Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

It’s always been the strong who join forces with the strong. Who ever heard of joining forces with the weak to fight the strong?

”Brother Xin, you want to sell the company?” Wang Huiwen asked.

”Sell? Not exactly. I’m actually more interested in using Meituan as a bargaining chip to join Senlian Capital.”

Wang Xin said faintly, a bitter smile on his face.

In the past six months of direct competition with Kuai Pao, Meituan had taken blow after blow. Even he had been beaten by Pei Yi to the point where he couldn’t fight back.

Afterward, he thought it over and over, concluding that the problem wasn’t with his own abilities. He had simply been outmatched in resources and funding.

Kuai Pao wasn’t lacking in money, traffic, or talent.

All it had to do was keep its head down and focus on development!

Meanwhile, the exposure and traffic he craved were easily obtainable for Pei Yi. Products like Orange Application Mall, Pinbei, and Gaode were constantly funneling users to Kuai Pao.

What could Meituan use to fight back? What could it compete with?

’Damn it, my opponent is using cheat codes!’

”I’m not against it, but I’m worried Chen Yansen might not be interested in Meituan,” Wang Huiwen cautioned.

Kuai Pao’s core businesses were food delivery and Group Buy. The former already held an 80% market share, while the latter, building on Nuomi Network’s foundation, had also established a firm foothold in the industry within six months and was likewise number one in the market.

Why would Senlian Capital acquire Meituan?

Just to eliminate a competitor?

The odds of that were probably extremely low!

”It’s worth a shot. Maybe Chen Yansen’s brain is wired differently from a normal person’s,” Wang Xin joked, though a flash of worry crossed his eyes.

He knew full well the logic that even Wang Huiwen could grasp.

But the pressure Kuai Pao and Lashou Network were putting on Meituan was immense. Two and a half straight years of losses had made investors lose patience with Meituan as well.

Shen Nanpeng of Redwood Capital had explicitly told him that if he wanted more funding, he had to merge with Dianping. Otherwise, it was off the table.

Ali Baba’s attitude was ambiguous, but it clearly favored Kuai Pao.

Although Ali Baba only held a 4% stake in Kuai Pao, its value far exceeded the shares it held in Meituan.

Get Ma Liyun to spend his own money to fight himself?

Impossible!

Unless Ali Baba went public right now, then with ample resources, Lao Ma might take a ”battle royale” approach and invest more in Meituan. But at present, Ma Liyun had just founded Cainiao Logistics and spent over two billion Hua Yuan on it. Where would he find the spare cash to throw away on Wang Xin?

”I’ll call President Zhang then.” With a ”might-as-well-try” attitude, Wang Huiwen took out his phone, scrolled through his contacts, and dialed Zhang Chaoyang.

BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...

Wang Huiwen put the call on speaker.

”Hello, who is this?” Zhang Chaoyang frowned, fighting the urge to curse. He had taken dozens of calls that afternoon, each one beating around the bush to ask him about Chen Yansen. He was getting sick of it.

”Hello, President Zhang. This is Wang Huiwen from Meituan. I’d like to ask you for a favor...” Wang Huiwen introduced himself.

But before he could finish his sentence, he heard Zhang Chaoyang say, ”Sorry, President Wang, but if you want to see Chen Yansen, you can contact him directly. I’m not playing the middleman.”

Wang Huiwen opened his mouth, then froze on the spot.

”Hello, President Zhang. This is Wang Xin from Meituan. I want to sell my company to Chen Yansen, and I was hoping you could pass on a message for me.”

Wang Xin cut in.

With his connections, he could get Pei Yi’s contact information, but he couldn’t get Chen Yansen’s personal cell number.

Meituan seemed famous, but its platform’s total annual transaction volume was only 10.3 billion Hua Yuan. It couldn’t compare to Kuai Pao, let alone the entirety of Senlian Capital.

’Selling the company to Chen Yansen?’

Zhang Chaoyang was slightly taken aback. He knew Meituan and Kuai Pao were competitors, but he hadn’t expected Wang Xin to be so thoroughly crushed by Chen Yansen that he’d lost all his fighting spirit and was already talking about selling the company.

”Alright, I understand.” Since it was just passing on a message, Zhang Chaoyang didn’t refuse outright.

”Thank you, President Zhang. I’ll treat you to a drink sometime,” Wang Xin said gratefully, his tone humble and polite.

”We’ll see,” Zhang Chaoyang replied perfunctorily before hanging up.

It was true he liked to drink, but it depended on the company. Not just anyone was qualified to sit at his table.

「Meanwhile.」

Ding Lei, Liu Qiangdong, and Lei Yijun stared at each other, speechless.

”What are you all staring blankly for?” Zhang Chaoyang put down his phone, looking at the three dazed men and instinctively prodding them.

”So many people want to meet Chen Yansen,” Ding Lei remarked to himself, clicking his tongue. For the first time, he was realizing Chen Yansen’s status in the industry.

”I heard Ge Yue, the managing director of Apple Asia, made a trip to Xucheng a few days ago,” Lei Yijun said quietly. His tone was slightly sour, and the envy in his eyes was almost overflowing.

”I know about that. Apple plans to launch on Pinbei, and they also bought the architecture license for the Orange Z1.”

Ding Lei volunteered this information.

’Launch on Pinbei?’

’Jingdong is the specialized platform for electronics and home appliances!’

’What does Ge Yue mean by skipping over Jingdong?’

Liu Qiangdong’s face paled, his displeasure written all over it.

”How do you know that?” Lei Yijun asked curiously.

”Orange Technology developed a brand-new mobile operating system called Aurora Future OS. Chen Yansen wanted me to cooperate on developing a NetEase version for AFOS. He sent over the open-source code and development tools for the Aurora Future System, so we chatted a bit more a few days ago. Huh, Mi Chat has a lot of users too. Hasn’t he contacted you?”

As Ding Lei spoke, he looked at Lei Yijun with a suspicious expression.

”Oh, you mean that. Xiaomi is already developing an AFOS version of Mi Chat. We’re just treating it as supporting a domestic mobile operating system.”

Lei Yijun said with a light laugh, deliberately pretending to have just realized what he was talking about.

”My thinking is similar,” Ding Lei nodded in agreement.

Zhang Chaoyang secretly pursed his lips and couldn’t help but think, ’If it weren’t for Orange Technology being willing to provide OEM and supply chain services for NetEase and Xiaomi Mobile Phone, would you two be so agreeable?’

It was precisely because Old Zhang saw through them that he was so annoyed.

The four of them ate dinner at a leisurely pace, not finishing until six-thirty. They then took a car to Yun Ku Bar.

After getting in the car, Zhang Chaoyang thought for a moment, then dialed his protégé’s number. ”Xiaochuan, Yun Ku Bar at seven-thirty. I’ll introduce you to a new friend.”

”Bro, I have two product meetings tonight,” Wang Xiaochuan said, trying to decline.

Since joining Sohu in 2003, he had worked for Zhang Chaoyang for ten years.

At first, the two didn’t see eye to eye, but after he grew Sogou Search’s market share to 5%, Zhang Chaoyang gave him full authority, spun off Sogou to operate independently, and gave Wang Xiaochuan a 10% stake.

Although that stake had been diluted to 6.8% after a few rounds of financing, it was still a testament to Zhang Chaoyang’s generosity.

Generally speaking, a boss willing to give a subordinate even a 1% stake was a rare bird, yet Zhang Chaoyang had given Wang Xiaochuan 10%.

During this period, Zhou Hongyi had tried to poach Wang Xiaochuan behind the scenes, and Ma Wenteng had also made a move, but Wang Xiaochuan turned them all down.

”I also have a meeting with Chen Yansen,” Zhang Chaoyang added.

”Bro, I’m on my way,” Wang Xiaochuan replied instantly.

”So I can’t order you around, is that it?” Zhang Chaoyang cursed jokingly.

”Bro, don’t get me wrong. Am I that kind of person?” Wang Xiaochuan said with a straight face.

”Alright, alright. I’m not gonna bicker with you. Hanging up,” Zhang Chaoyang said irritably.

Chen Yansen had become a hot commodity. Everyone wanted to know him.

Zhang Chaoyang couldn’t help but recall more than a decade ago, the year Sohu had just gone public. His status in the Yanjing internet scene back then was just like Chen Yansen’s now.

Everywhere he went, a large crowd would follow him. The line of people wanting to treat him to dinner and drinks could have stretched from Yanjing to Hong Kong Island.

’To be young again... how difficult. Youth is so damn beautiful.’

A reminiscent look appeared in Zhang Chaoyang’s eyes.

「At the same time.」

Having just sold fifty thousand LeTV boxes, Jia Yaoting was eager to make his move into the smart TV industry. After learning that Chen Yansen was in Yanjing for an event, he was instantly struck with the desire to get to know him.

Putting other things aside, Pinbei Mall alone was worthy of his attention.

If he could build a relationship in advance, he would have another important online sales channel once LeTV’s televisions hit the market.

He thought for a long time but couldn’t figure out who to ask for an introduction. In the end, he called Zhou Hongyi. After all, Lao Zhou had boasted on Weibo: ”President Chen is my dear friend.”

Since Chen Yansen hadn’t refuted it, it meant there probably wasn’t much exaggeration.