Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Song Yuncheng strolled leisurely to the entrance of the Innovation Park. He pressed his car key, and not far away, a white Porsche Panamera beeped as it unlocked.

Pinbei, Orange Technology, and the Orange Phone Factory provided each of their mid-to-senior-level managers, at the director and general manager level, with a car valued at around two million yuan on the road. As the Director of Major Account Investment Attraction, Song Yuncheng was naturally no exception.

When taxes were filed at the end of the year, managers at Orange Pay, Today Technology, Byte, Cloud Speed, Kuai Pao, and Fast Taxi would also enjoy the same benefit.

「Ten minutes later.」

Chen Yansen parked his car, walked into Building 9, took the elevator to the top floor, and pushed open his office door.

He reviewed data, handled emails, and approved business processes. It only took him half an hour to finish all his work.

Chen Yansen leaned back, sinking into his executive chair. He pulled out his phone and began his daily routine of slacking off.

”UC Browser Users Surpass 200 Million!”

”Fast Taxi Expands: Coverage Reaches Multiple Cities in East and North China, Daily Orders Exceed 3 Million.”

”Meituan Takeout Debuts, Spending Lavishly to Treat Yanjing Residents to a Free Feast!”

’Meituan Takeout is online?’

Chen Yansen raised an eyebrow. Thanks to his intervention, Wang Xin had actually entered the takeout delivery industry a year ahead of schedule.

The other party’s choice of Yanjing as their first city of operations was likely a well-considered decision.

This was because Kuai Pao’s highest market share was in the four cities of Hu City, Luzhou, Jinling, and Hang City. It had been operating there for a long time, had ample merchant and user resources, and sufficient delivery capacity.

If Meituan Takeout dared to set foot there, it would be suicide.

Yanjing, however, was different. Kuai Pao had been there for less than half a month, so its advantage wasn’t great enough to crush Meituan.

If Meituan Takeout could defeat Kuai Pao in the Yanjing market, it would be a huge boost to its reputation. It would also open up a new profit model for Meituan and attract the attention of investors.

After all, a year and two months had passed since Meituan’s second round of financing.

Three months ago, Dianping had secured sixty million US dollars in financing from firms like Zhixin Capital and Today Capital.

Lashou Network had latched onto Qian Du Network’s coattails; it lacked neither traffic nor funding.

Only Meituan had shown no movement for a long time. Wang Xin had been so worried about it that several of his hairs had turned white, but the investors’ opinions were unanimous: they would not be making any additional investments for the time being.

Ah Li was short on cash. It had to plan for Cainiao Logistics while also pouring money into the ride-hailing and takeout delivery industries.

Furthermore, Meituan’s push into the takeout business did not have Ma Liyun’s support.

Privately, the two of them had a major falling-out.

In Wang Xin’s view, if Kuai Pao could do group buying, why couldn’t Meituan do takeout? Ma Liyun was being completely biased.

’Isn’t this just bullying an honest man?’

Meanwhile, Meituan’s core investors, Redwood Capital and Google, had also invested in Dianping, which gave them the idea of ”raising Gu.”

Whoever won, they would back them!

Wang Xin knew this perfectly well, but there was nothing he could do. When you were weak, what choice did you have but to be a pawn in someone else’s game?

The takeout delivery business was perhaps Meituan’s best chance for a breakthrough!

...

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「Yanjing, No. 6 Wangjing East Road, Meituan Headquarters.」

Wang Xin raised a hand and ran it over the top of his head, a contemplative look on his face.

”Meituan Takeout’s first operational area will extend east to Wuyuan Bridge, west to Wanghe Bridge, north to the Fifth Ring Road, and south to the Third Ring Road. The area isn’t large, but it includes the Wangjing International Business Center, Hesheng Qilin New World, Xiaoyun Road Food Street, and Wangjing Food Street, as well as over thirty residential communities including Poly Central Park and Australia Kangdu. This should be more than enough to meet our initial development needs.”

Wang Huiwen, sitting across from him, spoke with confidence.

”How many delivery riders do we have online?” Wang Xin lowered his hand, picked up his water glass, and took a large gulp.

”Forty-six,” Wang Huiwen replied instantly.

”That’s too few,” Wang Xin said with a sigh.

Kuai Pao Delivery had over 400 riders assigned to the three districts of Chaoyang, Haidian, and Dongcheng in Yanjing, handling as many as thirty thousand orders a day.

”Kuai Pao’s benefits and compensation for its riders are too good. It’s hard to poach experienced delivery staff from them. Most of these forty-six people are former employees from the ’Three Passes and One Reach’ companies.”

Wang Huiwen shrugged helplessly.

Even if Meituan offered higher pay, the Kuai Pao Riders wouldn’t give them a second glance.

First, Kuai Pao has more orders, so their income is more stable.

Second, Kuai Pao gives its riders stock options. It’s not a lot, but it’s still a source of considerable income.

Third, Kuai Pao has many hidden benefits. Besides the base salary, commissions, and order-rush bonuses, there are also quarterly bonuses, holiday red envelopes, severe weather subsidies, and supplementary medical and commercial accident insurance.

Last Spring Festival, a Kuai Pao Rider in Jinling was hit by a car while making a delivery. The company’s legal team immediately stepped in and negotiated the maximum possible compensation. Moreover, during his recovery, he not only received payment for lost work time but also a subsidy.

To put it bluntly, even if a Kuai Pao rider were hit by a car and killed, he’d believe the company wouldn’t treat him unfairly.

For Meituan to try and poach from Kuai Pao’s delivery team was nothing short of a fool’s dream.

Wang Xin’s brow furrowed as he thought about a way to break the deadlock.

Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. He smiled and said, ”If we can’t poach full-time riders, we’ll use part-timers. We’ll win with numbers.”

Wang Huiwen didn’t understand at first, his eyes filled with confusion.

”We can utilize idle delivery capacity and hire only part-time riders. These people might only be able to handle a dozen or so orders a day, but as long as we have enough of them, we can still guarantee delivery times.”

”We’ll get rid of the base salary and the ’five insurances and one housing fund,’ then raise the pay per order. This will cut costs and attract more part-time riders,” Wang Xin explained slowly.

’Cut the base salary and the five insurances and one housing fund?’

’Only raise the pay per delivery?’

’Will that even work?’

Wang Huiwen’s thinking was still stuck in the Kuai Pao model. He thought Wang Xin’s proposal was a classic case of a promotion in name but a demotion in reality. ’Would the delivery riders really be that stupid?’

Wang Xin glanced at Wang Huiwen’s expression and immediately understood what he was thinking. He gave a disdainful laugh. ”A lot of people get through today without even knowing where they’ll be tomorrow. You think they care about the five insurances and one housing fund? If we raise the pay per delivery, lower the withdrawal threshold, and increase the number of times they can cash out, riders will flock to Meituan.”

The method was shameless, but it was a precise exploitation of human nature.

Wang Huiwen pondered for over ten seconds before nodding heavily. ”We can register the part-time riders’ employment contracts under a third-party company. That would save us a lot of trouble.”

”You arrange it,” Wang Xin replied.

Delivery riders were a high-risk group for traffic accidents. By outsourcing the riders, they could save on expenses for work-related injuries and medical care. They wouldn’t even have to cover costs like the five insurances and one housing fund, paid annual leave, or sick leave.

On the flip side, while lowering labor costs, Meituan could also increase its workforce flexibility and order response efficiency, reducing employment risks and management pressure. It was killing three birds with one stone.

”Yes, President Wang.” Wang Huiwen smiled. In just a few words, they had completely rewritten the income structure for Meituan’s riders.

’As for the negative consequences?’

’That’s the third-party company’s problem. What the hell does it have to do with Meituan?’

At that moment, in an open outdoor area at the Wangjing International Business Center, Meituan and Kuai Pao riders were split into two groups, chatting idly.

”Brother, why work for Meituan? Come to Kuai Pao!” a Kuai Pao rider asked.

”The pay at Meituan is decent, too. We have a base salary, the five insurances and one housing fund, and order-rush bonuses,” the Meituan rider replied with a chuckle, sitting on his electric vehicle.

Business competition was for the big bosses. It had nothing to do with them, the workers.

”So, do you guys get severe weather subsidies, quarterly bonuses, free physicals, commercial medical insurance, third-party liability insurance, and holiday red envelopes?” the Kuai Pao rider asked again.

”What’s third-party liability insurance?” the Meituan rider asked, looking baffled and curious.

”For example, if we’re delivering an order and accidentally hit a pedestrian or a car, we just call the police on the spot and let the insurance handle it,” the Kuai Pao rider replied, then pressed, ”Don’t tell me you guys don’t have that?”

The Meituan rider froze, momentarily at a loss for words.