Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Cloud Speed Express. Chen Yansen had never even heard of it. One look told him it was a small fry. In two or three years, it would either go bankrupt or be devoured by the Three Passes and One Reach.

This meant Liao Wei had neither a financial backer nor powerful support. Otherwise, how could he have failed right before the e-commerce boom took off?

After understanding Liao Wei’s intentions, Chen Yansen waved his hand dismissively. "Boss Liao, there’s nothing for us to talk about. It’s a fact that your employee swapped out the Moutai liquor, and it’s also a fact that this caused FoxTao a major loss..."

"President Chen, this incident has caused trouble for you and your company. I’ll compensate for all the losses. But you’re trashing Cloud Speed on Weibo every day. I can’t do business like this."

Liao Wei pleaded, his face a mask of misery.

Chen Yansen’s Weibo account had 3.7 million followers. He did only two things every day: promote brand group flash sale products and criticize Cloud Speed Express for its management loopholes.

If this kept up, Cloud Speed would be finished sooner or later!

His business disputes with Wine God Network and FoxTao would take at least three to five months to resolve through normal procedures. By then, it was hard to say if Cloud Speed would even still exist.

Recently, his branch stations had been reporting that many merchants were refusing to use Cloud Speed Express, afraid that the couriers would pull some shady tricks and increase their stores’ complaint rates.

"I’m just telling the truth."

Chen Yansen shrugged, not taking Liao Wei seriously at all.

A boss like him, who came up from the streets, might resort to some dirty tricks, but Chen Yansen was now Tang Qingshan’s star pupil at Xucheng Academy and the "University Student Star of Entrepreneurship" of Huian Province.

If Liao Wei dared to play rough, he wouldn’t be leaving without losing a layer of skin.

"President Chen, name your terms. I’ll agree to anything. I’m just begging you to let Cloud Speed off the hook."

Hearing this, Liao Wei was so angry he almost started cursing. But then he remembered this was a school—Chen Yansen’s territory—so he softened his tone and said what he had prepared.

"Boss Liao wants me to drop the lawsuit, but what’s in it for me?"

Chen Yansen looked down on him, his tone flat.

"I can have my finance department wire the compensation demanded in the legal letter right away. And in the future, if FoxTao has any express delivery needs, Cloud Speed will give its full cooperation."

Liao Wei’s words were well-spoken, but in reality, aside from the compensation money, it was just an empty promise.

"How many vehicles, stations, and couriers does Cloud Speed Express have?"

Chen Yansen asked casually, raising an eyebrow.

Liao Wei didn’t understand why, but since he was the one asking for a favor, he naturally answered whatever was asked. "About 100 heavy-duty trucks, 300 medium-duty trucks, over 400 stations, and more than 3,000 employees."

’Over 3,000 people?’

Chen Yansen’s eyes lit up. ’If I could have these 3,000 employees, wouldn’t I get several thousand points of Human Dao Fire in a month?’

FoxTao operated on an asset-light model. It was developing rapidly but didn’t create many jobs. Express delivery companies were different; they often employed thousands of people.

Companies like the Three Passes and One Reach, Jingdong, and Shunfeng had employee counts ranging from ten or twenty thousand at the low end to fifty or sixty thousand at the high end.

’I’m getting into the express delivery industry too!’

Chen Yansen mused to himself. After a moment’s thought, he said to Liao Wei, "Forget the compensation. Let’s just say we’re making a friend. Just convert the compensation amount into Cloud Speed’s equity."

When Liao Wei heard the first half of the sentence, his face immediately broke into a wide smile. But the second half made his expression freeze, and he stood there stunned.

According to FoxTao’s lawsuit, the total losses from the fake liquor incident—including damage to reputation, valuation, and revenue—amounted to 6 million.

If this lawsuit dragged on, it would probably be settled for one or two million in the end.

’Chen Yansen is trying to get something for nothing... but how much equity should I offer?’

Liao Wei frowned, unsure how to respond. It wasn’t that he was unwilling to part with the equity, but that he didn’t know how much to give.

If he offered too little, Chen Yansen wouldn’t agree. If he offered too much, it would sting.

"How much do you want, President Chen?" After struggling for a long time, Liao Wei decided to leave the choice to Chen Yansen.

"Boss Liao, I don’t have time to dawdle with you," Chen Yansen said bluntly with a cold snort.

"How about... 2%?" Liao Wei asked tentatively.

Cloud Speed Express’s total assets were about 150 million, and venture capital firms valued it at 270 million. 2% was worth exactly 5.4 million, which was a better deal than paying cash.

"I’ll help you handle the lawsuit from Wine God Network," Chen Yansen said, shaking his head noncommittally.

"3%!" Liao Wei said, gritting his teeth.

He had built Cloud Speed from scratch. Giving away even a little bit of equity was like cutting off his own flesh.

"Alright, 3% it is! President Liao, from now on, we’re on the same team," Chen Yansen said with a relaxed smile, clapping him on the shoulder.

’This kid is nineteen? What nineteen-year-old college student could be this cunning and shameless?’

Liao Wei forced a smile, but inwardly he was cursing him out.

After the terms were settled, Chen Yansen’s attitude softened considerably. He led Liao Wei into his office, and they discussed the recent developments in the express delivery industry over tea.

Half an hour later, Chen Yansen finally had a general understanding of the current state of the express delivery industry.

To put it simply, among private express companies, Shunfeng was the undisputed leader, the Three Passes and One Reach were the second tier, and Cloud Speed was in the third tier, surviving on scraps.

’No wonder I’d never heard of Cloud Speed more than a decade later,’ Chen Yansen thought to himself. ’It was probably crushed by other delivery companies before 2013.’

Any thought he had of pulling some strings and helping Liao Wei out was instantly dismissed.

’Who cares if his company lives or dies!’

’It’d be best if it was half-dead. Then I could acquire it on the cheap and score a bargain.’

The two of them finalized the details of the equity transfer and agreed to meet the next day with their legal and finance teams to sign the contract on the second floor of the Innovation Park.

"President Liao, this must be your first time in Xucheng. I’ll make the arrangements for tonight." Having achieved his goal, Chen Yansen immediately put on a warm, enthusiastic smile.

"If President Chen is treating, I’ll definitely be there. See you tonight," Liao Wei said with a smile, putting an arm around Chen Yansen’s shoulder as they walked warmly out of the Innovation Park.

Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought they were old friends who had known each other for years.

Liao Wei calculated in his head that even though he was out 3% of his equity, getting to know Chen Yansen was worth it.

Having one more friend was always better than having one more enemy.

Chen Yansen saw Liao Wei to his car, sent him the address for the Sky Garden, and then waved goodbye.

Back on the second floor, Chen Yansen called for Wang Zihao.

"We’re going to the Star of the Milky Way tonight?" Wang Zihao’s eyes lit up, unable to hide the mischievous grin on his face.

"Mhm, I’ll introduce you to a new friend, Liao Wei, the boss of Cloud Speed Express," Chen Yansen mentioned briefly.

"Brother Sen, I kinda feel like you got the short end of the stick," Wang Zihao muttered under his breath after comparing the value of the 6 million in compensation with the 3% equity.

In his opinion, 3% of Cloud Speed’s equity wasn’t worth 6 million at all.

"You think if we asked for 6 million, we’d actually get it? We’d be lucky to get one million," Chen Yansen said, shooting him a look.

To make Wang Zihao understand, Chen Yansen cited several other commercial defamation lawsuits. Generally speaking, enforcing even 20% of the claimed damages was the upper limit.

"Oh, so that’s how it is." Wang Zihao nodded thoughtfully.

Chen Yansen didn’t care about the 3% equity. What mattered was the opportunity to get a foothold in the express delivery industry.

That evening, Chen Yansen and Wang Zihao first hosted Liao Wei at the Sky Garden before moving on to the Star of the Milky Way.

After three rounds of drinks, Liao Wei was calling them ’little bro’ with every other word, thumping his chest with loud POUNDS. He shouted that the next time they were in Yanjing, he would definitely take Chen Yansen and Wang Zihao to try out some of the Western babes from up north.

His words got Wang Zihao all excited!

The three of them partied until the early hours of the morning. Liao Wei, supported by his assistant, staggered into his hotel.

Wang Zihao got into the driver’s seat and drove Chen Yansen back to the academy.

「The next morning, the third day of the New Year’s Day holiday.」

In his personal capacity, Chen Yansen spent 10,000 yuan to acquire 3% of Cloud Speed Express’s equity.

Afterward, the conflict between FoxTao and Cloud Speed Express was resolved. Chen Yansen deleted his Weibo posts and dropped the lawsuit. The fake liquor turmoil was completely settled through an exchange of interests.

After taking care of these matters, Chen Yansen began to organize FoxTao’s business plan, which covered its business model, market opportunities, team background, financial forecasts, and so on.

For entrepreneurs his age, these things were complex and difficult to understand. But for Chen Yansen, who had been through multiple financing rounds and a successful IPO, it was merely a matter of taking out his previous plans and making a few copies and edits.

The rest of the FoxTao team was busy with the New Year’s Goods Festival promotion, and the number of brand groups going live was constantly increasing.

On January 9th, 100 new brand groups were launched, with as many as 300 flash sale items, almost on par with major promotions like Double Eleven and Double Twelve.

Chen Yansen immediately decided to move some of the flash sale items with weaker promotional appeal to an 8:00 PM slot. From then on, Super Rebate would have two flash sales per day, at 10:00 AM and 8:00 PM respectively.

However, evening traffic was much lower than daytime traffic. To attract traffic and increase output, competition among merchants submitting similar items for flash sales became increasingly fierce.

An AUX air fryer priced at 499 yuan, for example, originally had a commission rate of 45%. After several rounds of competitive bidding, the rate reached a terrifying 70%, bringing the user’s final cost down to just half price.

Chen Yansen knew full well that these merchants were doing this, first, to participate in Juhuasuan, and second, for the sales rankings in their specific subcategories.

It was like when a user searched for "air fryer" on Taobao Network. The top result on the first page could get over 10,000 organic visits a day, even without paid advertising.

Although the brands lost money on FoxTao, they could earn back ten or even a hundred times their losses on the Taobao platform.

What’s more, Super Rebate operated on a rebate model. The price paid by the user was the listed price, which satisfied the brands’ need for price control, making it even more attractive to merchants.

"Brother Sen, a shop on Jingdong that sells Shuaikang range hoods and stoves wants to pay 100,000 yuan to buy the top spot in the Super Rebate flash sale."

Zhang Yifeng came over to report just as Chen Yansen was polishing the business plan.

Super Rebate had only been live for a little over a month, and the project team hadn’t priced this kind of resource slot before.

"Not for sale!" Chen Yansen refused decisively, without even looking up.

100,000 was a lot of money, but compared to user experience and the platform’s long-term revenue, casually selling the top flash sale spot would do more harm than good.

Zhang Yifeng was a bit disappointed, sighing inwardly at the missed opportunity. From that 100,000 yuan advertising fee, he could have earned at least 3,000 in commission.

Chen Yansen looked up at Zhang Yifeng and said lightly, "Think about it differently. Go talk to a few more shops. Besides range hoods and stoves, fill out the categories with small kitchen and bath appliances, large appliances, bathroom fixtures, and furniture. We can run a home improvement festival."

’This kid has good ability and intuition, but his experience is too limited, which restricts his thinking.’

"Thanks, Brother Sen! I’ll get right on it." Zhang Yifeng’s face lit up. If he succeeded, even if he couldn’t replicate the 40-million-plus sales of Meiters, achieving even 20 million in performance would net him a commission of over a hundred thousand.

The allure of wealth is a powerful motivator. Zhang Yifeng was instantly energized. He grabbed Yuan Wei, who had the most merchant contacts, and they dove into a conference room.

「Meanwhile.」

Because of the fake liquor turmoil, FoxTao’s reputation in the e-commerce circle had grown significantly. Coupled with the commissions for Investment Attraction, high base salaries for category operations, and generous bonuses, the company suddenly attracted numerous interviewees.

Among them were many experienced industry veterans.

Some of these people came for FoxTao’s high salaries, while others came for career development, having heard that FoxTao was about to begin its A-round financing.

The technology department added several engineers responsible for search and algorithms. They streamlined the original underlying architecture and set up an algorithmic sorting function for the Super Rebate product pool, which would run every 15 minutes based on data, reducing manual intervention.

The Investment Attraction team expanded from 10 to 26 people, including Hu Yongfan, whom Chen Yansen had met at the gym.

On the day of the interview, he really did bring his girlfriend along.

Chen Yansen was both exasperated and amused, but in the end, he hired him anyway.

The category operations team also added 5 new members, bringing the total to 11. Basically, every major category now had a dedicated person in charge.

With more staff but limited traffic, the number of brand groups each person could launch per day decreased, and the open and secret struggles among the Investment Attraction staff intensified.

It wasn’t necessarily a good thing for the recruitment staff to have too many resources in their hands.

This situation was exactly what Chen Yansen had intentionally engineered.

...

...

「One week later.」

After some discussion, Penguin, IDG Venture Capital Fund, and Siwei Capital jointly decided to participate in FoxTao’s A-round financing plan.

As soon as the news broke, it caused a sensation in the e-commerce world. Everyone began to speculate: what would FoxTao’s A-round valuation be?