[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-get-stronger-every-payday-with-one-billion-emp":3,"chapter-i-get-stronger-every-payday-with-one-billion-emp-i-get-stronger-every-payday-with-one-billion-emp-chapter-186":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","I Get Stronger Every Payday—With One Billion Employees!",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2264399,4419,"Chapter 186","i-get-stronger-every-payday-with-one-billion-emp-chapter-186",186,"\u003Cp>On New Year’s Day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the homepages of Lucheng Tieba, Lucheng Online, and Lucheng Forum, a promotional poster was displayed, reading: “KuaiPao Invites You to Drink Your New Year’s First Milk Tea.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over the past month, KuaiPao’s reputation in Lucheng had grown steadily, especially through word-of-mouth among college students and white-collar workers, becoming an indispensable food delivery app on everyone’s phone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Zhou Yi, look at this promotion!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a rented apartment in Yaohai District, Wu Lei lay in bed and suddenly noticed a new promotion on the KuaiPao app.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>New users could receive one free milk tea on their first day of registration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Participating brands included Kawan Ka, Coco, Guming, Mihuang, and Bifenggang; existing users could invite one friend to complete their first order, and after the friend’s delivery was finished, they would earn a free order.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mechanics were simple and blunt—perfect for young people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Send me the referral link—I’ll find people to help.” Zhou Yi turned her head, stared at the screen for a moment, and immediately said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright.” Wu Lei replied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like Zhou Yi and Wu Lei, existing users were urging their family, friends, and classmates to register for KuaiPao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For white-collar workers or college students, a free milk tea was too good to pass up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the day of the promotion, new user registrations skyrocketed; normally, by noon, there were at most 1,000–1,500 new users, but today, just after twelve, the number exceeded 10,000.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In 2012, when Tieba and BBS were dominant, KuaiPao’s online marketing campaign easily garnered over 2 million impressions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even some Lucheng natives living far away had seen KuaiPao’s promotional poster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Zijie was one such person, currently studying in Shanghai, but his girlfriend was attending university in Lucheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hadn’t managed to get a train ticket back to Lucheng yesterday, so he took the train on the first to surprise her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After understanding KuaiPao’s operational model, Li Zijie immediately entered his girlfriend’s dorm address—and it was within the delivery range.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feicui Lake had always been KuaiPao’s first major base; even though Kang Guodong and Pei Yi had shifted their focus to the inner ring, they still hadn’t abandoned the university district business.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Zijie ordered a Kawan Ka milk tea, plus duck neck, grilled pig’s trotters, and Naihuangbao from Caidianxuan—all her favorite snacks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She often said things like, “It’s cold, I can’t hug you,” “Even when I’m sad, you don’t know,” “When I need you, you’re never there.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With KuaiPao, he could now regularly send her milk tea and flowers, creating little surprises.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Zijie paid with a satisfied smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Half an hour later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Zijie saw the order had been delivered and smiled faintly—he imagined how happy his girlfriend would be when she received these.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking of this, he immediately called her: “Duuu… duuu… duuu…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After more than ten rings, her phone finally picked up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lín Lín, I bought you milk tea and snacks—did you get them?” Li Zijie asked with a smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I-I got them… the duck neck is delicious…” Her voice was breathless and uneven.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s wrong? Are you sick?” Li Zijie asked curiously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“N-no, I’m working out—let’s talk later.” She panted, then hung up before Li Zijie could respond.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Working out at noon?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Zijie was puzzled but didn’t think much of it—his girlfriend had taken aerobics last semester and planned to compete this fall; some extra effort was normal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More than ten minutes later, the train finally arrived.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Zijie stepped out of the station, hailed a taxi to the university district, and gazed out the window—everything felt strangely unfamiliar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both sides of Zhanqian Road were fenced off; the driver said Lucheng was building a subway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Zijie smiled, clutching his phone—his heart raced as he drew closer to his girlfriend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thirty minutes later, he got out of the taxi but didn’t call her right away; instead, he dragged his suitcase into a hotel across from campus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d told his parents he wouldn’t be returning to Lucheng for the New Year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the next three days, he’d have to stay at the hotel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking of the box of Durex in his suitcase, Li Zijie grew excited; after entering the hotel lobby, he quickly pulled out his ID, ready to book a king-size room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A couple ahead of him was checking in—he had to wait.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lín Lín, the milk tea’s good—try some?” The boy handed her the cup after taking a sip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s Kawan Ka’s Black Series—of course it’s delicious,” the girl replied, taking the cup, sucking in a long sip, and smiling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lín Lín?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Same name as his girlfriend?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Zijie thought unconsciously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Room 8238, second floor. Here’s your keycard.” The front desk verified their group-buy voucher, collected a 200-yuan deposit, and handed over the card.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the girl turned around, Li Zijie froze—his mind nearly exploded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The girl wrapped in the boy’s arms was his own girlfriend, Gu Lín Lín.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Li Zijie? Aren’t you in Shanghai?” Gu Lín Lín froze, her smile vanishing instantly. “How did you get here?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who is he?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Zijie pointed at the boy’s nose, demanding angrily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Since you’ve seen it, I won’t hide it anymore—we’re breaking up.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Lín Lín, caught red-handed, decided to be blunt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey buddy, I gotta say—it really is a good milk tea,” the boy chuckled, adding a cruel twist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Li Zijie stunned, they ignored him and walked upstairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Zijie stared blankly—he finally understood what her panting had meant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The front desk clerk raised his eyes slightly, smirking inwardly—he’d seen this a hundred times before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Zijie clutched his ID, numb and hollow, and walked out of the hotel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most KuaiPao users on New Year’s Day were happy—the platform was flooding them with subsidies—but for Li Zijie, it was the gloomiest day imaginable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her panting, and the boy’s words—“this milk tea is really good”—kept echoing in his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He might have meant the milk tea. Or he might not have.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Far away in Shanghai, Zhang Xuhao was closely watching KuaiPao’s progress; after seeing KuaiPao’s lavish “buy everyone milk tea” marketing stunt, he was stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he replicated this in Shanghai, his brand would explode overnight!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then he remembered the cost—and immediately deflated. He had no money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ele.me averaged only 10,000 orders per day; after deducting delivery, management, marketing, and R&D costs, he made barely 400,000 yuan a month.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He simply couldn’t afford a campaign like this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing KuaiPao’s daily orders about to surpass Ele.me, Zhang Xuhao was genuinely panicked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Helplessly, he pulled out his phone and called Zhu Xiaohu at Jinsha Venture Capital, hoping to leverage their Jiaotong University alumni connection for one last try.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mr. Zhu, this is Zhang Xuhao from Ele.me. Yes, still about funding.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Xuhao’s tone was pleading.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sorry, Brother Zhang. I know Chen Yansen from Senlian Capital invested in KuaiPao, but your companies are in different cities—Lucheng and Shanghai. Your priority right now should be proving a sustainable profit model before we discuss funding.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Xiaohu didn’t want to take the call, but Zhang Xuhao was from the Jiaotong alumni circle—if he started spreading rumors, it could damage Zhu’s investment reputation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Zhu Xiaohu’s refusal again, Zhang Xuhao grew frantic, nearly begging: “Once KuaiPao expands, Ele.me can’t stop it—your early investment will be wasted!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If that happens, I’ll accept it,” Zhu Xiaohu replied irritably, gave a few perfunctory words, and hung up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His investment evaluation team had already scheduled a meeting with Kang Guodong of KuaiPao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Investing in two companies in the same sector wasn’t unusual in venture capital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If one wins and the other loses, Jinsha Venture wins once; if one becomes market leader and the other runner-up, Jinsha Venture wins twice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s like DST’s move in e-commerce—investing in Alibaba, then immediately taking a stake in JD.com.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Venture capital evaluates investments based on financial data and growth projections—it’s impossible to predict winners with 100% accuracy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When you can’t tell who will win, diversifying risk is the wisest strategy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fucking idiot! Useless bastard! Can’t recognize value!” Zhang Xuhao muttered under his breath, unable to contain his rage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn’t sure whether he was cursing Zhu Xiaohu—or every investor who’d turned down Ele.me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After receiving the message from Kang Guodong, Chen Yansen didn’t hesitate—he approved Kang’s contact with Tencent’s venture division, but the final valuation must be decided by Gao Weilin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In short, Kang Guodong had the right to negotiate—but the final decision rested in Chen Yansen’s hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Zhuxianzhuang Technology Park on New Year’s Day was eerily quiet; most staff had gone home for the holiday, except for a few in business, operations, and customer service.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Yansen stood by the window, clearly seeing Song Yuncheng across the way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This woman was truly relentless in chasing money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tap-tap-tap!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Yansen heard knocking at the door and called out, “Come in!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the silhouette, he knew it was Meng Jie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hehe, what are you busy with?” Meng Jie pushed the door open, sat on the sofa by the floor-to-ceiling window, and grinned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Have you finished the Q4 balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Yansen sat beside her, teasing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I still have one income statement left for tomorrow—can we go watch a movie today?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meng Jie rarely got a day off to return to Chunshen, so she naturally wanted to go out and have fun with Chen Yansen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Dragon Gate: The Dynamic Blade or The Thirteen Sisters of Jinling?” Chen Yansen asked in return.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In 2012, there was no such thing as a New Year’s Day screening slot; both films had been nearing their twentieth day of release.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I bought two advance screening tickets for The Taking of Tiger Mountain. Pretty cool, right?” Meng Jie said, pulling out two movie tickets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Online ticketing hadn’t taken off yet; Meituan Movie wouldn’t establish its corresponding business unit until a month later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in this life, Meituan’s market share still lagged behind Lashou and Wowo Team; whether it had the capacity to venture into new categories remained uncertain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What time is the show?” Chen Yansen asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“2:40 p.m. We’ll finish just in time for dinner,” Meng Jie replied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Yansen exhaled in relief—he still had two movie tickets in his pocket, with a showtime of 8:50 p.m., perfect for heading straight to the hotel afterward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His mind raced, thinking how to stagger their schedules.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After lunch, Chen Yansen drove Meng Jie into the city, first shopping at the mall, then watching the movie, followed by dinner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After dropping Meng Jie off at her dorm, he picked up Song Yuncheng and returned to the cinema.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Yansen watched The Taking of Tiger Mountain twice in one day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Work hard, Boss Chen,” Song Yuncheng teased softly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sounds like you’re mocking me,” Chen Yansen raised an eyebrow and shot back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You heard right,” Song Yuncheng snorted, picking up a popcorn kernel and shoving it into Chen Yansen’s mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You’re a scumbag—you did it, now don’t let anyone talk!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you sure you want to talk to your boss in that tone?” Chen Yansen threatened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Stop messing around, just watch the movie,” Song Yuncheng grabbed his mischievous hand and pouted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Yansen thought the movie was boring, but seeing Song Yuncheng utterly absorbed, he refrained from causing trouble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pulled out his phone and checked the project group messages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, the Kuaipao  project group was the liveliest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“New user growth: 26,000; real-time orders: 10,008; sales: 180,400 yuan!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The data synced in the group every ten minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Pei Yi: Guys, push harder! Let’s break 200,000 yuan in sales today!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Kang Guodong: The admin department ordered late-night snacks—they’ll be here soon!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Kou Zhen: Big thanks to the delivery team—I’ve gotten approval from Boss Kang and Boss Pei for a bonus, everyone gets a share!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the early winter of 2012, Kuaipao  still pushed forward on New Year’s Eve.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, although the weather in Lucheng had turned cold, it hadn’t snowed; otherwise, the marketing campaign’s impact would have been severely diminished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Chen Yansen and Song Yuncheng entered the hotel room, Kuaipao ’s total orders for the day had surpassed 13,000.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over ninety full-time riders and over eighty part-time food delivery riders worked until 1:30 a.m. before logging off to rest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After this marketing campaign, Kuaipao  became famous in Lucheng; the city’s commercial centers and suburban university districts gradually accepted food delivery as a new business model.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon after, the search term “Treat the whole city to bubble tea” surged to trending.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although Ele.me had been founded earlier, Kuaipao  appeared in netizens’ view before Ele.me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",2089,"2026-06-19T19:17:18.227Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","a393e6bda39bc4971a114de3a84622496a1119d3079e8699ee7787d32c71ddbb","i-get-stronger-every-payday-with-one-billion-emp-chapter-187","i-get-stronger-every-payday-with-one-billion-emp-chapter-185",387,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-get-stronger-every-payday-with-one-billion-emp-cover.jpg"]