Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

”The visual impact short videos have on users far exceeds that of animated GIFs. We’ve been at this for two years, and our user count isn’t even at one million. Lately, I’ve been wondering if we took the wrong path.”

Chen Yixiao stroked his chin as he shared his thoughts.

Two years ago, after leaving Renren Network, he had used his gift of gab—a trait common among people from the Northeast—to successfully convince Yang Yuanxi, who was also a client-side R&D engineer, and his college roommate to embark on the path of entrepreneurship with him.

But two years later, the few of them were still crammed into this three-bedroom apartment. GIF Kuaishou was making money, but not much.

It was better than working a regular job, but not by much.

”Brother Xiao, are you saying we should copy that foreign software?” Yang Yuanxi pressed.

In the eyes of most Chinese people, Mimo was a genuinely foreign-made application.

”It’s called ’drawing inspiration’! What’s all this talk about copying? Besides, Mimo isn’t a foreign app. Its parent company is Senlian Capital,” Chen Yixiao said, rolling his eyes.

”Senlian Capital?”

The others looked at each other, their faces filled with shock.

”But how can we possibly compete with Senlian Capital?” Yang Yuanxi shrank back, feeling like the moment Senlian made a move, their small group would be snuffed out.

”What the hell is there to be afraid of! The market is huge. They can eat the meat while we drink the soup, and we’ll still make a fortune. I’m not asking for much—I’ll be happy with ten million a year.”

Chen Yixiao said, full of hopeful anticipation.

He paused, then asked, ”Are we doing this or not?”

”We’re doing it! The barefooted aren’t afraid of those with shoes. What if we actually make it?” Yang Yuanxi didn’t overthink it, grinning as he spoke.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! A knock sounded at the door.

”Brother Xiao, we just had lunch. Did you order afternoon tea already?” Yang Yuanxi assumed it was a delivery person.

”I didn’t order anything!” Chen Yixiao said, stunned.

”I didn’t either!”

”Don’t look at me, we haven’t even gotten paid this month!”

The rest of them shook their heads.

Chen Yixiao rubbed his nose and grumbled, ”What’s the damn hurry? Wait for the advertising revenue to come in.”

This was the state of Kuai Shou in 2013: often going from feast to famine, unable to even afford renting an office. The seven of them were crammed into Chen Yixiao’s apartment.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

”Coming!”

Yang Yuanxi shouted, hurried out of the living room, and twisted open the light-yellow solid wood door.

Standing outside was a middle-aged man in his thirties. He wore a sharp suit and leather shoes so polished they gleamed, an outfit that was clearly expensive.

He was nearly 1.8 meters tall, with a medium build and a plump, prosperous-looking face.

”Excuse me, is this the headquarters of GIF Kuaishou?” the middle-aged man asked first.

Yang Yuanxi gave a dry laugh and shamelessly confirmed it. He then asked, ”And you are?”

”An investor, here to give you money,” the middle-aged man said with a smile. He had a strange accent, sounding like it was from the Hong Kong or Macau region.

Oh, an investor.

Fuck!

A sugar daddy!

Yang Yuanxi’s expression changed dramatically. As he led the man inside, he yelled, ”Brother Xiao, our dad is here!”

The middle-aged man was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled. He glanced around and immediately understood why the young man was being so eager.

”’My dad?’” Chen Yixiao was completely bewildered as he walked out of the bedroom that doubled as their office.

...

...

「One day later, in a spacious and bright conference room at Zhuxianzhuang Science and Technology Park.」

”Since the data plan cards are about to be launched, it’s time to put the domestic version of Mimo Short Video on the agenda.”

Chen Yansen instructed Liang Bo.

’That guy Ma Wenteng is shameless. He’s probably already greenlit a project and is having his team work overtime to develop a short video app.’

’In any case, ’Douyin’ will have to be launched eventually. Releasing it a year or so early won’t hurt. Plus, by supporting another project, I can earn another stream of Human Dao Fire income.’

”Yes, Boss. We have R&D experience from Mimo, so I estimate we can get it done in a month,” Liang Bo said, full of confidence.

’Douyin’ would just need to use Mimo’s underlying framework, and the recommendation engine technology could be shared as well.

”President Ye, remember to communicate with Zhao Maolin and get ’Douyin’ included in the data-free usage plan,” Chen Yansen said, turning to Ye Qiuping and reminding her softly.

”Okay, no problem,” Ye Qiuping replied with a slight nod.

”The revenue from the Star Shining Card might not be much, but it’s crucial for the entire group’s development. At the very least, before the 4G licenses are issued and 3G network speeds increase and prices drop, it can give Senlian Capital a two-year lead in the mobile era,” Chen Yansen reminded them.

”Boss, I understand,” Ye Qiuping said with a nod.

”Meeting adjourned,” Chen Yansen said, standing up and tossing out the words.

With that, he led the way out.

Just as he reached the elevators, he ran into Zhang Yinjia, who anxiously confirmed, ”Boss, seven p.m. tonight, Sky Garden, Yunxi Private Room. Please don’t forget.”

Chen Yansen shot Old Zhang a look and grunted in acknowledgment.

Zhang Yinjia gave an embarrassed smile and made a tactical retreat, planning to have the Market Department check the procedure one more time.

The ’10 Billion Trial Fund’ event was just one step away from a perfect conclusion, so of course he was being extra careful.

Whether it would top the search rankings and go viral tomorrow all depended on tonight.

Chen Yansen returned to his office, tossed the files onto his desk, poured himself a glass of herbal tea, and leaned back against the sofa.

His mind was preoccupied with the progress of the data center preparations.

Xu Zhenhui had taken a huge gamble, risking it all to approve the land and loan for Orange Technology. The site was located in the northeast corner of Xuyuan, covering an area of 60,000 square meters.

Only now did Xu Zhenhui finally realize that when Chen Yansen asked him for a one-billion-yuan interest-free loan, it wasn’t an attempt to fleece him. The construction of Orange Technology’s data center truly required an enormous investment.

Servers, network equipment, storage devices, power supply systems, air conditioning systems—which of these didn’t cost money?

The maintenance costs after construction would be terrifyingly high as well.

The other data center was to be located on the border of Luzhou, right next to Mi Lake. The plan was to adapt to the local conditions and use the lake water for cooling. Deep lake water would flow through a completely sealed pipe system into the data center, cooling the servers and thus saving on operational costs.

However, the server architecture, resource scheduling, storage systems, and database design still needed further optimization. Applying existing technical solutions would be costly and result in low resource utilization.

To that end, Chen Yansen once again began using his [Planck Clock] talent to push forward the development process of the server operating system.

His subordinates were capable, but President Chen found them too slow.

Meanwhile, after the Senlian Star Shining Card was launched on channels like Pinbei, Orange Mall, and Kuai Pao, it received 80 million impressions in a single day. Pre-order numbers soared wildly, and in just thirty hours, 1,673,000 phone cards were sold.

When Kang Yiping and Zhao Maolin heard the news, they were completely stunned.

They had imagined what would happen after the Senlian Star Shining Card went live, but they had never expected that sales would be approaching the two-million mark in less than two days.

”We bet on the right horse!” Zhao Maolin exclaimed, thrilled.

Kang Yiping looked at the excited Zhao Maolin and couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. ’Xiaozhao really is a lucky general.’

But then he reconsidered. ’This guy got where he is by clinging to a powerful backer.’

’Relying on Senlian Capital’s resources, he made it all the way to Luzhou. It’s not impossible that he’ll go even further in the future.’

’It’s not guaranteed that my own position won’t end up going to Zhao Maolin.’

’A Dragon Scale Horse. His luck is just too good. You have to hand it to him.’

Kang Yiping wore a smile, thinking these thoughts to himself.

...

...

「As evening fell, the last of the afterglow faded, and a streak of dark red cloud sank below the horizon.」

A black and white Rolls-Royce slowly drove out of the Science and Technology Park, speeding towards the Xucheng City District.

The employees from Orange Pay’s Market Department had already arrived at the Sky Garden and set up the cameras.

”Are you... still going to be filming?” a young woman asked. She was wearing a black ”office lady” outfit in an attempt to look more mature. She stared at the camera, her expression not very pleasant.

To win this dinner, she had been hounding her parents for money day in and day out. At first, she asked for one or two hundred thousand, but when she saw that the top spot had reached ten million, she started asking for five million, then ten million.

”Ms. Xu, we only need to film for ten minutes. The footage will be used for promotional purposes. Please rest assured, we’ll leave as soon as we’re done.”

The employee from the Market Department promised with a smile.

A person who could pony up over ninety million in liquid funds was clearly no ordinary individual. He was also afraid of offending one of the company’s major clients.

”Oh, that’s acceptable then,” the young woman said, breathing a sigh of relief.

She returned to the private room, sat down, and took out a Yaocheng X1. She then opened Toutiao and started scrolling through Chen Yansen’s feed.

But she had no idea that these accounts were all managed by Ye Qiuping. The photos and captions were also posted by Ye Qiuping; they had absolutely nothing to do with Chen Yansen.

At that moment, Chen Yansen had already arrived downstairs. Xiaoli was half a step behind, following his boss closely.

DING! The elevator doors slid open.

Chen Yansen stepped out and walked toward the private room.

Hearing the noise outside the door, the young woman hurriedly went out to greet him.