagues swarmed him.

”Xiao Bing, you’re incredible! You actually know the big boss?”

A colleague from the Market Department asked in amazement, grabbing Xiao Bing’s arm.

”Back when I was in the Market Department at Jingdong, President Chen was still the founder of FoxTao. He came to Jingdong once to discuss a channel partnership, and I was the one who hosted him...”

Xiao Bing listened to his colleagues’ compliments and boasted with a smile.

Upon reaching the office, Cheng Weixing beckoned, and a nearby assistant handed a thick file to Gao Weilin.

”President Gao, this file contains Fast Taxi’s financial data and user operations data, including revenue and profit metrics, as well as cash flow and operational efficiency indicators.”

After speaking, Cheng Weixing got busy making tea for Chen Yansen and the others.

Gao Weilin took the file but didn’t seem eager to examine it, casually handing it to the assistant behind him.

”Which firm has the highest offer on the table right now?” Chen Yansen asked calmly after taking a seat.

”I’ve spoken with the contacts at Penguin, Ah Li, DST, Huake, and Jinsha Venture Capital. DST has the highest offer, and Huake has the lowest. Both Penguin and Ah Li want to increase their holdings. Huake and Jinsha Venture Capital intend to make follow-on investments this round, but I estimate their investment amounts won’t be very large, especially not from Jinsha Venture Capital.”

Cheng Weixing replied, handing over a summary sheet.

Jinsha Venture Capital primarily focuses on early-stage investments. While they do participate in mid-to-late-stage financing rounds, their stake is usually not very high.

Chen Yansen nodded and glanced at it casually.

DST offered a valuation of 3.4 billion US Dollars, Penguin offered 3.26 billion, and Ah Li offered 3.18 billion. Although the prices from Huake and Jinsha Venture Capital were lower, they both exceeded 3 billion US Dollars.

Gao Weilin had handled the communications with Huaxin Fund and Goldman Sachs. One offered 3.25 billion US Dollars, and the other, 3.5 billion.

It seemed that Goldman Sachs and DST had the highest offers.

No wonder that throughout the two decades of Hua Country’s rapid internet development, the largest shareholders in the major tech companies were typically foreign-funded entities.

There was no way around it. They simply paid more.

Chen Yansen’s brow furrowed slightly. This round of financing was different from the last. During the Series A round, the participating investment firms’ offers had been very similar. Only Huake had been unwilling to pay more, but they compensated by offering additional resources, which led to a final agreement.

This time, the gap between the highest and lowest offers was 500 million US Dollars. With so much at stake, it would likely be difficult to persuade all parties to agree to his preferred plan.

”Have Old Gao handle Huaxin, Huake, and Penguin. You take on Ah Li and Jinsha Venture Capital. Use a tiered financing strategy, and tell them upfront that anyone who doesn’t accept is automatically out.”

After pondering for a few seconds, Chen Yansen looked at Gao Weilin and Cheng Weixing, having quickly laid out the plan.

The logic behind tiered financing is to split the total funding amount into multiple tranches, allowing different institutions to invest at different valuations.

To put it bluntly, it meant same equity, different price—a structure that was highly unfavorable to the investors who had offered the highest valuations.

Chen Yansen already had a plan for this. Huake and Huaxin could bring critical, ’must-have’ resources to Fast Taxi, such as policy protection and compliance endorsements. Though their valuation offers were low, the resources they brought to the table were invaluable.

Ah Li’s and Penguin’s traffic support and complementary business ecosystems were equally important to Chen Yansen, and bringing them on board would also neutralize two potential rivals.

If DST and Goldman Sachs refused, he would simply choose Penguin as the lead investor for the Series B round, thereby diluting the foreign-owned stake and preemptively mitigating policy risks.

「Meanwhile.」

At the Hang City headquarters, Ma Liyun had just finished his chat with Wang Wei and was personally seeing him to his car.

It was exactly as Chen Yansen had predicted. Even though he had warned Wang Wei, the man had still fallen for Ma Liyun’s pitch. Faced with proposed solutions for infrastructure sharing, industry-wide data synchronization, and the last-mile delivery problem, Wang Wei found it hard not to be tempted.

Moreover, Ma Liyun had also promised to provide Shunfeng with order support from Taobao and Tmall Mall, and Wang Wei had immediately and readily agreed.

In 2012, Shunfeng’s business was concentrated in the high-end express delivery sector. Its revenue per shipment and overall company revenue were decent, but its total volume was low. Before Clound Speed emerged and shook up the market, Shunfeng’s parcel volume was lower than any of the individual companies in the ”Three Passes and One Reach” group.

He wanted to profit from the high-end market, but he also wanted a piece of the low-to-mid-end market.

Adults don’t make choices; they want it all.

Shunfeng’s business lines were diverse, encompassing everything from B2B express, supply chain services, and B2C express to cold chain logistics, high-priority air freight, and economy express services.

This showed that Wang Wei’s ambitions were equally grand.

”Guo Changguang of Fuxing Group has agreed to invest. He will also step in to help Cainiao Logistics bid for land to build large-scale warehouses and transfer hubs,” Lu Zhaoxi said quietly, standing behind Ma Liyun.

”Fuxing alone isn’t enough. Wang Wei, Chen Dejun, and Yu Weijiao seemed to agree readily, but who’s to say they aren’t guarding against me behind my back? For warehouse management technology, centralized procurement, and data center modules, we’ll still need to find a few more companies with solid technical foundations to partner with.”

Ma Liyun said mildly.

”After hearing the plan for Cainiao Logistics, President Zhang of Fuchun Group expressed strong interest in investing. I think it would be worthwhile to set aside time for an in-depth discussion with him,” Lu Zhaoxi added.

’Fuchun?’

Ma Liyun gave a slight nod, agreeing to Lu Zhaoxi’s suggestion.

He had met with Zhang Guobao last December. The man was very powerful in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang region. Not only could he help Cainiao acquire land and build warehouses, but he could also provide enormous capital, helping Ah Li diversify its investment risks.

”By the way, has Chen Yansen come to Hang City?” Ma Liyun asked suddenly.