Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

The next morning, Xiaomi Technology publicly announced that the number of MIUI system users had surpassed 10 million for the first time.

But to Lei Yijun’s embarrassment, sales of the Xiaomi 1S running the Aurora OS system were far higher than the Xiaomi 1S running the MIUI system.

In fact, to ensure compatibility with the operating system, the hardware performance of the Xiaomi 1S (Aurora OS version) was actually slightly worse than the Xiaomi 1S (MIUI version).

Half an hour later, Weibo announced the launch of its QR code feature.

Immediately after, the e-commerce site Benlai announced with great fanfare that it would be introducing Chu Cheng and providing it with a top-tier traffic portal.

Chen Yansen hadn’t understood it back then, but looking at this news again now, he felt it was all about networking and personal connections.

”*iPartment 3* is a hit, web comedies are all the rage!”

”Apple’s iPhone 5 gets a cold reception in China, criticized for lack of innovation, sales lagging behind Orange Mobile Phones!”

”Han Geng launches custom phone, a star crosses over into the tech world!”

”Kuai Pao Delivery Enterprise Edition launches, Meican is in danger!”

”Orange App Store user base surges, becoming a core distribution channel for Android apps.”

Chen Yansen glanced down the list and shook his head. The ”we media” of 2012 had already lost all integrity, just spouting utter nonsense and fabricating lies all day long.

The iPhone 5 sold two million units in three days and broke the five-million-unit record in seven days. The Orange C3 had only sold two million units in half a month. Adding in the sales of the Qingcheng D1S, their total was indeed higher than the iPhone 5’s.

But Chen Yansen looked down on this kind of mental victory.

Defeating Apple head-on—that was what made a true winner!

The advantages of Apple’s phones were: the deep integration of the iOS system with their proprietary chips; image quality optimization through algorithms like HDR and facial detection; and a clear ecosystem advantage with over 700,000 apps in the App Store.

If Orange Mobile Phone wanted to surpass them in the high-end market, it first needed to design its own chips, second, improve its photographic imaging quality, and finally, perfect its application ecosystem.

The last point was especially crucial. If users couldn’t use their familiar apps on the Aurora Future OS, they would find it very difficult to adapt, no matter how awesome the system’s performance was.

This was also the reason why, seven years later, Huawei’s launch of the HarmonyOS was met with a lukewarm reception.

A lacking ecosystem can’t retain users!

Smartphone users in the country had long grown accustomed to the app ecosystems and user experiences of Android and iOS, so getting them to change was naturally difficult.

That was why Chen Yansen had initiated the plans for a proprietary operating system and in-house chips ahead of schedule, even when the R&D conditions weren’t fully mature.

The timing of market entry was critical!

Although there were already 370 million smartphone users in the country, there was still a market of one billion potential users left to be tapped.

If they followed Huawei’s example and waited ten years, the ship would have already sailed!

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! A knock came from the door.

”Come in!”

Chen Yansen called out, looking up.

CREAK. The door slowly opened, and Ye Qiuping walked in. The look she gave Chen Yansen held a hint of complaint: ’This guy, it’s been a while since he’s had my sweet soup.’

”Boss, the people from the ad agency are here,” Ye Qiuping said softly.

Ever since the major mobile phone manufacturers started hiring celebrity spokespeople, Orange Technology’s Market Department, not wanting to be left behind, had submitted multiple candidates to Chen Yansen for consideration.

Ke Dongzhen, who shot to fame with *You Are the Apple of My Eye*;

Wenzhang, a top-tier young actor from the Mainland and the godson of a kung fu king.

Zheng Shuang, who became famous from *Let’s Go Watch The Meteor Shower*...

Chen Yansen remembered it clearly. At the time, his vision had gone dark, and he almost fired the employee in charge of liaising with the talent agency.

Every single candidate they recommended ended up having a major scandal!

Their eye for talent was uncannily precise!

But on second thought, he couldn’t really blame them. Who could have predicted that after 2012, the entertainment industry would become a minefield, constantly blowing up and leaving chaos in its wake?

Moral issues were the least of it. Sometimes, throughout the year, you could round up enough directors, producers, screenwriters, and actors who’d been sent to prison to form a full film crew and shoot a sequel to *Prison on Fire*.

Chen Yansen would rather have no brand ambassador than take such a risk, so he rejected them all.

But Ye Qiuping wasn’t happy. A popular spokesperson with a good image could generate hundreds of thousands, or even millions, in additional sales for the brand.

Even Han Kang’s GengPhone could sell out 5,000 units in three days, which just went to show that there were too many fools in the world for the supply to keep up.

The end result was that Chen Yansen—the twenty-year-old business genius with 40 million followers across the internet—would serve as the brand ambassador for Orange Mobile Phone.

Chen Yansen’s objections were overruled!

The entire Market Department, including the intern Tang Zhenzhe, unanimously approved the decision.

”Fine. Get off work early this afternoon and make me a pot of sweet soup,” Chen Yansen said, putting away his pen. He was a little ticked off.

If Ye Qiuping wanted to see him make a fool of himself, he wasn’t going to let her have an easy time either.

”Of course,” Ye Qiuping agreed with a light laugh.

At twenty-eight, she was in her prime and felt not a shred of fear.

Chen Yansen sighed softly. ’It takes one to know one,’ he thought. He wasn’t much better than those celebrities; they were all cut from the same cloth.

”Let’s go,” Chen Yansen ordered.

The two of them took the elevator to the photography studio on the first floor. It was originally a conference room, but after some renovations, it had become a temporary studio for the photographer.

Feng Hai was a visual arts master from the Central Academy of Fine Arts who had taught at Huaqiao University for four years. An expert in portrait photography, he originally hadn’t wanted to come.

In his view, a ”business genius” like Chen Yansen was most likely just a product of marketing, similar to the likes of Guo Xiaosi and Han Han. Who knew how many powerful figures were backing him from behind the scenes.

As for the photos he posted on Weibo, they were definitely the product of heavy editing.