Chapter 66 - 65: Brother Bin, Our Nephew Is in the Newspaper
The second floor of the Innovation Park was bright as day and buzzing with excitement.
The conference screen from Room 206 had been pushed into the center of the hallway. Right now, the entire FoxTao team, along with Tang Qingshan, several deans, and Cao Dahua, were gathered around it.
Only ten minutes remained until midnight. Chen Yansen hadn’t expected FoxTao’s first time participating in a major e-commerce platform promotion would cause such a stir.
He had planned to go back and rest early, but Tang Qingshan and the deans wouldn’t hear of it. They insisted on staying up with everyone until the clock struck twelve to witness the final Singles’ Day numbers firsthand.
"Class President, the hotel is booked. After we clock out, we can go check in directly," Xu Xingxing said softly, squeezing through the crowd to get to Chen Yansen’s ear.
"Make an announcement in the project group chat," Chen Yansen instructed with a slight nod.
The dorms locked up at ten. Of course, with Tang Qingshan and the deans present, they could get back into their rooms anytime. The issue wasn’t getting back, but showering—he couldn’t have everyone take a cold shower, could he?
So, Chen Yansen had told Xu Xingxing in advance to book over twenty rooms, ensuring everyone would have a comfortable place to rest.
Xu Xingxing agreed and pulled out her phone to type the message.
"Total orders: 297,000!"
"Total sales: 18.69 million!"
As the clock struck midnight, the second floor erupted in cheers.
Everyone’s faces were alight with excitement. The staggering sales figures were far beyond their wildest imaginations, and they all felt a deep sense of pride for having been a part of it.
"Chen Yansen, excellent work! In next year’s collegiate entrepreneurship competition, if you take second place, no one would dare claim first," Tang Qingshan praised with a wide grin, patting Chen Yansen’s shoulder.
"It’s all thanks to your support and mentorship, President Tang. FoxTao will continue to strive for excellence and bring honor to Xucheng Academy..." Chen Yansen responded with practiced ease. His few short sentences were perfectly tailored to please Tang Qingshan, leaving him extremely satisfied.
After seeing Tang Qingshan and the others out the door, Chen Yansen returned to the second floor. He saw everyone staring at him in unison, their faces full of anticipation. ’He knew if he didn’t say something, this bunch of rookies wouldn’t be able to sleep.’
"Hu Yun, what’s our gross profit margin?"
Chen Yansen asked after a moment’s thought.
"Brother Sen, the gross margin is 3.9%. Our gross profit for yesterday was 729,000!" Hu Yun answered immediately.
"It’s getting late, so I’ll be brief. You all have the morning off tomorrow. Also, at the end of the month, I’ll be putting up 200,000 as this month’s bonus. Our next goal: 100,000 orders a day, and break 100 million in monthly sales. The month we achieve that, the bonus doubles!"
Chen Yansen stood with his arms crossed, dropping the statement nonchalantly. But it landed like a bombshell, and the crowd erupted in another cheer.
"SHH!"
Chen Yansen made a hushing gesture, then waved his hand, signaling for everyone to shut down their computers and head to the hotel for the night.
"Brother Sen, are you going back to the dorm or to the hotel? I asked Wenbo, Pengfei, Zhuang Rui, and Xu Xingxing to get some barbecue, want to come?" Wang Zihao asked, walking over with a grin.
"Nah, you guys go ahead." Chen Yansen glanced at his watch. It was already 12:30 AM. ’Go eat barbecue with a bunch of fools? I’m not interested.’
"Aw, c’mon. I already promised them you’d come. Do a brother a favor, give me some face," Wang Zihao pleaded, lowering his voice ingratiatingly.
"Unless you call me Dad!" Chen Yansen said with a completely straight face.
"Dad!" After a brief hesitation, Wang Zihao shamelessly cried out. From the look on his face, if Chen Yansen wasn’t satisfied, he was prepared to shout it with even more feeling.
"You shameless bastard, I really don’t know what to do with you!" Chen Yansen was taken aback, half-furious and half-amused.
’In this life, under his deliberate tutelage, Wang Zihao had already developed the beginnings of a thick-skinned rogue’s character. If he ever ran into a toxic girl again, he probably wouldn’t be so spineless as to try jumping off a building.’
As the lights of the Innovation Park went out, a large crowd of people headed off campus.
Cao Dahua had already given the gatekeeper a heads-up, so he didn’t ask any questions or try to stop them, simply opening the gate.
DRING DRING—
At the barbecue stall, Chen Yansen had just sat down when the phone in his pocket rang. The caller ID showed an unknown number.
’Who could this be?’
’Calling me in the middle of the night?’
Chen Yansen pondered for a few seconds, then pressed the answer button. "Who is this?"
"Mr. Chen, I’m with the Ali Alliance. On behalf of the corporation, I’d first like to thank FoxTao for its support during the Singles’ Day event. Are you available on November 16th? We’d like to invite you to Ah Li’s channel recognition conference."
On the other end of the line was a young voice that got straight to the point after a brief pleasantry.
’A channel recognition conference?’
Chen Yansen narrowed his eyes. As his mind raced, he instantly understood their intentions. ’For someone ambitious, this kind of industry networking event was a golden opportunity to expand one’s resources and connections.’ Without a second thought, he accepted.
"Brother Sen, who was that? Come on, let’s drink!" Wang Zihao yelled.
Chen Yansen put down his phone, returned to his seat, took a bite of a meat skewer, and lightly clinked glasses with the others.
’The Zhang Wenbo, Xiang Pengfei, Zhuang Rui, and Xu Xingxing in front of him were a far cry from his founding team in his past life, both in work experience and social savvy. But their enthusiasm and resilience were a pleasant surprise.’
"Brother Sen, I’ll have the requirements document for the merchant CRM management system for you tomorrow," Zhuang Rui said, downing the beer in his cup.
"We guarantee it’ll be online before the end of the month," Zhang Wenbo and Xiang Pengfei chimed in.
"Enough work talk. Let’s talk about girls. Wenbo, all four years of college and not a single girlfriend?"
Chen Yansen waved his hand, indicating he didn’t want to talk about work as he deliberately changed the subject.
He was only a freshman, but he carried himself with the aura of an upperclassman.
"Brother Sen, stop teasing me. Pengfei is the one with experience in that department." Zhang Wenbo’s face turned red as he pushed the nearby Xiang Pengfei forward.
"Look at you. Ten to one you’re a total virgin. There are plenty of girls in college. You should play the field while you’re young, otherwise how will you ever know what type of girl is right for you?"
Chen Yansen smiled faintly, teasing him with a playful look in his eyes.
"Brother Sen, anyone can tell you’re a veteran player. How about you share some of your wisdom?" Zhuang Rui asked, raising his glass with a chuckle.
"It’s pretty much like writing a requirements document. Talk to a few more, and you’ll naturally get the experience," Chen Yansen replied casually.
’What experience could he have?’
’Relying on his tall and handsome looks, combined with his status as a ’Wang the Fifth’ entrepreneur in the Shanghai social circle, there was no shortage of young women throwing themselves at him. He’d tried them all, the good and the bad.’
’In the end, he found that the bad girls were the most fun!’
Xu Xingxing gazed at Chen Yansen, taking small sips of her beer. ’Maybe it’s more fun when boys are a little bit of a player,’ she thought. ’A guy like Chen Yansen, talented and just a little bit of a scoundrel when it comes to relationships, was incredibly attractive to her.’
As for the fact that he already had a girlfriend, she had long since chosen to ignore it.
An hour later, Chen Yansen called an end to the drinking, and the group staggered towards the hotel.
...
...
The next day, Chen Yansen slept until 10:30. When he got to the hotel lobby, he saw Xu Xingxing handling the checkout.
"Class President, you stay in a hotel and still double-lock your door at night?" Xu Xingxing asked in a low, reproachful voice as she turned and saw him.
"What else? A guy has to protect himself when he’s out and about. But how did you know I double-locked the door?"
Chen Yansen answered instinctively before following up with the question.
"I guessed!" Xu Xingxing’s expression changed slightly as she hastily made an excuse.
"You weren’t planning on doing something to me last night, were you?" Chen Yansen asked with a wicked grin. "You should have said so earlier, I wouldn’t have locked it."
"Of course not! Class President, I can’t talk to you anymore, I have to get back to the dorm," Xu Xingxing said before hurrying away.
Chen Yansen didn’t give it much thought. He handed his room key to the front desk, ate a bowl of shredded chicken with rice porridge at a stall near the entrance, and then slowly made his way back to Room 0418.
At that moment, news about Taobao’s Singles’ Day sales figures was blanketing the three major web portals.
One billion in single-day sales!
This number might not be worth mentioning more than a decade later, but in 2010, it stunned the four hundred million netizens. None of them had expected e-commerce to have developed to such an extent!
Among these news reports, one could occasionally spot a story about FoxTao. As the leader in China’s shopping guide e-commerce, it had contributed 20 million in sales the previous day. This achievement was jaw-dropping.
The major news sites truly erupted when they learned that the founder of FoxTao was merely an eighteen-year-old college freshman.
That afternoon, even the Youth Daily published the story of Chen Yansen and FoxTao’s entrepreneurial journey.
An eighteen-year-old male college student, a ten-million-level venture capital investment from Penguin, growing from zero to millions of users in two months, and reaping 20 million in sales on Singles’ Day—this combination of information quickly pushed Chen Yansen into the trending topics.
In those days, Cheng Ou of "I speak for myself" fame had not yet appeared. Chen Yansen’s inspirational story was far more compelling, and for a time, he became the media’s darling.
Because of Chen Yansen, college students all over the country became more and more receptive to the shopping guide e-commerce model and FoxTao. In mid-November, users who had previously registered but never placed an order were now completing their first-ever cashback purchase.
For a whole afternoon, Chen Yansen sat in his seat as his phone rang off the hook. One moment it was a reporter from the Huian Daily asking for an exclusive interview, the next it was the editor-in-chief of the Huian Youth Daily inviting him to be on the cover. Even the Huian Economic Channel called, asking him to appear on a talk show.
Chen Yansen wasn’t one to be coy. This positive promotion from print and television media was a wave of free traffic for FoxTao. He didn’t hesitate and agreed to all of them.
More than a decade later, even some top business tycoons would follow the trend and start using Douyin for hype and traffic.
Therefore, he felt no qualms about it.
Chen Yansen first accepted the reporter’s interview, then did a cover photoshoot. He scheduled the talk show for the economic channel for late November, as he had already promised Ah Li to go to Hang City on the 16th for the channel recognition conference.
A few hundred miles away, in Chunshen Town, at the National Guest Bookstore.
"Brother Bin, our nephew is in the paper! Come take a look!" The owner of the photo studio next door walked in, holding a newspaper.
On the cover of the Huian Youth Daily was a half-body photo of Chen Yansen. He was wearing a black shirt, with three-quarters of his face showing, and a roguish, devil-may-care smirk on his lips.
On the strength of Chen Yansen’s face alone, this issue of the Huian Youth Daily sold an extra six thousand copies.
’Founder of FoxTao?’
’A business genius earning tens of millions a year?’
Chen Guobin took the newspaper, a look of utter confusion on his face. ’Are they talking about my son?’