Chapter 304

Xu City, Zhuxian Industrial Park, Building 9, Room 8a3.

Chen Yansen sat at the head of the table, glanced at Zhang Yinjia, then said: "Begin."

Around the long conference table sat the core executives of Sister Chengzi Pay: heads of online payment, offline payment, and commercial monetization departments, as well as business directors from technical, operational, risk control, finance, legal, and customer service divisions.

Most of these people came from Zhi Fu Bao, Pin An, and commercial banks—either intimately familiar with financial industry operations or experts in internet product marketing methodologies.

"Zhou Mingxuan, you go first." Zhang Yinjia gave a slight nod and signaled for Sister Chengzi Pay's vice president to report first.

"Boss, General Zhang, regarding the Yuer Bao product plan, I've coordinated with the fund company. The preliminary framework is a 'money market fund + payment consumption' model."

"Users can convert their account balance into a money market fund with one click to earn returns, and during payment or consumption, they can directly use their fund shares for transactions."

Zhou Mingxuan set up the projector, opened a PowerPoint, and spoke slowly.

He held a master's degree in finance from the University of Hong Kong and had fifteen years of securities industry experience, having served as director and general manager at multiple fund organizations—a seasoned veteran with both ability and connections.

He joined Sister Chengzi Pay because he saw the development potential of mobile payment, the substantial equity rewards, and the generous salary package.

"Sister Chengzi Pay holds thirty million active users. If we embed a low-volatility, stable-yield money market fund into the product, we can not only improve user retention and account value but also boost Sister Chengzi Pay's profitability."

Zhang Yinjia nodded in agreement and added:

At this point, Mama Ali hadn't yet targeted this business segment—whichever company launches Yuer Bao first owns it!

"Are there still issues with technical integration, payment settlement, and regulatory compliance?" Chen Yansen asked.

"High-concurrency transactions are indeed a challenge. Traditional centralized data architecture struggles to handle traffic spikes in the tens of millions. The tech team proposes a distributed architecture, dispersing data and computing power across multiple servers to enhance system scalability and fault tolerance," replied Jiang Leiming, head of the tech department, immediately.

"We hold the 'Securities and Futures Business Operating License' and the 'Consumer Finance License,' but Yuer Bao combines payment, fund sales, and money market fund services—touching multiple regulatory bodies including banks and the Fund Regulatory Association. Whether we can proceed and whether it's compliant remains unclear due to the lack of explicit rules."

"We hold both the 'Securities and Futures Business Operating License' and the 'Consumer Finance License,' but the Yu'e Bao product integrates three types of businesses—payment, fund sales, and money market funds—involving multiple departments such as banks and the Fund Regulatory Association; whether we can proceed or if it constitutes a violation actually lacks clear and explicit rules."

"If the law is unknown, its power is unpredictable!"

"The pioneer's task is to feel for stones across the river!"

In his view, Yuer Bao could certainly be done—but it carried regulatory risks. It all depended on whether Chen Yansen dared to move forward.

"Also, to enable Yuer Bao's payment functionality, the product must support real-time redemption. But most domestic fund companies use T+1 settlement—clearly inadequate." Zhou Mingxuan continued.

Chen Yansen smiled faintly. He had repeatedly accepted investments from Huake, Huaxin, and China Merchants primarily to prepare for Yuer Bao's launch.

"Tianfu Fund is willing to cooperate. They plan to roll out a T+0 redemption feature soon, using an advance funding mechanism to achieve real-time redemption."

Chen Yansen looked up at Zhou Mingxuan, speaking calmly.

"Understood, Boss. I'll handle the coordination." Zhou Mingxuan's eyes lit up, and he eagerly took on the task.

"Many things have no precedent—create them yourself. Within three days, I want the final feasibility report. Tech department assess system capacity. Legal department immediately study the regulatory red lines."

Chen Yansen instructed the group, then paused and added: "Sister Chengzi Pay doesn't chase waves—it becomes the wave itself."

Hearing this, Zhang Yinjia, Zhou Mingxuan, Jiang Leiming, and others could not hide their excitement. With the license secured and the T+0 redemption problem solved, all obstacles to Yuer Bao's launch had been cleared.

With Sister Chengzi Pay's user base and Senlian Capital's backing, Yuer Bao's market performance was bound to be remarkable!

As the company's valuation soared, the value of their stock options would multiply.

The payment market's pie was huge. If you didn't take a bite, what was the point of being reborn?

Chen Yansen's expectations for Sister Chengzi Pay were modest—just make it into the top three in the industry.

Next, each department reported on progress, performance reviews, product optimizations, market analysis, and competitive dynamics.

The meeting lasted an hour, ending just before four p. m.

Chen Yansen glanced at his watch. The promised short meeting had turned into a long one.

After Zhang Yinjia and others left, Zhou Shouzhi, Wang Teng, Ye Qiuping, Zhang Cong, Zhou Ze, and Yan Peng entered the conference room one after another.

After Zhang Yinjia and others left, Zhou Shouzhi, Wang Teng, Ye Qiuping, Zhang Cong, Zhou Ze, and Yan Peng and others successively entered the conference room.

"Chief Chen!"

Dozens of greetings rang out in unison.

Chen Yansen gave a slight nod and said to Zhou Shouzhi, who had just sat down: "Old Zhou, lead the meeting. I'll listen."

Zhang Cong, Zhou Ze, Wang Teng, Yan Peng, and others exchanged glances, raising their estimation of Zhou Shouzhi by several notches.

Everyone understood that although Zhou Shouzhi's official title was CFO, he also held CEO-level authority.

The timing simply wasn't ripe yet.

Facing the down-to-earth nickname "Old Zhou," Zhou Shouzhi could only smile wryly and nodded to Yan Peng: "Old Yan, start with the annual data review."

Facing the nickname 'Old Zhou,' which was so down-to-earth, Zhou Shouzhi could only smile bitterly and nod, saying to Yan Peng: "Old Yan, let's first review the annual data."

Chen Yansen paused, surprised. Zhou Shouzhi had adapted so quickly—just days in, and he'd already given Yan Peng a nickname.

Yan Peng smiled awkwardly, connected the projector, and read in a low voice: "As of September 2nd, total sales of Sister Chengzi phones reached 32.1 million units: 27.6 million domestically, 4.5 million overseas. Total revenue: 66.83 billion Huayuan. Hardware gross profit: 8.02 billion. Software gross profit: 4.87 billion. Combined: 12.89 billion."

"Domestically, sales channels are primarily online, with offline as secondary. Sales figures: Sister Chengzi C1: 2.7 million units; Sister Chengzi D1: 13.4 million; Sister Chengzi C2: 5.1 million; Sister Chengzi C3: 4.5 million; Qingcheng D1S: 1.9 million."

"Overseas, focus is on Abyssinia and Nigeria, plus select retail markets in East and West Africa. Sales: Sister Chengzi F1: 2.3 million; Sister Chengzi F2 (revised C1): 800,000; Sister Chengzi F3 (revised C2): 300,000; Lemon D1 (revised D1): 1.1 million."

In eight months, global sales reached 32.1 million units, revenue nearly 70 billion Huayuan. If projected annually, just the phone business would place Sister Chengzi Technology among the Fortune Global 500. "What's the net profit?" Chen Yansen asked casually.

In eight months, global total sales reached 32.1 million units, with revenue nearing 70 billion Hua Yuan; if calculated for the full year, relying solely on the mobile phone business, Sister Chengzi Technology could rank among the Fortune Global 500 companies. "How much net profit remains?" Chen Yansen asked casually.

In the past half-year, Sister Chengzi Technology had poured over 4 billion Huayuan into R&D and purchased land in Luzhou to build its headquarters—yet after deducting all costs from over 10 billion Huayuan in gross profit, net profit margin was only 2.5%.

In the past eight months, Sister Chengzi Technology invested over 4 billion in R&D and purchased land in Luzhou to build its headquarters building; with a gross profit of over 10 billion, after deducting various cost expenditures, the net profit margin surprisingly remained only 2.5%.

Compared to hundreds of billions in revenue, this was pitifully small.

Yet Sister Chengzi Technology supported hundreds of thousands along its supply chain!

Domestic suppliers like Desai Battery and Jingdongfang thrived solely because of Sister Chengzi Technology.

For Chen Yansen, the tens of thousands of threads of human virtue generated monthly by Sister Chengzi Technology and its phone factories mattered far more.

"Continue," Chen Yansen waved his hand.

Among so many subsidiaries, the real money-maker was Pianbei—the platform's GMV exceeded 200 billion Huayuan, revenue reached 29 billion Huayuan, and after expenses, net profit remained around 20 billion Huayuan—a true money-printing machine.

Among so many subsidiaries, when it comes to earning power, it still has to be Pinba; the platform's GMV exceeded 200 billion, with revenue reaching as high as 29 billion Hua Yuan. After deducting expenses and costs, the net profit was still around 20 billion, truly a money-printing machine.

Manufacturing requires high investment and has a long payback period; those meager returns are completely inferior to the e-commerce and gaming industries.

Why did Zhou Hongyi, Ma Liyun, Ding Lei, and others dare to sell phones at "zero profit"?

It was all to seize the terminal market and fight for mobile internet entry points; fortunately, all of them failed, otherwise, domestic smartphones would likely have become advertising machines for various internet giants.

360's annual ad revenue is five or six hundred million US dollars; working themselves to death selling phones, how much money did they actually earn?

Immediately after, Yan Peng synchronized the revenue and gross profit data for Mo Si (Alexa) smart speakers, power banks, Bluetooth earphones, and phone accessories; the total revenue finally settled at 72.63 billion yuan.

"Sister Chengzi's Smart Life Pavilion for Kuai Pao has gone online, and sales are quite good; offline self-operated stores can align with online ones to increase brand recognition. There is no need to wait deliberately for the launch of the Sister Chengzi Pad 1 and Sister Chengzi MagicBook; first, rapidly build offline sales, after-sales, and experience channels."

After Yan Peng finished his report, Chen Yansen spoke to Zhou Shouzhi.

"No problem," Zhou Shouzhi replied with a smile, confident and composed.

Regarding the construction of Sister Chengzi Technology's offline channels, he had already formed a plan in his mind: expand from first-tier cities to second and third-tier cities, focusing on self-operated stores, with specialty stores and authorized stores as supplements; coordinate multiple store types to achieve a comprehensive layout covering shopping centers, communities, and communications shops.

The second person to report was Wang Teng, followed by Ye Qiuping, Zhang Cong, Zhou Ze, and others.

The weekly meeting lasted until five o'clock, and a golden glow of the setting sun dyed the windows.

Chen Yansen did not rest; only after holding business and financial weekly meetings with Huang Zheng and Liang Bo successively did he push the door open and walk out.

At this moment, the twilight was heavy, and the evening wind blew urgently and restlessly, as if carrying the slight chill of early autumn.

The development of Sister Chengzi Technology, Shangcheng Mall, Sister Chengzi Pay, and Jinri Toutiao was all under his plan, advancing in an orderly manner.

Last week, he received an invitation to the 11th Internet Conference; from official data, he learned that the scale of Huaguo's netizens had reached 540 million, with a penetration rate of 42.1%.

Mobile phone users have exceeded one billion, among which the number of smartphone users is 360 million; from this data, it is not difficult to see that the great era of mobile internet is about to arrive.

This is also the core reason why companies like Mama Ali, 360, NetEase, and Shanda have all rushed to make smartphones.

The current main factors limiting the development ceiling of products like Jinri Toutiao and Lingxi Browser are smartphone penetration rates, mobile network speeds, and data traffic fees.

A smartphone installed base of 360 million, in Chen Yansen's view, was still too small.

"The operational strategies for the Chengzi D1 and Qingcheng D1s have been very effective; at the very least, they have driven down the prices of low-to-mid-range smartphones from manufacturers like Xiaomi, 360, OPPO, Huawei, Lenovo, and Ku Sect by several hundred yuan; if the price is too high, users simply won't buy."

Chen Yansen walked toward the cafeteria while pondering silently to himself.

At the same time.

The Beijing Patrol, in conjunction with patrol stations in Tianjin, Changshan, Tang Cheng, and An Ci, launched a unified operation late at night on September 3rd at 10:30 PM.

They wiped out 19 gray-market studios in one go, involving an amount of 40 million yuan; countless "wool-gatherers" received inquiry calls.

Many people were still immersed in the sweet dream of earning a million a month when patrol officers broke down the doors and blocked them in front of their beds.

That night, the gray-market practitioners in North China were terrified to death; only after discovering that the patrol officers were only arresting "DiDi Dache" wool-gathering studios did they breathe a sigh of relief.

On the other side.

Brother Hui and others, who had already fled to Annan, felt relieved upon hearing this news; if they hadn't run fast, they might well have ended up in jail eating prison food.

"Brother Hui, what should we do?" Yaozi asked in a panic.

"Don't worry, the patrol won't trace back to us; with Xiao Nai Niu gone, we can still create Da Jin Niu; I don't believe we can't find a system vulnerability in DiDi Dache!"

Brother Hui said dismissively.

People engaged in gray-market activities are like leeks, one crop after another; although Xiao Nai Niu's software has been cracked and some clients have been caught, there are still plenty of people wanting to get rich quick, so there is absolutely no fear of lacking buyers.

The only problem is that they must develop a new software as soon as possible.

"Brother Hui, there is no shortage of technical personnel here in Annan; tomorrow we will go recruit," Ah Zhen said, standing aside.

"Fine, I'll leave it to you," Brother Hui grunted in agreement.

This big fat sheep, DiDi Dache, can generate millions of yuan in revenue for them every month; no one is willing to give it up!

(End of this chapter)