Chapter 203: Can My Employees Not Spend Here?

Shanghai, Huaxing Pullman Hotel.

The banquet sales manager stood in the lobby, constantly wiping sweat from his face.

Half a month ago, he received a call from Yunsu Express headquarters; they had booked the largest banquet hall, capable of seating over a thousand people. He had wondered then: Does Yunsu even have that many employees in Shanghai?

But money makes the boss, so he didn't think much of it and took the deposit.

This evening, when he got a call from the lobby manager, he learned there had been a complaint.

All the seating in the first-floor lounge had been taken by Yunsu couriers; hotel guests wanting to sit and drink coffee had nowhere to sit.

He rushed downstairs immediately—and froze in shock.

A sea of black-clad people, at least several hundred, some even with children.

Every single one wore Yunsu Express's windbreakers.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm terribly sorry—may I ask if you're all here for the Yunsu Express annual meeting?"

The sales manager forced a smile, hoping to find someone in charge to negotiate with.

Hearing this, the couriers around him instinctively nodded.

"Could you please move to the banquet hall on the 24th floor? Your presence here is disturbing other guests."

The sales manager continued.

"No way! We're waiting for our boss right here!"

"Yeah! We're customers too—why can't we sit in the lounge?"

"Who cares what he does? We're sitting here—let him try to do something!"

A few couriers saw through the manager's intent and scowled, firing back without hesitation.

Earlier, a middle-aged man in a suit had been complaining to the lobby manager, pointing fingers all around.

But everyone here was neatly dressed, no one out of place—could this place really ban couriers from spending money?

At that moment, a Mercedes GL550 pulled up to the entrance. Liao Wei arrived with Zhai An—and happened to see the scene.

"What's going on?"

Liao Wei frowned, voice sharp with irritation.

"Are you the person in charge of Yunsu Express? Please don't misunderstand—I mean no harm. Your company's employees are all gathered in the lounge, disturbing other guests, so I suggested they wait in the banquet hall." The sales manager hurried to explain.

Liao Wei glanced around the lobby and understood at once.

In the past, he wouldn't have cared about such a thing—he'd just tell Zhai An to order the couriers to the banquet hall.

But today, the boss had come all the way from Xu City to attend the annual meeting. Any slip-up might leave Chen Yan with a bad impression.

Thinking of this, Liao Wei asked coldly: "Did they cause a disturbance?"

"Uh… no, they didn't." The sales manager sensed trouble and replied with a bitter smile.

"Then why are they disturbing other guests? They're customers—so are our employees. Call your general manager. If you can't explain this properly, we'll see you in court."

Under Chen Yan's influence, Liao Wei now constantly spouted phrases like "I'm a legitimate businessman" and "Do you think I won't send you a lawyer's letter?"

"It's just that a customer complained, Boss—you see, I'm just an employee…" The sales manager bowed repeatedly, frantically apologizing.

"Liao Zong's temper's pretty fiery."

A teasing voice, laced with amusement, came from behind.

Liao Wei spun around instantly—and there, striding forward, was Chen Yan, followed by two others.

"Boss, someone's bullying our staff—I'm CEO of Yunsu Express, so of course I have to step in."

Liao Wei grinned, face beaming with flattery.

Since joining Chen Yan, he'd nearly lost his life—but his status in the circles had skyrocketed.

Previously, Chen Dejun from Shentong treated him like a stray cat or dog; now, he didn't even glance at Chen Dejun.

The "Three Passes and One Reach" had been successively crushed; even after Shentong and Yuantong slashed prices to one yuan, they still couldn't match Yunsu.

"Who complained? Make him step forward!"

After hearing Liao Wei's explanation, Chen Yan stared straight at the sales manager.

The sales manager looked miserable—both sides were hotel guests. He regretted coming downstairs.

"I complained. So what? This is a five-star hotel. Are you people from the countryside turning this place into a marketplace?"

A well-dressed middle-aged man walked slowly forward, accompanied by the lobby manager, his eyes flickering with disdain.

In his view, the owner of this courier company was insane—choosing Pullman for the annual meeting was bad enough, but actually inviting all the couriers?

He must be mentally impaired.

"People from the countryside? Your accent isn't even local—where's your family from originally?"

Chen Yan had lived in Shanghai for over a decade in his past life, had more than a dozen local girlfriends—he knew instantly the man's accent was fake.

The middle-aged man immediately cracked, face turning crimson. He pointed at Chen Yan and shouted: "You little brat, no manners at all, you uneducated dog—"

*Bang!

The man's head reeled—he felt as if struck by a hammer, nearly passing out.

"You dare hit someone? I'm calling the police!" The man snapped back to his senses and yelled loudly.

Chen Yan looked at the courier who had struck him—an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old boy, grinning shyly.

"Boss, you go up first—I'll handle this." Liao Wei was furious. He hadn't expected such chaos at this critical moment after months of hard work.

"No need. It's still early." Chen Yan waved his hand.

Hotel security rushed over upon seeing a guest being assaulted; as the situation escalated, the Pullman's general manager could no longer remain passive.

Others might not know, but he understood Yunsu well—it was backed by Senlian Capital.

This was no ordinary courier company!

"I apologize, Mr. Chen. This is the hotel's failure. I will discipline the sales manager and lobby manager accordingly. Also, I'll offer your company a 5% discount on tonight's expenses. Please calm down."

General Manager Jiang Minghao hurried over, apologizing profusely while shooting furious glares at his two subordinates.

"My employees can't spend money here?"

Chen Yan lifted his eyelids slightly, staring at the hotel executive, his tone serious.

"Of course they can! This was entirely our mistake. I apologize to everyone. Here are complimentary buffet vouchers from Pullman—just a small token of our regret."

Jiang Minghao smiled and pulled out a stack of free meal vouchers, handing them out to the couriers standing nearby.

You don't hit someone who's smiling. Chen Yan chuckled and decided not to press the matter further. He led Liao Wei, Yunsu's senior executives, station managers, and couriers up in the elevator to a brightly lit banquet hall.

Zhai An stayed behind to handle the aftermath.

Soon after, a police patrol car arrived. Two officers questioned the lobby manager, Jiang Minghao, Zhai An, and the striking courier—and learned the middle-aged man had provoked it with his mouth.

"Do you need to go to the hospital? They're holding an annual meeting, not causing a ruckus—why did you provoke them?"

The younger officer snapped.

"Hey! They hit me first! I didn't start it! Arrest that young guy leading them—he's the one who incited it!"

The middle-aged man clutched his face, grimacing.

He wasn't seriously hurt—just a bruise on his cheek.

"The young man you're talking about is the CEO of Yunsu Express—the founder of Pinbei and Orange Mobile—with tens of thousands of employees and a net worth of billions."

The older officer beside him spoke slowly, a quiet warning.

Meaning: You can pursue it—but only if you're ready for retaliation.

The middle-aged man's heart sank. He understood the officer's implication.

He'd heard of Pinbei Mall and Orange Mobile.

And he'd heard their founders were young men.

"Forget it, forget it—I'm just unlucky. What bad luck!" The man instantly backed down, waving off any further action.

"So you're Mr. Ye Yizhi? We've met under unpleasant circumstances, but now we're acquainted. You're in wholesale clothing, right? I owe you a big gift."

Zhai An, checking the police report, quickly uncovered the man's background.

A secondhand clothing peddler on Qipu Road, barely any money in his pocket, but full of bluster.

Ye Yizhi, hearing Zhai An's veiled threat, raised an eyebrow: "Stop talking in riddles. You think I'm scared of you?"

"Good."

Zhai An smiled warmly at him.

The two officers gave a few final instructions and drove off quickly.

Ye Yizhi kept up his tough front, but after learning Chen Yan's identity, he grew uneasy.

Still, he reasoned: he ran offline business—no overlap with Chen Yan—and relaxed.

He dismissed Zhai An's threat as empty bluster.

He returned to his private room upstairs and resumed drinking with his business partners.

"Mr. Ye, I hear e-commerce is huge now—if you know how to run it, you can sell millions online in a year. But how do you even start?"

"Old Zhou, I know about this. Remember Xiao Zheng from the second-floor stall? Last year he opened a store on Pinbei—and within two months, bought a new BMW."

"Whoa! E-commerce is that profitable?"

"Hey, Mr. Ye, you seem down tonight. Want me to take you to Jinyulan to cheer up?"

Ye Yizhi forced a smile and asked curiously: "Is the boss of Pinbei really that powerful?"

"Powerful? Yunsu Express has heard of it, right? The small shop owners on Qipu Road who used to use the 'Three Passes and One Reach'? This year, they all switched to Yunsu. I heard Yunsu's CEO nearly got wiped out by a truck!"

"Damn! Was it Yu Weijiao from Yuantong?"

"What are you thinking? The guy who did it was Chen Feilei, boss of Sufeng Express—he's already in jail."

"Mr. Ye, why are you looking even worse now?"

Ye Yi's face wasn't just pale—he couldn't stop trembling, he was truly terrified.

When he entered the hotel in the evening, he had merely shown off, mocked a few times, and complained to the lobby manager.

He never expected to be so unlucky—to kick a block of iron this hard.

"Liao Wei is also a ruthless man—he made the delivery staff tear down over a dozen of Su Feng's outlets."

A businessman sitting beside Ye Yi spoke with keen interest.

People like them, businessmen in Shanghai with cars and homes, loved chatting about business gossip.

At this moment, Ye Yi had no desire to drink at all—he feared that the moment he arrived at his stall the next day, he'd find his shop torn down.

In reality, dealing with him didn't require such trouble.

When Zhai An returned to the banquet hall and reported the outcome to Chen Yan, Chen Yan grunted, pulled out his phone, made a call, and arranged Ye Yi's fate with perfect clarity.

One hour later.

Sitting in the private room, Ye Yi received successive calls from his manufacturing partners—briefly put, they would no longer supply him.

The final call came from the stall landlord, ordering him to vacate Qipu Road within three days.

Ye Yi hung up the phone, dazed and hollow-eyed.

For Chen Yan, dealing with Ye Yi was merely a matter of making a single call—if Ye Yi hadn't danced in front of him, he wouldn't have deigned to glance at him.

(End of Chapter)