Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

57,000 units?

At 11 AM on May 29th, the first-hour sales figures for the Redmi 1 were released, quickly becoming a top story on major news portals.

In terms of market performance, the Redmi phone far surpassed the 360 F1.

After all, the 360 F1’s first-day sales were only 144,000 units. At the Redmi 1’s sales pace, it could easily crush the 360 F1 in less than three hours.

”No wonder President Lei didn’t respond the other day. Turns out he was preparing a big move!”

”@President Zhou Hongyi, I know you’re watching. Still want to compete with Xiaomi on sales numbers?”

”Zhou Daqiang playing dead? Come out and say something!”

”To be fair, President Zhou has contributed to the mobile phone industry. The specs and price of the 360 F1 are great, too. Could we even afford smartphones before him?”

”Bullshit! The 360 Mobile Phone’s system and supply chain all rely on Orange Technology. The person who truly pushed smartphones to low prices is Chen Yansen.”

”Isn’t it because economies of scale lowered material costs?”

”Then let me ask you, before the Orange Mobile Phone came out, could you spend a thousand yuan to buy a smartphone with a 5-inch touchscreen, 1GB of RAM plus 4GB of storage, and an 8-megapixel camera?”

”Any other phone manufacturer would’ve dared to sell it to you for 2,000 yuan—sincerely, a sucker who bought a Sony ST25i.”

Zhou Hongyi’s face darkened as he glanced at the comments section.

He couldn’t figure it out. The 360 F1 had a 13-megapixel rear camera, plus Orange Technology’s camera algorithm, and was only 100 yuan more expensive than the Redmi 1, yet the sales difference was night and day.

But he couldn’t lower the price, either. The costs for the 360 F1’s materials, production, sales, and after-sales service were what they were. If he dropped the price to 799 yuan, 360 would lose money.

After a moment of thought, Zhou Hongyi immediately called for the head of 360 Mobile Phone to begin developing a 699 or even 599 yuan budget model.

「Meanwhile.」

Chen Yansen was lying on the sofa in their hotel suite, his head resting on Song Yuncheng’s lap. He would occasionally open his mouth to catch a plump, round grape. With each bite, the tender fruit would burst with juice.

”President Zhang invited you to go sea fishing, but you didn’t go. He invited you to a party at his villa, and you didn’t go to that either. What are you planning, Boss Chen?”

Song Yuncheng cradled Chen Yansen’s head, caressing his cheek with her right hand as she asked softly.

”Guess,” Chen Yansen said, opening his mouth.

Seeing this, Song Yuncheng picked a grape from the fruit bowl on the coffee table and tossed it into President Chen’s mouth. Then she shook her head and said, ”I can’t guess.”

”Give me a kiss, and I’ll tell you,” Chen Yansen said with a mischievous grin.

Hearing those familiar words, Song Yuncheng was momentarily lost in a daze as the scene of their second meeting surfaced in her mind.

Forget about dinner. A kiss will do.

Back then, Chen Yansen’s smile had been brilliant, his eyes half-closed, a teasing smirk playing on his lips.

”Mwah!”

Song Yuncheng lowered her head and gave President Chen a light peck on the lips, her gaze gentle as she looked at Chen Yansen.

”I was just kidding! You actually did it? Harassing your boss... that’s a five-hundred-yuan fine!”

”...” Song Yuncheng gave a helpless smile. ’You’re such a dog,’ she thought.

”Come take a walk with me.”

Chen Yansen rolled over and got up, walked to the mirror, and straightened his messy shirt.

Song Yuncheng nodded without asking where they were going.

The two took the elevator down to the underground parking garage. Having received a message from his boss, Huang Boxiang was already waiting in the driver’s seat of the Maybach 62S.

As soon as he saw Chen Yansen and Song Yuncheng approaching, he quickly drove the car over and opened the door for his boss.

”Go to 113 Zhuangdong Road, San Yuan Bridge,” Chen Yansen said after getting in the car.

Song Yuncheng took out her phone, opened Gaode Map, and was filled with doubt after entering the destination.

”This is a Cloud Speed Express hub. Next to it, there’s a Kuai Pao rest station and a Kuai Pao Maicai front-end warehouse,” Chen Yansen noticed her subtle movements and explained with a smile.

”You want to see what things are really like at the front-line hubs?” Song Yuncheng asked instinctively.

”The business and financial reports are all just numbers,” Chen Yansen said in a flat tone. ”They’re too general, and too cold.”

Song Yuncheng hummed in acknowledgment, understanding the subtext in his words.

It was just like her work with merchants. Only by visiting them in person could she better understand their capabilities, production capacity, and sales needs. This allowed her to draft superior marketing plans.

Gripping the steering wheel, Huang Boxiang sped toward 113 Zhuangdong Road.

A Mercedes MPV immediately followed, tailing them from a distance.

In 2013, Yanjing was filled with skyscrapers, its economy was booming, and traffic flowed endlessly. People on shared bikes occasionally passed by on the streets.

The uniforms of the Kuai Pao Deliverymen and Cloud Speed Couriers were striking. Everyone seemed busy, rushing about their day.

”Zihao is in Yanjing,” Song Yuncheng reminded him.

Chen Yansen knew that, of course. He leaned back in his seat and said, ”We’ll find him later.”

Although the OFO bike project wasn’t large-scale, it combined both online and offline operations, making it perfect for honing a person’s skills.

He had sent Wang Zihao off to Hang City and then dispatched him to Yanjing not because his best friend was an eyesore, but to use the opportunity to temper his character and abilities.

A short while later, the Maybach stopped at the entrance of a hutong.

After getting out of the car, Chen Yansen and Song Yuncheng walked straight down the alley.

Two security guards followed closely behind them.

After walking just a few dozen meters, they saw a sign for ’Cloud Speed Express.’ They had clearly arrived at the express hub.

It was just past twelve-thirty, a relatively quiet time for the couriers.

Chen Yansen stood outside the entrance and looked in.

Couriers were gathered in twos and threes, holding lunch boxes or takeout containers and wolfing down their food.

Seeing a few people standing at the entrance, a curious Cloud Speed Courier called out, ”Hello, can I help you?”

Chen Yansen stepped inside and asked casually, ”Having lunch?”