Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

11:00 PM, Delta Villa District.

After neatly putting away the items from Chen Yansen’s suitcase, Song Yuncheng turned and went downstairs, only to find he wasn’t in the living room.

She poked her head outside and, sure enough, saw Chen Yansen on the soft lounge chair by the pond. He was clutching a handful of fish food and tossing it into the water as if he were feeding pigs.

Several plump, round koi swarmed over at the sound, fighting to eat.

”How about we turn the fishpond into a pigpen?” Song Yuncheng said teasingly as she slowly walked over.

”Sure. You’ll be the first one I put in there.” Chen Yansen casually tossed the rest of the fish food into the water. A wave of Spiritual Power swept across his palm, whisking away the fine residue.

”But I’m not fat,” Song Yuncheng retorted in a small voice.

”That’s why you need to be sent to the pigpen,” Chen Yansen said with a wicked grin.

”I’ve finished unpacking for you. Everything is back in its place,” Song Yuncheng said, rolling her eyes at him and deliberately changing the subject.

”Go make me a cup of honey water. My throat is parched.”

Chen Yansen fibbed.

He liked watching Song Yuncheng bustle about for him.

”Say thank you.” Seeing President Chen’s completely ungrateful expression, Song Yuncheng boldly made her demand.

Chen Yansen rolled over, turning his back to Song Yuncheng. ”Little Orange, you’re getting bold, aren’t you?” he said lazily. ”Got a brick hidden in your pocket? Who gave you that kind of courage?”

Hearing this, Song Yuncheng’s lips curved up unconsciously as scenes from when they first met flashed through her mind.

Whether it was for the interview at 0418 or when she accompanied Chen Yansen on a business trip to Penguin Headquarters, she had always hidden a brick in her bag for self-defense.

She couldn’t even remember how many times she’d had the urge to smash it over his head.

But every time, just before she could act, she would see that roguish, carefree smile, and her heart would soften.

”I’ll go make it for you. Wait here.” Song Yuncheng’s eyes crinkled into crescents as she smiled brightly, then she got up and ran inside.

He had her wrapped around his little finger.

With Chen Yansen’s shrewdness and verbal skills, even Song Yuncheng, his ”star pupil,” was still firmly in his grasp.

The moon was bright, the stars were few, and the night was deep.

A gentle early summer evening breeze blew, carrying the faint chirping of insects from the distance. Yet in the garden of Villa 108, not a single mosquito or fly could be seen.

Chen Yansen took out his phone and opened Toutiao.

”Sunning announces: Starting June 8th, all physical stores nationwide will match prices with Sunning.com.”

”Ctrip and Elong report sharp declines in net profit; hotel booking growth lags behind Kuai Pao.”

”Penguin enters the short-video race; Weishi is about to launch.”

”LeTV Network launches 10-yuan unlimited data plan in partnership with Yanjing’s Jinglian Unicom to reduce mobile video costs.”

”Ni Cai’s leader, Lu Hongbo, claims Orange Mobile Phones are overpriced; will launch a 599-yuan smartphone in late June with performance comparable to the Qingcheng D2, and has invited Wang Baoqiang to be the brand ambassador.”

’That old bastard is really asking for it!’

Chen Yansen snorted coldly.

He hadn’t even made a move against Ni Cai yet, and they were already trying to ride on Orange Technology’s popularity.

’Since he’s so determined to die, I’ll grant him his wish.’

Chen Yansen mused to himself. ’With Zhang Cong and Zhou Ze’s efficiency, the Qingcheng D2 SE Engineering Version could probably be ready before mid-June. It’ll be perfect for a head-to-head with Ni Cai’s new phone.’

’I’d like to see if Lu Hongbo can still talk tough then.’

Furthermore, the increasing number of targeted data plans and custom SIM cards from internet companies and carriers showed that falling 3G network fees were an inevitable trend. The transition to the mobile internet would accelerate accordingly.

Pinbei’s mobile transaction volume already accounted for over 40% of its total, putting it far ahead of Tmall and Jingdong in the wireless space.

With the addition of mobile applications like Kuai Pao, Fast Taxi, Toutiao, Lingxi Browser, and Douyin, Senlian Capital had firmly established its footing in the mobile era.

At this point, Senlian Capital was like Penguin in the PC era. With over 600 million users and more than 100 million daily active users, it could easily create a blockbuster app.

For example, Xu Jiujiu’s Magic Camera gained 3.25 million new users in a single day and over 10 million in five days.

As of now, its total user count had surpassed 17 million.

Just yesterday, Xu Jiujiu had reported the project’s progress to him on WeChat, saying the overseas version was expected to launch in the North American market on June 13th.

This demonstrated the formidable ability of Senlian Capital to incubate new products.

Before long, Song Yuncheng returned with a glass of lemon honey water, complete with a straw.

”I want to drink the honey water, but I’m too lazy to move. What do you think I should do?” Chen Yansen asked.

Song Yuncheng understood instantly. She silently opened her small mouth, took a sip of the honey water, and then kissed President Chen’s lips.

...

...

「The next morning, at the crack of dawn.」

Chen Yansen put down an academic report on ”Perovskite Solar Cells” and glanced at his watch. 5:47 AM.

For most people, it was an hour to still be deep in sleep.

He, however, had already handled his work emails, reviewed core project data, and finished reading more than a dozen technical books on materials science, energy studies, and thermal management.

For him, every day was twenty-three hours long.

At 8:30 AM, Chen Yansen took a car to the Science and Technology Park. He had just pushed open his office door and sat down when Wang Xueting came over and handed him a list of new hires.

The first name: Yu Xianyang, former supervising engineer at NVIDIA.

Thanks to Wang Xueting’s relentless efforts, she had finally secured him, coaxing him back to the country to join Tiangong Technology.

The rest were mostly algorithm engineers, RF IC designers, and protocol stack developers, primarily responsible for baseband R&D.

Although Qualcomm held about 25% of the patents in the 4G LTE field, making it nearly impossible to circumvent them, this didn’t apply to Chen Yansen.

He had a mature technological workaround and planned to create the baseband chip first.

If Qualcomm and Nokia got upset, he would just tie them up in court for a year or two.

Once Tiangong Technology had its own RF or power-saving patents, he could use cross-licensing to increase his bargaining power and ultimately achieve his goal of developing an in-house baseband.

”When Yu Xianyang checks in, bring him directly to my office,” Chen Yansen said thoughtfully.

After all, he was a future leader in the semiconductor industry and a senior principal engineer from NVIDIA. His potential was immense, making him worth a personal meeting.

”Yes, Boss,” Wang Xueting replied before leaving the office.

Chen Yansen picked up the list and flipped through it. He had spoken with everyone on it, including Yu Xianyang.

Over the past two years, he had poached many foreign and Chinese engineers from Europe and America. Although the local companies had noticed, there was nothing they could do since these individuals had all resigned voluntarily.

’They can’t just ban their own country’s researchers from leaving, can they!’

Besides, the people he poached were all ranked just below the level of chief scientist. Although exceptionally talented, they weren’t important enough to cause a major fallout.

Chen Yansen set the documents aside, opened his computer, and quickly browsed the technical documentation for the Celestial Craft A100.

「Meanwhile.」

Yu Xianyang was driving a Mercedes-Benz sedan worth over 500,000 yuan, heading north along Xuefu Avenue.

Wheat fields flashed past his window.

He never expected that just two months ago he was working for a tech company in the Lighthouse Country, and now he had moved back home from across the ocean.

He had only spoken with Chen Yansen for ten minutes before being convinced.

In a daze, Yu Xianyang felt an indescribable magic in the other man’s words.

After hanging up, he did detailed research on Senlian Capital, Orange Technology, and Tiangong Technology.

The Orange Z1 Instruction Set, Aurora Future OS, and the Orange Mobile Phone all came from this company, whose main businesses were chip design and the production and sale of mobile devices.

It seemed to have strong R&D capabilities, but there was still a significant gap compared to semiconductor companies in Europe and America.

When he told his wife about his plan to switch jobs, she thought he was crazy.

If Yu Xianyang wanted a new job, he could easily try for a position at Qualcomm, Broadcom, or Texas Instruments. Why on earth did he have to return to his home country?

But after some discussion, Yu Xianyang finally managed to calm his wife down and resolutely submitted his resignation letter.

”I remember coming to Xucheng a few times when I was a kid. I can’t believe how much it’s changed in recent years. It’s even become well-known overseas.”

Yu Xianyang muttered to himself.

’Looks like my good-for-nothing, ’ghost fire’ little brother finally did something right for a change.’

He was very satisfied with the salary and benefits at Tiangong Technology. Before he had even officially started, the company had already provided him with a new Mercedes worth over 500,000 yuan and a two-bedroom apartment.

Although his income abroad had been decent, it didn’t come with perks like a company car and housing.

True, he only had the right to use the car, and the apartment had a monthly rent of 1,000 yuan, but compared to his base monthly salary of 52,000 yuan, these expenses were just a drop in the bucket.

Including benefits like housing and transportation subsidies, a meal allowance, quarterly bonuses, and stock options, his annual salary was over 1 million yuan, whereas his previous salary had only been 600,000 yuan.

As he passed Xucheng Academy, Yu Xianyang took a longer look.

’The founder of Senlian Capital is actually a student at a second-tier university. It’s incredible.’

’The internet truly is a place where miracles happen!’

Ten minutes later, Yu Xianyang slowly drove into the Zhuxianzhuang Science and Technology Park, parked his car in the underground garage, and took the elevator to the first floor.

”You must be Yu Xianyang, right? Welcome to Tiangong Technology! Please wait a moment, President Wang from the HR department will be right with you.”

The young receptionist in Building 4 greeted him with a smile.

She had a good memory and recognized him at a glance from when he came to pick up the keys to his car and apartment last Friday.

”Thank you, and sorry for the trouble,” Yu Xianyang replied politely. He could feel how much Tiangong Technology valued him.

A moment later, Wang Xueting hurried over from Building 9.

Although Tiangong Technology had its own separate office building, departments like HR, administration, and logistics shared the same system with Orange Technology, making it almost a semi-independent business unit.

”Mr. Yu.”

”President Wang.”

”Please follow me. The boss wants to see you.” After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Wang Xueting led Yu Xianyang toward Building 9.

「Elsewhere.」

Yanjing, Meituan Headquarters.

Shen Nanpeng of Redwood Capital, Ji Gang of Ali Baba, Zhao Yafei of Sanbao Group, and Meituan’s founder Wang Xin were all gathered together to discuss the sale of Meituan.

”President Zhao, 160 million US dollars is too low,” Wang Xin said with a troubled expression after hearing Zhao Yafei’s offer.

”That’s all Meituan is worth,” Zhao Yafei commented nonchalantly.

”Ali Baba’s bottom line is 180 million US dollars,” said Ji Gang. He and Shen Nanpeng had already conferred; when it came to cashing out, their interests were aligned.

Seeing this, Wang Xin sighed faintly. He understood now. Shen Nanpeng had most likely already settled on a price for Meituan with Zhao Yafei.