Chapter 289: 53 Units Per Second

On the afternoon of August 18 at six p. ., the Orange new phone officially went on sale.

The Orange C3 and Qingcheng D1S were simultaneously launched on the Orange Mall official website, Pinbei's Baiyi subsidy, Taobao, Suning, Guomei, Yixun, and other channels.

Within one hour of launch, total online sales of the Qingcheng D1S exceeded 131, 00 units, while the Orange C3 sold 52, 00 units—its market performance was no weaker than the Orange C2 and Orange D1, and even significantly stronger.

"China's smartphone market in turmoil: The king of value-for-money mid-range phones—Orange C3!"

"No competitors left? Qingcheng D1S sells 36 units per second—the killer of budget phones!"

"Shanxing is in jeopardy as domestic smartphone brands rise forcefully!"

On the homepages of Toutiao, Weibo, Sohu, Penguin, Sina, and NetEase, praise for Orange Technology flooded the screen.

Sales during the first hour of the Orange C3 and Qingcheng D1S once again proved Orange Technology's success was no accident—it had clearly become the leader among domestic smartphones.

In shipment volume, Orange phones led by a wide margin, dethroning Lenovo, Apple, Huawei, and ZTE, now just one step away from the top spot held by Shanxing.

Someone online posted: "Chinese people should use Chinese phones—don't let Shanxing get too arrogant!"

Instantly, it ignited everyone's passion to buy.

"Same specs, Shanxing Galaxy series dares to charge 4, 00 or 5, 00 yuan? Bastards, making money off us and calling us Chinese bastards and noodle-eaters behind our backs!"

"Can't you guys have some pride? From now on, use Orange phones!"

"Supporting Orange Technology fuels our nation's tech R&D—every Orange phone bought creates 75 yuan in income for workers at the Shencheng phone factory."

Netizens flooded the comment sections with opinions; related searches surged to trending topics, drawing massive public attention.

During the second hour of launch, total online sales of the Qingcheng D1S reached 276, 00 units; the Orange C3 sold 109, 00 units.

This scene left rival companies stunned.

"Can you even market like this?" Yu Chendong, Lei Zong, and others, stunned, quietly began calculating their next moves.

On the other side.

Chen Yansen had just returned to the tech park, plopped onto the sofa, pulled out his phone, and checked trending news to gauge market reaction to the new Orange products.

When he saw the term "Chinese people buy only Chinese phones," he paused, then instinctively clicked in.

"Has Orange Technology also ridden this wave?"

After a quick scan, Chen Yansen understood the full context and chuckled, then called Ye Qiuping: "Come over."

He wanted to confirm whether this promotional strategy originated from the branding department!

"Hmph. Little hypocrite." Ye Qiuping hung up, smiled faintly, picked up a file, and strolled toward her office.

…

…

Shanghai, Longhua Middle Road.

Zhang Peng sat in his clean, bright office; seeing his supervisor wasn't at her desk, he quietly pulled out his phone to slack off.

He'd planned to order a milk tea and fried chicken, but noticed a nearby delivery store called "Orange Smart Life."

Orange Smart?

What's the connection to Orange Technology?

Curious, Zhang Peng clicked in without hesitation—the store had only four categories: New Launches, Orange Phones, Audio/Video, and Exclusive Accessories.

Phone models included the Orange C1, C2, D2, C3, and Qingcheng D1S; the audio/video section featured Mos Smart Speakers and Orange Bluetooth earphones; the accessories section offered Orange power banks, phone cases, data cables, and screen protectors.

Checking the store info, he discovered it was indeed Orange Technology's official flagship store.

"If it's on a delivery platform, does it arrive in 29 minutes?"

Zhang Peng looked at the iPhone 4 in his hand—a prize he'd won two years ago from FoxTao's "Zero Yuan Slash" event.

Though the phone could still last two more years, faced with the new model's large screen, high memory, and AI voice interaction engine, he silently added a 32GB Orange C3 to his cart and paid with gritted teeth.

After applying a 5-yuan coupon, the final price was 3, 94 yuan!

Despite his computer science degree from Shanghai University of Technology landing him a 12, 00-yuan monthly job, "living in Shanghai is hard"—after deducting social insurance and housing fund, he had 9, 40 yuan left, and after rent, food, and transportation, he couldn't save even 4, 00 yuan a month.

So spending 3, 94 yuan hurt deeply—if the phone's performance didn't match the hype from Wang Teng's launch event, he'd definitely turn from fan to hater and spend his days on Weibo cursing Chen Yansen.

"Xiao Zhang, the fund team needs a web plugin feature—handle it. Do a good job, and I'll recommend a raise at year-end."

As Zhang Peng slacked off, his supervisor walked over, assigning work while dangling promises.

"Yes, Miss Chen."

Zhang Peng nodded quickly and quietly put his phone away.

Apple's salary was modest compared to big internet firms; the real payday came with the year-end bonus.

The size of that bonus rested entirely in the hands of the woman standing before him.

Zhang Peng understood clearly: boss's orders came first, slacking off second; pleasing the boss mattered more than doing the job well.

In Shanghai's cutthroat environment, Zhang Peng had long mastered the art of "upward management"—doing more is worse than saying more; saying more is worse than saying it well.

"Go on, the product and business teams are in meeting room B05," Chen Fengling waved him off with a smile.

In her eyes, Zhang Peng was young, tall, handsome, smart, and sweet-talking, with a high, straight nose—too bad Apple forbade office romances.

Otherwise, she'd have pursued him herself.

Young, attractive newcomers were seen as prime targets by bosses—regardless of gender.

Half an hour later, after the meeting, Zhang Peng suddenly remembered his delivery hadn't been picked up. He pulled out his phone—the KuaiPao backend showed the order as completed; the rider had left the phone in the delivery locker on the first floor.

KuaiPao's delivery speed remained as punctual as ever.

Zhang Peng didn't hesitate—he took the elevator to the lobby, found the correct locker number, entered the pickup code, and immediately retrieved his brand-new Orange C3.

The outer layer was a corrugated cardboard box; inside lay the Orange C3 itself. When he fully unpacked it, his eyes lit up.

The physical Orange C3 was far more stunning than its photos or videos—ultra-thin body, massive screen, incredible grip, and the box included a charger, data cable, manual, and warranty card.

Zhang Peng took the phone back to his desk.

He held down the power button; a vibrant, plump orange logo appeared instantly—the boot time was under five seconds. This was his first time using AuroraOS; he'd worried about switching from iOS to Android, but AuroraOS's app ecosystem and gesture controls were designed for simplicity and ease—intuitive from the start.

"Bought a new phone? Oh, the latest Orange C3!" Chen Fengling slipped up beside him, smiling.

Zhang Peng jumped in, but seeing no displeasure on Miss Chen's face, he gathered courage: "Miss Chen, give it a try—the Orange C3's camera features algorithm-based imaging technology."

He handed her the phone.

A thrill surged through Chen Fengling. Smelling his scent, for some reason, she took the phone, opened the camera, and snapped a photo from above—her collar revealed a hint of pale skin.

To be fair, the Orange C3's 5-megapixel front camera, combined with algorithmic imaging, produced excellent results.

Chen Fengling stared at her reflection on screen—her face rosy, features delicate and fair, looking like a fresh graduate, though she'd graduated seven or eight years ago.

She then tested the rear camera's photo and video functions—for women, no matter their age, camera quality was the most critical phone feature.

"The Orange C3 just launched—how'd you get yours so fast?" Ten minutes later, Chen Fengling returned the phone, asking casually.

Clearly intrigued—like most thirty-year-old women, she needed a smartphone that could capture her beauty clearly.

Even though she knew the photo didn't perfectly match her real face, she chose to ignore it.

'The Orange C3 is a fantastic product—it perfectly restores my beauty,' Chen Fengling thought silently.

"Miss Chen, Orange Technology opened a delivery store on KuaiPao—if you want to switch phones, you'll get it in half an hour." Zhang Peng replied quickly.

"Alright, I know. Work hard. Oh, and delete the photos in your album—I'm afraid your girlfriend might get jealous if she sees them."

Chen Fengling smiled, gave the reminder, and walked back to her desk.

"Miss Chen, I don't have a girlfriend," Zhang Peng replied with a sheepish grin.

Chen Fengling's heart skipped a beat—better yet!

Zhang Peng opened his album—the first photo was Chen Fengling's selfie: a thirty-year-old woman, confident and poised, her smile both sharp and alluring.

Miss Chen's figure looked amazing.

Zhang Peng swallowed hard, stole a glance at Chen Fengling—she was bent over, flipping through documents—and quietly admired her.

At the same moment.

In Luzhou, Jinling, Hangcheng, Shanghai, Yanjing, Changshan, Jinmen, and Tangcheng—all within KuaiPao's delivery range—customers received the Orange C3 or Qingcheng D1S within twenty-nine minutes.

After eight p. ., videos testing the new Orange phones began appearing on Weibo, Youku, and Toutiao.

"I used my internship salary to buy my mom a Qingcheng D1S—she scolded me, but her face was beaming."

"Ugh—I'm teaching my mom how to use the Orange C3 too."

"Why did you get your phones so fast?"

"Order on KuaiPao—it delivers in under half an hour!" a Beijing netizen commented.

"Damn it, we don't even have KuaiPao here—we got outdone again by the Beijing elites!" a Guangdong netizen growled.

"I'm in Zhoulai—I got my Qingcheng D1S at 4: 0 p. ."

"Jinling here—KuaiPao riders are awesome!"

"@KuaiPao CEO Pei Yi, when are you coming to Shencheng? Orange's phone factory is here, yet Shencheng users have to wait until the next day for delivery."

As more netizens joined the discussion, the keyword "Orange phones delivered in half an hour" quickly hit trending.

"Central warehouse, front warehouse—turning e-commerce into food-delivery mode? Useless. Only fits niche categories. Building thousands of front warehouses? Pure waste of manpower and capital."

Ma Liyun, in Hangcheng, heard the news and, like last time, dismissed it with contempt.

Compared to Europe and America, domestic delivery speeds weren't slow—no need to spend huge sums nationwide building thousands of front warehouses just to shave off delivery time.

But he didn't know KuaiPao's front warehouses were inside YunSu's terminal stations—the infrastructure was shared, making costs far lower than Ma Liyun imagined.

Liu Qiangdong in Beijing sat in his office, pondering: if he built front warehouses around fulfillment, transfer, and storage centers, could he cut JD Logistics' delivery time to one day—or even half a day?

Probably possible!

Liu Qiangdong's face lit up—but then he reconsidered: the cost would be too high. JD hadn't yet escaped its crisis; more reckless spending might scare off overseas investors.

After all, Zhao Yingchun had warned him: OTPP invested in JD to capture IPO gains and plug their pension fund gap.

"Bah! I can start with pilot zones in Beijing, Jinling, Shanghai, and Shencheng—only target niche categories. Low trial cost, minimal risk."

Frowning, after careful consideration, he decided to copy Kuai Run's delivery model.

Jingdong's after-sales service must be excellent, and the express delivery turnover speed must keep pace.

What Li Qiangdong didn't expect was that he wasn't the first to copy—someone had moved faster.

In Jin Qiao, Shanghai, a Dindong Community rider, dressed in clean, neat workwear, rode an electric scooter, packing vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, poultry, flowers, and other items according to customer orders, then delivering them to the customers' doorsteps.

Liang Changlin spent four months, leveraging the technical team from Yaya Network, and finally incubated the Dindong Community project.

Currently, only one station has been set up in Jin Qiao, serving a radius covering over twenty nearby residential communities.

The business focuses on neighborhood social interaction, daily delivery, and home services, including specific offerings: secondhand trading, housekeeping, laundry, flower delivery, cleaning, and appliance repair.

Within two weeks of launch, registered users reached 3, 00, with over 400 daily orders—proof that the product had market growth potential.

Liang Changlin was overjoyed and recently met frequently with investors to secure more funding to expand this model nationwide.

When Pei Yi learned of Dindong Community's existence, he immediately grew wary.

Although Dindong Community had not yet entered the food delivery market, once its service radius expanded, it might well erode Kuai Run's market share.

It must be guarded against!

Pei Yi thought briefly, then dialed Chen Yansen's phone number.

(End of Chapter)