Chapter 157: Let

Three days later, at Zhu Xianzhuang Technology Park, Building 8.

In the office, Chen Yansen hung up the phone.

Pony offered three hundred million U. . dollars to exchange for 30% of Pinnbei's equity, a far more sincere offer than Ali's.

But this is only the first round of financing; giving up too high a stake risks losing control of the company.

Senlian Capital holds 3% of Yunsu Express and 40% of Yunsu Transfer, two companies with nearly five thousand employees, yet they have never contributed a single spark of human vitality to him.

This proves that if Chen Yansen loses controlling equity, his employees cannot generate vitality points.

Therefore, Chen Yansen flatly refused—he told Liu Zhiping that three hundred million U. . dollars for 15% of Pinnbei's equity was his bottom line.

Of course, his true minimum requirement was actually 20%.

In simple terms, Tencent would exchange its primary traffic entry points on QQ and WeChat for 15% of Pinnbei's original equity, and the three hundred million U. . dollars was merely a bonus.

Chen Yansen's move effectively set Pinnbei's valuation at two billion U. . dollars.

For an e-commerce platform still in development, this valuation had no basis in logic.

But this money wasn't investing in Pinnbei as a project—it was investing in Chen Yansen himself.

Liu Zhiping immediately relayed the negotiation outcome to Ma Wenteng.

"Pony, I support your idea of investing in Pinnbei, but this kid is too greedy—I think we should wait and observe Pinnbei's development first."

Liu Zhiping thought carefully, then said to Ma Wenteng.

"Three hundred million U. . dollars plus a primary traffic entry—our own internal projects wouldn't dare ask for this at a board meeting, yet he has such an appetite."

Ma Wenteng adjusted his glasses and sneered.

"What do you mean?" Liu Zhiping probed.

"Agree to him, but for the primary traffic entry contract, I'll sign only three years."

Ma Wenteng narrowed his eyes, paused for a long moment, then gave an unexpected reply.

Liu Zhiping opened his mouth, stunned.

"What? Didn't you always want me to abandon our self-operated e-commerce strategy? Now I'm following your advice, and you look like this?"

Ma Wenteng stood up, patted Liu Zhiping on the shoulder, and teased with a smile.

"But Chen Yansen said the contract should be signed every two years."

Liu Zhiping snapped back, smiling wryly.

"What!? He only wants two years?" Ma Wenteng looked baffled.

This was QQ and WeChat's primary traffic entry—hundreds of millions of daily exposures, over ten million unique clicks.

After all this effort, he only wants two years?

According to Ma Wenteng's expectations, Chen Yansen would have set the contract term at five years or more from the start.

"He said, if Pinnbei isn't successful in two years, he might as well go hit his head against a block of tofu."

Liu Zhiping relayed Chen Yansen's exact words.

"Confidence is good, but excessive confidence is arrogance," Ma Wenteng shook his head, thinking Chen Yansen was too bold.

P Paipai relies on Tencent's traffic, yet still can't break into the top ten of the industry.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have pinned his e-commerce hopes on an outside company.

At this moment, Ma Wenteng hadn't yet lost heart; only later, when P Paipai 's market share dropped to 1%, did he accept Liu Zhiping's advice.

He struck a strategic partnership with JD. om—money if needed, traffic if needed.

His only demand: help Tencent deliver a brutal slap to Taobao in the e-commerce arena.

Unfortunately, the handsome lad from Zhongguancun, JD. om, remained the eternal number two for over a decade—it wasn't until Pinduoduo's rise that Tencent finally regained ground in e-commerce.

"If the contract is only two years, then agree to him," Ma Wenteng returned to his seat, frowning in thought, then finally looked up at Liu Zhiping.

"Alright, I'll handle the arrangements," Liu Zhiping nodded.

That afternoon, Chen Yansen received Liu Zhiping's reply, which bluntly stated that Pony had spent considerable effort convincing Tencent's management to approve the investment.

Chen Yansen smiled, not taking the man's words seriously.

With such harsh terms, even Pony agreed—he had to admire him; the man was gambling.

The follow-up procedures were handed to Gao Weilin; on Tencent's side, Lin Chenfeng, an old acquaintance, handled it.

The day after signing the contract, the news exploded onto hot search.

"Business Genius's Third Venture: Tencent Capital Makes Its First Investment, Financing Reaches Three Hundred Million U. . Dollars!"

"Tencent Vice President Liu Zhiping Reveals: Pinnbei Will Become a Strategic Partner of QQ, Granted Primary Traffic Entry!"

"Rumors claim that before Tencent, Alibaba also extended an olive branch, but Chen Yansen refused!"

Details of this financing deal gradually surfaced online.

This instantly shattered countless entrepreneurs struggling to secure funding, especially Zhang Xuhao of Ele. e, who slammed his desk in his office.

Why does Chen Yansen, with just a business concept, get a two-billion-dollar valuation?

Is this fair?

Damn it!

Why is it so hard for Ele. e to find investors?

In his agitation, Zhang Xuhao even slipped into his catchphrase—unfortunately, no one answered him.

Before Pinnbei even launched, it had already drawn tens of millions of online buzz.

Whether users, merchants, or platform insiders, all were speculating about Pinnbei's business model.

But relying solely on a name to understand a company's full picture was undeniably too abstract.

Ma Liyun learned Chen Yansen had chosen Tencent and felt displeased, but he was busy handling merchant conflicts and repurchasing Alibaba's equity, leaving no time to dwell on it.

He scoffed at Ma Wenteng's decision—without even a product, how could he risk such a heavy bet? Wasn't that just gambling?

Chen Yansen was indeed a business genius—young, already worth billions, having founded two billion-dollar enterprises in succession.

But in this world, who wins every time?

His earlier willingness to offer a five-hundred-million-dollar valuation was simply because he believed in Chen Yansen himself.

But two billion U. . dollars far exceeded Ma Liyun's mental limit.

On the other side.

Pinnbei's team, upon seeing the online news, first confirmed with Chen Yansen; once assured the news was true, each face lit up with joy.

Though project funds were ample, Tencent's three hundred million U. . dollars carried different weight—it represented Ma Wenteng's full backing.

Wang Zihao, with a background in user acquisition, understood the cost and difficulty of buying traffic; partnering with Tencent meant not necessarily soaring to the heavens, but certainly launching the product with a strong tailwind.

Zhang Wenbo and Xiang Pengfei were busy with product development; Song Yuncheng, Chen Xu, and others worked with HR, interviewing candidates daily.

Zhang Yifeng, Li Hui, and Yuan Wei were dispatched by Chen Yansen—to visit merchants and, in the process, delve into the origin regions of sugar oranges, satsumas, and navel oranges, establishing ties with local agricultural associations to secure direct sourcing and pricing.

Preparing for Pinnbei's launch!

Other hired business staff used copied contact lists from FoxTaobao to call merchants one by one, inviting them to join Pinnbei as sellers.

Without Tencent's investment and traffic support, these merchants might not have been willing to join—after all, a new platform takes time to grow; entering too early meant low returns and wasted manpower and capital.

After all, Pinnbei's listing requirements were high—security deposits started at one hundred thousand yuan; merchants without sufficient strength had no confidence.

But now, with Tencent as their backer, promising to embed Pinnbei's redirect link in QQ and WeChat's primary traffic entry, merchants from Taobao and JD no longer hesitated.

Min Jie of Metersbonwe submitted a five-hundred-thousand-yuan deposit the moment Pinnbei's recruitment rules were announced, becoming the first brand to join Pinnbei after Orange Tech.

After securing Tencent, Chen Yansen called Liao Wei.

The next morning, Liao Wei arrived in Xucheng from Yanjing and entered Chen Yansen's office.

"How's Yunsu Transfer doing lately?" Chen Yansen picked up the teapot and poured Liao Wei a cup of hot tea, smiling.

"Alibaba has resources in international logistics, but they've still entrusted cross-border transfer operations to Yunsu—though the current manager has changed, I don't feel secure anymore."

Liao Wei's mood had been up and down—he had once thrived with FoxTaobao, making cross-border transfer a booming business.

But who knew Chen Yansen had sold FoxTaobao to Alibaba!

"I called you here because I want to discuss something—I plan to fully acquire Yunsu. What do you think?"

Chen Yansen lifted the teacup, sipped slowly, and asked softly.

Acquire Yunsu?

Liao Wei froze, then immediately realized Chen Yansen meant Yunsu Express, not Yunsu Transfer.

"Boss, to be honest, the express industry has been under heavy pressure these past two years—fronted by SF Express and the 'Three Passes and One Reach,' behind by JD, Guofeng, and TianTian Express—Yunsu's volume has steadily shrunk, and now we only have about three hundred delivery points."

Liao Wei smiled bitterly—his meaning was clear: he was willing to sell, but wouldn't dare inflate the valuation to Chen Yansen.

After all, Chen Yansen was still a major shareholder in Yunsu Transfer; the meal on his table was still provided by Chen Yansen.

"You're in the same business—how did you end up so down on your luck?" Chen Yansen frowned, teasing with a smile.

What did three hundred delivery points mean?

Over a decade later, SF Express peaked with over two hundred thousand stations nationwide.

Yunsu's scale couldn't even compare to a single hair of theirs.

"What can I do? E-commerce has grown fast these past two years, everyone's fighting for market share—I have few vehicles, few staff, few stations, and I can't lower delivery prices. I can't compete on price or scale. If not for my old customers, I'd have shut down Yunsu long ago."

Liao Wei spread his hands, complaining endlessly.

Chen Yansen smiled, thinking this was nothing yet.

In his previous life, Pinduoduo and Douyin E-commerce entered the low-price e-commerce market and forced delivery fees down to one yuan per order—it took the postal service stepping in to bring prices back to 1. –1. yuan.

In 2011, the market wasn't this brutal—even signing directly with express company headquarters cost at least three to four yuan per order.

"I'll have Gao Weilin from Senlian discuss pricing with you."

Chen Yansen set down the teacup and spoke calmly.