Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Chen Yansen said, unfazed.

The implication was that Senlian Capital had no intention of entering the gaming industry. After all, they could still profit from it through advertising fees and commissions on top-ups, so there was no need to do everything themselves.

After hearing this, Ma Wenteng mulled over the meaning behind Chen Yansen’s words.

Right now, Penguin was facing a choice: either pursue a ”big and comprehensive” development model or focus on its core strengths and pivot to leveraging its traffic.

This was the main purpose of his visit!

Half a month ago, Handsome Dong from Jingdong had approached Liu Zhiping to seek a financing plan. After some discussion, Ma Wenteng decided that Penguin couldn’t bet its entire e-commerce ecosystem on Pinbei alone.

The two of them hit it off and reached a tentative agreement on the spot.

Ma Wenteng wanted to diversify his investment risks, while Liu Qiangdong wanted to leverage Penguin’s traffic resources to boost Jingdong’s IPO valuation.

Ah Li, Pinbei, and Jingdong—it was anyone’s guess who would have the last laugh.

Supporting another e-commerce platform would increase their chances of winning. Ma Wenteng’s line of thinking was identical to Yuri’s at DST Capital.

Except, Yuri was even more ruthless—he wanted to invest in all three!

If Chen Yansen hadn’t refused, DST would have probably invested in all of the top three companies in Hua Country’s e-commerce industry.

”When does Pinbei’s Series B financing begin?” Ma Wenteng asked directly.

Although he was already prepared to take on Jingdong, he still had to weigh how much support to give to each.

And that depended on how many chips Chen Yansen was willing to put on the table.

”President Gao is still in talks with people from Huake and Goldman Sachs. It’ll probably be after September.”

Chen Yansen lifted his gaze, staring intently at Ma Wenteng.

From his sudden visit and the tone of his last question, it wasn’t hard to guess that Penguin’s internal stance on Pinbei must have undergone a significant change.

”Let’s do it in stages. Penguin will invest first,” Ma Wenteng said immediately.

”Has Penguin set its sights on a new project in e-commerce? Jingdong, Sunning, or Gome?”

Hearing this, Chen Yansen became even more certain. He got straight to the point and pressed, his expression calm, betraying no hint of emotion.

He knew that even if Penguin invested in both Pinbei and Jingdong, it wouldn’t extinguish its own e-commerce ambitions.

A few years later, Ma Wenteng would go on to try a series of e-commerce projects like WeChat Mini Store, Little Goose Pinpin, Penguin Benefits Collection, QQ Shop, and Goose Comics U-Select.

It’s just that none of them ever made a splash. They either had no users or went out of business.

’Is he displeased?’

’Or does he not care?’

Ma Wenteng secretly observed Chen Yansen’s expression, but he quickly gave up. The young man’s shrewdness was completely at odds with his age. Even a seasoned veteran of the business world like himself couldn’t read anything from Chen Yansen’s face.

”It’s Jingdong. Liu Qiangdong is willing to take over QQ Online Shopping, Paipai Network, and Yixun Network,” Ma Wenteng said truthfully after a moment of thought.

’So Handsome Dong is really becoming a junk collector, huh?’

Chen Yansen scoffed. But he understood that Liu Qiangdong had no other choice.

Jingdong had tried to launch its IPO twice, and both times it had failed. The brokers on Hong Kong Island and in the Lighthouse Country were only willing to offer an incredibly low valuation of 6 billion US Dollars.

Liu Qiangdong’s bottom line, however, was 12 to 15 billion US Dollars. That’s why he’d rather endure the pressure from his investors than go through with a ”bleeding IPO.”

He saw an opportunity for Jingdong in the strategic partnership between Pinbei and Penguin.

Even though Ma Wenteng’s terms were extremely harsh, he had gritted his teeth and agreed.

Who wouldn’t want a primary traffic portal on WeChat and QQ?

”If Pinbei fully acquires QQ Online Shopping, Paipai Network, and Yixun Network, can Penguin sign an exclusivity agreement with Senlian, ensuring that neither third-party nor first-party e-commerce platforms compete with Pinbei for traffic resources?” Chen Yansen asked with a serious expression.

Ma Wenteng took a deep breath and refused without hesitation. ”Asen, you can’t put all your eggs in one basket. Whether Penguin *can* do e-commerce and whether it can do e-commerce *well* are two different things.”

If a perfectly healthy man doesn’t get married or have kids, you can’t just send him off to be a eunuch, can you?

Chen Yansen smiled. He was annoyed, but he knew that if he were in Ma Wenteng’s shoes, he would have made the same choice.

Fortunately, he had already prepared for this. The daily active users for Lingxi Browser and Toutiao were also growing rapidly, which could still bring plenty of external traffic to Pinbei.

Just then, several young, beautiful waitresses with excellent figures walked over. In no time, the mahogany table with its marble top was covered in an array of exquisite dishes.

Gao Weilin skillfully opened a bottle of wine and filled the glasses for Chen Yansen, Ma Wenteng, Liu Zhiping, and the others.

”Asen, Pinbei is still the most important part of Penguin’s e-commerce ecosystem. The primary traffic portals on QQ and WeChat will always be open to Pinbei.”

Ma Wenteng said, raising his glass with a serious expression.

’Forever?’

Chen Yansen found this laughable. ’Even love doesn’t last forever. How could you expect a business deal to?’

”Thank you. And Penguin will always be a strategic partner to Senlian,” Chen Yansen replied with a smile, clinking his glass against Ma Wenteng’s.

This was how these dinners usually went—full of insincere words that not even the speakers themselves believed.

Just a bunch of mutual bluffing!

It was true that Chen Yansen had no intention of entering the gaming industry right now, but who could say what would happen in one, two, or three years?

People change, after all!

When the era of widespread 3G networks, 4G network licenses, and faster, cheaper internet arrived, Senlian Capital would inevitably leverage the explosive growth of the short-video sector to covet the huge prize that was social media software.

Ma Wenteng’s mood at that time would surely be very complicated.

But for now, the two of them appeared incredibly friendly, calling each other ”Asen” and ”Pony”.

As the toasts went around, Ma Wenteng’s face grew flushed from the drinking. He had rolled his shirtsleeves up to his elbows and, with a cigarette between his fingers, he contentedly blew a cloud of smoke.

In his early forties, he had no real worries. If he had any, it was that he had too much money to spend, or that he wanted to expand his business and make even more.

The two of them talked about everything from Pinbei to Kuai Pao, then to Fast Taxi, and finally, they touched upon Ah Li’s IPO.

”You still have 0.8% of Ah Li’s shares?” Ma Wenteng asked.

”It’s 1% now. Plus another 1.13% of Wealth Treasure’s shares,” Chen Yansen replied with a nod.

”The brokers on Wall Street gave Ah Li a valuation of 78 billion US Dollars, based on their latest business data,” Ma Wenteng said, a hint of defiance in his voice.

That number already exceeded Penguin’s market cap in the US.

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but sigh internally. Penguin’s profit model was too one-dimensional and its scale wasn’t large enough. In the eyes of investors in Europe and America, it was somehow worth less than Ali Baba.

At the same time, he felt a deep admiration for the choice Chen Yansen had made back then.

A year ago, Lotte, Augusta, and Ah Li had joined forces to fully acquire Senhai Technology (FoxTao). When faced with the choice between an all-cash payment or a mix of cash and equity, Chen Yansen had chosen the latter.

1% of the shares might not seem like much, but it was worth 780 million US Dollars—more than double the value of the equity at the time.

Chen Yansen didn’t say anything. To prevent his shares from being diluted, Senlian Capital had made an additional investment during Ah Li’s Pre-IPO financing round in the middle of last month, increasing its stake from 0.8% to 1%.

Once Ah Li went public, if he cashed out at the stock’s peak, he could make at least 7 to 8 billion US Dollars.

The dinner party didn’t break up until half past ten at night.

Chen Yansen and Ye Qiuping took one car, while Gao Weilin and Zhou Shouzhi took another. After leaving the hotel, they quickly disappeared into the night.

”Martin, from a business investment perspective, what I did wasn’t wrong,” Ma Wenteng said, standing by the window and pulling his gaze back inside.

”Yes,” Liu Zhiping affirmed.

He understood Ma Wenteng’s true intentions. That sentence, which seemed like a statement but also a question, wasn’t asking for his opinion. It was seeking his validation.

If he dared to openly disagree, Ma Wenteng would have mentally kicked him out of his inner circle.

Meanwhile, Chen Yansen, sitting in his car, took out his phone and pulled up his call log.

Chen Yizhou had called him three times—at 6:20, 8:15, and 9:30 PM. He seemed to be in a hurry.