Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

At 6:00 PM on August 18th, the new Orange phones were officially released for sale.

The Orange C3 and Qingcheng D1S went on sale simultaneously across channels like the official Orange Mall website, Pinbei’s ”Ten Billion Subsidy” program, Taobao, Sunning, Gome, and Yixun.

Within the first hour, total online sales for the Qingcheng D1S exceeded 131,000 units, while the Orange C3 sold 52,000 units. Their market performance was not the least bit weaker than the Orange C2 and Orange D1—in fact, it was a great deal stronger.

”Upheaval in the Hua Country Smartphone Market: The King of Mid-Range Value—The Orange C3!”

”Is There No Competition? The Qingcheng D1S Sells 36 Units Per Second—The Thousand-Yuan Phone Killer!”

”Mountain Star Is in Peril as Domestic Phone Brands Rise Powerfully!”

On the homepages of news sites like Toutiao, Weibo, Sohu, Penguin, Sina, and NetEase, praise for Orange Technology was plastered everywhere.

The first-hour sales of the Orange C3 and Qingcheng D1S once again proved that Orange Technology’s success was no accident; it had clearly become the leader of domestic mobile phones.

In terms of shipment volume, Orange Mobile Phones were far ahead, unseating Lenovo, Apple, Huawei, and ZTE, and were now just a stone’s throw away from the top-ranked Mountain Star.

Some netizen posted a comment online: ”People of Hua Country should use Hua Country phones! Don’t let Mountain Star get too arrogant!”

It instantly ignited everyone’s passion for buying the phones!

”For the same specs, the Mountain Star Galaxy series dares to sell for 4,000 or 5,000 yuan! Those sons of bitches! They take our money and then curse us as ’Chinks’ and ’noodle-eaters’ behind our backs!”

”Can’t you all have some backbone? From now on, I’m only using Orange Mobile Phones!”

”Supporting Orange Technology means fueling our country’s technological R&D! Every Orange Mobile Phone purchased creates 75 yuan of income for our compatriots at the Shencheng City phone factories.”

Netizens flooded the comment sections with their opinions. Related searches quickly shot to the top of the trending lists, attracting a wave of attention from casual observers.

In the second hour, total online sales for the Qingcheng D1S reached 276,000 units, and the Orange C3 sold 109,000 units.

This scene left competing manufacturers dumbfounded.

”You can even market things this way?” Yu Chendong, Lei Yijun, and the others, while shocked, secretly began to make their own calculations.

Meanwhile.

Chen Yansen had just returned to the Science and Technology Park. He plopped down on the sofa, pulled out his phone to check the trending news, and prepared to look into the market feedback for Orange’s new products.

When he saw the trending topic, ’Hua Country People Only Buy Hua Country Phones,’ he was slightly taken aback and subconsciously clicked on it.

’So Orange Technology is also reaping the benefits of this sentiment?’

After a quick glance, Chen Yansen understood the cause and effect of the situation. He let out a wry laugh and dialed Ye Qiuping’s number. ”Come to my office.”

He wanted to confirm if this promotional strategy had come from the brand department!

’Hmph! The little hypocrite,’ Ye Qiuping thought as she put down the phone. A slight smile touched her lips. She picked up a file and ambled toward the office.

...

...

「Hu City, Longhua Middle Road.」

Zhang Peng sat in his bright and tidy office. Seeing that his supervisor wasn’t at her desk, he stealthily pulled out his phone and started to slack off.

He was about to order some milk tea and fried chicken but then noticed a nearby delivery shop called the ”Orange Intelligent Life Hall.”

’Orange Intelligence?’

’What does it have to do with Orange Technology?’

Driven by curiosity, Zhang Peng clicked into the shop without hesitation. It only had four categories: New Arrivals, Orange Mobile Phones, Audio & Visual, and Exclusive Accessories.

The phone section included the Orange C1, Orange C2, Orange D2, Orange C3, and Qingcheng D1S. The Audio & Visual section had the Moss Smart Speaker and Orange Bluetooth headsets. The Exclusive Accessories section had the Orange Mobile Power Supply, phone cases, data cables, screen protectors, and other products.

Looking at the shop’s information, he saw it was actually the official flagship store for Orange Technology.

’Since it’s listed on a food delivery platform, does that mean it can be delivered in 29 minutes?’

Zhang Peng looked at the Apple 4 in his hand, a prize he had won two years ago from a ”Bargain Down to 0 Yuan” event on FoxTao.

Although the phone could still last another two years, when faced with a new model boasting a large screen, more memory, and an AI voice interaction engine, he silently added a 32GB Orange C3 to his cart and, swallowing his heartache, completed the purchase.

He used a 5-yuan coupon, bringing the final price to 3,194 yuan!

His computer science degree from Hu City Science and Technology University had landed him a job with a monthly salary of 12,000 yuan after graduation. But as the saying goes, ’it’s not easy to make a living in Hu City.’ After deducting social security and housing fund contributions, he was left with 9,840 yuan. Then, after rent, food, transportation, and other expenses, he couldn’t even save 4,000 yuan a month.

Therefore, spending these 3,194 yuan was especially painful. If the product’s performance didn’t meet his expectations, if it wasn’t as amazing as Wang Teng had hyped it up to be at the launch event, he would definitely go from fan to anti-fan and curse out Chen Yansen on Weibo every day.

”Xiaozhang, the fund team has a small request for a web browser plugin. I’m assigning it to you to follow up on. Do a good job, and I’ll put you in for a raise at the end of the year.”

Just as Zhang Peng was slacking off, his supervisor slowly walked over, assigning him work while also making empty promises.

”Okay, Sister Ling.”

Zhang Peng nodded in agreement, discreetly putting his phone away.

Ping’an’s salary level wasn’t high compared to the major internet companies; they relied entirely on their year-end bonuses to have a prosperous New Year.

And the size of that year-end bonus was in the hands of Sister Ling, the woman standing right in front of him.

Zhang Peng understood the situation very clearly: the boss’s assignments came first, slacking off came second, and keeping the boss happy was far more important than actually doing a good job.

In the great dye vat of Hu City, Zhang Peng had long ago learned the workplace skill of ”managing up.” Doing a lot was not as good as talking a lot, and talking a lot was not as good as talking well.

”Go on, the colleagues from the product and business departments are in meeting room B05,” Chen Fengling said with a wave of her hand and a smile.

In her eyes, Zhang Peng was young, tall, and handsome. He was smart, a smooth talker, and had a high, straight nose. It was a pity Ping’an didn’t allow office romances.