Chapter 64: Seek Follow Reads: Billion Subsidy Pre-Launch (36k)

Chen Yansen wouldn’t be so bored as to ask whether the guy could sing, dance, and rap.

Xu Kun spoke fluently and logically, and with his e-commerce background, Chen Yansen didn’t hesitate—he offered the position on the spot.

“Report tomorrow. Welcome to Fox Tao !”

Chen Yansen shook his hand, smiled as he saw him to the door, then called in the next candidate.

“Chen Zong, I didn’t recognize you yesterday—sorry about that.”

The man was Zhang Yifeng, whom Chen Yansen had met at the basketball court last night; he scratched his head, looking earnest and simple.

“You weren’t this type yesterday. Fox Tao doesn’t hire honest people—we only want smart ones.”

Chen Yansen waved him over, signaling him to sit and chat.

“May I introduce myself first? Chen Zong, I’m Zhang Yifeng from the Class of ’07, e-commerce major. I interned two months at Zunbao E-commerce, mainly handling standardized products, and I’m familiar with Taobao’s platform mechanics. I’m applying for the product selection operations role…”

Hearing Chen Yansen’s teasing, Zhang Yifeng dropped the act, straightened his expression, and spoke confidently.

“You have internship experience at Zunbao—you could easily land a job with a brand. Even if you can’t get into Taobao or JD, YiXun and Newegg are no problem. Why choose Fox Tao ?”

Chen Yansen stared at him, cutting straight to the point.

“I want to make money! With my background, whether at a third-party operator or a major e-commerce platform, it’ll take three to five years to reach a manager-level position. But Fox Tao is different—it’s at takeoff stage and can give me far greater room to grow.”

Zhang Yifeng smiled softly, his tone sincere.

“Understandable. I get it. Welcome to Fox Tao .” Chen Yansen liked people who were honest and money-driven—they had clear goals and worked harder.

“Thank you, Chen Zong!” Zhang Yifeng bowed politely and left, then left his contact info with Xu Xingxing.

The entire morning passed in the blink of an eye.

Besides Xu Kun and Zhang Yifeng, Chen Yansen hired several more senior e-commerce students; finally, he couldn’t help complaining: “These bastards treat my place like their first stop in the autumn recruitment.”

Over the next two days, he kept interviewing, hiring a senior HR major to handle personnel, making Xu Xingxing head of the admin team, assigning a business law professor recommended by Principal Tang to legal affairs, and filling out other teams.

The team expanded to 42 members—no longer small—and nearly half of the second floor of the startup park now belonged to Fox Tao .

On November 5, Tencent’s 10 million yuan investment finally arrived.

With money in hand, Chen Yansen gained confidence; through Zhao Maolin’s channel, he bought more Apple 4 phones. The zero-price discount page now offered a wide variety of goods: refrigerators, TVs, ovens, bicycles, and electric scooters—all there.

Daily new user registrations via the campaign link skyrocketed, peaking close to 200,000 per day.

Wang Zihao and his ad team were also pushing hard, burning through their full 100,000 yuan daily ad budget every day.

…

…

The next afternoon, Startup Park Room 206.

“Zihao, coordinate with Zhao Maolin—we’ll use Telecom’s SMS marketing channel. Before Double Eleven, we must send the Super Red Packet link to every Fox Tao user’s phone.”

Chen Yansen leaned on the desk, instructing Wang Zihao beside him.

“Got it, Sen-ge. Zhao Maolin’s quote is 8 fen per message. Once Hu Yun exports the user data, we can start immediately.” Wang Zihao nodded.

“Zhuang Rui, double-check the Super Red Packet activation threshold—if this fails, we’ll all be eating wind and dust.”

Chen Yansen’s tone was casual, but his expression was grim.

In 2010, Alibaba hadn’t launched the Super Red Packet feature yet, but Double Eleven promotions already existed—Chen Yansen wouldn’t miss this chance to make money.

Based on the commission rates of Fox Tao ’s listed products, he had Zhuang Rui design a “Billion Subsidy” red packet combo: spend 10 yuan get 2 yuan back ×5, spend 100 get 8 back ×5, spend 300 get 20 back ×5, spend 500 get 30 back ×5, spend 1000 get 60 back ×5, and spend 5000 get 80 back ×5.

The rules were simple: users who clicked through Fox Tao to Taobao, JD, or Paipai to buy a 11.9 yuan item would receive their original cashback plus an extra 2 yuan cash red packet.

This trick would become commonplace over the next decade, but before the e-commerce golden age, it was a crude yet highly effective marketing tactic.

“Sen-ge, don’t worry! I’ve coordinated with Wenbo—we’ll launch the product filtering function tomorrow. If a user’s cashback plus subsidy exceeds the product’s commission, the item won’t be shown to them.”

Zhuang Rui lifted his chin, giving a thumbs-up.

Chen Yansen nodded slightly, turning his gaze to the operations team.

“Sen-ge, we’ll strictly follow gross margin requirements to ensure zero negative-margin products.” Chen Xu, Hu Li, Xu Kun, Zhang Yifeng, and others quickly assured him.

“Pengfei, finalize the development specs with Wenbo—add gross margin filtering to every search page product. I don’t mind not making money, but I won’t tolerate losses. Understood?”

Chen Yansen patted Xiang Pengfei’s shoulder, repeating his warning.

“Sen-ge, I won’t mess this up this time.” Xiang Pengfei gritted his teeth, his face set with determination.

If he failed again, he’d have no face left to stay at Fox Tao .

“Next week is Fox Tao ’s first major e-commerce promotion. Whether we eat meat or drink broth depends entirely on you all—push hard!” Chen Yansen smiled faintly, clenching his fist to encourage them.

Everyone chorused in agreement, their faces flushed with excitement.

“Young people are so easy to motivate—nothing like the old hands back in my past-life company, who’d only work their asses off if you paid them overtime and bonuses!” Chen Yansen thought to himself.

But with Tencent’s 10 million, he had revised salaries—Wang Wenbo and others now earned middle-to-upper levels across the entire Hui’an Province.

Even without mentioning overtime or bonuses, they still worked with full drive.

After the meeting, Chen Yansen went downstairs, intending to chat with Song Yang, but saw him hunched over packing parcels—he dropped the idea and walked out alone, strolling along Xuehai Road.

Guide e-commerce wasn’t glamorous, but in 2010, info apps or short videos were still too early, conditions weren’t ripe; group buying had too many competitors; food delivery lacked infrastructure. After careful consideration, he returned to his old trade: first suck blood from Alibaba, get full, then plan the next step.

Fortunately, early growth was extremely smooth—Ma Wenteng’s 10 million saved him at least half a year. Backed by Tencent, he’d more easily attract VC attention and draw organic traffic.

Added to that, his identity as a freshman quietly turned him into a prodigy.

Eighteen years old, 10 million in funding, personally interviewed by Ma Wenteng—combined, it was explosive news.

Now, when people mentioned cashback e-commerce, Fox Tao was clearly the industry leader—even though some sites had launched earlier, their registered users and daily active users were far behind.

In niche industries, people remember only the number one!

Passing Dormitory 8, Chen Yansen saw the light on the balcony of Room 8302 and walked in.

Pushing the door open, he saw Tang Zhenzhe seated, headphones on, focused on his screen.

Chen Yansen glanced over—it was an educational movie—and cleared his throat: “A-Zhe, I never knew you were so studious.”

Tang Zhenzhe jumped, startled; his anger vanished instantly. “Sen-ge, how’d you get in?”

“I flew in through the balcony.” Chen Yansen spotted sunflower seeds on the desk, grabbed a handful without ceremony, and started bluffing.

“I clearly remember locking the door.” Tang Zhenzhe wasn’t stupid—he didn’t believe him. He realized he’d forgotten to lock it, blushed, and asked in confusion.

“Song Yang runs a courier agency—why don’t you go help him?”

Chen Yansen crunched sunflower seeds, asking casually.

After Wang Zhengqiang spent a few days pretending to study in the library, he dropped the act—studying was boring compared to entrepreneurship. With Song Yang short-staffed, the two started flirting.

“Professor Guo dumped all the department chores on me—I’m running nonstop. Finally get a moment to watch a movie and forget to lock the door.”

Tang Zhenzhe complained urgently. His family was decent but not rich; seeing Meng Xibo become head of Fox Tao ’s customer service team, earning over 2,000 yuan a month, he couldn’t help being envious.

Being class monitor was fun—he easily became deputy head of the student union, a position others fought to join, and he had plenty of chances to talk to girls. But the pretty girls in his class showed no interest in him.

He’d pursued Su Meiling for a month, openly and subtly, but she remained indifferent. Later, he found out she was interested in Chen Yansen.

Compared to Chen Yansen, a class monitor was nothing!

Chen Yansen had far more titles: CEO of Senhai Tech, founder of Fox Tao , Entrepreneur Star of Xucheng College, business genius earning millions a year.

He’d heard from Guo Dongchen that the department planned to award Chen Yansen an Outstanding Student title and a first-class scholarship by year-end. That bastard barely attended three classes a month—and still got top honors? Where was the fairness?

“That shows Professor Guo values you. Keep it up.” Chen Yansen teased him with a smile.

He knew Tang Zhenzhe’s abilities—he’d once been a channel director at a timber company, managing Southeast Asia markets, stationed in Annan for years, with a real knack for market expansion.

But Fox Tao didn’t need business talent yet, so he hadn’t pulled Tang Zhenzhe in.

“Tomorrow’s class outing—did Song Yang tell you?” Tang Zhenzhe waved his hand, changing the subject.

“Nope. Where are you going? He probably forgot—he’s swamped. Fox Tao ’s zero-price participants doubled; now we handle nearly 500 parcels a day—he’s barely holding on.” Chen Yansen chuckled.

“To Sanjiaozhou Park—for an outdoor barbecue. I borrowed a DV and three cameras from the equipment room—we’ll take photos as keepsakes…”

Tang Zhenzhe spoke enthusiastically.

Chen Yansen smiled awkwardly—he’d promised to take the whole class to the movies when helping Tang Zhenzhe run for class monitor, but he’d never even shown up in class, so he couldn’t fulfill it.

“Can’t go! Taobao’s Double Eleven starts next week—we’re working overtime these two days.” Chen Yansen shook his head.

“Uh, okay.” Tang Zhenzhe sighed, then asked: “Sen-ge, why are you even in college—to study or to make money?”

“What’s the point of college?” Chen Yansen countered.

“Get a good job, earn more money,” Tang Zhenzhe answered instinctively.

“So I’m cutting out the middleman—earning money directly, skipping two years of detours.” Chen Yansen said seriously.

“Then why are you still in college?” Tang Zhenzhe asked, puzzled.

“Because college life is great!” Chen Yansen stood, waved goodbye, and replied with a dreamy tone.

His heart was no longer young, but he could still taste youth by being around young girls.

…

…

In a Shanghai residence, a middle-aged man with a retro pompadour asked his companion: “Zhong-ge, Fox Tao is growing too fast. Our search-based, B2C model might be wrong.”

“You mean copy Fox Tao ’s model? But we don’t have any money.”

Gu Yaozhong frowned, looking troubled.

As one of China’s earliest imitators of Ebates, he’d struggled for four years without attracting any VC interest.

Now, an 18-year-old freshman walks in, lands a 10-million-yuan investment from Tencent—why him?

“My classmate works at Thinking Capital—he’s heard of our project. Maybe we can talk to him.”

The pompadour man said seriously. If he couldn’t secure funding soon, he’d have to abandon the project.

Seek follow reads! Thank you, great masters!

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(End of chapter)