Chapter 59: Talks Break Down! First Meeting with Little Ma (32k Requests for Follows)

In front of a mid-range women's clothing store at the Cultural Plaza of Nanshan Technology Park.

"Still not throwing away these old clothes? Are you planning to take them to Penguin Headquarters?" Chen Yansen glanced at Song Yuncheng and urged with a smile.

People rely on clothes, and Buddhas rely on gold; this saying is absolutely true!

Having changed into a new outfit, Song Yuncheng shed her youthful innocence; wearing a white collarless short suit with her long, black, soft hair tied up high, she looked fresh and capable, completely different from half an hour ago, and now truly resembled a professional.

"None of these clothes are torn; they can still be worn." Song Yuncheng clutched her handbag, her face full of regret.

Chen Yansen was speechless, cursing "Stingy Spirit" in his heart; ignoring Song Yuncheng, he walked straight to the roadside to hail a taxi.

This shopping mall was not far from Penguin Headquarters; the two got in the car and arrived at their destination in just a few minutes.

Gazing at the Penguin Headquarters building before her, Song Yuncheng felt deeply conflicted; she understood that carrying this bag of old clothes would have a negative impact on the upcoming meeting.

Just as she was preparing to steel herself to throw the clothes away, Chen Yansen suddenly spoke: "Driver, take this bag to the lobby of the Venice Hotel and tell the front desk it was left by a guest in room 8688."

Saying this, he also took out 50 yuan as a tip and handed it to the driver.

"Mr., rest assured, I will definitely handle it properly for you." The driver took the bill and promised with a smile.

Getting out of the car, Song Yuncheng silently followed behind Chen Yansen; she actually wanted to say: "Those few pieces of clothing might not even be worth 50 yuan."

"Chen Yansen, thank you." Song Yuncheng looked straight at his back and whispered softly.

Standing at the entrance, Chen Yansen made a call to the other party; after waiting for over ten minutes, he saw a medium-built young man walking over slowly.

"Hello, Mr. Chen; I am Liang Youzhi, Channel Operations Manager at Paipai. com. Welcome to Shencheng."

Liang Youzhi introduced himself first, then extended his hand to Chen Yansen with a warm attitude.

"Hello, Manager Liang, but wasn't it someone from your company's Compliance Department who invited me?"

Chen Yansen was slightly stunned, his mind racing; he had a vague guess in his heart but did not point it out.

"It was the Compliance Department that invited you, but actually, the one who really wants to see you is my boss, Zheng Chunbin."

Liang Youzhi stated the truth, then took out two visitor badges and gestured for Chen Yansen and Song Yuncheng to follow him.

"Damn, do they like my project, or do they like me?"

Chen Yansen felt somewhat annoyed but followed along anyway.

At that time, Penguin, relying on QQ with over 100 million concurrent online users, preyed indiscriminately in the internet fish pond; if they took a liking to something, they would either acquire it or copy it.

For a business model like Fox Tao with such a low ceiling, they would likely look down on it; the only thing that probably caught their attention was the astonishing viral speed brought by the zero-yuan bargaining, which sparked their interest.

The three walked along, took the elevator to the Paipai. com project building; with a "Ding," the elevator doors opened, revealing a spacious office area before their eyes.

"Please wait a moment; Mr. He is still in a meeting and will be here shortly."

Liang Youzhi led the two into the conference room, brought two bottles of water, and said politely.

Chen Yansen made an "Mm" sound; after the other party left, he unscrewed the mineral water and took small sips.

"Originally we were supposed to meet someone from the Compliance Department, but now it's Paipai. com; can our problem still be solved?"

Song Yuncheng asked in a low voice.

"Who cares! Let's take it one step at a time; I think, most likely, they like me."

Chen Yansen stroked his chin and said with certainty.

In his previous life, he had never dealt with Zheng Chunbin but had heard of the other's resume.

Zheng Chunbin was a top student from Huazhong University of Science and Technology; he entered Penguin in 2003 and reached the Director position in just three years; as for his current position, Chen Yansen did not know, but estimated it was at least the Product Head of Paipai. com.

"Your skin is really thick." Song Yuncheng muttered.

Chen Yansen smiled without speaking, simply leaning back in his chair playing on his phone, passing the time.

Who knew how long the other party's meeting would last?

He certainly wouldn't sit foolishly staring at the ceiling.

Meanwhile.

Liang Youzhi returned to his office to report the situation of the meeting with Chen Yansen to Zheng Chunbin.

"Ah Zhi, what do you think of this person?" Zheng Chunbin leaned back, slouching in his boss's chair, and asked with narrowed eyes.

"Mature, steady; he doesn't look like a freshman." Liang Youzhi evaluated briefly.

"Anything else?" Zheng Chunbin remained noncommittal and asked again.

"He seems to have guessed your thoughts." Liang Youzhi pondered for a moment and stated confidently.

"Oh? Then I really must meet him; I appreciate smart people, especially young smart ones." Zheng Chunbin became interested and sat up straight.

He originally intended to keep Chen Yansen waiting to blunt the other's sharpness, thereby making it easier to negotiate terms, but according to Liang Youzhi's account, this tactic would likely not work.

"Knock-knock-knock—"

Zheng Chunbin and Liang Youzhi walked into the conference room, one after the other.

Although Chen Yansen reacted quickly, Zheng Chunbin still caught a glimpse of his phone screen; this kid was actually playing a game.

"Mr. Chen, let me introduce you; this is Mr. Zheng Chunbin, Vice President of Paipai. com." After stopping, Liang Youzhi said with a smile.

"Mr. Zheng, I have long heard of your name." Chen Yansen slowly stood up and shook the other's hand.

Zheng Chunbin looked to be just over thirty, wearing rimless glasses, refined and gentle, with a warm smile.

"I haven't achieved any outstanding results at Penguin; Mr. Chen's words of 'long heard of your name' actually make me feel ashamed."

Zheng Chunbin responded with a light laugh, his words hiding a subtle edge.

"A skilled warrior has no famous achievements; the fact that Mr. Zheng can manage Paipai. com's business is enough to show you are highly valued in Penguin's management, not to mention that seven years ago, you served as the Product Head of QQ Pets; among us post-90s generation, who hasn't used this product?"

Chen Yansen was not the least bit panicked, chatting calmly and unhurriedly.

Hearing this, Zheng Chunbin was stunned and looked at Liang Youzhi; Liang Youzhi shook his head slightly, indicating he had not revealed the information.

Interesting!

Zheng Chunbin invited Chen Yansen to sit and talk; perhaps due to busy business and tight time, or perhaps it was just his nature, as soon as he sat down, he got straight to the point: "Mr. Chen, are you interested in joining Paipai. com?"

"What does Mr. Zheng mean?" Chen Yansen asked tentatively.

"I can offer you a 3-1 rank and benefits. You will be in charge of product planning and execution for Paipai. com, with an annual salary starting at 500,000."

Zheng Chunbin was full of confidence. In an era where the average monthly wage was 3,000 yuan, the conditions he offered could attract not just a freshman from a second-tier university, but even graduates from Tsinghua or Peking University by the handful.

In his view, Mama Ali held little value; the most precious asset was Chen Yansen himself. Having managed to expand the user base to the million-level in just two months with only a few hundred thousand in funding, Chen Yansen was undoubtedly talent.

"Thank you, President Zheng, for your high regard, but I am a man who has grown used to being loose and unruly. I neither wish to work for others nor submit to anyone."

Chen Yansen sobered his smile and replied with a serious expression.

Zheng Chunbin was stunned, not expecting Chen Yansen to refuse. He hurriedly added, "As long as you deliver results, I guarantee you will be promoted to 3-2 within three years. There is even a chance for 4-1 later, with an annual salary of at least 2 million."

"President Zheng, I just don't like working for others." Chen Yansen remained unmoved, smiling lightly.

As for what Zheng Chunbin said about promotion to 3-2 in three years or 4-1 in the future, he didn't believe a single punctuation mark. Zheng Chunbin was not Old Ma; where did he get the confidence to make such guarantees?

It was merely because he saw Chen Yansen was young and wanted to fool him.

Just being a freshman with only a high school diploma would be enough for the other party to pull strings to get into Penguin. Even with a special admission, the best they could offer would be a T-2 title; in plain terms, he would still be a grunt.

Let alone Zheng Chunbin, even if it were Deep City Ma, he would still refuse.

What level is this? You want to be my boss?

Rejected twice in a row, Zheng Chunbin said nothing on the surface, but his heart was burning with anger. However, making a scene and leaving right then would seem to lack class, so he said coldly, "Then I wish President Chen's Mama Ali the day it can rank in the top 100 shopping websites."

Chen Yansen laughed upon hearing this, thinking, "You damn thing. You turn on me the moment recruitment fails. No wonder you run Paipai. com half-dead. Looking at your miserable face, you won't last long at Penguin either."

"Reaching the top 100 is indeed not easy; it truly cannot be done without three or five months. But President Zheng, you need to step up your efforts. If you don't work harder, this year Paipai. com's market share might not even hold the top ten."

Chen Yansen could not tolerate even a shred of grievance and went straight for a face-to-face ultimate attack.

In fact, two years ago Paipai. com still held a 7.2% market share, but this year Vancl's market share surged sharply, and it was on the verge of surpassing Paipai. com.

Lies often do not hurt; the truth pierces straight to the heart and lungs!

Zheng Chunbin did not expect the young man opposite him to be like a powder keg, exploding at the slightest touch. Did he not know his own status at Penguin?

He forced down his anger and waved at Liang Youzhi: "Ah Zhi, see him out."

Having spoken, he stopped pretending, turned around, and walked out of the conference room.

In just two or three sentences, the two had fallen apart. This situation was Seeing Liao Wei for Liang Youzhi. He let out a dry laugh and kindly advised, "President Chen, words can be spoken more tactfully. Why be like this?"

"Manager Liang, here is a good piece of advice for you: resign as soon as possible. If you want to do e-commerce, go to Mama Ali or Jingdong. Under Zheng Chunbin, Paipai. com has only one path: death! Within two years, Pony will likely give up the idea of doing e-commerce himself."

Chen Yansen stood up with total indifference, adjusted his collar, and prepared to leave.

Just then, Ma Wenteng, who was inspecting work at Paipai. com, passed by the conference room door.

Zheng Chunbin had left in a hurry, the door wide open. He heard the words "Paipai. com has only one path: death" clearly. He stopped in his tracks, stood at the conference room door, and asked with a furrowed brow:

"Who is this?"

In his own headquarters, on his own turf, someone was cursing his project. Ma Wenteng was furious to the extreme.

The group's e-commerce business had shown no progress for a long time. Let alone growing strong, even Paipai. com's original market share was on the verge of being lost.

Liu Zhiping advised him to give up and shift the strategic direction to investing in e-commerce platforms to capture the huge profits from e-commerce development, but he had never agreed.

First, he was unwilling to admit defeat; second, he refused to believe in bad luck. He had survived the internet winter of 2008; how could he not do well with a small e-commerce project?

When Liang Youzhi saw the newcomer and Liu Zhiping beside him, he hurriedly called out, "Brother Xiao Ma, President Liu, this is Chen Yansen, the founder of Mama Ali."

"Brother Pony, if you think I am wrong, we can sit down and talk slowly."

Chen Yansen grinned, confident and flamboyant.

Facing Feiyu's most important investor from his past life, he was extremely relaxed, speaking with the tone of someone chatting with an old friend.

"???"

Ma Wenteng wore a face full of question marks. After pondering for a long while, he was moved by Chen Yansen's demeanor. He beckoned to Liu Zhiping, and the two walked into the conference room together.

(End of this chapter)