Chapter 153: Little Ma Wants to Invest

On National Day, the campus was eerily quiet.

Most students at Xu Cheng College came from Huian Province; half went home, the other half traveled with their boyfriends or girlfriends to nearby destinations.

Only a few lonely singles stayed in their dorms, gaming or lying in bed.

Inside Room 0418.

Chen Yansen summoned the system interface and stared at the Human Dao Flame column—he had never seen so many flame values before.

Adding the remaining 63 strands from August, the total reached 3, 83 strands!

Orange Tech contributed 500 strands, the Orange Phone Factory contributed 960 strands, Li Yunzhu's September salary, quarterly bonus, and N+1 severance paid 760 strands, and the final 1, 00 strands came from stock compensation from Zhang Wenbo and others.

"Synthesize!"

Chen Yansen silently murmured.

Thousands of fine, hair-thin white mists materialized out of thin air; under Chen Yansen's gaze, they twisted together, instantly forming a golden mist as thick as chopsticks, then darting straight into his third eye.

In just a few seconds, his mental stat rose to 10. 3!

Chen Yansen smiled faintly, changed into light gray casual pants and a white shirt, and walked out.

He took the car downstairs and drove straight to the East Gate, stopping there.

Meng Jie had gone to Chunshen for her cousin's wedding and wanted Chen Yansen to join, but he said he had to travel to Husheng on business, so she gave up.

Gao Weilin returned to Hong Kong.

The second floor of the Startup Park was now empty too; the earlier bustle had vanished into silence.

Around ninety people successfully joined Ali Baba through this acquisition.

Their ranks ranged from P5 to P7—remember, this was 2011, two years before Ali's IPO, and their future income would only soar.

"Tap-tap-tap!"

A knock came on the car window.

Chen Yansen rolled down the window to see Song Yuncheng standing beside him, wearing a white T-shirt over a light blue plaid shirt and wide-leg jeans, her figure subtly outlined.

"Chen Yansen, are you even human? Zhang Wenbo and Xiang Pengfei both got time off, but I still have to accompany you on this business trip."

Song Yuncheng raised a tiny fist, glaring at Chen Yansen's grinning face, itching to punch him.

"You're my number one employee—how can Zhang and Pengfei compare to you?" Chen Yansen laughed, handing her the car keys.

Song Yuncheng's eyes widened—Xu Cheng to Husheng was nearly six hundred kilometers; Chen Yansen was letting her drive?

"What are you staring at? The company paid for your driving school—what's wrong with me charging a little interest?"

Chen Yansen grumbled.

Then he climbed into the passenger seat and patted the seat beside him. "Director Song, get in!"

"Yes, Boss Chen!" Song Yuncheng took the keys, obediently slid into the driver's seat, and drove toward Husheng.

"Why not buy a car?" Chen Yansen asked casually.

"I can take taxis on business trips and don't need to drive on campus—plus, I'd have to pay insurance and maintenance every year. Buying a car's too expensive."

Song Yuncheng answered seriously.

"You've got over a million in savings, yet you're living worse than a customer service rep—you earn money just to spend it, or else it sits in your bank account like toilet paper."

As Chen Yansen lectured Song Yuncheng on consumption, he placed his hand on her thigh.

"Just talk, don't do that—it'll distract me while driving," Song Yuncheng blushed, scolding him.

"No problem, I'm just leaving it there, not moving it," Chen Yansen lied, his mouth saying stillness while his hand never stopped.

Too bad she wasn't wearing a short skirt—would've felt better.

After playing a bit, Chen Yansen stopped teasing her and pulled his hand back.

"Is our new project a general e-commerce platform or a vertical one? Min Jie from Meites had invited you to visit Husheng a year ago, but you never agreed—now you're going to Meites' headquarters. I guess it's a vertical category—you planning to follow Fanke's path?"

Song Yuncheng asked, relieved that Chen Yansen had finally settled down.

"You've gotten smarter—but Fanke's path? Chen Nian himself got stuck in a dead end. Why would I repeat his mistake?"

Chen Yansen scoffed, dismissing her guess.

"Then…" Song Yuncheng was curious—she'd turned down joining Ali Baba, but still wanted to know what her new job would involve.

"I'll tell you tonight," Chen Yansen leaned close and whispered.

Song Yuncheng's earlobes flushed red; suggestive images flashed in her mind, and her lips curled up involuntarily.

Chen Yansen watched Song Yuncheng's growing blush, smiled, stopped teasing her, and opened the scanned e-book he'd prepared earlier, flipping through it idly.

Meanwhile.

The Orange Phone Factory in Zhongsha Tech Park remained busy.

For the first three days of National Day, overtime paid triple wages; since base pay rose from 15 to 20 yuan per hour, worker enthusiasm surged.

Previously, some had called the boss insane; now, anyone who dared gossip behind his back might get beaten up by coworkers.

This guy was a god of wealth!

Everyone's bread and butter!

In the packaging workshop, Li Yunzhu carefully placed each phone and accessory into boxes, working with intense focus.

"Boss Li, you really plan to work without a single day off?" asked a coworker beside him.

"If you want to rest, rest—don't worry about me!"

Li Yunzhu replied briefly, his mind entirely on his work.

For the first three days of National Day, eight hours a day at triple pay meant 480 yuan per day; for the next four days, eight hours at double pay meant 320 yuan per day.

In seven days, he'd earn 2, 60 yuan—only eight hours a day, making money this easily? Why take a break?

Only a fool would rest!

Li Yunzhu didn't even bother saying anything harsh—he just thought this coworker had forgotten how hard labor used to be after just a few good days.

He'd heard the company had rented the adjacent A1, A2, A4, and A5 zones, planning to quadruple or quintuple production capacity.

When more workers arrived, things wouldn't be this comfortable anymore.

Maybe next National Day, even wanting to work overtime would require an application.

So he seized every chance to earn more now, refusing to slack off.

Last month, his pre-tax salary was 6, 20 yuan; after deductions for social insurance and housing fund, he still had over 6, 00 yuan left.

In the past, he'd never dreamed of earning nearly 7, 00 yuan a month with four days off, twelve-hour workdays on weekdays, and only eight hours on Saturdays.

Now, Orange Factory's benefits were famous throughout Huaqiangbei.

Everyone knew the factory planned to hire over five thousand more employees in the fourth quarter; some even bribed HR staff just to get hired.

When Zhang Jing found out, she only warned the two HR staff who took bribes, ordering them to return the money to the applicants.

She didn't want to risk losing her job over this—after all, the boss treated ordinary employees so well that middle managers like her earned base salaries of twenty to thirty thousand yuan.

Even if she took 300–500 yuan per worker as referral fees, five thousand workers could net over a million.

But after thinking it over, Zhang Jing dared not do it—too many mouths, too much risk; if word got out, she'd spend years in prison.

Even when subordinates suggested hiring agencies to collect the money, she refused to try.

After all, Cao Dahua and Zuo Hongyu had spent years in Huaqiangbei—they were sharp as knives. Unless she could get them involved, she'd never dare act.

Chen Yansen, en route to Husheng, didn't yet know his wage hikes had sparked corrupt thoughts in others.

Chen Yansen wasn't truly a monster—he switched to the driver's seat once they reached Jin Ling.

"How about we spend a day in Jin Ling first?" Chen Yansen suggested.

"No, let's handle business first," Song Yuncheng shook her head.

"Fine."

Chen Yansen gripped the steering wheel and drove toward Husheng.

In his past life, he'd lived in Husheng for over a decade; in this life, he'd only visited once—not because he didn't want to, but because the timing hadn't been right.

Big cities offered more opportunities—for both workers and entrepreneurs.

Three hours later, Chen Yansen exited the highway, drove along the Middle Ring Road, and parked at the Waldorf Astoria beside the Bund.

He checked in smoothly, took Song Yuncheng up in the elevator to the 22nd-floor river-view suite.

At 3, 00 yuan per night, Chen Yansen never stinted on comfort.

It was a suite with a living room, over a hundred square meters, classically decorated, even the bedside landline phone styled in vintage design.

A two-meter bed dominated the bedroom, above it a crystal chandelier, the bathroom equipped with a circular bathtub 1. meters in diameter.

Chen Zong loved this detail.

"Tomorrow we visit Meites HQ—stay at the Bund tonight. Want a bath?"

Chen Yansen pointed to the glossy glazed bathtub and smiled.

"How about we go out first? I'm hungry," Song Yuncheng said, her legs instinctively pressing together as she quickly changed the subject.

"Fine," Chen Yansen agreed readily.

"Vibrating—vibrating—!"

At that moment, Chen Yansen's phone rang.

Song Yuncheng jumped, tiptoed to check the caller ID, then relaxed.

Chen Yansen picked up: "Director Lin, still calling me on vacation?"

The caller was Lin Chenfeng from Tencent Venture Capital; they'd met several times and grown familiar.

"Sorry, Boss Chen! I didn't want to disturb your holiday, but Martin's pushing hard."

Lin Chenfeng chuckled awkwardly, explaining.

"Oh? So you've got a problem with Martin?"

Chen Yansen walked to the balcony and plopped down on the sofa, smiling with a teasing tone.

"Mr. Chen, don't tease me! By the way, let's get to the point—Martin heard you've started a new company focused on e-commerce, and he asked me to check if you need investment."

Lin Chenfeng gave a bitter smile and probed cautiously.

Does Chen Yansen lack funds?

Of course not!

Lin Chenfeng asked this not out of curiosity, but to gauge Chen Yansen's stance—whether he would accept or resist Tencent's funding request.

"Fine, if Tencent wants to invest, I have no objection—but I want a level-one entry point on WeChat and QQ. Can you agree to that, Director Lin?"

Chen Yansen replied without hesitation.

QQ has nearly 200 million daily active users; a level-one entry point would get at least 100 million exposures. Even with just a 5% click-through rate, that's ten million daily visitors.

As for WeChat, since launching the "Shake" feature, daily active users have surged, nearing ten million.

Chen Yansen couldn't help but marvel: Tencent is truly humanity's greatest productivity engine.

In just two months, WeChat's user base jumped from 15 million to 50 million—the impact of "Shake" was undeniable.

Lin Chenfeng's expression stiffened at Chen Yansen's demand; he smiled bitterly. "I'll definitely relay your request to Martin."

What does a level-one entry point on WeChat and QQ even mean?

It means a tab in the core navigation bar—that's a level-one entry point.

Even Tencent's own QQ Microblog was placed at a level-two entry point; Chen Yansen was asking for level-one. This was no small demand.

Lin Chenfeng had no authority to decide!

"Alright, we'll talk again later." Chen Yansen smiled and hung up the phone.

He knew Lin Chenfeng couldn't make the call—he was using him as a messenger to reach Martin.

Whether Martin would agree, he wasn't worried at all. Business, after all, only needs a seat at the table to have hope.

As far as he knew, JD. om and Paipai. om both received this same treatment three years later.

Chen Yansen didn't want to waste time in the early stages of the project; leveraging Tencent's resources would let him move faster and farther.

Equity means nothing unless the business is already thriving!

Orange Tech's profitability was too weak—he needed to find a new, highly profitable vertical, so he could later expand into other fields with real confidence.

Beside him, Song Yuncheng watched Chen Yansen in silence.

Behind her, the Bund glowed with its first evening lights, their glow casting sharp contours across Chen Yansen's face, making her heart skip a beat.

This man was perfect in every way—except he was a bit of a scoundrel!

(End of Chapter)