Chapter 221: Pei Yi: Give Me One Month, and I'll Take Shanghai! Single Month

Chen Yansen sat in the Jingzhao Governor's private room, drinking tea while waiting for someone.

"Boss, I don't think it's necessary to take contract manufacturing for Xiaomi. If you're worried about excess capacity, it'd be better to cut workers' overtime hours. After all, even if Sister Chengzi's phone factory wages drop another thirty percent, they'd still be competitive in Shencheng."

Gao Weilin said softly from the side, trying to persuade him.

"Yuncheng, what do you think?" Chen Yansen smiled and asked Song Yuncheng.

"We can produce peripheral products—earphones, phone cases, data cables, and power banks—to absorb some of the surplus labor and capacity."

Song Yuncheng rolled her eyes, thought for a moment, then offered a new plan.

Currently, Sister Chengzi's official phone accessories are basically all supplied by third-party vendors.

"That's a good idea. I'll give Old Cao a heads-up tomorrow. But the contract manufacturing still has to happen. Since Xiaomi won't agree, let's go find Meizu. I'm sure Huang Zhang would be more than happy to accept licensing for our fast-charging, battery management, memory cleanup, and camera algorithms."

Chen Yansen said with a smile.

Though he praised Song Yuncheng with his words, the solution she proposed was something he had already discussed with Cao Dahua the week before.

"Boss, why didn't you mention these just now?" Gao Weilin asked, his face full of confusion.

In his view, Chen Yansen had only mentioned licensing the memory cleanup algorithm. If a few more technical patents were thrown in as bargaining chips, Lei Yijun might well have agreed.

"Because bringing them up wouldn't have made any difference."

Chen Yansen said with a faint smile.

Lei Yijun could sense the influence of his spiritual power on him, and had rejected his proposals twice. That showed it wasn't a lack of preconditions—it was that Lei Yijun resisted this kind of cooperation model from the bottom of his heart; his guard was simply too heavy.

Just then, a middle-aged man in a sapphire-blue suit with a down jacket draped over his shoulders walked over.

He first looked up at the name of the private room, confirmed it several times, then interrupted the three of them: "President Chen, I'm Xiao Jun."

Xiao Jun had originally wanted to introduce himself as the COO of Gao De Maps, but then remembered that Cheng Congwu had already marginalized him, and he'd lost that COO position more than half a year ago.

Chen Yansen looked over at the sound, sizing Xiao Jun up and down.

The man was just over forty, of medium build, with a touch of dejection between his brows, but his gaze was open and frank, his eyes sharp.

This is a man with drive!

Chen Yansen assessed silently.

He had long since investigated Xiao Jun's resume—undergrad at Yanda in radio electronics, master's at Tsinghua in business administration. He understood technology, he understood management; he was only slightly lacking in experience with power struggles.

"Please, sit! I only invited President Xiao today. Let's just chat casually."

Chen Yansen smiled and pushed the teacup in front of Xiao Jun, personally pouring him a cup of steaming hot tea.

"President Chen, let me do it myself." Xiao Jun hurriedly steadied the teacup, showing his respect.

He looked at Chen Yansen, and a warm feeling welled up inside him unbidden.

"I heard the name 'Gao De' was actually your decision?" Chen Yansen set down the teapot and opened the topic very naturally.

"Yes! Back then, Gao De was a business division under Datong Industries. To compete with Four Dimension Maps for Toyota's pre-installed navigation system, we spun the division off as an independent company.

As for why it's called Gao De—a friend happened to have a shell company under that name. To save time and simplify the process, we just used it…"

Xiao Jun was completely unaware, and in an unguarded moment laid out the entire founding story of Gao De for Chen Yansen without holding anything back.

"President Xiao, you hold 3% of the equity. At $12.8 per share, once Senlian Capital completes the acquisition, you'd walk away with over a hundred million in cash. I wonder what President Xiao plans to do next?"

Chen Yansen picked up his teacup, took a sip, then asked.

"I might switch to being an investor. After all, the domestic internet is developing fast, and there are plenty of opportunities."

Xiao Jun thought it over seriously, then answered.

"Take a look at this."

Chen Yansen picked up a document from his right and tossed it in front of Xiao Jun.

Xiao Jun said nothing, simply took it in hand and flipped it open.

It recorded the investment projects Hou Jun and Cheng Congwu had privately collaborated on between 2010 and 2012, including the cultural tourism development of Phoenix Ancient Town.

Xiao Jun read it and his scalp went numb, as if he'd fallen into an ice cellar—it was exactly what Chen Yansen had said on the phone.

Hou Jun and Cheng Congwu had never actually fallen out!

The purpose of their act was mainly to kick him out of Gao De Maps' management.

"People with a finance background are mostly like this—once the product launches and the business matures, they naturally come after the strongest business person. President Xiao, would you like to take the helm of Gao De again?"

Chen Yansen quipped first, then asked directly.

In his view, Xiao Jun was exceptionally capable, very familiar with both product and business. Unlike Cheng Congwu's style of empty talk, Xiao Jun could handle management and also drive product and technology optimization and upgrades.

Making him CEO of Gao De Maps was absolutely the best choice.

Perhaps UC Browser CEO Yu Yongfu was also a decent candidate, but after weighing everything, Chen Yansen still chose Xiao Jun.

If he couldn't meet his requirements, they could always swap in someone else.

"President Chen, you mean you want me to serve as CEO of Gao De Maps?"

Although Xiao Jun had already guessed it in his heart, when Chen Yansen actually said it out loud, he still showed a look of surprise.

"Exactly! Don't you think it's rather interesting?" Chen Yansen asked with a smile.

Xiao Jun laughed as well.

Indeed—Hou Jun and Cheng Congwu had teamed up to put on an act and drive him out of Gao De, yet now Chen Yansen was inviting him back.

Just thinking about the shocked expressions on Hou Jun and Cheng Congwu's faces when they found out, the smile at the corner of Xiao Jun's mouth could no longer be suppressed.

"President Chen, you don't mind that I'm the loser of Gao De's internal power struggle?"

Xiao Jun held it in for a long time, but finally asked it out loud.

"Internal power struggle? That's only because Hou Jun wasn't covering for you. Besides, once Senlian Capital acquires Gao De, as long as you don't make mistakes, I'll back you all the way."

"When you're out handling things, if the boss supports you, everything goes smoothly; otherwise, you can't make any progress. Surely you understand the principle behind that?"

Chen Yansen asked with a smile.

As for Xiao Jun's lack of skill in internal power struggles, in his view that was actually a good thing.

He had no desire to recruit a CEO who would split the company into old and new factions, spending all day on office politics instead of actual business.

"Thank you, Mr. Chen, for thinking so highly of me." After thinking it through, Xiao Jun abruptly stood up and bowed to Chen Yansen.

"Congratulations on rejoining Gao De." Chen Yansen stood up as well and pressed him back into his seat.

He understood in his heart that with Xiao Jun holding down the fort at Gao De, the handover of Senlian would go extremely smoothly.

Once Gao Linwei saw the matter was settled, he waved toward the server outside the door.

Before long, all manner of exquisite dishes were brought out.

The few of them clinked cups and swapped glasses, and a bottle of baijiu was emptied in no time.

"President Xiao, I'm leaving Gao De Maps to you. Once President Gao finishes the acquisition process, I hope your first task upon taking office is: announce a free strategy targeting individual users at the low end."

Chen Yansen set down his wine glass and instructed in a solemn tone.

Free?

A glint of surprise flashed in Xiao Jun's eyes. Gao De's original revenue wasn't much to begin with—if they fully implemented a free policy targeting the B2C market, wouldn't earnings continue to slide?

"Boss, if we do this, revenue will drop by at least 6% to 8%!"

Xiao Jun's face was grim, his brows tightly furrowed, as he offered his well-meaning counsel.

He was a smart man, switching the form of address on his lips very quickly.

"I can accept this loss. I hope you can, within two years, flip the revenue share between B2B and B2C."

Chen Yansen continued.

Gao De's total revenue last year was $127 million USD, with in-car navigation taking the lion's share at roughly 65%; mobile and internet location services brought in $27 million USD, accounting for 21%, of which personal navigation made up 6.3% of total revenue.

Xiao Jun didn't quite understand why Chen Yansen wanted to voluntarily give up a portion of profits, but he had already agreed to serve as CEO of Gao De Maps. After the new boss reiterated the point, he stopped pressing and objecting.

"Understood, boss." Xiao Jun nodded.

What Chen Yansen was thinking, however, was: rather than wait for Qiandu Maps to use a free strategy to force Gao De to change, it was better to strike first—gaining both a good reputation and an early grab at more market share.

It wasn't until half past nine that the dinner finally broke up.

The moment Gao Linwei heard the boss was heading back to the hotel, he instantly breathed a sigh of relief—at last he could get back and rest early.

Halfway through the drive, Lei Yijun's call came in.

The two exchanged a few words before Chen Yansen hung up. Though puzzled—how could Lei Yijun's thinking have shifted so drastically in just a few short hours? —he didn't dwell on it. As long as the outcome was positive, that was all that mattered.

"Boss, did Lei Yijun agree?" Gao Weilin had overheard a fragment and asked tentatively.

"President Gao, you'll need to work hard again. Have legal draft a contract tomorrow. I'll assign this matter to Cao Dahua for coordination, but you must closely monitor the signing process."

Chen Yansen grunted an acknowledgment, then gave his instructions.

"Understood, boss." Gao Weilin agreed readily.

Half an hour later, the car pulled into the parking lot of the Marriott Hotel.

"Tired these past two days?"

The moment they were back in the room, Song Yuncheng pulled Chen Yansen over to the sofa and helped him massage his shoulders and neck.

Tired?

Chen Yansen scoffed—he hadn't felt fatigue in a long time.

"Let me give you a massage too."

After Chen Yansen had his fill of being pampered, he swapped places with Song Yuncheng, but as he massaged, his hands unconsciously drifted downward.

Song Yuncheng's cheeks flushed pink, her eyes glistening. She turned her head to look at Chen Yansen and said, "Your massage technique isn't proper."

"Can't help it—I just can't control myself." Chen Yansen grinned and scooped Song Yuncheng up.

The two lay on the sofa, taking in the dazzling night view of Yanjing.

"Not here—let's go back to the bedroom." Song Yuncheng pressed her thighs together and pleaded softly. At this moment, even her neck was a rosy pink.

Chen Yansen paid no heed, merely drawing the curtains shut with a casual hand.

A few minutes later, two small palm prints were imprinted on the glass.

……

……

At dawn the next day, the distant sky flushed the pale white of a fish's belly.

Chen Yansen climbed up from the sofa, picked up a pair of shorts from the floor, and casually slipped them on. Song Yuncheng was still fast asleep.

Slippers on, he padded to the living room, turned on the computer, and first reviewed the work reports from each subsidiary. He then glanced at the combined sales of the Chengzi D1 and Chengzi C2 phones—just one step away from the 4 million mark.

Regarding the preparations for Factory No. 4, Cao Dahua had picked a group of people from Shencheng's middle and upper management to head to Luzhou, responsible for handling the preliminary business registration procedures and recruitment.

Zuo Hongyu, meanwhile, was busy contacting equipment vendors to set up the production line for the new factory.

On another front, Kuaipao had taken only five days to drive Ele. me out of Xuhui District.

With neither prices nor delivery speed able to match Kuaipao's, Ele. me was quickly abandoned by users.

After all, the underlying logic of the food delivery model is fulfilling users' online orders through offline execution.

The stronger the fulfillment capability, the higher the user's evaluation.

Seeing he couldn't beat Kuaipao on delivery speed, Zhang Xuhao limited the number of orders a rider could carry at once. But with that move, speed did go up—yet riders' hourly wages were plummeting.

If they can't earn money, who's still willing to stick with Ele. me?

Even though Zhang Xuhao readjusted the compensation for his rider team, people kept jumping ship to Kuaipao!

"Boss, give me one month, and I'll guarantee taking the Hucheng market."

Pei Yi declared with great confidence in a work email.

Chen Yansen chuckled lightly, thinking to himself: the move to acquire Kuaipao was the right one. If he'd had to start from scratch, the team probably wouldn't even be assembled before Ele. me had already gained momentum.

By the time he wanted to suppress it, it would have taken ten or a hundred times the capital and effort.

Right now, although Ele. me had secured Mama Ali's investment, Mama Ali hadn't gone public yet. How much capital and traffic resources it was willing to pour into supporting Ele. me remained unknown.

At nine in the morning, Chen Yansen left the hotel.

Following Gao Weilan's directions, the car pulled up in front of an office building on Zhichun Road in the HD district.

"ByteDance's office area is on the 14th floor. There are currently around thirty-plus people, all working full-out on developing the Lingxi Browser."

Gao Linwei explained softly.

Chen Yansen glanced out the car window and saw Zhang Yiming, accompanied by a young man with a round face and a buzz cut, striding quickly toward them.

(End of chapter)