Chapter 370: Boss, Run! Avalanche Coming! Li Yan: What Overtime Pay? Waste of Money!

The next morning, the snow in Xu City had stopped.

Outside the window, everything was a blinding white; a few sparrows stared at the camphor tree in the garden of Villa 108, sniffing the fruit’s fragrance but dared not approach, as if facing a flood or ferocious beast.

“Good girl, Mama’s hugging you,” Song Yuncheng murmured in her sleep, letting out a soft giggle.

Chen Yan’s brow furrowed slightly as he watched her with a peculiar expression, then couldn’t help but chuckle.

But he didn’t disturb her dream—only lifted the corner of the blanket, opened the glass door to the third-floor balcony, and pinched a small handful of snow into his palm.

Ice-cold!

Chen Zong glanced over at Song Yuncheng, still sound asleep, and smirked mischievously.

He grabbed a handful of snow, rolled it into a ball roughly the size of a fist.

Hmm, maybe too big.

Chen Yan pondered a moment, then pinched off a snowball the size of a fingernail and tossed it casually—perfectly landing in the seam of Song Yuncheng’s pajamas, sliding down like a valley.

“Boss, run! Avalanche!” Song Yuncheng mumbled, squirming but still not opening her eyes.

Chen Yan’s heart warmed; he couldn’t bear to tease her further, then left the master bedroom and turned into the study.

He turned on the computer, logged into the data backend, and quickly reviewed the figures.

With the New Year Goods Festival over, the Lunar New Year approaching, and courier companies gradually shutting down, consumer demand shifted offline, and e-commerce entered its off-season.

Pinbei’s daily transaction volume had dropped from one billion to eight hundred million.

All other courier companies had ceased operations, but Yunsu Courier retained sixty percent of its couriers through high overtime pay and still maintained normal pickup and delivery services.

According to Liao Wei’s view, with reduced volume during the holiday, only twenty percent of staff needed to stay on duty—but Chen Yan knew better: vigilance must not slacken during the break.

Overtime pay was a drop in the ocean; losing market share would cost ten times the time and resources to regain.

Thus, though Yunsu didn’t force overtime, most couriers chose to stay, lured by triple pay.

In 2013, housing prices were about to soar; wage increases lagged far behind, prices kept rising, and ordinary people could only seize the chance to earn more—why waste time resting?

“Buzzzz—!”

At that moment, the phone on the desk rang.

Chen Yan picked it up—it was Cao Dahua. Without hesitation, he pressed answer and teased: “Calling your boss at eight? Want to get fired?”

Cao Dahua chuckled, knowing his boss was joking, and quickly explained: “Heh, today’s annual meeting—the workers all want to wish you a happy new year. I didn’t want to disrupt your daytime schedule, so…”

“Turn on video.” Chen Yan sighed, not wanting to scold him.

“Alright, coming right up.” Cao Dahua grinned, hung up, then initiated the video call.

Meanwhile,

On the outdoor ground of Zhongsha Tech Park’s Orange Phone Factory, round tables were set up with drinks and alcohol; nearby, chefs scrambled to prepare the lunch banquet.

Suddenly, Chen Yan’s image appeared on the central screen.

“Quiet! It’s the big boss!”

“Everyone, shut up!”

“Shh!”

Before Cao Dahua could speak, over twenty thousand employees fell silent.

“Brothers and sisters in Shencheng—Happy New Year!”

Chen Yan waved at the camera, offering a simple greeting.

Cao Dahua turned the camera toward the crowd below.

“Happy New Year, Boss!”

“Wish Manager Chen boundless wealth!”

“Hope the boss marries several wives!”

“...”

Tens of thousands shouted in a roaring tide, a cacophony of blessings echoing endlessly.

Chen Yan’s gaze, through the lens, carefully studied every face before him.

These employees varied in character—some simple, some cheerful, some impatient—but all wore genuine smiles.

Chen Yan smiled and continued: “Last year, our Shencheng and Luzhou factories produced fifty million Orange Phones, eight million 360 Phones, four million NetEase Phones, ten million Huawei Phones, and seven million Xiaomi Phones, generating over a hundred billion in revenue. You, like our R&D engineers, are the company’s heroes. I toast to you.”

He lifted his teacup halfway into the air.

Instantly, a synchronized clinking of glasses echoed through the video.

Many were moved to tears—these laborers with only a few years of schooling, could they really be compared to headquarters’ researchers?

In the past, they’d never dared dream it—but now, the big boss himself had said it.

Boss Chen gave them stable, generous income—and sufficient respect.

A billionaire CEO calling them “brothers and sisters,” even if just ceremonial, moved them deeply.

“Have you all received your Q4 bonuses?” Chen Yan asked through the screen.

“We got them last month!”

“Thank you, Boss!”

“Hope the boss has ten sons at once!”

“...”

The employees below shouted, heads raised, voices hoarse.

“Brothers and sisters going home for the holiday—your round-trip tickets are company-paid. Those staying get a thousand yuan holiday bonus. Next year, I’ll adjust the minimum hourly wage based on factory output, yield rates, and other data. Keep it up!”

Chen Yan casually tossed out a promise.

Current hourly wage: twenty-five yuan. Monthly base salary: 3,300 yuan—less than a junior clerk’s. This was barely a start.

The implication: wages will rise next year!

“Raise again? So thirty yuan an hour?”

Cao Dahua grimaced—he wasn’t joking; some Shencheng factory bosses had openly threatened to break his leg, even boasted about shipping him off in a truck to make phones underground.

But days ago, the Central Office’s No. 1 Secretary and a top official from the Inspection Association jointly visited the Orange Phone Factory—clearly signaling to all: anyone who dares touch Orange will be severely punished!

This was effectively a protective charm for the factory and Cao Dahua.

Shencheng’s various associations also awarded a pile of honors: National Green Factory, 2012 ESG Model Enterprise Award, Outstanding Contribution to Asia’s Electronics Industry, Lighthouse Factory, etc.

Remember, Orange Phone was China’s #1 smartphone brand by shipment volume in 2012 and #6 globally—if Shencheng couldn’t protect it, dozens of first- and second-tier cities would gladly offer free land and low-interest loans.

But Cao Dahua still feared reckless troublemakers—he quietly resolved: after this, buy a bulletproof Mercedes and get Boss Chen to reimburse it.

“Raise again? Thirty an hour?”

“That’s four thousand yuan base salary a month! Boss deserves to get rich!”

Over twenty thousand employees beamed with joy, eyes sparkling—they wanted to worship Chen Yan as a god of wealth.

Five minutes later, Chen Yan ended the video call.

No choice—his group had too many subsidiaries; if he attended one meeting daily like last year, he’d still be busy until Lantern Festival.

At nine a.m., a panda-colored Ghost pulled into Zhuxianzhuang Tech Park.

Chen Yan stepped out, walked into Building Six.

“Boss, Happy New Year!” Xu Xingxing, dressed in a bright red Ming-style New Year outfit, grinned and handed him a red envelope.

“Manager Xu, Happy New Year!” Chen Yan took the envelope and teased.

Xu Xingxing had followed him since the FoxTao project, trained for two and a half years, and finally, in January, was promoted from team leader to manager—though not as fast as Zhang Yifeng or Xiang Pengfei, still exceptionally outstanding.

“Boss, Manager Huang is in the second-floor conference room,” Xu Xingxing reminded him.

Chen Yan nodded slightly, slipped the envelope into his pocket.

On the last day before the holiday, the admin department organized red envelope giveaways in every office building.

Amounts were small—fifty, a hundred, two hundred, at most eight hundred yuan—just for good luck.

He reached the top-floor office, boiled water, and brewed tea.

Chen Yan leaned back on the sofa, pulled out his phone, set up a stand, logged into Mimo, and scrolled through short videos.

In North America, even in winter, the weather was hot; most girls wore light clothing—ten straight videos featured big-breasted girls.

“My account’s finally grown.”

Chen Yan’s lips curled slightly, a faint smile appearing.

“Tap-tap-tap!” A knock came at the door.

“Come in.”

Chen Yan quietly tucked away his phone and called out.

Huang Zheng, just finished a meeting with the Business Development and Operations Department, walked in and greeted: “Happy New Year, Boss.”

“Here, take this.”

Chen Yan grabbed a document and tossed it to Huang Zheng.

Pinbei Tech Stock Option Transfer Agreement!

Huang Zheng glanced at it once and knew his past few months hadn’t been wasted.

He’d come from Hangcheng to Xu City, working from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily—not for money, then what? For hardship?

“Thank you, Boss,” Huang Zheng smiled gratefully.

One million shares, worth 11 million U.S. dollars—far exceeding his annual income from his previous startup, not to mention his salary and bonuses.

“What time does tonight’s annual meeting start?” Chen Yan asked.

“Six p.m. Some employees need to catch trains after the raffle,” Huang Zheng replied.

“You’ve worked hard,” Chen Yan encouraged, then paused and added: “Last year, Pinbei did 317.4 billion in sales. I want 2013 to double that, and 2014 to break one trillion. Whether we surpass Ali doesn’t matter—just do your best.”

"Alright, Boss, I understand," Huang Zheng quickly replied.

"I just checked."

Chen Yansen thought for a moment and said.

Pinbei’s expansion has been too fast—eleven floors of office space have been crammed full by over three thousand people.

"I’ll have the admin department coordinate; we’ll move after the New Year," Huang Zheng answered.

"Gao Wei has sent a bonus fund to your Orange payment account—save it to give red packets to your subordinates: 1,000 yuan for team leaders, 3,000 yuan for supervisors, 5,000 yuan for directors, 10,000 yuan for department managers, and 50,000 yuan for project leads. Make sure you spend it all," Chen Yansen instructed.

"No problem, I guarantee the task will be completed," Huang Zheng said cheerfully.

"When are you going back?" Chen Yansen asked softly after finishing his instructions.

"I’m returning to Hangcheng tomorrow morning," Huang Zheng replied immediately.

"Have some tea," Chen Yansen picked up a cup of hot tea and placed it before Huang Zheng.

Huang Zheng thanked him repeatedly, cradled the teacup, and took a small sip.

When he first worked for Chen Yansen, he felt awkward, fearing the young boss might be hot-headed and hard to please, but after months of working together, he believed Chen Yansen was even more composed than Duan Yongping.

Generous with spending, endlessly patient, he never changed strategy over minor setbacks in project progress.

But Xiang Hailong didn’t have this kind of luck—Li Yanhong had zero patience and said bluntly: before Q2 ends, if Didi Chuxing doesn’t capture 20% market share, the CEO must be replaced.

In fact, after the subsidy war ended, Xiang Hailong had steadily consolidated his position in North China, East China, Central China, South China, and Northeast China; though market share remained unchanged, daily orders rose from 600,000 to 900,000, and with Baidu Maps’ ecosystem, Didi Chuxing gradually built a loyal user base.

He was doing fine, but Li Yanhong couldn’t afford this kind of embarrassment!

Because Kuai’s daily orders had already exceeded 8 million, capturing nearly 90% of the market.

Since Xiang Hailong took over the project, Didi Chuxing’s market share had plummeted from 25% to just over 10%.

Thus, Li Yanhong’s move to oust Cheng Wei and replace the CEO with his own man looked like a clown act.

If Cheng Wei were truly incompetent, investors replacing the founder might be understandable—but after leaving Didi Chuxing, he turned Didi Bikes into a roaring success, while Li Yanhong’s picked man, Xiang Hailong, performed even worse than Cheng Wei.

Therefore, when Baidu acquired UC Browser, it ran into trouble—He Xiaopeng didn’t trust Li Yanhong, and after careful consideration, he rejected Baidu and instead began cozying up to Ma Liyun.

Li Yanhong stared at Xiang Hailong, his face dark, then waved his hand, signaling him to leave.

Soon after, Wang Zhongpu, head of Baidu Takeout, walked in and sat across from Li Yanhong.

"Boss, we need your decision: delivery riders in Beijing, Changshan, Jinmen, and other areas will return home in the next two days, creating a vacuum in delivery capacity. Should we raise delivery prices and increase order bonuses during the Spring Festival to retain riders?" Wang Zhongpu asked slowly.

"By how much have daily orders in Beijing dropped compared to last week?" Li Yanhong asked.

"Fifty percent," Wang Zhongpu sighed faintly—he understood what the big boss meant.

"Foreign migrants make up about 40% of the population; there’s still room for order declines. What good is raising prices and bonuses? Overall revenue is falling. Unless you copy Kuai and pay riders a base salary," Li Yanhong replied noncommittally.

In his view, it wasn’t worth wasting extra money on 40% of orders—there were always plenty of riders.

Wang Xin thought similarly to Li Yanhong, but he was more cautious.

He knew a rider familiar with routes and neighborhood layouts could deliver three to five times more efficiently than an ordinary one—these riders were far more worth retaining.

So, after discussing with Wang Huiwen, he carefully selected a group of riders and gave them an extra 200 yuan daily from February 9 to February 12, and an extra 100 yuan daily from February 13 to February 15, in addition to raising delivery prices and order bonuses.

Compared to Baidu Takeout, Meituan Takeout had at least spent some money.

In Beijing’s streets, the north wind cut like a knife.

Jiang Hao had just finished the morning rush, tightened his orange windbreaker, which had a down inner lining—warm enough.

He was about to return to the station for tea when he saw several Baidu Takeout riders in red windbreakers walking toward him.

Jiang Hao frowned—their clothes were filthy, a disgrace to the delivery industry.

(End of chapter)