Reborn in 2005, starting with repairing mobile phones

Chapter 170 Aftermath

"Senior Lin Dong!" A girl with a ponytail, running in front of Lin Dong, stopped breathlessly, her face flushed, clutching an open notebook. "What you just said—was it all true?"

Lin Dong looked at her.

Her eyes were bright, with a light he recognized.

"Really," he said.

The girl's eyes reddened, and she lowered her head, quickly scribbling something in her notebook.

"My dad also works in a hardware factory. When I was a child, I was sick, and my family borrowed a lot of money."

Her voice grew hoarse as she spoke. After finishing writing, she looked up, opened her mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed it back.

She looked at Lin Dong for two seconds, then suddenly bowed, turned around and ran away.

Her ponytail swayed in the sunlight. After running a dozen steps, she stopped, turned back, and called out, "Senior Lin Dong, I will try my best!"

Lin Dong stood there, watching that figure from behind, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

"Senior Lin Dong!" A tall, thin boy squeezed through the crowd, holding a voice recorder with a student council label on it. "I'm a reporter for the school magazine. Could you transcribe your speech and publish it in the magazine?"

Lin Dong glanced at him. "Send it."

1

The boy's eyes lit up, and he said thank you twice before asking, "Can I take a few photos? The student council has a camera here."

""

Lin Dong thought for a moment. "Okay."

The boy smiled. "Is it okay if I just take a picture of you on the podium?"

Lin Dong nodded.

The boy turned around and shouted behind him. A boy carrying a camera ran over and took a few pictures of Lin Dong.

The camera shutter clicked away, but Lin Dong neither laughed nor dodged; he just stood there.

After the photoshoot, the school newspaper reporter said, "Senior Lin Dong, can we do an exclusive interview? Many students want to know about you and your company."

Lin Dong thought for a moment. "Okay. But it can't take too long, this afternoon."

"Okay, okay, we'll contact you this afternoon." The boy wrote down Lin Dong's phone number, then turned and ran away.

More and more people.

Some people wanted autographs, some wanted photos, and some handed over notebooks for Lin Dong to write a sentence.

Lin Dong took the pen, wrote "Keep it up" in the notebook, and handed it to the other person.

A chubby girl took it, glanced down at it, smiled, her eyes crinkling with laughter, and said, "Thank you, senior."

.

"Senior Lin Dong, is the shop you mentioned really in Futian CBD?" A boy wearing glasses squeezed to the front, his face full of anticipation.

"real."

"Is it really true that there are no tickets required on December 25th?"

"Need not."

"Can I bring a classmate along?"

"able."

The boy grinned, turned around and shouted behind him, "Did you hear that? You can bring people!" The people behind him cheered.

Lin Dong looked at him and the corners of his mouth curved slightly.

A boy in camouflage stood outside the crowd, not pushing his way in.

He held a crumpled envelope in his hand and hesitated for a long time.

After the crowd in front dispersed a bit, he slowly walked over and stood in front of Lin Dong.

"Senior Lin Dong." His voice trembled slightly.

Lin Dong looked at him. Thin, dark-skinned, with calloused hands.

"I'm from the countryside too." The boy looked down at the envelope in his hand. "My family doesn't have much money either. I borrowed money to come to Shenzhen University."

Lin Dong didn't say anything.

"My parents work on construction sites to support my education." The boy's voice trailed off. "After hearing what you said, I feel—" He looked up at Lin Dong, his eyes reddening, "I feel like I can do it too."

Lin Dong looked at him and remained silent for two seconds.

"Keep going, you can do it," he said.

The boy's tears fell. Tears streamed down his cheeks.

He handed the envelope to Lin Dong. "This is a letter I wrote. Could you—could you please take a look?"

Lin Dong took the envelope and put it in his pocket. "Okay."

The boy laughed, wiped away his tears, and ran away.

He ran a few steps, then stopped, turned back, and called out, "Senior Lin Dong, I'll be there on December 25th!"

Lin Dong nodded.

Li Hu walked over and patted Lin Dong on the shoulder. "Fourth brother, you've really put the younger students on their toes."

Lin Dong ignored him.

Chen Long adjusted his glasses. "They will remember what you said today for a long time."

Principal Wang walked over from the other side of the podium, carrying a thermos, and smiled. "How does it feel to be surrounded?"

Lin Dong glanced at him.

"Principal Wang, you did this on purpose, didn't you?"

Principal Wang laughed. "I asked you to give a speech, not to recruit students. You gave it your own talk, so who's to blame?" He paused, looking at the freshmen still running towards them. "However, the effect was quite good."

Lin Dong didn't respond.

Principal Wang patted him on the shoulder. "Go on, your people are waiting for you."

Lin Dong followed his gaze.

Li Hu, Chen Long, and Xu Zang stood not far away. Li Hu waved to him and shouted, "Fourth brother, hurry up, we're starving!"

Lin Dong withdrew his gaze and walked towards them.

Behind him, freshmen were calling out "Senior Lin Dong".

He didn't turn around, just raised his hand and waved before continuing on his way.

Li Hu put his arm around his shoulder. "Come on, let's go eat. It's your treat."

"On what grounds?" Lin Dong asked.

"You've made a scene today," Li Hu said matter-of-factly.

Chen Long nodded in agreement. "That makes sense."

Xu Zang opened his eyes, glanced at Lin Dong, then closed them again, but the corners of his mouth curved slightly.

The four of them walked towards the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was crowded.

Lin Dong carried the plate and looked for a seat. Every few steps, people would look up at him.

Someone whispered, "That's him," while someone took out their phone to take a picture, but then put it down after thinking about it.

The lady at the counter gave him an extra spoonful of braised pork while serving his food, and said with a smile, "Lin Dong, right? You gave a good speech."

Lin Dong said, "Thank you, Auntie." The auntie smiled and said, "Eat more, you've lost weight."

Li Hu stood by, gloating.

"Fourth brother, you're a celebrity now."

Lin Dong ignored him, picked up the plate, and walked to an empty table in the corner to sit down.

Li Hu followed and sat opposite him. Chen Long sat next to him, and Xu Zang sat on the far side.

As soon as the four people sat down, someone at the next table started whispering among themselves.

"Is it him?"

"Yes, him."

"It doesn't look very big."

"They started their own company in their freshman year of college."

"Aren't you a sophomore?"

"Just started my sophomore year."

Lin Dong kept his head down and ate, pretending not to hear.

Li Hu seemed quite at ease, eating while looking around and even smiling at the table next to him.

The man was embarrassed by the laughter and turned away.

Halfway through the meal, a girl came over with a plate and stood next to Lin Dong, looking a little nervous.

"Senior Lin Dong, may I sit here?"

Lin Dong looked up and saw a freshman with short hair and a round face. He was holding a plate and tapping his fingers lightly on the edge of the plate.

"Sit down," Lin Dong said.

The girl sat down, not daring to speak, and occasionally stole a glance at him.

Li Hu was trying not to laugh when Chen Long stepped on his foot.

Li Hu grinned and lowered his head to eat.

The girl took a couple of bites, mustered her courage, and said, "Senior Lin Dong, I've remembered everything you said. My dad also works in a factory. When I was little, I was sick, and my family borrowed a lot of money. I was really touched when I heard that."

As she spoke, her voice trailed off as she lowered her head and poked at the rice in her bowl with her chopsticks.

Lin Dong looked at her.

"Study hard," he said.

The girl looked up, her eyes lit up, and she nodded vigorously.

"Okay!" She stood up, picked up the plate, took a couple of steps, turned back, said "Good luck, senior," and ran off.

Li Hu smiled.

"Fourth brother, are you trying to become an idol at Shenzhen University?"

Lin Dong glanced at him. "Let's eat."

In the afternoon, Lin Dong returned to his dormitory.

As soon as I opened the door, I saw a tall, thin boy standing in the hallway, holding a voice recorder and a camera, with another boy carrying a tripod beside him.

"Senior Lin Dong! We're from the school magazine, and we've arranged an interview." The tall, thin man greeted him with a smile.

Lin Dong nodded. "Come in."

Several people entered the dormitory.

Li Hu tactfully put on his headphones, sat down on the edge of the bed, and pretended to play games.

Chen Long picked up a book and leaned against the headboard, flipping through it.

Xu Zang lay on the bed with his eyes closed, it was unclear whether he was asleep or not.

The tall, thin man placed the recorder on the table and pressed the record button. "Senior Lin Dong, can we begin?"

Lin Dong sat on the edge of the bed and nodded.

"When did you first decide to make mobile phones?" the tall, thin man asked.

Lin Dong thought for a moment.

"When I was repairing mobile phones in Huaqiangbei, I was only repairing foreign brands. I was thinking back then, when will we be able to make our own?"

The tall, thin man quickly jotted it down in his notebook.

What's the hardest part about making mobile phones?

"The system," Lin Dong said. "Hardware can be bought, screens can be bought, batteries can be bought. But the system can only be written by ourselves."

"So how did you solve it?"

Lin Dong glanced at him.

How was it resolved? Li Hu wrote it. But you can't say that. "I had someone else write it," he said.

The tall, thin man made a few more scribblings.

Why is the company called Dongfang Technology?

Lin Dong paused for a moment.

"The East, the sun rises in the East. I hope that one day, the whole world can see this sun."

The tall, thin man stopped writing and glanced up at Lin Dong. He didn't ask any more questions and continued taking notes.

The interview lasted about forty minutes.

The tall, thin man asked a series of questions about the company, the phone, and the press conference. Lin Dong answered them one by one, calmly and deliberately, saying what needed to be said and refraining from saying what shouldn't be said.

I won't go into the phone's specific functions, price, or appearance.

They only mentioned the time and location of the press conference.

The tall, thin man closed his notebook, turned off the recorder, and stood up.

"Thank you, Senior Lin Dong. I'll show you the draft after I finish writing it."

Lin Dong nodded.

The boy carrying the tripod took a few photos from the side.

After the filming was finished, the two thanked each other and left.

Lin Dong closed the door, leaned against the bed frame, and let out a sigh of relief.

Li Hu took off his headphones and looked at him. "Fourth Brother, what you just said, was it true?"

"Which ones?"

"It's the part about 'hoping the whole world can see this sun.'"

Lin Dong glanced at him.

What do you think?

Li Hu scratched his head. "I think it's true."

Lin Dong didn't say anything, lay down on the bed, and stared at the ceiling.

That night, Li Hu lay on his bed browsing the school's online forum.

The dormitory was quiet, with only the light from the laptop screen shining on Li Hu's face and the occasional "tsk tsk" sound he made.

"Fourth brother, you're on the forum again." Li Hu read aloud the post titles: "Who exactly is Lin Dong from the opening ceremony?" "Is Dongfang Technology real?" "Does anyone know if Lin Dong's company is still hiring?"

Chen didn't even raise his head. "Keep your voice down."

Li Hu lowered his voice, but didn't stop.

"This post says this senior is amazing, starting a company in his freshman year," "This post says it's true or not, maybe a shill hired by the school?" "This post says go look at that shop in Futian CBD, glass curtain wall, over 2,000 square meters, could a shill afford to open a shop like that?"

Lin Dong lay still, staring at the ceiling.

"Another one. I checked, Dongfang Technology really exists. I can find it in the business registration information, and the legal representative is Lin Dong." After reading it aloud, Li Hu sat up. "Fourth brother, you're the most popular person in the whole school now."

Lin Dong rolled over and pulled the blanket over himself. "Going to sleep."

At 10 p.m., Lin Dong's phone rang. It was Principal Wang calling. Lin Dong answered it and leaned against the headboard.

"How's the result?" Principal Wang asked.

"It's alright," Lin Dong said.

"It's alright then," Principal Wang smiled. "The student council must have contacted you."

"They've arrived, and the school magazine did a feature interview with them."

"Good thing. Cooperate well." Principal Wang paused for a moment, then continued, "You go ahead with your work."

I hung up the phone.

The next morning, Lin Dong and Li Hu returned to the company together.

As he walked out of the dormitory, a junior student who was washing up in the corridor saw him and mumbled "Good morning, Senior Lin Dong" with foam in his mouth.

Lin Dong nodded.

As Lin Dong walked out of the dormitory building, a girl in military training uniform walked towards him. She paused for a moment when she saw him, then smiled and said, "Hello, senior." Lin Dong replied, "Good morning."

As he walked out of the school gate, the security guard recognized him and smiled at him.

"Lin Dong, that was a great speech!" The security guard gave a thumbs up.

Lin Dong nodded and got into the car.

Zheng Hao started the car and drove towards Futian CBD.

Lin Dong leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

Li Hu was still browsing the forum while sitting in the back seat.

"Fourth brother, there are more posts again. Someone posted the full text of your speech, and there are already more than four hundred comments."

Lin Dong didn't open his eyes, but the corner of his mouth twitched.

When I arrived at the company, Uncle Cai was already waiting for me in his office.

He had a smile on his face and was holding a notebook in his hand.

"Mr. Lin, the results are excellent."

Uncle Cai opened his notebook and read from page to page. "Students at Shenzhen University are all talking about us, and some have even called the company to ask if they can check their phones in advance."

I received three more phone calls this morning. One asked when the announcement was made, another asked if we were hiring interns, and the third asked if I could visit the company.

Lin Dong leaned back in his chair, looking out the window.

"No looking at phones beforehand, no company tours." Lin Dong paused. "We'll talk about interns next time. We've already recruited our first batch."

Uncle Cai nodded and wrote it down in his notebook.

"Also, some people on the forum are questioning us, saying the school made bribes." Uncle Cai paused, "Should we respond?"

"No need," Lin Dong said. "Those who believe don't need explanations, and explanations are useless for those who don't believe."

Uncle Cai closed his notebook and said, "The flagship store setup is almost finished. Zhou Jing is on her third week of rotation, and everything is normal."

Lin Dong nodded. "Continue."

Uncle Cai responded and turned to leave.

The office fell silent.

Lin Dong sat alone at his desk, staring at the countdown on the whiteboard.

The publicity campaign has been effective, but we can't stop now.

This is just one school, Shenzhen University; there are many more people who don't know about Oriental Technology.

Although the enthusiasm of the younger students exceeded expectations.

But they are just disseminators, not buyers.

A phone costing over 8,000 yuan is unaffordable for students.

The people who actually buy this phone are in office buildings in Futian CBD, in stalls in Huaqiangbei, and in the pockets of wealthy people in every corner of Shenzhen.

These people haven't been covered yet.

Our publicity needs to shift direction; we can no longer rely on sentimentality, we need to rely on strength.

Ask Uncle Cai to arrange media interviews, but you can't look at the phone or discuss the price.

We can talk about product concepts, design ideas, and what problems this phone solves.

We don't talk about parameters, we talk about user experience.

We don't talk about price, we talk about value.

Maintain the buzz, but don't leak the product.