Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

When the courier got a clear look at Chen Yansen’s face, he hurriedly jogged over and asked in shock, ”Boss, what are you doing here?”

He craned his neck to look but didn’t see the Yanjing Branch’s supervisor, director, or general manager behind Chen Yansen.

”Am I not welcome?” Chen Yansen teased.

”No, no, no! Boss, please, come in! I’ll go get the station manager. He’s... using the restroom,” the courier said with a silly grin.

”No need,” Chen Yansen said, waving his hand.

The other seven or eight couriers heard the commotion and froze the moment they looked up.

”Then, Boss, please have a seat.” Though nervous, the young courier kept his wits about him, hurrying to grab a chair and wiping it with his sleeve.

Chen Yansen didn’t stand on ceremony and plopped right down. He asked casually, ”What’s your name, brother?”

’The boss called me brother?’

Li Jie was slightly taken aback, his expression full of excitement. He unconsciously scratched his head and said with a wide grin, ”Boss, my name is Li Jie, but my coworkers usually call me Big Head.”

”Well, it really isn’t small,” Chen Yansen agreed.

The couriers nearby burst out laughing, winking and giving Li Jie playful looks.

”What about the rest of you?” Chen Yansen asked.

”Boss, I’m Liu Jia.”

”Boss, I’m Wu Jing. I’m twenty-four.”

...

Chen Yansen smiled and greeted each of them in turn. ”Call me Brother Sen. Always calling me ’Boss’ sounds so formal.”

”Brother Sen!” The men looked at each other, and then a chorus of greetings rang out in unison.

”I see you all get takeout for lunch?” Chen Yansen asked.

”By the time we get off work, it’s already eight or nine o’clock. There’s no time to cook,” Wu Jing was the first to answer.

”Doesn’t Xie Nan cook for you?” Chen Yansen joked.

”HAHAHA...” The other couriers were stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter.

”Brother Sen, same name, different fate. She’s a huge star, and I can’t even afford a house. Who would want to marry me?” Wu Jing said with an awkward smile, spreading his hands.

”Keep up the good work, and you’ll get there,” Chen Yansen encouraged him.

After the New Year, the base salary for Cloud Speed Couriers had increased from 3,000 to 3,200 yuan, and top performers could even earn 4,000.

With housing subsidies and quarterly bonuses, their monthly income was over 1,000 yuan higher than before.

Currently, the average pre-tax salary for a front-line Cloud Speed courier was around 8,000 yuan, and it wasn’t rare for top performers to earn twenty to thirty thousand a month.

From the descriptions provided by Li Jie, Liu Jia, Wu Jing, and the others, Chen Yansen gained a clearer understanding of their daily lives.

Their work started at seven every morning: unloading cargo, sorting packages, making deliveries, and picking up new ones. They had to climb flights of stairs and face all kinds of harsh weather, delivering an average of 150 to 200 packages a day.

Mealtimes were a chaotic rush.

In some ways, their work was even harder than that of the assembly line workers at the Orange Phone Factory.

Chen Yansen listened thoughtfully, making a mental note of it all.

Next, he toured Kuai Pao Maicai’s front-line warehouses and the Kuai Pao Rider stations, where he noticed some managerial shortcomings.

He didn’t point them out on the spot, planning to have Pei Yi and Liao Wei follow up on them later.

It wasn’t until six in the evening that he and Song Yuncheng walked into a private room at a barbecue restaurant.

The room was over thirty square meters, equipped with an LED screen and a karaoke machine. The owner had combined KTV with barbecue.

A dozen years later, this model would be a dime a dozen, but in 2013 it was exceptionally novel.

The main hall on the first floor was packed, and the private rooms on the second floor were mostly full of customers as well.

”Brother Sen, long time no see! I missed you like crazy!” Wang Zihao, wearing a white dress shirt and the Rolex Explorer on his wrist, looked ready to lunge in for a hug the moment he saw Chen Yansen.

Chen Yansen frowned in mock disgust, holding up a single finger to stop Wang Zihao. ”I appreciate the sentiment, but it’s the middle of summer. I’m not a fan of the heat.”

”The AC is on in here,” Wang Zihao said, pointing to the vent overhead.

Chen Yansen rolled his eyes at him and plopped down, saying to Song Yuncheng, ”Brother Hao’s treating, so order the expensive stuff. Don’t go easy on his wallet.”

”Hello, Senior Sister Song,” Wang Zihao greeted politely.

He had wanted to call her sister-in-law, but on second thought, he remembered Meng Jie. So, thinking fast, he stuck with the old form of address.

”Zihao... you’ve certainly... filled out,” Song Yuncheng said softly, sitting down next to Chen Yansen after choosing her words carefully.

”It can’t be helped. My whole day is either meetings or dealing with suppliers. The business world up north is completely different from the south. More than half of all deals are closed over drinks at the dinner table,” Wang Zihao said with a shrug.

Though he was only twenty-one, dressed in a shirt, trousers, and leather shoes, he looked like a man of twenty-seven or twenty-eight. With his hair cut short and neat, all traces of boyishness were gone from his face.

His physique was trending toward that of Cao Dahua!

”You should find some time to lose weight. Anyone who didn’t know better would think you and Cao Dahua are brothers,” Chen Yansen jabbed.

He paused for a moment before adding, ”Hasn’t Uncle Wang said anything to you?”

”My dad has, but I just don’t have the time,” Wang Zihao said, his face a mask of misery.

”You need to work efficiently and maintain a proper work-life balance,” Chen Yansen retorted. ”If you’re working overtime every day, who on your team is going to dare leave on time?”

Seeing his serious expression, Wang Zihao mulled it over for more than ten seconds before nodding obediently. ”Brother Sen, I understand.”

”Yanjing is the heart of the North China Market, but it’s not everything. Don’t get bogged down. Expand into the surrounding areas as quickly as possible and win with your scale advantage,” Chen Yansen advised in a calm, unhurried tone.

”DiDi Bike and Little Yellow Bike can’t compare to OFO Bike in terms of positioning, user experience, or deposit policy. Winning won’t be hard; it’ll just take some time,” Wang Zihao guaranteed, full of confidence.

Chen Yansen looked at Wang Zihao and thought to himself, ’Zihao really has changed a lot.’

Meanwhile, Song Yuncheng took the digital menu and began ordering up a storm. It wasn’t that she really wanted to fleece Wang Zihao, but she knew Chen Yansen had a massive appetite.

After chatting about work for a few minutes, Chen Yansen and Wang Zihao tacitly shifted the conversation to school, Chunshen, and Wang Ziyan’s college entrance exams.

”Ziyan wants to go to Luzhou Science and Technology University,” Wang Zihao said.

’Ziyan? That name sounds familiar.’

Hearing this, Song Yuncheng couldn’t help but perk up her ears.

”Ziyan is Zihao’s younger sister,” Chen Yansen explained casually, seeing her curiosity.

’Wang Ziyan? That was the name Chen Yansen had mumbled in his sleep. And she was Wang Zihao’s actual sister!’

”The three of us have known each other since we were kids. Ziyan is like a real little sister to Brother Sen,” Wang Zihao said, taking a sip from his glass.

”You all must be very close, then,” Song Yuncheng said.

She had thought Chen Yansen was some kind of creep, but hearing Wang Zihao’s explanation instantly cleared up her suspicions.

”Actually, Hu City Jiaoda would be a better fit for Ziyan. Or Harvard. I can help her get a letter of recommendation.”

’All Chen Yansen wanted was to kick Wang Ziyan thousands of miles away—the farther, the better.’

”My mom thinks Ke University is best since it’s close to home. We can buy grandpa an SUV, and then he can drive to Luzhou to see Ziyan whenever he’s free,” Wang Zihao said.

’The whole family is on board with this?’

Chen Yansen sighed, feeling helpless. If it were up to him, he would ship Wang Ziyan off to the Arctic.

”Your sister’s grades are that good?” Song Yuncheng pressed.

”Yep. For her, getting into a top school like Qingbei Science and Technology University is an option. For me, it was out of the question,” Wang Zihao replied smugly.

”Amazing how different two kids from the same mom can be,” Chen Yansen remarked.

”...” The smile on Wang Zihao’s face froze.

Song Yuncheng pursed her lips into a faint smile. She picked up a beer bottle and filled Chen Yansen’s glass, her eyes reflecting a miniature version of him.

Wang Zihao watched this scene with extreme envy.

The trio ate and drank from dusk until late into the night, finally calling it a day at half past eleven.

「Half an hour later.」

The compiled first-day sales data for the Hongmi 1 was sent to Lei Yijun’s phone.

A total of 476,000 units sold!

Compared to the 1.37 million units the Qingcheng D2 sold on its first day, the Hongmi 1’s numbers were clearly lower. However, it still easily crushed a host of rival companies, outselling the 360 F1 by 332,000 units!

Lei Yijun didn’t hesitate. He posted the ”battle report” and tagged Zhou Hongyi: ”Sect Leader Zhou, still want to compare?”

For the first time, Xiaomi had utterly crushed 360 in terms of sales.