Chapter 303: Scan to Pay, Seize the Offline Payment Gateway!

September 3rd, 2: 0 p. .

In front of the library at Xu Yuan College, a small stage twenty square meters in size had been erected, with a giant poster standing behind it.

"2012 Freshman Welcome and Orientation Conference at Xu Yuan College."

The first-year students, a dense sea of them, lined up from the classroom buildings and labs all the way to the library; though no one was shouting, the quiet murmur of thousands gathered together still produced a tremendous noise.

Tang Qingshan sat in the front row and whispered to Chen Yansen beside him: "When I'm done, you go up."

Chen Yansen glanced around at the dozen or so deans from various departments, thinking that by the time this bunch finished their long-winded speeches, it would already be dark.

He did not object to Tang Qingshan's arrangement.

Freshman remarks offered him no benefit; Tang Qingshan had brought it up several times, and he had refused several times, until finally he reluctantly agreed.

After speaking, Tang Qingshan stepped onto the stage.

"Hello, new students of the 2012 cohort! I am Tang Qingshan, president of Xu Yuan College!"

After taking his position, Tang Qingshan faced the more than three thousand first-year students and delivered his opening remarks with a smile.

The murmurs in the audience vanished instantly.

Partly out of respect for Tang Qingshan's status, partly because the counselors stood nearby watching.

No one wanted to be scolded by the president or a counselor on their very first day of school.

"In this golden September, we gather on the campus of Xu Yuan College to witness one of the most important moments in your lives.

On behalf of all faculty, staff, and students, I extend our warmest welcome to the 3, 91 new students from across the country!

Congratulations on your ten years of diligent study, and for using your wisdom and sweat to knock open the gates of Xu Yuan College!

The college motto is: Kindness, Broad Learning, Practicality, Progress. As president, I have three expectations to share with you: First, build your life through learning—be a seeker of truth and practicality…"

Tang Qingshan pulled out his script and began reading with emotional intensity.

Perhaps due to his decades of life experience, Chen Yansen found himself listening with genuine interest.

Though Tang Qingshan's words were mostly hollow clichés, the core message was crystal clear: encourage learning.

University is the end of the gaokao, the beginning of life.

If you waste your time and drift aimlessly through four years, you will likely feel regret in the middle of the night years later.

But to young people, what's the point of university if you don't have fun?

Tang Qingshan spoke at a steady, measured pace, his voice firm and compelling—he had long honed his public speaking skills through countless meetings.

Ten minutes later, Tang Qingshan concluded simply: "I hope that one day in the future, you will become the new pride of Xu Yuan College. Now, let Chen Yansen, an outstanding student of Xu Yuan, chairman of the Anhui Provincial College Student Entrepreneurship Alliance, and founder of Senlian Capital, share his experiences in learning and entrepreneurship."

As soon as he finished, thunderous applause erupted from the audience.

Among this year's first-year students, regardless of gender, at least one-third owned Orange phones, one-third had shopped on Pinbei, and one-third had used KuaiPao takeout, Kuaide Taxi, or YunSu Express.

Most people idolize success, and Chen Yansen, twenty years old and already a billionaire after only two years of entrepreneurship, was clearly among the most admired.

"Wow! I heard this is Chen Yansen's first speech at a freshman conference."

"Even the 2011 freshmen didn't get this honor!"

"I'm majoring in e-commerce—I'll apply for an operations position at Pinbei after graduation."

"I'm studying software engineering. I heard Orange Tech's benefits are better than Ali, Tencent, and Baidu—I'm definitely joining the senior's company someday."

A buzz of quiet discussion immediately spread through the audience.

Chen Yansen walked calmly to the center of the stage.

"Good afternoon, classmates! I'm Chen Yansen—just like you, an ordinary Xu Yuan student. I love the hand-pulled noodles in cafeteria three, the pork cutlet rice in cafeteria two, strolling by Willow Creek in the crisp autumn air, and sitting by Pearl Lake with the girl I love, feeling the evening breeze."

Chen Yansen smiled faintly, his tone calm and gentle, as if chatting with a close friend.

An ordinary Xu Yuan student?

Which Xu Yuan student dares to skip class every day?

Tang Qingshan's face darkened with exasperation, but he smiled helplessly.

The dozen or so deans also smiled, especially the head of the School of Literature and Communication—he knew better than anyone else.

This "ordinary" Xu Yuan student had a 0% attendance rate in every single major course every semester.

Anyone else would have been expelled years ago!

When the freshmen heard Chen Yansen mention "sitting by Pearl Lake with the girl I love," the boys exchanged knowing smiles, their eyes flickering with anticipation.

The girls, hearing this, felt a pang of disappointment—Chen Yansen already had someone he liked, so they had no chance.

"Next, I'll share three personal insights on learning and entrepreneurship. First, learning isn't the ultimate goal—mastering the methodology of learning is far more important…"

Chen Yansen paused, then continued.

Having lived two lives and founded multiple businesses, he had far more insight than his peers in defining his life's direction.

Five minutes later, Chen Yansen wrapped up quickly—his speech seemed half-hearted, but it contained some useful advice, such as: pay attention to job-hunting apps, and understand early your major's employment landscape, direction, and required skills.

On entrepreneurship, his advice was: support and encourage it, but choose the industry best suited to your abilities, resources, and circumstances, and start with the business model you know best.

Stick to what you know, avoid what you don't understand. Whether the audience listened or not—none of his concern!

"Teacher Tang, I have a weekly meeting at the company—I'll have to excuse myself." Chen Yansen returned to his seat and whispered.

"Go ahead. Thanks for your effort." Tang Qingshan nodded in response.

Chen Yansen stood, walked around the stage, followed the northern path beside the library, crossed Yi Xing Bridge, and headed straight for the Entrepreneurship Park.

He had parked his car there for easy departure.

Then he got behind the wheel and sped toward Zhu Xianzhuang Technology Park.

He hadn't lied to Tang Qingshan—every Monday afternoon, he held a brief weekly meeting with senior managers from Orange Tech, Pinbei, Today Tech, and Orange Payment to review the progress of each project.

Xu Yuan College and the technology park were less than ten kilometers apart; soon, Chen Yansen drove into the park.

He glanced at his watch—it was still before three.

He entered Building Nine, took the elevator to his office, and before the meeting began, he specifically called Zhang Yinjia over.

This former general manager of ZhiFuBao's Business Intelligence Department, since joining Orange Payment, had, under Chen Yansen's guidance, developed a QR code payment system based on barcode technology, preparing to launch it in Orange Payment 2. .

Additionally, half a month ago, Orange Payment had easily obtained the "Securities and Futures Business Operating License" and the "Consumer Finance License" through connections at Huake, Huaxin, and China Merchants Bank.

In other words, Orange Payment was no longer merely an electronic payment tool—it had become a financial investment tool as well.

This was highly significant for Orange Payment: it could now expand aggressively through Pinbei, Orange Mall, YunSu Express, Kuaide Taxi, and KuaiPao, earning substantial profits from fund distribution spreads.

"Tap-tap-tap!" A knock came at the door.

"Come in!" Chen Yansen called out.

Zhang Yinjia entered, pulled over a chair, sat across from Chen Yansen, and waited expectantly for his boss to speak.

"Has the internal testing for Orange Payment 2. been completed?" Chen Yansen asked casually.

"It'll take another week. Director Huang has coordinated everything—when users pay via the PC version of Pinbei Mall, they'll be able to use QR code scanning."

Zhang Yinjia replied quickly.

"Online QR code usage is limited—its greatest function should be connecting offline experiences. For example, KuaiPao's group-buy voucher verification process requires staff to manually input voucher codes—it's time-consuming and inefficient. I'll set up a coordination group; you and Kang Guodong should design a solution to embed QR code technology into the verification module."

Chen Yansen leaned back, speaking slowly and deliberately.

This issue was small but severely impacted user experience—otherwise, during peak times, voucher verification became a nightmare.

Verifying one by one, users grew impatient.

If merchants took photos first and verified later, it created a time lag in redemption, allowing dishonest users to sneak refunds after spending.

"Technically, no difficulty." Zhang Yinjia replied confidently.

"The offline promotion can be handled by KuaiPao's field staff—I've already spoken to Pei Yi." Chen Yansen added.

"Thank you, boss." Zhang Yinjia hurriedly replied.

In 2012, promoting QR code offline payments seemed ahead of its time, but both the technology and equipment were already mature.

Moreover, Orange Payment was not the pioneer.

Two years ago, ZhiFuBao launched barcode payments; a year ago, it added QR code payments.

The only issue was whether the Banking Regulatory Association recognized its legality.

It wasn't banned, but it wasn't officially endorsed either.

In short, both Orange Payment and ZhiFuBao were feeling their way across the river.

But Chen Yansen was more aggressive than Ma Liyun—while Alibaba still pushed scanning payments on PC, Chen had already set his sights on the offline payment market.

At this moment, WeChat Pay and WeChat Red Packets hadn't launched yet.

Although Ma Wenteng saw the potential of mobile internet, he hadn't realized yet that "scan" would become the ultimate tool linking online and offline worlds.

And QR code payments would become one of the key moves in Senlian Capital's O2O strategy.

"Orange Payment needs to move. Building Seven and Building Five both have good layouts—pick one."

Chen Yansen smiled.

Orange Payment now had over six hundred employees, and sharing Building Nine with Orange Tech had become cramped.

"Then Building Seven," Zhang Yinjia thought for a moment and said.

Chen Yansen nodded slightly, indicating the administration and finance departments would handle the arrangements.

Only at exactly three o'clock did the two leave the office and head together to the conference room on the eighth floor.

(End of chapter)