Who would still start a business seriously after being reborn?

Chapter 495 Reunion with Young Master Huang (New Moon Seeking Monthly Tickets 0.0)

Software and hardware optimization.

Honor Computer has been researching this for nearly a year. With the assistance of Atari Group in the United States, Honor Computer has solved most of the software and hardware optimization problems and is fully capable of producing branded computers.

However, Momo Group now faces the formidable challenge of Lianxiang Group.

With serious external threats, we absolutely cannot allow internal troubles to arise.

Besides, Momo Group is still nominally part of the IBM camp, making it an ally of Lianxiang Group.

If Honor computers skip the internet cafe-specific version and enter the mass market directly, PC manufacturers like Lianxiang Group will definitely take measures to respond.

Surrounding oneself with enemies on all sides is not the act of a wise person.

We'll focus on optimizing the hardware and software for now, after we've dealt with the external issues. Anyway, the government and enterprise procurement is in October, so it's still early.

Cheng Yi gave a few perfunctory words, then showered Yu Sen and the others with compliments before hurriedly heading to the Momo Technology Building with Li Weiwei.

As soon as he got in the car, Cheng Yi asked, "Has the directory of computer stores in all districts and counties across the country been completed before the New Year?"

Li Weiwei immediately said, "It's done."

"Hmm, what's the situation with Lianjiang Group now?" Cheng Yi asked again.

Li Weiwei immediately said, "I just received the news and was about to report to you. Zhao He has made his move. This morning he held an emergency board meeting, bypassing Chen Hui and forcing Chen Hongwen to step down. However, Chen Zhi disrupted the proceedings, and Chen Hongwen has not yet lost his position as chairman."

Cheng Yi simply hummed in response and looked out the car window.

With Chen Zhi's abilities, it shouldn't be a problem to keep Lianjiang Group going for a while.

He wants to take advantage of this time to get back at Microsoft as soon as possible.

Otherwise, if internal and external troubles arise, it will be difficult to launch an effective offensive.

As for Lianjiang Group, he really wanted to save it, but it was beyond his reach now.

They are all small businesses, and he can barely support himself.

He needs a blitzkrieg to reverse the decline as soon as possible.

Especially at Violet Hill, they are bearing all the pressure from Microsoft. Even Violet Hill's president, Lei Jun, has visibly lost weight, which makes Cheng Yi feel a little sorry for him.

"Notify Shi Lei to come to my office at 9 a.m. on the third day of the Lunar New Year." Cheng Yi's voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable authority.

He turned around, his eyes no longer weary, only cold sharpness remaining: "Also, have the head of the marketing department bring the final image of the XP green version and the promotional package for the Moc-os home version around that time."

“Okay.” Li Weiwei nodded and said, “President Lei of Jinshan has been wanting to see you. Should we inform him to come over?”

Just as Cheng Yi was about to refuse, he suddenly thought of Lei Jun's strengths and couldn't help but smile and say, "Then let's call him and have him come over at that time as well."

"Okay," Li Weiwei replied quickly.

Li Weiwei's office was in the outer room of Cheng Yi's office. After returning to her office, Li Weiwei quickly retrieved a stack of documents and said, "President Cheng, this is our preliminary list of 3685 personal computer stores with technical capabilities. Please take a look."

Li Weiwei placed the documents on Cheng Yi's desk.

Cheng Yi took the document, glanced at it, nodded slowly, and said, "Hmm, quite detailed, not bad."

He glanced at Li Weiwei and laughed, "You alone are worth ten people. I think your year-end bonus this year should be doubled."

Upon hearing Cheng Yi's words, Li Weiwei immediately beamed with joy.

In the past two days, Cheng Yi and Li Weiwei visited many leaders, most of whom were close to Jiang Zhixue and Gao Lifu. On the evening of the second day of the Lunar New Year, Cheng Yi made a special trip to Yantai City to meet with Huang Fei, who was vacationing there.

Although Huang Fei usually acts as if nothing concerns him, he was still very happy to see Cheng Yi come to visit him.

He insisted on having dinner with Cheng Yi and chatted with him for a long time.

Every time Cheng Yi meets Huang Fei, he gains a different understanding of Huang Fei.

It seems that each time he reaches a certain level, his understanding of Huang Fei becomes more thorough.

This Huang Fei is definitely not an ordinary person.

Huang Fei has a low alcohol tolerance, or rather, Huang Fei never drinks excessively because he dislikes the feeling of being drunk.

This is also why Cheng Yi likes to drink with Huang Fei; sometimes, just taking a small sip is enough to have a great time.

They drank and chatted, and after a few rounds of drinks, Huang Fei put down his glass and said with a smile, "Alright, that's enough for now. Let's talk about serious matters."

Cheng Yi put down his wine glass and looked at Huang Fei.

Huang Fei gave Cheng Yi an approving look and laughed, "Life is truly amazing. The first time I met you, you were still riding a bicycle and only owned a small internet cafe. In less than three years, you have grown to this level. Tsk tsk tsk."

Cheng Yi laughed and said, "This is all thanks to Brother Huang's cultivation. With Brother Huang's social circle, he can cultivate anyone just as well as I can."

"Let's skip the formalities now," Huang Fei said with a smile. "The fact that you're sitting here drinking with me means we're practically side by side."

Huang Fei quickly said, "I've heard about your conflict with Microsoft. Have you thought about how to resolve it?"

"I've thought about it," Cheng Yi nodded and said, "I want to take over Microsoft's market share in China."

"Have you thought about the consequences?" Huang Fei asked with a smile.

"I've thought about it," Cheng Yi laughed. "Losing means being utterly destroyed."

"I love your rough-and-tumble spirit." Huang Fei laughed. "Let me give you a heads-up: you can't beat Microsoft in China right now because most of our government and enterprise clients use Microsoft's systems and technical support. I know what you're thinking: you want to compete with Microsoft in government and enterprise procurement."

"Yes." Cheng Yi nodded.

Huang Fei smiled and shook his head, saying, "How do you want to compete? A price war?"

"I've thought about all of that," Cheng Yi said. "I want to start by gradually eroding Microsoft's market share in a few specific areas."

Huang Fei handed Cheng Yi a bottle of mineral water and said with a smile, "Try this water first. It's Kona brine, 3200 yuan a bottle."

Cheng Yi held the ordinary-looking bottle of water, his face showing surprise.

3200 yuan a bottle?
Is this a joke?

"Is it expensive?" Huang Fei asked with a smile.

“Expensive. This is equivalent to three or four months’ salary for an average person.” Cheng Yi nodded. “Not expensive at all.” Huang Fei chuckled. “A bottle of Modigliani mineral water costs 48.”

"You're worth hundreds of millions now, don't look at me with that surprised look," Huang Fei laughed. "Kona brine is in almost impossible to find right now, do you know why?"

"The higher the selling price, the higher the profit margin, and the more commission we give to distributors. With a larger commission, distributors will work harder to sell," Cheng Yi replied.

"Pretty much," Huang Fei laughed. "There are a lot of brokers now. You may seem to be competing with Microsoft, but frankly, you're competing with a group of profit-driven brokers. This isn't like running an internet cafe. Every large company has brokers with strong connections, including your Momo Group. Can you honestly say that no one takes a cut of the goods your group purchases?"

"This is the unspoken rule of businesses; it's the same for all businesses worldwide," Huang Fei said. "For the same product, if it's delivered to your group for 2000 yuan, your purchasing manager can earn 500 yuan. But if it's delivered to your group for 1000 yuan, your purchasing manager might only earn 50 yuan. Everyone is driven by profit. If you were the purchasing manager, what would you choose?"

Huang Fei's words made Cheng Yi look thoughtful.

This is a very real problem.

Huang Fei laughed and said, "Furthermore, even if you offer a large enough profit, no government or enterprise would dare to risk your newly released operating system. If any problems arise, no one can bear the responsibility."

"A drug needs to undergo several years of clinical trials before it can be marketed and used, let alone your commercial system which has only been launched for less than three months."

"Brother Huang, what do you think should be done about this?" Cheng Yi asked Huang Fei.

Since Huang Fei has said so much, he must want to show off. If he solves the problem himself, then Huang Fei will be too insignificant.

Huang Fei was pleased that Cheng Yi had thrown the question back at him. He took a sip of water and said, "My advice to you is to first show strength, then show weakness."

Following Huang Fei's lead, Cheng Yi said, "Brother Huang means to first give Microsoft a good beating, and then use that as leverage to negotiate with Microsoft?"

"Smart." Huang Fei smiled. "First, you create momentum, the bigger the better. Ideally, you should cause internal panic within Microsoft. If you can't do that, I can help you a little. Then, you can take a step back and negotiate with Microsoft on the condition that Microsoft cede the Hantong Province market to you. The condition is that you cease hostilities and your operating system will no longer enter the government and enterprise markets of other provinces and cities."

“In this way, you can use Handong Province as a testing ground with peace of mind. First, learn how to deal with brokers, and then slowly win over the government and enterprise procurement business in Handong Province. As long as Handong Province uses your system for more than a year and it remains stable, I think it will not be difficult to promote it nationwide.” Huang Fei said, “But you must remember that the profit you give to the brokers must be the same as or even higher than that of Microsoft, otherwise you will not be able to make any progress.”

Although Huang Fei's method was the second plan that Cheng Yi had already prepared to implement, the result was completely different when Huang Fei said it.

Cheng Yi feigned gratitude and said, "Brother Huang, I felt like I was worth a billion dollars during this meal today. If I hadn't come here, I'm afraid I would have gone down the wrong path."

Huang Fei laughed and said, "You just lack social experience. You'll gradually understand this society. Once you understand it, you'll be successful all over the world, because the whole world is just a makeshift operation."

"The punch you're about to deliver has to make Microsoft feel the pain. If you can't do it or feel that your punch isn't powerful enough, just call me, and I can help you create some minor trouble for Microsoft," Huang Fei said with a smile.

"Okay." Cheng Yi said gratefully, "If I really get to that point, I will definitely call Brother Huang."

"Here, try this 3200-yuan bottle of water." Huang Fei unscrewed the cap of the mineral water and laughed, "This bottle of mineral water is worth six bottles of Moutai. When Moutai finally realizes this and raises the price to 3200 yuan a bottle, they'll be able to make it big."

"Then we'll have to taste it carefully." Cheng Yi also unscrewed his bottle of mineral water, poured himself a glass, and took a sip.

"What does it taste like?" Huang Fei asked with a smile.

"You can smell money everywhere you look," Cheng Yi remarked.

"Hahaha, how vulgar!" Huang Fei laughed heartily.

After the dinner ended at 9:20 p.m., Cheng Yi stood up and said with a smile, "Brother Huang, it's getting late, I won't keep you from resting any longer."

"Okay." Huang Fei nodded and said, "Then I won't see you off."

"Brother Huang, please wait a moment." Cheng Yi smiled and left Huang Fei's club.

As he walked out of the club, he saw that there were still quite a few people waiting nearby.

"President Cheng? No wonder Young Master Huang kept saying we had a distinguished guest." Cheng Yi was about to get into his car when he heard someone shout from not far away.

By the light of the streetlamp, he took a closer look at the man.

It looks somewhat familiar, but I don't remember it very well.

Upon seeing Cheng Yi frown, the man quickened his pace and said with a smile, "Mr. Cheng, do you not recognize me? I am Pan Sicong."

Pan Sicong?

Cheng Yi suddenly realized.

Pan Sicong, Vice President of the Yantai Municipal Government Affairs Association.

When they held the Internet Cafe Industry Green Paper in Yantai City, Pan Sicong was the highest-ranking guest at the time.

"President Pan, I'm sorry, the streetlights are too dim." Cheng Yi quickly went up to him, shook Pan Sicong's hand, and said with a smile, "Cheng Yi wishes President Pan a Happy New Year."

"You're too kind." Pan Sicong lowered his posture even further, grasped Cheng Yi's hands with both of them, and said with a smile, "I led a team to visit your group before, but President Cheng was not here."

Cheng Yi laughed and said, "I spend most of my time studying at school. Next time Chairman Pan goes there, you must call me in advance."

Cheng Yi took out a business card and handed it to Pan Sicong.

Cheng Yi once gave Pan Sicong a business card, but at that time Cheng Yi's status was too low, and Pan Sicong casually threw it to his secretary. By the time he wanted to get Cheng Yi's phone number again, the business card had long since disappeared.

Cheng Yi exchanged pleasantries with Pan Sicong. Upon hearing that Pan Sicong had been promoted to the position of president of the Yantai Municipal Government Affairs Association, Cheng Yi was somewhat surprised.

This is considered the number one person in Iwata City.

"President Cheng, I'll be going to Jingzhou City later. Let's get together then. I'll go and wish Young Master Huang a Happy New Year first." Pan Sicong shook hands with Cheng Yi again, appearing very friendly.

"Okay." Cheng Yi said with a smile, "President Pan is welcome to come and inspect at any time."

Cheng Yi watched as Pan Sicong entered Huang Fei's club before getting into his car.

"President Cheng, how did the talks go?" Li Weiwei, who had been waiting outside, immediately came over and asked.

"We've had a great haul. Let's get in the car first." Cheng Yi smiled and got in first.

Huang Fei had a rule when receiving guests: he only received the host family members, and the host family members' assistants and secretaries were not allowed to enter his club.

On the way back, Cheng Yi carefully recalled Huang Fei's words.

Indeed, price is a crucial factor for a product to reach a global market.

Simply focusing on involutionary pricing will only lead to a narrower and narrower path, ultimately resulting in self-destruction.

Microsoft's office software costs several thousand dollars a year, yet it remains the most widely used office software globally. WPS, on the other hand, has even expanded beyond China's borders, despite its price dropping to a few dozen dollars.

Just like Huang Fei's soul-searching question: If you were a purchasing agent, which one would you be willing to sell?
(End of this chapter)