Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

”What do you think?”

Priscilla asked softly inside the banquet hall.

”He... seems like an idealist on the surface, but I’m not sure. People have two sides, and I probably haven’t seen his other one yet.”

Zuckerberg shrugged and said to his wife.

He had come to Hua Country to build connections with the higher-ups and push Facebook into the Hua Country market.

Traveling with his wife, as the son-in-law of a Chinese family, might make it easier to gain acceptance.

He was only staying in Shencheng City for two days. Tomorrow night, he would fly to Yanjing to meet with the head of the Internet Supervision Association and participate in some promotional events along the way.

A market of over a billion people made his mouth water.

In his opinion, Chen Yansen’s incredible success was inextricably linked to this massive market.

Priscilla chuckled, thinking that Chen Yansen was just better at putting on a disguise.

She knew the true colors of a businessman better than anyone.

Just then, as arranged by the event organizers, a staff member led Zuckerberg and Priscilla over to Chen Yansen and made a brief introduction.

”Do you speak Chinese?” Chen Yansen asked, looking down at Zuckerberg.

It wasn’t that he was being arrogant, but the other man was only 1.7 meters tall, barely reaching his chin.

If he didn’t look down, he’d be talking to the top of Zuckerberg’s head.

’This little guy wanted to fight Musk in an octagon?’

’Good thing it didn’t happen, or Facebook would have lost its founder.’

Zuckerberg didn’t understand, so his wife translated for him.

He looked up at Chen Yansen. The man was taller than him by more than half a head, with a tall and straight posture. There was a difference of several sizes between their builds.

”You don’t? Then getting into the Hua Country market won’t be so simple,” Chen Yansen quipped.

He and Zuckerberg were, in a way, competitors.

Mimo Short Video was all the rage in the North American Region, but users don’t just fall from the sky. Naturally, it had to snatch market share from the hands of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

With his wife’s translation, Zuckerberg understood Chen Yansen’s meaning. His face hardened as he asked, ”Isn’t Hua Country an open and free market?”

Chen Yansen’s English was no worse than Zuckerberg’s, but he deliberately chose not to use it. He smiled and replied in Chinese, ”You don’t even understand Chinese, yet you want to create a Chinese social media app?”

That question stumped Zuckerberg!

Although he could hire people for localized operations and management, not understanding Hua Country’s culture would inevitably lead to a series of problems.

”If Mimo can enter the North American market, why can’t Facebook enter the Hua Country market?”

Zuckerberg retorted.

”I can speak English. Can you speak Chinese?” Chen Yansen teased with a smile.

”...” Zuckerberg froze, his train of thought derailed by Chen Yansen’s redirection.

In truth, both he and Chen Yansen knew that the biggest obstacle to Facebook entering Hua Country wasn’t localization or the founder’s Chinese proficiency, but approval from the Internet Supervision Association.

It all came down to their approval. If they said you’re in, you’re in. If they said you’re out, you’re out.

Ma Wenteng smiled when he saw this but said nothing.

Although he was certain the higher-ups wouldn’t let Facebook in, there were always exceptions. If Facebook really did break into the domestic market, even if it couldn’t win, WeChat would still lose a portion of its market share.

He didn’t want another competitor!

”You don’t get to decide that,” Zuckerberg quickly regained his confidence and said in a low voice.

”Good luck to you.” Chen Yansen wasn’t in the mood to talk. After saying his piece, he turned and left.

He had nothing much to discuss with Zuckerberg. When industry peers meet, a few pleasantries were enough. That was all.

”In him, I feel like I can see Mimo’s expansion style: aggressive, crude, but full of conviction.”

Zuckerberg muttered to himself after Chen Yansen had walked away.

”The penetration rate of 4G networks has seen a year-over-year increase of at least 30% compared to 2012. I think Facebook should also add a video module to increase user retention time,” Priscilla suggested.

”We’re already testing it internally. I’m not going to let Mimo keep running rampant,” Zuckerberg nodded and replied.

Twitter’s Vine was no match for Mimo at all. After three months of fierce competition, Vine changed its video length limit from 6 seconds to 15 seconds, which was undoubtedly an admission of its own mistake in setting the rules.

The originator of short video was imitating a newcomer!

Of course, this was a self-proclaimed title, and users in the Lighthouse Country weren’t buying it.

In their eyes, Mimo was the one true god in the realm of short video apps.

Mimo’s content was diverse, covering music, food, travel, transformation videos, comedy, and even borderline-suggestive content. The more you watched, the more hooked you became; the more you scrolled, the more addicted you were.

Vine?

Roadside trash.

Even dogs wouldn’t touch it!

「Meanwhile.」

LeTV simultaneously released pre-order links for two models, the LeTV Super TV S40 and X60, on its official website, Tmall flagship store, and Pinbei’s ”Ten Billion Subsidy” program.

It was worth noting that the LetvUI-S 1.0 operating system on these two smart TVs was a deeply customized version based on Aurora Future OS.

In other words, these were the first smart TVs in the country to feature Aurora Future OS.

The LeTV S40 was equipped with a quad-core 1.5GHz processor and 8GB of flash storage, supported 1080p video playback, had a 60Hz refresh rate, and was priced at 1,999 Hua Yuan.

Smart TVs of a similar 40-inch size were typically priced at 2,999 or 3,999 Hua Yuan, making LeTV’s price extremely attractive.

Less than an hour after the pre-order links went live, the total online sales for the LeTV S40 reached 1,000 units!

This might seem pitifully small, but the cumulative daily sales for dozens of mainstream brands and their various models across the country were just over 100,000 units.

The LeTV S40 selling 1,000 units in an hour instantly sent shockwaves through the industry.

Brands like Sony, Mountain Star, Hisense, TCL, and Skyworth felt the pressure mount instantly.

LeTV was selling it for way too cheap!

To put it bluntly, Jia Yaoting’s strategy and tactics in the TV industry were a perfect replica of Chen Yansen’s playbook in the mobile phone industry.

Another shit-stirrer!

Accountant Jia posted on Weibo: ”Let us suffocate for our dreams together! On behalf of LeTV, I solemnly promise that for the next ten years, we will not make a single cent from hardware!”

Lei Yijun, seeing the post, looked disgusted and thought: ’He stole my lines!’

Far away in the Lighthouse Country, reliving his youthful days, Handsome Dong frowned in displeasure upon receiving the news. ’LeTV launched on Tmall and Pinbei, but they skipped Jingdong. What’s that supposed to mean?’

’Besides, what Jia Yaoting said sounds awfully familiar!’

Liu Qiangdong thought for a moment, and then it hit him. He cursed under his breath, ”Aren’t those my exact words from when I declared war on Sunning and Gome!”

A year ago, on the eve of the ”418 Home Appliance Festival” battle, he had made a bold public declaration: ”For three years, Jingdong’s large home appliances will not make a single dime of profit!”

’Using my lines and then not even partnering with Jingdong... this guy’s got no class.’

Liu Qiangdong grumbled to himself.

LeTV’s other smart TV, the X60, featured a 60-inch large screen, a Sharp X-Gen panel, a Qualcomm quad-core 1.7GHz processor, the LeTV ecosystem, and also ran on the LetvUI-S 1.0 operating system. It was priced at 6,999 Hua Yuan.

In the first hour of its release, a total of 370 units were sold online!

Competing models with similar specs were generally priced at 9,999, 12,999, or 14,999 Hua Yuan.

Setting aside the manufacturing process, just looking at the hardware specs, LeTV’s televisions were the equivalent of Orange and Xiaomi in the mobile phone world.

By the time the stock market closed that day, LeTV’s stock had shot up to its daily limit!

In just three hours, the two models had sold a total of 2,900 units!

For LeTV, a newcomer to the industry, this was an absolutely god-tier start!

Jia Yaoting’s path to transformation was proceeding smoothly and steadily!

Lei Yijun was extremely tempted by this and immediately had the idea of entering the smart TV market.

He couldn’t care less about hardware profits, the ecosystem, paid content, or revenue from app splits.

A top satellite TV channel might only have four to five million households in its viewership, yet its annual advertising revenue could reach six to seven billion.

The advertising revenue was the real prize!

If he sold a few million units, his annual gross profit could increase by five billion Hua Yuan!

In reality, Lei Yijun wasn’t the only one interested in the TV industry.

The boss of Baofeng Video’s eyes lit up, and he immediately called a meeting with his senior management to prepare to enter the smart TV market.

As long as they had a user base of several million, it was like owning a TV station. The annual advertising revenue would be substantial, and no one could refuse the appeal of earning several billion a year.

Find a supply chain, find a contract manufacturer, find an after-sales team!

Most importantly, they first had to get the technology license for Aurora Future OS!

「On the other side.」

Chen Yansen was in Shencheng City, attending meetings and social functions, then more meetings and more social functions.

It wasn’t until the evening of the last day of March that he gladly went to an appointment, bringing only Old Gao and Cao Dahua with him, to sit in a private room at Cai Xin Mansion with Yuan Ruli.

Wine cups were exchanged, and in no time, a bottle of Moutai was empty.

”President Chen, what are your thoughts?” Yuan Ruli’s cheeks were slightly flushed, but after two glasses of liquor, his expression was still clear. He was clearly a seasoned drinker.

That last bottle of Moutai was, at most, just enough to wet his throat.

”Mr. Yuan, the current production capacity of the Orange Phone Factory is enough to cover market demand. Expanding production rashly is difficult. For one, we have no land, and for two, we lack the funds.”

Chen Yansen said with a shrug.

Yuan Ruli smiled faintly. He was a sharp man, and Chen Yansen had been so direct. How could he not understand?

It was just about industrial land and low-interest loans, something he could arrange with just a word.

”Would it be possible to set up a research-oriented production base in Shencheng City?” Yuan Ruli asked, getting straight to the point.

Although Orange Technology had an R&D lab in Shencheng City, it didn’t involve many personnel or product categories. So far, it had only launched four core products: power banks, tablet computers, laptop computers, and smart speakers.

What he wanted was a large-scale R&D lab, on par with Huawei’s, to attract more top talent to stay in Shencheng City.

”Zhongsha Software Park is too small. There’s no space,” Chen Yansen said with a grin.

”I’ll help you solve the land and loan issues,” Yuan Ruli said straightforwardly, not wanting to beat around the bush.

”Then I have no problem,” Chen Yansen agreed crisply.

As for the details, he would leave those for Cao Dahua to negotiate slowly.

Yuan Ruli shook his head with a smile. He finally understood. Chen Yansen most likely already had plans to expand his production capacity, and since he had happened to come along, Chen Yansen just took the opportunity to fleece him a bit.

However, he didn’t mind, as long as the outcome was positive.

Chen Yansen opened another bottle of Moutai and filled Yuan Ruli’s glass. On this trip to Shencheng City, he had shown off, reaped some benefits, and was naturally in a great mood.

The dinner party continued until ten o’clock at night before it hastily broke up.

Chen Yansen returned to his hotel, took out his phone, glanced at the trending news, then took off his shirt, planning to take a shower.

”KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—!” A soft knock came from the door.

”Who is it?” Chen Yansen called out.

”Boss, there’s an urgent document that needs your attention.” Chen Jie’s cheeks were flushed, her breathing heavy as she struggled to keep it steady.

’Don’t tell me you’re the ”document”?’

Chen Yansen had a playful look on his face.

”We’ll talk about it tomorrow,” Chen Yansen refused.

’Things that offer themselves up on a platter are no fun. I hired an assistant, not a secretary.’

”Boss, it’s very urgent,” Chen Jie said in a soft, intentionally sultry voice.

”Go back to the company tomorrow and report to the HR department yourself.”

Chen Yansen said coldly.

With a sweep of his Divine Sense, he could see that Chen Jie was empty-handed. What document?

He was very picky. He never touched anything that offered itself up so easily; it was a good way to get poisoned.

Hearing this, Chen Jie’s face turned pale. ’Why is this completely different from how I imagined it would go!’