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Chapter 340, Chapter 0337: [Bragging on TV]

Chen Guiliang doesn't need to contact the media proactively; every time he makes a fuss, the media will contact him.

However, Chen Guiliang mostly refuses to appear on camera, only occasionally accepting interviews with newspapers and magazines. He used to only appear on television programs when selling books.

This time, Chen Guiliang first chose "One Tiger, One Seat".

Besides its high ratings and influence, the show's interesting content even attracted Rong Xiuli, the founder of Tianyu Mobile.

If Chen Guiliang doesn't appear on the show, Rong Xiuli will appear alone. If Chen Guiliang is willing to appear, the two of them will appear together, and then guests and the audience will be asked to predict which smartphone brand will be more successful.

Chen Guiliang wanted to promote his mobile phone, and Rong Xiuli had the same goal.

Because Tianyu Mobile just received 5.3 million yuan in financing, it wants to change its image of only making low-end phones, and is making mid-to-high-end feature phones while focusing on developing smartphones.

When the show was being recorded in Beijing, Dou Wentao made a special trip to sit for a while when Chen Guiliang arrived, and casually invited (or rather, tricked) Chen Guiliang into recording "Qiang Qiang San Ren Xing".

"Let's chat about anything, shall we? I'll invite Yan Danchen over too, and the three of us old friends can have another chat." Dou Wentao switched to using his charm.

Chen Guiliang smiled and said, "I'll see when I'm free."

He still kept in touch with Yan Danchen, but only by exchanging text messages during holidays. Usually, Yan Danchen would send a holiday greeting, and Chen Guiliang would simply reply with a casual message.

Chen Guiliang introduced Yan Danchen to directors like Feng Xiaogang and Shang Jing, which helped her land some roles. However, the roles were usually mediocre; she couldn't even get a second female lead, let alone a lead role.

Yan Danchen is too beautiful, which has left a stereotype of her as just a pretty face. She herself is unwilling to "put in the effort" and does not have a big company to promote her, so she can only play supporting roles as the third, fourth, or fifth female lead to gain some recognition.

Shortly after, several guests walked in.

Professor Lang also arrived and took the initiative to shake hands with Chen Guiliang: "President Chen, please don't mind. When I make programs, I focus on the issues, not the people. I'm just rationally and objectively analyzing some phenomena."

"Not at all, Professor Lang, please feel free to speak, as long as you don't make personal attacks." Chen Guiliang was actually quite unhappy. If Professor Lang went any further, he would definitely retort on the spot and relentlessly attack him.

In addition to Professor Lang, Professor Ji from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications was also among the guests.

In addition to his regular research and teaching, Professor Ji is also a seasoned science fiction enthusiast.

He later strongly advocated for universities to add science fiction education to stimulate the imagination of science and engineering students. He also participated in the establishment of the "China Science Fiction Communication and Future Industry Professional Committee" and served as its vice chairman.

It's quite sci-fi that this thing could become a national second-level academic society under the China Association for Science and Technology.

Soon after, Rong Xiuli arrived, saying something similar to Professor Lang's. She stated that appearing on television was all for promotional purposes, and that even if people argued fiercely on screen, they could still be friends off-camera.

The host, Hu Yihu, ran over and explained the program's flow to everyone in detail.

The script for the program had already been distributed. Professor Lang supported Rong Xiuli, Professor Ji supported Chen Guiliang, and the audience was free to improvise.

In addition, everyone only has a very rough script, and the specific way to speak is up to the guests themselves.

What impressed Chen Guiliang most about the program was Professor Zhai's debate with a group of scholars. Facing a barrage of attacks from a group of scholars, Professor Zhai held his own, and many of his predictions came true ten years later.

The program has officially started recording.

Hu Yihu first introduced the two professors, and then invited Professor Lang and Professor Ji to take their seats.

Then Chen Guiliang and Rong Xiuli were introduced.

"Today's program is different from the past. Instead of having affirmative and negative sides, we will have red and blue sides."

"Now, please welcome our guest from the red team, the 'Queen of Mobile Phones,' Rong Xiuli! Born into an ordinary working-class family in Henan Province, she was admitted to Hunan University in 1979 and won the Hunan Provincial University Sprint Championship for three consecutive years... After graduation, she was assigned to work as an engineer at a tractor research institute..."

"When she founded Tianyu Langtong in 2002, it had no mobile phone license, no R&D experience, and no mobile phone production capacity... This company with no resources has now become a leading domestic mobile phone manufacturer. Tianyu mobile phones' sales last year were second only to Nokia!"

Standing backstage in the studio, listening to the host's introduction of Rong Xiuli, Chen Guiliang couldn't help but sigh at the tolerance of public opinion towards celebrities these days.

Damn it, this company doesn't have a mobile phone license, yet it's been illegally selling counterfeit phones for years, and they actually talk about it publicly. Not only is it not criticized, but it's even considered an inspirational story!

If this happened more than ten years from now, he would have been criticized by netizens to the point of becoming withdrawn.

"Next, please welcome our guest from the Blue Team, Chen Guiliang, a Web 2.0 prodigy! He was born in a rural area of ​​southern Sichuan and became a left-behind child at a very young age... In early 2004, one of his competition essays amazed everyone and attracted fierce competition from universities across the country..."

"After entering Peking University, he didn't specialize in literature as the media predicted. Instead, right after finishing his military training, he used his royalties to register a company... Now, his ByteDance has grown into a giant in China's social networking site market and has successfully listed on NASDAQ in the United States. His game, Game Science... 'Future Era' has held the third position on various online game charts for six consecutive months..."

As Chen Guiliang walked into the studio, he waved to the audience on both sides.

"Ooh ooh ooh~~~"

Many student spectators cheered and jeered.

Unlike CCTV's "Dialogue," which features many middle-aged women, the audience of "One on One" consists mainly of high school students, university students, teachers, white-collar workers, and civil servants. Their speeches are more rational and organized.

Hu Yi laughed and said, "Mr. Chen truly lives up to his reputation as a youth idol, with many audience members cheering him on. Does Ms. Rong feel any pressure?"

Rong Xiuli said, "I'm not here to argue today. We won't fight to the death."

“Well said,” Hu Yi said. “One side is a domestic mobile phone giant, and the other is an SNS website hegemon. They both announced the development of smartphones at the same time. Whose smartphone will sell better? Now, let the audience vote!”

About 80% of the student audience supported Chen Guiliang, while the non-student audience overwhelmingly supported Rong Xiuli.

“Very good, almost half and half,” Hu Yihu said.

The host was clearly talking nonsense; at least 70% of the audience members supported Rong Xiuli!
Hu Yihu then said to Professor Lang, "Professor Lang, you raised the red card. Why do you think Tianyu smartphones will sell better?" Professor Lang replied, "What can Mr. Chen Guiliang's HarmonyOS Technology offer right now? Meizu announced its entry into the smartphone market, at least they have software and hardware teams and mature sales channels. HarmonyOS Technology is not even as good as Meizu, let alone the domestic mobile phone giant Tianyu."

Professor Ji retorted, "Back when Ms. Rong was making mobile phones, she was also from an unlicensed company, but she still succeeded, didn't she?"

Professor Lang said, "Although Ms. Rong had no business or resources back then, she had ten years of experience as a mobile phone distributor. She was familiar with the mobile phone production process, and selling mobile phones was her forte. Has Mr. Chen ever sold mobile phones? He has never sold mobile phones, nor has he ever sold any other physical goods. He has only sold virtual products."

Hu Yihu said, "Mr. Chen Guiliang has raised his placard. Mr. Chen, please speak!"

Chen Guiliang picked up the microphone and said with a smile, "Let me correct you. I did sell physical Three Kingdoms Kill cards; that was the only source of income for my two companies at the beginning."

Rong Xiuli said, "There is a big difference between game cards and mobile phones."

Chen Guiliang said, "In my opinion, there's no difference. We add content based on what users need. If users don't know what they need, we create content that they might be interested in. Then we sell it. It's that simple."

Rong Xiuli asked, "How much research and development funding do you plan to invest in HarmonyOS phones?"

"The first batch of funds is 5000 million yuan," Chen Guiliang said.

Rong Xiuli shook her head: "It's far from enough. When I was making mobile phones, I also wanted to do self-developed technology. I was selling knock-off phones while doing self-developed technology, and as a result, I lost 8000 million yuan in a year. Without strong financial strength, it is impossible to succeed in self-developed mobile phones. Tianyu dared to develop its own smartphone this time because it has received more than 5 million yuan in financing."

As she spoke, Rong Xiuli began her advertising campaign: "We have been working hard on research and development for the past two years. In addition to developing our own smartphones, we are also developing our own traditional mid-to-high-end phones. Our development strategy for the next few years is to transform into a mid-to-high-end brand. I believe that Chinese people are no less intelligent than foreigners, and domestic mobile phones can also achieve high-end status."

The host, Hu Yihu, led the audience in applause.

Chen Guiliang said, "The head of Motorola's Beijing Research Institute has joined HarmonyOS Technology with 47 core team members. Three top professors from Peking University, Tsinghua University, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have also formed a joint research institute with HarmonyOS Technology. We have a strong R&D team."

Rong Xiuli was taken aback: "Do you have enough 5000 million yuan to pay their salaries?"

Instead of answering directly, Chen Guiliang began promoting his phone: "Why can HarmonyOS attract so many talents? Because we all have dreams. Dreams are not just empty slogans, but must be put into practice."

Chen Guiliang said to the camera: "Hereby I solemnly announce that our self-developed HarmonyOS smartphone system will be made freely available to all domestic and foreign mobile phone manufacturers and third-party application companies! As long as you are willing to join, you can use HarmonyOS freely. Our goal is not only to create a domestic smartphone brand, but also to build an open and free global smartphone ecosystem."

Professor Ji, a seasoned science fiction enthusiast, who was initially only participating out of obligation, is now genuinely interested: "Mr. Chen's approach demonstrates remarkable technological imagination. I believe this is something a great company should possess. With this, perhaps due to other shortcomings, it may not truly become a great company. But without this, it certainly cannot become a great company."

Rong Xiuli was completely astonished; she had two plans working on simultaneously. One was to use MediaTek solutions to make smartphones, and the other was to develop her own mobile operating system.

First, they used MediaTek's solution to enter the market, then they built barriers with their self-developed system. Tianyu's self-developed mobile phone system is absolutely not something any third party can interfere with.

What's with Chen Guiliang directly opening the system?

This has exceeded Rong Xiuli's imagination!
Even with her years of experience in the business world, she was momentarily at a loss for words.

If you drop your words, someone has to catch them.

Professor Lang quickly stepped in to salvage the situation: "You've spent so much money on R&D, yet you're directly releasing the system. How are you going to build a moat around HarmonyOS phones? How are you going to compete with other phone manufacturers? And how are you going to explain this to investors? As far as I know, ByteDance's stock price has already fallen below its IPO price."

Chen Guiliang replied, "HarmonyOS phones don't rely on a self-developed system. Our goal is to provide users with the best experience. Smooth operation and no malfunctions are the basic requirements. We also rely on various ingenious design solutions to make users feel happy, comfortable, and proud when using the phone."

Rong Xiuli quickly replied, "Anyone can do this, but it's very difficult to do it well. Tianyu Mobile has always been committed to this, which is why we've been able to stand out from so many domestic brands and even outsell those foreign brands. We have the experience and the attitude, and we believe we can deliver the smartphone that best meets the needs of our users!"

Chen Guiliang pointed to his head and said, "I have plenty of creative ideas in my head. I also know exactly what kind of phones users want. Just like with SNS websites, the features I create are something that Koreans and Americans have to obediently imitate."

Rong Xiuli said, "Creativity doesn't necessarily translate to commercial success. There's a difference between making mobile phones and making websites."

Chen Guiliang asked with a smile, "Ms. Rong thinks that developing website functions doesn't require technical support? I have many more website ideas, but I can't make them because of technical limitations. Let's make a bet here."

"What kind of bet?" Rong Xiuli asked.

Chen Guiliang said, "I bet that after the HarmonyOS phone is released, Tianyu will take the initiative to seek cooperation and pay to use some of the HarmonyOS phone's design. Do you dare to bet?"

Rong Xiuli hadn't expected this situation to arise, and was now caught in a dilemma.

"Bet! Bet! Bet~~~~"

The audience, always eager for excitement, swarmed around the scene and started jeering, bringing the atmosphere of the recording to its peak.

Rong Xiuli asked, "What's the prize for winning or losing?"

Chen Guiliang said, "Gambling is illegal, so I definitely can't gamble for money. If I win, Ms. Rong will publish articles in three provincial-level or higher newspapers for a week, acknowledging that I am a big shot in the mobile phone industry. The opposite is also true."

"Okay, it's a deal." Rong Xiuli roughly understood that this was a publicity stunt.

Regardless of who wins or loses, the HarmonyOS and Tianyu smartphones, which are still in the research and development stage, will receive tremendous public attention.

"One on One" has a very high viewership rating, and the memorable quotes from the show are frequently cited by newspapers and websites.

Hu Yihu said, "Okay, let's vote again now. Please raise your signs to support either the red team or the blue team."

The show involves several rounds of voting, and the performance of both sides in the debate influences the support of the live audience.

One by one, the signs were raised.

In the first round of voting, Chen Guiliang only had 30% support, but now he has 60% of the audience's support.

Following this, Hu Yihu invited audience members to speak. They could express their opinions or freely question Chen Guiliang and Rong Xiuli.

An audience member stood up: "I'm a middle school teacher. Mr. Chen Guiliang, you've been very successful with your websites and games. How did you come up with so many correct ideas and decisions? Now that you've switched to making mobile phones, aren't you afraid of failing miserably?"

(End of this chapter)