Chapter 275: Some People Get Dirtier the More You Dig, While Others Get Redder

Meituan's loyal users, seeing this, were indignant: all crows are equally black; they refused to believe that every company and every employee under Senlian Capital could receive overtime pay.

So these people frantically gathered information from forums, tieba, and QQ groups, then individually checked the number of insured employees for each subsidiary on the Social Security Association's official website.

One day later, a detailed investigative summary was posted online.

The funniest part was, the poster had been loudly cursing KuaiPao and Chen Yansen just the day before—clearly a die-hard Meituan fan—but now he turned his gun on Wang Xin.

The comment section was filled with people mocking him.

"Bro, are you schizophrenic? You praised Meituan, and now you're cursing Meituan."

"Senlian Capital's number of social security contributors is as high as 150,000?"

"Even couriers and food delivery riders have five insurances and one fund—even the cleaning ladies in the cafeteria are enrolled in social security? What's going on?"

"Some people get dirtier the more you dig, while others get redder the more you dig!"

Netizens' attention quickly shifted from Meituan to Senlian Capital.

Take the courier industry as an example: companies that provide social security for couriers are few and far between—besides YunSu, ShunFeng, JingDong, and BangDe, the rest don't even offer the five insurances and one fund, let alone high-temperature subsidies or overtime pay.

Previously, some employees from YunSu Courier, Sister Chengzi's phone factory, and KuaiPao had posted their pay stubs online; now these became the best proof.

As netizens dug deeper, Senlian Capital's true compensation and benefits system gradually came to light.

Base salary, 20% of monthly salary as housing subsidy, meal allowance, transportation subsidy, five insurances and one fund, quarterly bonus, up to three times overtime pay, supplemental medical insurance, holiday red packets, travel fund…

Altogether, more than twenty items.

It completely obliterated Kaisui Team!

You could say Meituan Food Delivery had already lost half the battle before it even launched.

Two days later, Zhu Qingbao publicly announced on Weibo that he would join KuaiPao Food Delivery's Beijing branch on next Monday to serve Chen Yansen.

This scene made netizens insanely envious.

The CCTV-2 program "Conversations with Big Names" called for an interview, then urgently rushed to Xucheng to plan to feature Chen Yansen as the subject of their next episode.

Remember, the guests invited to "Conversations with Big Names" are industry giants like Li Yanhong, Wang Jianlin, Guo Changguang, and Zong Qinghou.

Although Chen Yansen's net worth and influence are considerable, he has only been in business for two years at most.

Since using CCTV's platform to promote his company was a clear advantage, Chen Yansen didn't pretend to be modest—he readily agreed.

At least it would save him several million in advertising costs; why not take it?

…

…

In the top-floor conference room of Chengzi Technology headquarters.

"Wang Xin's management style is unique in the industry—he's calm, rational, and possesses extraordinary execution ability; his emergence from the Thousand-Group War was no accident."

Ding Lei sat on the sofa, speaking to Chen Yansen's back: "I think you should talk to him—whether through investment or acquisition, it's better than a price war."

Chen Yansen picked up a can of Xihu Longjing from the cabinet, turned back to the tea table, and quietly boiled water to brew tea.

He hadn't expected Ding Lei to actually bring several bottles of fine wine, make a special trip to Xucheng, and come to drink with him.

Though complicated factors were involved, it was clear Ding Lei was pragmatic and open-minded; after several rounds of cooperation, he had genuinely come to regard Chen Yansen as a friend.

But Chen Yansen knew Ding Lei's other side: stingy, intolerant, couldn't stand criticism—in short, a "true villain."

All his flaws were plainly visible on his face.

"Not interested?" Ding Lei took the tea Chen Yansen handed him and asked curiously.

"I know Wang Xin's character and personality better than you do—even if he accepts Senlian Capital's investment now, it's likely just a delaying tactic; he might turn around and bite me one day."

Chen Yansen lifted his teacup and smiled lightly.

Wang Xin was famously known in the circle as a turncoat who served three masters—he came from a wealthy family, had high ambitions, and was nearly impossible to bring under his command.

He betrayed Mama Ali one day, then turned his back on Tencent the next.

Such a person can never be won over!

He had accepted Huang Zheng, Liang Bo, and Zhang Yiming—but his attitude toward Wang Xin had never changed.

Upon hearing this, Ding Lei frowned slightly, then smiled faintly and didn't take it to heart.

He came to see Chen Yansen about the NetEase Phone collaboration, and to deepen their "friendship" along the way.

As for Wang Xin, it was just an offhand remark.

"Has NetEase Phone's design been finalized?" Chen Yansen cut straight to the point.

What Ding Lei wanted was nothing but Chengzi Technology's AuroraOS system, supply chain, and manufacturing services.

He could give it to Zhou Hongyi—he could give it to Ding Lei too.

Why not make money if you can?

"I brought the schematic, PCB design drawings, assembly diagrams, BOM list, hardware interface definition documents, and antenna design data—can you, Chief Chen, give them a review?" Ding Lei asked with a smile.

"As long as you follow Zhou Hongyi's plan, sales won't be low," Chen Yansen said coolly.

Though Zhou Hongyi was merely an outsider in the phone industry, his business strategy was far superior to NetEase, Mama Ali, and Shengda.

Mama Ali had developed the YunOS system and launched the Mama Ali YunPhone last July: a 3.8-inch touchscreen, Tegra2 dual-core processor, 512MB RAM plus 8GB ROM, priced at 2,688 yuan.

As expected, no one bought it.

A month later, Chengzi C1 appeared out of nowhere, followed closely by Xiaomi, turning the Mama Ali YunPhone into a joke.

This April, Ma Liyun finally got smarter—he realized that with Mama Ali's influence, a 1,000-yuan phone was the absolute limit.

The 360 Haier W910 was a clear precedent!

Thus, the new-generation Mama Ali YunPhone—the Hornet W806—not only upgraded its screen to 4.3 inches but also increased its RAM to 1GB, priced at just 1,499 yuan.

In just one month, it sold 600,000 units.

But after May, 360 Phone launched, priced at only 1,299 yuan, stealing away 70–80% of Mama Ali YunPhone's users, causing May sales to plummet to 100,000 units.

Meanwhile, Shengda Phone, launched in June, with its 4.3-inch QHD capacitive screen, 1GB RAM, and minimum price of 1,299 yuan, sold 200,000 units in just one week without even running any ads.

So, in 2012, selling a special-edition phone left only one path: cost-performance ratio. Chen Yansen's words were indeed from the heart.

"I'm not as stupid as Ma Liyun!" Ding Lei pouted, seemingly dismissing the current e-commerce leader, then took out a document and placed it lightly on the coffee table.

Chen Yansen smiled but offered no comment on the matter.

Although Ma Liyun and Ding Lei were fellow townspeople, deep resentment had built up between them over the years. Seven years ago, during the Taobao-Ebay war, Ma Liyun approached the bosses of major portals seeking traffic support.

Upon learning this, Ebay offered double the advertising fee, with one condition: do not accept Taobao ads. The first to agree was Ding Lei.

From a business perspective, Ding Lei's actions were unimpeachable, but the grudge was now sealed.

Last year, without consulting investors, Ma Liyun spun off the Zhifubao equity from Mama Ali.

On the very first day the news broke, NetEase posted the relevant article on its homepage.

Privately, they fiercely criticized Ma Liyun for being unscrupulous and utterly lacking in integrity.

Chen Yansen guessed that Ma Liyun must have caused Ding Lei no small amount of trouble behind the scenes; otherwise, Ding Lei's resentment would not be so intense.

He picked up the BOM list and glanced at it: NetEase Ruiying G1: 4.0-inch IPS touchscreen, Snapdragon MSM8225 dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB RAM plus 4GB ROM, supporting microSD card expansion up to 32GB, 5-megapixel rear camera, 1.9-megapixel front camera.

"What price are you setting?" Chen Yansen put down the document and asked casually.

"1399 yuan, benchmarking against 360, Shanda, and Mama Ali Cloud phones, after all, the Ruiying G1 has stronger processor performance."

Ding Lei answered without hesitation, clearly having a plan already formed in his mind.

"No big problem. With the AuroraOS 1.3 system, I imagine sales won't fall below 360's," Chen Yansen commented objectively.

"With your words, I feel reassured," Ding Lei grinned.

"How many units for the launch?" Chen Yansen asked again.

"200,000," Ding Lei said with full confidence.

The price of 1399 yuan was not high; compared to Sister Chengzi Tech, 360, and Xiaomi, the advantage might not be great, but compared to Apple, HTC, and Shanxing, the price was too tempting.

Half a year ago, when NetEase first hinted at making a phone to the outside world, netizens spontaneously created a "NetEase Phone Tieba" for Ding Lei, filled with expectations for the NetEase phone.

In their view, a major characteristic of internet companies making phones was: abandoning hardware profits to achieve extreme cost-performance ratio.

Apple, HTC, and Shanxing phones might be better, but the high-spec, low-price special-edition phone was the superior choice.

After listening, Chen Yansen nodded slightly, asked Ding Lei to send him the electronic version of the data, and delegated the contract signing to subordinates.

The two drank tea and chatted idly.

The sky outside gradually darkened. Chen Yansen raised his hand to check the time and invited Ding Lei to the Sky Garden in the city center.

Wang Teng and Ye Qiuping accompanied them.

The drinking session didn't end until 11 PM at night. After seeing Ding Lei off to a guest room to rest, Chen Yansen left with Wang Teng and Ye Qiuping.

"Boss, be careful," Wang Teng said, slightly tipsy, standing beside a Mercedes-Benz.

He had driven himself and still had to wait for the designated driver to arrive.

"Then we'll go first," Chen Yansen said, then got into the back seat of the Ghost.

Ye Qiuping, who hadn't driven, climbed in after him.

She kept her head down, a patch of snow-white skin catching Chen Yansen's eye.

The visual impact of a D-cup was strong; the heat surged up instantly.

"Boss, I live at Longde Yuan, 24 Bianhe Middle Road," Ye Qiuping said after closing the car door, seemingly speaking to Chen Yansen but actually addressing the driver, Xiao Li.

"Xiao Li, take Director Ye home first," Chen Yansen ordered.

Xiao Li hummed in acknowledgment and focused on driving.

The evening breeze blew gently; the streetscapes on both sides of the road swept past continuously. Neon lights flickered; the night sky over Xu City was extremely quiet.

The scent on Ye Qiuping's body drilled straight into Chen Yansen's nose.

Ten-plus minutes later, the car stopped at the entrance of the residential compound.

"Boss, do you want to come up for a while?" Ye Qiuping, her face flushed and eyes holding a smile, boldly tested the waters.

Do it?

Chen Yansen was slightly stunned and couldn't help thinking: Truly hasn't changed a bit, still so promiscuous.

Director Ye was warm and hospitable; Boss Chen certainly wouldn't refuse her face.

Chen Yansen's only dissatisfaction was that the bed in Ye Qiuping's home was too small, restricting his range of motion.

The next morning, Chen Yansen took a car back to Xu Yuan.

July 23rd.

NetEase released the pre-sale link for the Ruiying G1 on its official website.

Although 100 yuan more expensive than the 360 G800 Pro Shining, it offered a significant improvement in processor performance. Combined with Sister Chengzi Tech's quality control endorsement and the smoothness of the AuroraOS system, the NetEase phone achieved a pre-sale figure of 60,000 units in the first hour of launch.

Before Chen Yansen even reached his office, Ding Lei called, requesting an additional production volume of 500,000 units.

At the same time.

Far away in East Africa, Zhou Jinling and others, carrying improved versions of the Sister Chengzi D1 and Sister Chengzi C2, stepped onto Nigeria, this West African nation with a population exceeding 200 million, for the first time.

This was Sister Chengzi Tech's second stop in the African market!

"Zhou Ge, I've contacted all the distributors in Abuja. As long as the supply is stable and after-sales service is guaranteed, they are willing to sell our goods," Qi Liang said, standing aside.

"I estimate the sales of the Sister Chengzi F3 (the improved Sister Chengzi C2) won't be very high," Jin Xu added.

Zhou Jinling understood Jin Xu's meaning; he simply thought Nigeria was too poor. He shook his head and said, "Even the poorest places don't lack the rich. Don't look down on this place; Apple sells one million units in Nigeria every year."

"Damn! Really?" Jin Xu widened his eyes, asking incredulously.

"I told you to read more books and study more, yet you make it seem like I'm harming you. All this data is on the company intranet," Zhou Jinling scolded impatiently.

In the year he spent in East Africa, he had changed immensely. His mind held only the impulse to climb higher. He worked during the day and practiced French and English hard at night, reading every single industry report provided by the company without missing a one.

Drawing on the sales experience in Abyssinia and the model of building a three-tier sales network, Zhou Jinling was confident of successfully breaking into the Nigerian mobile phone market.

Jin Xu gave an awkward smile and scratched his head.

The group of six left the airport, hailed a car, and headed toward the hotel.

And sales teams like Zhou Jinling's, Chen Yansen had sent over twenty of them to Nigeria in one go.

Though Africa was not as wealthy as Europe and America, it had the advantage of a huge population — grains of sand piling into a tower — and its market potential could not be underestimated.

It could absorb no less than forty to fifty million smartphones a year.

Even Apple and Samsung hadn't written it off; Sister Chengzi Tech had even less reason to give up this fertile market.

Meanwhile.

Chen Yansen once again received a private call from Ma Liyun, who invited him to discuss the preparations for Cainiao Logistics.

(End of chapter)