Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

On the day of the Double Twelve sales event, at 9:00 AM, Orange Pay released version 2.1. Building on top of version 2.0, it added a contact list, chat windows, and a red packet feature.

The Market Department arranged for a group of online shills to write a large number of promotional articles on Weibo, Renren Network, and Toutiao. These included titles like, "My husband sent me a 1,314 yuan red packet, what should I buy?", "A Red Packet of Love: The Story Behind 666 Yuan," and "I got my first paycheck after graduation and sent my mom a 520 yuan red packet."

The stories seemed heartwarming, but they all subtly mentioned Orange Pay’s red packet feature.

The methods were crude, but the results were remarkable.

A large number of long-distance couples really did start sending each other red packets. They then went on Weibo and their social feeds to post screenshots and show off, which in turn encouraged even more people to join in.

Half an hour later, Chen Yansen posted on Weibo, announcing that starting from 10:00 AM, 10,000 passphrase red packets would be distributed on Orange Pay every hour. The amounts would range from 8.8 to 888 yuan.

The total for each round would be no less than 200,000 yuan, for a total of 3 million a day. The giveaway would run for three consecutive days, from December 12th to 14th.

In addition, he would draw 33 winners from his followers each day for a grand prize of 10,000 yuan.

The total marketing expense came out to 9.99 million yuan!

But backed by Chen Yansen’s 47 million followers, the announcement instantly shot to the top of the trending topics list.

Although internet tycoons were rich, Chen Yansen was the first one to literally stuff money into users’ pockets.

In less than ten minutes, Chen Yansen’s Weibo post had surpassed 300,000 likes, comments, and shares.

Half an hour later, the share count broke 10 million.

As ten o’clock approached, netizens were constantly hitting F5, rapidly refreshing Chen Yansen’s main Weibo page.

"57!"

"58!"

"59!"

"The server is a little tired and needs to catch its breath!"

The tens of millions of netizens waiting in front of their screens froze for a moment. Then, in disbelief, they kept refreshing, only for the page’s content to change to ’Load failed. Please try again.’

’Did Weibo’s servers fucking crash again?’

Not only were the netizens dumbfounded, but even Chen Yansen was stunned. He couldn’t help but curse inwardly, ’Weibo’s ability to monetize may be poor, but Cao Weiguo can’t be this stingy with his servers, can he?’

After grumbling to himself, he casually posted the passphrase for the 10:00 AM red packet round on his personal Toutiao account: Pinbei’s Double Twelve is waiting for you.

While other netizens were still waiting for Weibo to recover, some quick-witted people quickly opened Toutiao and, sure enough, found the passphrase on Chen Yansen’s account.

They immediately copied it, switched to Orange Pay, went to the red packet page, and pasted the passphrase.

A brilliant gold and crimson red packet immediately popped up. With a single tap, it would open to reveal a prize ranging from 8.8 to 888 yuan.

Ten thousand red packets wasn’t a huge amount, and they were all gone in under three minutes.

Chen Yansen knew perfectly well, ’If Weibo’s servers hadn’t crashed and forced me to suddenly post the passphrase on Toutiao, they probably wouldn’t have even lasted thirty seconds.’

「Meanwhile.」

When Cao Weiguo learned that his own product had been crashed by Chen Yansen yet again, he cursed with a wry smile, "That bastard! If he’d just given me a heads-up, I could have had the tech department get ready!"

Weibo’s servers didn’t return to normal until 10:37 AM. But when netizens saw the screenshots in the comment section, they felt like their world had come crashing down.

’Chen Yansen posted the passphrase on Toutiao?’

’The red packets are already gone?’

"President Chen, I haven’t even gotten on board yet!"

"Dad Chen, post another one, please! *Mwah*!"

"President Chen is only twenty, and you’re calling him Dad? Is that appropriate? I don’t want all of you as my dear siblings from different parents!"

"Can someone tell me, for the next round, should we camp out on Weibo or go to Toutiao?"

"I haven’t even downloaded Toutiao yet!"

The netizens chattered away.

Leaning back on his office sofa, Chen Yansen glanced at the comment section and posted a reply: "From now on, the passphrases will be announced on Toutiao and Weibo simultaneously. To make it up to the users who missed the first round, I will also be drawing 33 daily winners for the 10,000 yuan grand prize from my Toutiao followers."

As soon as the message was posted, the Weibo site began to lag again, but this time it didn’t crash.

"Dad Chen only has 5.7 million followers on Toutiao! The odds of winning are eight times higher than on Weibo! Let’s go!"

"Dad, love me just one more time! I don’t care about getting a red packet, but my name has to be on that list for the grand prize!"

"Dad Chen is so generous! Dropping 10.88 million just like that!"

Toutiao’s download count skyrocketed. Normally, it would see around one million new downloads per day, but in the short half-hour after Chen Yansen announced he would be posting passphrases on the platform, downloads increased by 1.7 million.

As soon as it struck twelve, the passphrase was updated again: "I’m waiting for you on Toutiao."

Shockingly, they were all gone in under three seconds.

Each round contained 100 large red packets worth 888 yuan. Spread across tens of millions of users, the chances of winning one were actually minuscule. However, the sight of dozens of lucky winners posting screenshots one after another created the illusion that they were easy to get.

After the 1:00 PM round ended, some sharp-eyed netizens suddenly realized that the passphrase seemed to appear on Toutiao two seconds earlier than on Weibo.

Because of this, Toutiao’s download numbers surged dramatically.

Liang Bo stared at the data backend. From 11:30 AM to 5:00 PM, they had gained a staggering 7 million new users, with downloads exceeding 7.4 million.

The cost of acquiring a single user was just 1.56 yuan!

And with more than two days left in the red packet event, if they could add another 20 million users, the acquisition cost would fall even lower.

By 10:30 that night, Chen Yansen’s follower count on Toutiao had surpassed 15 million, while his Weibo followers reached 50 million, giving him an insurmountable lead over whoever was in second place.

His status as a twenty-year-old with a net worth of fifty billion US dollars, combined with his outstanding physique and handsome features, had made him a sensation. Experiences like being interviewed on a CCTV celebrity program and appearing in the American edition of *Time* magazine made Chen Yansen unbelievably popular on the internet in 2012.

The comment sections were filled with people clamoring to call Chen Yansen "Dad."

’Seems like in my past life, only Cheng Guo ever called me that.’

Chen Yansen chuckled in spite of himself, muttering softly.

Using passphrase red packets to promote Orange Pay was like killing three birds with one stone; Toutiao and Pinbei Mall gained a great deal of traffic as well.

With this in mind, Chen Yansen pushed open his office door, took the elevator down to the first floor, and walked straight into Building Six.

A giant LED screen on the first floor displayed the real-time sales total for Pinbei’s Double Twelve event: 3.74 billion Hua Yuan!

With only an hour and a half left until midnight, the final transaction volume would likely hit around 4 billion Hua Yuan. This was a full 43% drop compared to the single-day sales during Double Eleven.

But this was perfectly normal. There was only a one-month gap between Double Eleven and Double Twelve.

There was a limit to consumer demand!

"Class President, Mr. Huang and the others are on the second floor," Xu Xingxing, who had been busy with reports, reminded him with a smile when she saw him.

"Tell Lao Huang it’s the usual rule: everyone clocks out at midnight. I won’t be going up."

Chen Yansen stopped, glanced only briefly at the data, and then spoke to Xu Xingxing.

"Okay," Xu Xingxing replied, her eyes crinkling as she smiled and nodded.

After speaking, Chen Yansen turned, pulled out his phone to send a text to Meng Jie, and then casually picked out a Bentley and got inside.

A moment later, Meng Jie came jogging out of the building. Like a little thief, she furtively slipped into the passenger seat.

"Let’s go, Chen Yansen!"

Meng Jie said with a beaming smile, waving her arms.

In her mind, the villa Chen Yansen had bought near Delta Park was the first house he’d ever owned, so naturally, she had to go see it.

"Uncle Meng isn’t going to call tonight, is he?" Chen Yansen teased playfully, steering the car out of the Science and Technology Park with one hand.

"I’ll just turn my phone off," Meng Jie decided instantly, blinking.

Chen Yansen ruffled her hair, smiled gently, and sped off in the direction of the villa district.

「At the same time.」

Inside the Jingdong Headquarters Building, the lights were still blazing.

"Boss, you’re going to the Lighthouse Country to study?"

Xu Lei looked shocked after hearing Liu Qiangdong’s decision.

"It’s been fourteen years since Jingdong was founded. I have faith in your management skills, and I trust Jingdong’s organizational structure and team cohesion. Just think of this as a test, for all of you and for Jingdong itself."

Liu Qiangdong said calmly, a faint smile on his face.

Going to study at Harvard Business School was, for one, a chance to rest and relax, and for another, a way to test the operational capabilities of Jingdong’s upper and middle management.

In any case, after Double Twelve, the e-commerce sector would enter its off-season.

It wouldn’t make much of a difference whether he was personally overseeing things at the company or not!

"I’ll be gone for about two months. I’m leaving Jingdong in your hands. Don’t disappoint me." Liu Qiangdong patted Xu Lei’s shoulder, his gaze sweeping over the two dozen or so executives in the room.

At the start of the year, Ma Liyun had already replaced the president of Tmall Mall and Taobao with Zhang Yong. Jingdong was, after all, one of the three e-commerce giants; it was time to start grooming a successor as well.

Competing against Chen Yansen and Zhang Yong had made him aware of his own shortcomings.

"Don’t worry, Boss," Xu Lei quickly assured him, seeing that Liu Qiangdong’s mind was made up.

Liu Qiangdong acknowledged him with a nod. Out of the corner of his eye, his gaze fell on a nearby screen. Jingdong’s final result for the Double Twelve sales event was 1.39 billion!