Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

On the first day of the new year, the second floor of the Innovation Park was buzzing with excitement.

Chen Yansen stood guard at the top of the stairs. Every time a FoxTao employee passed by, he handed them a red envelope.

[Human Dao Fire +0.05!]

[Human Dao Fire +0.05!]

...

The system notifications flashed before his eyes one after another. Chen Yansen didn’t mind; after all, every little bit helps.

"Wow! Thanks, Class President! I can’t believe we’re getting New Year’s red envelopes!" Xu Xingxing accepted the envelope, her face all smiles.

Chen Yansen just smiled and waved, not saying anything as he continued handing out envelopes to the next person.

By nine o’clock, only half of FoxTao’s employees had shown up; the other half had gone home for the holiday.

Suddenly, someone whispered that their salaries had been paid. A rustling sound filled the air as everyone immediately looked down at their phones.

[Human Dao Fire +5.3!]

[Human Dao Fire +3.9!]

[Human Dao Fire +2.4!]

...

Looking at the text notifications, Chen Yansen inwardly exclaimed, ’This feels amazing.’ Dozens of dense notifications flashed by. In the blink of an eye, his Human Dao Fire value on the panel had shot up from 31.7 to 96.

"System! Give me... Wait!"

Chen Yansen was about to allocate his points, but he remembered his previous experiences and forced himself to hold back, afraid of causing a commotion in the Innovation Park.

He took a deep breath, composed himself, and casually opened the team’s salary list.

He started with the customer service team, raising their hourly wage from 10 yuan to 12 yuan. The editors’ original monthly salary of 3,000 yuan was increased to 4,000 yuan, and the testing and design teams’ salaries were raised to 5,000 or 6,000 yuan.

The base salary for the Investment Attraction department was changed to 3,500 yuan.

The category team saw the biggest change, with salaries jumping from 5,000 yuan to 6,000 or 7,000 yuan. Senior category operators like Chen Xu and Hu Li saw their monthly salaries skyrocket to 8,000 yuan.

Chen Yansen did this for two reasons: first, to attract new talent from the market, and second, to balance the morale of the category team employees.

Otherwise, when they saw the Investment Attraction team making seven to eight thousand, or even forty to fifty thousand a month, who would still be willing to work in category operations?

Chen Yansen double-checked the spreadsheet, and after confirming there were no errors, he sent it to Xu Dan, asking her to notify everyone by email.

Once he was done, he got up and walked toward room 0418.

Song Yuncheng turned to watch Chen Yansen’s retreating back, then looked down at the 39,000 yuan that had just arrived in her account, remaining silent.

「Ten minutes later.」

Chen Yansen lay in the bedroom of room 0418, staring at the ceiling, his mind focused on his constitution stat.

"System, allocate my points!" Chen Yansen said in a low voice.

A wisp of white mist, as thick as a chopstick, materialized out of thin air and forced its way into the spot between his eyebrows. A bone-chilling cold washed over him, almost freezing him solid.

Every muscle, bone, and drop of blood in his body seemed to grind to a halt, and his heart was no exception.

THUMP—THUMP—!

A warm current, like a volcanic eruption, suddenly burst from his heart. Like an untamed stallion, it charged rampantly through Chen Yansen’s body. Every inch of flesh it washed over trembled.

The cold and heat alternated, followed by a pleasure so profound it seemed to touch his very soul!

Chen Yansen couldn’t help but let out a soft groan. The strange sensation came as quickly as it went.

He felt like two or three hours had passed, but when he picked up his phone, he saw that only three minutes had gone by.

"That short?"

Chen Yansen was stunned.

He sat up, placed his bare feet on the floor, and stretched his limbs. Clenching his fist gently, he felt as if he could easily crush a stone.

This feeling of maxed-out power was more intoxicating than hundreds of millions in wealth.

At this moment, his constitution value was 2.63!

He was just one step away from the peak of human limits!

Chen Yansen grabbed an unopened bottle of mineral water and walked into the bathroom. He squeezed with all five fingers, and the plastic bottle creaked and groaned under the pressure, but the explosion he expected didn’t happen.

’Looks like my current strength isn’t enough to crush a stone after all. That was just an illusion brought on by the sudden surge in power.’

Chen Yansen sighed, tossing the water bottle aside with a loss of interest.

He also checked his height and weight; there wasn’t much change.

’I should try it out at the gym.’

Once the idea popped into his head, he could no longer suppress it.

Chen Yansen grabbed his jacket, got in his car, and drove toward a gym off-campus.

The one-week trial pass the receptionist had given him last time had long expired. There was a new person at the front desk this time, which was common. These gym owners loved hiring cheap university students, so the staff turnover was ridiculously high.

Chen Yansen decided to just get an annual membership. He could give it to Wang Zihao later so it wouldn’t go to waste.

He walked into the gym and saw a total of three people inside.

’It’s the New Year’s holiday. People with partners are probably out having fun, and the studious ones are in the library. The only ones at the gym are probably the singles.’

As he thought this, Chen Yansen walked toward the barbells.

"Hey! I thought the name Chen Yansen sounded familiar last time. Turns out you’re the boss of FoxTao! A pleasure to meet you!"

Hu Yongfan had been doing chest presses. The moment he saw Chen Yansen, he immediately put down the equipment and walked over with a smile.

"Uh, hello." Chen Yansen froze for a second. This was the guy who had lent him gear before, but he had long forgotten his name.

It couldn’t be helped. Chen Yansen only had a strong memory for pretty girls with great figures.

"Deadlifts?" Hu Yongfan asked proactively.

"Yeah." Chen Yansen was suspicious of the guy’s sexual orientation and didn’t really want to talk to him.

"I’ll help you load the weights!" Hu Yongfan, seemingly oblivious to the rejection on Chen Yansen’s face, started busying himself.

A moment later, he turned and asked, "Start with 140 kilograms?"

"Let’s do 220 kilograms," Chen Yansen said flatly.

His constitution had increased by nearly 60%. If he wasn’t afraid of scaring Hu Yongfan, he would have even wanted to start with 300 kilograms.

"Holy shit! Badass!" Hu Yongfan gave a thumbs-up, his gaze on Chen Yansen fervent.

Seeing that look in his eyes, Chen Yansen subconsciously took a step back.

"Alright! I’ll go get you a weightlifting belt and knee sleeves," Hu Yongfan said, getting up and walking toward a nearby bench.

Chen Yansen grunted in acknowledgment and walked to the barbell. There were five 20-kilogram plates on each side of the bar. Including the bar itself, it was roughly the weight of three adult men.

He glanced at Hu Yongfan, who was still rummaging for the gear, then bent down and gripped the bar firmly with both hands.

"Up!"

With a low shout from Chen Yansen, the 220-kilogram barbell felt almost weightless as he easily pulled it past his knees.

Hearing the noise, Hu Yongfan turned around and his jaw dropped. A raw deadlift of 220 kilograms?

’Is Chen Yansen’s body made of iron?’

THUD! The barbell slammed heavily onto the ground.

Chen Yansen savored the feeling, or rather, the lack thereof. It felt about the same as his 140-kilogram deadlift last time—maybe even easier.

"President Chen! Don’t be so reckless! If the gym owner saw that, he’d refund your membership on the spot!"

Seeing him about to add more weight, Hu Yongfan hurried over with the protective gear to stop him.

He had a lot of gym experience. He could tell at a glance that Chen Yansen weighed no more than 85 kilograms. The last time, when he pulled 260 kilograms, he had just chalked it up to Chen Yansen having a large frame, high bone density, and being exceptionally gifted. But today’s raw deadlift had genuinely scared him.

"Yeah, thanks." Chen Yansen took the belt and knee sleeves, put them on, and then looked at the barbell on the floor.

After a moment’s thought, he added more plates to each side, bringing the weight to 340 kilograms.

"President Chen, you’re not kidding, are you?" Hu Yongfan was incredulous. Professional lifters could only pull a little over twice their body weight; over three times was the level of a top-tier athlete.

Chen Yansen didn’t say a word. He gripped the bar and adjusted the details of his stance, searching for the most comfortable point to exert force. It was an indescribable feeling, as if he had become self-taught in an instant.

"Get the hell up!"

The veins on Chen Yansen’s arms bulged. Blood and energy flowed through them as the muscles in his upper body, lower body, and back all fired at once.

From a distance, the nearly 750-pound weight was lifted without the slightest pause.

"Fuck! Is he even fucking human?" Hu Yongfan swallowed hard and muttered under his breath.

Lifting four times his own body weight... it was terrifying!

THUD!

The ground let out a muffled boom upon impact.

Chen Yansen wasn’t even red in the face or breathing hard. He shook out his wrists, feeling like he still had plenty of strength to spare.

Time to add more!

The barbell’s weight broke past 380 kilograms!

Chen Yansen still used a mixed grip. This time, it was clearly more difficult; the veins on his forehead bulged. However, his movement was still smooth, showing he hadn’t reached his limit yet.

By the time he had increased the weight to 420 kilograms, Hu Yongfan finally snapped out of it and quickly pulled out his phone to record a video.

"Bro, put the phone away."

Seeing this, Chen Yansen waved his hand at him.

Normally, Hu Yongfan might have ignored him, but facing Chen Yansen, he didn’t dare make a peep. He just gave a dry laugh and stuffed his phone back into his bag.

He knew in his heart that Chen Yansen could probably kill him several times over with a single punch.

CREAK... GROAN...!

The bar, straining under the weight of the plates, creaked and bent into an arc.

Chen Yansen found the right moment to exert force, his muscles and tendons instantly tensing. The weight, over 900 pounds, was a struggle for him.

His blood surged, and his arms, thighs, and face turned red. His muscles gorged with blood again, their striations clearly visible.

Chen Yansen felt a searing heat trapped in his chest. He unleashed his strength in a sudden burst and laboriously pulled the barbell up.

THUD-BOOM!

Chen Yansen let go. A large cloud of white vapor puffed from his nostrils. His forehead was bright red, and he was panting heavily, clearly nearing exhaustion.

"President Chen, with your level, you could completely dominate any domestic powerlifting competition. You’re too damn badass!"

Seeing that he had stopped and had no intention of adding more weight, Hu Yongfan quickly handed him a bottle of mineral water and sang his praises.

"Where would I find the time to enter competitions? So what if I’m strong? The times have changed. Being rich is what makes you the boss now."

Chen Yansen scoffed, but he took the water. He secretly checked the bottle cap, and only after seeing it was fine did he take a large gulp.

"Hey! I almost forgot you’re the big boss of FoxTao. For someone who’s so good at making money, you really don’t need to be this strong."

Hu Yongfan flexed his pecs and said with a laugh.

"By the way, how did you train to get this strong? What supplements do you usually take? I heard they’ve got some new stuff in the Lighthouse Country that works wonders," Hu Yongfan continued, not waiting for Chen Yansen to reply.

"I was born with it," Chen Yansen said arrogantly with a grin.

He couldn’t care less whether Hu Yongfan believed him or not.

Hu Yongfan smiled and said nothing, but inwardly he was roasting him, mentally slapping the label ’Technology Warrior’ on Chen Yansen.

Last time he deadlifted 260 kilograms, and now, just a month later, he was up to 420 kilograms.

Honestly, Hu Yongfan really wanted to ask what drugs Chen Yansen was on. He wanted to try them too.

"Um, President Chen, I actually submitted my resume to your company for the Investment Attraction position. What do you think of me?" Hu Yongfan asked with a smile, sitting down across from Chen Yansen.

"Your communication skills seem fine. We’ll talk after you pass the initial interview," Chen Yansen replied perfunctorily.

’I still haven’t figured out this guy’s orientation. If I hire him into the project team, Zhang Wenbo and Xiang Pengfei will be in trouble. They’re both fair-skinned and refined-looking—exactly the type these muscular guys like.’

"President Chen, how about I bring my girlfriend to the next interview?" Hu Yongfan suggested, feeling helpless.

The suspicion in Chen Yansen’s eyes was too obvious. Hu Yongfan felt he had no way to defend himself; he was so desperate he felt like he should drag Chen Yansen along the next time he went to a hotel with his girlfriend.

"Fine!" Considering the guy had lent him gear twice now, Chen Yansen felt it wasn’t right to keep refusing him.

... Hu Yongfan’s expression stiffened. He sighed inwardly. ’Prejudice is a mountain in a person’s heart. Just because my muscles are big doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with me.’

「Meanwhile.」

The FoxTao employees who received the salary adjustment email were, of course, overjoyed. Many of them were only juniors or seniors in college. Faced with a pre-tax monthly income of over 8,000 yuan, they wanted nothing more than to treat the company as their home and respect Chen Yansen as their father.

The joy on the faces of the Investment Attraction team was even more pronounced. There were about ten of them, and the highest earners made over 50,000, while even the lowest made seven or eight thousand.

In 2010, this kind of income surpassed that of over 95% of white-collar workers.

For a time, everyone was full of energy. Even though the Investment Attraction team didn’t get paid for overtime, they worked from morning till night, either cold-calling merchants or communicating about product selection.

The variety of categories, brands, and products on SuperRebate began to increase dramatically. After all, every new brand promotion that went live represented several thousand yuan in commission. Who wouldn’t be tempted?

Chen Yansen left the gym and wandered over to the stadium.

He then tested his 100-meter dash speed, 10,000-meter endurance, and reaction time. The final result was that he was like a composite of Bolt, Anthony (the man with the fastest reaction time), and Devin (the king of endurance).

In any single event, he was a step weaker; but in a combination of all three, he could blow them all out of the water.

BZZT BZZT BZZT—

Chen Yansen pulled out his phone. Seeing it was Zhang Jiancheng from Siwei Capital again, he thought for a moment before finally pressing the answer key.