Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

"Yesterday, Ah Li announced that its businesses, including Tmall Mall, Taobao C Stores, and 1688, reached a combined one trillion in GMV. Ah Li’s dominance is not a good thing for Pinbei or Jingdong."

Liu Qiangdong spoke slowly.

"Being number two isn’t so bad," Chen Yansen said with a smile, refusing to play by the book.

’Number two sounds so awful!’

Pinbei would naturally have to take on Ah Li. But how to do it, from what angle, with what force, and at what speed—that required careful planning.

’Let Jingdong lead the charge and draw Ah Li’s fire first.’

After all, Liu Qiangdong had repeatedly vowed at the last Yanjing Internet Conference to surpass Ah Li in three years. If he didn’t go for it, who would?

The main reason Liu Qiangdong wanted to team up with Pinbei was likely to use Senlian Capital’s resources to crush Ah Li first, then turn around and take on Pinbei.

But Chen Yansen wasn’t about to fall for that!

He had lived through the golden decade of e-commerce and knew the future industry trends like the back of his hand. He understood perfectly well that the potential of the e-commerce track was staggering; Ah Li, Pinbei, and Jingdong were still a long way from being fully satisfied.

’Starting a war now would be a complete waste of money and energy.’

Seeing that Chen Yansen was unmoved, Liu Qiangdong had no choice but to drop the subject. He refocused and shifted the conversation from e-commerce to logistics, then to other industries like group buying, food delivery, and ride-hailing.

"President Chen, I noticed that the logistics information on Pinbei’s order page has a new real-time route tracking feature. Did you integrate with Gaode Map’s data API?"

Liu Qiangdong asked suddenly.

To be honest, he was a little envious.

"Something like that, but it mainly uses electronic waybill technology. You just need to upload the transit path of each package to a server to enable the feature."

Chen Yansen understood immediately, instantly grasping the subtext in Liu Qiangdong’s words.

There weren’t many domestic courier companies left that hadn’t joined the Cloud Speed Express Alliance, and Jingdong Express was one of them.

However, Jingdong didn’t need the two biggest advantages of being a member of the Cloud Speed Express Alliance.

First, the "last 100 meters" terminal delivery solution, namely smart lockers. Second, a solution for the high cost of delivery in rural towns and villages.

Because the core of Jingdong Express’s service was door-to-door delivery, Liu Qiangdong had no use for either smart lockers or Cloud Speed Express Service Stations.

But electronic waybill technology was something Jingdong Express couldn’t avoid!

That son of a bitch Liao Wei had applied for a series of related improvement and derivative patents surrounding the electronic waybill’s structure, format design, algorithms, and data processing methods, creating a comprehensive patent pool for defense.

If Jingdong wanted to use electronic waybills, its only option was to join the Cloud Speed Express Alliance and pay a technology royalty of one cent per waybill.

The price wasn’t steep, but Jingdong would have to open its data API, which was something Liu Qiangdong found hard to accept.

"President Chen, to be honest, Jingdong also wants to acquire the patent license for the electronic waybill technology," Liu Qiangdong said frankly.

He had originally planned to develop his own brand-new electronic waybill system, but Cloud Speed Express had blocked all the paths forward. He had no choice but to pay up!

"All you have to do is join the Cloud Speed Express Alliance," Chen Yansen replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

’Liu Qiangdong wants the patent license but doesn’t want to open his data API. How could life be so easy?’

’Cloud Speed Express didn’t develop the electronic waybill system as a charity project.’

"What if we just pay the patent licensing fee?" Liu Qiangdong pressed.

"No," Chen Yansen said, shaking his head and refusing flatly.

Currently, only China Post received that kind of treatment. Jingdong didn’t have that much clout.

Liu Qiangdong’s expression stiffened. The feeling of being rejected was not pleasant.

Had it been anyone else, he would have stormed off long ago. But he couldn’t afford to offend Chen Yansen, so he could only force a smile and proactively change the subject. He needed time to think before he could decide whether or not to join the Cloud Speed Express Alliance.

The morning flew by. Chen Yansen invited Liu Qiangdong to a restaurant in the city center for lunch, with Huang Zheng accompanying them.

Three hours later, the group returned to the Science and Technology Park. Chen Yansen then led them on a tour of Today Technology and Orange Pay.

Ever since Pinbei and Jingdong had a falling out, Orange Pay had been removed from Jingdong’s payment system.

Although they had now resumed their partnership, Liu Qiangdong didn’t bring it up again, because Jingdong Pay was now online.

Liu Qiangdong and his subordinates didn’t leave until dusk fell and a crescent moon hung in the sky.

On Chen Yansen’s desk now sat a letter of intent for cooperation between Jingdong Express and Cloud Speed Express.

In the end, Liu Qiangdong had chosen to yield.

After seeing them off, Chen Yansen took out his phone and sent a text message to Song Yuncheng. He then drove out of the Science and Technology Park, heading west along Xucheng Avenue.

A moment later, Song Yuncheng walked out of Building Six, got into the driver’s seat, and followed President Chen’s route, trailing him at a steady pace.

Xucheng was desolate in December. The cold northern wind was like a small willow-leaf blade, making the camphor trees lining the road whine and creak.

The streetlights flickered on, and the neon signs shone brilliantly.

About ten minutes later, an Aston Martin Rapide came into view. Song Yuncheng flashed her headlights twice.

The taillights of the Aston Martin Rapide immediately flashed twice in response.

The two cars, one after the other, drove into a villa complex.

"When I was a freshman, I came to the Delta with my classmates. I never expected there to be such a beautiful villa complex nearby. How much is it per square meter?" Song Yuncheng asked curiously, jogging over to Chen Yansen’s side after getting out of her car.

"Seven thousand per square meter after the discount, so under four million total. Xucheng’s property prices are much cheaper than Luzhou’s," Chen Yansen replied.

With that, he took Song Yuncheng’s hand and led her into the garden, which was over two hundred square meters. In terms of size and decor, this house was nearly identical to the one in Hu City, but the price was five to six times lower.

Song Yuncheng thought about her own little nest egg. After two and a half years of hard work, she had saved up just over four million. She’d spent three hundred thousand on a watch for Chen Yansen, leaving her with exactly four million—just enough to buy a single villa.

"Property in Luzhou is worth investing in. Don’t just think about making money without knowing how to spend it. Buy a few two-bedroom apartments near the University City or the business district and rent them out. You can’t lose," Chen Yansen advised casually as he pushed open the living room door.

"Then why didn’t you buy any?" Song Yuncheng asked.

"Who says I didn’t? I just bought five," Chen Yansen said, plopping down on the sofa.

’Five of them?’

Song Yuncheng was secretly speechless and couldn’t help but curse him inwardly, ’Filthy rich bastard.’

But she took Chen Yansen’s words to heart.

When it came to business, Song Yuncheng followed his advice almost to the letter. After all, in her heart, Chen Yansen wasn’t just a business genius—he was a god of commerce.

So, although she didn’t say anything, she had already made up her mind to do exactly as he said later.

"I’m hungry," Chen Yansen said out of the blue.

Song Yuncheng’s cheeks flushed slightly as she tried to analyze the true meaning behind President Chen’s words.

Normally, Chen Yansen only said ’I’m hungry’ in one of three situations. ’What is he really hungry for?’

"There’s food in the fridge. It’s all yours," Chen Yansen added.

’Oh, so he just wanted to eat,’ Song Yuncheng thought, relieved but also a little disappointed.

...

...

「The next morning」

Gome announced it would integrate Gome.com.cn and Coo8.com, unifying their back-end management and rebranding as "Gome Online."

Lashou Network launched its "Daily Settlement" plan, where merchant payments were settled every day, hoping to attract more merchants with high capital turnover efficiency.

When Pei Yi heard the news, he immediately followed suit.

Kuai Pao wasn’t short on cash; it had over a billion in its accounts and could certainly afford to play along.

Although Dianping and Meituan had investor backing, their assets were far inferior to Kuai Pao’s and Lashou Network’s.

But merchants were like weeds on a wall, leaning whichever way the wind blew.

Zhang Tao and Wang Xin had no choice. It was either shorten their payment cycles and improve withdrawal flexibility or watch their merchants leave. In the end, they gritted their teeth and launched similar features as well.

At the same time, Orange Pay once again disclosed the scale of Yu’e Bao’s funds, instantly sending a massive shockwave through the industry.

"Fifty-four days after its launch, Yu’e Bao has surpassed 100 billion in assets under management, with nearly 30 million users!"

This was the first domestic money market fund to reach the hundred-billion-yuan level!