Chapter 154: Lao Ma

The next morning.

Song Yuncheng poked her head out from under the covers and saw Chen Yansen seated at the desk in the living room.

She was curious—she'd noticed Chen Yansen was exceptionally disciplined; no matter how late they stayed up on previous trips, he always woke up early.

She grabbed the white spaghetti-strap top beside her, slipped it on, and walked over in slippers.

Chen Yansen heard the movement behind him but didn't look up, continuing to read The Nature of Physical Laws.

Since his sleep duration had shortened, his way of passing time had become reading these obscure, difficult physics and math books.

Yet to Chen Yansen, these topics were as simple as elementary addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

Natural laws, material structures, mathematical models—like bricks, they stacked in his mind, gradually building a logically rigorous, complex knowledge system.

"Up so early? Reading a novel?" Song Yuncheng rested her hand on Chen Yansen's shoulder and asked curiously.

"You could say that." Chen Yansen set the book down, offering no further explanation.

He pulled Song Yuncheng onto his lap, leaned in, and sniffed: "Senior, you smell nice."

Song Yuncheng's cheeks flushed slightly as she softly reminded him: "We're meeting Min Zong at half past nine. It takes half an hour to get there from here."

The implication: business comes first.

"Won't delay morning exercise."

Chen Yansen grinned mischievously and carried Song Yuncheng into the bathroom.

By the time they were ready and arrived at the Metes headquarters building, it was already 9: 0.

Min Jie, general manager of Bang Shopping, was talking with a man in his forties on the first floor, flanked by five Metes management staff.

Chen Yansen got out of the car and walked over with Song Yuncheng.

"Chief Chen, welcome to Metes! Let me introduce you—this is my boss, Mr. Zhou Jiancheng, founder of Metes."

The moment Min Jie saw Chen Yansen and Song Yuncheng, he immediately stepped forward with a smile to introduce Zhou Jiancheng.

"Mr. Zhou, a pleasure!" Chen Yansen extended his hand and shook Zhou Jiancheng's.

With his current net worth and industry influence, he had no need for flattery.

Zhou Jiancheng wore a blue pinstripe shirt over an indigo business suit—clearly taking today's meeting seriously.

From 2010 to 2011, Metes' operations had sharply declined, its market cap plunging from last year's peak of 39 billion to just 23 billion.

Though Zhou Jiancheng had been in the industry long, he dared not be arrogant before Chen Yansen and greeted him politely: "I've long heard of your reputation, Chief Chen. Since you're in Shanghai, I insist on treating you properly."

As a tycoon who'd built his empire from the ground up, Zhou Jiancheng's way of entertaining guests was still the old formula: fine wine, gourmet food, beautiful women—he couldn't think of anything new.

"Mr. Zhou, you're too kind. You're a senior; visiting Metes to learn is my honor."

Chen Yansen smiled, replying calmly and unhurriedly.

Since the other party showed respect, he returned it in kind.

Zhou Jiancheng nodded inwardly, thinking: No wonder this kid made over ten billion before turning twenty—his composure alone far surpassed mine at his age.

With that thought, Zhou Jiancheng led Chen Yansen and Song Yuncheng into the headquarters building.

Unlike typical e-commerce companies, Metes' headquarters included not just Bang Shopping's e-commerce division, but also knitting, woolen, woven fabric procurement, and quality inspection departments.

Zhou Jiancheng introduced each one in turn, carefully explaining the differences in texture, cost, and manufacturing processes among various fabrics.

Chen Yansen nodded slightly, silently reflecting: In 2011, despite its inventory crisis, Metes still managed to hold on—it remained a dream employer for many design and e-commerce graduates.

Not like ten years later, when its market cap had dropped ninety percent, less than half of Feiyu Tech's valuation.

Zhou Jiancheng, seeing he'd said enough, pulled Chen Yansen into his office, where the group sipped tea and chatted casually.

Zhou Jiancheng had heard from Min Jie that Chen Yansen had sold Fox Taobao to Alibaba, Rakuten, and Augusta, then immediately founded a new company focused on product sales and marketing promotion.

This sparked Zhou Jiancheng's interest—he understood Chen Yansen intended to start fresh.

Moreover, after Ali had restructured Fox Taobao, Zhou Jiancheng had no confidence that Metes' brand collaboration with the new Fox Taobao would retain its former effectiveness.

He knew the nature of those Fox Taobao clerks all too well.

So he wanted to seize this opportunity to strengthen cooperation with Chen Yansen.

Seeing Chen Yansen merely sipping tea, seemingly uninterested in discussing collaboration, Zhou Jiancheng grew anxious.

Fox Taobao and Bang Shopping had only managed to clear about thirty percent of Metes' inventory.

Honestly, the warehouse still held at least two billion worth of unsold goods.

Last year he'd still held out; this year he'd accepted defeat—anything to sell, recover costs, and revive cash flow, he didn't care anymore.

Min Jie, watching his boss's expression, quickly smiled and asked: "Chief Chen, I heard besides Orange Tech, you have a new project?"

"Interested, Min Zong?" Chen Yansen sipped his tea and smiled in return.

He'd come to Shanghai on a whim.

Whether he met Zhou Jiancheng or Min Jie didn't matter to him.

His new project did need direct access to industrial belt resources—Metes was one option, but such cooperation could easily be handled by Song Yuncheng or Zhang Yifeng; he had no need to come himself.

"Chief Chen, if it's convenient, could you share the business model? If there's a suitable opportunity, Metes will certainly support your new venture," Min Jie ventured cautiously.

"Might as well tell you—it's similar to Fox Taobao's model, both are brand flash-sale websites, but this time we're not doing product guidance—we're building a platform."

Chen Yansen glanced at Min Jie, speaking casually.

Since Min Jie had brought it up, he had no intention of hiding it—by the time National Day ended, everyone in the industry would know anyway.

A platform?

This kid just sold Fox Taobao and now wants to compete directly with Taobao and JD?

Even Zhou Jiancheng couldn't help but admire Chen Yansen's audacity.

After all, the e-commerce market share was almost entirely divided among Taobao, JD, Suning, and Amazon—snatching business from these giants was no easy feat.

Bang Shopping had been online for a full year; without Fox Taobao driving traffic, its annual sales might not have reached even tens of millions.

"Chief Chen, if you need anything from Metes, just say the word," Zhou Jiancheng declared.

The implication: Metes was willing to be among the first merchants to join.

"Thank you, Mr. Zhou, but the project is still in planning, products still under development. When we need support, I'll have Chief Song contact Min Zong."

Chen Yansen pushed Song Yuncheng forward with a smile.

Song Yuncheng had excelled in the key client team; Chen Yansen planned to have her continue managing KA merchants in the new project—to hone her negotiation skills and expand her network.

"Alright," Zhou Jiancheng said, realizing further probing was pointless, and changed the subject to discuss the difficulties in the apparel industry over the past two years.

Chen Yansen listened, silently thinking: Apparel industry gross margins of 60–80% are only slightly lower than cosmetics—yet they're not greedy enough? They think consumers are easy to fool, trying to dominate the market with shoddy designs. Is the world really that generous?

Metes was a textbook example—too easy money led to blind capacity expansion, neglect of design, and a complete disconnect from target customers' aesthetics, hence its decline.

Take Han Du Yi She, which exploded in popularity these past two years—three hundred product teams, rapid new style releases, explosive growth.

And they focused entirely on online channels, getting fast feedback—if a new item sold poorly, they replaced it immediately.

Of course, ten years later, due to single-channel dependence, fierce competition, and product quality issues, Han Du Yi She faded into obscurity.

But in 2011, Han Du Yi She completely crushed Metes in sales and operations—the undisputed king of online apparel.

When Zhou Jiancheng mentioned this rival, his eyes brimmed with resentment and envy—he said Metes' design department planned to emulate Han Du Yi She's product teams to increase new style releases.

The group chatted until noon, after which Zhou Jiancheng had his admin arrange a car to take them to 27 The Bund, the Roosevelt Mansion.

Zhou Jiancheng had reserved a table with a direct view of the Huangpu River and the Oriental Pearl Tower across the water.

"Pity it's daytime—if it were night, the view would be even more beautiful," Zhou Jiancheng said with a smile.

The meal wasn't expensive—excluding alcohol, it was just over a thousand per person—but the ambiance was excellent.

Song Yuncheng clearly loved the setting.

Chen Yansen felt nothing special—this table, he'd sat at before with different women.

Compared to ten years later, the dishes hadn't changed much.

After the meal, Chen Yansen declined Zhou Jiancheng's invitation to stay, rose to leave, and walked along The Bund's promenade with Song Yuncheng.

In the greenery beside them, clouds of pink flowering plants drew many tourists to stop and take photos.

Song Yuncheng paused, clearly tempted.

"Go ahead—I'll take your picture," Chen Yansen said, reading her thoughts.

"Thanks," Song Yuncheng grinned.

She wore a simple little blazer, her hair fluttering in the breeze, her gaze soft as she looked at Chen Yansen.

Chen Yansen raised his phone—and froze.

In Song Yuncheng's eyes, he saw only his own reflection. Could he really betray such a girl who so clearly liked him?

Chen Yansen hesitated. Song Yuncheng was different from Zhou Keyuan and Ye Qiuping—she loved making money, and it seemed she liked him too.

"Done yet?" Song Yuncheng asked, smiling, revealing a row of delicate teeth, a ray of sunlight glinting off her as if she glowed.

"Yeah, come take a look." Chen Yansen clicked twice, capturing Song Yuncheng at her most beautiful.

He still had a knack for photographing girls.

Of course, Chief Chen's favorite photography locations were usually hotels, villas, and private clubs—only with the right ambiance could he unleash his full photographic skill.

After strolling along The Bund, they headed to the International Expo Center, where the National Day auto show was just opening.

Chen Yansen had grown tired of his BMW 750; this was the perfect chance to treat himself to a few more cars.

They got out and walked through the exhibition hall, touring each brand's booth.

Song Yuncheng trailed beside him, finally realizing her savings barely covered a mid- to low-end car.

The cars Chen Yansen inquired about? Even the cheapest one, she could afford only half.

Chen Yansen bought cars like groceries—at the Bentley and Aston Martin booths, he paid deposits, signed contracts, ordering a Bentley Mulsanne and an Aston Martin Rapide.

The two cars totaled nearly ten million; the rest of the paperwork would be handled by Gao Weilin.

The entire car-buying process took less than an hour.

Chen Yansen, seeing that time was still early, took Song Yuncheng to the shooting range.

Watching a beautiful girl shoot a pistol was also a kind of pleasure; Chen Yansen stood aside, watching Song Yuncheng, wearing noise-canceling headphones, adjust her posture under the coach's guidance as she held the Walther pistol.

"Bang!"

"Bang bang bang!"

Song Yuncheng, face flushed with excitement, listened to the electronic beep, then ran up to Chen Yansen and said: "Ten shots, thirty-three points—none missed."

This level wasn't indicative of talent, just slightly better than average.

After all, the target was only ten meters away.

"Fun?" Chen Yansen asked.

"This is my first time shooting a gun—it's thrilling," Song Yuncheng said, her cheeks flushed with the adrenaline rush.

"Next time I'll take you to North Ice Country—spend ten thousand, and you can play with tanks and heavy machine guns, fire as many bullets as you want."

Chen Yansen replied with a smile.

Perhaps it was because he sensed in Song Yuncheng a quality different from other girls that led Chen Yansen to bring her to the shooting range.

"No need. One experience is enough," Song Yuncheng said softly, sitting beside Chen Yansen.

Meanwhile.

Ma Liyun, upon learning that Chen Yansen had founded another new company, still in e-commerce, began pondering his intentions.

After a long while, he decided to have Zhang Yong probe Chen Yansen's stance—if possible, A Li would invest early.

Yuri, in the capital of North Ice Country, upon hearing that Chen Yansen had rejected DST's valuation offer, paused briefly, then decided to travel to China himself.

He wanted to see with his own eyes how this young man, under twenty, had built two companies each valued over ten billion in just one year.

(End of Chapter)