Chapter 224: Zhou Hongyi: Hey, Boss Chen, it

At ten a. ., a soft knock came at the door.

"Come in!"

Chen Yansen replied softly, his hands never pausing as he flipped two more pages of *Speech and Language Processing*.

Only when Gao Weilin led a middle-aged man to sit across from him did he set the book down.

"Boss, this is Fan Junyan, whom I mentioned to you before—from Hong Kong Polytechnic University, an expert in accounting, taxation, and international commercial law. He was formerly the CFO of Nanfeng Group and has substantial practical experience with HK stock listings."

Gao Weilin introduced him in detail.

"Mr. Chen, hello. I'm Fan Junyan. I've long admired your name. You can call me Joseph."

Fan Junyan stood up again, solemnly speaking.

Gao Weilin rubbed his forehead, smiling wryly—he'd specifically told his old classmate not to mention his English name in front of the boss, since it was unnecessary.

But this guy just wouldn't listen!

"Old Fan, you don't mind if I call you that, do you?"

Chen Yansen nodded slightly, gesturing for him to sit and talk.

Old Fan?

Fan Junyan, aged thirty-two, froze—he'd never in his life been called "Old Fan."

He glanced at Chen Yansen, then stole a sidelong look at Gao Weilin, who was covering his mouth, barely holding back laughter.

"Not at all, Boss can call me whatever he likes." Fan Junyan finally understood Gao Weilin's intent—if the boss called Gao Weilin "Old Gao," then this was the same game.

Thinking of this, Fan Junyan couldn't help but smile inwardly.

"Kuai Di Taxi is a subsidiary of Senlian Capital, but in my mind, this project matters just as much as Orange Tech. Since you're recommended by Old Gao, I trust him—and I trust you."

Chen Yansen spoke casually.

In truth, he'd already investigated Fan Junyan's resume, assessed his abilities and character thoroughly, and only agreed after being satisfied.

After all, if he couldn't even trust himself, how could he trust Gao Weilin?

"Thank you for your trust, Boss. I'll give it my all."

Fan Junyan nodded firmly, answering promptly.

Compared to his salary in Hong Kong, taking the CFO role at Kuai Di Taxi meant his base pay alone rose by 25%, plus a monthly housing allowance equal to 20% of his salary and a quarterly bonus every three months.

Thus, Fan Junyan was very satisfied with the new job—he'd even seen Gao Weilin's Porsche Cayenne downstairs just moments ago.

Though he only had usage rights, in truth, as long as he stayed with Senlian Capital, the car's user would never change.

"Work hard—the Boss said there'll be a car bonus at year-end," Gao Weilin had laughed when he told him.

A two-million-yuan luxury car? He wanted it too!

Do well. Get to Hangcheng as soon as possible. Cheng Weixing is weak in financial management and risk control—you're being sent to Kuai Di Taxi to shore up his weaknesses. I don't mind spending money, but every single yuan must have a traceable purpose and destination.

Chen Yansen stared straight at Fan Junyan, his tone grave.

It was both a warning and an instruction.

"Understood, Boss," Fan Junyan replied quickly.

Chen Yansen picked up the book again and flipped through it idly.

Gao Weilin and Fan Junyan exchanged a glance, instantly understanding, and rose to take their leave.

Outside the office, Fan Junyan exhaled in relief and whispered to Gao Weilin: "The Boss's presence is so oppressive—I could barely breathe."

"That's because you're unwell, right? Should you go get a full medical checkup? I meet with the Boss every day—why don't I feel anything?"

Gao Weilin scoffed, dismissing Fan Junyan's words entirely, even teasing him.

Still, he understood Fan Junyan's nerves—facing a young boss worth billions, tension was inevitable.

Even he, when making a minor mistake at work, would feel his heart race if Chen Yansen merely frowned slightly.

But Gao Weilin attributed that strange feeling to reverence for strength.

"Maybe it's just an illusion," Fan Junyan thought, not dwelling on it, and quickly forgot.

"When are you leaving?" Gao Weilin asked.

"This afternoon." Fan Junyan was decisive—he'd gone an entire year without rest in his last job, pushing his company's IPO, always on the road or traveling.

That was precisely why Gao Weilin strongly recommended him: hardworking, unusually energetic, and able to shoulder much of his burden.

"Alright. Meet me at the park cafeteria in half an hour—I'll treat you to a farewell meal." Gao Weilin checked his watch and walked toward the Finance Department.

Fan Junyan still had to visit HR to sign his employment contract and stock option agreement; by the time he finished, it would be lunchtime.

"You're so stingy!"

Fan Junyan laughed and scolded him.

"Pfft!" Gao Weilin didn't turn around, flipping him the middle finger.

Meanwhile.

After finishing his book, Chen Yansen sat on the sofa by the window. Orange Tech's current mobile industry strategy focused primarily on batteries, screens, operating systems, and artificial intelligence.

To defeat Apple and Shanxing, he needed not only software excellence but also supreme supply chain management.

As Orange phone sales grew, Orange Tech's bargaining power on the supply side strengthened.

On one hand, this lowered material costs and raised gross margins; on the other, it allowed integration of proprietary supply channels, enabling profit from component markups when manufacturing for third-party phone makers.

For example, Lei Yijun had agreed to shift Xiaomi's manufacturing orders to Orange's factory starting Q2. After discussions, Chen Yansen found Xiaomi's battery, storage chip, and screen procurement prices were far higher than Orange's.

But he knew the quoted prices he saw were definitely higher than Orange Tech's actual purchase price—he had no choice, because Xiaomi's sales volume dictated supplier attitudes.

Last year, when he negotiated with Shanxing, they quoted an absurdly inflated price—clearly without sincerity.

Reluctantly, Xiaomi's first-gen screen supplier ended up being Sharp.

Thus, after much deliberation, Lei Yijun switched Xiaomi's battery, storage chip, and screen suppliers to Orange's factory channels.

As for supply chain management issues, he could wait until Xiaomi ranked in the top three in shipments and gained sufficient leverage.

Otherwise, despite all the effort, the final price he got would still be higher than Orange Tech's used-parts price—wasting all the upfront manpower and resources.

The next morning, news of Xiaomi Tech signing a contract with Orange's factory sent shockwaves through the industry.

Media outlets rushed to report, speculating whether the two would deeply integrate in R&D, production capacity allocation, and supply chain coordination.

But to everyone's surprise, the contract was purely a manufacturing agreement, limited to licensing the memory cleanup algorithm and battery management technology.

"Can we partner with Orange Tech for a special edition phone?"

Zhou Hongyi suddenly had an idea—he wanted to ride Orange's popularity. The failure of Haier W910 had taught him one lesson: the partner must be a professional phone manufacturer.

Lately, he'd shut off all comments on his Weibo—every product post drew hundreds of angry replies.

"Haier ruined me!"

Zhou Hongyi felt wronged—this phone was designed and manufactured by Haier, so why blame him?

In the end, Haier W910 sold only 2, 00 units in its first week and was quietly discontinued.

The remaining 8, 00 units sat in warehouses—unsellable, ungiveable, and Zhou Hongyi had no idea what to do.

Haier's first special edition phone ended with a 10-million-yuan loss.

But Zhou Hongyi hadn't given up. After finalizing a deal with Huawei, he turned his sights on Orange Tech.

"Hey, Boss Chen, it's me—Zhou Hongyi! You didn't save my number?!"

When Zhou Hongyi called Chen Yansen, he paused in shock, then stomped his foot in rage.

This kid, Chen Yansen, was so damn arrogant!

"Sorry, Boss Zhou—I switched phones recently and lost all my contacts."

Chen Yansen smirked slightly, grinning mischievously.

Zhou Hongyi knew the kid was lying, and Chen Yansen knew Zhou Hongyi knew—but he wanted to tease him anyway, for that smug, condescending look the bastard had given him on their first meeting.

"Boss Chen, I'd like to discuss a special edition phone partnership with Orange Tech." Zhou Hongyi cut straight to the point.

Special edition?

Chen Yansen sneered and refused outright: "Boss Zhou, Orange's factory only takes OEM orders."

He might agree with someone else—but not with 360.

He'd studied the Haier W910: Zhou Hongyi had bundled 360's entire suite of software—360 Mobile Security, 360 Browser, 360 File Manager—right into the phone.

Users woke up every day to 360 system pop-ups, weather widgets, and wallpaper ads—this wasn't a phone, it was an ad player.

"What if we use the 360 brand name?" Zhou Hongyi chuckled—he was smart enough to understand Chen Yansen's concerns.

"Possible—but 360 must handle the industrial and hardware design itself."

Chen Yansen replied cautiously.

In short, he was willing to cooperate and make money—but Zhou Hongyi wouldn't use Orange Tech as a shield.

"Understood, Boss Chen. I'll contact you again later."

Zhou Hongyi wasn't thrilled, but he wasn't disappointed either—Chen Yansen's refusal had planted a seed: he'd build his own phone.

CCC certification, radio emission type approval, and mobile manufacturing licenses—troublesome for others, child's play for him.

He hadn't spent years in Yanjing for nothing—he could talk to the bigwigs at the Ministry of Information Industry. A few banquets, and the paperwork would be done.

Design? Even easier.

Where couldn't he find talent—from Xiaomi, Meizu, OPPO, ZTE, Huawei?

Didn't Orange Tech's R&D team all come from competitors?

After hanging up, Chen Yansen smiled faintly.

It seemed Lei Yijun had pushed Zhou Hongyi too far—he was determined to go head-to-head with Xiaomi.

Ten minutes later, Huawei's Yu Chendong called, bluntly asking: "Boss Chen, I'll give Orange's factory a 10-million-unit OEM order—but Orange Tech must license the latest version of its memory cleanup algorithm patent to Huawei."

Compared to Zhou Hongyi's roundabout approach, Yu Chendong's negotiation style was direct and clear.

Spell out the terms of cooperation clearly!

"I only want the smartphone ODM orders."

Chen Yansen replied with a smile.

"No problem," Yu Chendong immediately agreed.

Huawei ships over 50 million smartphones globally each year; 10 million units account for less than 20%.

Moreover, smartphone ODM manufacturing isn't a high-end business—handing over some mid- to low-end models to Orange Phone Factory is no issue.

The memory cleanup algorithm patent is likewise not a core technology patent for Chen Yansen; if it can be given to Xiaomi, it can be given to Huawei.

(End of Chapter)