Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

After the pleasantries ended, the men deferred to one another for a moment before taking their seats.

Chen Yansen sized up Lei Yijun and Zhou Hongyi with great interest. ’Who would have thought that in a few years, these two would get into a war of words on Weibo over the mobile phone business, even escalating to the point of challenging each other to a fight at Chaoyang Park.’

’Although they never actually came to blows, the fact that Lei Yijun sent Li Wanqiang to scout out the enemy was still exposed.’

As Chen Yansen observed Zhou Hongyi, Lao Zhou was also squinting at him.

Lao Zhou’s face was expressionless, but a faint hostility showed in his eyes. Nowadays, just hearing the name ’Penguin’ set him off. FoxTao was backed by Penguin, which meant they were in the same camp as his rivals.

If Lei Yijun hadn’t been there, he would have already stormed out.

"President Chen, Amazon’s new Director of Channels is an old colleague of mine. I’ve already given him a heads-up. Just have the business development people from your company contact him tomorrow."

Lei Yijun showed his sincerity as soon as he sat down.

He was the founder of Zhuoyue Network, which he had sold to Amazon seven years ago. At the time, most of the employees had been absorbed by Amazon, so this "old colleague" he mentioned was most likely a former subordinate.

"Thank you, President Lei."

Chen Yansen gave a faint smile and offered a polite thank you.

By now, more than forty B2C websites of various types had already partnered with FoxTao, so its need for Amazon wasn’t as strong as it had been in the early days.

Even without Lei Yijun making the connection, the new director would have proactively sought out FoxTao to discuss a partnership after taking office.

After all, their competitors had already joined. Failing to do so would mean losing market share.

"Chen Nian of Vancl is an old friend of mine. He’ll be here a bit later."

Seeing Chen Yansen’s lukewarm reaction, Lei Yijun quickly added.

’Another unlucky bastard!’

Chen Yansen laughed to himself. He remembered it clearly: in 2011, with the support of Lei Yijun and other investors, Vancl would announce a revenue target of ten billion. They would only end up achieving a third of that. Not only would its valuation plummet, but its warehouses would also be stuck with two billion worth of unsold inventory. It would take a full five years just to cover the losses.

’But liquidating inventory comes at a price. The Vancl brand would also lose its value and become just another cheap commodity.’

’It wouldn’t be until more than a decade later, after Lei Yijun successfully built his car company, that Chen Nian would ride his coattails to another moment of fame.’

Thinking of this, Chen Yansen looked at Lei Yijun and couldn’t help but feel a little emotional. ’Boss Lei is a true friend. Chen Nian lost him a hundred million US dollars, and they didn’t even fall out. If it were me, and someone dared to lose that much of my money, breaking one of their legs wouldn’t even be going too far.’

"Yuncheng, tell President Lei about FoxTao’s current situation."

Chen Yansen nodded, signaling for Song Yuncheng to give a little presentation on the brand.

"No rush. Let’s just drink and chat today. We can talk details at my company tomorrow."

Lei Yijun said, waving his hand dismissively.

Although the outside world couldn’t get the most accurate data on FoxTao’s daily active users, orders, and sales figures, they could make a more or less accurate guess.

Compared to FoxTao, Lei Yijun was more interested in Chen Yansen himself.

He had taken a shopping guide e-commerce track that no one thought much of and forcefully carved out a name for himself. From brand flash sales and Group Buy flash sales to brand marketing, his business operations were diverse.

When he called Chen Yansen yesterday, the young man had taken the inch he was given and run a mile, proposing a joint gaming operation with Xiaomi based on a CPS and CPA revenue sharing model. This greatly impressed Lei Yijun.

If FoxTao’s valuation hadn’t already exceeded 2.8 billion, he would have wanted to pull Chen Yansen into Xiaomi’s Market Department.

Just as they were speaking, Chen Nian walked in with his female assistant, beaming with success.

At the end of last year, Vancl had completed its Series E financing round of 100 million US dollars, with a valuation exceeding one billion US dollars, easily entering the ranks of unicorn companies.

This was Vancl’s moment in the spotlight, and Chen Nian’s as well.

He had heard that Lei Yijun wanted to introduce him to a new friend. After asking around, he learned it was the founder of FoxTao—exactly the external traffic channel he was currently lacking.

He had already announced the ten billion revenue target. To achieve it, everything from traffic to product had to be significantly upgraded.

"You’re here. Sit next to President Chen. Let me introduce you two. This is Chen Nian of Vancl, and this is Chen Yansen of FoxTao."

Lei Yijun stood up to make the introductions.

"President Chen, I’ve heard so much about you!"

"President Chen, so young and promising!"

The two shook hands with a smile, but inwardly, Chen Nian was feeling a bit arrogant.

In Chen Nian’s view, building his own platform was the proper path. A traffic referral platform like FoxTao had a ceiling you could see at a glance; it didn’t have much of a future.

Zhou Hongyi watched coldly from the sidelines. He had another meeting with Lei Yijun after this. 360 was seeking an opportunity to go public, and Lei Yijun had experience in this area, so he had come to ask for help.

Lei Yijun had said they were just having a meal, so they didn’t talk about anything else, simply sharing their views on the domestic economic situation.

They had assumed that because Chen Yansen was young, he wouldn’t have much to say on the topic. To their surprise, he shocked them the moment he opened his mouth.

For a moment, they felt as if they were chatting with a seasoned veteran who had been in the Business Community for many years.

After listening for a while, Zhou Hongyi, who scoffed at Chen Yansen’s words, suddenly steered the conversation to his own industry. "President Chen, what do you think the future development of internet security services will look like?"

Chen Yansen glanced at him, knowing the guy was up to no good. He smiled and said two words: "Will die."

Zhou Hongyi’s expression instantly froze. 360’s main business was computer management and antivirus software. Chen Yansen’s words were undoubtedly saying that 360 was doomed in the future.

"Bullshit!"

Zhou Hongyi snorted coldly, cursing out loud.

"Lao Zhou, what’s with your language!" This dinner was his doing, and Chen Yansen was his guest. Zhou Hongyi’s words were a slight to both Chen Yansen and him.

"Fine, President Chen. I spoke without thinking. Just pretend you didn’t hear it." Seeing Lei Yijun’s displeasure and remembering he needed a favor, Zhou Hongyi’s tone softened as he offered a perfunctory apology.

"President Chen, don’t mind Lao Zhou. He’s just a crude fellow." Lei Yijun shot Zhou Hongyi a glare and tried to smooth things over with a smile, attempting to ease the tension.

"Some people can’t handle the truth. Nothing to be done about it. Industry trends won’t change just because someone can’t accept them."

Chen Yansen said with a grin, completely disregarding Zhou Hongyi.

This attitude of his, however, piqued Lei Yijun’s interest. He couldn’t help but ask curiously, "Why don’t you elaborate? That way Lao Zhou won’t think you’re targeting him."

"First, Microsoft started building Windows Defender into its operating system with Windows 7. Although it only provides basic virus protection, it’s sufficient for most people’s daily use. This reduces computer users’ reliance on third-party antivirus software. Who knows, Microsoft might build even more powerful antivirus software into the next version."

After hearing this, Lei Yijun’s brow relaxed. He felt that this move by Microsoft would indeed impact domestic security service products.

Zhou Hongyi knew about Microsoft’s move, but he hadn’t taken it seriously before. Now that Chen Yansen mentioned it, his heart skipped a beat.

"Second, we’re entering the era of large-screen mobile phones. Mobile operating systems are closed, and with the review mechanisms of app stores, the number of viruses will inevitably decrease sharply. No one is going to install antivirus software on their phone and affect its performance..."

Chen Yansen continued.

When smartphones first emerged, their RAM was small, so most people wouldn’t waste precious memory on antivirus software.

By the time smartphone RAM increased, everyone had already gotten used to life without antivirus software.

If their phones worked fine without antivirus software, why would they install it?

More than a decade later, the only part of the antivirus market left would be enterprise users.

"So, President Chen believes mobile devices will replace the computer market?" Lei Yijun asked curiously.

This coincided with his own thinking. It was precisely because he had spotted the development opportunities in the mobile communications industry that he had decided to found Xiaomi.

"It’s an inevitable trend," Chen Yansen said with conviction.

Seeing how bullish he was on the mobile phone industry, Lei Yijun smiled and invited him to visit Xiaomi’s R&D studio the next day.

Chen Yansen, of course, readily agreed.

After that, the men began to clink glasses and drink. As bosses, none of them were lightweights.

Before long, Lei Yijun’s face was flushed. He took out a pack of cigarettes, offered them around, and then lit one up, puffing out clouds of smoke.

Chen Yansen shook his head, declining. He drank, but he never smoked.

The few cartons of cigarettes in his car were just for schmoozing.

Two hours passed. Full of food and drink, the party broke up.

On the way out, Chen Nian had his assistant take down Song Yuncheng’s number for future communication about their partnership.

Chen Yansen and Lei Yijun waved goodbye, arranging a time to meet the next day. Then he got in his car and had the driver take him directly back to the hotel.

After Chen Yansen’s car had driven off, Lei Yijun turned to Li Wanqiang and asked, "What do you think?"

"Anyone who can build a company to a valuation of over a billion isn’t going to be simple," Li Wanqiang said, impressed. He had been an observer the entire evening. "If it were me, dining with a group of bosses worth billions before I was even twenty, I could never be as relaxed and casual as Chen Yansen."

"We can discuss the joint gaming operation. I heard from someone at Siwei Capital that before the New Year, FoxTao was getting 400,000 new customers daily. Even if only 1% of those users enter the promotion page, not counting returning customers, that’s over a million in traffic per month. It could alleviate a lot of pressure for us."

Lei Yijun said with a smile, patting Li Wanqiang’s shoulder.

"Giving up a portion of the profits is acceptable." Li Wanqiang grinned and nodded in agreement.

"Old Lei, you really trust that kid that much?" Zhou Hongyi asked, unconvinced.

In his opinion, Chen Yansen’s brief analysis was no different from a wild guess. How could a young punk possibly predict the future trends of an industry?

"I only believe half of it. The part about mobile terminals most likely becoming mainstream."

Lei Yijun said, full of confidence.

「On the other side.」

Back at the hotel, Chen Yansen sat on the sofa by the window, lost in thought. Tonight’s dinner hadn’t been a waste. At the very least, he had secured two new B2C platforms for his site.

’Tomorrow, I can use the visit to get an in-depth understanding of the mobile phone R&D and manufacturing process. If it’s not too difficult, I might even have to compete with Lei Yijun in the mobile phone sector.’

’As for Zhou Hongyi, I’m not worried about him at all. Even if I don’t interfere, he’ll back himself into a corner.’

’More than a decade from now, when Zhou Hongyi meets Little Ma again, he’ll be teased, ’You’ve become a livestreamer.’’

’For Lao Zhou, who was once worth hundreds of billions, those words would be a direct and public humiliation.’

Chen Yansen picked up the glass of water from the coffee table and took a large gulp.

The northern climate was dry, and after drinking, his mouth felt even more parched.

At the same time, he was feeling quite hot-blooded.

Through the reflection in the window, Chen Yansen could see Song Yuncheng’s every move. She was currently squatting in front of the sofa, her pale fingers tapping quickly on the keyboard.

She was clearly still adjusting the materials for tomorrow’s meeting, afraid that the slightest oversight might cause the partnership to fail.

A stray strand of Song Yuncheng’s hair rested on the corner of her mouth, and her pure white trousers clung to her full, shapely backside. The sight made the fire in Chen Yansen burn even hotter.