Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

At dawn the next day, the sky outside the window was dim.

Chen Yansen leaned against the headboard and glanced at the time on his phone. He had only slept for two hours; his sleep duration had shrunk again.

An ordinary person has sixteen hours left in a day after sleeping, but he had twenty-two—an extra six hours.

Song Yuncheng lay on her side, her eyes lightly closed. Her small hands were curled in front of her, making her look like a sleeping kitten.

A Pikachu cosplay outfit, torn down the back, was carelessly tossed on the floor.

A faint, sweet fragrance permeated the air.

Chen Yansen lifted a corner of the covers, slipped on his slippers, and walked toward the study.

He turned on his computer, brought up the assembler, and his fingers began to fly across the keyboard.

To circumvent ARM’s conditional code patents, Chen Yansen used predicate registers to record the results of operations.

Whenever he got stuck, he would simply activate the [Planck Clock]. His brain would instantly enter an overclocked state, effortlessly tearing through any technical barrier.

From 4:00 AM to 7:00 AM, he used it twice, for a total of two seconds.

The basic architectural design, consisting of eight global registers and twenty-four windowed registers, was now preliminarily complete.

Just then, a crisp knock came from the door.

The study door was open. Song Yuncheng stood at the entrance in a set of cartoon-print pajamas, her eyes still heavy with sleep. Seeing Chen Yansen turn his head, she asked softly, "Couldn’t sleep again?"

Chen Yansen beckoned for Song Yuncheng to come over.

When she drew near, President Chen opened his arms. Song Yuncheng obediently pressed against him, cradling his head.

"I’m hungry," Chen Yansen said with a smile.

"Should I make you some porridge? And two sunny-side up eggs?" Song Yuncheng replied instinctively.

"Having a taste of you is enough." After speaking, Chen Yansen’s hand, like a slippery eel, found its way through the gap at the hem of her pajamas.

Before long, a captivating blush spread across Song Yuncheng’s fair, smooth, oval face.

...

...

On the third day after the end of the world, all was well.

At 10:30 in the morning, Liang Changlin slowly opened his eyes. He had only managed to fall asleep after 3:00 AM.

Should he risk it all and strike out on his own, or swallow his pride and work for Chen Yansen?

This was an extremely difficult choice for him.

He stood by the hotel’s glass curtain wall, staring blankly at the ant-like pedestrians and matchbox-sized cars below.

After some unknown amount of time, Liang Changlin suddenly realized that perhaps Chen Yansen saw him in much the same way he was now seeing the street below.

’It’s better to seek shelter under a big tree.’

Liang Changlin narrowed his eyes, his gaze gradually firming with resolve.

Half an hour later, he called Chen Yansen, but all he heard was the BEEP BEEP BEEP of the dial tone. No one was picking up.

Liang Changlin grew anxious, afraid that Chen Yansen had changed his mind and wouldn’t give him the chance.

The other party finally answered on his third attempt.

"President Chen, I’ve thought it over. I’m willing to join Senlian Capital," Liang Changlin stated eagerly.

"I’m very interested in the fresh food delivery business you mentioned yesterday. Wrap up your loose ends as quickly as possible and report to the Kuai Pao Hu City Branch."

Chen Yansen replied.

In his opinion, with Liang Changlin’s abilities, he was more than qualified to manage a category or business division on his own. He would first have him serve as Pei Yi’s deputy. As for how high he could climb in the future, that would depend on Liang’s performance.

"Yes, President Che—... Boss!" Liang Changlin quickly corrected himself, a smile on his face.

"That’s all for now. We’ll talk later." Chen Yansen gave a curt reply and hung up.

Although Liang Changlin would one day have a net worth in the tens of billions, in President Chen’s eyes, he was nothing special—just another disposable asset for making money.

Liang Changlin didn’t dare to delay. He immediately set off for Hu City, preparing to sell Yaya Network to TAL Education Group and then shut down Dingdong Community.

「Meanwhile.」

Before Liu Qiangdong went abroad, Jingdong was at it again with Yixun Network.

Penguin, tired of waiting for a partnership request from Handsome Dong, pumped a billion yuan into Yixun Network. They added a "Price Match Guarantee" service and began pushing hard in the digital appliances sector, competing with Jingdong, Sunning, and Gome for market share.

Jinshan’s Cheetah and 360 successively launched browser plug-ins for snagging tickets, targeting users during the Spring Festival travel rush.

Seeing this, Zhang Yiming was eager to get in on the action. He led his R&D team to work day and night developing traffic-splitting software, hoping to grab a slice of the train ticket pie.

To improve its commercial monetization, Sina inserted in-feed ads on Weibo, enraging its users.

Thirteen days after its release, *Lost in Thailand*’s cumulative box office exceeded 700 million yuan, shattering the record for a Chinese-language film previously held by *Painted Skin: The Resurrection*.

Industry insiders predicted that *Lost in Thailand* would become the first film in Chinese cinema history to break the one billion yuan mark.

Pei Yi’s gamble had paid off!

Thanks to exclusive online ticketing rights, *Lost in Thailand* brought Kuai Pao over six million new customers and increased its daily active users by 2.6 million.

Meituan, which had chosen *Back to 1942*, and Lashou Network, which had bet on *The Last Supper*, lost their shirts. They not only wasted their money but also faced a barrage of criticism.

After getting a taste of victory, Pei Yi turned his attention to *Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons*. As the largest online ticket sales platform, Kuai Pao effortlessly secured an exclusive partnership agreement from Huayi.

The two parties agreed to jointly fund subsidies, planning to lower the pre-sale ticket price to 19.9 yuan each.

In that year, Zhou Xingchi’s box-office appeal was at its peak. Even at 19.9 yuan, users would flock to buy tickets.

「The next day, December 24th, Christmas Eve.」

WeChat 4.6 was released, adding WeChat Pay, payment and collection features, and "Change Treasure." They also officially announced that their user base had surpassed 300 million.

When Ma Liyun found out, he was stunned. ’They’re calling it Change Treasure, so what am I supposed to call mine?’

Their planned product name was "Change Pass." If they launched it in the future, wouldn’t they look like copycats?

"Mr. Ma, how about we change it to ’Balance Pass’?" Lu Zhaoxi suggested.

"It sounds like a copy of Yu’e Bao," Ma Liyun said, shaking his head.

’But it *is* a copy of Yu’e Bao!’

Lu Zhaoxi froze, complaining silently in his head.

’The big boss wants to copy them but also wants to save face. It looks like we’ll have to change the name ’Change Pass’ after all.’

"How about ’Profit Treasure’?" Zhang Yong suddenly said.

"Compared to Yu’e Bao, it just doesn’t have the same ring to it." Ma Liyun looked resentful, fire in his eyes.

He could only blame the intellectual property department for not being thorough. When filing for defensive trademarks, why hadn’t they blocked the loophole for "Change Treasure"?

"’Profit Treasure’ isn’t bad either. It’s catchy," Lu Zhaoxi said, immediately chiming in after glancing at Ma Liyun’s expression.

"Fine, let’s go with ’Profit Treasure’," Ma Liyun said, waving his hand in resignation. He then continued, "Regarding the offline promotion of Wealth Treasure, what are your thoughts? Should we hire a third-party street promotion company, or build Ah Li’s own team?"

"This year, over 5,000 Group Buy websites have gone out of business. A large number of street promoters are unemployed or on the verge of it. I believe building our own team is more in Ah Li’s interest."

Lu Zhaoxi frowned, thought for a moment, and spoke with a confident tone.

Previously, Ah Li has worked with third-party street promotion companies, but it was difficult to accurately track data like material costs and promotion conversion rates.

Rather than give the money to others, it was better to do it themselves.

"Daniel, what do you think?" Ma Liyun asked, turning to Zhang Yong.

"Combine offline and online. For individual merchants already familiar with electronic payment tools, we can mail them QR payment codes for free. For other merchants, we can do face-to-face promotions."

Zhang Yong said unhurriedly.

In truth, this was also the promotion strategy Orange Pay was currently executing.

The implication was clear: they had to build a street promotion team.

"We need to speed things up as much as possible. Wealth Treasure is already a step behind Orange Pay, and now even WeChat Pay is catching up. We have to be on our guard!"

Ma Liyun instructed in a grave voice.

Lu Zhaoxi nodded slightly, showing he understood.

At the same time, in places like Hu City, Shencheng City, and Minzhou, many merchants, persuaded by promoters, were putting up QR payment codes at their cash registers.

When customers paid, they only needed to take out their phones and scan the code. With a DING, the payment process was complete.

It seemed both simple and cool.

For users, the more merchants used QR payment codes, the more convenient their payment options became.

"QR Code Payments Developing Rapidly, Cashless Era is Coming!"

"Nowhere for Counterfeit Money to Hide!"

"Wealth Treasure, Orange Pay, WeChat Pay—Internet Giants Enter the Fray, Competing for Offline Payment Scenarios."

For a time, print, online, and television media were flooded with wall-to-wall coverage.

Logically, the traffic generated by the news should have been beneficial for both Orange Pay and WeChat Pay.

But Chen Yansen smelled a whiff of unusual danger.

Knowing Ma Wenteng, and how he had been smacked down by the authorities a few times, his current style was extremely cautious. He would never pay for sponsored articles to build hype for the QR payment feature.

Especially when the current regulatory policies were unclear, they could get cut down at any moment. Of course, it was better to keep a low profile.

’Damn it! Little Ma and I have become the scapegoats!’

Chen Yansen muttered to himself as he leaned back on the office sofa.

The interests of the banking and financial industries were complex and intertwined. Some people wanted to perform a drastic but necessary cure—scrape the poison from the bone—and were just looking for a knife when Orange and WeChat Pay appeared.

Chen Yansen pondered this, but then a new thought occurred to him. ’If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up. What the hell do I have to be afraid of?’

’Fortune is found in danger!’

’The one who’s first to eat the crab can’t be timid!’

With this in mind, he sent a message to Zhang Yinjia, telling him to use Kuai Pao’s street promotion team to ramp up their efforts and capture the market first.

As for the risks that would follow—they would cross that bridge when they came to it.

...

...

"Pony, I’ve confirmed with Xiaolong. He hasn’t been interviewed by any reporters, nor did he authorize the Market Department to buy traffic."

Liu Zhiping explained with a grave expression.

"Could it be Chen Yansen? Young and full of vigor, acting recklessly?"

Ma Wenteng lifted his eyelids and immediately pressed for an answer.

"Chen Yansen is young, that’s true, but he doesn’t have the frivolous arrogance of a young man," Liu Zhiping decisively refuted.

"Then someone must be trying to use WeChat Pay to stir up trouble."

Ma Wenteng furrowed his brow, took a deep breath, and couldn’t help but curse internally: ’Why make a move now? Not earlier, not later, but right after WeChat Pay goes live? Were they afraid Orange Pay’s influence wasn’t big enough on its own?’

Little Ma didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It was good to be taken seriously, but not so great to be dragged out to take the heat.

Fortunately, he had Chen Yansen to keep him company, which was a small comfort.