Chapter 351: Chen Yansen: Work for Me, No Need for Inferiority

After an unknown duration, a tall, roguishly handsome young man in a dark gray suit walked in, stepping forward.

Seeing this, Liang Changlin immediately stood up and went to meet him with his assistant.

Although it was their first meeting, he had seen photos of Chen Yansen online.

Chen Yansen stood still, watching Liang Changlin run over, a smile appearing on his face; he then extended his right hand and said, "Liang Zong, a pleasure! Welcome to Xu City."

"Mr. Chen, long heard of you! Seeing you today, I finally understand why friends in the circle say Mr. Chen is the most handsome entrepreneur in the country."

Liang Changlin gripped Chen Yansen's hand tightly, praising him with a smile.

"Let's go upstairs and talk slowly; I heard Liang Zong is from Luzhou, and just recently a friend gave me two cans of Baiyun Chunhao."

Chen Yansen pointed toward the elevator and said casually.

"Then I'm in for a treat, thank you, Mr. Chen," Liang Changlin replied immediately.

"Please!"

Chen Yansen raised his hand to gesture, and the two took the elevator together to the top-floor office.

After Liang Changlin was seated, Chen Yansen fetched a can of tea leaves and leisurely boiled water to brew tea; the misty steam rose and spread throughout the room.

Liang Changlin appeared calm, but his heart churned.

Judging from his observation of Chen Yansen, the other man was not arrogant.

Otherwise, given Chen Yansen's wealth and status, he would not have the qualification to drink tea brewed personally by the other man.

But the other man's steadiness at only twenty years old also made him understand one truth: Chen Yansen's ability to amass a fortune of fifty billion US dollars in just two years was by no means luck.

"Liang Zong, I heard Pei Yi mention Dingdong Community; forgive my bluntness, but even without Kuai Pao's intervention, Dingdong Community's business model is unsustainable; relying solely on community users around the stations makes profitability impossible."

Chen Yansen held his teacup, took a light sip, and said.

"Mr. Chen is right to reprimand; previously I oversimplified the problem. I thought I could replicate Nextdoor's successful model in major cities like Hucheng, Yanjing, Shencheng, and Jin Ling, but I overlooked fatal flaws such as vague positioning and lack of distinctiveness."

Liang Changlin gave a bitter smile, showing great honesty.

Even being openly negated by a young man twenty years his junior, he did not get angry, merely nodding silently.

Like Ma Wenteng, Ma Liyun, and Li Yanhong, Old Liang was also a master of copying; Dingdong Community was a hybrid he built based on Kuai Pao's forward warehouses and Nextdoor.

Nextdoor is the largest neighborhood social app in the Lighthouse Country, covering over 3,500 communities across 48 states, and just secured a round of financing early this year with a post-money valuation exceeding 1.1 billion US dollars.

This was also the main reason Liang Changlin was able to secure 100 million in angel investment.

But due to differing national conditions, communities in the Lighthouse Country are completely different from those domestically.

For instance, Dingdong Community's "Neighborhood Chat" function seems practical, yet it can be perfectly replaced by WeChat group chats.

Besides, apart from Old Wang next door, who would want to chat idly with neighbors online?

Services like housekeeping, nannies, tutors, and appliance repairs also have corresponding mature products available domestically.

Important announcements for the residential compound, including water and power outages and parking fee payments, are handled by property management staff.

As for letting residents swap idle items to achieve resource reuse, that's even more absurd; who would appraise the value of second-hand goods?

How could Dingdong Community profit from this?

"Actually, in my view, Dingdong Community does possess certain commercial value in services like home cleaning, dry cleaning, and food delivery, but the business scope is too narrow, substitutability is too high, and scaling is difficult; you should know that such software can only be profitable by leveraging scale effects."

"Big fish eat small fish; the winner takes all; the Matthew effect is most pronounced."

Chen Yansen analyzed with clear logic.

"Mr. Chen, recently I've been thinking that perhaps directly copying Nextdoor's product model is indeed somewhat unsuited to local conditions, but I believe Dingdong Community's business concept is sound; if we change our approach, it might still become a unicorn enterprise."

Liang Changlin said ambiguously.

"Enter the food delivery industry? Or mimic Kuai Pao's forward warehouse model, starting with a single category to provide delivery services for users? For example, fresh produce, poultry, fish, meat, and eggs?"

Chen Yansen leaned back on the sofa and saw right through the other man's small scheme in one sentence.

Dingdong Community was a combination of Nextdoor and forward warehouses; since the first path was blocked, naturally the second path would be chosen.

Liang Changlin felt a chill in his heart; he hadn't expected Chen Yansen to guess his thoughts directly.

However, his goal was smaller than Chen Yansen imagined.

What Liang Changlin wanted to do was a fresh food e-commerce platform, using the forward warehouse model to launch same-day delivery services.

"Mr. Chen, what do you think of this business model?" Liang Changlin asked tentatively; he wanted to hear Chen Yansen's opinion, which was one of the main purposes of this visit.

"Guess why I spent a huge sum to deploy thousands of forward warehouses across the country?"

Chen Yansen put down his teacup and asked back with a smile.

Focusing only on digital, home goods, and some food categories couldn't satisfy Mr. Chen's appetite.

Liang Changlin fell silent; he understood that whether it was fresh produce, seafood, poultry, meat, milk, or snacks, they were probably all within the other man's business scope.

Not doing it now didn't mean not doing it later.

If he hadn't come to visit and instead buried his head in the work, he would likely have crashed headfirst into a wall.

Colliding with an O2O giant like Kuai Pao, where would Dingdong Community have any chance of survival?

You have to know that even Meituan, Laoshou, and Dianping were no match for Kuai Pao.

For a moment, Liang Changlin felt at a loss, unsure what to do.

Currently, there were two companies under his name: Yaya Wang and Dingdong Community.

As Mama Ali, Pinbai, and Jingdong, the three giants, continuously expanded their business boundaries and increased their category operating ranges, Yaya Wang's market share was being gradually eroded.

Additionally, Suning invested 80 million US dollars to acquire Honghaizi Company, also entering the struggle for the maternal and infant market.

The survival environment for vertical e-commerce platforms is becoming increasingly difficult!

Dingdong Community's business model had been negated repeatedly by Chen Yansen.

Liang Changlin looked confused and silent; after a long while, he finally raised his head and looked at Chen Yansen, saying, "Mr. Chen, how about you point me toward a clear path?"

I'm not your biological father!

Chen Yansen muttered inwardly, but he did not openly refuse; instead, he pretended to be thinking, then spoke: "The number of people you can serve determines the number of users you gain, which in turn leads to more profits; social networking, mobile games, and life services all have promising market prospects."

Social networking, mobile games, and life services?

Liang Changlin thought seriously, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper. The industries Chen Yansen mentioned were teeming with big and small fish; if he, a small fry, rushed in, he would merely serve as bait. "Although competitors in niche categories are few, who knows when someone might target you."

Chen Yansen calmly added a sentence, then picked up the teapot, refilled it with hot tea, and took a delicate sip.

"Thank you, Mr. Chen, for clarifying. I brought some local specialties from Hu City as a token of our meeting, a small gesture of goodwill; please accept them."

Liang Changlin waved his hand, and his assistant immediately lifted two exquisite gift boxes and placed them gently on the table.

"Liang Zong, you are too polite."

Chen Yansen nodded slightly with a calm tone and accepted them with grace.

"Then, according to Mr. Chen, does Dingdong Community have no future?" Liang Changlin, unwilling to give up, continued to press.

"If Liang Zong doesn't believe me, just go ahead with your own ideas; by then, you'll see whether Taobao Waimai, Meituan Waimai, and Qiandu Waimai will expand their operational categories."

Chen Yansen said, unconcerned.

In fact, Dingdong Maicai had its moments of glory in the future, but under the successive suppression by internet giants, it quickly declined.

Dingdong Maicai had scarce resources and a single business model, relying extremely heavily on users' high-frequency consumption habits and order density; once user stickiness declined, the fragility of the fulfillment system would be exposed.

Simply put, profit margins were low, losses were high, and they couldn't afford to keep employees.

And for Meituan, Taobao, and Qiandu Waimai, fresh fruits and vegetables were merely a part of their business, with sales accounting for a small proportion; they only needed to adopt the tactic Liu Qiangdong used against Dangdang—sacrificing eighty to kill a thousand—to crush Dingdong.

Others can afford not to make a profit; can you?

"Thank you, Mr. Chen, I understand." Liang Changlin's head buzzed; only after Chen Yansen's reminder did he suddenly realize that the businesses he had set his sights on were actually dishes in the big shots' pots.

"You don't understand." Chen Yansen said abruptly.

Liang Changlin was stunned, not understanding why, and asked with a puzzled expression, "Sorry, Mr. Chen, I'm not quite clear on your meaning."

"Rather than being crushed by others in the future, it's better to join a large company sooner; with no lack of funds and resources, it's easier to succeed in entrepreneurship."

Chen Yansen stated it plainly.

Liang Changlin was a smart man; he immediately grasped the meaning and reacted at once: so Chen Yansen wanted to recruit him to join Senlian Capital.

Thinking of this, a look of hesitation inevitably appeared on his face.

Since retiring from the army, he had been continuously starting businesses.

"Mr. Chen, I have never worked for someone else in my entire life." Liang Changlin declined politely.

"How can you know without trying? Working for others isn't worse than starting a business." Chen Yansen said.

Liang Changlin shook his head, still calculating his Dingdong Community in his mind; since selling vegetables wouldn't work, he would try door-to-door car washing, door-to-door manicures, and door-to-door cleaning; he didn't believe he couldn't find the right direction.

"Thank you, Mr. Chen, for your favor; regarding joining Senlian Capital, I'd like to consider it first." Liang Changlin dared not refuse outright, fearing he might offend Chen Yansen.

Chen Yansen smiled slightly and raised his hand to check his wristwatch.

Seeing this, Liang Changlin's face darkened, thinking: You're too realistic! If I don't work for you, you'll kick me out the very next second!

"Mr. Chen, I've troubled you." Liang Changlin sighed and, quite tactfully, stood up, preparing to take his leave.

"No rush; I've reserved a private room at a restaurant in the city."

Chen Yansen waved his hand, signaling Liang Changlin to sit down first.

Liang Changlin stared into Chen Yansen's eyes; seeing that the other's expression was not feigned, he pondered for a few seconds and sat down again.

Next, the two skipped the topics of 'Dingdong Community' and joining Senlian Capital, chatting casually about the development status of the e-commerce, O2O, and other industries in 2012.

Liang Changlin became increasingly alarmed; Chen Yansen's predictions on industry trends were extremely precise, and he was also very familiar with popular software overseas.

Little did he know, this had nothing to do with prediction.

Chen Yansen stood higher than him and possessed more information than him, so naturally, he could see further than him.

It wasn't until 11:30 that the two left the office; the purple clay teapot on the table had been emptied and refilled, filled and emptied again.

On the way to the restaurant, Chen Yansen mentioned Pei Yi and Xiao Jun and others, intentionally or unintentionally; in terms of business achievements, Liang Changlin was far inferior to these two.

The implication was: working for me, there's no need to feel inferior.

There are plenty of people stronger than you; if you miss this opportunity, joining Senlian Capital next time won't be as easy as today.

Finally, Liang Changlin nodded heavily and replied, "Mr. Chen, give me two... one day to consider; I'll give you my answer tomorrow."

"Alright." Chen Yansen responded with a single word.

Two hours later, the drinking session dispersed.

Liang Changlin stayed at the hotel to rest; after Chen Yansen's persuasion, some thoughts stirred in his heart.

Of course, the failure of the Dingdong Community project dealt him a heavy blow; first, it would be hard to explain to investors, and second, he had drawn a sum of funds from Yaya Network, causing both products' cash flows to face the risk of breaking.

His current situation was even more miserable than Chen Yansen had imagined.

Before setting off for Xu City, he had thought that if he really couldn't go on, he would sell Yaya Network to Xueersi, raise a sum of money, and gamble once more.

Just as Liang Changlin hesitated, the Orange Pay R&D department was working overtime to develop the 'Collect Five Blessings, Split One Hundred Million Cash' event.

With the Spring Festival approaching, with only a little over a month left, Chen Yansen certainly wouldn't miss the perfect opportunity to promote the red packet function.

If the Spring Festival Gala hadn't canceled ad placements this year, Chen Yansen would definitely have thrown another hundred million to buy the naming rights for New Year's Eve.

Chen Yansen didn't go to the company in the afternoon either; after driving out of the Sky Garden, he sped straight toward the direction of the villa.

On the other side.

Didi Bike and Little Yellow Bike launched a fierce head-on confrontation in Yanjing, playing a subsidy war; users could ride for free for half an hour every day, and after completing an order, they would receive an additional one-yuan deduction coupon.

Cheng Wei, having experienced the price war of ride-hailing, felt no fear at all; he immediately increased the intensity of the event, issuing five riding coupons to users every day, far exceeding users' normal usage needs.

This led to Little Yellow Bike being unused by anyone!

Chang Wei had no choice but to grit his teeth and follow suit.

And ofo Bike, having no competitors in the East China region, had already broken through 300,000 Hua Yuan in daily revenue!

(End of this chapter)