Chapter 178

In the private suite on the rooftop garden of Hui Shui West Road, Xu City.

Zhao Maolin raised his wine glass to clink with Chen Yansen; his face flushed and ears red, already slightly drunk, he laughed: "Brother Chen, after this one, let's head to the next place—Galaxy Star just got a bunch of new girls from the north, those figures, wow…"

"To Brother Zhao's promotion! Bottoms up!"

Chen Yansen smiled faintly, ignoring Zhao Maolin's words—Song Yuncheng was right beside him.

"If you ever need anything from your big brother, don't hesitate to ask."

Zhao Maolin tossed back the wine in one gulp and slapped his chest with bold generosity.

Having been promoted from general manager of Xu City to general manager of Hui'an Province, his resources and power naturally soared, and his voice grew louder.

Chen Yansen, meanwhile, was the founder of Pinbei and Sister Chengzi Tech, running mobile and e-commerce businesses, and closely tied to Penguin—never short of money or connections.

Moreover, Chen Yansen had amassed a fortune of ten billion in just over a year; in a few more years, his status would only rise higher.

He might need Chen Yansen's help someday.

Zhao Maolin spoke with grandeur, but his inner calculations clicked like counting coins.

"Funny—I actually do have a favor to ask, Brother Zhao. Sister Chengzi Tech is launching two new products for Spring Festival: one is the Sister Chengzi D1 priced at 1,000 yuan, the other is the flagship Sister Chengzi C2. We want to use your telecom channels to boost sales."

Chen Yansen turned his glass upside down, shook it gently downward, and spoke slowly.

"Contract phones or joint marketing?"

Zhao Maolin, upon hearing this, instinctively pressed further.

The former meant telecom and Sister Chengzi Tech co-releasing customized phones, sold to telecom users via "buy a phone, get call credit" or "top up credit, get a phone," usually requiring a fixed plan with a two- to three-year contract.

The latter meant selling through telecom's physical stores, online platforms, and franchise outlets, with telecom taking a cut.

"I want both."

Chen Yansen spoke slowly, word by word: children make choices.

"No problem! Also, I think Pinbei could add an entry point for topping up call credit and data."

After readily agreeing, Zhao Maolin casually proposed his idea.

"Alright, I'll arrange it later."

Chen Yansen nodded in agreement.

Relationships last only when there's mutual give-and-take.

Contract phones and joint mobile marketing were just a word from Zhao Maolin's mouth; adding a top-up center to Pinbei was equally effortless for Chen Yansen.

"Great! One more round!" Zhao Maolin rolled up his sleeves, tugged his collar, picked up the bottle, filled his own glass first, then poured for Chen Yansen.

"Ding!" The two glasses clinked.

Zhao Maolin's assistant watched from the side—he wanted to shield his boss from drinking, but Zhao Maolin had ordered upon entering the suite: "I'll handle the drinking; you just drive."

Song Yuncheng glanced at the three empty wine bottles and quietly tugged Chen Yansen's sleeve, worried he'd drunk too much.

Chen Yansen turned to her, shook his head slightly, signaling it was fine.

Zhao Maolin looked between them and instantly understood why Chen Yansen had ignored his mention of Galaxy Star—he'd brought his girlfriend.

He knew Song Yuncheng; she'd been the telecom liaison during her time at Fox Taobao.

"Brother Zhao, have you considered moving SIM card sales online?"

Chen Yansen asked.

"You knew?" Zhao Maolin's face paled; he wondered: Could Chen Yansen have other contacts inside telecom besides himself?

A month ago, headquarters upgraded the online service portal, planning to launch the public test version of Tianyi's new portal tomorrow—even changed the domain, adding services like reserving premium numbers, ordering SIM cards, and broadband applications on top of existing offerings.

Seeing Zhao Maolin's reaction, Chen Yansen instantly guessed most of it.

Telecom had previously ignored online channels because online banking and payment tools had low penetration—but e-commerce platforms solved users' payment problems and made telecom realize the importance of online channels.

Taobao's Double Eleven and Double Twelve had cumulatively generated ten billion in sales—far more shocking than the five hundred billion a decade later.

Before this, no one had ever imagined e-commerce could reach tens of billions in daily sales.

Seeing Chen Yansen smile without speaking, Zhao Maolin smacked his forehead: "Brother Chen, how do you want to cooperate?"

"Treat telecom as a merchant入驻 on the platform—users can top up credit, buy SIM cards, and apply for broadband all in one store."

Chen Yansen said directly.

Since telecom already had online SIM sales, persuading Zhao Maolin and his superiors became much easier.

For telecom, it was merely adding another channel.

"There's no precedent, but I don't think it's a problem—I'll get back to you once I've finalized it."

Zhao Maolin replied seriously.

"Thank you, Brother Zhao. Let's drink another round." Chen Yansen refilled his glass and raised it.

Amid clinking glasses, the fourth bottle of Feitian Maotai was soon empty.

"Little Li, get two more bottles." Zhao Maolin felt he was nearing his limit, but seeing Chen Yansen still clear-eyed and alert, he felt he hadn't done enough—he needed two more rounds.

"Brother Zhao, a light buzz beats full intoxication—do you plan to send me to the hospital?"

Chen Yansen joked.

His remark gave Zhao Maolin a graceful exit.

"True enough. Then I'll let you off this time." Zhao Maolin laughed heartily, thinking: Drinking with Chen Yansen is pleasant—you can drink well and enjoy it fully.

Song Yuncheng immediately stood, excused herself, and walked out.

"Little Li, settle the bill." Zhao Maolin's body swayed, but he understood Song Yuncheng's intent.

"This is a farewell drink and your promotion banquet—I must pay today."

Chen Yansen stopped Zhao Maolin, smiling.

Little Li looked at his boss, waiting for instructions; after a long pause, Zhao Maolin sighed and gave up.

He plopped back down and said to Chen Yansen: "Then I'll arrange the next round."

"My girlfriend is with me," Chen Yansen made an excuse to back out.

"Is Director Song really your girlfriend? Look at this mess; luckily I didn't say what Galaxy Star is."

Zhao Maolin let out a dry laugh and pulled Chen Yansen, complaining.

"I'll get Brother Zhao home safely in a bit; call me if anything comes up."

Chen Yansen smiled and looked at Xiao Li, instructing him.

"Yes, Chen Zong," Xiao Li quickly agreed.

Zhao Maolin felt a warmth in his heart, hooking his arm around Chen Yansen's shoulder; their relationship before had been somewhat insincere, merely a union of interests.

But at this very moment, Chen Yansen's instructions made him feel exceptionally comfortable; the other person truly treated him like a big brother.

Actually, this was due to Chen Yansen's excessively high mental value; simple words spoken from his mouth seemed filled with genuine emotion, even moving Zhao Maolin, that old fox.

Chen Yansen keenly noticed Zhao Maolin's abnormality, thought for a moment, and understood the reason behind it.

So mental power had this kind of wonderful use; wasn't this the exclusive skill of a 'Succubus'?

Chen Yansen chuckled inwardly; after Song Yuncheng returned from paying the bill, the group took the elevator down to the first floor.

After drinking, blown by the cold wind, Zhao Maolin immediately collapsed, mumbling confused drunken words.

After helping his boss into the car, Xiao Li politely bid farewell to Chen Yansen and Song Yuncheng, then drove away.

"How are you? Do you want to go up and rest?"

Song Yuncheng asked.

Chen Yansen and Zhao Maolin each drank two bottles; this was almost the limit for an ordinary person. In Song Yuncheng's impression, her father also drank, but could at most have two or three cups before passing out drunk.

"Yes! I bought you a gift; try it on right now."

Chen Yansen nodded immediately, a mischievous smile flashing in his eyes.

"Is it clothes? Thank you, Boss," Song Yuncheng replied with a smile.

Three minutes later.

Inside the hotel room, Song Yuncheng stared at the Spider-Man cosplay suit on the bed, her face full of black lines.

"Chen Yansen, what is this? I won't wear it," Song Yuncheng refused.

"Then try this Black Widow one?" Chen Yansen pulled another piece of clothing out of the bag.

Beijing East Third Ring Road, Vanke Headquarters.

Chen Nian held the business report, looking at it expressionlessly.

As of yesterday, Vanke's total sales for 2011 were only 3.43 billion, still a world away from the 10 billion sales target.

The empty boasts made at the beginning of the year now slapped his face repeatedly.

He couldn't help but think of Chen Yansen; after selling Fox Tao, he had created Pinba.

He learned during a meal with Lei Yijun last time that Pinba, online for less than a month, had already broken the 5 billion sales mark.

"Why is doing e-commerce so hard?"

Chen Nian looked depressed.

Back then, he and Lei Yijun founded Joyo. com; at that time, their funds were insufficient, and they felt e-commerce burned too much money, so they sold the project to Amazon.

Later, with ample funds, Chen Nian founded Vanke under Lei Yijun's investment, intending to revive his e-commerce dream, but he didn't expect reality to be so cruel.

Vanke worked hard for a year, yet its performance was still not as high as Pinba's in just over twenty days.

The gap was too large; Chen Nian found it hard to accept, and even more unwilling to admit that his ability was inferior to Chen Yansen's.

After all, when they first met, he, having just secured investment, hadn't taken the other person seriously at all.

In less than a year, the other person sold Fox Tao on the spot, instantly becoming a billionaire, while he hadn't even reached 10 billion in sales.

"Chen Zong, I heard JD. com entered Pinba and made 200 million in sales on Double Twelve; should we..."

The assistant nearby, seeing Chen Nian's furrowed brows, whispered a suggestion.

Due to Vanke's blind expansion, a large number of new categories and SKUs were added, but performance fell far short of expectations, so 1.45 billion worth of inventory was piled up in the warehouse.

Chen Nian had once mocked Meitese's Zhou Jiancheng, but when he himself repeated the mistake and stepped into the same pit, he realized this feeling was not pleasant.

With Vanke's current sales level, the turnover cycle for goods in the warehouse reached six months, undoubtedly becoming a mountain pressing down on Vanke.

"You come... never mind, I'll call Chen Yansen personally."

Chen Nian sighed and said helplessly.

But he called several times, and no one answered.

At this moment, Chen Yansen was still playing the little game of Wolverine versus Black Widow with Song Yuncheng; where would he have time to attend to Chen Nian?

(End of this chapter)