Chapter 348: The Origin of Chen

On Double Twelve promotion day at 9 a.m., Orange Pay released version 2.1, adding contact list, chat interface, and red packet features on top of version 2.0.

The marketing team deployed a batch of online shills to post numerous promotional articles on Weibo, Renren, and Toutiao, such as “My husband sent me a 1,314-yuan red packet—what should I buy?” “The Story Behind the 666-Yuan Love Packet” and “After graduating, I sent my mom a 520-yuan red packet.”

The stories appeared heartwarming but subtly highlighted Orange Pay’s red packet feature.

The tactics were crude, yet highly effective.

A wave of long-distance couples began exchanging red packets, then posted screenshots on Weibo and Moments to show off, drawing more people into the red packet craze.

Half an hour later, Chen Yansen posted on Weibo: starting at 10 a.m., Orange Pay would release 10,000 password red packets every hour, ranging from 8.8 yuan to 888 yuan.

Each red packet session totaled no less than 200,000 yuan, totaling 3 million yuan per day, to be distributed continuously from December 12 to December 14.

Additionally, 33 winners of 10,000-yuan prizes would be drawn daily from his followers.

Total marketing expenditure: 9.99 million yuan!

But with Chen Yansen’s 47 million followers, it instantly surged to the trending list.

Though internet giants were wealthy, Chen Yansen was the first to ever hand money directly to users.

In under ten minutes, his Weibo post surpassed 300,000 likes, comments, and shares.

Half an hour later, shares broke 10 million.

As 10 a.m. approached, netizens frantically refreshed Chen Yansen’s Weibo homepage by pressing F5.

“57!”

“58!”

“59!”

“Server’s tired—needs a breather!”

Millions watching the screen froze, then kept refreshing anyway—the page now read “Loading failed, please retry.”

Did Weibo’s server just crash again?

Not only were netizens stunned, even Chen Yansen was taken aback; he muttered under his breath: “Weibo’s monetization is weak, but Cao Weiguo shouldn’t be so stingy with server resources!”

After venting, he casually posted the 10 a.m. red packet password on his Toutiao account: “PineBao Double Twelve, waiting for you.”

While others waited for Weibo to recover, some quick-witted users swiftly opened Toutiao and found the password on Chen Yansen’s account.

They copied it, switched to Orange Pay, entered the red packet page, and pasted the password.

Instantly, a golden, crimson red packet popped up—tap it, and you’d receive 8.8 to 888 yuan.

Ten thousand packets were few; they were all snatched up in under three minutes.

Chen Yansen knew that if Weibo hadn’t crashed, posting the password on Toutiao would’ve seen them gone in under thirty seconds.

Meanwhile,

Cao Weiguo, learning his product had been crashed again by Chen Yansen, sighed and muttered: “This bastard—could’ve warned me so I could’ve prepared the tech team!”

Only at 10:37 a.m. did Weibo’s server recover, but when netizens checked the comment section screenshots, they felt the world had collapsed.

Did Chen Zong post the password on Toutiao?

Were the red packets already gone?

“Chen Zong, I haven’t even gotten on the train yet!”

“Chen Baba, give me one more chance, pwease! I don’t care if I get the packet—just put my name on the 10,000-yuan prize list!”

“Chen Zong is twenty! Why are you calling him Baba? Is that reasonable? I don’t want you as my weird stepbrothers!”

“Who can tell me—should I wait on Weibo or Toutiao for the next one?”

“I’ve never even downloaded Toutiao!”

Netizens chattered endlessly.

Chen Yansen leaned back on his office sofa, glanced quickly at the comments, then replied: “Future passwords will be posted simultaneously on Toutiao and Weibo. To compensate users who missed the first round, I’ll draw 33 winners of 10,000-yuan prizes daily from my Toutiao followers.”

The moment he posted, Weibo’s page lagged again—but didn’t crash.

“Chen Zong has only 5.7 million followers on Toutiao—his win rate is eight times higher than Weibo’s! Rush there!”

“Baba, love me again! Whether I get the packet doesn’t matter—I need my name on that 10,000-yuan list!”

“Chen Baba is so generous—he just dropped 10.88 million yuan!”

Toutiao’s downloads skyrocketed; normally gaining 1 million daily, it added 1.7 million in just half an hour after Chen Yansen announced the password. At noon, the new password appeared: “I’m waiting for you on Toutiao.”

Unexpectedly, it lasted less than three seconds.

Each session had 100 packets of 888 yuan, scattered among tens of millions of participants—tiny odds—but dozens of lucky users posting screenshots created the illusion that winning was easy.

After the 1 p.m. session, sharp-eyed netizens noticed Toutiao’s password appeared two seconds earlier than Weibo’s.

Consequently, Toutiao’s downloads exploded.

Liang Bo watched the backend data: from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., user growth surged by 7 million, with total downloads reaching 7.4 million.

Customer acquisition cost: just 1.56 yuan per user!

With over two days left in the red packet campaign, adding 20 million more users would further reduce acquisition cost.

By 10:30 p.m., Chen Yansen’s Toutiao followers exceeded 15 million; his Weibo followers hit 50 million, leading the second-place competitor by a landslide.

At twenty, worth fifty billion U.S. dollars, with striking looks and physique, plus features on CCTV’s Celebrity Interviews and Time Magazine’s Asia edition, Chen Yansen became an internet sensation in 2012.

In the comments, crowds chased him, calling him Baba.

“In my past life, only achievements ever called me that.”

Chen Yansen chuckled softly to himself.

Using password red packets to promote Orange Pay was a three-in-one win—Toutiao and PineBao Mall both gained massive traffic.

Thinking of this, Chen Yansen stepped out, took the elevator to the first floor, and walked straight into Building Six.

The LED screen on the first floor displayed PineBao’s Double Twelve real-time sales: 3.74 billion Huayuan!

With only an hour and a half left until midnight, final sales might reach 4 billion Huayuan—down 43% compared to Double Eleven’s daily output.

But that was normal—the gap between Double Eleven and Double Twelve was only one month.

Consumer demand had its limits!

“Boss, Mr. Huang and the others are on the second floor,” Xu Xingxing said, smiling as she paused her report to remind him.

“Tell old Huang—same as always, we’re done at midnight. I won’t come up.”

Chen Yansen stopped, glanced at the data, then spoke to Xu Xingxing.

“Got it,” Xu Xingxing smiled, nodding.

Chen Yansen turned, pulled out his phone, sent a message to Meng Jie, picked a Bentley, and got in.

Soon, Meng Jie ran out of the building like a thief, sneaking into the passenger seat.

“Chen Yansen, let’s go!”

Meng Jie waved her arm, grinning.

In her view, the villa he bought near Sanjiaozhou Park was his first home—he had to see it.

“Won’t Uncle Meng call tonight?” Chen Yansen held the steering wheel with one hand, slowly driving out of the tech park, teasing.

“I’ll turn my phone off,” Meng Jie blinked, deciding instantly.

Chen Yansen ruffled her hair, smiled lightly, and sped toward the villa district.

At the same time, JD’s headquarters remained brightly lit.

“Boss, you’re going to study in Lighthouse Country?”

Xu Lei stared in shock after hearing Liu Qiangdong’s decision.

“JD has existed for fourteen years. I trust your management, and JD’s organizational structure and cohesion. Consider this a test for you and JD.”

Liu Qiangdong spoke calmly, a faint smile on his face.

Studying at Harvard Business School was both rest and a test of JD’s mid-to-senior management performance.

After Double Twelve, e-commerce entered its slow season anyway.

His presence or absence made little difference!

“For about two months, JD is yours. Don’t disappoint me,” Liu Qiangdong patted Xu Lei’s shoulder, then swept his gaze over the twenty-plus executives.

At the start of the year, Ma Liyun replaced the CEOs of Taobao and Tmall with Zhang Yong; JD, as one of the three e-commerce giants, was due to groom successors.

In competing with Chen Yansen and Zhang Yong, he felt his own limitations.

“Boss, rest assured,” Xu Lei quickly promised as Liu Qiangdong’s resolve was clear.

Liu Qiangdong nodded, his gaze falling on the nearby screen: JD’s final Double Twelve sales: 1.39 billion Huayuan!

(End of Chapter)