Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

After seeing the group off at the elevator, Chen Yansen turned back.

Tang Qingshan had specifically instructed him that several of Xucheng’s bigwigs would be attending the press conference today, and he was not to let anything go wrong.

Chen Yansen had no shortage of experience dealing with such people. In his past life at Feiyu Technology, he had even set up a dedicated public relations department, spending two million a year to keep a princeling on the payroll to handle the company’s external relations for him.

To put it bluntly, this person’s job was to smooth over minor troubles with the tax bureau, market regulators, and the fire department.

These types might not have much ability themselves, but their connections were rock-solid. Paperwork that would stump anyone else, they could get done with a single phone call.

Because of this, Chen Yansen had done his fair share of schmoozing with local bigwigs. In his view, if they were coming, so be it. He wasn’t intimidated.

Just as he was thinking this, an old, black Audi A6 slowly drove up.

The moment the guard at the entrance saw the license plate number, he immediately straightened his back, his expression turning tense.

CLICK!

A man in his early fifties, wearing a gray jacket, stepped out from the back seat. Tailing him was another man in his thirties, likely an assistant or secretary.

”Chen Tongxue, we finally meet today. Old Tang is always mentioning your name to me.”

Xu Zhenhui walked over with a smile, extending his right hand and holding it in mid-air.

”Chairman Xu, welcome, welcome! I never had the chance to thank you in person for what happened in Hu City. I must formally express my gratitude this time.”

Chen Yansen grasped the man’s hand and said with a broad smile.

Back then, when Tang Qingshan had pulled some strings to get him out of trouble, it was Xu Zhenhui who had put in a word. Chen Yansen hadn’t thanked him personally before because of the significant difference in their status.

But after he sold FoxTao and cashed out over 10 billion in cash, his importance in Xu Zhenhui’s eyes instantly shot up a dozen levels.

His proactive attendance at Orange Technology’s product launch this time was also a way to show his support for both Orange Technology and Chen Yansen, making his stance clear.

After all, behind the scenes, the people from Luzhou had been trying to get Orange and Pinbei to relocate their companies there.

Xu Zhenhui naturally disagreed with that. He wanted to use this opportunity to talk with Chen Yansen and see if he could build a mobile phone assembly plant in Xucheng to solve the local employment problem.

”Principal Tang and I are old classmates. You’re his student, which makes you my student. If you run into any trouble in the future, you can contact my secretary.”

Xu Zhenhui nodded slightly and said with a smile.

Hearing this, the secretary at his side quickly offered a business card.

Chen Yansen took it and put it in his pocket, but his heart couldn’t help but sink a little.

As the saying goes, when someone is unusually attentive, they must have a hidden agenda.

Chen Yansen knew very well what people like Xu Zhenhui were after. They were all seeking achievements to build up capital for their next promotion.

”Chairman Xu, let me show you upstairs first.” Chen Yansen let out a breath, but he didn’t worry too much about it.

With his current net worth and industry influence, if someone made him unhappy, he could just move to another city at worst. He wasn’t someone who could be easily pushed around.

Xu Zhenhui grunted in agreement and followed his secretary into the elevator lobby.

Chen Yansen chatted with him as they walked, finally seating him in the front row before heading back downstairs.

Next, He Shiyou, the head of ZTE Mobile Phone’s business division, stepped into the conference hall with his assistant.

Coolpad and Lenovo were also present, clearly wanting to find out the specs and exact pricing of Orange Technology’s new products.

The last to arrive, fashionably late, were the co-founders of several investment firms: Zhang Lei of Gao Ling, Zhu Xiaohu of Jinsha Venture Capital, and Zhou Shouzhi of DST.

”Apologies, President Chen. The traffic was bad, so we’re a little late.”

Zhou Shouzhi had been on a business trip in Jinling yesterday. He had rushed to Xucheng first thing this morning without a moment’s rest, his schedule packed to the brim.

As Orange Technology’s sole investor, DST naturally wouldn’t miss such an important occasion.

”President Zhou, you’re too polite. The conference doesn’t start for another ten minutes. How could you be late?”

Chen Yansen led Zhou Shouzhi inside, acting with familiar ease.

Zhou Shouzhi had incredibly strong execution skills and a relentless drive. Chen Yansen really wanted to hand him the CEO position at Orange Technology, but when he had previously sounded him out, the man had politely declined.

This showed that, for now, Zhou Shouzhi was still more inclined toward the investment world.

Chen Yansen didn’t mind. The world changes, and people change with it. It was enough to plant a seed in the man’s mind for now.

After the two entered the elevator, Zhou Shouzhi suddenly asked, ”President Chen, when does Pinbei plan to initiate its Series A funding round?”

”Is DST interested in investing?” Chen Yansen asked in return.

If they added Pinbei, DST would have invested in all of the top three e-commerce platforms in the country.

”Investing in Pinbei aligns with DST’s overall interests,” Zhou Shouzhi replied with a smile.

”We have no plans for fundraising at the moment, but if the need arises, I will definitely give DST priority consideration.”

Chen Yansen declined with a smile.

Zhou Shouzhi nodded. He understood that as long as Pinbei was in Chen Yansen’s hands, it wouldn’t be short on cash.

With his influence in the country, even without DST’s involvement, a host of domestic investment firms would be waving cash around, begging him to accept it.

The two entered the conference hall and took their seats. It was nearly ten o’clock.

Wang Teng today wore a short-sleeved work-style T-shirt from Orange Technology, with the slogan ’Let technology change life’ printed on the chest. Over it was a plaid shirt, paired with casual pants and sneakers, giving him an extremely relaxed look.

This image had been carefully crafted for him by the Brand Department and the Market Department. According to Ye Qiuping, the user base for Orange Mobile Phone consisted mostly of young people and office workers.

If he were to imitate Chen Yansen’s sophisticated, suit-and-tie style, it would create a sense of distance with the users and wouldn’t be down-to-earth enough.

Wang Teng scanned the crowd and happened to see his boss looking at him with a smile.

He took a deep breath and strode steadily to the center of the stage.

”Hello, everyone. I am Wang Teng, the General Manager of Orange Mobile Phone, as well as a development engineer for Aurora OS. Today, I will be the one to introduce two new products from Orange Technology.”

Wang Teng did his best to slow his speaking pace to appear less nervous.

Taking on this task in exchange for the title of General Manager was, in his opinion, well worth it.

In private, he had repeatedly studied videos of Chen Yansen’s speeches, but in the end, he gave up on the idea of imitating him.

He realized that he didn’t have his boss’s stunning looks, nor did he possess his superior, captivating speaking skills.

His only advantage was his deep understanding of the Aurora OS development process and his participation in the testing of the Orange D1 and Orange C2.

He knew the placement of every single electronic component like the back of his hand and could explain the underlying logic behind each design choice.

”The first product is the Orange D1, created by our design department after half a year of hard work, specifically for our younger users. It features a MediaTek MT6573 processor, a 4.0-inch TFT screen, 512MB of RAM and 8GB of storage, and a 5-megapixel rear camera...”

Wang Teng slowly went through the specs.

From the chip processor to the battery capacity, and even the design rationale for the core components, he was able to explain everything to the audience in a way that was both deep and easy to understand.

Having an engineer present a new product to users filled the entire event with a strong, technical atmosphere.

The news media and Orange Mobile Phone fans in the audience might not have understood some of the technical jargon, but it was not difficult to feel his sincerity from his words.

This was especially true when he talked about the technical efforts made to narrow the bezels of the Orange D1, which gave the audience a real sense of the entire process of taking a smartphone from initial concept to finished product.

”I’m sure everyone is very concerned about the price. I can only say that this is a price full of sincerity, a price that everyone can afford.”

”799 yuan!”

Wang Teng pressed the remote, and the large screen behind him immediately switched to a high-definition CG image of the Orange D1, every detail clearly visible.

Hearing this, Lei Yijun couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

But the representatives from the other phone manufacturers—Coolpad, Lenovo, and ZTE—all frowned at once. This phone was targeting the low-end market, which was the comfort zone for all three of their companies.

From now on, competition was inevitable!

The Orange D1’s bill of materials was around 390 yuan. Factoring in R&D, production, marketing, patent licensing, and after-sales costs, there was still a gross profit margin of at least 15%.

Chen Yansen felt that was more than enough profit!

Although the Orange D1 only had 512MB of RAM, its 799 yuan price tag was enough to cover up all its shortcomings.