The rooftop banquet hall of the Sky Garden Hotel shimmered on the last night of 2010. Eight round tables were lavishly set, featuring grouper, Australian lobster, abalone, and fish maw—a feast worthy of celebration.
Every FoxTao team had prepared a short performance. After the key acts, the stage turned into an open mic. The room buzzed with the energy of youth.
Xu Xingxing patted Wang Zihao's shoulder. "Brother Hao, is Brother Sen here yet? The raffle's about to start!"
On stage, Xiang Pengfei was butchering I'll Love You Till I Die, his off-key vocals making the audience wince.
"Soon. He left half an hour ago," Wang Zihao shouted back over the noise.
Nodding, Xu Xingxing slipped out of the hall to wait downstairs.
Back at the table, Wang Zihao raised his glass to Liu Muyan. "A toast, Sister Muyan. Thanks for all your guidance."
"I'm driving—just a soft drink for me. Don't mind, Zihao." She smiled, clinking her glass with his.
At heart, she was still young. Working part-time at FoxTao had made her one of the team.
Chen Yansen had just parked when he spotted Xu Xingxing hunched and searching in the hotel lobby.
"Waiting for me?" Chen Yansen asked with a smile.
"The raffle! We can't start without you! It's a karaoke warzone up there!" Xu Xingxing grabbed his sleeve, trying to pull him toward the elevators.
Just then, Meng Jie arrived.
"Hello, sister-in-law!" Xu Xingxing blinked, instantly switching targets to loop her arm through Meng Jie's as if they were old friends.
Meng Jie greeted her with a nod.
"I told Zihao to cover for me," Chen Yansen sighed.
"A raffle needs the boss to host it! Makes it official, and everyone will wait for you," Xu Xingxing insisted, grinning.
The trio took the elevator to the top floor. The banquet hall was breathtaking—glass walls soared five or six meters high on all sides, framing the glittering city center. No wonder the minimum charge was ¥68,000. The space wasn't huge, but the luxury was undeniable.
As Chen Yansen entered, he saw Xiang Pengfei had dragged a chair onstage and was singing. Half a line in, Chen Yansen winced.
This kid… really has no shame.
From his perch, Xiang Pengfei spotted Chen Yansen immediately.
He cleared his throat into the mic. "Ladies and gentlemen! Put your hands together for FoxTao's Number One Handsome Man, making his grand entrance!"
All heads turned. Chen Yansen grinned, pointed at Xiang Pengfei, then strode confidently to the stage and took the microphone.
"Farewell to the past, hello to the future! I believe FoxTao will reach new heights in 2011! Now, Zihao will handle the raffle. I'll grab a bite, then I have a surprise for you all."
After a brief address, he handed the stage to Wang Zihao.
He made his way to his seat, clinked glasses with Cao Dahua, Wang Jing, and Liu Muyan, then finally started on his meal.
Wang Zihao, somewhat reluctantly, took center stage. He started with the third-prize draws, occasionally mispronouncing names on purpose to get a laugh from the crowd.
Over an hour later, all prizes were drawn—some won phones, others ¥1,000 shopping cards.
Chen Yansen returned to the stage. "Two announcements. First, to make sure everyone has a great time tonight, I'm adding ten more grand prizes of ¥10,000 each. We'll draw them in three minutes."
A wave of excitement rippled through the room.
"Second," he continued, his tone turning serious, "FoxTao is officially launching its Series A funding round. When we do, I will issue employee stock options to every student here, with an exercise price of ¥0.01 per share."
¥10,000 grand prizes? Stock options?
Most of the room, aside from a few, looked puzzled.
"President Wang, what are stock options?" Xu Xingxing whispered to Wang Jing.
"Think of them as a future check," Wang Jing explained calmly. "When FoxTao goes public or initiates a buyback, those options can be converted to cash. The exact quantity and value… only President Chen knows."
Money. It was ultimately about money.
Knowing Chen Yansen, if he announced it at the annual party, those options had to be valuable.
The hall erupted in cheers and whistles.
Chen Yansen didn't drag it out. He drew ten names on the spot and handed each winner a stack of cash.
The "Humanitarian Flame" on his panel instantly increased by 29.
Back at his table, he ate quietly, watching the festivities.
The team leaders became targets of good-natured roasting, each forced to take the stage for a song.
Song Yuncheng, as FoxTao's very first employee, was no exception. She'd led design, operations, and customer service teams. The applause when she stepped up was thunderous.
Even after meeting giants like Ma Huateng and Zhang Yong, she still blushed under the gaze of her university peers. Holding the mic, she softly sang Fish Leong's Courage.
Her eyes found Chen Yansen and Meng Jie in the crowd. For a moment, her vision blurred.
In those few minutes, her emotions churned—bitterness, numbness, resignation.
When she looked at Chen Yansen again, the warmth in her eyes had frozen over.
Halfway through the song, Zhang Wenbo rushed over in a panic. "Brother Sen! Zihao's fighting with someone outside!"
Fighting? Is he drunk?
Without another word, Chen Yansen signaled to Xiang Pengfei, Zhang Yifeng, and seven or eight other guys. They rushed out.
Outside the banquet hall, near the restrooms, Wang Zihao had a man by the collar. They were wrestling on the ground, Wang Zihao's fist cocked back. Liu Muyan and a long-haired woman were trying to pull them apart.
"Rat! Stop!" Chen Yansen barked.
He rarely used that old nickname anymore—Wang Zihao was a team head now. But hearing it, Wang Zihao froze, his rage subsiding.
"What happened?" Chen Yansen pulled Wang Zihao up.
"I…" Wang Zihao glanced at Liu Muyan, then swallowed his words.
"Go back inside. I'll handle this." Chen Yansen eyed the thin man on the ground. This didn't require a crowd.
Xiang Pengfei and the others exchanged looks, then headed back. "Call us if you need help, Brother Sen."
Once they were gone, Wang Zihao whispered, "That scumbag is Sister Muyan's fiancé. He told her he was working overtime, but she caught him having dinner in a private room with another woman."
How dramatic. Chen Yansen glanced at Liu Muyan. She stood motionless, pale, her gaze icy as she stared at the man on the floor.
"Zhou Yuwen. Who is she?" Liu Muyan's voice was cold.
"You saw. Why ask? Are you stupid?" Zhou Yuwen smirked, got up, and calmly brushed off his shirt.
"I want to hear you say it."
"She's my girlfriend. You're my fiancée. Problem?" Zhou Yuwen glanced arrogantly at Chen Yansen and Wang Zihao.
Tears welled in Liu Muyan's eyes, streaming down her face. She couldn't believe the childhood sweetheart she was engaged to could betray her like this.
Chen Yansen watched, silent, almost amused. He sensed a kindred, ruthless spirit in Zhou Yuwen.
"Zhou Yuwen… it's over." Liu Muyan broke down, sinking to the floor in sobs.
"Fine. Then it's over." Zhou Yuwen laughed without a shred of remorse, wrapped his arm around the long-haired woman, and walked back into the private room.
Wang Zihao tensed, ready to charge after them.
Chen Yansen stopped him with a hand, nodding toward the crying Liu Muyan.
Wang Zihao deflated. After a moment, he fumbled for a tissue and handed it to her.
Chen Yansen narrowed his eyes, then leisurely strolled back to the banquet hall.
Shenzhen, Tencent Headquarters.
"You're saying the ¥10 million from two months ago is now worth ¥100 million?" Ma Huateng asked Liu Zhiping across the desk.
"Perhaps more. I hear SIG Asia and Rakuten are urgently evaluating FoxTao's profit model. Valuation could hit $300 million," Liu Zhiping replied, adjusting his glasses with a faint smile.
"Is it true what that kid said—that we lack e-commerce genes? He turned a niche shopping guide market into a top-tier player. What if he took over Paipai.com?"
Ma Huateng's voice grew quieter, ending in a sigh.
He was sharp. How could he not see that an ambitious young wolf like Chen Yansen would never settle for being second-in-command?
How many exceptions had he made to bring Zhang Xiaolong into Tencent? Would he have to break more rules?
Judging by their last meeting, Chen Yansen's determination was even fiercer than Zhang Xiaolong's.
"It's difficult. If he wanted to join Tencent, he wouldn't have refused Zheng Chunbin's invitation," Liu Zhiping chuckled, shaking his head slightly.
"That ¥10 million wasn't an investment in FoxTao. It was an investment in him. It's proven successful. But how do I get my return?" Ma Huateng stared intently at his old friend.
"Offer him the same terms as Zhang Xiaolong?" Liu Zhiping ventured.
"For FoxTao's Series A, I want you to go personally. Tell Chen Yansen: if he's willing to help Tencent fix its e-commerce problem, I'll give him an annual salary of ¥30 million and ¥200 million in stock."
Ma Huateng pondered, then made the decision decisively.
He hadn't paid much attention to Chen Yansen's words last time. But after FoxTao's valuation broke the billion mark, he'd started to listen—and to think.
Without power, the truth is ignored. With power, even nonsense sounds profound.
Ma Huateng understood this all too well.
"Alright." Liu Zhiping didn't refuse. He, too, was curious about how this young man had built a project from zero to tens of millions of users.
Every step Chen Yansen took was precise, flawless—a precision that was almost chilling.
"MiTalk is live. How much longer until Zhang Xiaolong launches ours?" Ma Huateng changed the subject.
"Xiaolong says the details still need polishing." Liu Zhiping frowned, sensing Ma Huateng's impatience.
"Give him two weeks. It must go live." Ma Huateng's gaze was sharp, his tone leaving no room for debate.
WeChat was Tencent's next T0-level communication app. MiTalk had beaten them to the punch, and he was not pleased. His patience had run out.
Details? As long as it works!