Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

”Pfft, who needs that stuff! We’ve got a base salary, social security, and high pay per delivery. All you gotta do is work!” the Meituan rider said, scratching his head with a smile.

”Bro, just look out at the main road. With all this traffic, can you really guarantee you’ll never get into an accident your entire life?”

The Kuai Pao Rider scoffed dismissively.

”Are you guys still hiring?” The Meituan rider glanced toward the road, swallowed, and turned his head to ask.

”Of course we are! Take a word of advice from me, man. Just take off that uniform and come with me to the station to sign up. We just launched in Yanjing and need to hire at least ten thousand more people. If you join Kuai Pao now, you’ll even get a stock option bonus after working for three months.”

The Kuai Pao Rider urged enthusiastically.

For every Meituan rider he convinced to join Kuai Pao, he’d get a 150 yuan cash reward. This was the main reason he was so eager to chat him up.

”Alright. I’ve heard for a while that Kuai Pao has high pay and good benefits, but I never expected the insurance to be so comprehensive. You’re right, man. Who can guarantee they’ll never get into a traffic accident? If I hit a luxury car, I wouldn’t be able to pay for it even if I sold everything I own.”

The Meituan rider replied, thoroughly convinced.

”Let’s go, I’ll take you to the station!” the Kuai Pao Rider said with a wide grin, already picturing the 150 yuan hitting his account.

As they were leaving, he didn’t forget to shout to the remaining Meituan riders, ”Any of you guys interested, come with us!”

The remaining riders exchanged glances, unsure how to respond. ’Are we really going to just walk off the job on the very first day?’

To be fair, aside from lacking this or that type of insurance, Meituan offered a base salary, social security, and bonuses for hitting order targets. For a job in Yanjing in 2012, it was actually quite good.

In the end, only that one rider jumped ship on the spot.

On its first day online, Meituan Takeout leveraged its ”15 Yuan Off for New Users” promotion to hit over 1,800 orders.

Although this initial test was a success, Meituan’s dispatch system, route-planning software, and order module were riddled with bugs, making the riders curse up a storm.

After all, the system had been a rush job, cobbled together with endless overtime simply to beat competitors to the market.

It worked, but it didn’t work well.

Meituan’s entry into the food delivery space was being watched not only by Pei Yi, but also by Li Yanhong, who had just acquired Lashou Network.

He wanted to follow Gaode Map’s playbook by embedding transportation, food delivery, and Group Buy services into the navigation sector. This would complete Qian Du Network’s strategic push into local lifestyle services, creating a virtuous cycle of user traffic and monetization.

”Shan Jiawei betrayed Ah Li, and then he betrayed Meituan. I can’t trust a man like that. After discussing it with the board, we’ve decided to put the two of you in charge of Lashou Network.”

”Zhen Bing, you’ll handle the Group Buy business. Zhong Pu, you’ll be responsible for breaking into the food delivery market. Any questions?”

Li Yanhong instructed his two subordinates in his office.

From an employee’s perspective, Shan Jiawei’s actions were understandable. If you found a better company with more generous pay, wouldn’t you jump ship too?

Everyone reviled Lu Bu as a ”Three-Name House Slave,” yet no one criticized Liu Bei for switching allegiances multiple times. Wasn’t it just because Liu Bei was the boss, and Lu Bu was the hired hand?

’If everyone followed Lu Bu’s example, who would be left to work for the bosses!’

”Understood. I have no problem with that,” Gong Zhenbing replied with a nod and a smile.

He had joined Qian Du back in 2003 and was definitely considered one of Li Yanhong’s own. With extensive industry experience, he excelled at internet sales operations and channel development.

In Li Yanhong’s view, he was the perfect candidate for CEO of Lashou Network.

As for Wang Zhongpu, he was intelligent, pragmatic, and had a down-to-earth management style. He also possessed a strong strategic sense for pacing business initiatives.

”Thank you for your trust, Boss.” Seated to the side, Wang Zhongpu quickly responded after being singled out by Li Yanhong.

Taking independent charge of a new project was a golden opportunity for a promotion and a raise, a chance to enter Qian Du’s core decision-making circle. However, it also came with enormous risks.

If he succeeded, all would be well. But if he failed, while he might keep his job, his career at Qian Du would likely be over.

’A boss’s trust is incredibly precious, and you usually only get it once.’

”Get to it. I want to see the product launched as soon as possible,” Li Yanhong said, waving them off.

’Even Wang Xin of Meituan is making a play for the food delivery market. Qian Du has to pick up the pace.’

Gong Zhenbing and Wang Zhongpu exchanged a smile, then left the office, content. They went their separate ways to oversee their respective projects.

Shan Jiawei’s situation, however, was far from ideal. After being branded a ”Three-Name House Slave,” he was clearly unwelcome at Qian Du.

Ever since Lashou Network was sold to Qian Du, Li Yanhong had met with him only once. The regional directors for East China, North China, Southern China, and Central China all bypassed him, reporting directly to Li Yanhong instead.

As a seasoned professional, he knew what was happening. ’Li Yanhong most likely wants to replace Lashou’s CEO with one of Qian Du’s own veterans.’

Once he figured this out, Shan Jiawei started phoning it in, spending his days attending to personal matters.

’There was no going back to Ah Li, and Meituan was even more out of the question.’

Therefore, he set his sights on companies like Penguin, Senlian Capital, Jingdong, and Sunning.

Penguin was preparing to sell off QQ Group Buy, Paipai Network, and Yixun Network as a package deal. They had no business for Shan Jiawei to manage, so they rejected him outright.

Zhang Jindong of Sunning thought much like Li Yanhong, placing extreme importance on the loyalty of external hires. He might have grudgingly accepted someone like Shan Jiawei—who had jumped ship three times in two years—for a low- or mid-level management role.

But a senior executive position? ’Forget about it!’

’Those were reserved for their own people, promoted from within!’

Only Liu Qiangdong of Jingdong expressed any interest in bringing him on board.

The problem was, Jingdong’s salary and stock option package was only considered mid-tier among the big tech firms.

Shan Jiawei thought the pay was too low.

Left with no other choice, he managed to get Chen Yansen’s phone number from Zhu Xiaohu of Jinsha Venture Capital.