Chapter 234: Chapter 204: Southern Sen, Northern Dong! Testing Zhang Xuhao’s Resilience

As the head of the Investment Attraction Department, Kou Zhen was the one responsible for handling problems like this.

"The review department needs to be our second line of defense. They can’t just check if the materials are complete; they have to verify the authenticity of the images uploaded by the offline promotion teams. We need to establish a clear penalty system."

Chen Yansen nodded slightly, then said to Pei Yi and Kou Zhen.

"Kuai Pao orders 78, 79, and 80 are packed! Come get ’em!"

The owner of Old East Gate Fried Rice yelled over to them.

Chen Yansen chuckled and shook his head. He checked the info, grabbed order number 80, and placed it in his delivery box. After a quick word with Li Zhou and the other courier, he sped off.

Pei Yi and the other three hurried to catch up.

"Brother Li, are you dense? The big boss himself asked if you were going to the annual party, and you actually said no!"

The other delivery driver said, his voice full of exasperation.

In his eyes, if President Chen took a liking to you, it could be a chance for a promotion and a raise.

"Are you nuts? I’m just a delivery guy with no special skills. You think the big boss is going to make me a manager? If you want to make money, you just have to work hard!"

Li Zhou clapped his colleague on the shoulder, laughing at his daydreaming.

"Heh heh, what if the boss has a moment of madness?"

The young courier grinned and burst out laughing.

"You’re the one whose brain is fried. If President Xia heard you say that, you’d be out of a job."

Li Zhou shot him a glare.

In Luzhou, a job like the one at Kuai Pao wasn’t easy to find. Factory workers at TCL, Haier, and Gree worked themselves to the bone for just 4,000 to 5,000 yuan a month, and the work offered none of the freedom that Kuai Pao did.

「Meanwhile.」

When Chen Yansen handed the meal to the customer, he couldn’t help but offer a word of advice. "You might want to order from this place less in the future. It’s not the most sanitary."

"Huh?! No way. I eat there all the time. Oh, I can tell you’re not from around here. Old East Gate’s beef fried rice might be next to the public restrooms, but there’s a wall in between! And their fried rice is ridiculously fragrant and delicious!"

The customer was taken aback for a moment, then waved his hand dismissively and said with a smile.

Chen Yansen was left speechless, then broke into a laugh. ’He’d been worried for nothing.’

He had been worried the customer was being duped, but it turned out the man was a regular and knew exactly what he was getting.

Standing behind him, Pei Yi and the others couldn’t help but stifle their laughter.

After finishing that delivery, Chen Yansen accepted another order: a Kawangka milk tea going to the nearby Software Park.

The customer was a young woman who came out to pick up her order holding an Orange C2 mobile phone.

"Kuai Pao Delivery. Enjoy your meal!"

Chen Yansen recited the standard line and was about to leave.

"Wait! You look really familiar!"

The young woman eyed him with suspicion. After staring for a few seconds, her expression suddenly shifted to one of ecstatic joy. She asked with a grin, "You’re Chen Yansen from Orange Technology, aren’t you?"

Chen Yansen sighed and gave a wry smile, amazed that he had been recognized even with his helmet on.

"But that doesn’t make sense. Why are you delivering food?" the young woman asked.

"The Kuai Pao app is one of our company’s products, too. Thank you for supporting Orange Technology and Kuai Pao."

Chen Yansen offered a small smile and a few words of thanks.

"President Chen, can I get a picture with you?" the young woman pleaded, tugging on Chen Yansen’s arm.

"Of course."

Chen Yansen readily agreed.

"CLICK!"

"CLICK!"

The young woman kept tapping the shutter button. They had agreed to one photo, but she ended up snapping dozens of shots in a row.

"Thank you, President Chen! I’m going to use Kuai Pao Delivery every day from now on! Oh, and my dad is a huge fan of yours too. Could I record a quick video of you saying hi to him?"

Having finished with the photos, the young woman immediately made another request.

"I can’t do that!"

Chen Yansen said, his face stern. Before the young woman could react, he added, "Unless you support me by buying another Orange Mobile Phone."

The young woman frowned, looking troubled. "But my mom and dad already use Orange Mobile Phones."

"I’m just kidding. Give me the phone."

Chen Yansen said with a laugh.

He then took the woman’s phone and recorded a short message with some words of greeting for her father.

The young woman took back her phone and ran back into the building, completely satisfied.

Chen Yansen glanced at his watch. It was almost four-thirty. He beckoned to Pei Yi and the others, and they started heading for their hotel.

Back at her desk, the young woman immediately posted the photos she had just taken to Weibo, tagging Chen Yansen’s official account.

"Is that Chen Yansen? What’s Kuai Pao?"

"I know! Kuai Pao is a local food delivery platform in Luzhou!"

"A billionaire delivering food?"

In the comments, some people snarkily accused Chen Yansen of putting on a show, while others praised him for being so down-to-earth.

Just then, someone in the comments posted a photo of Liu Qiangdong delivering packages in Yanjing.

"Damn! Who’s copying who here?"

"I think Liu Qiangdong is copying Chen Yansen. Just yesterday, the news about Chen Yansen drinking with Cloud Speed Couriers was trending, and today Liu Qiangdong is out delivering packages? That can’t be a coincidence."

"Brother Dong is the real deal, totally down-to-earth. It’s definitely not staged. The courier for the Jingdong Express package I received at my office this afternoon was President Liu himself!"

Soon, a netizen from Yanjing chimed in.

An hour later, news of the two e-commerce tycoons—one in the south delivering food, the other in the north delivering packages—was trending everywhere.

Zhang Jindong of Sunning let out a cold snort, privately cursing Liu Qiangdong for being such a show-off.

"Unbelievable! How is he so good at marketing?"

Far away in Hu City, Zhang Xuhao was about to lose his mind when he saw the photo of Chen Yansen in a delivery driver’s uniform.

He had sent Eleme’s operational and financial data to Ah Li last week, but it was still stuck in review. He was dying of anxiety, terrified that Kuai Pao would penetrate the Hu City market.

At this thought, he pulled out his phone and dialed Ji Gang’s number directly.

"President Ji, has Eleme’s financing application been approved yet?"

Zhang Xuhao got straight to the point.

"It’s with Mr. Ma now. I’m not sure when he’ll approve it. You’ll have to wait a little longer, President Zhang."

Ji Gang wasn’t trying to fool him. Originally, all it needed was Cai Xin’s approval. But for some reason, Ma Liyun had personally taken an interest in the investment, which extended the review period.

’Is this guy trying to jerk me around?’

Zhang Xuhao was now deeply suspicious of Ji Gang. There was no reason a 50-million-yuan financing deal should have gone all the way up to Ma Liyun. Someone at Cai Xin’s level definitely had the authority to green-light it.

"Alright, thanks, President Ji. I was just checking in."

Zhang Xuhao said breezily, not meaning a word of it.

Ji Gang just smiled and hung up. As Boss Cai had put it, Eleme’s business model showed some potential and was worth the investment, but they wanted to test Zhang Xuhao’s ability to withstand pressure.

If he cracked under the pressure, Ah Li’s fifty million yuan might just secure them a much larger equity stake.

Just as Chen Yansen raised his glass to toast the Kuai Pao drivers, Liu Qiangdong was sitting at an outdoor food stall in Yanjing, his arms slung around several Jingdong Express couriers, calling each and every one of them "brother."