Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

After all, she didn’t see her subordinates as people, and she didn’t see herself as one, either. A worker like that was the perfect loyal dog in a boss’s eyes.

”My classmate’s at Lashou, and they get double pay for overtime. What about us? All we get is fobbed off with comp time!”

An employee from the testing team shot back in a low, sullen voice.

”What’s wrong with comp time? Are you getting shortchanged? You can just take your days off after the project is done, can’t you?” Tang Ling fired off three questions.

But aside from that one employee from the testing team, the others were furious but didn’t dare to speak up.

They knew full well that Tang Ling had forced out key members of the tech department, yet the company hadn’t said a single word of criticism. It meant the big boss saw no problem with her actions.

”Just because you want to be a dog doesn’t mean we all want to be treated like animals! And what the hell do you mean, ’what’s wrong with it’? Did you even go to school? Do you know what labor laws are?”

The employee from the testing team wasn’t holding back. When people are pushed to their limits, they’ll say anything.

”Gu Rui was right! Other companies can pay overtime according to the law, so why can’t we? No overtime pay, no work!”

Just then, a back-end programmer stood up.

On any other day, they might have just endured it.

But this was the National Day long weekend, which was supposed to be for resting. Why on earth should they have to come in for overtime?

’And they don’t even want to cough up the overtime pay?’

”I don’t want comp time either!”

”Down with comp time! We want overtime pay!”

Unlike last time, more and more employees stood up, until finally, the entire department stopped working.

HR received the news immediately and reported the situation to Wang Xin.

Upon learning of the mass walkout, Wang Xin steepled his hands, unconsciously tapping his index fingers together. After a moment of contemplation, he looked up and instructed the HR representative, ”Change it to double pay. This is only for the holiday period.”

The implication was clear: this was a one-time exception.

”Yes, boss.” The HR rep nodded. Not daring to delay, they hurried out of the office, took the elevator to the tech department, and relayed the news.

”Double pay... that’s more like it. I guess I can work for that.”

”Meituan’s benefits are terrible, not even as good as Lashou’s. I must have been out of my mind to accept Meituan’s offer back then.”

”Kuai Pao has the best salary and benefits! Their overtime pay is calculated down to the minute: 1.5 times on weekdays, double on weekends, and triple on holidays.”

”Damn! Based on the hours I work, if I moved to Kuai Pao for the same base pay, my income would go up by over 50%. You’re not just blowing smoke, are you?”

”If you don’t believe me, ask Brother Bao! He works at Kuai Pao’s Yanjing Branch.”

After their ’victory,’ the group buzzed with chatter.

Tang Ling sat alone at her desk, her face ashen. In theory, she stood to benefit from this as well, but there wasn’t the slightest hint of joy on her face.

「Meanwhile.」

「492 Anhua Road, Changning District, Hu City—Dianping Headquarters.」

Zhang Tao was stunned as he caught up on the latest industry developments. He hadn’t ventured into the food delivery business and had no delivery capacity of his own. He was a sitting duck.

Even if he poached riders from Meituan, he would first have to develop his own food delivery app.

’I should have followed Meituan and Lashou’s lead and entered the food delivery market sooner.’

Zhang Tao was filled with regret, but there was nothing he could do at the moment. He had to face the price war instigated by Meituan while simultaneously enduring Kuai Pao’s assault on Dianping’s Group Buy business.

After some deliberation, Zhang Tao summoned Dianping’s CTO, the general manager of the Market Department, and the head of the Operations Department to discuss a strategy.

First: should Dianping get into the food delivery business?

Second: should Dianping launch a home delivery service for its Group Buy deals?

Third: Meituan had taken the lead by offering promotional subsidies of up to 15%. Should Dianping follow suit?

It wasn’t hard to imagine that for the last four days of the National Day holiday, some employees at Meituan, Lashou, and Dianping would be stuck working overtime.

The major Group Buy platforms reluctantly joined the price war, slashing their prices one after another. The users were the ones who benefited.

Especially in the food and beverage category, you could find Group Buy deals for 10% off, or even 20% off.

A KFC fried chicken combo, originally 79 Hua Yuan, was driven down to a mere 59 Hua Yuan by the intense competition!

「At the same time.」

The competition between DiDi and Kuaidi Taxi grew increasingly fierce. During the holiday, both ramped up their subsidies for existing users to a 12 Hua Yuan discount per ride, up to three times a day.

Combined, they were burning through more than 80 million a day!

If you converted that into 100-Hua Yuan bills and fed them into a furnace one by one, you could keep the fire burning for ten days straight.

Li Yanhong stood before his office window, too antsy to even sit down. Every six hours, Xiang Hailong would come to him with another application to approve marketing and promotion expenses.

Each request was for as much as 10 million!

He gazed at the endless stream of traffic below, thinking to himself, ’At this burn rate, the 1.2 billion Hua Yuan I invested in DiDi will be gone in less than a month.’

At this thought, Li Yanhong felt his breath catch in his throat and his scalp tingle with dread.

This was 1.2 billion Hua Yuan, not 120,000, not even 12.

99% of the listed companies in Hua Country didn’t even have a market cap of 1.2 billion.

Li Yanhong was panicking!

The terrifying speed at which they were burning money sent a chill down his spine.

Meanwhile, Cheng Weixing, holding down the fort at his headquarters in Hang City, was also seeing red. Over 40 million a day in subsidies—in the past, he couldn’t have even imagined he was capable of spending money at such a rate.

The investment firms backing both companies fell silent when they heard the figure ”40 million a day,” but none of them stepped in to intervene.

For one, they didn’t have the authority.

For another, they knew the ride-hailing war had reached a critical juncture.

Whoever buckled under the losses first would be the first one out!

Winner take all!

The entire ride-hailing market of Hua Country would be theirs for the taking!

...

...

「Kirkenes, Norway.」

A crab boat sailed on the Barents Sea, its surface dark, deep, and constantly shifting. Chen Yansen stood on deck, lifting a piece of king crab leg meat to his mouth. It was succulent and rich.

Across from him, Song Yuncheng was bundled up in thick winter clothes and a windproof hat. She also held a piece of crab meat, which she was eating slowly and deliberately.

Nearby, a chef was turning the fresh catch of king crab, haddock, and Atlantic redfish into one delicious dish after another.

Though there was no exquisite plating or a wide array of seasonings, the freshness of the ingredients made everything taste exceptionally good.

While Chen Yansen was vacationing in Northern Europe, Li Yanhong, Wang Xin, Zhang Tao, and the others were having sleepless nights because of him.

The wind howled and the waves crashed against the boat. The sail overhead whipped loudly in the wind.

”Boss, when are we going to Spotify headquarters to discuss our partnership?”

Song Yuncheng asked.

Norway was fun, but she hadn’t forgotten the real reason they were here.

”No rush. We haven’t been to the Sognefjord yet. Sweden and Norway are close to each other; we’ll have plenty of time even if we go on our last day.”

Chen Yansen said, shaking his head.

He understood what Song Yuncheng was thinking. Like most people from Hua Country, she started to feel guilty if she went two days without working.

’But you have to live a little. If you don’t, what’s the point of being alive?’