Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Preparing for the challenges ahead in Chapter 229
I spent a day in Shenzhen.

I went to the company to check on the progress of the mobile phone development.

The back design renderings, after Chen Xuebing's constant criticism and demands for revisions, have reached a version that satisfies him.

That ethereal cloud is much larger than the Apple logo that Chen Xuebing originally copied, but it looks more sophisticated. As the logo for the "Tao" series, it will continue to be passed down.

The scales on its back, the side button tail pattern, and the array of claw marks on the speaker represent the symbols of the first-generation mythical beast "Qilin". The second-generation mythical beast will be redesigned based on the appearance of the mythical beast.

This picture finally made Chen Xuebing think: Amazing.

The design team was also very proud: We have created a groundbreaking design!
However, Changying Precision, which was responsible for realizing the appearance, said: You guys are really something. It's easy to draw on CAD, but to make the scale pattern so futuristic, who the hell can produce it?

Singularity Technology continues to increase its funding.

They only agreed to try to make a similar version after we kept raising the price from 160 yuan per piece to 220 yuan per piece, but it would definitely not be wear-resistant, and the glass for the logo part could not be made. The only way to achieve the clarity and gloss of the pattern is to use in-mold labeling.

Chen Xuebing instructed that the requirements for the scale pattern effect could be lowered somewhat, but the logo part must have a high-quality feel; if that wasn't possible, they should find other manufacturers to work together to find a solution.

As for system development.
In fact, by now, it has reached a stage that Chen Xuebing can no longer understand. The integration of Qidian's UI system with Marvell's chip requires the support of many underlying drivers and hardware abstraction layers. The chip manufacturer needs to provide basic firmware for adaptation. However, the chip manufacturer is also conducting research and development, so the two sides need to communicate in real time, exchanging about a dozen emails every day. Lin Bin, the core person in charge of the UI, is neither in Marvell nor in China. Lin Bin often needs to talk to Malvell in China for more than an hour every day.

Fortunately, Lin Bin should be back soon.

He found a Chinese man named Yao Jian at IDIAP in Switzerland. Yao Jian was a postdoctoral researcher at the institute, specializing in computer vision, image processing, face modeling and rendering, and visual monitoring.

The other party completed his master's degree in China and then went to Europe from Hong Kong to continue his studies. He plans to return to China and said that the professor who researched multi-touch digital services in his early years has retired. He can help contact him and they are currently in contact.

Lin Bin wanted to dig them both back together.

When Chen Xuebing heard about facial modeling, he was immediately interested and said he had to take it on.

However, Yao Jian said that image analysis research requires at least two laboratories, one for hardware research and one for algorithm research, and the equipment investment may be considerable.

Millions of Swiss francs.

Chen Xuebing pressed for details about the exact number, and Lin Bin replied that it was at least five.

five million.

The Swiss franc is close to the US dollar in exchange rate, 1:6.5.

More than 30 million RMB.

Chen Xuebing calmly told Lin Bin that they should recruit the person first.

He only started touching his forehead after hanging up the phone.

This is only the first self-developed project besides chips, and the equipment alone costs 30 million.

It seems like they don't treat money like money at all, like some kind of shady bank, with seven or eight zeros at the drop of a hat.

This research was conducted in a targeted manner, and the process produced almost no meaningless waste. If it were domestic mobile phone manufacturers who couldn't see the future direction at all, who knows how much money they would have to burn to produce a high-end phone.

However, he believes that after the first generation of Singularity phones is launched, all manufacturers will soon unify their R&D directions.

All of Singularity Technology's current efforts are aimed at thoroughly spoiling the tastes of consumers in this market of 13 billion people.

He only stayed for one day before receiving a phone call and rushed back to Chongqing on Tuesday night.

On Wednesday noon, the people from Pangdonglai arrived in Chongqing after a day and a night of travel.

When Chen Xuebing arrived at the highway exit to pick them up, Yu Donglai had already organized a group of people to stand by the roadside, with himself acting as the conductor, and more than twenty people singing in unison.

"After seeing off the Red Army, this group descended the mountain, the autumn wind and drizzle were so gentle and lingering."

"Three times we sent off the Red Army, this one went to Nashan, the corn on the mountain, this one is bright red."

It was a very long song, "Ten Farewell Songs to the Red Army." Chen Xuebing stood aside and listened to them finish singing it before Yu Donglai came over and said with great emotion:
"Mr. Chen! These are all the elites of our store! I told them to come to Chongqing, stay for three years, and do their jobs well! Some employees discussed with their partners and were willing to leave, and we accepted them all. There are six couples who came together! They've placed all their family's hopes on Pang Donglai! So there are a total of 21 employees who came this time. I'll be traveling between the two places from now on, so if they have any difficulties that I can't solve while I'm away, please take care of them!"

Chen Xuebing patted his arm: "Focus on running the store well. With our Gu'an Group here, you won't be able to stand being wronged. But we'll be opening bigger stores later. Do you have enough manpower? Can the newly recruited employees meet your requirements?"

"Hey!" Yu Donglai waved to the crowd: "Guan Na, come here!"

A capable-looking woman with short hair walked by.

"This is my long-time employee of eight years! She is responsible for developing the CQ market and recruiting and training local employees. We have also started rotating new employees in Zhengzhou and Xinxiang. The requirements for employee quality are even stricter than before. They cannot start working without three months of training!"

Guan Na smiled and shook hands with Chen Xuebing, saying confidently, "Don't worry, Mr. Chen. If I, Guan Na, can't solve something, neither can Chen Xuebing, Yu. No matter how good we are to our employees, we will never joke around while working. Especially when a new store opens, management will be strict at first and then lenient. We will not relax until everyone is self-disciplined. The spirit of Pang Donglai will definitely blossom in Chongqing!"

Her words were blunt, and Yu Donglai laughed and chimed in, "The women in our company are even fiercer than the men!"

Chen Xuebing recognized her; this woman sat second to Yu Donglai on the day of the negotiation and signing. Judging from her seating arrangement, she must be an important figure. Old Yu had truly sent out his best and brightest.

"Okay, then I'll take you under my wing, Mr. Guan. Just give me a call if you need anything."

"Hey! I, Lao Yu, haven't left yet! Recognize me first! I've already asked my wife for two months off. I'll go back after I've set up this shop!"

First, they went to Jiangbeizui to see the land that Chen Xuebing had bought. Then, the group looked around several shopping malls in Chongqing that were available for rent. Yu Donglai still preferred the Three Gorges Square in Shapingba.

Shapingba is located in the southwest of the main urban area, and is quite far from Jiangbeizui, about ten kilometers away. According to Dong, this area will not be affected by the large stores in the future.

Currently, the foot traffic here is even greater than that of Jiangbeizui.

A digital plaza vacated its premises, but it was relatively small, only about 8,000 square meters, spread over three floors, which they felt was sufficient.

In reality, apart from Chen Xuebing, no one would dare to open a supermarket with 70,000 to 80,000 square meters these days. A typical supermarket for ordinary people's livelihood is considered large at 2,000 square meters, with a service radius of at least one kilometer. Even in this bustling urban area, Beijing Hualian is only 5,000 to 6,000 square meters.

It's over 70,000 square meters, four floors, arranged in a ring shape. Each floor has a circumference of four or five hundred meters. It would take a normal person more than six minutes to walk around aimlessly, and more than twenty minutes to walk through the entire store without stopping, let alone browsing.

Chen Xuebing's plan is to have most of the stores be self-operated and only a small portion leased out. Even outside businesses must sign contracts with Pang Donglai. This is fundamentally different from ordinary shopping malls that lease out spaces. The goal is to ensure that customers of every store can enjoy Pang Donglai's after-sales service.

In other words, Chen Xuebing set ambitious goals, aiming to gradually transform the production lines of some enterprises to specifically serve Pang Donglai. Pang Donglai also intended to expand its self-operated business, adding arcades, children's playgrounds, cinemas, food sections, tea shops, clothing stores, pharmacies, bookstores, gold and silver jewelry, and wedding supplies sections, which is why it dared to take on such an extravagant store a year later.

This is a great challenge for Pang Donglai, but also a step forward.

Once the large store opens, it will undoubtedly have a huge impact on the entire retail industry in Chongqing, so this store must be located far away.

So the first small shop was to build a reputation and let people get familiar with Pang Donglai's services.

As for the Three Gorges Square, it already has Beijing Hualian Department Store, New Century Department Store, and Suning.com, which almost completely cover their product categories, but they don't care at all, saying that competition makes them feel a sense of urgency.

It has to be said that although Lao Yu has a kind face, he is still somewhat aggressive at heart.

However, Yu Donglai had already identified several self-operated products that could be quickly launched from the production and sales categories of those companies and factories, involving about ten factories. He said he wanted to go and check on those factories as soon as possible. Chen Xuebing said there was no rush, they were still reorganizing, and he should give him another half month to gather all the business owners for a meeting so he could meet them all at once. The reorganization that Chen Xuebing was referring to meant that the law firm he had hired would first visit them, and if that failed, he would hire a loan shark named Huang Qiang to come and intimidate them.

Huang Qiang, nicknamed "Golden Qiang," is an "old-timer" who used to have a fierce reputation and his own territory. However, he was taken down by a group of rising stars in the underworld, so he stopped protecting his territory and started collecting debts for others.

There are too many ruthless people in Chongqing's underworld. Chen Xuebing could indirectly contact several groups, but he specifically chose these guys who were all bark and no bite. He only wanted to scare them a little, and he would never allow any physical violence. He didn't want to get involved when the crackdown on organized crime was underway.

However, the bank's approach of replacing the thugs was actually effective; even just a few harsh words at their doorstep had an effect.

Some people are afraid of tattoos but not suits.

We have already recovered more than 800 million yuan, and some people have signed agreements to repay the money within a specified timeframe.

Some business owners with strong tempers not only refused to pay back the money and consult with lawyers, but also tried to hire people to beat up Huang Qiang. As a result, they were completely blacklisted by Chen Xuebing, and the rest can only be dealt with slowly through administrative and legal means.

He'll remember the money he owed the soldier for the rest of his life.

He considers himself a good person, but he is definitely not a kind person.

Once this is done, a number of companies will be completely eliminated, most people will be more obedient, and there will be less resistance to integration.

The group was still conducting research in Shapingba when Xu Jin called at 2:40 PM.

"They've finally made their move; they're dumping a lot of shares."

"Did it hit the daily limit down?"

"It hit the daily limit down, but luckily we launched a surprise attack in the closing auction yesterday and managed to prop it up a bit, closing at 2.65 yuan. Today, the daily limit down price only reached 2.38 yuan, which is still below our first safety line, so we can hold on for another day."

"One day is enough. There's no need to resist. I'll be back soon."

When Chen Xuebing returned to the company, the stock market had already closed.

BOE's price was fixed at the daily limit down price of 2.38 yuan.

Even Xu Jin's expression looked a little off.

"The sell-off is huge. I've been tracking their usual selling tactics these past few days. They've sold at least 300 million shares. Today, they just dumped 50 million shares, bringing the market to a halt in minutes. They still have 200 million shares hanging on the trees. They have a high degree of control over the market. They must have bought back the shares they dumped before. That's why they have so many shares and are willing to lose money like this against us. What kind of grudge do they hold?"

“We treat stocks as a tool to make money, while they bet their lives on stocks, so their competitive spirit is naturally different. However, even if they succeed in taking me down, they won’t lose money,” Chen Xuebing said.

There are many calculations involved in this game.

Currently, BOE's total share capital has reached 28.5 billion after the share issuance in Hefei, of which 6.3 million are non-restricted shares.

Chen Xuebing still has 40 million shares, all of which were acquired during this period. He bought them for 100 million yuan at an average price of around 2.7, which helped them control a portion of the circulating shares.

There are fewer than 6 million shares on the market.

Today, 100 million shares were sold off at once, and there are still more than 200 million sell orders at the limit down price. Some of these are panic selling, but investors who haven't sold their shares since the price of BOE fell from 3.5 yuan to today probably believe that the major shareholders are shaking out weak hands. Even if the price drops to the limit down price, they won't panic much, and the low price will attract a lot of buying.

Therefore, they control at least half of the market.

Since it's highly controlled, it's relatively easy to buy back shares after the price drops and then pull it back up. As long as enough shares are bought at low prices, not only will you not lose money, but you'll make a huge profit.

However, Xu Xiang couldn't possibly guess how much money Chen Xuebing had, no matter how hard he racked his brains.

Chen Xuebing subconsciously glanced at the time and then laughed, "He's probably taken all the shares from the minority shareholders, right? It's Wednesday today. It seems we guessed right. They're trying to force me to the liquidation line before the holiday and use this holiday period to have someone kill me."

"They had no choice. The stock market has been doing well recently, and BOE has some good news, but it has been suppressed. Investors are very skeptical, and the resistance is not weak. If they try to suppress confidence by keeping the market sideways for a long time, they will probably lose even more. They can only sell off quickly and cause a series of technical breakdowns to create panic."

Xu Jin laughed as he spoke, feeling a little sorry for the person opposite him.

They shorted BOE Technology Group, but it just so happened to coincide with a period of continuous price increases. In order to suppress some skeptical investors, they probably spent a lot of extra money.

Chen Xuebing disagreed with this statement.

What kind of good market is this? If this were next year's market, I probably wouldn't even need to lift a finger; the other side would be forced to surrender by the investors.

"Tomorrow, we'll feign resistance at 2:30 and see what happens. If they continue to push the price down, we'll wait until it drops to 0.5% of the previous limit down before we buy in completely," Chen Xuebing instructed.

Xu Jin was taken aback: "Won't it close at the daily limit down? Even if it hits the daily limit down tomorrow, it won't be at our safety line. They'll definitely place orders at the daily limit down. Losing money is a loss! Why should we lose 0.5%?"

They acquired BOE at 2.45 yuan, incurred a 13% loss, and that's when Chen Xuebing's forced liquidation line, which is 2.13 yuan, came to a head.

Although reaching the liquidation line will not immediately trigger a margin call auction, Friday is April 28th, the stock market will be closed on the weekend of the 29th and 30th, followed by the May Day holiday.

These days, May Day is still seven days long, making it almost 10 days in total.

That's a long enough time for them to incite investors to come to him for money.

The 8 million yuan investment, apart from Xinhua Capital, was made by investors all based in Shanghai.

If investors panic and are persuaded, they might demand that Southwest Securities proceed with the legal process, forcing Southwest Securities to hand over the property to the court for auction according to the agreement.

Once the process begins, the investor is at a disadvantage. Even if the stock price is brought back up, the investor can still demand an auction according to the agreement.

At the time, Chen Xuebing had offended someone in Shanghai and was still a little panicked. He immediately contacted Wang Dongsheng and learned that Wang was still in Hefei and that only a few people in Hefei knew the original contract price. So he asked BOE to issue a fake announcement showing that Changzheng Capital participated in the share issuance at 2.65 yuan, which was 0.2 yuan higher than the actual price of 2.45 yuan. The liquidation line then became 2.30 yuan.

It can trick the other party into giving it some breathing room at 2:30.

This was originally an emergency measure, but now it doesn't matter anymore. He has returned to Chongqing, where his funds have been greatly replenished, and he is fully capable of facing the challenge head-on.

If the stock price continues to plummet below 2.30 tomorrow, just have Wang Dongsheng investigate his colleagues in Hefei.

In Xu Jin's eyes, the real safety line was the two minutes of closing auction yesterday when he pushed the stock price up to 2.65. Today it hit the daily limit down at 2.38, and even if it hits the daily limit down again tomorrow, it will only be 2.14, which is one cent higher than the liquidation line of 2.13.

In this way, they are absolutely safe on Thursday and can even do nothing. On Friday, the stock price will be pushed even lower, and they can buy in at an even lower price, pushing it up to above 2.14 before the close, thus ensuring the binding force of the agreement on investors during the holiday period.

Xu Jin wanted to earn more money, so he deliberately caused trouble yesterday.

Chen Xuebing, however, had a completely different idea.

"Two yuan and a little over, the price is already low enough. We are in charge of the money, so let's not play with the investors' hearts and there's no need to push them so hard. I still need to keep them as shareholders of BOE to help us raise the stock price."

As he spoke, he walked to the window, looked at Jiangbeizui across the Jialing River where construction was in full swing, and a smile appeared on his lips.

"A single punch can prevent a hundred more. Making money is enough; there's no point in wasting too much energy on these pointless disputes. The last 0.5% we have tomorrow is our space to demonstrate our strength. After this, no one will dare to undermine us again. Without these worries, let's focus on running our business."

(End of this chapter)