Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

At 10:30 AM, as Chen Yansen was walking toward the Innovation Park, he received a second call from Zhang Jiancheng.

"President Zhang, to be frank, FoxTao isn’t short on cash right now," Chen Yansen said, cutting him off before he could speak.

"President Chen, I know that since Super Rebate’s launch, you’re holding security deposits from merchants and B2C platforms, plus you have a daily gross profit of over a million. Your funds are more than sufficient.

But Siwei Capital has been involved in e-commerce since 2004. We have extensive B2C and supply chain resources and can help accelerate FoxTao’s growth."

Zhang Jiancheng remained unfazed and continued his pitch.

"FoxTao currently has 1.5 million daily active users, with stable daily sales of 20 million. What kind of valuation can Siwei offer?" Chen Yansen asked, casually inflating the figures by over 50%.

"President Chen, based on the average P/E ratio in the e-commerce industry this year, Siwei can offer a valuation of 400 million. And considering FoxTao’s leading position in the shopping guide e-commerce space, I can add another 100 million."

Zhang Jiancheng replied slowly after some consideration.

"Sorry, I’m not satisfied with that number," Chen Yansen said, rejecting him flatly. He then brought up Penguin, saying, "Penguin is FoxTao’s angel investor. They have preemptive rights, so I’m obligated to notify them before initiating a Series A funding round."

"President Chen, we can meet to discuss the details. The valuation is negotiable. As long as the valuation model is reasonable, Siwei is willing to accept it," Zhang Jiancheng said, frowning, refusing to give up.

But Chen Yansen had no desire to raise funds so early, so he gave a few noncommittal replies and hung up.

Zhang Jiancheng was stunned by the repeated rejections. He couldn’t believe an eighteen-year-old college freshman was so difficult to deal with.

His plan had been to strike while other VCs were still on the sidelines, "dazzling" Chen Yansen with a 500 million valuation to coax him into signing the financing agreement. He never imagined the other party wouldn’t take the bait.

Chen Yansen walked into Room 206 and waved Wang Zihao over. When he was close, Chen Yansen instructed, "Find a few top e-commerce influencers and leak a piece of news. Just say Siwei Capital wants to invest in FoxTao with a 500 million valuation."

"For real?" Wang Zihao asked, taken aback.

"It’s true, but I turned them down. 500 million is too low," Chen Yansen replied truthfully.

Although leaking an investor’s interest was unethical and likely to provoke a backlash from Siwei Capital, Chen Yansen had no such scruples and was naturally unafraid.

Siwei Capital wanted to buy equity on the cheap, and Chen Yansen wanted to sell at a high price. There was no right or wrong, only a clash of interests.

"Holy shit! You’re the man!" Wang Zihao gave him a thumbs-up, his face a mask of pure shock.

Back at his desk, he immediately went through an intermediary to contact two major influencers, "Tusi Talks E-commerce" and "21st Century E-commerce Circle." One had 4.6 million followers, the other 3.2 million. Their rates were low; combined, the cost was less than 8,000 yuan.

In those days, influencers’ ability to monetize their traffic was nothing compared to what it would be a decade later.

At 3:00 PM that day, "Tusi Talks E-commerce" published the news about Siwei Capital’s talks with FoxTao.

The combination of "500 million valuation" and "eighteen-year-old business prodigy" predictably shot to the top of the trending topics.

Some argued that a 500 million valuation was outrageous for FoxTao, which had been founded less than four months prior.

But others in the comments section quickly explained that, using valuation methods like P/E ratio or PEG ratio (which combines P/E with earnings growth), and considering FoxTao’s daily active users, order volume, and sales data, its valuation could reach 800 million to 1 billion.

A portion of netizens, however, believed it was just a publicity stunt by FoxTao to inflate its own value.

Half an hour later, "21st Century E-commerce Circle" reposted the Weibo post from "Tusi Talks E-commerce," further corroborating the news.

Zhang Jiancheng was in the middle of reporting his progress to his boss when he heard the news. He let out a cold laugh; he hadn’t expected Chen Yansen’s tactics to be so sophisticated.

When faced with media inquiries, Zhang Jiancheng couldn’t outright deny the story, so he gave an ambiguous response: "Shopping guide e-commerce, as a niche sector in the industry, has been endowed with a brand-new profit model by FoxTao."

As for the truth of the 500 million valuation or whether Siwei Capital had even contacted FoxTao, he didn’t say a word.

Before the end of the workday, Chen Yansen received a call from Qiming Capital. They opened with an offer of a 600 million valuation in exchange for 20% equity.

Chen Yansen remained noncommittal, planning to let the buzz build for a few more days.

The next day, Lin Chenfeng from the Penguin Venture Capital Department called specifically to ask about it.

After getting the full picture, he chuckled and added a reminder, "This project was hand-picked by Mr. Ma himself. The venture capital department will definitely make a follow-on investment."

Chen Yansen just smiled faintly and replied, "You’re welcome to visit FoxTao for an on-site inspection. Only then can you get a clearer understanding of our current value."

As news of the potential financing continued to spread, more and more venture capital firms began to notice FoxTao, the fast-growing shopping guide e-commerce platform.

On December 17, the first venture capital firm to set foot in the Innovation Park was Today Capital. Their party of seven included the investment project manager, industry analysts, and personnel from their legal, finance, and technical departments.

Chen Yansen had them spend the day on the second floor of the Innovation Park, with Song Yuncheng responsible for hosting them and presenting the company’s various optimized data points.

The next day, photos of the Today Capital team at Xucheng Academy were posted online. This time, it wasn’t Chen Yansen’s doing, but the work of a few college students hoping to gain followers and chase clout.

The venture capital firms that had been watching from the sidelines could no longer sit still, and they all started calling to request on-site visits.

Throughout mid-December, aside from closely monitoring the daily operations of Super Rebate, Chen Yansen spent the rest of his time dealing with venture capitalists.

Fortunately, his strategy was effective. The valuations from the various firms kept increasing; nothing creates pressure like competition.

Even Siwei Capital, which had initially only been willing to offer 500 million, eventually raised its offer to 750 million!

"Brother Sen, what are you thinking? DCM’s offer is the highest right now. Even if we only sell 10% of the equity, we’d get 140 million in funding. We could increase our marketing budget tenfold."

Wang Zihao asked, pulling a chair over to sit in front of Chen Yansen.

"Still too low! These sons-of-bitch VCs keep harping on how Super Rebate has only been online for a short time, the risk of policy changes, and unstable gross profits. Based on a daily net profit of one million, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for me to demand a valuation of three billion."

Chen Yansen shot Wang Zihao a disdainful look as he spoke.

’If the VCs think FoxTao’s daily gross profit is unstable, then they can just wait. He’s in no hurry, anyway.’

"Three billion?"

Wang Zihao gulped and looked around the office. ’This project, with less than eighty people, is worth three billion?’

He had been attending Liu Muyan’s finance classes recently. Although he hadn’t learned about company valuation methods, he knew that three billion was an astronomical figure that VCs would find very difficult to accept.

"The worst that can happen is we grow a little slower. If I don’t get the valuation I expect, I won’t sell to anyone, I don’t care who they are," Chen Yansen said with a chuckle.

Wang Zihao said nothing. He didn’t ask what Chen Yansen’s bottom line was, feeling that even if he did, Chen Yansen wouldn’t give him a straight answer.

Ever since his best friend filled out his college application preferences, he’d been like a completely different person—deep and calculating. Wang Zihao couldn’t read him at all.

"I sent this week’s marketing plan and the weekly report to your email. Oh, by the way, our total registered users just passed twenty million," Wang Zihao said with a grin, changing the subject.

"I’ll be away for the next few days, so help me keep an eye on things. Call me if any problems come up," Chen Yansen instructed, glancing at his watch.

"Sure, don’t worry! Anyway, if any VCs show up, I’ll just have Song Yuncheng and Zhuang Rui host them. They have experience with it," Wang Zihao said with a shrug, his eyes filled with envy.

’Chen Yansen gets to take Meng Jie to a concert in Hu City, while I’m stuck here working my ass off.’

’He’d finally fallen for a girl, and of course, she turned out to be a teacher who already had a fiancé.’

’The guy looks presentable enough, but his hair is slicked back like a dog licked it. You can tell he’s unreliable at a glance.’

’I, Brother Hao, am the best man for Liu Muyan!’

Of course, Wang Zihao only dared to mutter these things in his head, not daring to speak a single word aloud.

Chen Yansen just smiled, grabbed his jacket, and headed out.

Just as he reached the faculty apartment building, Chen Yansen saw Meng Jie with two suitcases, standing on her tiptoes and looking around for him.

"Let’s get a cab to the high-speed rail station. We’ll probably arrive around 10:00 PM," Chen Yansen said, taking a suitcase from her and ruffling her hair.

Meng Jie giggled, linked her arm through his, and they walked openly toward the campus gate.

It was a half-hour drive from Xucheng Academy to Xucheng East Station, and the high-speed train ride was three hours. By the time they got to their hotel, it was already 10:30 PM.

The night in Hu City was a riot of flashing neon. Skyscrapers lined both banks of the Huangpu River, bathed in the cold moonlight, while the streets below were bustling and clamorous.

"You only booked one room?" Meng Jie asked, standing at the doorway and blinking with a strange expression.

’This damn Chen Yansen, his intentions couldn’t be more obvious.’ Meng Jie understood perfectly, and her cheeks instantly flushed hot.

She had imagined romantic scenarios like this countless times in her head, but she never expected one to arrive so suddenly.

"Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to you," Chen Yansen said with a perfectly straight face, pushing open the door and inserting the key card into the power slot.

"Tonight, you’re going to say the air conditioning isn’t warm enough and you want to squeeze into one bed. After that, you’ll say, ’I’ll just hold you, I won’t do anything.’ And finally, you’ll say, ’I’ll just rub up against you a little,’ right?"

Meng Jie’s eyes sparkled as she laid out the classic player’s playbook, the corners of her mouth turning up in a slight smile.

"You know it so well, you must have been a player in your past life," Chen Yansen retorted, momentarily stunned before letting out a dry laugh in a preemptive strike.

"Don’t forget who was the queen bee of Class 3-8!" Meng Jie huffed, pushing her suitcase into the room.

But she hadn’t expected there to be only one bed in the bedroom. Chen Yansen had skipped even the first step of his own playbook.

Meng Jie turned to look at him, her eyes full of questions.

Before they left, Chen Yansen had sworn up and down that he’d booked a room with two beds, one for each of them, separated by an ocean of space.

"Uh... maybe the front desk made a mistake with the booking?" Chen Yansen offered, shamelessly making up an excuse.

"Is that so? That’s awfully careless of them! Good thing there’s a sofa in the living room, so it’s no big deal," Meng Jie replied, a cunning smile flashing across her face.

’Sleep on the sofa?’

Chen Yansen was taken aback. ’What a joke! President Chen does not sleep on sofas!’

It was getting late. After they both washed up, one was lying on the bed, and the other was curled up on the sofa.

"Chen Yansen, you’re a bastard!" Meng Jie cursed, pouting angrily.

"The bed is big and comfortable. You want to come up and try it?" Chen Yansen chuckled, patting the soft mattress, making a soft *thump, thump* sound.

"I’d rather sleep on the sofa!" Meng Jie retorted, turning over on the couch, refusing to fall for his trap.

She knew his routine all too well. Next would come the classic, ’I’ll just hold you, I won’t do anything.’

Pah!

The two of them bickered back and forth. When they grew tired of arguing, they started chatting about their high school days.

Before long, Meng Jie was the first to drift off to sleep.

Chen Yansen called her name softly twice. When she didn’t respond, he quietly and carefully got out of bed.