On the way back, Song Yuncheng walked with her head down, silent.
Before tonight, she couldn't have imagined that a meal with so few dishes could cost ten thousand yuan.
That one meal equaled two years of tuition, two years of living expenses, and two months of her salary.
"What are you thinking about?"
Chen Yansen glanced at her and asked softly when he saw her silence.
"I was thinking... that one meal cost me two months' salary, and the contract hasn't even been signed yet. It feels like such a waste."
Song Yuncheng lifted her head, her eyelids slightly red. It was clear she was genuinely heartbroken.
"You ate it, didn't you?" Chen Yansen smiled faintly, then stopped and leaned against the railing by the river.
The neon lights of Beijing flickered, and the endless stream of cars resembled a colorful ribbon of stars stretched across the city center.
The autumn wind from the north was chilly, drying the throat.
"So, were you angry because Zhang Hanwen's commission was too high, or because... he wanted me as his dance partner?"
Song Yuncheng chuckled softly at his words, her long eyelashes fluttering slightly. Her eyes, like two warm cat's eye stones, glimmered with curiosity.
"Figure it out yourself." Chen Yansen licked his lips, walked to the roadside, and hailed a taxi. The wind outside was dry and cold—he couldn't take it anymore.
Song Yuncheng got into the car, temporarily setting aside the previous question, and asked instead, "But we didn't contact Tencent in advance. Can we even get into their company tomorrow?"
"The people from Tencent's investment department arranged the meeting time for me. When choosing investors, money is just the baseline; the connections and resources behind the investors are what really matter." Chen Yansen glanced at her and replied calmly.
Song Yuncheng nodded as if she understood. The two looked at the street scenes passing by outside the window and fell silent.
The next morning.
The sky was overcast, and a fine, cotton-like drizzle fell.
A bright orange Jetta taxi pulled up smoothly in front of Silver Peak Building. The driver pointed at the building and said, "Hey, see that? This is it—JD.com's office building!"
Chen Yansen took a quick glance, gaining a clearer understanding of JD.com in 2010. Compared to Alibaba, JD.com was under immense pressure. The $21 million in funding secured last year had been exhausted in less than two years.
Building its own logistics network was costly, and coupled with the price war with Taobao, if it couldn't secure more financing, JD.com might collapse in the very first year of e-commerce's golden decade.
As soon as he got out of the car, a young man in his mid-twenties, not very tall but with capable eyes, warmly greeted him.
"Mr. Chen, I'm Xiao Bing from JD.com's marketing department. Welcome to Beijing." Xiao Bing extended his hand with a smile.
Chen Yansen shook hands with him, and the three entered the building together. Upon stepping into JD.com's office area, they were met with a sea of people—workstations packed tightly together, with even the aisles feeling cramped.
"We rent four floors in Silver Peak, each with about 400 workstations. The company's business is expanding rapidly, and office space hasn't kept up with the hiring pace, so it's a bit crowded," Xiao Bing explained proactively.
No money? Just admit you have no money! Why make so many excuses?
Chen Yansen secretly found it amusing but said out loud, "In the domestic e-commerce market, only JD.com and Taobao can ultimately come out on top." This made the other party chuckle, taking it as a joke.
As an internal employee, Xiao Bing naturally understood JD.com's current situation. Although management had been seeking financing opportunities, JD.com's asset-heavy model still deterred venture capitalists accustomed to quick profits.
Rumors of financing had been circulating for over half a year, but nothing had materialized.
Navigating through the cluttered office area, Xiao Bing led him into an office—a tiny space of just two or three square meters, barely enough for a desk and two chairs.
"Mr. Chen, I'm Ye Qiuping from JD.com's marketing department, mainly responsible for liaising with third-party external cooperation channels. It's a pleasure to meet you; I've heard so much about you." Ye Qiuping, wearing a white turtleneck sweater that hugged her curves, greeted him with a bright smile.
What is she doing here?!
The moment Chen Yansen saw Ye Qiuping, his pupils contracted. Suppressing his shock, he thought to himself, Damn, this woman is definitely not telling the truth—even her resume is fake!
"Mr. Chen, have we met before?" Ye Qiuping, keenly noticing Chen Yansen's unusual expression, asked with a smile.
More than just met—we've been intimate, even shared a bed.
Chen Yansen scoffed inwardly but quickly regained his composure. He sat down and said casually, "It's normal to daydream about a beauty like Director Ye. Please excuse my rudeness."
Ye Qiuping covered her mouth and chuckled, gesturing for Xiao Bing to leave.
Chen Yansen stared at Ye Qiuping, thinking: According to what Ye Qiuping said in my past life, she should be the operations director at Shangpin.com right now.
In their past life, they worked at the same e-commerce company. Back then, Chen Yansen was just a junior sales representative, while Ye Qiuping was already the general manager of the brand department.
One was twenty-one, the other twenty-nine—both at the peak of their youth.
After they got together, Chen Yansen learned from her how to make money, expand channels, and accumulate resources.
In short, Ye Qiuping was his mentor in the workplace.
Three years later, Ye Qiuping married a wealthy Hong Kong businessman and subsequently immigrated to Australia.
He started his own business in 2017, founding Feiyu Technology, beginning with live streaming of second-hand luxury goods. Riding the wave of live-streaming e-commerce, he soared to success, listing on the main board eight years later and becoming a billionaire bachelor.
He thought he would never cross paths with Ye Qiuping again, but unexpectedly, less than half a year after his rebirth, he ran into her once more.
Rereading an old book won't bring a new ending.
Chen Yansen sighed inwardly, suppressed his complex emotions, and began discussing the mall's rebate plan with her.
"Mr. Chen, the basic commission range for other shopping guide websites we cooperate with has always been 1% to 2.5%. If FoxTao wants to increase the percentage, you'll need to give me a good reason before I can apply for it." Ye Qiuping shook her head, remaining noncommittal.
"FoxTao has millions of daily active users and successful brand group-buying cases. Our average order value exceeds 130 yuan. The shopping guide website Ms. Ye mentioned only sells 9.9-yuan low-priced items—what value can that bring to JD.com?"
Chen Yansen leaned back, speaking calmly.
He knew Ye Qiuping's tactics all too well. If she wasn't interested in cooperating, she wouldn't waste her time meeting him.
Therefore, he was confident she would agree.
"Mr. Chen, that's not enough. You need to understand that even 1% requires approval from the higher-ups." Ye Qiuping wanted Chen Yansen to offer more leverage.
"FoxTao's current cashback module is on the homepage, but the platform's redirect link is on a secondary page. If JD.com agrees to sign an exclusive cooperation agreement, I can place JD.com's mall entrance on the homepage and add a dynamic floating window to strongly drive traffic to JD.com."
Chen Yansen slowly laid out his prepared plan.
"I can offer you an exclusive contract, but you must guarantee that the daily traffic redirected to JD.com won't be less than 300,000." Ye Qiuping frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and spoke with a troubled expression.
Chen Yansen decisively refused, "President Ye, allocating resources to JD.com is already my greatest show of sincerity. If I give you 300,000 traffic, can you guarantee it will bring me one million in revenue every day?"
Ye Qiuping smiled awkwardly, realizing she couldn't bluff Chen Yansen, and readily agreed.
"In addition, President Ye should be familiar with our 0-yuan price-cutting module. I hope JD.com can provide a batch of self-operated products priced below 10 yuan as price-cutting prizes, to be shown only to new JD.com customers, thereby increasing the proportion of new users redirected." Chen Yansen continued, "But the previous new customer CPA reward isn't enough. I want 40 yuan per user."
"30 yuan, calculated based on the first order." Ye Qiuping replied calmly.
"Deal." Chen Yansen smiled. Truth be told, he had originally expected only 25 yuan.
Based on his understanding of JD.com, the cost of acquiring a new user at this stage shouldn't exceed 40 yuan, so his quoted price wasn't unreasonable.
Afterward, the two discussed commission rates for each category one by one. It wasn't until past noon that all category commissions were finally finalized.
"Mr. Chen, let's sign the contract this afternoon. I'll treat you to some Beijing specialties at noon." Ye Qiuping put down the documents and extended an invitation with a smile.
"Excuse me, where are you from, President Ye?" Chen Yansen suddenly asked.
"My hometown is Qingdao. The seascape is beautiful, and the seafood is even better." Ye Qiuping replied casually.
Chen Yansen scoffed inwardly. In your past life, you said you were from Shenzhen.
Faced with Ye Qiuping's string of lies, the last trace of hope in his heart was instantly extinguished.
"President Ye, a simple working lunch will do. After signing the contract, I have to catch my afternoon flight." Chen Yansen suggested, not wanting to spend more time with her.
"Alright, there's a pretty good tea restaurant downstairs. Many JD.com colleagues treat it as their canteen." Ye Qiuping wanted to persuade him further, but seeing Chen Yansen's serious expression, she compromised with a smile.
Chen Yansen agreed and followed her to the first floor of the building. After walking a few dozen meters, they saw a Hong Kong-style tea restaurant.
Through the glass window, they could indeed see over a dozen employees wearing JD.com badges eating inside.
The three sat down, ordered their meals, and continued chatting about work.
"President Chen is only eighteen this year? What a prodigy! I'm not just saying this—the media writes about it too. What do you think about the future of JD.com and Taobao?" Ye Qiuping took a sip of lemon tea, offering a compliment before steering the conversation.
"They will both succeed, and both fail." Chen Yansen took a sip of tea and replied calmly.
"Why do you say that?" Ye Qiuping became interested and stared at Chen Yansen.
"You believe me even if I'm talking nonsense?" Chen Yansen didn't want to explain and casually brushed it off.
Once he had accumulated enough capital and resources, he would launch another e-commerce platform, making JD.com and Taobao cry out in despair—then they would naturally be defeated.
A middle-aged man at the next table, who had been listening intently expecting some profound insight, nearly choked with anger when Chen Yansen said, "I'm just talking nonsense."
He turned around, intending to ask which department Chen Yansen was from at JD.com, but noticed that Chen Yansen wasn't wearing an employee badge.
"Director Ye, who is this?"
Even Ye Qiuping noticed Chen Yansen's perfunctory attitude, and this e-commerce tycoon who started in Zhongguancun naturally saw through it too, so he asked.