Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Chen Yansen put his luggage in the living room, turned around, went downstairs, and headed toward the Innovation Park.

Currently, all of FoxTao’s channels were on the right track. When he was at the company, he only needed to manage the overall direction; the implementation-level work had all been delegated.

Passing by the courier station, he happened to see Song Yang sitting at the entrance, engrossed in a novel on his phone.

"Yangyang, what’re you up to?"

Chen Yansen nudged him with his elbow and asked with a smile.

"It’s Chen Dong’s new book, *Shrouding the Heavens*. I’ve been following it. Let me tell you, this book is so badass. Just a few of the epic quotes are enough to get you hooked."

Song Yang snapped out of it. Seeing it was Chen Yansen, he enthusiastically started explaining.

In his previous life, Song Yang had done the same thing, handing his phone to Chen Yansen and insisting that he experience the charm of the Five Greats of the Central Plains.

But back then, Chen Yansen had been too busy being a simp to have time for web novels, so he had naturally refused Song Yang.

’It goes without saying that things were different this life. No matter how awesome the book was, it couldn’t hold a candle to my actual life. How could I enjoy it without being able to relate?’

"I seek not to become an immortal, but only to wait for your return in this mortal world."

"I am the Celestial Emperor; I shall suppress and kill all enemies in the world!"

"My son, Wang Teng, has the makings of a Great Emperor!"

Song Yang chuckled, rattling off classic lines from the novel off the top of his head.

’Ah, to be young is great. So stupid and so cringey!’

Chen Yansen thought to himself, patted Song Yang’s shoulder without a word, and prepared to head to the second floor.

’Wait!’

Chen Yansen suddenly remembered something. He turned his head and asked, "That last sentence you said, say it again."

"My son, Wang Teng, has the makings of a Great Emperor!" Song Yang smiled and retorted, "Pretty epic, right?"

"Yangzai, thanks."

An impression finally surfaced from the depths of Chen Yansen’s memory. The future general manager of Redmi and head of Xiaomi’s Market Department was also named Wang Teng, and he seemed to be quite capable.

’Since I can’t poach Li Wanqiang, I’ll just poach his successor.’

He had just started to go upstairs when it occurred to him that aside from a name, he knew nothing about Wang Teng’s resume. He didn’t even know if the man had joined Xiaomi yet, or where he was currently working.

’Whatever. I’ll leave it to a headhunter. With a name and the corresponding industry, they should be able to find him.’

Once he had a clear plan, Chen Yansen went up to the second floor. When he passed Cao Dahua’s office, he saw the man still at his desk, rushing to finish a report, so he knocked on the door.

"Come on in! Haven’t seen you in a few days. Don’t act like a stranger."

Cao Dahua said with a teasing smile, not moving from his seat.

"I was afraid I’d walk in on you watching one of your ’educational films’. That would be awkward for both of us."

Chen Yansen pushed the door open, walked in, and plopped down into a chair. He shook the teapot and found it was still half-full. Without ceremony, he poured himself a cup and took a small sip.

"I heard from Zihao that you went to Yanjing to discuss a partnership with Xiaomi?"

Hearing this, Cao Dahua discreetly closed his media player and shut his laptop before slowly starting to chat.

"Yeah. Lei Yijun used investment as a pretext to lure me to Yanjing. But I knew what was up, and the trip wasn’t a total waste. I managed to bring two B2C platforms into the shopping mall’s rebate program."

Chen Yansen put down his tea and said unhurriedly.

"He’s probably planning to get into the mobile phone business, isn’t he?" Cao Dahua picked up the teapot, poured himself a cup, took a slurp, and asked with narrowed eyes.

"Definitely! These days, selling phones is like having your own money printer. After making money on the hardware, you can make a profit on the software too. It’s killing two birds with one stone."

Chen Yansen replied with a light chuckle. For him, the huge number of jobs that manufacturing could provide was what truly excited him.

"There’s more! Once the brand is established, accessories like chargers, headphones, phone cases, and screen protectors—even branded merchandise—can all become major profit centers."

Cao Dahua added, waving his hand.

"You actually know about all this?" Chen Yansen was stunned, his face full of surprise.

"Fuck! What the hell do you mean by that, kid? I told you about my time hustling in Shencheng City. Are you telling me you didn’t believe a word of it?"

Cao Dahua’s face stiffened. He was a little triggered and cursed under his breath.

Chen Yansen gave an awkward laugh. Last time, he’d been so focused on drinking that he’d treated all of Cao Dahua’s stories as bullshit, letting them go in one ear and out the other.

"I believe you! We’re bros, what’s there not to believe? I just thought you were in the internet scene. I didn’t expect you to know so much about the mobile phone industry too." Chen Yansen laughed it off, trying to smooth things over.

"Hmph! When I was starting my own business, you hadn’t even graduated from elementary school yet."

Cao Dahua snorted and grumbled in dissatisfaction, then asked, "From the sound of it, don’t tell me you want to make phones too? Let me tell you, manufacturing isn’t like the internet. The waters run deep there."

"Last time I asked what projects you worked on when you were an entrepreneur, you never said. Tell me about it. Maybe I can learn something useful from your failures."

Chen Yansen asked curiously, feigning indifference.

"Damn it! When have I ever failed?" Cao Dahua turned, leaned his head in, and after a moment’s hesitation, said in a low voice, "Sigh... but don’t you dare tell anyone! Hao123, ever heard of it?"

"You’re the founder of Hao123? I heard that seven years ago, Qian Du spent 12 million in cash plus 40,000 shares of Qian Du Network stock options to acquire it."

This time it was Chen Yansen’s turn to be shocked. He never would have imagined that Cao Dahua, the slacker immortal, had such a glorious past.

You have to understand, Qian Du’s stock price at the time was over 100 US Dollars per share. 40,000 shares were equivalent to 28 million Hua Yuan. Including the cash, Cao Dahua’s net worth had to be at least 40 million.

But Old Cao usually drove a Haval H6. He was certainly keeping a low profile.

Hearing Chen Yansen’s praise, Cao Dahua couldn’t help but blush and cough a couple of times. "I just asked if you’d heard of it. I never said I was the boss of Hao123."

"Uh... Old Cao, don’t leave me hanging like that! I was thinking of making you treat me to a big dinner tonight. You wouldn’t be stingy with one meal, would you?"

Chen Yansen said jokingly.

"The product I made back then was called 991 Navigation. It couldn’t compare to Hao123, but it was fairly well-known in the Southeast Region. I later sold it to Google. Didn’t make much, but it was enough to live on."

Cao Dahua looked proud, his expression full of nostalgia.

’991 Navigation?’

When Chen Yansen heard the name, he thought it was some kind of shady portal site. But seeing Cao Dahua’s expression, he could guess it was probably a second-tier shopping guide website that sold for several million at most.

"I’ve heard so much about you! My apologies for not recognizing you sooner! I actually used that portal back in junior high to find... ’study materials’."

Chen Yansen spouted nonsense off the cuff.

"Is that so? Well, that’s all in the past. Let’s not talk about it. Let’s talk about you. Do you really want to get into the mobile phone industry? Isn’t it nice making easy money with your shopping guide e-commerce site?"

Cao Dahua felt a pang of guilt and quickly changed the subject, advising him in a solemn tone.

Back in the day, to attract traffic and increase user stickiness, he had pulled a lot of flashy and shady tricks when building the website. Chen Yansen’s words made him feel ashamed.

He mused to himself: ’No wonder this kid is so smart but only got into a second-tier university. He’s been looking for ’study materials’ since junior high.’

"It’s too easy. It’s no fun making money like that. I just like to stir things up." Chen Yansen said with a grin.

If he were forced to live a quiet life, he’d rather just die. In Chen Yansen’s dictionary, there were only two words: fun and money!

A man can’t be without money, and he can’t live without having fun!

"If you say things like that out loud, aren’t you afraid someone will throw a sack over your head? That’s the kind of talk that makes people hate you!"

Cao Dahua burst out laughing at his antics, pointing at Chen Yansen as he cursed playfully.

"I’m leaving first, before you can’t resist clubbing me from behind after work." Chen Yansen got up, dusted off his pants, and left.

"Ah, young people... always stirring things up. Just like I was back in the day." Watching Chen Yansen’s retreating back, Cao Dahua shook his head and smiled. Then he opened his laptop and resumed watching his video.

As soon as Chen Yansen walked into Room 206, Wang Zihao came over, holding his laptop.

"Yesterday’s new user growth broke 800,000, and our daily active users exceeded 1.75 million. It’s just that our ad spend is burning through cash so fast, my heart can barely take it."

Wang Zihao said, motioning for Chen Yansen to look at the ad campaign data.

Chen Yansen glanced at it casually. The CPM and CPA values were within an acceptable range. Moreover, being able to generate over 100,000 in volume on a channel showed that the ad team had put a lot of thought into the creative assets and planning.

"Looks like we’ll be able to hit our goal of 2 million daily active users before June."

Chen Yansen looked away and nodded in satisfaction.

His initial plan was to get FoxTao’s DAU to 3 million and its annual sales past 10 billion. That way, he’d be in a good position to negotiate a Series B funding round with investors, or find a sucker to sell FoxTao to as a package deal.

Others didn’t know, but he was well aware that once Ah Li and Jingdong went public and their stock prices stabilized, they would most likely come after FoxTao first.

’Who would allow a third-party external channel to grow so big?’

If he were in their shoes, Chen Yansen would make the same choice.

"The API integration with the telecom company should be done next week. The entry point will be in the user center, and it should get a little over a million impressions a day," Wang Zihao continued to report.

"Just keep an eye on it and let me know when it goes live. You don’t need to report every single step."

Chen Yansen said with a faint smile, instructing Wang Zihao.

"Alright, I’ll get back to it then. I’ve sent last week’s ad campaign analysis to your email." Wang Zihao smiled and returned to his desk with his laptop.

Chen Yansen leaned back, propped his feet up on the desk, and pulled out his phone to play *Temple Run*. He had played the game before, but that was more than a decade ago.

But after playing for about ten minutes, Chen Yansen put his phone down. With his current reflexes and hand speed, playing the game felt like his senses had been slowed down more than tenfold. He didn’t feel any of the original tension and excitement; instead, he found it incredibly boring.

’Looks like having a stronger body and Spirit isn’t all good.’

Chen Yansen sighed internally.

He stayed at the Innovation Park until quitting time at six, but 90% of the project team was still at their desks. After all, with overtime pay at 1.5 times the normal rate, no one felt like they were working for Chen Yansen for free.

At a company whose performance was skyrocketing and which offered generous overtime pay, no one at the Innovation Park felt like working there was a pain.

Chen Yansen called over Meng Xibo and Zhu Xiaopeng. Passing the first floor, he also grabbed Song Yang and Wang Zhengqiang. The group headed off campus. They made it a point to get together at least once a month. Tang Zhenzhe had already ordered their food at Shuangqing Restaurant and was just waiting for them to arrive.

Along the way, the guys’ conversation inevitably turned to girls. Zhu Xiaopeng said that Brother Zhe’s confession to Su Meiling had failed, and he’d been really down lately.

Song Yang scratched his head and said that a senior from the art department was pursuing him.

This immediately piqued everyone’s interest. They all started asking about the senior’s looks and height, and most importantly, how far things had progressed.

"Vulgar!" Chen Yansen pulled Song Yang over and pointed at the others, scolding them. The moment the word left his mouth, he asked with a wicked grin, "What base are you on?"

"Fuck!" The others all flipped him the bird, looking at him with smiling contempt.

...

...

The next morning, Chen Yansen did something rare and actually brought his books to attend one of his major-specific classes.

The professor saw this unfamiliar face and just assumed he was a student from another department auditing the class. He didn’t pay much attention, having no idea this was the very Chen Yansen he’d never seen before.

After lunch, Chen Yansen walked into Room 206. Seeing him, Xu Dan came forward to report, "Brother Sen, the headhunter sent over a few candidates named Wang Teng. I think this one, who currently works at OPPO, best fits your requirements."

As she spoke, she handed him five or six resumes. The one for the Wang Teng on top stated he was a Huake graduate who had joined OPPO in 2008 as a product manager.

Chen Yansen flipped to the second resume. It was another Wang Teng.

’Fuck, why are there so many guys named Wang Teng?’

And they all worked in the mobile phone industry or related fields.

Chen Yansen frowned. For a moment, he really couldn’t be sure which one was the person he was looking for.

"You conduct the initial interviews. For the technical interview, ask Director Cao to recommend a professor from a relevant field. Whoever is more capable, that’s who we’ll hire."

Chen Yansen made the final decision.