Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Inside a refined and luxurious private room at Jingzhao Prefect.

Zhou Hongyi downed his glass of wine, adopting an extremely humble posture.

Despite being twenty-two years older than Chen Yansen and having entered the industry twelve years earlier, he didn’t dare carry himself as a veteran of the business community.

He knew full well that this Chen Yansen fellow was even more petty than he was. Besides, 360 Mobile Phone couldn’t do without Orange Technology’s patent licenses, supply chain, and contract manufacturing services.

He had invited Chen Yansen to dinner for two reasons: first, to thank him, and second, to deepen their cooperative relationship.

So, the moment Chen Yansen brought up Aurora Future OS, Zhou Hongyi immediately thumped his chest and promised that 360 Security Guard, Browser, and Antivirus would all be developed for AFOS. Once the 360 N2 was on the market, they would launch them all together.

”Thanks,” Chen Yansen said with a slight smile.

Jia Yaoting, who was sitting to the side, understood what was happening and quickly chimed in, ”President Chen, LeTV Network is also willing to support Orange Technology’s efforts to promote the new system.”

’No one fawns on you for no reason. He must be after something!’

Chen Yansen just smiled, not rejecting the offer. He raised his glass and said, ”I hear LeTV is preparing to enter the smart TV market?”

”Yes, President Chen. I plan to combine our cloud video platform with smart TVs, fully integrating the platform, content, hardware, software, and application ecosystem. The hardware won’t be for profit; we’ll earn money from software services.”

Jia Yaoting explained honestly.

He was highly ambitious, but the capital market lacked confidence in LeTV.

After he announced his plans, LeTV Network’s stock price plummeted from 27 yuan to 13.5 yuan, effectively getting cut in half.

In other words, the LeTV Super TV project had to succeed. If it failed, the stock price would continue to fall; if it succeeded, the price would skyrocket.

Chen Yansen gave a slight nod but offered no opinion.

The growth potential for smart TVs was limited. The entire country’s market could only absorb 40 million units per year at most. A little over a decade later, that number would even drop below the 30 million mark.

’Phone screens are just getting bigger, with more and more features and entertainment options. With the rise of both long- and short-form video, who even watches TV anymore?’

”President Chen, I’d like to get on Pinbei Mall,” Jia Yaoting said, getting straight to the point when he saw Chen Yansen wasn’t speaking.

Perhaps fearing the project would fail, he was already starting to line up sales channels before the R&D for the LeTV Super TV was even finished.

”No problem. Yuncheng, give President Jia your card.”

Chen Yansen beckoned to Song Yuncheng and gave her the instruction, then casually explained, ”President Jia, this is our Investment Attraction Manager for major clients at Pinbei. You can just have your staff contact her later.”

”Of course. Thank you,” Jia Yaoting replied at once.

He glanced at Zhou Hongyi, then back at Chen Yansen, swallowing the words that had been on the tip of his tongue.

Chen Yansen keenly noticed Jia Yaoting’s subtle gesture. After a few seconds of thought, he guessed what the man was really thinking.

’It’s just greed getting the better of him. After seeing 360 Mobile Phone’s success, he wants to dip his toes into the smartphone market too. But I don’t really care. A LeTV phone, a 360 phone—it doesn’t matter. They can all become part of the Aurora Future OS ecosystem. There’s no reason for me to turn them away.’

The dinner meeting lasted for over two hours.

Chen Yansen walked out of Jingzhao Prefect and settled into the back seat of his car, but instead of telling Xiaoli to drive back to the hotel right away, he simply leaned against the seat back and waited unhurriedly.

Sure enough, just a moment later, after confirming that Zhou Hongyi’s car had left, Jia Yaoting tapped on Chen Yansen’s window.

”President Chen, shall we find another place to talk?” Jia Yaoting suggested, his face wreathed in smiles.

”Let’s not go to the trouble. Jingzhao Prefect is fine,” Chen Yansen said, not wanting to waste time. He and Jia Yaoting went back inside the private room.

”My apologies, President Chen. With President Zhou here earlier, there were some things I couldn’t say openly. The truth is, I’m also very interested in the mobile phone industry.”

Jia Yaoting said shamelessly.

”For online-exclusive phones, Orange Technology already has a mature partnership model. From the OS and supply chain to contract manufacturing, you can purchase any corresponding service you need.”

Chen Yansen began to explain slowly.

He thought, ’You’re not just interested in phones and TVs; you’re also interested in making cars.’

”So, LeTV could...?” Jia Yaoting asked tentatively.

”Of course,” Chen Yansen agreed without hesitation.

For partners like 360, NetEase, and LeTV, Orange Technology could make money on the hardware markup and then collect patent licensing fees on top of that. Of course, the more partners, the better.

The corners of Jia Yaoting’s mouth turned up, and he couldn’t suppress the delight on his face. He hadn’t expected Chen Yansen to be so agreeable.

’Orange Technology really is different from other phone manufacturers!’

After clarifying the specific details of the partnership, Jia Yaoting personally escorted Chen Yansen back to his car and watched until it disappeared from sight.

He had already made up his mind to assemble an R&D team for a LeTV phone as soon as possible. After all, they would only need to develop the LeTV app and handle the phone’s industrial and hardware design; the rest of the process could be left to Orange Technology.

”Boss, what’s he getting out of this?” his assistant asked, puzzled.

”He wants to be the Google of Hua Country!” Jia Yaoting summarized succinctly.

Meanwhile.

The Maybach sped across an overpass under the night sky, heading toward the hotel.

With his head tilted, Chen Yansen leaned into Song Yuncheng’s embrace, finding it soft and incredibly comfortable.

Xiaoli kept his eyes fixed on the road, his expression focused as he drove.

Song Yuncheng’s pretty face flushed slightly. She struggled for a moment out of habit, but when she saw she couldn’t win against Chen Yansen, she relented and held him in her arms, massaging his temples as if coaxing a child.

Before long, the car pulled into the parking lot of the Bulgari Hotel.

By now, the night in Yanjing was late, and snowflakes like willow catkins had begun to drift down from the sky again.

Song Yuncheng hunched her shoulders against the cold, unconsciously leaning into President Chen’s embrace. She always felt that no matter how many layers Chen Yansen wore, his body was like a furnace, radiating warmth all day long.

After crossing the lobby, the two took an elevator straight to the top floor.

Song Yuncheng licked her lips as she walked.

The northern climate was extremely dry, especially in winter. The wind alone would make your mouth and throat feel parched, and after a few days, your lips would start to peel.

”We’re going back to Xucheng tomorrow,” Chen Yansen said softly, having noticed this small detail.

”Aren’t we going to the Byte and Gaode Map Headquarters anymore?” Song Yuncheng asked.

”Nope.” Chen Yansen took out his key card, swiped it to unlock the door, and pushed it open, stepping inside.

Zhang Yiming and Xiao Jun’s management abilities had far exceeded his expectations.

He only cared about performance and results.

As long as they weren’t pulling sneaky moves behind his back, he could tolerate many of his subordinates’ minor flaws.

After all, nobody’s perfect, and no gold is 100% pure.

As long as they could make him money and keep the company’s operations running smoothly, that was enough.

Song Yuncheng hummed in acknowledgment and followed Chen Yansen.

A wave of heat washed over them the moment they entered the room. The heating systems in the north were impressively effective.

Song Yuncheng took off her overcoat, revealing an off-white blouse underneath that left none of her curves to the imagination.

Chen Yansen was much faster at undressing. In the blink of an eye, he was stripped down to nothing but his boxer briefs.

Broad shoulders tapered down to a narrow waist, his muscles clearly defined.

Even though she had seen it countless times, Song Yuncheng couldn’t help but stare for a moment longer.

”Want a beer?” Chen Yansen asked, turning his head after opening the fridge.

”Just one,” Song Yuncheng said, holding up a single finger.

Chen Yansen grabbed two cans, handed one to Song Yuncheng, and they sat down by the sofa, taking small sips.

”You’re not going home for the Spring Festival?” Song Yuncheng asked cautiously.

”Mm,” Chen Yansen replied, his gaze drifting out the window toward something far away.

”You had a fight with... Uncle Chen,” Song Yuncheng ventured.

”Nope,” Chen Yansen replied.

”Then why aren’t you going home for the New Year?” Song Yuncheng asked, curious.

”My old man only has eyes for his wife. It makes no difference whether I go back or not,” Chen Yansen said flatly.

In his past life, ever since he started working, he could count the number of times he’d gone home on one hand. He and his father had never been able to talk for long without disagreeing.

”Then I’ll stay here and keep you company,” Song Yuncheng said in a small voice, a hint of heartache in her eyes as she looked at him.

Others might not know it, but she was aware that even Chen Yansen had troubles he couldn’t solve.

”You? Absolutely not! Your cooking is terrible. I couldn’t stomach it,” Chen Yansen refused flatly.

”...” Song Yuncheng was stunned. That flicker of heartache she’d felt vanished in an instant. ’You son of a bitch, Chen Yansen,’ she thought. ’You deserve to eat takeout for the rest of your life.’

...

...

The next morning, Chen Yansen returned to Xucheng.

At the same time.

Portal websites like Toutiao, Penguin, Sohu, and NetEase were all featuring negative reports about Meituan Takeout on their homepages.

”SHOCKING! Takeout Kitchens Exposed: Filthy, Chaotic, Food on the Floor Next to a Public Restroom! Rider’s Candid Footage Reveals All!”

”How Dirty Is Your Delivery Food, Really?”

”No Brick-and-Mortar, Filthy Conditions! Meituan Takeout Is Overrun with Ghost Kitchens!”

One click was all it took to ”enjoy” a vast number of ”appetizing” high-definition photos, enough to make a person lose their appetite for three days.

Pei Yi had been preparing to take down Meituan for three long months, and this media blitz was only the first wave.

In just half an hour, Meituan Takeout was trending—the first time it had ever done so.

”That delivery rider who exposed this is so screwed! His account will definitely be banned by tomorrow!”

”Looks pretty clean to me. I’ve seen way less hygienic places.”

”Hey, to the user from Tianzhu above, are you just visiting Hua Country on vacation?”

”My brother started working as a delivery driver last month, and he told us to never order delivery again. He said he saw one restaurant owner washing trays in the bathroom, then setting the clean trays on top of the bathroom trash can.”

”I’m gonna be sick! I can’t believe delivery food is this disgusting!”

”I hope Kuai Pao Delivery isn’t like this too...”

The comment sections were flooded with discussion, and the complaint hotline for the Market Supervision Association was ringing off the hook.

Meanwhile.

Wang Huiwen rushed into the office, his face grim. ”Brother Xin,” he said, ”we’re in big trouble!”