Chapter 270: Ma Liyun: I Want to Borrow a Hen to Lay Eggs! Chen Yansen: I

"You want to expand Kuai Pao 's business boundaries?"

After listening to Pei Yi's explanation, Chen Yansen slightly furrowed his brows—he hadn't expected the other party to propose this idea.

Generally speaking, entering a completely new industry requires consideration of industry risks and the stability of profit models.

Meituan, Dazhong Dianping, and Lashou have already achieved certain development in the group-buying sector, proving the feasibility and market potential of group-buying services.

Entering the market now wouldn't just skip the market cultivation phase, but also shift from passive to active, dragging Meituan and Dazhong Dianping into the competitive mud of the group-buying market, thereby securing more development time for the food delivery sector.

The best defense is offense!

Kuai Pao doesn't lack manpower, material resources, or capital; its business promotion execution is among the best in the industry.

"Boss, I actually had a similar idea earlier, but I was too busy competing with Ele. e to spare much energy. Now, the more I think about it, the more feasible it seems."

Pei Yi replied with a smile.

He then clearly laid out his concept.

First, food delivery is a high-frequency consumption scenario—users open Kuai Pao 's PC site or app 2–3 times daily, far exceeding the low-frequency nature of group-buying; linking the two can channel high-frequency delivery traffic toward group-buying services.

Use high-frequency to drive low-frequency!

For example, push "nearby restaurant group-buying vouchers" on the order completion page, leveraging post-meal decision-making scenarios to boost group-buying conversion rates.

Second, use user data accumulated from food delivery (purchase frequency, preferred categories, etc.) to precisely recommend relevant group-buying products.

Finally, offline merchant resources can be reused, and the efficiency of field promotion teams can be improved.

This way, we achieve synergistic layout between food delivery and group-buying, building dual moats of "home delivery" and "in-store."

Chen Yansen smiled faintly, gave it no further thought, and immediately approved Pei Yi's plan.

If Kuai Pao continues to face no competition in the food delivery market, its field promotion and operations staff will inevitably become arrogant and complacent.

A direct clash with Meituan, Dazhong Dianping, and Lashou might even reveal vulnerabilities in Kuai Pao 's organizational structure and operational management.

Without business warfare, how can you forge an iron army?

Aside from the battle with Ele. e, Kuai Pao 's journey so far has been far too smooth.

Chen Yansen also wanted to use this opportunity to temper Kuai Pao 's employees.

So they won't be caught off guard by a few competitors suddenly emerging two or three years from now.

After hanging up the phone, Pei Yi immediately relayed the news to Kang Guodong at the Lucheng headquarters.

In other words, Kuai Pao 's PC and mobile platforms both needed redesign.

"Entering the group-buying market? Did the boss agree?" Kang Guodong asked.

"I've discussed it with the boss. Chen Zong told us to go all out," Pei Yi said with a smile.

Go all out?

Go all out against whom?

Naturally, against competitors like Meituan, Lashou, Dazhong Dianping, and Nuomi!

"Alright, I understand. I'll send you the product plan and redesign schedule as soon as possible," Kang Guodong replied without further questions, nodding in agreement.

Perhaps he wasn't an outstanding manager, but he possessed exceptional talent in rider route optimization and intelligent order dispatching.

Put simply, Kang Guodong's technical skills were flawless—this was evident from how he outperformed Zhang Xuhao's Shanghai Jiao Tong University tech team.

"Dongge, thanks," Pei Yi said softly before hanging up.

"Longlin Ma, don't pull that crap with me—you're more suited to be Kuai Pao 's CEO. Chen Zong's decision was right."

Kang Guodong chuckled and scolded, as if a weight had been lifted.

"Little brat, call me Pei Zong when you're working!" Pei Yi joked.

"Get lost! Bixia Gate, you've got no manners—I hold more equity than you, got it?" Kang Guodong shot back.

After a few playful jabs, they exchanged knowing smiles, burst into loud laughter, and returned to their tasks.

Pei Yi worked in tandem with Cheng Weixing while expanding Kuai Pao 's territory across Huian Province.

Kang Guodong gathered key personnel from the product and technology departments to restructure Kuai Pao 's page layout and draft a development schedule, aiming to launch the group-buying channel by late July.

At this moment, Wang Xin of Meituan, Zhang Tao of Dazhong Dianping, and Shan Jiawei of Lashou had no idea that before they even entered the food delivery industry, Kuai Pao had already launched an assault on the group-buying sector.

After finishing his work, Chen Yansen leaned back in his chair and leisurely flipped through his copy of *Microelectronic Circuits*. With the help of examples and exercises, he quickly grasped the fundamental principles and design methods of microelectronic circuits.

Regarding knowledge related to chip technology, Chen Yansen believed he didn't need to do it himself, but he couldn't afford to be ignorant.

He had worked as an employee, served under others, and knew employees had a habit of bullshitting their bosses.

Of course, bosses had their own bad habit of painting false pictures for employees.

The morning passed in a flash.

Chen Yansen glanced at his watch, put down the book, pulled out his phone, and scrolled through the news.

"Ali Baba delisted from Hong Kong, ending its five-year listing journey to pave the way for the group's overall listing."

"Group-buying transaction volume dropped 23% month-over-month in June, totaling only 2. 8 billion yuan nationwide—the industry has entered a winter period."

"Apple dropped Google Maps in iOS 6. and launched its own 3D mapping service; Google's stock price plummeted."

"Fast Boy Su Xing assaulted his teammate backstage at the awards ceremony and was shelved by the company, his career plunging into a low point…"

Chen Yansen glanced over them and found nothing noteworthy.

At that moment, a soft "tap-tap-tap" came from the door.

"Boss, today's cafeteria made fried bean cakes and stir-fried beef. I got you an extra portion," the receptionist girl said with a smile, holding a takeout box.

"Mm, put it here," Chen Yansen replied.

With more employees from Orange Tech and Pinbei, even though the serving windows had doubled, lines still took twenty minutes.

Chen Yansen found it too wasteful, so he stopped going to the cafeteria altogether and handed meal pickup duties to the admin department.

He was just about to pick up his chopsticks when Ma Liyun called.

"Ma Zong, what's up?" Chen Yansen asked, feigning ignorance.

"Wang Wei of SF Express, Chen Dejun of Shentong, and Yu Weijiao of Yuantong have all agreed to the Cainiao Logistics setup. Chen Zong, what do you say?"

Ma Liyun spoke slowly.

"I have no objections, but who will be Cainiao's CEO? Who holds the majority equity?" Chen Yansen countered.

Ma Liyun's expression froze—he thought: I proposed this, and now you're asking who should be CEO?

But he dared not say it outright, fearing to anger Chen Yansen—after all, Yunsu Express accounted for half the private courier market—so he forced a smile and asked, "Do you have any ideas, Chen Zong?"

"Cainiao's solution for last-mile delivery has flaws. Establishing Cainiao pickup points in rural areas and small towns is an effective method, but setting up Cainiao service stations near residential complexes in county towns, third- and fourth-tier cities, and even first- and second-tier cities is completely anti-human."

Chen Yansen didn't answer directly but shifted the topic to Cainiao Logistics' shortcomings.

Think of office workers in Lucheng, Jin Ling, and Hu Cheng—after work, they have to detour hundreds of meters just to pick up a package. Where's the convenience of online shopping then?

It's like installing food lockers in residential areas—purely a case of tying your pants to take a piss.

But Cainiao isn't without merits!

At least, it holds some value in solving last-mile delivery issues in rural markets.

Due to vast territories, sparse populations, scattered parcels, and high delivery costs, nearly all couriers—including Yunsu—can only deliver to county or town levels. For smaller villages and communities, only the postal service can afford the cost.

For example, in Shanjue Town under Chunshen, there are twelve administrative villages and two streets, with only a hundred or so parcels daily. At delivery fees of 0. to 1. yuan per parcel, total earnings amount to only 60–90 yuan.

These hundred parcels are spread across 166 square kilometers of the town—even offering 10 yuan per parcel wouldn't attract any couriers.

Moreover, if delivery fees were raised to 10 yuan per parcel, merchants' shipping costs would multiply several times over.

Over time, users in this area would be automatically abandoned by merchants.

Cainiao's solution is to set up two or three pickup points in Shanjue Town, forcing recipients to collect their parcels themselves.

It seems harsh, but it does solve the last-mile delivery problem in rural areas.

This is precisely why Chen Yansen was willing to join Cainiao Network—it benefits both Pinbei and Yunsu.

"Do you have a better solution, Chen Zong?" Ma Liyun shrugged dismissively.

His original intent in launching Cainiao wasn't to improve user experience—he simply wanted to leverage the logistics networks of Yunsu, SF Express, Shen Tong, and Yuantong to sell more goods.

He also planned to earn advertising, data, and technical service fees from Cainiao Logistics.

Additionally, by having Yunsu, SF Express, Shen Tong, and Yuantong deposit parcels at Cainiao service points, he could profit from the price difference.

Later, he could package it all up and go public to raise another round of funding.

Borrowing a pot to cook rice—he was extremely skilled at this trick.

"Operate by region: in areas with high population mobility, concentrated delivery demand, and high requirements for immediacy and convenience, use parcel lockers to solve the last 100 meters' delivery efficiency;

in areas with stable residential populations, diversified logistics needs, scattered parcels, and high delivery difficulty, set up Cainiao service points to provide deep last-kilometer services."

Chen Yansen spoke calmly.

In short: prioritize parcel lockers in urban core areas like office buildings and apartments to meet immediate needs; use Cainiao service points as the main solution—with parcel lockers as auxiliary—in large factories, industrial parks, towns, and rural areas.

After hearing this, Ma Liyun's eyes lit up—he immediately saw Chen Yansen's idea as smarter, more flexible, and more efficient than a one-size-fits-all approach.

But he knew Yunsu already had extensive experience in parcel locker design and usage.

He wanted to borrow a hen to lay eggs, but Chen Yansen was even more ruthless—he had edited and revised Cainiao's proposal and now wanted to seize control.

This was outright usurpation!

For a moment, Ma Liyun looked troubled, unsure how to respond.

First, he didn't want to break ties with Chen Yansen;

second, he didn't want to hand over Cainiao Logistics' achievements to someone else.

But he also knew Cainiao Logistics couldn't succeed without Yunsu Express.

"Chen Zong's proposal is excellent," Ma Liyun said stiffly, his expression grim.

"I agree. What are your thoughts on the specific cooperation model, data sharing, and equity distribution?"

Chen Yansen asked with a light smile.

He understood Ma Liyun's hidden motives, and Ma Liyun knew his own calculations; the two probed each other in a back-and-forth exchange.

"Why not meet in person to discuss it?" Ma Liyun suggested.

For now, the two found it hard to reach an agreement.

He wanted to secure substantial profits from the Cainiao Logistics project, while Chen Yansen was drawn to the employment opportunities Cainiao Logistics could provide.

"No problem," Chen Yansen agreed readily.

If we can agree, we agree; if not, I'll go it alone!

Then I'll use Ma Liyun's Cainiao Logistics proposal!

After ending the conversation, Chen Yansen continued eating lunch.

Ma Liyun, with a grim expression, called in Lu Zhaoxi and Zhang Yong for a meeting to discuss how to persuade Chen Yansen to join while preserving their controlling stake.

Meanwhile, across the ocean, brick-and-mortar retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, and Target added a new product beside their home electronics displays.

Alexa Smart Speaker?

Luo De stared at the product label, baffled—he knew what a speaker was, but what the hell was a smart speaker?

Priced at $199, this wasn't cheap.

The product's packaging bore a QR code, with usage instructions beside it: this was a speaker built with the Alexa smart voice assistant, allowing users to converse with it via a wake word.

Luo De's eyes instantly lit up—he saw this as an artificial intelligence product straight out of a sci-fi film made real.

He immediately grabbed one Alexa Smart Speaker and hurried to the checkout counter.

(End of Chapter)