Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

For Liang Changlin of Dingdong Community, December 21st truly was the end of the world. In the four months he’d gone head-to-head with Kuai Pao Delivery, he had expanded his business operations to cover all of Hu City.

But the outcome wasn’t what he’d hoped for—he hadn’t managed to shape Dingdong Community into a polished, niche O2O app.

Once Meituan, Dianping, and Lashou Network entered the local life services market one after another, Dingdong Community’s room to survive vanished in an instant.

Now, more than a hundred days of hard work had come to nothing. Ninety-nine percent of his service stations had been shut down, leaving only the one in Jin Qiao. The one hundred million Hua Yuan from his investors was almost gone.

According to Liang Changlin’s plan, he was supposed to first prove his business model in Hu City and then head straight for Yanjing. He’d heard that a single residential complex there, Tiantongyuan, was home to hundreds of thousands of people—the market potential was staggering.

But he hadn’t even made it past the borders of Hu City!

Yanjing my ass!

After inspecting the Jin Qiao service station, Liang Changlin didn’t rush to get into his car. Instead, he stared anxiously across the street.

There were over twenty well-established residential communities nearby, home to thirty or forty thousand people. In theory, the services offered by Dingdong Community should have been a perfect match for their essential daily needs, making it an incredibly valuable business proposition.

But reality delivered a harsh slap in the face!

Even with identical pricing and service quality, users still opted for platforms like Kuai Pao, Meituan, and Dianping.

”Boss, it’s windy out here,” his assistant murmured, hunching his shoulders against the cold.

”Go to Xucheng,” Liang Changlin said to his assistant after staring blankly for a moment.

”Xucheng?” The assistant paused, taken aback, trying to parse his boss’s true meaning.

”I’m going to seek some guidance from my young fellow townsman,” Liang Changlin sighed. He had to admit it to himself: ’Even though I’m older, when it comes to business achievements, I’m like a child compared to Chen Yansen.’

The assistant’s eyes lit up with understanding, and he immediately jogged over to open the car door for his boss.

Liang Changlin was a military veteran, and his style had always been decisive and direct. As soon as he got in the car, he called the chairman of the Huian Chamber of Commerce and got Chen Yansen’s personal contact information.

After all, Chen Yansen was, at least in name, still a director of the Huian Chamber of Commerce.

Liang Changlin jotted down the number and dialed it without hesitation. A steady BEEP... BEEP... BEEP... sounded from the receiver.

「Meanwhile.」

Chen Yansen sat in his office and glanced at the sky outside. There was still an hour and a half left in the workday.

Meng Jie had asked him to see *The Last Tycoon*. Song Yuncheng had invited him to see *Lost in Thailand*. And Ye Qiuping had secretly slipped him two tickets for *CZ12*.

President Chen couldn’t be bothered to choose, so he rejected them all!

’What’s so great about movies, anyway?’

President Chen had always preferred live-action blockbusters. He’d recently bought over a dozen cosplay outfits, and with figures like Song Yuncheng’s and Ye Qiuping’s, they could pull them off perfectly.

As for Meng Jie, she was so petite... the less said, the better.

BZZZT BZZZT BZZZT—!

Just then, the phone on his desk began to vibrate.

With a mere thought from Chen Yansen, the phone flew into his palm.

’An unknown number?’

’A Hu City area code?’

Chen Yansen didn’t think much of it and tapped the answer button.

”President Chen, my apologies for the unsolicited call. My name is Liang Changlin from 100m Technology. I’d like to schedule a time to visit you in person.”

Liang Changlin’s tone was extremely respectful the moment the call connected.

”Dingdong Community?” Chen Yansen countered, his tone less a question and more a statement of fact.

Hearing this, Liang Changlin’s heart sank. He instantly understood: Chen Yansen had known about him all along.

’So Kuai Pao’s move into local life services wasn’t a coincidence, then.’

”I’m surprised that with a business as vast as yours, President Chen, you would even notice a tiny player like Dingdong Community,” Liang Changlin said with a bitter smile. A wave of bitterness washed over him, and he felt that his defeat had been well-deserved.