Chapter 326: 1127% Month-over-Month Growth

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

What embarrassed Lei Yi Army was that the sales of the Xiaomi 1S with AuroraOS far exceeded those of the Xiaomi 1S with MIUI.

In fact, to ensure compatibility with the operating system, the hardware performance of the Xiaomi 1S (AuroraOS version) was slightly inferior to that of the Xiaomi 1S (MIUI version).

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

Immediately after, Benlai Life Network proudly declared it would introduce Chu Oranges, providing them with a top-tier traffic entry point.

Chen Yansen had been puzzled back then; now, looking at this news again, he saw nothing but social maneuvering and human cunning.

“Love Apartment 3 is wildly popular; online comedies are gaining favor!”

“Apple iPhone 5 faces cold reception in China, criticized for lack of innovation, sales lagging behind Orange Phone!”

“Han Geng launches customized phone; celebrity crosses into tech industry!”

“Kuai Pao Waimai Enterprise Edition launches; Meican.com is in danger!”

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

Chen Yansen scanned the headlines from top to bottom, then shook his head—by 2012, self-media had already stopped pretending to be honest, spouting nothing but lies all day.

The iPhone 5 sold 2 million units in three days and broke 5 million in seven; the Orange C3 sold only 2 million in half a month, but combined with the Qingcheng D1S sales, it did surpass the iPhone 5.

But Chen Yansen had no respect for this kind of psychological victory.

Only by directly defeating Apple could one truly win.

The iPhone’s advantages lie in: iOS being deeply optimized with proprietary chips; image quality enhanced through algorithms (HDR, facial detection); over 700,000 apps on App Store, giving it a clear ecosystem advantage.

If Orange Phone wants to surpass Apple in the high-end market, it must first design its own chip, second improve camera image quality, and third perfect its app ecosystem.

The last point is especially critical: if users of AuroraFutureOS cannot access their familiar apps, no matter how superior the system’s performance, they will struggle to adapt.

This is precisely why Huawei’s HarmonyOS, seven years later, remained lukewarm.

Without ecosystem, you can’t retain users!

Domestic smartphone users have long been accustomed to Android and iOS ecosystems and habits; changing them is extremely difficult.

That’s why Chen Yansen launched the independent OS and chip development programs even before sufficient R&D conditions were in place.

Timing of entry is crucial!

Although domestic smartphone users have reached 370 million, there remains a billion-market space yet to be tapped.

If you follow Huawei’s path and wait ten years, the stew will be cold by then!

“Tap-tap-tap—!” A knock came at the door.

“Come in!”

Chen Yansen looked up and replied.

The door creaked open slowly; Ye Qiuping stepped in, her gaze at Chen Yansen now carrying a hint of reproach—this guy hadn’t drunk her sweet soup in ages.

“Boss, the advertising company’s people have arrived,” Ye Qiuping said softly.

After major smartphone manufacturers hired brand ambassadors, Orange Tech’s marketing department, unwilling to fall behind, submitted multiple candidates to Chen Yansen.

Ke Dongzhen, who rose to fame through “You Are My Sunshine”;

Wen Zhang, a top mainland actor and adopted son of Kung Fu King;

Zheng Shuang, who became popular through “Watching Meteor Shower Together”…

Chen Yansen remembered clearly—he’d gone black in the eyes and nearly fired the employee handling talent agencies.

Every single candidate they recommended had collapsed!

Their judgment was terrifyingly accurate!

But then he thought again—it wasn’t their fault; who could have predicted that after 2012, the entertainment industry would explode like firecrackers, constantly blowing people apart?

Moral scandals were the least of it—sometimes, from the start of the year to the end, directors, producers, screenwriters, and actors who got arrested could set up entire film crews inside prison to shoot sequels to "Prison Storm."

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

But Ye Qiuping wasn’t happy— a good-looking, high-heat ambassador could generate tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, in extra sales.

Even Han Kang’s GengPhone sold out 5,000 units in three days—clearly, there were too many fools, not enough to go around.

The result? The 20-year-old business genius Chen Yansen, with 40 million followers online, became the official face of Orange Phone.

Chen Yansen’s objections were overruled!

The entire marketing department, including intern Tang Zhenzhe, unanimously approved the decision.

“Fine. Leave early this afternoon and cook me a pot of sweet soup,” Chen Yansen snapped, putting down his pen, his temper flaring.

If Ye Qiuping wanted to see him embarrassed, he wouldn’t let her off easy.

“Alright,” Ye Qiuping replied with a light laugh.

At twenty-eight, she was in her prime, and fear was not in her nature.

Chen Yansen sighed slightly—he knew his own kind; he was no better than any celebrity, just the same breed.

“Let’s go,” Chen Yansen ordered.

The two took the elevator to the first-floor studio, formerly a meeting room, now renovated into a temporary photography workspace.

Feng Hai held a Master’s in Visual Arts from the Central Academy of Fine Arts and had taught at Huaqiao University for four years; he was an expert in portrait photography and had originally refused the offer.

In his view, Chen Yansen—a “business genius”—was likely manufactured, just another “Guo Xiaosi or Han Han,” backed by powerful figures behind the scenes.

The photos he posted on Weibo were surely heavily retouched.

But a CCTV photography teacher told him: Go. You’ll see—some people can live off their bone structure and facial features alone for life.

In other words, Chen Yansen’s appearance was not a marketing gimmick.

Curious and armed with a Hasselblad camera, Feng Hai accepted the advertising company’s invitation to shoot promotional material for Chen Yansen.

“Boss Chen!”

“Boss, you’re even more handsome today than usual! Can we take a photo? My mom adores you.”

“Boss, why don’t you debut as an idol?”

As they passed the admin department’s desks, a group of young women chattered nonstop, staring at Chen Yansen with burning eyes.

To be fair, Chen Yansen’s looks were already above average; otherwise, in his past life, he’d never have pinned Ye Qiuping to the bed.

In this life, with his physique at over 30 points, his body had grown nearly perfect, his skin and features subtly refined, making him intensely attractive to those around him.

“Don’t you want your Q4 performance bonus?” Chen Yansen’s face darkened, his tone sharp.

“Boss, we’re busy!”

“Boss, I’m sorry!”

Hearing the threat of salary deduction, they all grinned sheepishly, apologizing.

Ye Qiuping shot them a glare, then led Chen Yansen forward to the studio.

“Mr. Chen, hello, I’m your photographer Feng Hai—you can call me Old Feng or Ah Hai.”

Feng Hai stepped forward with a smile.

He’d photographed many entrepreneurs and celebrities, but seeing Chen Yansen, he was still taken aback.

At last, he understood what the CCTV photography teacher meant. “Let’s begin.”

Chen Yansen nodded and gave the order.

Though Feng Hai was respected in the industry, to Chen Yansen he was just a photographer.

“Uh, okay, right away! Makeup artist—no, never mind!”

Feng Hai scrambled to arrange things, intending to have a makeup artist touch up Chen Yansen’s face, but his skin tone and facial structure needed no enhancement.

Although Chen Yansen had never endorsed his own products, as CEO of Feiyu Tech, he’d shot similar promotional posters and knew the process inside out.

Feng Hai felt an uncanny synergy with Chen Yansen; within less than an hour, they’d completed the promotional images for the Orange C-series and Qingcheng D-series—two hours ahead of schedule.

“Call Huang Zheng, Liang Bo, and Zhang Yinjia. Have them bring their department heads—we’ll take individual portraits first, then group shots. Old Feng, no problem, right?”

Chen Yansen, seeing there was still time, turned to Ye Qiuping, then asked Feng Hai.

“Boss Chen, I charge by project, not by time…” Feng Hai mumbled weakly.

Before he finished, Chen Yansen waved his hand impatiently: “I’ll pay you more.”

Feng Hai froze in place—he was an internationally renowned photographer, yet treated like a street photo booth operator.

But he hadn’t had enough yet, especially shooting Chen Yansen.

“Alright, Boss Chen, no problem,” Feng Hai agreed readily.

Soon, a crowd arrived—some in suits, others in casual or sporty attire.

Wang Zihao showed up wearing slippers; Chen Yansen looked at him with a half-smile, teasing.

“Heh, give me a minute—I’ll change shoes,” Wang Zihao scratched his head sheepishly, then turned and ran back.

Feng Hai first photographed Huang Zheng, Liang Bo, and Zhang Yinjia, then grouped them by project for team photos.

In every photo, Chen Yansen stood center stage, standing out like a crane among chickens.

On October 14, 2012, senior executives from Orange Tech, Pinbei Mall, Jintian Tech, and Orange Pay took their first team photo.

“Good. Hang these on the company website later.”

Chen Yansen reviewed several sets of photos and praised them, then instructed Huang Zheng, Liang Bo, and Zhang Yinjia.

“Yes, Boss,” all three replied in unison.

Feng Hai’s gaze swept between them, and he suddenly understood: Chen Yansen’s business acumen was likely a hundred times stronger than he’d imagined.

Huang Zheng, Liang Bo, and Zhang Yinjia—all elite businessmen—looked at Chen Yansen with genuine reverence; no actor could fake that sincerity.

He’d seen too many celebrities; he knew the difference between real emotion and performance.

Only at 1 p.m. did Feng Hai finally finish, exhausted, and grabbed a free lunch in the cafeteria.

Ye Qiuping saw him off at the tech park gate, returned to her desk, and began working—but the faint “ding-dong” of wind chimes kept echoing in her ears, making her cheeks flush, her legs instinctively cross, and her mind already planning tonight’s soup.

On the other side.

Chen Yansen, along with Huang Zheng, Song Yuncheng, Zhang Yifeng, and others, entered Building No. 6, the office building housing Pinbei Mall.

The presale phase of Pinbei’s Double Eleven promotion had begun; besides its established Hundred Billion Subsidy channel and brand group activities, it divided the main venue into over a dozen sub-venues by product category to facilitate user ordering.

There was even an agricultural support special zone, featuring primarily farm and sideline products: fruits and vegetables, aquatic and seafood, poultry and eggs, salted fish and cured chicken, as well as fresh flowers and wild mushrooms from Yunan.

On the LED giant screen on the first floor, real-time data rolled continuously: Pinbei’s order volume, number of buyers, active users, average order value, and total transaction amount.

From 0:00 to 16:00, over sixteen hours, cumulative orders reached 13.07 million, sales totaled 1.28 billion yuan, with an average order value of 98.1 yuan.

Clearly, Pinbei was no less competitive than Tianmao Mall in selling high-average-order-value goods.

Low-priced and high-priced goods coexisted!

Moreover, the sales output for product categories, brands, and items in both price segments was strong.

“Compared to yesterday’s same time slot, sales grew by only 112.7%. Users are too smart—they’ve all saved their spending for Double Eleven itself.”

Chen Yansen joked with a smile.

Compared to last year’s Double Twelve and this year’s June 18, Pinbei had for the first time extended its presale period to a full month.

It worked—but not much.

‘I wonder how JD is doing?’

Chen Yansen mused inwardly.

Meanwhile.

Liu Qiangdong, stationed at JD’s Beijing headquarters, hung a banner outside his office door reading “Cat Hunting Command Center.”

He and Ma Liyun had always been at odds; similar slogans always appeared during major promotions.

JD’s presale was originally scheduled for October 18, but after Huang Zheng moved Pinbei’s event date forward by one day, he adjusted accordingly to match Pinbei.

“Boss, as of 16:00, sales of major appliances reached 140 million yuan, digital 3C products 210 million yuan, food 97 million yuan, furniture and home decor 84 million yuan…”

Xu Lei reported one by one.

“What’s the total?” Liu Qiangdong interrupted bluntly.

“570 million yuan,” Xu Lei replied quickly.

Major appliances, digital 3C, food, and furniture/home decor accounted for 530 million yuan; the rest—clothing, beauty, shoes and bags, automotive products—totaled only 40 million yuan.

This clearly showed how severely JD was lopsided!

Though billed as a comprehensive e-commerce platform, it was essentially still a “vertical e-commerce site” focused on digital appliances.

"What's the quarter-over-quarter growth rate?" Liu Qiangdong asked again.

“81.9%! Compared to daily sales, the growth is obvious, but it fell short of targets due to insufficient incentives.”

Xu Lei paused briefly, then answered clearly and logically.

Users knew the most discounted day on any e-commerce platform was always Double Eleven; the platforms themselves knew the biggest discounts had to be reserved for that day.

Otherwise, what was the point of calling it a Double Eleven promotion?

Everyone wanted to push GMV up several times, even tenfold, on promotion day—to deliver a satisfying report to investors.

OTPP was considering making a second investment in JD.

Liu Qiangdong dared not falter at this critical moment; even if he had to spend money or incentivize merchants to artificially inflate orders, he had to boost GMV!

“For marketing, add an extra 10 million yuan daily to increase subsidies for digital and home appliances,” Liu Qiangdong said after a long pause, instructing Xu Lei.

“Understood, Boss,” Xu Lei nodded.

He knew this Double Eleven promotion was a crucial milestone for the group.

If they succeeded and secured OTPP’s second round of funding, JD could smoothly navigate the first half of 2013; otherwise, it risked a cash flow collapse.

After securing OTPP’s 400 million USD funding, Liu Qiangdong had built three large logistics hubs in North China, East China, and South China, with first-phase investment reaching 1.2 billion yuan.

At the current burn rate, the 400 million USD would last only until the end of 2012.

‘I wonder how Tianmao Mall and Pinbei are performing?’

Liu Qiangdong squinted, pondering inwardly.

At the same time, Suning’s headquarters in Jin Ling had boldly hung a banner reading “Dog Hunting, Cat Extermination Operations Department.”

(End of Chapter)