Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Chapter 78: Chapter 74: Reunion with an Old Acquaintance, an Exclusive Contract with Jingdong

On the way back, Song Yuncheng kept her head down, not saying a word.

Before tonight, she could never have imagined that a meal with such small portions could cost ten thousand yuan.

That meal cost two years of her tuition, two years of her living expenses, and two months of her salary.

"What are you thinking about?"

Chen Yansen turned to look at her, asking softly when he saw her silence.

"I’m thinking about how we just spent two months of my salary on a meal, and we didn’t even get the contract signed. It feels like such a waste."

Song Yuncheng looked up, her eyelids red. You could tell the expense genuinely pained her.

"But we finished all the food, didn’t we?" Chen Yansen smiled faintly, stopping to lean against the railing by the river.

The Neon lights of Yanjing’s nightscape flickered. The endless stream of traffic was like a starry ribbon stretched across the city’s center.

The northern autumn wind carried a chill, making one’s mouth and throat feel dry.

"So, did you get angry because the commission Zhang Hanwen wanted was too high, or because he... he wanted me to be his dance partner?"

Hearing him say that, Song Yuncheng chuckled softly. Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and her eyes, like two lustrous cat’s eye gems, shone with curiosity.

"You figure it out." Chen Yansen licked his lips and walked to the roadside to hail a taxi. The wind outside was dry and cold, and he’d had enough of it.

Song Yuncheng got in the car, putting the previous question out of her mind. She asked a new one, "But we didn’t contact Jingdong in advance. Will we be able to get into their company tomorrow?"

"The people at the Penguin Investment Department helped me schedule a meeting. When choosing an investor, money is just the basic requirement. The investor’s connections and resources are what’s key." Chen Yansen glanced at her and said flatly.

Song Yuncheng nodded as if she’d had a realization. The two of them fell silent, watching the streetscape outside the window.

「The next morning.」

The sky was overcast, and a fine drizzle, like cotton threads, pattered down.

An orange-yellow Jetta taxi pulled to a steady stop in front of Yinfeng Mansion. The driver pointed at the building before them. "Hey, see that? That’s it, the Jingdong office building!"

Chen Yansen took a quick glance, gaining a clearer understanding of Jingdong in the year 2010. Compared to Ah Li, Jingdong was under immense pressure at this time. The 21 million US Dollars in financing they had secured last year had been burned through in less than two years.

The cost of building its own logistics was high, and on top of that, it was in a price war with Taobao. If Jingdong couldn’t secure another round of financing, it would likely collapse in the very first year of e-commerce’s golden decade.

Just as he got out of the car, a young man of about twenty-five or twenty-six, not very tall but with a capable look in his eyes, enthusiastically came up to greet them.

"President Chen, I’m Xiao Bing from Jingdong’s Market Department. Welcome to Yanjing." Xiao Bing extended his hand and greeted him with a smile.

Chen Yansen shook his hand, and the three of them walked into the building together. As soon as they entered Jingdong’s office area, they saw a massive crowd of people. The workstations were crammed together so tightly that even the aisles were narrow.

"We’re renting four floors in Yinfeng. Each floor has about 400 workstations. The company’s business is growing so fast that our office space hasn’t kept up with our hiring speed, so it’s a bit crowded," Xiao Bing explained proactively.

’You’re just broke. Why make so many excuses!’

Chen Yansen found it amusing but said aloud, "In domestic e-commerce, only Jingdong and Taobao will be the final winners." This made the other man chuckle, thinking Chen Yansen was just joking.

As an employee, Xiao Bing was naturally aware of Jingdong’s current situation. Although management was constantly seeking financing opportunities, Jingdong’s heavy-asset model made venture capitalists, who were used to quick profits, hesitate.

Rumors about needing financing had been circulating for over half a year, but in the end, nothing had materialized.

Bypassing the cluttered office area, Xiao Bing led him into an office. It was called an office, but it was really only two or three square meters, barely enough space for a desk and two chairs.

"President Chen, I’m Ye Qiuping from Jingdong’s Market Department. I’m mainly responsible for liaising with third-party external partnership channels. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you."

Ye Qiuping was wearing a white turtleneck sweater. The tight-fitting design accentuated her curvaceous figure. She greeted him with a beaming smile.

’How could she be here!’

The moment Chen Yansen saw Ye Qiuping, his pupils contracted. He suppressed his shock and cursed inwardly, ’Damn it, this woman really can’t tell the truth. Even her resume is fake!’

"Has President Chen met me before?" Ye Qiuping keenly noticed the strange look on Chen Yansen’s face and asked with a smile.

’Met you? We’ve seen each other naked and slept in the same bed.’

Chen Yansen mocked her in his head but quickly regained his composure. He sat down and said casually, "It’s only natural for me to be dazed when faced with a lady as beautiful as Director Ye. I’ve made a fool of myself."

Hearing this, Ye Qiuping covered her mouth with her hand and smiled lightly. She waved at Xiao Bing, signaling for him to leave.

Chen Yansen stared at Ye Qiuping, sizing her up while thinking, ’According to what Ye Qiuping said in my past life, she should be the operations director at Shangpin Network right now.’

In his previous life, the two of them had worked at the same e-commerce company. Back then, Chen Yansen was just a low-level business associate, while Ye Qiuping was already the general manager of the brand department.

One was twenty-one, the other twenty-nine, both in their most capable years.

After they got together, it was under her guidance that Chen Yansen learned how to rake in money, expand his channels, and accumulate resources.

To put it bluntly, Ye Qiuping was his guide in the professional world.

Three years later, Ye Qiuping married a wealthy businessman from Hong Kong Island and subsequently immigrated to Australia.

As for him, he started his own business in 2017, founding Feiyu Technology. He began with a second-hand luxury goods live-streaming business and rode the wave of live-commerce to the top. Eight years later, his company went public on the main board, and he instantly became a billionaire Diamond Wang the Fifth.

He had thought he would never cross paths with Ye Qiuping again in this life. He never expected to run into her again less than half a year after his rebirth.

’Reading an old book a second time won’t give you a new ending.’

Chen Yansen took a deep breath, suppressed the complex emotions in his heart, and began discussing the mechanics of shopping rebates with her.

"President Chen, the basic commission we offer other shopping guide websites has always been in the 1% to 2.5% range. If FoxTao wants a higher rate, you have to give me a good reason so I can apply for it with my superiors," Ye Qiuping said noncommittally, shaking her head.

"FoxTao has a million daily active users and successful cases of brand collaborations. Our average customer transaction value is over 130 yuan. The shopping guide websites President Ye mentioned sell nothing but cheap 9.9 yuan items. What kind of value can they bring to Jingdong?"

Chen Yansen leaned back, his tone calm as he spoke.

He saw right through Ye Qiuping’s tactics. If she wasn’t interested in a partnership, she definitely wouldn’t have wasted her time meeting with him.

Therefore, he was certain she would agree.

"President Chen, that alone isn’t enough. You have to understand, even a 1% increase has to be approved by the big boss." Ye Qiuping wanted Chen Yansen to throw more chips on the table.

"FoxTao’s current shopping rebate module is on the homepage, but the platform’s redirect link is on a secondary page. If Jingdong agrees to sign an exclusive partnership agreement, I can put Jingdong’s portal on our homepage and add a dynamic floating window to drive significant traffic to you."

Chen Yansen slowly laid out the proposal he had prepared in advance.

"I can give you an exclusive contract, but you have to guarantee that the daily traffic redirected to Jingdong won’t be less than 300,000." Ye Qiuping frowned slightly, mulled it over for a long while, and then said with a troubled expression.

Chen Yansen flatly refused. "President Ye, skewing our resources in Jingdong’s favor is already the greatest sincerity I can offer. If I give you 300,000 in traffic, can you guarantee me a million in revenue every day?"

Ye Qiuping gave an awkward smile. Realizing she couldn’t bluff Chen Yansen, she readily agreed.

"Also, President Ye should be familiar with our ’Bargain to 0 Yuan’ module. I’d like Jingdong to provide a batch of its self-operated products, priced under 10 yuan, to be used as prizes. They would only be shown to new Jingdong customers to increase the proportion of new customer redirects," Chen Yansen continued. "But the previous CPA reward for new customers isn’t enough. I want 40 yuan per person."

"30 yuan, and it counts on their first completed transaction," Ye Qiuping replied calmly.

"Acceptable." Chen Yansen smiled. ’Actually, my original expectation was only 25 yuan.’

Based on his understanding of Jingdong, their new user acquisition cost at this time should be no more than 40 yuan, so the price he proposed wasn’t excessive.

After that, the two of them discussed the commission rates for each category one by one. It wasn’t until after twelve noon that the commissions for all categories were finally settled.

"President Chen, we’ll sign the contract this afternoon. For lunch, it’s my treat. Let me show you some of Yanjing’s local specialties," Ye Qiuping said with a smile, putting down her documents and extending an invitation.

"If you don’t mind my asking, President Ye, where are you from?" Chen Yansen asked suddenly.

"My hometown is Qin Island. The ocean view is beautiful, and the seafood is even better," Ye Qiuping answered casually.

Chen Yansen snorted coldly in his heart. ’In my past life, you said you were from Shencheng City.’

Facing the constantly lying Ye Qiuping, the last glimmer of nostalgia he felt was instantly extinguished.

"President Ye, a simple working lunch will be fine. After signing the contract, I have to catch a flight this afternoon."

Chen Yansen didn’t want to interact with her more than necessary, so he suggested a simple meal.

"Well... alright. There’s a Hong Kong-style cafe downstairs that’s quite good. A lot of our Jingdong colleagues treat it like their cafeteria."

Ye Qiuping wanted to try and persuade him further, but seeing his serious expression, she realized he wasn’t just being polite. She smiled and suggested a compromise.

Chen Yansen agreed and followed her to the first floor of the building. After walking a few dozen meters, he saw a Hong Kong-style cafe.

Through the glass window, he could indeed see a dozen or so employees with Jingdong ID badges eating inside.

The three of them sat down, ordered their food, and continued talking about work.

"President Chen is only eighteen this year? A true boy genius. I’m not just making that up; that’s what the media is writing. What are your thoughts on the future of Jingdong and Taobao?" Ye Qiuping took a sip of her lemon tea, starting with a compliment before bringing up a new topic.

"They will both succeed, and they will both fail," Chen Yansen said flatly, taking a sip of his tea.

"Why do you say that?" Ye Qiuping’s interest was piqued. She stared at Chen Yansen and asked.

"I was just talking nonsense, you believed me?" Chen Yansen didn’t want to explain and brushed it off casually.

’Once I’ve gathered enough capital and resources, I’ll launch another e-commerce platform and beat Jingdong and Taobao until they’re screaming for mercy. Then, naturally, they’ll have failed.’

A middle-aged man at the next table had been expecting to hear some profound insight and had been straining his ears, but when he heard Chen Yansen say, ’I was just talking nonsense,’ he was almost infuriated.

He turned his head, intending to ask which Jingdong department the young man was from, but he saw that there was no ID badge hanging around Chen Yansen’s neck at all.

"Director Ye, who is this?"

Chen Yansen’s dismissiveness was obvious even to Ye Qiuping, so naturally, this e-commerce tycoon who had started his business in Zhongguan Village also noticed. He opened his mouth to ask.