Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

”No problem, you can set a redemption limit in the merchant portal.” Wang Bin grinned, his heart finally relaxing. ’I finally closed the first deal,’ he thought to himself.

Next, he pulled a standard contract from his bag and had the owner sign and confirm it first.

After taking care of that, Wang Bin helped the owner set up his merchant account and briefly explained the functions in the menu bar, as well as the process for withdrawing payments.

”Boss Zhou, one of our Kuai Pao staff members will come by this afternoon to take photos of your products,” Wang Bin reminded him before leaving.

”Manager Wang, thank you for your trouble. Let me make you a bowl of noodles. It’s already noon, you should eat before you go,” Boss Zhou offered warmly.

”No, thank you. Company policy. I also need to go back and get the contract stamped so I can arrange for you to go live on the platform,” Wang Bin politely but firmly refused.

By now, the rain had stopped, leaving the roads slick and wet.

”Alright then, I’ll let you get to it.” Boss Zhou saw him to the door.

Clutching the contract in his hand, Wang Bin hurried over to Times Square. As soon as he walked into a food stall specializing in rice bowls, he saw a dejected-looking Wu Xingyu and a calm and composed Wang Tianming.

”Brother Wang, Ah Yu.” Wang Bin walked over, plopped down in a seat, and then shouted to the owner, ”One pig’s head meat rice bowl. Extra meat and green peppers.”

”You got it! Just a minute, coming right up,” the owner replied.

”Brother Bin, how many did you sign?” Wu Xingyu asked, full of expectation.

”One,” Wang Bin replied, holding up his index finger.

”Big Head, you lose! Lunch is on you! Boss, add two more chicken legs for me,” Wang Tianming said smugly.

”You bet on whether I’d make a sale?” Wang Bin asked, his face darkening.

”Don’t worry, I won’t forget your contribution. You can have one of the chicken legs,” Wang Tianming said with a smile.

”Ah Yu, what about you?” Wang Bin asked, looking at Wu Xingyu.

”Struck out, of course,” Wang Tianming quipped with a mischievous grin.

”Brother Wang, I used all the talking points the company taught us. Why won’t any of the owners sign up for Group Buy?” Wu Xingyu scratched his head, looking troubled.

”Which shops did you visit?” Wang Tianming asked.

”Wuyuanzi the Old Goose, Zhuangyuan Snack Shop, Ju Hongsheng, and The Same Song,” Wu Xingyu replied.

”Ah Bin, what do you think?” Wang Tianming ignored Wu Xingyu and turned to ask Wang Bin instead.

On his way over, Wang Bin had slowly figured it out. The dozen or so restaurants, internet cafes, and KTVs he had visited were all well-established businesses that had been operating for years. They were doing just fine with their regular customers, so why would they need an extra source of clientele?

So when he talked to those owners about online traffic, customer acquisition costs, building up a reputation, and improving management efficiency, they just thought it was all bullshit.

Only the businesses that were just lukewarm, or even struggling, would actively seek out a partnership.

”All those places do excellent business,” Wang Bin said succinctly.

”What’s wrong with them doing good business?” Wu Xingyu’s brain hadn’t caught up yet, and he asked reflexively.

”If we were in Luzhou or Jinling, of course we’d start by talking to the big, successful merchants. But the model for a small county is different. A lot of these businesses rely mainly on regulars. We need to make them compete,” Wang Tianming analyzed calmly.

”Compete?” Wu Xingyu frowned slightly, not quite understanding.

”Let’s put it this way: there are seventeen KTVs in town. Any of them that get on Kuai Pao will definitely see a thirty to forty percent increase in daily orders.

There’s a finite number of customers; they don’t just fall from the sky. The other KTVs’ business will definitely take a hit. When that happens, they’ll have to do Group Buy whether they want to or not. Once all the KTVs are on Group Buy, then we make them compete on price.”

Wang Tianming said with a sinister grin.

”Brother Wang, you’re a master!” Wu Xingyu’s eyes lit up in sudden realization. He gave a thumbs-up in praise.

Wang Bin understood, too. That afternoon, he would focus on the small and medium-sized businesses. The goal was to make the business owners in Chunshen understand that joining Kuai Pao was a way to make big money, and to build up the platform’s reputation first and foremost.

Wang Tianming squinted his eyes, listening to their flattery. A smile crept onto his face, and he savored the feeling.

On the morning of the third day, the first batch of Chunshen merchants to join the platform began welcoming their first Group Buy customers.

A long line formed at the entrance of Zhou’s Beef Soup Restaurant on North Street.

On South Street, the entrance to Tongxing Cake House was just as crowded, with swarms of customers packed both inside and outside the shop.

At the crossroads, a KTV named ’Alibaba’ was busy without a break from noon until 1:30 in the morning.

A single county might not have a huge number of users, but its population density was not to be underestimated.

Moreover, the vast majority of people in the county had neither car loans nor mortgages. They spent money more freely than white-collar workers in first-tier cities.

As soon as Kuai Pao’s Group Buy went live, with few merchants and many users, every participating business was incredibly busy.

Wang Bin gradually discovered that the owners who had previously given him the cold shoulder were now being much more polite.

These people started to listen seriously to his analysis of the Group Buy data, and even took the initiative to ask about promotional policies for joining Kuai Pao, their eyes gleaming with a desire for money—a stark contrast to their previous attitude of shutting him out.

「Meanwhile.」

Pei Yi, holding the first-day data from the ten new county-level sites, sent a video conference invitation to Chen Yansen.

”Old Pei, you underestimated the spending power of county-level users,” Chen Yansen teased.

Previously, Pei Yi had led his team on an aggressive expansion across the country but had been reluctant to enter county-level markets, simply because he believed the low income of county residents was insufficient to support the Group Buy and food delivery businesses.

”Boss, this data has indeed exceeded my expectations.”

Pei Yi gave a dry laugh, replying with some embarrassment.

”For data on the spending power of county-level markets in the East China, North China, Central China, and Southern China regions, you can ask Liao Wei for a copy. Clound Speed did thorough preliminary research when they were setting up their courier service stations,” Chen Yansen said, his expression turning serious.

”Yes, Boss, I understand,” Pei Yi replied with a nod.

”By the way, I’ve approved your proposal to appoint Zhang Xuhao as the general manager of the food delivery division. Let him know he’ll be well compensated with bonuses and stock options,” Chen Yansen added.

”Mm, got it,” Pei Yi immediately agreed.

After making things clear, Chen Yansen hung up the call.

In his eyes, Kuai Pao’s development was fast, but not fast enough.

The potential of the Group Buy and food delivery markets was astounding; they should be creating far more jobs.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! A knock sounded at the door.

”Boss, the monthly video conference for the Eastern European Market starts at three, in ten minutes. President Zhou is in conference room A4 on the eighth floor.”

Chen Jie pushed the door open and entered. She was wearing a houndstooth pencil skirt, a light gray blazer, and an off-white chiffon blouse, through which her fair skin was faintly visible.

Chen Yansen gave a slight nod and stood up to head out.

Seeing this, Chen Jie followed closely behind President Chen. As his assistant, taking meeting minutes was one of her daily duties.

A minute later, Chen Yansen took the elevator to the eighth floor and walked into conference room A4.

”Boss!” a chorus of greetings rang out in the room.

Chen Yansen glanced around. Besides Zhou Shouzhi, the marketing director, after-sales supervisor, and channel director for the Eastern Europe Region were also present.

”Let’s begin.”

Chen Yansen instructed Zhou Shouzhi after taking his seat.

The overhead strip lights brightly illuminated the LED screen. As the video conference connected, the market heads from seven countries—including Poland, Ukraine, Romania, and Beibing—appeared on the screen one by one.

”First, let’s review market performance. Each person has three minutes,” Zhou Shouzhi said, taking the lead.

He knew his boss’s personality; he didn’t like long-winded reports from his subordinates.

”Beibing Country’s total sales volume for February was 159,000 units, achieving 106% of our target. Of those, 27,000 were online and 132,000 were offline, for a market share of 8.9%.

The top-selling model was the Qingcheng D1S (hardware and app ecosystem have been adapted), followed by the Orange D1. The Orange C2 and Orange C3 accounted for 26.1% of sales. Our main competitors are Apple, Mountain Star, Fly, and Nokia...”

The head of business for Beibing Country reported slowly.

While 159,000 units a month might not seem like much, it was enough to rank fourth in sales in the local market, behind only Mountain Star, Fly, and Nokia. Apple was ranked behind Orange.