Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

”You son of a bitch, you’re fucking ruthless!”

Meng Xin glanced out the window. A sliver of dawn was just appearing. He couldn’t help but yawn before muttering a curse.

It wasn’t until 9:30 AM that Ah Fu Essential Oil’s promotional placements on Pinbei and Tmall Mall returned to normal.

And as soon as netizens woke up, they were served a fresh helping of e-commerce drama.

The founder of Ah Fu Essential Oil was publicly feuding with Liu Qiangdong, and netizens were eating it up. But for the users who had purchased Ah Fu Essential Oil products on Jingdong, their moods instantly soured after reading Meng Xin’s Weibo post.

They thought they’d snagged the lowest price online, only to find out Ah Fu wasn’t going to ship their orders!

This group of people immediately contacted Jingdong’s Customer Service Department for confirmation, only to receive an ambiguous reply: ”The platform is currently communicating with the brand. Please be patient.”

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ—!

The phone on the table suddenly started vibrating.

Meng Xin picked it up. The caller was the very same beauty and cosmetics procurement and sales director who had been unreachable.

”President Chen, what’s the matter?” Meng Xin asked, feigning ignorance.

’He’d already offended them all anyway, so what the hell was there to be afraid of? He usually had to kiss up to these big shots, but now he couldn’t be bothered to keep up the act.’

”President Meng, as of 9:30, Ah Fu’s sales on Jingdong hit 12.7 million, with 213,000 orders. One of my subordinates made a mistake and moved Ah Fu’s products from the 30% off pool into the 50% off promotion. It was just a marketing bug. But you’ve been spouting nonsense on Weibo, and if this affects Jingdong’s investment attraction work, the company might just send you a letter from our lawyers.”

Chen Yongqiang, the beauty and cosmetics procurement and sales director, issued a veiled threat.

’A marketing bug?’

’Trying to fool me like I’m a three-year-old!’

Meng Xin scoffed. He didn’t believe a single word Chen Yongqiang was saying.

’We’re both old foxes. Who do you think you’re trying to fool with these fairy tales?’

”A lawyer’s letter? Who are you trying to scare? You used me as a pawn, don’t think I don’t know it! Ah Fu will not be processing those Jingdong orders. Sue us if you want. We’ll see who ends up losing more!”

Meng Xin immediately shot back.

’He’d been through the wringer in the business world for years. Was he supposed to be scared of a lawyer’s letter?’

The two went back and forth for a few awkward minutes before Chen Yongqiang hung up and reported the matter up the chain of command.

Half an hour later, Jingdong began canceling Ah Fu Essential Oil orders en masse, compensating each account with a 10 Hua Yuan no-minimum-spend coupon. The Customer Service Department was notified that for highly agitated customers threatening to complain to the Market Supervision Association, an additional 10 Hua Yuan in compensation could be offered, up to a maximum of 30% of the original order value.

The Singles’ Day Grand Promotion wasn’t even halfway through, and the first major consumer rights incident had already erupted.

Both Ah Fu Essential Oil and Jingdong were blasted onto the trending charts!

In response, Jingdong issued a statement: ”Ah Fu Essential Oil voluntarily participated in the 50% off promotion. They backed out at the last minute because they were threatened by another e-commerce platform and were offered a better promotional deal.”

Subsequently, they produced a screenshot of the e-contract showing Ah Fu Essential Oil’s participation in the ”Desert Storm” promotion to prove they were not at fault and that it was Ah Fu Essential Oil that lacked contractual spirit.

When Meng Xin found out, he was so angry he almost had to laugh.

The contract itself was fine, but when it came to the discount, he and the junior procurement agent had agreed on 30% off, not 50% off.

However, this wasn’t specified in the contract, leaving Meng Xin to suffer in silence, unable to voice his grievance.

Jingdong had turned the tables, flinging mud at both Tmall and Ah Fu.

Before long, Tmall responded: ”We don’t force merchants to make a choice. It is up to the merchants themselves to decide which platforms they use and which promotions they run.”

The subtext was clear: this had nothing to do with Tmall.

Netizens quickly flocked to the official Weibo accounts of Huang Zheng, Chen Yansen, and Pinbei, relentlessly demanding answers and determined to get to the bottom of it.