Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Late at night in Hang City, the Ali Headquarters was still brightly lit.

After reporting on his work to the man sitting across from him, Zhang Yong suddenly brought up Chen Yansen and FoxTao.

"There’s a lot of dissent from my subordinates. Even Hu Zhilong wants to find an excuse to shut down FoxTao’s CPS interface and account."

Zhang Yong shook his head, clearly disapproving of this approach.

"What does Yitao’s Dongxie think?" Ma Liyun turned and fixed his gaze on Zhang Yong.

Dongxie was the alias of Wu Ming, the head of Yitao. Yitao and FoxTao shared the same business model—both were shopping affiliate platforms. The only difference was that one was Ah Li’s own flesh and blood, while the other was a godson.

In terms of their profit models and marketing strategies, both Juhuasuan and Yitao were copying FoxTao. The problem was, these bastards were badmouthing FoxTao even as they ripped it off.

"His attitude is pretty much the same as Hu Zhilong’s." Zhang Yong gave a wry smile. ’The stupidity of my subordinates is just staggering.’

In reality, these people weren’t stupid, just malicious. Their positions were simply different. From their perspective, they had to leverage the alliance’s policies to kill off FoxTao.

"How much GMV did FoxTao contribute to Taobao last year?" Ma Liyun asked with a thoughtful smile.

"620 million. But it also took 560 million in funding from Penguin, IDG, and Siwei Capital. With a kid as aggressive as Chen Yansen, I estimate FoxTao’s daily active users could double within six months. I predict its total sales for 2011 could exceed 6 billion."

Zhang Yong tilted his head back, closing his eyes to recall the data before speaking slowly.

"In 2010, that was 0.15 percent. By your logic, in 2011, it will be one percent. The numbers might not seem huge, but more and more players are entering the shopping affiliate market, and their share of the GMV will only continue to grow."

With these words, Ma Liyun had made his attitude toward FoxTao and other shopping affiliate sites clear to Zhang Yong.

"Last year, the Ali Alliance brought in 17% of the group’s sales. We can’t suppress these affiliate platforms; on the contrary, we must give them our full support."

Zhang Yong said with a smile.

He knew full well that if Ah Li used its position as the referee to restrict the growth of shopping affiliate platforms, their investors would simply force them to pivot to a self-operated model.

Even if Ah Li dominated the e-commerce space, it understood the principle that enough ants can kill an elephant. Friends or enemies? The choice was a no-brainer.

For Ma Liyun and Ah Li, having affiliate sites like FoxTao on their side meant they would have a better story to tell investors in the Lighthouse Country when it came time for an IPO, allowing them to aim for a higher market capitalization.

Wu Ming from Yitao and Hu Zhilong from the Ali Alliance were opposed simply because FoxTao was cutting into their performance numbers.

All those salarymen could see were their own KPIs.

"Tell Hu Zhilong that from now on, he is to give his full cooperation to FoxTao’s channel operations."

Having thought it through, Ma Liyun made his final decision.

In 2011, he would support the affiliate platforms, aiming for the group’s annual GMV to break one trillion within two years.

"Okay, I understand." Zhang Yong nodded. On this issue, he and Ma Liyun were in complete agreement.

...

...

「The next morning.」

Chen Yansen drove Chen Guobin to Beishan Cemetery, the trunk of his car filled with Netherworld Coins and firecrackers.

Kneeling before his mother’s tombstone, Chen Yansen muttered, "When you have a moment, send the old man a dream. Tell him to hurry up and find me a stepmom while he’s still young. Otherwise, I can’t be bothered to take care of him when he gets old."

"Your son’s making good money now. After the New Year, I’ll pick an auspicious day and get you a bigger room. It’ll have a river in front, a mountain behind, and I’ll plant pine and cypress trees on both sides..."

Listening to his son’s absurd eulogy, the corner of Chen Guobin’s mouth twitched. He had to take several deep breaths before he could compose himself.

"We’ve never met, so I don’t know what kind of daughter-in-law you’d like. But don’t you worry, I’ll date one of every type. If you like one of them, just send me a dream."

Chen Yansen was still spouting nonsense.

"Get the hell out of here! Stop bothering your mother." Chen Guobin finally snapped, kicking Chen Yansen in the rear and shoving him aside.

He was genuinely afraid that if Chen Yansen said another word, his wife might just crawl out of her grave.

Chen Yansen dusted off his rear, not holding it against Chen Guobin. He tossed down a stack of Netherworld Coins and instructed his father, "Burn some extra for Mom."

Chen Guobin shot him a glare, then picked up the joss paper and Netherworld Coins and began burning them bundle by bundle. He muttered under his breath, "Hui Zhen, my love, don’t listen to this kid’s nonsense. In this life, you’re the only one I’ll ever love."

Hearing his father’s sappy declaration, Chen Yansen frowned and took several steps back.

He knew the subsequent routine by heart. ’In ten minutes, the old man will start to tear up. In thirty, he’ll be wailing. In an hour, he’ll dry his eyes and tell me it’s time to go home.’

It had been the same every time for more than a decade. He was tired of watching it.

Once he saw his father was in the zone, Chen Yansen turned, went back to the car, turned on the heat, and pulled out his phone to flirt with some girls.

"Brother Jensen, when are you coming over for dinner?" a text message popped up just then.

"In a few days," Chen Yansen replied noncommittally before switching the screen back to WeChat.

The app had just launched, and he’d already dragged Meng Jie and Song Yuncheng over to it. He had no choice. Rebus had poured all his money into the R&D and production of the Xiaomi Mobile Phone, so Mi Chat was plagued with network errors, which seriously hampered his flirting experience.

’Although Zihao’s mom is a great cook,’ he thought, ’the moment I think of Prince Ziyuan, I lose all desire to go over and freeload a meal.’

An hour later, having vented all his emotions, Chen Guobin silently got into the passenger seat.

Chen Yansen dropped him off at the bookstore entrance, then turned the car around and drove over to the Dongjin Crossing Bridge.

From a distance, he could see Wang Zihao and his dad, bundled up in thick down jackets, sitting on small folding stools by the bank. They were holding fishing rods, their eyes fixed on the bobbers.

"Uncle Wang! Long time no see. You’re looking even more... prosperous."

"Whoa! You’ve shot up again, kid. You’re almost half a head taller than Zihao now. Not bad," Wang Zhanjun said, turning his head to praise him with a smile.