Chapter 515 - 378: Could It Be That You’re the One Who Was Picked Up? Southern Strategy, 800,000 Bikes

It was Song Yuncheng!

Chen Yansen’s brow furrowed slightly. He glanced at Ye Qiuping, then said after a few seconds of thought, "Quick, find a place to hide."

Ye Qiuping stared at the table full of freshly cooked food and rubbed her empty stomach. Resigned, she grabbed her shoes, coat, and bag, then hurried upstairs.

With a mere thought, Chen Yansen sent the extra set of bowl and chopsticks flying back into the kitchen.

Once everything was taken care of, he calmly walked out of the living room, crossed the garden, and opened the main gate.

Song Yuncheng threw herself into his arms like a little kitten that had been stray for days and suddenly saw its owner.

"Master, I missed you," Song Yuncheng murmured, nuzzling against his chest.

"We just saw each other two days ago. Have you eaten dinner?" Chen Yansen found it amusing and scooped her up into his arms.

"Just a little bit," Song Yuncheng said, gesturing with her hand to show how small the amount was.

The drive from Lujiang to Xucheng was over three hundred kilometers, a journey of three to four hours. Fortunately, it was New Year’s Eve, so there was little traffic. She drove at the speed limit the entire way and made it in just three and a half hours.

"Let’s eat together," Chen Yansen said, carrying her into the living room.

"You made this?" Song Yuncheng jumped out of his arms and stared at the table full of food, her face a mask of shock.

"I hired a private chef from a restaurant." Chen Yansen lied without batting an eye.

"I was just getting hungry. Looks like I came at the perfect time," Song Yuncheng said with a dazzling smile.

With that, she went to the kitchen and got herself a bowl and chopsticks.

Chen Yansen opened a bottle of rice wine that Ye Qiuping had brought, pouring a glass for Song Yuncheng and one for himself.

"Master, you should go back to Chunshen for New Year’s next year. If I hadn’t come, you would have had to eat New Year’s Eve dinner all by yourself."

Song Yuncheng picked up a piece of lobster meat and popped it into her mouth. Her eyes instantly lit up, and she gave a thumbs-up. "This chef’s skills are amazing."

"We’ll see," Chen Yansen said, lifting his rice wine and taking a small sip.

It was sweet and cool, with a distinct aroma of rice. Clearly, Ye Qiuping had chilled it in the refrigerator for a few hours.

The two chatted as they ate. Before long, Song Yuncheng’s face was flushed from the wine, and even her neck had turned a light shade of pink.

"This rice wine seems a little strong," Song Yuncheng said, propping her chin on her hand and tilting her head.

"Then you should drink less," Chen Yansen said, pretending to confiscate her glass.

"But it’s so good. I want more." Song Yuncheng snatched her glass back and poured herself another.

Chen Yansen chuckled, shaking his head, and let her be.

It wasn’t until nine o’clock that the two finished their New Year’s Eve dinner.

Song Yuncheng was sprawled on the table, her eyes half-closed. Drowsy and dazed, her vision was a blur.

Hearing the sounds downstairs die down, Ye Qiuping tiptoed down the stairs, only to realize that the visitor was Pinbei’s Director of Investment Attraction for major clients.

"What kind of rice wine is this?" Chen Yansen asked in a low voice.

"I brewed it myself," Ye Qiuping replied softly.

"Master, who are you talking to?" Song Yuncheng asked groggily.

"Just the TV," Chen Yansen said, lying through his teeth.

"I want to watch Guo Degang’s crosstalk," Song Yuncheng said, struggling to stand up and walk toward the sofa.

"You can watch the replay tomorrow. It’s the same thing." Chen Yansen waved Ye Qiuping away. After she went upstairs, he picked up Song Yuncheng and carried her to the master bedroom on the third floor.

President Chen was a considerate man and an expert at "peeling eggs." In no time at all, he had pushed Song Yuncheng into the bathroom and washed her clean, inside and out.

"Mwah!" While Chen Yansen was drying her hair, Song Yuncheng stole a peck on his lips.

"Taking advantage of your boss without permission... that’s a five-hundred-yuan fine," Chen Yansen said with a wicked grin.

"Mwah!" Song Yuncheng kissed him again, then said with narrowed eyes, "This girl’s got money. I can afford it!"

It was Song Yuncheng’s first time being drunk. She felt like she was walking on cotton, and she wrapped her arms tightly around Chen Yansen, pulling him close.

But Chen Yansen wasn’t the type to take a hit without retaliating. He was a firm believer in immediate revenge.

Outside the door, Ye Qiuping listened to the moans and whimpers coming from the room. Her cheeks burned, and she unconsciously squeezed her thighs together.

Blushing, she fled downstairs. She still hadn’t eaten, and now she was so hungry her legs felt weak.

The table was a mess of dirty plates and cups. A sour feeling welled up in Ye Qiuping’s heart as she silently cleaned up the mess and then cooked herself a bowl of noodles with egg and vegetables.

Based on her understanding of Chen Yansen, it would be best to go upstairs in two hours.

At this thought, Master Ye felt a surge of bitter resentment. ’Clearly, in Chen Yansen’s heart, my status is lower than Song Yuncheng’s.’

At 11:15, Ye Qiuping went upstairs right on schedule. She was just about to duck back into her bedroom when she ran right into Chen Yansen.

"Boss, should I head back now?" Ye Qiuping asked tentatively.

"If you wanted to go back, why did you come upstairs?" Chen Yansen said, seeing right through her little act.

"If I were discovered, it would be troublesome for you, President Chen." Ye Qiuping pressed herself against the wall, deliberately puffing out her chest to perfectly display the curves of her figure.

Chen Yansen never stood on ceremony with Master Ye. He grabbed her and pulled her into the bedroom.

...

...

The next morning, Song Yuncheng woke with sleepy eyes to see Chen Yansen sitting at the desk not far away.

"Master, you’re up early," Song Yuncheng said.

"You’re the one who’s up too late," Chen Yansen replied, his eyes fixed on the computer screen without turning around.

He had woken up at two. He had already reviewed the data reports from all the subsidiary companies, checked over the architecture design of the Celestial T100, and read through dozens of miscellaneous books before the sky outside had even begun to lighten.

"I think I heard someone crying last night," Song Yuncheng said, looking puzzled.

"You were probably dreaming," Chen Yansen said with a slight smile, casually brushing it off.

"Maybe," Song Yuncheng said with a smile. ’It’s just me and Chen Yansen in this house. What else could it have been but a dream?’

「Meanwhile.」

The results of Orange Pay’s "Collect Blessings" card event had been pushed to the top of the trending topics by netizens.

Over sixteen days, a total of 3,200 users had won the 4,999 yuan grand prize, while the remaining users split a cash pool of 84 million yuan.

Chen Yansen was more generous than Ma Liyun. In the end, 32,000 users managed to collect all five blessing cards, receiving an average of over 2,600 yuan each.

During the event, Orange Pay gained 49 million new registered users, its daily active users increased by 18 million, and it even earned over 70 million yuan in advertising fees.

In addition, products like Toutiao, OFO Bike, Pinbei, Lingxi Browser, Kuai Pao, and Fast Taxi all saw a certain degree of growth in daily active users due to the event’s influence.

Even before the 2013 "Collect Five Blessings" event had begun, dozens of brands were already waving cash, trying to buy the naming rights.

Chen Yansen, of course, wouldn’t agree. Next year, domestic smartphone shipments would reach at least 300 million units, and Orange Pay’s daily active user count would rise with the tide.

Selling the naming rights and ad slots in advance would be a classic case of the losses outweighing the gains.

After that, Chen Yansen didn’t just stay put in Xucheng. Instead, he took Song Yuncheng on a trip for a few days, visiting places like Hong Kong Island, Australia Island, and Qiong Island.

「On the other side.」

Liu Qiangdong left his old home in Su Yu and boarded a flight to the Lighthouse Country on the other side of the ocean.

Using his money and connections with investors, Handsome Dong smoothly gained admission to Harvard Business School.

The academic atmosphere in the North American Region was very open, as were the people. On a short-video app called Mimo, he came across a sweet-looking international exchange student.

The youthful aura she exuded made Handsome Dong feel as if he had been transported twenty years back in time.

He had seen plenty of beautiful women, but one so pure and innocent was a rare sight.

Liu Qiangdong’s mind immediately started turning, and he began to plot.

...

...

The seven-day Spring Festival holiday passed in the blink of an eye.

On his first day back in Hang City, Wang Zihao, after communicating with Hu Weiyi, initiated the expansion plan for the southern market.

On February 17th and 18th, OFO Bike deployed another 50,000 shared bikes. Within the following week, they increased that number by 300,000. The newly added Central China and Southern China markets would also follow this policy, raising their respective bike deployment scales to 200,000 and 300,000.

A cumulative total of 800,000 bikes!

Penguin, Redwood Capital, and Gao Ling Capital had invested a combined total of nearly 400 million yuan. Of course, they had to accelerate their expansion and swallow the southern market first.