Chapter 309: First Meeting with Li Yanhong

As the room door opened, Chen Yansen, Ma Wenteng, and Liu Zhiping entered, followed by Zhou Shouzhi, Huang Zheng, and Gao Weilin.

"General Chen!"

"General Ma!"

"General Liu!"

Zhang Chaoyang, Lei Yi, and others immediately stood up, shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries with smiles.

"Don't you have meetings tomorrow?" Chen Yansen glanced at the coffee table, where beer, red wine, and whiskey were piled high, and smirked teasingly.

"I've attended ten Internet conferences; every year it's the same old thing. We drink tonight, sleep through the venue tomorrow—perfect."

Zhang Chaoyang said with a laugh.

"..." Chen Yansen chuckled silently—it was exactly the kind of thing Zhang Chaoyang would do.

If not for the face of the higher-ups, he probably wouldn't have come at all.

The private room was spacious enough to hold forty or fifty people, yet still felt empty after they entered.

Everyone took their seats in turn. As soon as Chen Yansen sat down, Zhang Chaoyang leaned over, filled his glass, then poured whiskey beside him for Ma Wenteng: "Long time no see."

"Yeah, it's been a while since we drank together," Ma Wenteng raised his glass in reply.

"You're too busy," Zhang Chaoyang swirled his glass, speaking casually.

Ma Wenteng smiled but said nothing—he was different from Zhang Chaoyang; Penguin was still in its growth phase, so he couldn't afford to slack off.

If they missed the mobile internet wave, Penguin risked decline and could become the next Sohu—he had to be cautious.

"General Chen, I heard Sister Chengzi's phone plans to enter the Eastern European market?" Ding Lei asked curiously.

This question was meant for Zhang Chaoyang, but since the man himself was right here, there was no need to go far.

"We're considering it. Right now we're negotiating revenue-sharing ratios with Eastern European telecom operators, and also coordinating improvements on hardware and network standards—likely not until Q4 for launch."

Chen Yansen didn't hide anything.

It was just Eastern Europe—not Western Europe!

If Xiaomi or NetEase wanted to enter, he wouldn't stop them.

After all, both companies' manufacturing orders were in his hands; the more Xiaomi and NetEase phones sold, the more jobs and livelihoods his Sister Chengzi factory could provide.

Lei Yi listened closely. After Chen Yansen finished speaking, he interjected: "Xiaosheng and Apple are strong mainly because of their overseas markets. Domestic smartphone sales are large, but globally they only account for 30%. Entering overseas markets is the right choice."

Take Xiaosheng: it sells only about ten million smartphones per quarter in China, yet its global shipment volume exceeds fifty million.

"How far along is Xiaomi's voice interaction engine development?" Chen Yansen asked casually.

After obtaining the patent license for the speech analysis development tools, Lei Yi had founded Xiaomi's AI Lab—over two months had passed; there should be some results by now.

"Miaoxiao is developing a voice interaction engine?" Before Lei Yi could respond, Ding Lei's face showed surprise and he asked hastily.

"Yes. I purchased the patent technology for the development tools from General Chen. We've just started and are still researching algorithm models."

Lei Yi answered honestly.

Since even the development tools came from Sister Chengzi Tech, he had no reason to hide it.

Ding Lei nodded—he had no interest in voice interaction engines.

The group drank and discussed cooperation until one a. m., when the second drinking session finally ended.

Chen Yansen waved goodbye to Ma Huateng, Zhang Chaoyang, and others, then got into a Maybach 62S to return to the hotel.

The evening's drinking wasn't without gain—he'd secured next year's Pinbei advertising business with Ding Lei and He Xiaopeng, as well as pre-installation cooperation for UC Browser and NetEase clients.

Under the night sky, Beijing's neon lights shimmered brilliantly, serene and still.

When he returned to the Marco Polo Hotel, it was nearly one-thirty. He had two room cards in his pocket and pulled out the second one.

He swiped to unlock and stepped inside.

Song Yuncheng lay on the bed, cheeks slightly flushed, eyes tightly closed—she had waited too long and fallen asleep early.

Chen Yansen took off his coat and shirt, washed up briefly in the bathroom, then slipped into bed.

The next morning.

After breakfast, everyone boarded a car and headed for the International Convention Center. Turning right onto North Fourth Ring Road along Anli Road, they drove four hundred meters straight ahead and arrived.

Chen Yansen stepped out of the car, looked up at the International Convention Center, and saw a sea of reporters standing on the outdoor grounds. Even from hundreds of meters away, he could hear the continuous clicking of camera shutters.

This year's Internet Conference, besides domestic internet companies, also invited overseas investment firms like Gao Sheng, Temasek, and IDG, as well as international giants like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon.

In fact, this was one way the organizers attracted domestic entrepreneurs—most invitees came specifically to seek partnerships and funding.

Chen Yansen stepped into the conference hall, followed by Zhou Shouzhi, Huang Zheng, Xiao Jun, Pei Yi, and Cheng Weixing. Senlian Capital's delegation was nothing short of stellar.

From smartphone R&D and manufacturing, to social e-commerce, food delivery, group buying, ride-hailing, information services, express delivery, browsers, and electronic navigation maps, Senlian Capital's business spanned multiple sectors.

Before Chen Yansen's group even reached the hall, reporters had already surrounded the entrance, blocking all passage.

Ma Liyun, Ma Wenteng, and Li Yanhong were regulars at the Internet Conference; their news angles had long been exhausted.

But Chen Yansen was different: at just twenty years old, he had extended his business reach across every industry, with a net worth of tens of billions—far more valuable to interview than the BAT trio.

"General Chen, how do you balance studies and entrepreneurship? What's the core logic of your time management?"

"General Chen, your company has simultaneously entered food delivery, group buying, ride-hailing, and other sectors—how do you avoid resource dispersion? Besides burning cash to capture market share, do KuaiPao and Kuai's Taxi have any other core competitive advantages?"

"General Chen, as a twenty-year-old student entrepreneur, have you faced trust barriers due to your age? How do you break such prejudice?"

"General Chen..." Dozens of microphones instantly thrust forward. Chen Yansen stepped back, scanned the labels on the mics, and randomly selected seven or eight influential media outlets, answering each question in turn.

Then he pushed Zhou Shouzhi and the others forward.

Accepting media interviews to raise company and product exposure—and thus industry influence—was one of the key purposes of attending the Internet Conference.

Since Chen Yansen had come, he naturally didn't resist.

The group delayed at the entrance for over half an hour; with less than twenty minutes left before the opening ceremony, Chen Yansen and the others were escorted by security personnel straight into the conference hall.

Chen Yansen, Huang Zheng, and Zhou Shouzhi sat in the front row; others were scattered in the second and third rows.

Chen Yansen looked around; nearly everyone was familiar. When Ma Liyun saw him, he forced out a faint smile.

The establishment of the Cloud Speed Express Alliance caught him completely off guard.

Ma Wengteng sat ramrod straight in his suit, the picture of solemn composure, but his eyes were slightly narrowed as if dozing — clearly he had drunk too much last night and still hadn't sobered up.

Cai Yongjin, Managing Director of Goldman Sachs Asia, waved him over with a smile.

The entrepreneurs seated in the front row mostly returned Chen Yansen a polite smile when they saw him.

Only Li Yanhong of Baidu wore a taut expression, his gaze fixed unkindly on Chen Yansen.

The two companies' competition in the group-buying, food-delivery, and ride-hailing tracks was extremely fierce, with single-day losses reaching as high as 15 million; last time he had proposed suspending the subsidy war, but Chen Yansen hadn't given him the slightest face.

"Mr. Li, I've long admired you!"

Chen Yansen spoke first, looking at Li Yanhong as he said.

"Mr. Chen, a pleasure to meet you!" Li Yanhong instinctively extended his right hand, his gaze burning as he looked at Chen Yansen.

In his view, though Chen Yansen was young, the threat he posed to Baidu was by no means small.

If Baidu's LBS division wanted to push forward its planned O2O strategy, it first had to sweep aside the great mountain that was Senlian Capital.

"Mr. Li, how much longer can Didi Taxi hold out?" Chen Yansen gripped Li Yanhong's hand and asked with a light laugh.

"How long can Kuaidi Taxi last?" Li Yanhong shot back without backing down.

"There's no cap on my capital investment in Kuaidi Taxi." Chen Yansen suppressed his smile and replied in earnest.

"What a coincidence — so am I." Li Yanhong unconsciously increased his grip.

Chen Yansen noticed and exerted a little force.

Li Yanhong's mouth immediately twitched, his palm throbbing with pain, and he couldn't help cursing inwardly: this guy has incredible grip strength.

Chen Yansen smiled faintly, and only when Li Yanhong was on the verge of losing control of his facial expression did he let go.

Li Yanhong had started it first — he was merely retaliating.

Wang Xin of Meituan sat in the fourth row, eyes narrowed, staring fixedly at Chen Yansen's back.

Zhang Tao of Dianping craned his neck, secretly sizing up Chen Yansen, his expression complex.

Chen Yansen sensed the gazes of the two, but he didn't turn around, thinking to himself: Senlian Capital may have many friends, but it has no shortage of enemies either.

If he dared to go to Shencheng to attend the electronics manufacturing exchange conference, he would probably get to experience the feeling of being surrounded by enemies.

Because of the existence of Sister Chengzi's phone factory, the hourly wages at Huaqiangbei had been forced up by five yuan.

If you don't pay more, you can't find workers!

Because of this, plenty of electronics factory bosses wished they could stuff him and Cao Dahua into a stamping machine.

Ma Wengteng had originally been dozing, but was woken by the sound of Chen Yansen and Li Yanhong talking; upon seeing Chen Yansen arrive, he simply kept him company for a chat.

Zhang Chaoyang sat in the second row, head lowered, sleeping soundly.

Also, whether intentionally or not, the organizers had actually arranged Lei Yijun and Zhou Hongyi's seats together, with only one seat between them.

Zhou Hongyi had arrived at the conference hall first and was now resting with his head tilted back against the chair.

His sleeping posture was even more brazen than Zhang Chaoyang's, completely unaware that Lei Yijun beside him was glaring at him.

Thinking of Zhou Hongyi's online teasing of him, Lei Yijun couldn't help clenching his fists, itching to arrange another match with the man at the boxing gym.

Meanwhile.

Kuaipao's group-buying codes had been fully rolled out, bringing convenience to merchants and users alike.

Hucheng, Riyueguang Subway Station, Happy Lemon Milk Tea Shop.

A long queue stretched from the door, mostly young people, each holding a smartphone in their hands, the screen showing Kuaipao's group-buying order page.

At the very top was the title of the group-buying item: Taro Ball Little Cutie Milk Tea, with a group-buying price of 6.9 yuan marked beside it.

Below were the group-buying voucher number and the QR-code voucher number.

The Happy Lemon staff had a clear division of labor; with the surge in orders, they had specially assigned one employee to handle voucher verification.

Previously it all relied on manual input, but now by opening the merchant backend and scanning with a phone, the redemption process was completed in one second — efficiency improved more than tenfold.

Meanwhile, Meituan, Lashou, and Dianping, which lacked the group-buying QR-code feature, were despised by both merchants and users.

After Kuaipao launched its group-buying code feature, although the R&D staff at Meituan, Lashou, and Dianping were all working overtime to develop similar features, it still required a certain amount of time.

During this period, Kuaipao, with its ultra-low commission rates, commission-free period policies, and various marketing campaigns, let milk tea shops, restaurants, KTVs, and cinemas all experience the feeling of being flooded with orders.

As a result, Kuaipao's market share in the group-buying business grew extremely fast; in just a few short days, its single-day transaction volume had caught up with Lashou's level.

In other words, as long as it could keep it up, Kuaipao's market share in the group-buying sector would firmly hold third place in the industry.

(End of this chapter)