Chapter 227

Chen Yansen left KuaiPao's headquarters at ten-thirty at night.

The streets were deserted; a Panda-colored Ghost sedan sped across Xu Pu Bridge, racing along the Outer Ring Expressway.

Half an hour later, the car stopped in front of No. 116 Yunjin Villa.

Chen Yansen stepped out and walked inside, passing through the garden and opening the front door.

Song Yuncheng followed behind, her peripheral vision accidentally catching the sagging velvet sofa, her pale, jade-like earlobes instantly flushing red.

"I don't expect much progress at tomorrow's express industry exchange meeting—you can rest at home, no need to stick with me all day."

As he spoke, Chen Yansen shrugged off his coat and tossed it onto the sofa with a sharp "pah."

"It's fine, I'm not tired," Song Yuncheng said, shaking her head with a smile.

"For you," Chen Yansen smiled, pulling a jewelry box from his pocket and holding it out to her.

"Th-this is what?" Song Yuncheng's breath hitched, her face blooming like a pink peach, her head spinning.

"What are you imagining? Open it and see," Chen Yansen chuckled, tapping her head lightly.

Song Yuncheng winced, meeting his half-amused gaze, her heart fluttering as she hurriedly opened the box.

A dazzling silver necklace came into view, the pendant engraved with the characters "116," surrounded by tiny diamonds—exquisitely crafted.

"So it's just a necklace… I thought…" Song Yuncheng took a deep breath, a flicker of disappointment passing through her eyes.

"You thought it was a ring?" Chen Yansen narrowed his eyes, lips curling slightly as he watched her.

"I didn't think anything," Song Yuncheng evaded his gaze, speaking against her heart.

"Really?" Chen Yansen ruffled her hair, finding it amusing.

A ring? How could Chen Zong possibly buy one?

He'd rather spend money wisely—buy more cosplay outfits—after all, he was sick of Spider-Man, Black Widow, Iron Man, and all that.

…

…

The next morning, crisp bird calls rang out.

Chen Yansen slowly opened his eyes to see Song Yuncheng sprawled atop him, her eyelashes trembling, a strand of hair stuck to her rosy lips, sound asleep.

He gently shifted her to the side, then rose from bed.

In the study, he turned on his computer and checked the core data of Pinbei and Sister Chengzi Tech as usual.

With Factory No. 3 now operational, the pre-sale links for Sister Chengzi phones on major e-commerce platforms had switched to in-stock sales; total online sales for the three models reached 160,000 units yesterday.

At this rate, February's total sales would hit 4 million units, generating over 6 billion in revenue for Sister Chengzi Tech—though the gross margin was terrifyingly low, barely ten percent.

Cao Dahua reported in his email that production of power banks, phone cases, data cables, and Bluetooth earphones would begin next week; combined with orders from Xiaomi and Huawei, Shencheng Factory's capacity was now fully saturated.

Chen Yansen tapped his fingers on the desk, silently shaking his head—the 2012 smartphone market had not yet peaked, with a national monthly sales ceiling of just 20 million units.

Currently, Sister Chengzi phones held over 20% market share; either expand into new markets or further squeeze competitors' survival space—or the No. 4 factory in Luzhou would face the awkward situation of having no orders.

"Zhou Jinling and the others are still too slow."

Chen Yansen leaned back, muttering softly.

After a moment's thought, he replied to Cao Dahua: "Speed up expansion in the African market—if short on staff, directly poach from Chuanyin."

By early February, Sister Chengzi Tech had sold 930,000 Sister Chengzi F1 units and 620,000 Sister Chengzi F2 units in Abyssinia—seemingly decent, but their market share there was less than half of Shanxing's.

Chen Yansen knew well that Abyssinia's market capacity could absorb at least 30 million smartphones annually.

But the difficulty of building a sales network meant every distributor, sub-distributor, and retailer had to be personally contacted by Zhou Jinling and his team.

After all, e-commerce and logistics in East Africa were underdeveloped—unlike domestically, where simply listing a link on an e-commerce platform could reach the entire nation.

In Abyssinia, sales relied entirely on offline channels.

Half an hour later, Chen Yansen finished his emails and walked into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face.

At nine a. m., Chen Yansen and Song Yuncheng drove to the International Convention Center.

Though he knew YunSu and SanTong YiDa could never reconcile.

But Zheng Shengyu of the Postal Association had intervened—so at least appearances had to be maintained.

They didn't have to talk—but they couldn't not show up!

The car passed Binjiang Avenue, then entered the parking lot of the International Convention Center.

The three headed toward the conference hall on the second floor.

At the entrance, they saw Liao Wei and Zhai An waiting, flanked by two bodyguards.

In truth, this express war had been started by YunSu; Liao Wei genuinely feared that if words turned hostile, a brawl might break out on the spot.

"Boss!" Liao Wei hurried forward, greeting him eagerly.

Chen Yansen grunted, said nothing, and gestured for Liao Wei to lead the way.

"Boss, Chairman Zheng's idea is simple—he'll probably demand we raise prices to prevent cutthroat competition. The express giants are charging just one yuan for small e-commerce parcels; bluntly put, they've stolen part of our postal small-package business."

Liao Wei explained with a smile.

Otherwise, why had SanTong YiDa been lowering prices for over two months, only now stepping in to mediate?

Unless their own interests were threatened, Zheng Shengyu had no interest in the fate of private express companies.

"We're not the lowest-priced. If anyone's raising prices, it should be ShenTong and YuanTong first."

Chen Yansen said casually.

Liao Wei chuckled, instantly understanding his boss's intent, his confidence restored.

The group took the elevator to the second floor and entered a conference hall capable of seating over two hundred.

Inside, representatives from more than ten express companies sat scattered, chatting in small groups.

Seeing Liao Wei and his team, their expressions darkened; they said nothing aloud, but silently cursed: "Stirrer."

Chen Dejun of ShenTong could no longer sit still—he'd spoken to Liao Wei on the phone, but this was their first face-to-face meeting.

Just as he had imagined, Liao Wei was the sort of person whose mere appearance was off-putting.

He turned away with undisguised distaste, then shifted his attention to Chen Yansen.

Chairman of Senlian Capital, actual controller of Yun Su Express, and also the big boss behind Sister Chengzi Tech and Pinbe Shangcheng.

Thinking of this, Chen Dejun rose abruptly and strolled forward to greet him.

Yu Weijiao of Yuantong, Lai Haisong of Zhongtong, and Nie Tengyu of Yunda likewise stood up and walked toward Chen Yansen.

"Chen Zong, looks like you mean to wipe out every Tonglu-affiliated express company!"

Chen Dejun said coldly, getting straight to the point.

"President Chen, you're too serious. It's all normal commercial competition. Yun Su started late, so it had to use a few conventional tactics—surely you can understand. Didn't Shentong rise above all those other express companies back then by relying on a price war as well?"

Chen Yansen replied with a faint smile, unperturbed.

"We're all businesspeople. Why not sit down and talk things through properly? Wouldn't it be better to make money together?"

Chen Dejun forced down his anger, trying to keep the peace.

"If you merge your company into Yun Su, wouldn't we all be one family? Then naturally there'd be no need for a price war."

This time Chen Yansen didn't even bother with the idea of a cash acquisition, and bluntly proposed a stock-swap merger instead.

Chen Dejun laughed, thinking: this kid's appetite is no small thing! Always trying to swallow Shentong whole—aren't you afraid of bursting your belly?

"Chen Zong, if you keep stirring things up like this, nobody will be comfortable making money. The road is dark and slippery—watch your step." Yu Weijiao of Yuantong threatened.

"You can eat just any old rice, but you can't just say whatever pops into your head. Otherwise, if I so much as scrape a bit of skin one day, I'll hold President Yu responsible. I heard President Yu just welcomed a new grandson last year?"

Chen Yansen retorted, fixing Yu Weijiao with a cold stare.

"Don't you dare try anything!" Yu Weijiao panicked—he hadn't expected that someone so young as Chen Yansen would already act so utterly reckless.

"Trash!" Chen Yansen muttered under his breath, a mocking smile playing on his lips.

Yu Weijiao's face flushed red. He lunged forward to throw a punch, but was immediately blocked by the bodyguards.

"President Yu, this isn't the right place to stretch our legs. Let's find a proper venue another time and I'll keep you company to the end—but we'll need a signed contract, otherwise I'm afraid if I beat you to death, I'd still have to bear the liability."

Chen Yansen said, his tone brazen.

The bosses of CEES Express, Yousu Logistics, Su'er Logistics, and Longshengda Exchange Delivery looked at one another. They had originally thought Liao Wei was like a mad dog, biting anyone he came across.

But his boss was clearly even madder.

"Yu Weijiao, what do you think you're doing?"

At that moment, Zheng Shengyu of the Postal Association arrived with his assistant, his face dark, and demanded in an unfriendly tone.

This industry conference was nominally an exchange meeting, but in reality it was a mediation session: to halt the price war and maintain stability in the express delivery industry.

Who was Yu Weijiao putting on that "ready to throw punches" act for?

Wasn't this just refusing to give him face?

"President Zheng, my apologies—I just wanted to get a little closer to Chen Zong and have a chat."

Yu Weijiao, seething with rage, could only cobble together a flimsy excuse when faced with Zheng Shengyu's grim expression.

"Go back and sit down." Zheng Shengyu waved a hand, too lazy to bother with him.

"President Zheng, a pleasure!" Chen Yansen said with a faint smile, as if entirely unaffected, stepping forward to greet him.

Zheng Shengyu raised his head, looked Chen Yansen up and down, and finally said with a smile: "Young men like you are rare indeed."

Clearly, Zheng Shengyu was very pleased with Chen Yansen.

From a macro perspective, within the past three months, the Santong and Yida companies had laid off over 6,000 couriers—but these people simply changed into new uniforms and, in the blink of an eye, became Yun Su Express employees, adding another 6,000 to the social-insurance contributor count.

So, had it not been for the Tongda faction's price cuts causing a flood of complaints and harming the Post Office's own interests, Zheng Shengyu wouldn't have bothered to step in.

"President Zheng, you're too kind. I'm just acting in accordance with the Labor Law." Chen Yansen said with a shrug.

Zheng Shengyu nodded, patted Chen Yansen on the shoulder, and then walked up to the podium.

He swept a glance across the room and saw that among the invited express companies, apart from SF Express, the bosses of the remaining thirty-plus mainstream express companies were now all present.

Zheng Shengyu frowned, just about to lose his temper, when he saw Wang Wei walk in with his people.

"Since everyone is here, let's begin. First, my thanks to all of you for your contributions to Hua Nation's express delivery industry in 2011."

"Last year, the total express delivery volume reached 4.29 billion parcels, a year-on-year increase of 37.8%. Of this, intra-city deliveries accounted for 23%, inter-city deliveries 73%; the eastern region accounted for 81.9%, the central region 10.5%, and the western region 7.6%. Industry revenue reached as high as 85.53 billion yuan."

"The growth rate in the first quarter of 2012 still exceeded the Postal Association's expectations. Daily volume hit 20 million parcels, and the full-year total is projected to break through the 6 billion mark. However, what deserves attention is that revenue per parcel keeps falling, service quality is plummeting, and there are even employees of certain express companies who casually sell off customers' private packages…"

As Zheng Shengyu spoke, he gradually turned his spearhead toward Shentong and Yuantong.

Chen Dejun and Yu Weijiao had driven down dispatch fees again and again, leaving couriers unable to make money, service attitudes plummeting, and lost parcels becoming commonplace.

An investigation revealed that the couriers had been selling them off like blind boxes.

"I don't care how you compete, but the income of couriers at the bottom must not be affected. Within three days, Shentong and Yuantong must raise their standard fee for parcels under one kilogram to 1.5 yuan."

Zheng Shengyu named them directly, urging Shentong and Yuantong to raise their prices.

Yu Weijiao was unconvinced: why had Zheng Shengyu not stepped in when Yun Su cut prices, yet the moment Shentong and Yuantong cut theirs, he had to intervene?

"If you refuse to rectify within the deadline, your operating license will be revoked outright."

Zheng Shengyu stared at Chen Dejun and Yu Weijiao, warning them without the slightest courtesy.

Chen Yansen turned his head and cast a provocative glance at Chen Dejun and Yu Weijiao.

He had long since calculated that a 1.5-yuan per-parcel price could cover all costs while also ensuring stable income for couriers.

When Shentong and Yuantong had dropped the price to one yuan, the reason he had not let Liao Wei follow suit was precisely this consideration.

Chen Dejun and Yu Weijiao exchanged a look, realizing they were in trouble now—trying to snatch a chicken only to lose the rice bait. That old fox Zheng Shengyu couldn't care less about their survival.

Wang Wei of SF Express breathed a sigh of relief at the news. Although it was only a raise from 1 yuan to 1.5 yuan, for SF Express it was still good news.

Otherwise, in the long run, no matter how wide SF Express's moat, it would still have a chunk bitten out of it by the Santong-Yida group and Yun Su.

If it weren't that his turn to speak hadn't come yet, he would even have wanted to suggest setting the minimum per-parcel price at no less than 3 yuan.

Not long after, Zheng Shengyu finished speaking and stepped down from the stage.

Immediately after, Wang Wei took the microphone, stood on stage and spoke at length, sharing Shunfeng's product positioning and service advantages, not showing the slightest regard for any of the competing companies in his words.

While the Three Tong and One Da and Yunsu were waging a price war, Shunfeng was optimizing its cold-chain delivery service, busy expanding its own fleet of cargo aircraft.

Little did they know that a week earlier, Yunsu had also launched a cold-chain service, currently in a trial-run phase, all for the sake of competing with Shunfeng for market share.

After Wang Wei came down, Chen Dejun picked up the microphone and immediately started blasting away, naming names as he 'scolded' Liao Wei for lacking martial virtue, and at a time when the industry was flourishing, for taking the initiative to start a price war, causing STO to incur cumulative losses of over 200 million yuan from Q4 of 2011 to Q1 of 2012.

Liao Wei snorted coldly, rubbed his nose, and cursed in his heart: I've lost 600 million without making a peep, what the hell are you yelping about!

(End of chapter)