Chapter 191: Chapter 176: Telecom Contract Phones, Stressed-out Chen Nian

In a private room on the top floor of the Sky Garden, on Huishui West Road in Xucheng.

Zhao Maolin raised his glass and clinked it with Chen Yansen’s. His face was flushed, already tipsy, and he said with a smile, "Junior Brother Chen, after this drink, let’s head to the next spot. Star of the Milky Way just got a new batch of Northern girls. Their figures, tsk tsk..."

"Congratulations on your promotion, Brother Zhao! Cheers!"

Chen Yansen just smiled faintly and didn’t respond to Zhao Maolin’s suggestion, especially since Song Yuncheng was sitting right there.

"If you ever need your big brother for anything in the future, just say the word."

Zhao Maolin tilted his head back, drained his glass in one gulp, and patted his chest boldly.

He had been promoted from General Manager of Xucheng to General Manager of Huian Province. His resources and power had naturally risen in tandem, and his voice carried a bit more weight now.

And Chen Yansen was the founder of Pinbei and Orange Technology, running businesses in mobile phones and e-commerce. He was also close with Penguin, so he lacked neither money nor connections.

Moreover, Chen Yansen had built a ten-billion-yuan fortune in just over a year. In a few more years, his status would only continue to climb.

He might even need Chen Yansen’s help in the future.

Zhao Maolin’s words were magnanimous, but inside, his mental abacus was clicking away.

"What a coincidence. I actually do have something to ask of you, Brother Zhao. Orange Technology is preparing to release two new products during the Spring Festival. One is the Orange D1, positioned at the 1,000-yuan price point, and the other is the flagship model, the Orange C2. I’m hoping to use the telecom channels to boost sales."

Chen Yansen turned his glass upside down, gave it a little shake, and spoke in a slow, deliberate manner.

"Contract phones or joint marketing?"

Zhao Maolin asked instinctively upon hearing this.

The former involved the telecom company and Orange Technology collaborating on a custom phone. It would be sold to telecom users through promotions like "buy a phone, get free call credit" or "top up call credit, get a free phone." This usually required signing up for a fixed plan with a two-to-three-year contract.

The latter meant leveraging the telecom company’s sales network—its physical stores, online platforms, and affiliate locations—to sell the products, with the telecom company taking a cut.

"I want them both."

Chen Yansen stated, enunciating each word. After all, only children have to make a choice.

"No problem! Also, I think Pinbei could add a new portal for topping up call credits and data."

After readily agreeing, Zhao Maolin seized the opportunity to propose his own idea.

"Alright, I’ll arrange it later."

Chen Yansen nodded in agreement.

Give and take is what makes a relationship last.

For Zhao Maolin, setting up contract phones and joint marketing was a simple matter of saying the word. For Chen Yansen, adding a top-up center to Pinbei was just as effortless.

"That’s what I like to hear! Let’s have another!" Zhao Maolin rolled up his sleeves, loosened his collar, grabbed the bottle, and poured himself a full glass before topping up Chen Yansen’s.

CLINK! The two clinked their glasses.

Zhao Maolin’s assistant watched from the side. He wanted to drink on his boss’s behalf, but as soon as they entered the room, Zhao Maolin had ordered him to just focus on driving; he would handle the drinking.

Song Yuncheng glanced at the three empty bottles on the table and gently tugged on Chen Yansen’s sleeve, worried he was drinking too much.

Chen Yansen turned to her and shook his head slightly, signaling that he was fine.

Zhao Maolin glanced between the two and immediately understood why Chen Yansen had turned a deaf ear and pretended not to hear when he’d mentioned Star of the Milky Way. It was because his girlfriend was here.

He recognized Song Yuncheng. Back when she was at FoxTao, she had been the liaison for their collaboration with the telecom company.

"Brother Zhao, have you ever considered moving SIM card sales online?"

Chen Yansen asked.

"You know about that?" Zhao Maolin looked shocked. He thought to himself, ’Could it be? Does Chen Yansen have other contacts inside the company besides me?’

A month ago, the head office had upgraded the online service portal. They were planning to launch the public beta of a new portal tomorrow—they’d even changed the domain name. On top of the original services, they added options to reserve vanity numbers, order SIM cards, and sign up for broadband.

Seeing his reaction, Chen Yansen immediately got the gist of the situation.

In the past, the telecom company hadn’t paid much attention to online channels because of the low adoption rate of online banking and payment tools. However, driven by the rise of e-commerce platforms, not only were users’ payment difficulties solved, but the telecom company also began to see the importance of online channels.

Taobao’s cumulative sales for Singles’ Day and Double 12 reached 10 billion yuan, a figure far more shocking at the time than the 500 billion it would reach a decade later.

Before this, no one had ever imagined that the scale of e-commerce could reach billions of yuan in a single day.

Seeing Chen Yansen just smiling without a word, Zhao Maolin slapped his forehead and said, "Junior Brother Chen, how do you want to cooperate?"

"Treat the telecom company as a vendor on the platform. Users can top up their call credits, buy SIM cards, and sign up for broadband, all within your ’store’."

Chen Yansen said directly.

Since the telecom company already had an online card-selling business, convincing Zhao Maolin and his bosses would be much simpler.

For the telecom company, it was merely adding one more sales channel.

"There’s no precedent for this, but I don’t think it’ll be a major issue. I’ll get back to you once I’ve finalized things."

Zhao Maolin replied earnestly.

"Thanks, Brother Zhao. Let’s have another drink." Chen Yansen filled their glasses and raised his.

Amidst the clinking of glasses, the fourth bottle of Moutai was quickly emptied.

"Xiaoli, go get two more bottles." Although Zhao Maolin felt he was nearing his limit, he saw that Chen Yansen still looked clear-eyed and sober. He felt he hadn’t been a good host and needed to go a couple more rounds.

"Brother Zhao, a pleasant buzz is better than getting blackout drunk. Surely you don’t want to drink your little brother into the hospital?"

Chen Yansen said with a teasing smile.

His words gave Zhao Maolin a graceful way out.

"True. In that case, your big brother will let you off the hook." Zhao Maolin laughed loudly, thinking, ’Drinking with a guy like Chen Yansen is great. We can drink well, and it’s always satisfying.’

Song Yuncheng immediately stood up, excused herself, and walked out.

"Xiaoli, go settle the bill." Although Zhao Maolin’s body felt floaty, he could still see what Song Yuncheng was up to.

"This is a farewell drink, and it’s a celebration for Brother Zhao’s promotion. I have to be the one to pay today."

Chen Yansen stopped Zhao Maolin, speaking with a smile.

Xiaoli looked at his boss, awaiting further instructions. After a long moment, Zhao Maolin sighed and stopped insisting.

He plopped back down in his seat and said to Chen Yansen, "In that case, I’ll arrange the next round."

"My girlfriend is with me," Chen Yansen said, making an excuse to decline.

"So, Director Song really is your girlfriend? Look at this mess. Good thing I didn’t say what kind of place Star of the Milky Way is."

Zhao Maolin gave a dry laugh and playfully complained to Chen Yansen.

"Make sure you get Brother Zhao home safely in a bit. Call me if anything comes up."

Chen Yansen smiled and instructed Xiaoli.

"Yes, President Chen," Xiaoli quickly agreed.

A warmth spread through Zhao Maolin’s heart. He slung an arm over Chen Yansen’s shoulder. Before, their relationship had a hint of insincerity to it, a mere marriage of interests.

But at this moment, Chen Yansen’s considerate words made him feel exceptionally comfortable. ’He really sees me as a big brother.’

In reality, this was due to Chen Yansen’s high Spirit value. Simple words from his mouth sounded exceptionally sincere, moving even an old fox like Zhao Maolin.

Chen Yansen keenly noticed Zhao Maolin’s unusual reaction. With a quick turn of thought, he understood the reason.

’So Spiritual Power has this kind of wonderful use too. Isn’t this the exclusive skill of a Succubus?’

Chen Yansen laughed to himself. After Song Yuncheng returned from paying the bill, the group took the elevator down to the first floor.

After drinking, the moment the cold wind hit him, Zhao Maolin went limp, mumbling drunkenly.

After helping his boss into the car, Xiaoli politely said goodbye to Chen Yansen and Song Yuncheng before driving away.

"How are you feeling? Do you want to go up and rest?"

Song Yuncheng asked.

Chen Yansen and Zhao Maolin had each drunk two bottles, which was almost the limit for a normal person. In Song Yuncheng’s memory, her own father drank, but he would be dead drunk and unconscious after just two or three glasses.

"Yes! I bought you a gift. It’s the perfect time to try it on."

Chen Yansen nodded immediately, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Is it clothes? Thank you, boss," Song Yuncheng replied with a smile.

「Three minutes later.」

Inside the hotel room, Song Yuncheng stared at the Spider-Man cosplay costume on the bed, her face darkening.

"Chen Yansen, what is this? I’m not wearing it," Song Yuncheng refused.

"Then how about trying on this Black Widow one?" Chen Yansen pulled another outfit out of the bag.

...

...

「Yanjing, East Third Ring Road, Vancl Headquarters.」

Chen Nian held the business report, his expression unreadable.

As of yesterday, Vancl’s total sales for 2011 were only 3.43 billion yuan. It was a far cry from their 10-billion-yuan sales target.

The bold claims he’d made at the beginning of the year now felt like a slap in the face.

He couldn’t help but think of Chen Yansen, who, after selling FoxTao, had created Pinbei.

He’d learned from Lei Yijun during their last meal that in less than a month since its launch, Pinbei’s cumulative sales had already broken the 5 billion yuan mark.

"Why is e-commerce so difficult?"

Chen Nian’s face was etched with frustration.

Years ago, he and Lei Yijun had founded Zhuoyue Network. At the time, they were short on funds and felt e-commerce burned through too much cash, so they sold the project to Amazon.

Later, with more capital available, Chen Nian founded Vancl with an investment from Lei Yijun, hoping to rekindle his e-commerce dream. He never expected reality to be so harsh.

Vancl had struggled for a whole year, yet its performance didn’t even match Pinbei’s from a period of just over twenty days.

The gap was too vast. Chen Nian found it hard to accept, and he was even more reluctant to admit that he was less capable than Chen Yansen.

After all, when they first met, he had just secured funding and hadn’t taken Chen Yansen seriously at all.

But in less than a year, the other man had sold FoxTao, his personal fortune instantly soaring past ten billion yuan, while he hadn’t even reached 10 billion in sales.

"President Chen, I heard that Jingdong joined Pinbei and sold 200 million yuan worth of goods on Double 12. Should we..."

His assistant, seeing Chen Nian’s tightly furrowed brow, quietly suggested.

Due to Vancl’s blind expansion and the addition of numerous new product categories and SKUs, its performance had fallen far short of expectations. As a result, 1.45 billion yuan worth of inventory was now piled up in their warehouses.

Chen Nian had once laughed at Zhou Jiancheng of Meiters, but now that he had made the same mistake and fallen into the same pit, he finally understood just how unpleasant it felt.

At Vancl’s current sales rate, the inventory turnover cycle was as high as six months, a massive burden weighing down the company.

"You do it... No, forget it. I’ll call Chen Yansen myself."

Chen Nian sighed and said resignedly.

But he called several times and no one answered.

At that moment, Chen Yansen was busy playing a little game of Wolverine versus Black Widow with Song Yuncheng. He had no time to bother with Chen Nian.