Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

「The next morning, at the Five Continents Hotel.」

Inside the nearly 2,000-square-meter conference hall, an LED lighting system was suspended from the ceiling. Soft, bright light poured down, perfectly illuminating the venue without being harsh on the attendees’ eyes.

An entire back wall was taken up by an LED screen. A line of text emerged from its azure-blue background: IT Innovation Drives Human Progress!

Conference tables and chairs were arranged in neat, concentric circles. Each table was set with conference materials, a notebook, a pen, and a wireless microphone for attendees to ask questions.

A refreshment area in the corner offered snacks, drinks, and fruit.

Electronic posters hung on the surrounding walls, scrolling in real-time through the IT industry’s cutting-edge technologies and innovative achievements from the past year.

Technologies such as Senlian Capital’s electronic shipping labels, the Orange Z1 Instruction Set, Aurora Future OS, social e-commerce, and recommendation algorithm engines were all among those on display.

The opening ceremony was scheduled for nine o’clock. Chen Yansen arrived twenty minutes early.

The moment he stepped out of the car, a flurry of camera shutters erupted from the assembled reporters.

Compared to the two Mas and one Li of the ”BATS” tech giants, Chen Yansen was the youngest, most commercially successful, and most strikingly handsome.

At six-foot-one, he was tall and trim. An indigo blue suit accentuated his slender, handsome figure.

The media used to tout Li Yanhong as the most handsome entrepreneur in the internet industry, but as Chen Yansen’s star rose, that talk gradually faded away.

’Where did you get the nerve to compare your looks to President Chen’s?’

With 60 million fans on Weibo, 29 million on Toutiao, and over 37 million overseas, he had graced the cover of Time magazine. Even video bloggers on Facebook and YouTube treated him as clickbait gold.

His interview videos for shows like Dialogue and Jing Distance had single videos on YouTube surpassing 10 million views. He was, without a doubt, the most dazzling public face among Hua Country’s young entrepreneurs.

”Boss!” Cao Dahua called out, standing on his tiptoes and waving. He jogged over to President Chen, his face wreathed in a grin as he offered his greeting.

’He knew perfectly well that without Chen Yansen’s patronage, he would never have gotten an invitation to the IT Leaders Summit in his entire life, let alone be in the same room as all these industry titans.’

Chen Yansen patted Old Cao’s bulging belly and teased, ”You should find some time to work out. Your stomach’s so big you look pregnant.”

”Ah, Boss, I’ve already lost a ton of weight! The last time I went home, my own mother almost didn’t recognize me.”

Cao Dahua bragged with a shameless grin.

”Alright, let’s head inside,” Chen Yansen said with a smile, giving him a playful eye-roll.

”Old Gao, President Liang,” Cao Dahua said, greeting Gao Weilin and Liang Bo.

”President Cao, you can call me Dylan,” Gao Weilin retorted, his expression sour.

”Okay, Old Gao,” Cao Dahua replied with a serious nod.

Chen Yansen shook his head and started walking toward the conference hall. Seeing this, Cao Dahua hurried to catch up.

Gao Weilin, Liang Bo, and Chen Jie followed closely behind.

As they reached the sign-in area at the entrance, Cao Dahua’s eyes lit up. He tugged on Chen Yansen’s sleeve and pointed to two people not far away.

One of them was a man in his early forties, dressed in a white shirt and a light gray jacket. He wasn’t old, but his temples were already streaked with gray. The other, a man of about thirty who looked like an assistant, stood just behind and to the right of him.

”Someone from the Central Bureau?” Chen Yansen asked in a low voice.

”That’s Yuan Ruli, and next to him is his secretary, Lu Ran,” Cao Dahua explained. ”He’s been a great help to the Orange Phone Factory this past year.”

Chen Yansen nodded and walked over.

Yuan Ruli was speaking with Wu Ying. Catching sight of Chen Yansen striding over, he quickly gave an apologetic look to Wu Ying and went to greet him, his secretary in tow.

”Mr. Yuan, a pleasure to see you. Thank you for all your support for the Orange Phone Factory,” Chen Yansen said with a smile.

”With thirty thousand front-line workers and R&D engineers paying social security, an annual payroll of over three billion, and a production value exceeding fifty billion... I look at the results, not the person. And the Orange Phone Factory has made a significant contribution to Shencheng City.”

Yuan Ruli extended his right hand, offering generous praise.

”Mr. Yuan, you’re too kind,” Chen Yansen said with humility.

’With people like Meng Yuanzhi and Yuan Ruli, you just had to listen to what they said, not take it to heart. As long as you could generate results for them, they’d be all smiles. Otherwise, they’d show you a completely different face.’

Chen Yansen had seen and heard it all before; he was long since immune to it.

”But there is one thing I’m not happy about,” Yuan Ruli said, his expression turning serious.

Chen Yansen knew what was coming, but he could only play dumb. Feigning ignorance, he asked with a puzzled look, ”I’m afraid I don’t follow, Mr. Yuan. Please, enlighten me.”

”Why did you choose Luzhou for Orange Mobile Phone’s Factory No. 5? The hourly wage is the same, so you aren’t saving on labor costs. If you were concerned about land policies or tax incentives, you should have just said something.”

Yuan Ruli’s stern expression softened as he asked with a hint of reproach.

”The main reason was logistical. Luzhou sits at a key crossroads between the north and south and has a well-developed network of railways and highways. This allows us to shorten supply times to the northern market and improve the overall efficiency of our distribution.”

Chen Yansen replied in a formal tone.

”So, the next time you expand capacity and add a new production base, it will be Shencheng City’s turn, right?” Yuan Ruli pressed.

”There’s a high probability,” Chen Yansen said with a slight smile.

’He wasn’t one to commit without a concrete offer. Did Yuan Ruli really think he could get Senlian Capital to commit more investment with just a few empty words?’

’No way!’

’To get Factory No. 5 to stay in Luzhou, Meng Yuanzhi had put up both money and considerable effort.’

”Are you free tomorrow evening, President Chen?” Yuan Ruli asked.

Given his experience and emotional intelligence, Yuan Ruli naturally understood Chen Yansen’s unspoken message.