My son is a reincarnated soul; I overheard his inner thoughts and became the richest man.

"You can get welfare for writing novels? You get paid as long as you keep updating?"

The VIP paid model and full attendance bonus system launched by Zhongshen Chinese Network spread like wildfire across major literary forums and BBS.

In 2003, the vast majority of online writers were "working out of love".

They might be junior employees hiding behind their bosses in internet cafes, typing away, or college students in their dorm rooms eating instant noodles and typing away.

For them, even a perfect attendance bonus of 300 yuan a month is a huge sum of money—enough to pay for several months' internet fees, or buy a few packs of good cigarettes, or even be equivalent to half a month's living expenses.

While earning 1,000 yuan a day for writing 10,000 words is a pipe dream for most people, earning a few hundred yuan a day by writing 2,000 to 3,000 words is still very tempting.

As for the so-called "paid subscriptions," most authors are not optimistic about them.

"Who would pay to read a novel online? Isn't buying a physical book much better?"

With this "make a quick buck and run" mentality, a large number of authors flocked to Zhongshen Chinese Network to register and publish their books.

As the mastermind behind the scenes, Chen Xiaotian was not idle either.

The moment the website went live, he released his new book, "The Legend of Rebirth," under a pseudonym.

Chen Xiaotian didn't expect to make money from this book; his ambition was much greater: he wanted to personally usher in the era of "rebirth" in online novels.

The protagonist of the book travels back in time with his memories from the future, and makes his first fortune by speculating in stocks, buying houses, and betting on the World Cup... These clichés, which have been overused in later generations, were groundbreaking and ingenious ideas in 2003.

Meanwhile, Chu Yuan was not idle either.

With the funds given to her by Chen Xiaotian, she went on a massive campaign to attract traffic to major portal websites and forums.

While ZHONGSEN Chinese website is still burning money to build up popularity, Chen Feng's "Fengtian Technology" is about to reap the rewards on another battlefield.

......

August.

The ballroom at the Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai was packed.

Flashes of light went off one after another as hundreds of media outlets aimed their cameras and microphones at the podium.

Today is the press conference for Fengtian Technology's entry into the mobile phone industry.

As the richest man in the country, Chen Feng's personal endorsement demonstrates the importance he attaches to this event.

Although he knew the future belonged to smartphones, in the era of feature phones dominated by Nokia and Motorola, Fengtian Technology had to first secure its place in the market.

Only by surviving can we wait for the moment when the world changes.

At 10 a.m., Chen Feng, dressed in a dark suit, walked steadily onto the stage.

"Thank you to all our friends from the media for coming."

Without much small talk, Chen Feng pulled two cell phones directly from his suit pocket.

A black G1 candybar phone.

A silver slider phone, E1.

"Fengtian Technology has always been committed to providing users with the ultimate electronic product experience. Today, we are bringing this commitment to the mobile phone industry."

He held up his silver slider phone.

"This is our flagship product, the E1."

"It adopts the most stylish sliding design."

Chen Feng gave it a gentle push, and a crisp mechanical sound echoed throughout the venue through the microphone. "This mechanical feel is a pleasure in itself."

"In terms of configuration, we've packed a 50-pixel camera into this small body. While it can't compare to a professional camera, it's more than enough for recording everyday life."

"Of course, what we are most proud of is its music function."

Chen Feng paused, his tone confident, "As everyone knows, Fengtian Technology started out making MP3 players. We've ported the high-end audio decoding technology from the F series to the E1."

"Furthermore, we equipped it with a massive 32MB of memory!"

The audience erupted in uproar.

In an era where mainstream mobile phones only have 4MB or 8MB of memory, and you have to delete and edit even a few MMS messages, 32MB is simply a massive amount of storage.

"This means you can store seven or eight high-quality MP3 songs on your phone and enjoy music anytime, anywhere. In terms of sound quality, I can confidently say that it far surpasses any other music phone on the market."

Seeing the amazed expressions on the faces of the reporters below the stage, Chen Feng knew the time was right.

"With such high specifications, it must be very expensive, right?"

Chen Feng smiled and posed the most sensitive question: "Foreign brands with the same configuration on the market often sell for four or five thousand, or even six thousand."

"But Fengtian Technology is different."

The large screen behind me suddenly flashed, displaying four huge numbers.

"3688 yuan!"

"This is the price of the E1: a top-of-the-line slider music phone for only 3688 yuan!"

boom!

The scene erupted in cheers.

The reporters whispered among themselves, some even doubting that they had heard correctly.

It's worth noting that even a regular slider phone from Samsung can sell for over five thousand yuan.

Motorola's V series is even more outrageously expensive.

The price of 3688 yuan is simply disrupting the business of international giants.

In fact, the gross profit margin of the E1 is actually very low due to the hardware costs and R&D expenses.

You can only earn three or four hundred yuan from a single mobile phone.

The profit margin is even lower than that of their own MP3 players.

The reason for the meager profits is mainly because the supply chain is still subject to external control.

At present, Peaktech is still in the "trade-industry-technology" stage.

The core components, such as the motherboard chip, communication baseband, TFT screen, and high-pixel camera module, are all basically imported.

The high cost of these components directly squeezes profit margins.

Unless Fengtian Research Institute can produce its own research results in the future, or achieve economies of scale in this field to force the supply chain to lower prices, it will be difficult to reduce the cost of this "assembly plant" model.

Fortunately, Fengtian Technology has a trump card – its self-operated channels.

With directly operated stores all over the country, Chen Feng can directly face consumers, eliminating the layers of exploitation by various agents.

The savings in channel fees can be used to subsidize hardware costs and maintain price competitiveness.

Of course, the shortcomings are also obvious: insufficient store coverage.

Therefore, Chen Feng has issued a death order.

By the end of the year, the number of directly operated stores nationwide should be expanded to 150, covering the core business districts of all first- and second-tier cities.

......

The press conference was coming to a close.

Chen Feng then gave a detailed introduction to the G1, which emphasizes cost-effectiveness.

Compared to the stunning E1, the G1 is more conventional, but its 10-pixel camera is still a major selling point among competing products in the same price range.

Finally, the big screen froze on a date: August 23.

That was the day when Fengtian mobile phones were launched simultaneously in stores nationwide and on JD.com.

After the press conference, a deluge of media reports followed.

Fueled by gimmicks such as "China's richest man making mobile phones," "the king of domestic slider phones," and "MP3 giant crossing over into the industry," Fengtian Mobile's popularity skyrocketed.

......

Late August, Shenzhen.

This southern coastal city was as hot as a giant steamer, and the air was filled with restlessness.

Qin Hai is the workshop supervisor of a Hong Kong-funded garment factory outside the Great Wall.

In those days, he could earn nearly four thousand yuan a month, making him a high-income earner.

Now that you've made money, you naturally need to upgrade your outfit.

Taking advantage of the weekend, Qin Hai planned to go to Huaqiangbei to get a new mobile phone.

The old cell phone he was wearing on his waist was a second-hand product he bought two years ago. It was not only badly painted, but the buttons were also unresponsive, making it rather embarrassing to show off.

Qin Hai is now full of confidence.

Even a high-end phone costing three or four thousand yuan is just one month's salary for him; he can afford it if he grits his teeth.

As Qin Hai walked into the bustling commercial street, he was looking around for mobile phone shops when his gaze was suddenly drawn to a scene in front of him.

A long queue had formed in front of a stylishly decorated shop, stretching all the way to the sidewalk.

"Wow, in this sweltering heat, are they having a promotion and giving away gifts?"

Qin Hai, intrigued, moved closer.

He patted a young man at the end of the line on the shoulder and asked in slightly accented Mandarin, "Hey kid, what are you queuing for? Looking for a bargain?"

The young man turned around, looking at him like he was an alien: "Uncle, what are you thinking? We're just queuing to buy a phone!"

"Buy a phone?"

Qin Hai was stunned. "You have to queue to buy a phone? Aren't phones everywhere these days?"

"This is no ordinary phone."

The young man wiped his sweat, his tone revealing a hint of excitement, "This is the new model that Fengtian Technology just released today! I came early this morning, but I was still a step too late. Look how long the line is."

"Fengtian Technology?"

Qin Hai felt the name sounded familiar. After a moment's thought, he suddenly slapped his forehead. "Oh! I remember! It's that company that sells incredibly popular MP3 players, right? The one owned by Chen, the richest man in China?"

"That's right!"

The young man gave a thumbs up, "That's Chen's company! They're making phones now, and they've even listed on the US stock market. A big brand!"

"And that new slider phone, the E1, is absolutely stunning!"

"A 50-pixel camera, it can play music like an MP3 player, and it has a whopping 32MB of internal memory! Its specs are better than those foreign brands like Nokia and Motorola, and the price is only 3688!"

"With something this good, how can we not queue?"

Listening to the young man's recommendation, Qin Hai's mind started to wander.

Sliding design? For listening to music? 3688 yuan?

These keywords precisely addressed his needs.

It's stylish, functional, and most importantly, the price is much cheaper than he expected, which was four or five thousand.

"Since it's made by Chen, the richest man in China, the quality must be fine. Since we're going to buy it anyway, we might as well buy this one and support domestic products while keeping up with the trend."

With that in mind, Qin Hai no longer hesitated and stood at the back of the line.

The sun was getting increasingly scorching, and the group moved very slowly.

After queuing for a full hour, Qin Hai finally managed to move into the air-conditioned area in front of the shop.

Just then, he heard a hurried conversation coming from behind the counter.

"Manager, something's wrong. We only have about twenty G1 units left in stock."

"E1 is in even worse shape; I just counted, and there are fewer than fifty left..."

The shop assistant's voice was filled with anxiety.

Qin Hai's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly craned his neck to count the heads in front of him.

One, two, three... It's alright, there are still about ten people ahead of us.

"It's a sure thing! It'll be my turn no matter what."

Qin Hai let out a long sigh of relief and gripped the wallet he had just taken out even tighter.

Inside the counter.

The store manager was looking at the empty shelves with a pained yet happy expression on his face.

"How come they're selling so fast? The company clearly allocated 300 units to each store!"

The store manager stared incredulously at the sales report. "Six hundred phones in total. I figured that would last a week or two. And it's only the first day, and we're already out of stock before dinner time?"

As the shop assistant wrote out the invoice for the customer, he smiled wryly and said, "Who says otherwise? We all underestimated Mr. Chen's influence and how popular our products are. Judging from this, even if we brought in another three hundred units, they would sell out in a second."

"Let's call headquarters right away to request a restock, otherwise we'll just be staring at each other in the store tomorrow."