The following evening, Chen Yansen saw Meng Jie off at the bus station.
"Be good at school. When I come back, I'll bring you beef soup, some 'Old Town Specialties,' and tofu skin wraps with fried dough sticks..."
Meng Jie sat in her seat, eyes lowered, a hint of reluctance in her expression as she kept talking.
"Why don't you just stay?"
Chen Yansen smiled slightly, holding her face gently as he spoke softly.
"I can't! My mom misses me too much. It's only five days—I'll be back early."
Meng Jie leaned against him, her voice soft.
Her once-short hair now reached her shoulders. Compared to two months ago, she looked even more elegant and lovely.
Chen Yansen regretted it privately. He had wanted to use the National Day holiday to advance his relationship with Meng Jie—maybe even reach a milestone. But his future mother-in-law's longing for her daughter had foiled his plans.
By the time he returned to campus, it was already dark.
As he walked up to the second floor of the startup incubator, he was startled by the crowd. Without thinking, he pushed his way through.
"President, this is Chen Yansen!"
Guo Dongchen, standing beside the group, pointed at Chen Yansen and introduced him.
The President?
Chen Yansen reacted quickly, immediately putting on a warm smile. He stepped forward toward the president and said with composed ease,
"President Tang, welcome to inspect Room 206 of the startup incubator! Without your strong support, how could our project have progressed so smoothly..."
Tang Qingshan was in his fifties, with a side-parted hairstyle, of medium build, and bore some resemblance to the actor Tang Guoqiang.
Seeing Chen Yansen's tactful speech and understanding of social etiquette, he patted Chen Yansen's shoulder and said, "Xiao Chen, I heard your startup project is doing quite well. What insights can you share with the faculty?"
Chen Yansen's gaze quickly swept over the group. Judging by the demeanor of the people beside Tang Qingshan, they weren't ordinary professors—likely the deans of the Business School, School of Humanities, and School of Information Engineering.
He wasn't foolish enough to boast. Instead, he said modestly, "President, I'm only a freshman. What insights could I possibly have? The reason I've achieved these modest results is entirely due to Director Cao's careful guidance, the deans' dedicated cultivation, and the outstanding senior students nurtured by each school..."
Other young people might say these words, but rarely as smoothly and naturally as Chen Yansen.
Tang Qingshan was taken aback, feeling both amused and exasperated.
No wonder this kid, just a month into university, could get a bunch of third- and fourth-year students working for him. Being able to pay them was one thing—but his interpersonal skills were another matter entirely.
This flawless way of speaking alone would take most people three to five years to master.
Cao Dahua, sitting in the corner, unconsciously straightened his back when Chen Yansen mentioned his name, thinking: This kid knows what's up. My desks and water dispenser weren't given for nothing.
"Let's talk about your project,"
Tang Qingshan waved his hand, cutting off Chen Yansen's praise. He knew perfectly well that his help to Chen Yansen was merely a favor to Cao Dahua.
The other party had built this website entirely on his own ability!
"Of course, President!" Chen Yansen nodded, his expression turning serious. He led everyone into Room 206, where a 60-inch screen stood by the window.
It displayed only one scrolling number: 57,483!
"President, our project represents a new e-commerce business model. We exist by leveraging major B2C platforms. Users are redirected through our links to Taobao, JD.com, or other e-commerce platforms..."
"In principle, we are an advertising platform. We sell traffic to e-commerce platforms, then share a portion of the revenue with users, achieving a win-win situation. In modern advertising and marketing, this model is called Cost Per Sale (CPS)..."
Chen Yansen spoke fluently, introducing the project without the slightest stage fright or nervousness.
"What are these numbers?"
Tang Qingshan asked curiously, pointing at the screen.
"These are the actual registered users on our website. I estimate this number will double again within three days. According to the original promotion plan, I intend to reach 100,000 Daily Active Users (DAU) and over 10 million RMB in monthly transaction volume by year's end,"
Chen Yansen replied calmly, as if discussing something trivial.
Whether Tang Qingshan believed him or not didn't matter. As an entrepreneur, you must dare to make promises—whether to employees or investors.
Results speak for themselves!
Even Zhang Wenbo and Xiang Pengfei exchanged glances, reconsidering the importance of Senhai in their career plans.
If Senhai took off, simply growing with the project could at least make them department heads or managers.
100,000 DAU!
10 million RMB monthly revenue!
Tang Qingshan frowned slightly—Chen Yansen's promises were quite bold.
If he could deliver, it would mean Xucheng University had achieved significant results in student entrepreneurship, making their reports to higher authorities very compelling.
"Student Chen, your project was incubated by our startup park. As your mentor, I naturally wish to provide necessary support. What do you need most right now?"
Tang Qingshan smiled, speaking gently.
Money, of course!
Chen Yansen thought to himself, but knew he couldn't ask for money directly. Since it was a casual inquiry, he could only give a casual answer and try to secure some practical benefits.
"President, our project just launched, and there's a lot of work. Some elective courses... I really can't find the time to attend..."
Chen Yansen hesitated briefly before speaking haltingly.
His meaning was clear: President, I want a 'hall pass' for skipping class.
"Professor Guo, could you communicate with the School of Literature faculty? Ask them to be a bit more lenient with Chen Yansen's attendance. Starting a business is a form of learning for him."
Tang Qingshan immediately agreed, seeing it as a minor request.
"Thank you for your understanding, President!" Chen Yansen responded with a light laugh, then had Zhang Wenbo and Xiang Pengfei briefly explain the development process, seizing the opportunity to get them noticed by the School of Information Engineering dean.
Before leaving, Tang Qingshan instructed Cao Dahua, "Teacher Cao, submit a research report to me after the holiday."
Clearly, he intended to establish Senhai as a model student entrepreneurship case for Xucheng University—something impressive to present at provincial university president meetings.
After seeing off the dignitaries, Chen Yansen let out a sigh of relief and pulled out a chair to sit down.
"Brother Chen, can we really achieve 10 million in transaction volume by year-end?" Zhang Wenbo, ever the honest one, couldn't contain his curiosity.
"10 million is nothing! I dare to dream of ten billion!"
Chen Yansen grinned, then looked at Song Yuncheng and said, "Get me an ice cream. Hurry up!"
Seeing her unmoved, Chen Yansen's lips curled into a mischievous smile as he threatened, "If you keep glaring at me, I'll dock your pay, believe me?"
This trick always worked on Song Yuncheng—the ultimate penny-pincher.
"Yes, yes, yes, Boss Chen!" Song Yuncheng shrank back, reluctantly stood up, and obediently walked toward the refrigerator.
The others chuckled, taking Chen Yansen's boasting as exaggeration. Ten million was an astronomical figure to them—let alone ten billion.
Since the next day was a National Day holiday, Chen Yansen discussed with Zhang Wenbo and Xiang Pengfei, asking each team to assign one person to stay on duty for emergencies.
At 7 PM, Chen Yansen glanced at the time. Seeing them still glued to their screens, he said, "Head back! The voting event doesn't end for another two days. Staring at it won't help."
"Brother Chen, we just wanted to see if we could break 1,000 orders today!" Zhuang Rui replied with a smile.
"How many orders are left?" Chen Yansen sat beside Zhuang Rui, his gaze falling on the screen. The backend showed 837 orders for the day, totaling 26,365.5 RMB in sales, with an average order value barely over 30 RMB.
The best-selling item was a men's short-sleeved T-shirt priced at 9.9 RMB—183 units sold thanks to free shipping to coastal regions.
"Estimated gross profit: 6,318 RMB. Not bad." Chen Yansen smiled casually.
"Brother Chen, but our event prize pool is already 220,000 RMB," Zhang Wenbo asked weakly.
"Wenbo, you can't calculate it that way. Look at this 220,000 RMB—it brought us over 60,000 new customers. Moreover, 99% of winning users won't be able to withdraw their winnings. They'll either give up or have to place another order," Chen Yansen explained patiently.
"That's right, Wenbo! Brother Chen and I calculated. Based on current gross margins, our actual expenditure for this event will probably be under 30,000 RMB."
Zhuang Rui added.
"Incredible!" Zhang Wenbo gave a thumbs-up in admiration.
"Keep at it, everyone. I'm going back to get some sleep." Chen Yansen yawned, stood up, and walked out.
The voting event's results far exceeded expectations. The previous night, he'd stayed at the computer, selecting thousands of products across categories and pushing them to the frontend with one click.
Changing titles and replacing images was massive work. He'd been busy until dawn before catching a short nap.
Looks like I'll need to hire a few editors right after the holiday.
Girls from the School of Literature would be perfect—pick a few with good looks and figures. Zhang Wenbo and the tech guys would probably work even harder then.
Chen Yansen returned to Room 0418 and slept until 9:30 PM. His stomach growling with hunger, he reluctantly went downstairs to find food.
The campus was deserted. He saw few students along the way. Only one pancake stall in the cafeteria remained open.
Chen Yansen had no choice. He wasn't picky. He ate a multigrain pancake while wandering around campus.
Passing the startup incubator, he noticed lights on the second floor.
Probably Wenbo and Pengfei, Chen Yansen thought without much concern. He went upstairs only to find Room 208 completely dark. Only one person was in Room 206.
"Hey, why haven't you left yet? Trying to scam overtime pay from me again?"
Chen Yansen quietly approached, teasing in a low voice.