Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

The first Super Deals event hit 10.37 million in total sales on its first day!

The second day brought in 5.37 million!

And the third day, 2.48 million!

But on the second day, the second Super Deals event launched simultaneously. The limited-time flash sale items from the first event were moved to the bottom of the product pool, freeing up traffic for the new deals.

The second Super Deals event brought in 8.93 million in sales on its first day!

On its second day, it made 4.92 million!

And on the third day, 3.01 million!

With two consecutive Super Deals events achieving such remarkable results, more and more merchants began proactively seeking them out.

Li Hui and his team on the second floor of the Innovation Park were so busy they were running off their feet. The phones rang nonstop, one call after another.

It was exhausting, but the thought of generous commissions kept everyone’s spirits high.

"Boss Zhang, this is Li Hui from FoxTao. About the commission for the best-seller we discussed, I think 60% would be more suitable. Jiuyang’s last event was at that rate. If you only offer 50%, the category operations team won’t approve it, and won’t we both be wasting our time?"

Li Hui sat at his desk, phone in hand, negotiating with a merchant.

The others were doing the same, busy urging merchants to register, select products, and set commissions. Once submitted and approved by the category team, an editor would import the information into the back-end system.

Everyone was working feverishly. After the launch of Super Deals, they needed over 100 flash sale items from at least 30 different brands every day. That came out to 3,000 flash sale items and nearly 1,000 brands per month.

Furthermore, Chen Yansen had repeatedly stressed the need to expand the product categories and quantity for Super Deals, putting the Investment Attraction team under immense pressure. They had to handle merchants assigned by the category teams—those who proactively registered through the website—as well as make cold calls to potential partners on WangWang.

Officially, it was a six-hour workday, but Li Hui and his colleagues were starting at 8:00 AM and not heading home until 9:30 PM.

A single brand promotion could generate anywhere from 50,000-60,000 to 200,000-300,000 in gross profit. Launching just one meant they would earn at least 2,000 yuan in commission.

’Is there any difference between this and picking up free money?’

Hu Li, Xu Kun, and the other category operators watched with envy, itching to ask Chen Yansen for a transfer to a more lucrative department.

Chen Yansen noticed this and sighed softly. ’Once December is over, I’ll need to do another round of salary adjustments,’ he thought. ’If we stick with the current pay scale, we’re bound to have problems sooner or later.’

He wasn’t worried, though. The four main pillars of the business—the 9.9 Deals, Search Rebates, Mall Rebates, and Super Deals—were bringing in nearly 2 million yuan in daily revenue. After deducting technology and marketing costs, he was still clearing around 1.2 million.

’Salaries are a drop in the bucket.’

’In this world, no company has ever gone bankrupt just from paying its employees well.’

As Chen Yansen was lost in thought, Xu Dan approached with a resume. "Brother Sen, there’s an applicant in the conference room. He’s from Yixun Network. His industry experience isn’t extensive, but he has the necessary merchant contacts. His focus is on the home and general merchandise category."

"Still can’t recruit any Taobao Assistants?"

Chen Yansen asked instinctively.

"Even with a base salary of ten thousand, they’re not interested," Xu Dan said with an awkward, helpless smile.

"Alright. Find some more candidates with similar resumes to this guy," Chen Yansen said with an understanding nod.

’Looks like I oversimplified things,’ he thought. ’These days, e-commerce platform assistants hold the power to approve product listings and have considerable influence over promotional resources.’

’At the manager level, the aggressive ones can rake in tens of millions a year, while their subordinates can still make several hundred thousand. Of course they’d turn their noses up at the peanuts I’m offering.’

’But it doesn’t matter,’ Chen Yansen mused. ’Category assistants may have lower pay and more work, but they get plenty of contact with merchants. That will serve my purpose. I don’t absolutely have to poach a category manager.’

’In any case, I just need to mine their contacts and resources. A lower cost better serves my interests.’

"Okay, Brother Sen. I get it," Xu Dan replied. She set down the resume and turned to leave.

’Yuan Wei, Huake University, Math Department, joined Yixun in ’07...’

Chen Yansen glanced at the resume. The name seemed very familiar. After a moment’s thought, he headed straight for the interview room.

Meanwhile, Yuan Wei sat waiting in the interview room, curiously sizing up the second floor of the Innovation Park.

He had heard that FoxTao’s founder was a college freshman and had dismissed it as media hype. But now, sitting inside Xucheng Academy’s Innovation Park, he was starting to believe it.

’A freshman? Eighteen years old? And he created an e-commerce platform with daily sales in the tens of millions?’

Yuan Wei was secretly astounded. He recalled his own college days, when he’d earn 60 yuan a day from tutoring, and a simple meal of braised pork would make him happy for hours.

’Are all the kids these days this amazing?’

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—

A sharp knock echoed from the door.

Yuan Wei looked up. Through the glass wall, he saw a young man in a black turtleneck holding a file folder. The young man stepped inside.

"Yuan Wei?"

Chen Yansen asked tentatively.

"Hello, sir. My name is Yuan Wei. I graduated from the Math Department at Huake University. I have three years of experience in category operations, specializing in home and general merchandise..."

Yuan Wei launched into his self-introduction out of sheer reflex.

’Heh, the younger Yuan Wei was so nervous during interviews!’

Chen Yansen found it amusing and silently ribbed him.

This was the second former colleague he had encountered since his rebirth. They had once worked at the same company.

Later, Chen Yansen left to start his own business, while Yuan Wei job-hopped through What’s Worth Buying, Meituan, Kaola Haigou, and Taobao International, before eventually landing at Pinduoduo, always working in operations or business management.

Once Chen Yansen’s Feiyu Technology started to take off, he recruited Yuan Wei to be the director of home products, a mid-level management position at the company.

Outside of work, the two could be considered old friends.

When Chen Yansen was just starting in the industry, Yuan Wei had shared plenty of insider gossip with him. It was Yuan Wei who privately told him the story about someone passing off domestically produced latex mattresses as imported ones just to pocket the kickbacks.

"Your last job was in Hu City. Will you be able to adjust to life in Xucheng?"

Chen Yansen asked with a light smile after the self-introduction was over.

"You don’t need to worry, sir. My hometown is in Jing Chu, not Hu City. I believe FoxTao has excellent prospects for growth, which makes it worth relocating for." Yuan Wei looked Chen Yansen straight in the eye, his hands clasped together, his tone sincere.

"When can you start?" Chen Yansen asked.

"Yixun requires a month’s notice, but I have a good relationship with my manager. I’m sure if I talk to him, I can get that down to two weeks."

Yuan Wei’s heart leaped with joy. He rushed to explain, worried the start date might not suit Chen Yansen.

"I’m Chen Yansen, the founder of FoxTao. Welcome aboard."

Chen Yansen abruptly stood and extended his hand, shaking Yuan Wei’s.

This scene felt strangely familiar.

In his previous life, a nearly forty-year-old Yuan Wei, burned out from endless overtime at Pinduoduo, had reached out to him. Moved by their past friendship, Chen Yansen had brought him into Feiyu.

But to be fair, Yuan Wei’s professional skills were top-notch. He’d had a stint at almost every major internet company in the country and had a brilliant knack for the business. A job in FoxTao’s Investment Attraction department would be a walk in the park for him.

"Thank you, President Chen! I’ll go back and put in my notice right away," Yuan Wei promised excitedly.

"HR will discuss the salary with you. I’m confident you’ll be satisfied," Chen Yansen said, patting Yuan Wei’s shoulder before leaving with a smile.

Seeing the life trajectory of someone from his past shift so dramatically, Chen Yansen felt a little strange.

’Whatever!’

Chen Yansen shook his head, pushing the chaotic thoughts aside. ’It’s not like Yuan Wei’s career path was that great in my last life anyway. At his age, he was still crammed into a small two-bedroom apartment with his parents and kids.’

’Working for me, he’ll make several hundred thousand a year, at least!’

’That’s got to be more comfortable than his last life!’

He had just sat back down at his desk when a chat message from Song Yuncheng popped up. He tilted his head. "The registration form for Wine God Network?"

"Yes," Song Yuncheng replied.

"Have Hu Li look it over first. She’s in charge of the food category now."

Chen Yansen didn’t open the form, as it would go against their established workflow.

"Sister Li already reviewed it, but she’s not familiar with the market for Moutai, so she wanted you to take a look."

Song Yuncheng understood Chen Yansen’s point and quickly explained.

"They have Moutai?"

Chen Yansen’s interest was piqued. He opened the Excel spreadsheet. The limited-time flash sale items were specially marked with red text on a yellow background, making them stand out.

The first item was 53-degree Feitian Moutai. The sale price was 1,499 yuan with a 40% commission. That meant Wine God Network’s base price was around 900 yuan, 199 yuan lower than the official retail price.

’Compared to the secondary market, the profit margin is pretty substantial!’

Chen Yansen switched tabs and checked the prices offered by several resellers on second-hand platforms. The going rate for that year’s 53-degree Feitian Moutai from scalpers was between 1,500 and 1,600 yuan.

"Too bad they only have 200 units in stock. The traffic-driving effect will be limited," Chen Yansen muttered. He then looked at Song Yuncheng. "Talk to them. Tell them to add another 800 units. We’ll also raise the commission rate on their regular products from 20% to 40%, and we can throw in a resource package worth 500,000 yuan."

"I’ll give it a try." Without another question, Song Yuncheng nodded, grabbed his phone, and stepped out to make the call.

Chen Yansen continued scrolling down the list.

43-degree Fenjiu Laobaigan, selling for 89 yuan with a 50% commission.

A two-bottle pack of dry red wine from Chateau Lafite, France, priced at 99 yuan with a 70% commission.

A single bottle of dry red wine from Barton Manor, Australia, priced at 39 yuan with an 80% commission.

Including the Moutai, there were 12 limited-time flash sale items in total. They would feature four per day, guaranteeing three consecutive days of homepage exposure.

’Wine God Network probably has the same idea as Banggou,’ he thought. ’Instead of spending a fortune on advertising, why not pour that money into a partnership with FoxTao? If the ROI is good, they might even turn a huge profit.’

Song Yuncheng returned shortly. "They agreed," he said quietly. "They asked me to send over a description of the resource package."

"Just modify the Meiters proposal, make sure the value adds up to 500,000, and send that over," Chen Yansen instructed.

"Okay, I understand," Song Yuncheng replied.

Chen Yansen stretched, his gaze sweeping across the second floor of the Innovation Park. Over seventy people now filled six of the startup offices. Of the two remaining rooms, one was a sample room that doubled as a conference and interview room.

FoxTao was now using half of the entire second floor.

Chen Xu and Zhang Yifeng had also returned from their business trip to Meiters. After a chat with Chen Yansen, Chen Xu decided to stay with the category operations team, while Zhang Yifeng transferred to Investment Attraction.

’At the current growth rate of Super Deals, payroll for the Investment Attraction team alone will exceed one million yuan next month,’ Chen Yansen thought. ’I’m actually looking forward to it.’

’One million yuan is 100 points of Human Dao Fire. That can raise my physique from 1.67 to 2.67, a value that’s infinitely close to the human limit!’