Rebirth 05: From Coal Mine Owner to Mobile Phone Tycoon

"Wang Defa, 42 years old this year, is the short, fat, dark-skinned man. He is the owner of Dongxing Electronics Trading Company. He doesn't own many stores, only 5 in the entire city of Shenzhen."

Three of them are in Huaqiangbei, one is in the city center, and one is in the university town. However, its main business is not in store sales, but in brand wholesale, especially for some Korean brands, such as Samsung and LG.

Many agents and distributors who cannot obtain authorization from these brands will come to him to get the goods.

Li Jiajun is the owner of Jiajun Mobile Phone Supermarket chain store. Despite having "Jun" in his name, he looks much older than his age. He is 34 years old this year but looks like he is 43. He owns more stores than any of the three people, and probably more than anyone else in our area.

There are nearly 30 stores of all sizes, with more than a dozen in Huaqiangbei alone. They mainly deal in products that overlap with our business, focusing on counterfeit and assembled mobile phones.

In addition, he has good relationships with several major contract manufacturers, making him arguably the strongest on paper.

The last one is named Zhao Chuanyi. He was among the first batch of distributors among all of us.

Everyone in the circle calls him Old Zhao. Don't be fooled by his cheerful and harmless appearance; his background is incredibly mysterious, and his strength is not to be underestimated.

It's said that he can get any mobile phone available on the market, including brands and models not officially sold here. If you want grey market goods (specifically referring to overseas resellers bringing them back to China to circumvent customs), he can definitely get it done.

As for his shops, he doesn't have many; he only has two. After all, many of the businesses he does can't be discussed in physical stores.

Liang Shouyi finished speaking in one breath and then took a big gulp of tea.

Lu Yuan listened carefully, his brows furrowing slightly; he felt this was indeed a bit tricky.

"So, Mr. Liang, what do you think the three of them will do next?"

"This..." Liang Shouyi looked troubled.

"It's alright, Mr. Liang, you're just guessing casually, and I'm just listening casually. It doesn't matter if we guess wrong. We can make bold guesses and verify them carefully."

Liang Shouyi kept stroking the rim of the cup, deep in thought.

"Well, based on my understanding of them, I think they will voluntarily give up their business in Huaqiangbei and concentrate their resources on other parts of Shenzhen, forming an encirclement around you and trapping you in Huaqiangbei."

"Does Mr. Liang mean they will voluntarily close the store? To buy time with space?"

"It's very possible, but the situation isn't too bad right now. It's like playing Go. If you can keep even one store in other parts of Shenzhen, it's like a cornered piece has gained some life force, and the cornered piece can live! Otherwise, you can only wait to die."

Lu Yuan nodded repeatedly as he listened. The problems pointed out by Elder Liang were indeed incisive, and the suggestions he gave were very pertinent.

It's important to understand that unlike Lu Yuan, Old Liang doesn't have the experience of someone who's been there or the perspective of God.

If the business cannot expand beyond Huaqiangbei, Lu Yuan will face his own downfall before the arrival of the 3G era and the advent of smartphones.

Thinking of the mobile internet and smartphones of the future, Lu Yuan sighed silently. There was still so much he needed to prepare in advance.

"Thank you, Professor Liang. I have truly benefited greatly today."

"Xiao Lu, we all admire you for what you've achieved at such a young age, and we have great faith in your abilities. I propose a toast to wishing our collaboration a success..."

.......

"Walk slowly, walk carefully, and be safe."

Let's get together again when we have time.

After closing the car door, Lu Yuan, along with his second and third brothers, helped the last person into the car and let out a heavy sigh of relief.

All three brothers had been drinking and were a bit tipsy, so driving was out of the question.

The two old men were tall and strong, and had the best drinking capacity among the brothers. At this moment, the evening breeze was blowing gently, and the feeling of being slightly tipsy was quite nice. This was the first time since they left Jinshan.

I took out my phone and checked the time; it was just past 9 p.m.

For people in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, the nightlife is just beginning at this time.

The second brother was still a bit unsatisfied, feeling that going home now would be a waste of his current slightly tipsy state, so he turned to ask Lu Yuan.

"Brother Lu, what do you think about us doing later..."

I think and think...

I've been waiting and waiting...

I long to return to our first love~

Just then, loud singing suddenly came from Lu Yuan's phone.

Lu Yuan felt a little dizzy. The tune seemed familiar, as if some kind of DNA in his body had stirred.

That night~

You didn't reject me~

...

Seeing the stares of passersby, Lu Yuan felt so embarrassed he could practically dig out a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment. He regretted not answering the phone earlier. Why was he so curious about this lousy song?

Also, which brilliant designer designed his phone ringtone?

And the speaker, why put in such a high-powered one?

Lu Long's bonus for this month is gone.

Enraged, Lu Yuan forgot that he was the one who originally suggested these designs.

Meanwhile, Lu Long, the engineer and chief technology officer who had strictly followed Lu Yuan's suggestions, was at home watching TV with his wife and children.

Completely unaware, because of a song, or more precisely, a phone ringtone, my bonus for this month is flashing wildly.

"Second brother, wait a minute, I need to take this call. Let's go back to the private room first."

While calling to his second and third brothers to head back, Lu Yuan hurriedly answered the phone.

The call was from Zhang Ling.

"The complaint is ready. According to you, the test results for your phones should be out tomorrow. Give me all the evidence then, and I'll file a lawsuit!"

"Okay, I'll let the third brother handle it. Lu Long will arrange a meeting for you then."

"Thank you for your hard work, Attorney Zhang!"

"Mr. Lu, you're too kind. Remember to treat me to a meal after you've finished your business!"

"Of course, I can afford to cover a meal! Lawyer Zhang can choose any of the local options."

As soon as I hung up the phone, my second brother came up to me with a sly grin.

"Brother Lu is amazing, an elite female lawyer. You can tell she's a beautiful and mature woman just by listening to her voice."

"Hey, second brother, you can tell if a girl is a beauty. What if the person across from you is a semi-retired old lady from the 50s?"

"That's impossible. My ears are like rulers; I can't be wrong when it comes to judging beautiful women."

Lu Yuan looked at the second son speechlessly, thinking of a certain Princess Biluo from later generations and a certain voice actor Murong, whose loli voice was so skillful that it made countless innocent young men fall in love. Oh, right, the voice actor Murong was actually a man.

Thinking of this, Lu Yuan silently mourned for his second son, thankfully it was 05.

Society was still very simple, and people were not as complicated as they were in the past or in later generations.

The second brother felt uneasy under Lu Yuan's gaze.

"Could I have guessed wrong?"

"No, no, you guessed right, she is indeed a beautiful and sophisticated urban woman."

"Hey, what are you looking at? I told you so, but boss, what's gotten into your tastes? Did you suddenly become a genius?"

No, what were my tastes before?