Chapter 206: Nan Sen Bei Dong! Test Zhang Xuhao

While Liangzi Dong was delivering packages, Chen Yansen was delivering food in Lucheng.

The winter wind cut like knives, relentlessly pouring down the gaps in his collar.

Kou Zhen and Xia Xiangyu wore grim faces, wishing they could pull their windbreakers' zippers all the way up to the backs of their heads, silently thinking: this job wasn't fit for humans—after just one delivery, they felt like they were about to die.

Pei Yi and Kang Guodong were fine; during Kuai Pao 's early days, they had both worked as delivery riders in the university district.

The four of them rode their electric scooters behind Chen Yansen.

"Next order: Old East Gate Beef Fried Rice, 3. kilometers away, pay 5. yuan."

Chen Yansen glanced at his phone on the mount, memorizing the order details and navigation route.

Directly ahead, several staff from Kuai Pao 's marketing department held cameras and video recorders, constantly adjusting their shooting angles.

A cold gust blew through, making Kou Zhen shiver—but when he spotted the camera sweeping toward him, he quickly forced a look of intense focus.

As head of the rider team, Xia Xiangyu complained bitterly while pondering: Was it fair to place the entire 29-minute delivery deadline solely on the riders?

Why couldn't Kang Guodong's tech team plan delivery routes more reasonably? Why couldn't order allocation and rider dispatch follow the nearest-principle rule?

At this moment, Xia Xiangyu felt it deeply—even though Kang Guodong was one of Kuai Pao 's shareholders, he couldn't help but seethe with resentment.

He planned to find trouble with the tech department as soon as he got back.

After all, the riders were formal employees of Kuai Pao —they all signed employment contracts with the same company as the office staff at headquarters.

The only difference was their income level.

Chen Yansen weaved through alleys and streets, quickly spotting the sign for Old East Gate Beef Fried Rice.

Damn!

The shop was right next to a public toilet, where a middle-aged man with thinning hair, wearing a greasy apron, was frantically tossing food in a wok.

Besides Chen Yansen, two other Kuai Pao riders sat on their scooters, waiting for their orders.

Clearly, Old East Gate Beef Fried Rice was doing brisk business on the platform.

At that moment, Pei Yi and the others rode up on their scooters.

"Boss Pei? Boss Kang?"

"What the hell! Boss Kou and Boss Xia too!"

The two delivery riders immediately recognized them, jumped off their scooters, and rushed over with beaming smiles to greet them.

"How many orders have you delivered today?" Chen Yansen asked.

"Huh? Brother, are you new? You look familiar—why haven't I seen you at the station?"

The older rider stared at Chen Yansen, puzzled.

"This is Mr. Chen Yansen, Kuai Pao 's founder," Xia Xiangyu said flatly from beside him.

Kuai Pao 's founder, Chen Yansen?

The billionaire?

The two riders exchanged glances—hadn't Xia Xiangyu said it, they'd never have believed it.

This young man in a helmet and Kuai Pao uniform, right in front of them, was a billionaire?

The rider Chen Yansen addressed blinked, then quickly recovered, smiling: "Boss, I delivered 39 orders today, earned 218 yuan."

Though Kuai Pao 's per-order pay seemed low, with monthly base pay of 1, 00 to 2, 00 yuan added, nearly all formal riders earned over 7, 00 yuan per month.

"It's only three in the afternoon—couldn't you do 60 to 80 orders a day?"

Chen Yansen smiled.

"Boss, Brother Li is our station's order king—he never does fewer than 80 orders a day."

Another rider dared to speak up.

"You're better than me—I've only delivered my second order." Chen Yansen joked.

"Boss, you make big money—I just sweat hard. How could I compare to you?"

Li Zhou smiled shyly, nervously rubbing his hands.

"Whether you're order king or not doesn't matter—earning money is important, but don't neglect your health. Did you sign up for tonight's annual party?"

Chen Yansen asked, first showing concern.

Kuai Pao 's annual party was held at a four-star hotel in Luyang District; due to the nature of food delivery, only 30% of riders could attend.

The rest had to keep delivering orders to keep operations running.

But regardless of attendance, everyone could enter the raffle and receive a year-end bonus of 3, 00 to 10, 00 yuan.

"Boss, I didn't sign up," Li Zhou scratched his head and chuckled.

Attending the party meant a good meal—but he'd lose about 200 yuan in evening delivery income.

Li Zhou refused to waste time earning money!

Chen Yansen fell silent, didn't press him, then turned to Kou Zhen: "What problems did you notice?"

Kou Zhen froze, glanced between the riders and the shop, then felt a sudden pang—he answered honestly: "The hygiene here is problematic."

"Guodong, add a module for real-store photos to the shop info—include the sign, kitchen, and dining area. Assign this to the ground-promotion BDs."

Seeing Kou Zhen spotted the issue, Chen Yansen instructed Kang Guodong.

Since this shop was on Kuai Pao 's platform, its business license and food safety permits were surely complete.

He wouldn't proactively ban such shops—but users must see the merchant's true condition, and have the choice themselves.

"Boss, I'll start rectifying tomorrow. For merchants like Old East Gate Fried Rice, I'll raise review standards to protect users at the first gate."

As head of the merchant acquisition department, Kou Zhen naturally had to resolve this issue.

"The review department is the second line of defense—not just checking document completeness, but also verifying the authenticity of photos uploaded by ground-promotion BDs. Set up a punishment mechanism."

Chen Yansen nodded slightly, pulling Pei Yi and Kou Zhen aside.

"Orders 78, 79, and 80 from Old East Gate are ready! Come get them yourselves!"

The owner of Old East Gate Fried Rice shouted.

Chen Yansen shook his head with a smile, verified the details, picked up order 80, placed it in his delivery box, waved to Li Zhou, and sped off.

Pei Yi and the others hurried after him.

"Brother Li, you're dumb—Boss Chen himself asked if you'd attend the party, and you said no!"

The other rider scolded him, exasperated.

In his view, if Chen Zong noticed him, he might get promoted or get a raise.

"Are you brain-dead? I'm just a delivery rider—no skills. Do you think Boss Chen will make me a manager? To earn money, just work hard!"

Li Zhou slapped his colleague's shoulder, laughing at his daydream.

"Heh, what if the boss has a brain fart?"

The young courier grinned widely and laughed.

"I think it's you who's got a brain fart—if Boss Xia hears that, you'll lose your job."

Li Zhou glared at him.

In Lucheng, jobs like Kuai Pao were hard to find—TCL, Haier washing machine, and Gree factory workers worked themselves to exhaustion for only 4, 00 to 5, 00 yuan a month, and had less freedom than Kuai Pao riders.

On the other side.

When Chen Yansen delivered the meal, he couldn't help warning: "Order from this place less often—it's unhygienic."

"Huh?! No way? I eat here all the time—oh, you must be from out of town. Old East Gate Beef Fried Rice is next to a public toilet, but there's a wall between them, and their fried rice is insanely delicious!"

The customer blinked, then waved dismissively, laughing.

Chen Yansen chuckled to himself—he'd overthought it.

He'd worried users were being deceived, but clearly, this customer ate here regularly and acted like a loyal patron.

Pei Yi and the others behind him couldn't help smirking.

After finishing this delivery, Chen Yansen took another order: a Mango Tea from Kawan Kawa, delivered to a nearby software park.

The customer was a young woman who came out holding an Orange C2 phone.

"Kuai Pao delivery—enjoy your meal!"

Chen Yansen recited the standard phrase and turned to leave.

"Wait! You look familiar!"

The woman frowned at him, stared for a few seconds, then burst into delighted laughter: "You're Chen Yansen from Orange Tech, right?"

Chen Yansen rubbed his forehead, smiling wryly—he'd worn a helmet, yet still got recognized.

"But why are you delivering food?" the woman asked.

"Kuai Pao is also our company's product. Thank you for supporting Orange Tech and Kuai Pao."

Chen Yansen smiled, speaking his thanks.

"Boss Chen, can I take a photo with you?" The woman grabbed his arm, pleading sweetly.

"Of course."

Chen Yansen agreed readily.

"Click!"

"Click!"

The woman kept snapping—she'd said one photo, but she pressed the shutter dozens of times in a row.

"Thank you, Boss Chen! I'll use Kuai Pao every day. Oh, my dad's also your fan—can I record a video and have you say hi to him?"

The woman immediately asked for another favor after taking photos.

"No way!"

Chen Yansen frowned, and before she could react, added: "Unless you buy another Orange phone to support me."

The girl frowned, looking troubled: "But my mom and dad both use Orange phones."

"I'm just kidding you—give me your phone."

Chen Yansen said with a smile.

Then he took the girl's phone and recorded a few seconds of a blessing message for her father.

The girl took back her phone and ran happily into the building.

Chen Yansen glanced at his watch—it was nearly four-thirty—and called out to Pei Yi and the others to head for the hotel.

The girl returned to her desk and immediately posted the photo she'd just taken on Weibo, tagging Chen Yansen's account.

"Is this Chen Yansen? What does 'Kuai Pao' mean?"

"I know—Kuai Pao is a food delivery platform based in Lucheng!"

"A billionaire delivering food?"

In the comments, some accused Chen Yansen of putting on a show, while others praised him for being down-to-earth.

At that moment, someone suddenly uploaded a photo of Liu Qiangdong delivering packages in Yancheng.

"Damn! Who's copying who here?"

"I think Liu Qiangdong copied Chen Yansen—yesterday Chen Yansen's news about drinking with Yunsu couriers hit the trending list, and today Liu Qiangdong is delivering packages? What are the odds?"

"Bro, he's truly down-to-earth—this isn't staged. I got a JD package at work this afternoon, and the courier was General Liu!"

Soon, a netizen from Yancheng appeared in the comments.

An hour later, news that two e-commerce tycoons—one in the south, one in the north—were delivering food and packages respectively both hit the trending list.

Zhang Jindong of Suning snorted in disdain, silently cursing Liu Qiangdong for being so theatrical.

"No way! How is he so good at marketing?"

Zhang Xuhao, far away in Husheng, nearly went mad upon seeing photos of Chen Yansen wearing a food delivery uniform.

Last week he'd sent the Eleme business and financial data to Ali, but it had been stuck in review—he was desperate, terrified that Kuai Pao would break into Husheng.

Thinking of this, he pulled out his phone and dialed Ji Gang's number directly.

"General Ji, has Eleme's funding application been approved?"

Zhang Xuhao got straight to the point.

"It's reached General Ma's desk—I can't be sure when he'll approve it. Mr. Zhang, please wait a little longer."

Ji Gang didn't deceive him; normally, Cai Xin's approval alone would suffice, but for some reason, Ma Liyun had personally taken interest in this investment, extending the review period.

Could this guy be lying to me?

Zhang Xuhao now deeply distrusted Ji Gang—a 50-million funding deal shouldn't need to go to Ma Liyun. Cai Xin's rank was more than enough to make the final call.

"Alright, thanks, General Ji. I was just curious."

Zhang Xuhao spoke lightly, though he meant the opposite.

Ji Gang smiled and hung up. According to Boss Cai's view, Eleme's model showed potential and was worth investing in—but they needed to test Zhang Xuhao's stress tolerance.

If he cracked under pressure, Ali's 50 million might secure a larger equity stake.

As Chen Yansen raised his glass and clinked it with Kuai Pao's riders, Liu Qiangdong sat at a street-side grill in Yancheng, arm around several JD couriers, calling each one "brother."

(End of Chapter)