Chapter 161: Accounted 13.5 Billion USD, Orange

At just after 9 a. . the next day, a luxury convoy passed through the eastern gate of Xu Academy and headed toward Zhuxianzhu Technology Park.

Few buildings lined the streets; apart from the school and the commercial street across, vast stretches were farmland, planted with endless winter wheat.

"Shouzhi, is Orange Tech's headquarters really in a place like this?"

Yuri asked in English, turning to Zhou Shouzhi.

He had visited China before and met many tech founders, all of whom housed their offices in bustling electronics hubs or software parks.

Orange Tech was the first company he'd seen locate its headquarters in the suburban outskirts of a third- or fourth-tier city.

"Boss, China's development has accelerated rapidly in recent years. The surrounding infrastructure here is lacking, but there's a university nearby that can supply mid- and low-tier staff on short notice. Moreover, Orange Tech pays its R&D engineers 20%–30% above market rates, so its reserve of high-end talent isn't inferior to top-tier second-tier smartphone manufacturers."

Zhou Shouzhi, seated to Yuri's left, gave him a detailed overview of Orange Tech's organizational structure and employee sourcing.

Upon learning that most of Orange Tech's R&D staff came from Huawei, ZTE, OPPO, Xiaomi, and even Microsoft and Motorola, Yuri immediately shed his condescension.

"Orange Tech and the Orange Phone factory are separate entities. Judging from Chen Yansen's actions after securing funding from Le Tian and Augusta, I think his business focus leans more toward manufacturing than communications product R&D."

Yuri frowned, silently cursing Chen Yansen for being too cunning.

The other party had separated R&D from production—DST's investment was solely in Orange Tech.

In truth, Yuri had little interest in the Orange Phone factory; assembling digital products had low technical barriers and high capital costs, yielding minimal returns for DST.

"I believe this is precisely where the other side shows wisdom. From his decision to build his own factory and supply chain, it's clear Chen Yansen has enormous ambitions in the communications industry."

Zhou Shouzhi offered a positive assessment.

After expansion, the Orange Phone factory employed nearly 6, 00 people and had an annual production capacity of 30 million smartphones, with equipment costs alone exceeding 2 billion yuan.

Clearly, he was treating smartphone manufacturing as the core of his future business!

"Shouzhi, I don't oppose investing in Orange Tech, but the exact valuation must wait until our financial and industry analysts complete their evaluation."

Yuri gazed out the window at the desolate landscape and smiled faintly.

This investment deal had been pushed wholeheartedly by Zhou Shouzhi.

Initially, he had recommended Xiaomi as the target, but over the past three months, Zhou Shouzhi had completely abandoned Xiaomi and turned his attention to Orange Tech.

Yuri was curious: what kind of business model had convinced this Harvard Business School graduate, a genius investor?

Zhuxianzhu Technology Park was less than ten kilometers from Xu Academy's eastern gate; after a short conversation, Yuri spotted the office building district ahead.

On the facade of one six-story building hung a prominent Orange logo.

Yuri knew they had arrived.

Chen Yansen, alerted by a call from the front desk, descended with Gao Wei, Ye Qiuping, and Wang Teng.

Today everyone dressed formally; even Wang Teng, usually so casual, wore a suit and had his hair neatly combed.

When they reached the first floor, DST's convoy had just arrived at the park's entrance.

Yuri stepped out, followed closely by Zhou Shouzhi, with over a dozen attendants behind them—financial officers, legal advisors, and several burly foreign bodyguards.

"Mr. Yuri, Director Zhou, welcome to Orange Tech. Please come in."

Chen Yansen stepped forward with a smile, greeting them in fluent Russian.

Yuri was stunned—he hadn't expected this Chinese man to speak Russian so naturally.

Unlike thirty years ago, university students fluent in Russian were now extremely rare.

"Mr. Chen, your accent is impeccable," Yuri couldn't help praising.

"You flatter me, Mr. Yuri. Shall we start with the R&D department or the industrial design team?"

Chen Yansen asked with a smile.

His pronunciation habits came from watching original films—he had mastered Spanish and Arabic, along with Russian, English, and French.

For Chen Yansen, learning a new language took a day or two—effortless.

"Mr. Chen, if you don't mind, I'd like to visit the design department first," Yuri said in English.

Most of DST's entourage spoke only English; Russian would be inconvenient.

"No problem," Chen Yansen nodded, stepping to Yuri's right.

The two walked side by side into the first-floor lobby and took the elevator straight to the third floor.

Building 8 had modest floor space, but the workstations were spacious and never crowded.

Per capita office area, Orange Tech was at least three times that of JD. om.

Of course, after securing funding, JD. om planned to buy land and build a brand-new headquarters.

"This is the industrial design team. The area ahead is hardware design. The office zone to the west is testing."

Chen Yansen walked as he explained.

"I heard there are many Motorola and Microsoft engineers here. Why not relocate your headquarters to Shanghai or Beijing? That would help recruitment."

Yuri asked curiously.

"I'm waiting for the right moment," Chen Yansen replied with a faint, ambiguous smile.

Yuri pondered for a long while but couldn't decipher his intent, so he gave up.

Chen Yansen observed Yuri's expressions, subtle gestures, and breathing patterns—all escaped his notice.

With his extraordinary insight and reaction speed, during conversations with Yuri, he could effortlessly read his thoughts and predict his next moves.

This was a major advantage in upcoming negotiations; he was certain that as long as his price was reasonable, Yuri would agree.

This was a clear advantage in upcoming negotiations; he was confident that as long as his asking price wasn't excessive, Yuri would accept.

His terrifying insight and reaction speed allowed him to effortlessly grasp Yuri's thoughts and anticipate his next actions during their conversation.

Later, Chen Yansen took Yuri and Zhou Shouzhi on a brief tour of the Aurora System R&D department.

Wang Teng held up an Orange phone and demonstrated Aurora OS 1. 's theme designs, customization features, and core garbage-cleaning algorithms on the spot.

Yuri took the phone, downloaded a game from the Orange App Store, and tried it immediately.

A 60Hz screen refresh rate, by today's standards, would be criticized for sluggishness and lag—but in 2011, it was still mainstream.

Yuri felt no discomfort; he knew this phone retailed for only $300 in China, and its performance surprised him greatly.

An hour later, everyone returned to the fifth floor.

Zhou Shouzhi and Gao Wei completed the handover and, with their assistants, verified financial and operational data in the external office area.

Chen Yansen invited Yuri to his office for tea, choosing Qimen Hongcha.

Yuri sipped and said, "A bit too light. Add some lemon juice and sugar cubes—it would taste better."

Chen Yansen smiled; tea had broad appeal, and drinking styles varied by person.

He signaled Ye Qiuping to fetch lemon juice and powdered sugar.

Yuri was deeply curious about Chen Yansen. After sitting down, he had no intention of discussing business—he instead asked about Chen's college life and entrepreneurial journey.

Document review could be left to Zhou Shouzhi.

They shared the same mindset and chatted casually.

During conversation, Yuri mentioned his younger daughter was studying for her MBA in Lightland; otherwise, he'd have brought her to meet Chen Yansen.

In his view, Chen Yansen stood 186 cm tall, spoke English and Russian fluently, and possessed outstanding business acumen—he was unquestionably among the elite of his generation.

His Darya would surely like a man like this.

Chen Yansen laughed and teased, "Then I'll need to see a photo first."

Yuri burst out laughing—he found Chen Yansen amusing, radiating strong confidence.

He pulled out his phone and showed a photo of his daughter: a beautiful girl with fine golden hair, piercing blue eyes, and a tall, slender frame.

Chen Yansen glanced at it and said nothing.

He'd ridden plenty of Russian girls before; back then, Feiyu Tech had hired many pretty girls from the north—they worked hard in live streams to earn money for Chen Zong during the day, then changed into maid outfits at night to play "digging for radishes" with him.

Then Chen Yansen presented Yuri with a brand-new, still-sealed Orange phone.

"Thank you, I really like this gift," Yuri politely replied.

Chen Yansen didn't mind—it was just a formality.

He planned to have the branding team take photos later and stir up a trending topic with several media outlets, claiming DST's boss couldn't get enough of the Orange phone.

After finishing the pot of tea, it was lunchtime.

A convoy of over ten luxury cars headed toward the Sky Garden restaurant in the city.

After lunch, everyone returned to the technology park.

Yuri requested a visit to Pinbei; Chen Yansen readily agreed.

The two walked downstairs and entered Building 6, followed by two tall bodyguards.

Pinbei already had over a hundred employees; the tech team was developing the web and mobile versions, the design team was finalizing product aesthetics, and the business development team was contacting factories nationwide to invite them to join Pinbei.

For factories with strong capabilities and interest, staff immediately applied for business trips, conducted on-site inspections, and signed contracts face-to-face.

"Director Chen, does Pinbei need funding?" Yuri asked, intrigued after touring the premises.

In his view, Tencent hadn't even seen a prototype yet, yet it had invested $300 million and granted a top-tier entry point—he'd follow suit and couldn't possibly lose.

After all, Tencent had already done due diligence; following their sound decision meant a high probability of profit.

"Not yet. When Pinbei opens its Series A round, I'll be sure to contact you, Mr. Yuri."

Chen Yansen smiled, brushing it off casually.

Unless Yuri could help him sell products in Europe and America, he had no intention of letting DST get involved.

The afternoon passed quickly.

Yuri and Zhou Shouzhi departed by car, returned to their city hotel, and compiled the collected data into a comprehensive evaluation to determine a mutually acceptable valuation.

Chen Yansen had previously rejected Zhou Shouzhi's offer of 36 billion yuan, indicating his psychological price was far higher.

In the hotel conference room, after intense discussion, the finance and data teams agreed on a valuation based on the price-to-sales ratio model.

They proposed a high valuation of 46 billion yuan—roughly $7 billion, over three times Xiaomi's valuation.

Zhou Shouzhi thought the number was reasonable, but Xiaomi, with only 700, 00 units sold, was valued at $2 billion, while Orange Phone, with nearly 5 million units sold, was valued at only $7 billion.

It probably won't meet Chen Yansen's expectations!

Of course, valuation can't be calculated simply by sales volume; Xiaomi's current low sales are merely due to production capacity constraints.

Pricing must be negotiated gradually—it can't be settled overnight, and DST's investment evaluation team didn't expect to finalize anything in a single day.

The next day, Chen Yansen, upon learning DST's offer, promptly rejected it.

Yuri again consulted Zhou Shouzhi; after careful consideration, they raised the offer to $9 billion.

They also promised to personally intervene and help Orange Tech negotiate supply prices with Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony, and other manufacturers, aiming for procurement discounts of 5% to 15%.

"Skip Shanxing—Orange Phone's screen suppliers are Jingdongfang and Huaxing."

Chen Yansen waved his hand and said.

In 2011, Shanxing screens were indeed superior to domestic ones, but those Koreans were unreliable—they'd always restrict supply at critical moments.

Xiaomi encountered this problem frequently during its first two years of founding, and only later decided to switch suppliers; Huawei had also been burned many times.

This was why Jingdongfang later became highly favored by smartphone manufacturers—Huawei, Transsion, and OPPO were all its major clients.

The next day, Yuri left Xu City.

Their next stop was Hangcheng and Yancheng, to visit Alibaba and JD. om, since both were DST's key investment targets this year.

Investing in two companies in the same sector at once revealed just how deep DST's financial resources ran.

Two days later, the news of Orange Tech's Series A funding topped the homepage of major portals.

At the top of the article was a photo of DST's CEO Yuri, China regional partner Zhou Shouzhi, and Chen Yansen.

This round raised $1. 5 billion, valuing the company at $9 billion, propelling it to the forefront of China's second-tier smartphone manufacturers.

For a time, Wang Xueting's recruitment efforts became much easier; more and more engineers applied voluntarily, and the entire HR department filled their interview schedules to capacity every day.

Even Wang Teng and Ye Qiuping, as interviewers, had to participate in over ten second-round interviews each day.

Xu City, an inland third- or fourth-tier town, gradually gained some recognition in the tech circle.

(End of Chapter)