Chapter 634 - 452: 270,000 Employees, the Short Video Sector Landscape! Kuai Pao Cafeteria? No! It’s a Home for Employees

"Bro, thank you." Lv Bo gritted his teeth, struggling to hold up his Electric Vehicle. The sight of the broken front fender made his heart ache.

Seeing he wasn’t seriously hurt, Li Zhou turned and started to walk away.

THUD!

Hearing the noise behind him, Li Zhou turned to see the Qian Du rider had fallen to the ground again.

"Brother Zhou, I think... it’s heatstroke," said Xu Jiacheng, who had walked over.

"Let’s get him back to the restaurant," Li Zhou decided instantly.

Xu Jiacheng said nothing, silently stepping forward to help Li Zhou support Lv Bo and get him into the Kuai Pao restaurant.

"Get him a bottle of heatstroke medicine and a bowl of mung bean soup. On a day this hot, it has to be heatstroke."

A few other couriers and delivery riders concluded from experience.

Even though their companies were competitors, life wasn’t easy for any of the frontline workers. There was no need to just stand by and do nothing.

After about five or six minutes, Lv Bo came around. Seeing the gauze and adhesive bandages on his hands and feet, his eyes reddened as he thanked them over and over.

The Kuai Pao Cafeteria was primarily an employee cafeteria for Senlian Capital, only secondarily functioning as a community canteen. Common medical supplies like hydrogen peroxide, iodine, and cold medicine were all fully stocked.

Lv Bo was lucky. At the same time, in Xuhui District, a Qian Du delivery rider wasn’t so fortunate. He collapsed directly onto the scalding pavement, and for a long time, no one dared to help him.

By the time an Inspector arrived and got him to the hospital, it was too late. The doctor diagnosed him with severe heatstroke. After several hours of emergency treatment, they were unable to change the outcome.

That night, news of a Qian Du delivery rider dying from the heat quietly trended online.

Netizens were shocked and found it hard to believe that in this day and age, with air conditioning so widespread, someone could still die from the heat.

"A man from the Central Plains, 33 years old, with two daughters at home. Qian Du delivery riders don’t even have accident insurance. The platform most likely won’t pay a single dime in compensation."

"Wait, aren’t Qian Du delivery riders employees of Qian Du?"

"You wish. Delivery riders and couriers are all outsourced. They don’t even have labor contracts. What has it got to do with Qian Du?"

"That’s so fucking disgusting! This guy was delivering for Qian Du right before he died, still making money for Li Yanhong! How can he just hide like a coward and say nothing?"

A netizen cursed in the comments section.

Others immediately started tagging the official Qian Du Delivery social media account, as well as the personal accounts of Li Yanhong and Wang Zhongpu, demanding a response.

「Meanwhile.」

Chen Yansen, who had just returned from a horse ride, scrolled through his screen. After understanding the whole story, he immediately posted an update: "Everyone, please take care of your health. All Cloud Speed Express hubs, Kuai Pao fulfillment centers and stations, and our branch offices across the country—they are all our home."

"Thanks for looking out for us, Boss!"

"The mung bean soup today was amazing!"

"Location: Jinling. I’m a full-time Kuai Pao rider, and I’m genuinely jealous of my brothers in Hu City!"

"Don’t worry! A Kuai Pao Cafeteria is opening in Jinling next month!"

Kuai Pao Cafeteria?

Aside from local netizens in Hu City, many people from other areas who didn’t follow the news were completely baffled.

’When did Kuai Pao open a cafeteria?’

When they learned that the Kuai Pao Cafeteria primarily served couriers and delivery riders, they were completely floored.

"I don’t get it! How can Qian Du still hire riders? No base salary, no social insurance, no accident insurance—if something happens, who’s going to be the safety net?"

"Qian Du riders? They’re not employees, they’re outsourced!"

"To the little bastard who posted above me, drop your address if you’ve got the guts!"

"Stop ordering from Qian Du Delivery. The platform makes a killing, the boss lives in a mansion and drives luxury cars, and the riders below them are worked to death on the streets with no one to care."

"I used to be a Qian Du delivery rider. Now I work at the Shencheng Factory, making Orange Mobile Phones for everyone. Take a look at the food and living conditions at our factory."

A young employee from the Orange Phone Factory, lying in his air-conditioned dorm room after work, posted pictures of the cafeteria food and his living quarters.

Instantly, netizens were floored all over again.

"Bro, you should probably delete this. I mean, I don’t care, but I have a friend who’s probably sweating bullets right now. He’s not feeling too good. Definitely not me, lol."

"Bro, I’m the friend from the comment above. Listen to me and delete the photos."

"Who can possibly understand the sorrows of an international student in Korea!"

"These are factory benefits? I don’t believe it! This has to be from the executive kitchen."

Before the reporters from *Time* magazine could even arrive in Xucheng, the base salary, social insurance, overtime pay, and quarterly bonus systems of Kuai Pao, Cloud Speed Express, and the Orange Phone Factory were trending online again.

Some netizens were even learning for the first time that Senlian Capital purchased supplemental health insurance, accident insurance, and third-party liability insurance for its couriers, delivery riders, and factory workers.

Qian Du’s riders received nothing but a delivery fee for each order.

As the online discussion grew louder, the Yanjing Labor Association sent a formal letter of inquiry to Qian Du, demanding that they purchase accident insurance for their riders.

In the early hours of the morning, Qian Du finally issued a sluggish response: they would provide a 10,000 yuan "living stipend" for the deceased Qian Du delivery rider.

As a result, netizens weren’t buying it at all and proceeded to curse out Li Yanhong and his entire family.

’He wasn’t even a Qian Du employee. Giving him ten thousand is already generous. On what grounds are they cussing me out?’

Li Yanhong’s head throbbed with anger as he read the filth and profanity in the comments.

Steel, a reporter for *Time* magazine who had just landed in Yanjing, immediately realized that the young entrepreneur from Hua Country he was about to interview was very different from the rest.