Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Yanjing, Wine God Network headquarters.

When he learned that the CEO of FoxTao had been taken in for questioning by the Hu City Inspection Institute, Liu Zhicheng, the director of the Market Department, panicked. If this news got out, the Wine God Network would be doomed.

If a vertical e-commerce platform that specialized in wine was caught selling fakes, who would dare to place an order?

"The Moutai was sourced from official channels, so it shouldn’t be fake. Either something shady happened in the warehouse, or it was tampered with during delivery."

Liu Zhicheng frowned. After a moment of thought, he rushed into his boss’s office and reported the situation.

"Call the police! First, we need to clear our name. Post the purchase orders on our official website and show our users where we stand," the big boss decided immediately after hearing the report.

"What about FoxTao?" Liu Zhicheng asked quietly, referring to Chen Yansen.

"Find a local lawyer and get President Chen out first. If something happens to him, who will dare to partner with us in the future?"

The big boss ordered Liu Zhicheng without a moment’s hesitation.

"Okay, I’m on it." Liu Zhicheng nodded. With his orders, he called the police while also getting the company’s legal department to start working on getting Chen Yansen released.

At 2:44 PM, someone broke the news on Weibo that the CEO of FoxTao had been arrested in Hu City by inspectors for selling fake wine.

The news quickly shot to the top of the trending topics. The Wine God Network was dragged down with it, and both became targets of angry netizens.

But soon after, the Wine God Network posted its purchase orders on its official website and announced that it had reported the incident to the police in Yanjing, vowing to cooperate fully with the investigation.

The trending search term ’FoxTao Fake Wine’ was at the top of the search page, getting tens of thousands of clicks per second. FoxTao’s daily order volume was instantly cut in half.

"Brother Sen has been arrested!"

Someone on the second floor of the Innovation Park suddenly exclaimed.

Then, a Weibo link was posted in the project group chat. It detailed the whole story of FoxTao selling fake wine, even including video screenshots of buyers accusing the platform of inaction.

In an instant, the second floor erupted into chaos.

Some worried if Chen Yansen would go to jail, some worried if FoxTao would go bankrupt, and others worried if they would even get their commission for the month.

Everyone started talking at once, and the clamor made Wang Zihao increasingly agitated.

"Shut up, all of you! Brother Sen is just cooperating with the investigation. The authorities *asked* him to go; they didn’t *arrest* him! If you want to believe media rumors, you can hand in your resignations right now. I’ll approve them immediately!"

Wang Zihao shot to his feet, slammed his hands on the desk, and roared.

The group exchanged anxious glances.

At the end of the day, most of them were just third or fourth-year university students. It was only natural for them to panic in a crisis.

"Frontend team, get back to your desks and work!" Zhang Wenbo snapped out of it, helping Wang Zihao stabilize the situation.

"Backend guys, I trust Brother Sen, and I trust FoxTao! If you feel the same, get back to your seats!" Xiang Pengfei shouted, standing on a chair.

"All customer service staff, listen to me. First, calm down the users. We’re on the front lines; we absolutely cannot afford to panic."

Meng Xibo clapped his hands, gesturing for the customer service team to return to their stations and continue handling inquiries.

"Investment Attraction, what are you all spacing out for? Get to work!" Zhang Yifeng shot a sidelong glance at the few people next to him.

He came from a category operations background and had planned FoxTao’s first brand promotion with Chen Yansen, which brought in over 40 million in sales and made a big name for them in the e-commerce world.

The other members of the Investment Attraction team respected him and didn’t dare to disobey, silently returning to their seats.

Seeing this, Wang Zihao secretly breathed a sigh of relief. But he knew in his heart that no one was in the mood to work; they were just putting on a calm facade.

And he was no different.

He was dying to rush to Hu City, but he suppressed the urge. ’I have to stay at the Innovation Park and look after the project for Chen Yansen.’

...

...

In Hu City, the sky outside the window was gradually darkening as a cold north wind howled.

CLANG!

The door opened, and a young Inspector stood in the doorway. "Chen Yansen, you’re free to go."

’Damn it. If I find out who’s behind this, I’ll fucking kill them.’

Chen Yansen’s eyes were filled with rage as he cursed viciously in his heart.

Since his rebirth, the person Chen Yansen had offended the most was Zhang Hanhua from Amazon. ’Whether he’s behind this or not, I’m going after him.’

Leaving the interrogation room, Chen Yansen entered the main hall and saw Meng Jie standing with three middle-aged men.

One of them, wearing an inspector’s uniform, was sizing him up with curiosity.

The other two were dressed in sharp suits, their expressions calm and their smiles composed.

"Chen Yansen, are you okay?" Seeing him emerge, Meng Jie threw herself into his arms, grabbing his arm as she asked.

"I’m fine. Just drank too much tea. Now I’m about to burst," Chen Yansen teased her.

"Pfft." Meng Jie burst out laughing, a small bubble forming at her nostril. She subconsciously raised a hand to wipe it away.

"Such pretty makeup, all ruined now." Chen Yansen raised his hand and gently wiped the tear tracks from the corners of her eyes and the smudge by her nose.

"Gross," Meng Jie said, turning her face away, a little embarrassed.

Chen Yansen smiled and bent down to kiss her on the forehead. "Not gross."

"Stop messing around, my dad’s old classmate is here. This is Uncle Wei Zhe. Thanks to his help, you were able to get out."

Meng Jie squirmed out of Chen Yansen’s arms and pointed to Wei Zhe behind her to make the introduction.

"Uncle Wei, thank you for taking the trouble to come all this way. You’ve worked hard! I’ll make arrangements for tonight. It’s partly to thank you, and partly because I’d like the opportunity to learn from an elder like yourself," Chen Yansen said with a smile, taking two steps forward.

"Since you’re dating Xiaojie, I consider you half a nephew. To be honest, you got out thanks to Principal Tang putting in a good word. Let’s skip dinner. Our generation handles its own business. I’ll just make Old Meng treat me to a feast later, and we’ll call the favor repaid."

Wei Zhe waved his hand, flatly refusing.

He finally understood why Meng Zhenguo looked down on Chen Yansen. ’The kid is only eighteen, yet after facing something this big, he’s still thinking about treating me to dinner to build a connection. Anyone else would have been scared witless by now.’

’The son-in-law is shrewder than the father-in-law. Interesting.’

Chen Yansen tried to persuade him a few more times, but seeing Wei Zhe’s insistence, he didn’t press the issue.

Wei Zhe said his goodbyes to the two, got into an inspector’s car, and disappeared into the evening traffic.

"President Chen, I’m the legal counsel for the Wine God Network. Here’s my card. The Wine God Network will be following up on this matter. President Liu asked me to convey his apologies and said that the next time you’re in Yanjing, he will apologize to you in person."

one of the impeccably dressed middle-aged men explained earnestly.

Chen Yansen didn’t speak, just nodded at him, then turned his gaze to the last man.

"I’m Sun Tongbo, a classmate of Wang Jing’s. I currently work at Tiancheng Law Firm, specializing in commercial disputes. I’ve just spoken with Lawyer Zhou. We will be handling Mr. Chen’s case together."

Sun Tongbo pushed up his glasses, extended a hand to shake Chen Yansen’s, and spoke in an unhurried manner.

The Lawyer Zhou he mentioned was the Wine God Network’s legal consultant.

"Thank you for your trouble. I will pay according to the firm’s standard rates," Chen Yansen replied.

Sun Tongbo left his business card and contact information, then stood up to leave.

Chen Yansen took Meng Jie’s hand and strode out the door.

Gazing at the street scene in the twilight, Chen Yansen let out a long sigh of relief. He took out his phone to check group messages and texts, sent a simple reply to Wang Zihao, and added a few specific instructions.

Just then, a group of seven or eight people dressed as reporters surrounded them, holding out microphones. One of them asked, "Mr. Chen, I’m a reporter from the *E-commerce Morning Post*. Could you spare two minutes for an interview?"

"Sure," Chen Yansen did not refuse.

"Users bought fake wine on FoxTao, but the root of the problem is with the Wine God Network. As a shopping guide platform, does your company have a solution for this situation?"

the reporter asked, turning on a camera and holding up the microphone.

"First, FoxTao will not shirk its responsibility. User experience is our bottom line. For the 23 users who purchased fake wine, we will follow our service standards and compensate them ten times the value of their purchase." Chen Yansen paused briefly before continuing.

"Second, all of FoxTao’s partner merchants pay a substantial security deposit before going live on our platform. Therefore, if you’ve bought a fake product, contact customer service. Once verified, you will be compensated ten times the value of the purchase."

This crisis had blown up too much. Chen Yansen had to show a sincere attitude to win back the users’ understanding and trust.

Even though FoxTao was, in fact, also a victim, in this world, being blameless doesn’t mean you won’t get dragged into the mud.

"Finally, on behalf of FoxTao, I promise all users who purchased this batch of Moutai that if you have any doubts about the product, you can have it authenticated by a certified inspection institute or by Moutai’s anti-counterfeiting office. If it is identified as a fake, FoxTao will cover all testing fees and provide compensation of ten times the purchase price."

Chen Yansen said, slowly and deliberately.

His usual devil-may-care attitude had vanished without a trace, replaced by the image of a pure university student, tragically framed and utterly innocent.

When it came to acting, Chen Yansen was a natural. It was, after all, an essential skill for any boss.

After dealing with the reporters, he hailed a taxi with Meng Jie. Once they were in the car, Meng Jie asked, "Should we get dinner first, or go back to the hotel?"

"It’s still early. Driver, let’s go to Binjiang Avenue first," Chen Yansen said casually.

"You’re still in the mood to go to a concert?" Meng Jie looked shocked. She knew the concert venue was near Binjiang Avenue.

"It starts at 7:30 PM. We still have an hour. We can make it," Chen Yansen said with a smile.

Meng Jie was speechless for a moment, then she started shaking with laughter. The guy she’d chosen was truly something else. He’d spent most of the day at the Inspection Institute and came out as if nothing had happened.

Chen Yansen smiled faintly and ruffled her hair.

Wang Zihao had updated Chen Yansen on the situation with the project team. Professor Wang Jing and Cao Dahua were both helping out and had reported the incident to the Xucheng Inspection Institute on behalf of FoxTao.

’With a joint investigation across three cities, I’m sure they’ll find the culprit soon.’

’The Wine God Network is in a bigger hurry than I am. Their investors have been preparing for over half a year; they won’t want to see all that initial funding go down the drain.’

The two had dinner at a nearby mall. Afterward, Meng Jie washed her face and, with a fresh, makeup-free look, accompanied Chen Yansen into the Mercedes-Benz Cultural Center.

Nearly twenty thousand seats were filled, a testament to Wang Fei’s immense popularity in 2010.

On stage, Wang Fei stood at the center, singing softly into the standing microphone:

"♪ With whose heart should I try to feel, to truly, deeply sense the world around me"

"♪ Even if there’s pain, even if there are tears, it is my own sorrow to bear"

The sight of thousands of people singing along quickly calmed Meng Jie. She waved her glow stick and sang out loud, releasing all her pent-up emotions.

BZZZT—

Chen Yansen took out his phone and opened a text message: Where are you?

He glanced at Meng Jie, who hadn’t noticed, then quickly typed a reply and hit send.