Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

「The last night of 2010. The Sky Garden Hotel.」

Eight ten-person tables were set up in the top-floor banquet hall. The tables were laden with exquisite dishes—leopard coral grouper, Australian lobster, abalone, and fish maw, all prepared to look, smell, and taste divine.

The various teams from FoxTao had all prepared short performances. After the main acts concluded, the stage turned into a KTV session. Everyone was young, so the atmosphere was incredibly lively.

Xu Xingxing clapped Wang Zihao on the shoulder and asked loudly, "Brother Hao, isn’t Brother Sen here yet? The prize draw is about to start."

On stage, Xiang Pengfei was screaming his lungs out to "Love You Even After Death," his tone-deaf voice torturing the audience below and making them wince.

"Soon. He left half an hour ago," Wang Zihao replied, just as loudly.

Xu Xingxing nodded. He thought for a moment, then decided to leave the banquet hall and go downstairs to meet Chen Yansen.

"Sister Mu Yan, I’d like to toast you. Thank you for your guidance during this time," Wang Zihao said with a smile, raising his glass to Liu Muyan.

"I drove, so I can only have a soda. Hope you don’t mind, Zihao," Liu Muyan replied with a graceful smile as she clinked her glass against his.

She was only seven years older than Wang Zihao. To put it bluntly, she still had the mentality of a young person. During her days as a part-timer at FoxTao, she had grown closer and closer to everyone.

...

Just as Chen Yansen finished parking his car, he spotted Xu Xingxing huddled outside the hotel lobby, peering left and right.

"What are you doing standing here?" Chen Yansen asked with a smile.

"What do you think? I’m waiting for you! The raffle is about to start, and we’re just waiting on you! It’s basically a KTV room up there," Xu Xingxing said, grabbing Chen Yansen’s sleeve and starting to pull him toward the elevator.

Just then, Meng Jie walked over as well.

"Hey there, Sister-in-law!" Xu Xingxing blinked, quickly letting go and rushing forward to link arms with Meng Jie, looking perfectly chummy and familiar.

Meng Jie nodded and returned the greeting.

"Didn’t I tell Zihao to hold the fort?" Chen Yansen shook his head and couldn’t help but complain.

"Something like the raffle needs you to host it to feel special. Everyone’s willing to wait," Xu Xingxing said with a grin.

The three of them entered the elevator and went straight to the top floor. This banquet hall, aside from a dozen or so pillars, was enclosed on all four sides by five- to six-meter-high glass curtain walls, giving one the dreamlike sensation of being suspended in the heart of the city.

No wonder the minimum charge was 68,000. The space wasn’t large, but the decor was the height of luxury.

The moment Chen Yansen walked in, he saw Xiang Pengfei sitting on a chair on stage, singing. After hearing just half a line, a look of utter disdain spread across his face.

’This guy is unbelievable!’

Sitting up high, Xiang Pengfei spotted Chen Yansen at the entrance right away.

He cleared his throat and shouted, "Ladies and gentlemen, a round of applause for FoxTao’s most handsome man as he makes his grand entrance!"

Everyone followed the direction Xiang Pengfei was pointing and quickly spotted Chen Yansen.

Chen Yansen grinned, pointed at Xiang Pengfei, then confidently walked onto the stage and took the microphone.

"Out with the old, in with the new, and looking to the future. I believe FoxTao will be even more successful in 2011! Now I’ll let Zihao handle the prize draw for me. I’m going to grab a bite first. Once I’m full, I’ll have a surprise for everyone."

After a few brief words, Chen Yansen handed the stage over to Wang Zihao.

He walked over to his seat, clinked glasses with Cao Dahua, Wang Jing, and Liu Muyan, and then leisurely began to pick at his food.

Resigned, Wang Zihao walked to the center of the stage as if he were being forced into it. He started drawing the third-prize winners, occasionally misreading a name on purpose to get a laugh, which sent the crowd into roaring laughter.

Over an hour later, all the prizes had been drawn. The lucky ones won cell phones, while the less fortunate still received 1,000-yuan shopping cards.

Chen Yansen took the stage again and said with a smile, "Two things. First, to keep the party going, we’re adding ten grand prizes of 10,000 yuan tonight. We’ll draw for them in three minutes. Second, I’m preparing to launch FoxTao’s Series A financing round. When that happens, I will grant stock options to everyone here. The strike price will be 0.01 yuan."

’A ten-thousand-yuan prize?’

’Stock options?’

Most of the people present, aside from a few, weren’t quite sure what stock options were.

"Teacher Wang, what are stock options for?" Xu Xingxing asked curiously, leaning closer to Wang Jing.

"Simply put, it’s a check that can be cashed in the future. When FoxTao goes public or initiates a buyback program, these options can be converted into cash. However, only President Chen knows the specific quantity and value."

Wang Jing explained unhurriedly after a moment of thought.

Upon hearing this, the people around them had a sudden realization. It was money, and that was all that mattered.

Knowing Chen Yansen, if he was announcing it at the annual party, the value of these options was bound to be substantial.

Instantly, cheers erupted, and some people whistled.

Chen Yansen didn’t delay. He drew ten names right then and there, each winning 10,000 yuan in cash.

On his panel, the Human Dao Fire instantly increased by 29 wisps.

After stepping off the stage, Chen Yansen ate while watching them fool around on stage.

The team leaders became the targets of the crowd’s playful heckling, and they were forced to go on stage one by one to sing a song.

Song Yuncheng, as FoxTao’s employee number one, was no exception. She had successively served as the leader of the design, operations, and customer service teams. The moment she stepped on stage, the applause was nonstop.

Song Yuncheng had met even Ma Wenteng and Zhang Yong, yet this crowd of college students made her blush beet red. She held the microphone and softly began to sing Liang Jingru’s "Courage."

Looking at Chen Yansen and Meng Jie in the audience, Song Yuncheng finally sobered up to reality, and her eyes slowly grew moist.

In just a few short minutes, the ache and sting in her heart turned to numbness.

When she looked up at Chen Yansen again, the warmth in Song Yuncheng’s eyes had vanished.

She was only halfway through the song when Chen Yansen saw Zhang Wenbo run over in a panic. Just as he was wondering what was wrong, he heard him say urgently, "Brother Sen, Zihao is fighting with someone outside!"

’A fight?’

’Did that kid drink too much?’

Chen Yansen didn’t have time to think. He called over Pengfei, Zhang Yifeng, and seven or eight other guys, and they rushed outside.

Outside the banquet hall, near the entrance to the restroom, he saw Wang Zihao grabbing a man by the collar. The two were scuffling on the ground, and Wang Zihao was just about to throw a punch.

Liu Muyan and a long-haired woman were trying to break up the fight from the side.

"Haozi, stop!" Chen Yansen shouted.

After starting college, Chen Yansen rarely called him that. After all, Wang Zihao was the leader of FoxTao’s advertising team, and constantly calling him by his nickname would make him lose face.

Wang Zihao, who was about to strike, heard the familiar voice and gradually calmed down.

"What’s going on?" Chen Yansen stepped forward, pulling Wang Zihao up as he asked.

"I..." Wang Zihao glanced at Liu Muyan, swallowing the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

"You guys go back first. I’ll handle this," Chen Yansen said, glancing at the man Wang Zihao had pinned to the ground. He was slim; they didn’t need this many people to deal with him.

Xiang Pengfei, Zhang Yifeng, and the others exchanged glances. Although they didn’t know what was happening, they turned and went back, saying as they left, "Brother Sen, call us if you need anything."

Only after the others were gone did Wang Zihao whisper, "This asshole is Sister Mu Yan’s fiancé. He lied and told her he was working overtime, but he was actually here in a private room having dinner with another woman. Sister Mu Yan happened to run into them."

Chen Yansen nodded slightly, thinking, ’This is so cliché.’

He glanced at Liu Muyan. She stood off to the side, motionless, her face grim as she stared coldly at the man on the ground.

"Zhou Yuwen, who is she?" Liu Muyan demanded coldly, composing herself.

"You saw, so why are you asking? Are you stupid?" Zhou Yuwen laughed dismissively, climbing up from the floor. He unhurriedly straightened his shirt and brushed the dust off his clothes.

"I want you to say it yourself," Liu Muyan said, her face deathly pale as she bit her lip.

"She’s my girlfriend, and you’re my fiancée. Any other questions?" Zhou Yuwen shot a glance at Chen Yansen and Wang Zihao and replied arrogantly.

Tears welled up in Liu Muyan’s eyes and spilled down her cheeks. She could never have imagined that the man she’d grown up with, her childhood sweetheart to whom she was engaged, would betray her.

Chen Yansen didn’t say a word. With the mentality of a spectator watching a good show, he smelled the scent of a kindred spirit on Zhou Yuwen.

"Zhou Yuwen, we’re over!" Liu Muyan broke down, squatting on the floor and sobbing loudly.

"Oh. Then we’re over," Zhou Yuwen said with a heartless smile. With that, he put his arm around the long-haired girl and went into the private room.

Seeing this, Wang Zihao lunged after him, ready to beat him up.

Chen Yansen grabbed him and stopped him, then pointed toward the crying Liu Muyan.

Wang Zihao deflated instantly, standing there at a loss for what to do. After a long moment, he remembered to take out a packet of tissues and offer it to Liu Muyan.

Chen Yansen narrowed his eyes and sauntered back to the banquet hall.

...

...

「Shencheng City. Penguin Headquarters.」

"Are you saying that the 10 million from two months ago has now become 100 million?" Ma Huateng asked, looking at Liu Zhiping across from him.

"Perhaps even more. I hear that SIG Asia Venture Fund and Lotte are both urgently evaluating FoxTao’s business model. It’s possible the valuation could even hit 300 million US dollars," Liu Zhiping said with a faint smile, pushing up his glasses.

"Could what that kid said really be true? That we don’t have the DNA for e-commerce? He took a garbage niche like shopping guides and turned it into a top-tier business. What if we let him take over Paipai Network?"

Ma Huateng’s voice trailed off, and he ended with a sigh.

He was a smart man. How could he not understand that an ambitious young man like Chen Yansen would never be content working for someone else?

How many precedents had he broken just to get Zhang Xiaolong to join Penguin?

’Am I supposed to break the rules again?’

From their last interaction, Chen Yansen’s conviction seemed even stronger than Zhang Xiaolong’s.

"It’d be difficult. If he wanted to join Penguin, he wouldn’t have rejected Zheng Chunbin’s invitation," Liu Zhiping said with a chuckle, shaking his head gently.

"That 10 million wasn’t an investment in the FoxTao project; it was an investment in him as a person. And as it turns out, my investment was very successful. But how do I get a return on it?"

Ma Huateng stared intently at his old friend, as if waiting for an answer.

"Offer him the same package as Zhang Xiaolong?" Liu Zhiping asked tentatively.

"For FoxTao’s Series A financing, I’ll have to trouble you to make a trip in person. Help me relay a message to Chen Yansen. As long as he’s willing to help Penguin improve its e-commerce division, I’ll give him an annual salary of 30 million and 200 million worth of stock."

Ma Wenteng pondered for a moment before making a firm decision.

He hadn’t paid much attention to what Chen Yansen said last time, but once FoxTao’s valuation broke the 1 billion mark, he started taking it seriously and mulling it over.

When a person has no power, no one believes them even if they speak the truth. But once they hold power, people will call their farts fragrant.

This was precisely Ma Huateng’s mentality.

"Alright." Liu Zhiping didn’t refuse. He was also curious how this young man, Chen Yansen, had taken a new project from zero to tens of millions of users.

Every one of the man’s steps had been flawlessly precise. That level of precision was frightening.

"Mi Chat is already online. How much longer for Zhang Xiaolong’s side?" Ma Wenteng asked after they finished discussing Chen Yansen.

"Xiaolong said he still needs to polish the details," Liu Zhiping said with a frown. He understood Ma Huateng’s impatience.

"Give him half a month. It must go live!" Ma Huateng’s gaze was sharp, his tone severe.

WeChat was supposed to be Penguin’s next Tier 0 communication app, but Mi Chat had beaten them to the punch. This displeased him greatly, and he had no patience left to wait.

’What details? As long as it works, it’s fine!’