Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

The next day, spring was in the air, carried on a gentle breeze.

Downstairs from the Science and Technology Park, the early cherry blossoms unfurled their tender green buds, stretching in the warm sun and basking in the gentle spring breeze.

Chen Yansen stood before the glass window, holding a cup of green tea. He took a gentle sip, his mind consumed by the core businesses of a dozen or so holding subsidiaries, all tightly interwoven like the strands of a spider’s web.

The Aurora Future Store and Celestial Craft Chip projects had officially been launched, but in the eyes of semiconductor companies in Europe and America, Orange Technology was still just an IC design firm.

’This is good. We’ll lie low and focus on development for now!’

A slight smile touched President Chen’s lips as he thought to himself.

「At the same time.」

”CHIME—!”

”Attention passengers, the train is now arriving at Xucheng East Station. Passengers getting off at Xucheng East Station, please take all your personal belongings and watch your step.”

The announcement snapped Zhang Peng out of his reverie. He sighed softly, retrieved his suitcase from the overhead rack, and followed the crowd, silently making his way out of the high-speed rail station.

After the Spring Festival, with guidance from his supervisor—who was also his girlfriend—he successfully landed an R&D position at Orange Pay.

But what really sucked was that just one month after starting the job, he was notified he would be transferred to the Xucheng headquarters at the end of the month to work on developing the NFC payment feature.

The last thing Zhang Peng wanted was to come to Xucheng.

Life in Hu City was so comfortable: clocking in at a leading internet company by day, then returning to a cozy studio apartment at night to get intimate with his supervisor and girlfriend.

”You’ll get promoted faster at headquarters. It’s better for your career.”

”What about you?”

”I’ll just keep on living and working as usual. If... if you miss me, you can just take the high-speed rail back to Hu City on the weekends.”

”Sister Ling, I can’t bear to leave you.”

”I’m ten years older than you. You... really want to marry me?”

”I do!”

”Do your parents know?”

Zhang Peng replayed the conversation with his girlfriend in his mind as he walked.

He was twenty-four; Chen Fengling was thirty-four. Even though she took great care of herself and could pass for twenty-eight or twenty-nine, would his parents ever agree?

That night, he had called home and explained the situation.

”Did you study so much your brain went soft? Are you a fool? She’s thirty-four! It’s a toss-up whether she can even have kids. By the time you’re thirty-four, she’ll be forty-four. You’ll definitely regret it then.”

His father neither objected nor gave his blessing; he simply laid out the harsh realities of the situation.

As a man, he understood the allure of a woman in her thirties, but he was also keenly aware of the practical problems his son would face in ten years.

Unfortunately, Chen Fengling happened to overhear this.

Zhang Peng saw the wry smile on his girlfriend’s face, but said nothing.

”One spot left for Xuyuan’s east campus! 10 yuan, 10 yuan! Need a ride, boss?”

”Zhuxianzhuang Science and Technology Park, eight yuan a head! Leaving right away, just need one more person!”

The moment he stepped out of the station, several unlicensed taxi drivers swarmed him enthusiastically.

Zhang Peng waved them away. He didn’t dare take an unlicensed taxi in a place where he knew no one, so he pulled out his phone and hailed a car on the Fast Taxi app.

The driver arrived in less than three minutes, helped him load his suitcase into the trunk, then hit the gas and sped off toward the Science and Technology Park.

”Hey buddy, dressed like that, you must be heading to the Science and Technology Park for a new job, right? Orange Pay or Pinbei Mall?”

The driver was a young guy in his early twenties, wearing a floral shirt and exuding a devil-may-care attitude.

As far as he was concerned, the fact that Zhang Peng had a suitcase with him meant he’d obviously passed the interview.

”You can tell?” Zhang Peng replied nonchalantly, his face expressionless.

”You have no idea! Senlian Capital’s been hiring a ton of new people lately. I drive a few of them every single day,” the driver said with a grin.

”Oh,” Zhang Peng said, dejected.

”Buddy, Senlian Capital has great pay and tons of benefits. What’s not to be happy about? Why the long face the whole time?” the driver asked, completely baffled.

He’d driven dozens of Senlian employees back and forth, and this was the first time he’d ever met someone as odd as Zhang Peng.

Everyone else looked like they were on top of the world, but this guy was just sighing.

”I... Never mind. You wouldn’t get it,” Zhang Peng said, trailing off.

”Heartbroken? Want me to recommend some foot massage places? The girls there are top-notch, I’m telling you. A young guy’s gotta get his feet washed often, that’s how you grasp the true meaning of life. Love is bullshit. Go a few times, and you’ll see right through it.”

The driver frowned, shooting Zhang Peng a disdainful look before launching into his enthusiastic pitch.

”If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?” Zhang Peng asked in return.

”Twenty-one. Why?” The driver was confused.

”Why not save the money you spend on foot massages to buy a car, a house, and find a wife?” Zhang Peng retorted, projecting his own values onto the driver.

’Seeing that the driver was three years his junior, he felt he couldn’t just stand by and watch the kid go astray.’

’No, wait. From the way this guy talks, he probably started hanging out at those places when he was eighteen. He needs to get back on the straight and narrow as soon as possible.’

The driver opened his mouth to say something, but then thought better of it and swallowed his words.

He couldn’t be bothered to argue. Zhang Peng was clearly an educated type. Their values didn’t align; they weren’t on the same wavelength. There was nothing more to say.

Since the driver fell silent, Zhang Peng didn’t bother starting a conversation either.

Before long, the silhouette of the Zhuxianzhuang Science and Technology Park came into view.

It was surrounded by fields of yellow and green rapeseed. There was nothing else to see but desolation.

”Orange Pay’s headquarters is actually in a place like this,” Zhang Peng muttered under his breath.

”Hey! What’s that supposed to mean, ’a place like this’? Xucheng is great! Beautiful scenery, beautiful people, and everything’s cheap,” the driver retorted, annoyed.

Zhang Peng looked out the window and chuckled, too drained to even argue.

Three minutes later, he was pushing his suitcase. After bidding farewell to the foot-massage-loving taxi driver, he registered at the security gate and walked straight into the Orange Pay office building.

”Hello, sir. May I have your name? Are you a new hire starting today?” the receptionist asked, picking up a list and looking up at Zhang Peng.

”Zhang Peng,” he replied. ”I’m a member of the NFC payment R&D team, transferred from the Hu City branch.”

”Welcome! The company has already arranged apartments for you all. We have studios and two-bedroom units available. Of course, you’re free to find your own housing if you’d prefer.”

The receptionist handed him a form, gesturing for him to make his choice.

Zhang Peng glanced down at the form. Depending on the furnishings and location, studios ranged from 600 to 800 yuan, while two-bedroom apartments were between 1,000 and 1,600 yuan.

His base salary was 18,000 a month, and his housing stipend was 3,600. Even if he rented a two-bedroom, he would still have more than 2,000 of the stipend left over.

’Looks like that driver was right. The cost of living in Xucheng really is low.’

Zhang Peng wasn’t one to make things unnecessarily hard on himself, so he went ahead and chose an 800-yuan studio.

”One moment.” The receptionist took the form and muttered, ”Chenguang Apartments... Building 16... 201.”

”Here you go. Three keys in total.” She quickly found the keys to 201 in a drawer.

”Thanks,” Zhang Peng said.

”Your team’s office area is on the third floor. I’ve already notified the HR department. You can rest here for a moment, and a colleague will be down shortly to take you up to check in,” the receptionist explained.

Zhang Peng nodded, then pulled his suitcase over to the lounge area and sat down.

He glanced around. While the surrounding area of the Orange Pay headquarters couldn’t compare to the Hu City Branch, the quality of the interior itself was in no way inferior.

The first-floor reception hall, interview rooms, and breakroom all looked extremely upscale. From the design aesthetic and construction materials to the tables and chairs, it was obvious that no expense had been spared.

「Meanwhile.」

The first 100,000 Yaocheng X1 phones were gradually delivered to customers. For many, their first instinct upon receiving the phone was to shake the box, trying to see if there was a gold bar inside.

”Sir, the gold bar isn’t in the phone box,” the Cloud Speed delivery guy said with a smile.

For the past few days, the immediate reaction of every user who received a Yaocheng X1 was to vigorously shake the box.

”Oh! Then where is it?” the customer asked, laughing in embarrassment.

”You have to activate the phone and log in to the Aurora Future Store first. There’s a prize draw for new customers, limited to the device IDs of the first 100,000 phones purchased,” the delivery guy replied.

”Has anyone really won a gold bar?” the customer pressed.

”Of course! The gold bars are part of our delivery route, too. I just delivered one yesterday. And even if you don’t win a gold bar, it’s okay. Since you bought a Yaocheng X1, you’ll get 50 yuan in Pinbei shopping credit just for activating it. Plus, you get another 50 yuan for checking in seven days in a row.”

The delivery guy added.

This was a hidden benefit of Aurora Future OS. The Qingcheng D2 came with 20 yuan of Pinbei shopping credit, and the Orange C3S came with 60 yuan.

”A hundred yuan in shopping credit? So it’s like I got another hundred yuan off. Not bad at all.” The customer said his thanks and closed the door.

Ten minutes later, a surprised cheer erupted from inside the room.

Right in the center of the phone’s screen, a glittering gold bar was shining brilliantly.

For a while, Weibo and Toutiao were flooded with posts ”sharing” (i.e., flexing) their gold bar winnings.

The news that the Qingcheng D2, Orange C3S, and Yaocheng X1 came with built-in shopping credits also got out. Spurred by the promotion, sales for all three new models saw a slight increase.

「At the same time.」

After a discussion with Huang Zheng, Chen Yansen decided to build a paid membership system for Pinbei. The system would focus on benefits like coupons, member-exclusive discounts, and loyalty points, with the goal of increasing user retention and repeat purchases.

”We could consider a joint membership model,” Chen Yansen advised. ”We could bulk-purchase benefits from video streaming sites and integrate them into the Pinbei membership system.”

”Like the Penguin membership?” Huang Zheng confirmed.

”Exactly,” Chen Yansen replied.

It would be difficult to get users interested in a paid Pinbei membership through conventional means alone. However, by adding benefits for services like video and music streaming, Kuai Pao Maicai, and Fast Taxi, they could enhance the membership’s overall value.

Moreover, it would also drive additional traffic and orders to other businesses like Kuai Pao, Fast Taxi, and Ofo bikes, creating a complementary business ecosystem.

”Understood, Boss. I’ll go back and refine the proposal,” Huang Zheng said.

”Call it a day. We can get back to it tomorrow.”

Chen Yansen glanced at his watch. It was almost nine-thirty. He patted Huang Zheng’s shoulder and spoke.