Chapter 155: Chapter 144: This Secret of Yours, I’ll Live Off It for a Lifetime

Ye Qiuping pulled out the chair opposite Chen Yansen and sat down gently.

"I’m very curious," Chen Yansen said, looking up at Ye Qiuping.

The abrupt statement left Ye Qiuping looking bewildered, with no idea what Chen Yansen meant.

But her new boss had spoken, so even though she didn’t understand, Ye Qiuping smiled and asked, "What are you curious about, President Chen?"

"You’re clearly one of the Ba Shu People, but last time in Yanjing, you claimed to be from Qin Island. Can you tell me the reason for that?"

Chen Yansen asked with a faint smile.

The words struck Ye Qiuping like a bolt of lightning.

She had bluffed her way into Amazon and Jingdong by falsifying her resume, but she never expected to stumble because of Chen Yansen.

’Besides finding out my birthplace, has he uncovered everything else?’

Ye Qiuping’s heart tightened, but she showed no sign of panic. With a bright smile, she said, "I don’t know where you got your information, President Chen, but I am indeed a native of Qin Island, born and raised."

"And what about your work history? Joined the eBay Network Market Department in 2005, moved to Amazon in 2007, and then joined Jingdong in 2009. It looks fine on the surface, but you’ve made a fatal mistake."

Chen Yansen pulled out Ye Qiuping’s resume and read a few lines aloud, his face full of scorn.

Ye Qiuping’s academic credentials were fake, as was half of her work experience.

A few years ago, the background check systems at domestic internet companies were still imperfect. As long as Ye Qiuping could make her experience at Amazon and Jingdong seem legitimate, then years later, when she moved to a new company, no one would bother to verify the authenticity of her first job.

For one, it was difficult to verify; for another, it was pointless.

Hiring companies and third-party background check agencies would only investigate her last two or three jobs.

"President Chen, I don’t understand what you mean."

Ye Qiuping forced herself to appear calm, but her heart was in turmoil.

She never imagined this career move would land her in so much trouble.

’Chen Yansen is only nineteen. How is he acting like some forty-year-old sly fox from the Business Community?’

’I was just applying for the director of the brand department. Was it really necessary to investigate me so thoroughly?’

"Oh, is that so? What do you think would happen if I gave this file to Liu Qiangdong? Do you think he’d have Jingdong’s legal department sue you?"

Chen Yansen pulled out a file and tossed it in front of Ye Qiuping.

Seeing her panic-stricken expression, Chen Yansen felt a surge of pleasure. In his two lifetimes, this was the first time he had ever seen Ye Qiuping look so discomposed.

In the past, aside from when they were in bed, this woman had always worn a mask of calm confidence.

Ye Qiuping didn’t want to look at the file before her, but a powerful sense of unease compelled her to reach out and turn the first page.

In that instant, she felt as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her head.

Her academic history alone had been completely exposed.

The investigators Chen Yansen had hired visited over forty graduates from the same school and major. They all confirmed that Yanjing Information Science and Technology University did have a student named Ye Qiuping.

However, the person in the photo held by the investigators was clearly not her.

"What do you want, President Chen?" Ye Qiuping put the file down, a bitter smile on her face. She looked as if she was resigning herself to her fate.

At worst, Jingdong would sue her and reclaim the salary she had earned while employed there.

But once word got out, the work history she had painstakingly built would be ruined, and she would no longer be able to make it in the domestic internet scene.

It had taken her six years of hard work to get to where she was today. Her life had been on the verge of changing for the better.

But then she just had to run into Chen Yansen!

"I don’t want anything. I just wanted to get to know my new brand department director, that’s all."

Chen Yansen shrugged, his tone unconcerned.

But the more nonchalant he acted, the more panicked Ye Qiuping felt.

She scrambled to her feet, walked over to Chen Yansen, and said in a soft, gentle voice, "As long as you don’t say anything, President Chen, I’ll do whatever you ask."

"Really?"

Chen Yansen smiled, his question noncommittal.

Then, he turned to his left to face Ye Qiuping. "Why are you standing so high above me?"

Ye Qiuping froze, a thousand thoughts racing through her mind. Finally, gritting her teeth, she dropped to her knees before Chen Yansen with a soft thud.

Her two small, soft hands slowly rose to his waist, moved toward the center, and finally grasped the drawstring of his casual pants.

"You’re quite skilled. Have you done this for other men?" Chen Yansen taunted mockingly.

At his words, Ye Qiuping’s face flushed crimson, the blush spreading down her neck. Fat tears streamed down her cheeks, hitting the floor with a soft DRIP, DRIP, DRIP.

Chen Yansen snorted. ’This woman is such an actress.’

"I’m not as despicable as you think! I admit it, my degree and the work experience at the eBay Network Market Department are fake. But I got into Amazon and Jingdong on my own merit!"

Tears streamed down Ye Qiuping’s face as she knelt on the floor, but she held her head high, looking at Chen Yansen with defiance.

"What’s fake will always be fake. It can never become real."

Chen Yansen held out his hand to her.

After a moment’s hesitation, Ye Qiuping placed her hand in his.

Chen Yansen pulled her to her feet, then stood up and looked her straight in the eye.

He couldn’t say he resented Ye Qiuping. In fact, she had taught him a great deal—in business and in love. That included some rather advanced positions.

But he had no interest in reopening this old book.

"President Chen, so..." Ye Qiuping stammered, waiting for him to pronounce her sentence.

"There are tissues on the desk. Dry your tears, or people will think I did something to you. The brand department is yours now. Don’t let me down."

His hand rested on the file that held her fate as he spoke, his tone grave.

???

Ye Qiuping was utterly bewildered. She had assumed he investigated her only to blackmail her. But he hadn’t made her do anything, and he was still letting her take over the brand department at Orange Technology.

"You may go. Any other questions?"

Chen Yansen returned to his seat and, seeing her still standing there in a daze, prompted her to leave.

"President Chen, you’re not going to expose me?" Ye Qiuping couldn’t help but ask.

"You are the brand department director of Orange Technology. You work for me. What good would exposing you do me?"

Chen Yansen said softly, raising an eyebrow.

’Fuck!’

’Then why did you investigate me and put together this file?’

’Just to watch me panic?’

Ye Qiuping cursed inwardly. Her feelings were a tangled mess. A new thought surfaced: ’Will I ever be able to resign from this job?’

"Do a good job. This little secret of yours... I can hold it over you for a lifetime."

Chen Yansen said with a wicked smile.

"I... I didn’t mean to lie, it’s just that..." Feeling indignant and wronged, Ye Qiuping started to explain.

"I’m not interested. As long as you can build up the brand department for me, I’ll return this file to you on the day you leave Orange Technology."

Chen Yansen waved his hand dismissively, making it clear he couldn’t be bothered to listen.

In his view, not a single word out of Ye Qiuping’s mouth could be trusted. He’d rather have her go out and make money for him than waste time listening to her excuses.

In a way, they were master and apprentice; Chen Yansen’s own penchant for telling lies was a style he had cultivated from her example.

"Understood, President Chen."

Ye Qiuping wiped away her tears, a chill in her heart. She forced a smile, turned, and walked out.

Since Chen Yansen wasn’t going to expose her, she would continue to stay at Orange Technology.

Ye Qiuping’s mental fortitude had been tempered over the years, making her incredibly resilient. An ordinary person would have been terrified and probably would have fled in the middle of the night.

But she was not an ordinary person. She had strived for over six years to get to this day. As long as there was even a sliver of hope, she would never give up.

After she left, Chen Yansen fed the file into a shredder and tossed the remnants into the trash.

He never had any intention of using the file to threaten her. He simply wanted to see her squirm and fulfill a small, lingering wish from his past life.

In the days that followed, Ye Qiuping acted as if the incident had never happened. She threw herself into her work, smoothly taking over the brand department’s responsibilities from Wang Teng and pushing projects forward in an orderly fashion.

She even took over Chen Yansen’s Weibo account, saying she would use his public persona to create a social media marketing platform for Orange Technology.

Chen Yansen didn’t mind when he heard about it.

He was well aware of her capabilities; that was why he had hired her in the first place, despite knowing about her past.

As long as she could get the job done, he wouldn’t have cared if she were an elementary school dropout.

As for her lies?

’Does anyone in this world not lie?’

On August 28, Orange Technology’s pre-orders broke two million units.

Meanwhile, the Xiaomi Mobile Phone was featured on the homepage of FoxTao. There was a splash screen ad on the mobile app and a persistent pop-up on the PC site, making Xiaomi’s ten-million-yuan investment more than worth it.

When Lei Yijun heard the news, he couldn’t help but feel moved. ’This Little Brother from Huian is a truly loyal man.’

They were clearly competitors, yet Chen Yansen was still willing to go all-out to drive traffic to Xiaomi.

’It would be even better if Chen Yansen wasn’t in the phone business,’ Lei Yijun thought with a sigh. Before 10:00 AM on the 28th, he sat in his office, eyes glued to the backend data of the Xiaomi Mall.

Lin Bing, Li Wanqiang, and the other founders were also gathered in front of a large data screen, anxiously waiting for 10:00 AM to strike.

Lei Yijun had originally planned to follow Orange Technology’s lead by first selling a few hundred engineering prototypes. But after seeing Chen Yansen give a phone to every member of the media, fan, and invited VIP at his press conference, he decided to follow suit. At Xiaomi’s own press conference, he gave away 300 engineering prototypes, valued at 600,000 yuan.

"It’s 10 o’clock!" Li Wanqiang suddenly exclaimed.

The numbers on the big screen, which had been at zero, began to tick up: 1, 2, 3... The digits began to scroll at a frantic pace.

It was clear that Xiaomi, with its millions of MIUI users, still had a considerable number of fans.

One hour later, pre-sales hit 13,000 units!

Fourteen hours later, pre-sales surpassed 94,000 units!

Li Wanqiang immediately had the brand department announce that Xiaomi’s first-day pre-sales had broken the 100,000-unit mark!

Though it was only half of what the Orange Mobile Phone had sold, a roar of cheers still erupted in Xiaomi’s executive office.

One hundred thousand units! Their year of hard work had not been in vain!

At the end of the three-day event, Xiaomi’s first wave of pre-sales totaled 300,000 units!

This figure proved Lei Yijun’s words right: the 2011 smartphone market was truly a blue ocean. If you put your heart and soul into serving the users, they would reward you with their cold, hard cash.

Chen Yansen, however, was not paying attention. He was sitting in the R&D center, looking over a design submitted by Zhou Ze and nodding in approval.

Quad-SIM, quad-standby, a 3.7-inch screen, a 512MB RAM and 8GB storage configuration, a large 2320 mAh battery, and it ran on the Aurora OS 1.1 system. From the processor to the speaker, every component was low-to-mid-range.

In the domestic market, even high school students would scoff at these specs, but in the African market, it was a remarkably good product.

To boost sales, Chen Yansen had even upgraded the imaging algorithm and decided to include an extra battery with every phone. After all, Africa had an unstable power supply; an extra battery meant that much more uptime.

Far away in Shencheng City, Cao Dahua was puzzled to learn that Orange Technology’s next phone was targeting the African Market. Still, he called Zhou Jinling in.

"You want me to go to Africa?"

Zhou Jinling wore a wry smile after listening to Cao Dahua’s explanation, but after some thought, he accepted the new assignment.

Compared to tightening screws on an assembly line, going to Africa might just be his chance to rise from the ashes.

As far as Chen Yansen was concerned, everyone had their strengths. Even a piece of toilet paper has its use, let alone a human being.