Chapter 104 Just as the competitors breathed a sigh of relief, President Lu had another dangerous idea.

Old Zhou gave an affirmative grunt.

He slammed his enamel tea mug onto the table and turned to run out.

The ten-yuan plastic slippers on his feet slapped against the anti-static floor.

Producing a crisp echo in the empty corridor.

Lu Jingming turned his head, his gaze landing on Chu Xuan's slick, oily face.

"Chu Xuan, go put the word out to the supply chains in Huaqiangbei and Taiwan."

He pressed his thumb against the flint wheel of his lighter, rubbing it slowly.

"Regardless of whether it's motherboard capacitors, high-frequency memory sticks, or LCD panels larger than fifteen inches."

Lu Jingming twitched the corner of his mouth, revealing half of his stark white canine teeth.

"Whatever spot goods are on the market, Xinghai Technology will sweep them all. Settle the bill at five percent above market price."

Chu Xuan's legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed onto the edge of his chair.

With trembling hands, he fished a crumpled tissue out of his pocket and wiped his forehead haphazardly.

"B-Boss Lu, are we really going to build computers?"

Chu Xuan swallowed dryly; his throat felt like it was smoking.

"We haven't even found an OEM factory yet. Are we going to buy a pile of parts just to let them rot in the warehouse?"

"An OEM factory? For that kind of screw-tightening work, there will be brave men under heavy rewards."

Lu Jingming tossed the lighter onto the desktop with a soft "click."

"Go place your orders. If anything goes wrong, even if the sky falls, Boss Shen's account will hold it up."

Beijing, Xiaomi Phone headquarters building. Ten o'clock in the morning.

Boss Lei sat in his large executive chair, having just finished the morning executive meeting.

He held a white porcelain bowl printed with "Are you ok." Inside the bowl was thick, sticky millet porridge.

The steam clouded his red, tired eyes, which had been up all night.

The phone screen on the table lit up, showing a WeChat group called "Domestic Phone Loving Family."

The group was as lively as a wet market right now.

Boss Yu from Huafen had just sent a two-hundred-yuan lucky red envelope. The bright red cover read, "Congratulations to Xinghai Technology for crushing Wall Street."

Several executives from the Blue-Green factories snatched it instantly, and a long line of "Thank you, Boss" messages followed below.

Boss Lei put down the white porcelain bowl. He pulled out a tissue to wipe the corner of his mouth and picked up his phone with both hands to type.

"Boss Lu has really brought us honor this time."

Boss Lei grinned as he typed.

"Xinghai Technology is now focused entirely on dealing with overseas capital. We can finally breathe a sigh of relief on our own turf here at home."

Boss Yu immediately followed up with a sixty-second voice message. It leaked out of the earpiece with a heavy Southern accent.

"Boss Lei is right. That bunch of madmen from Xinghai Technology have gone to wreak havoc on the Americans."

Boss Yu let out a long sigh of relief on the other end of the voice message. "As long as Lu Jingming doesn't turn back to roll our low-to-mid-end market, I can eat two extra bowls of rice tonight."

The Blue Factory executive also chimed in. "Exactly. With Xinghai Technology's current valuation, they probably think even making phones has thin profit margins."

"They have their eyes set on NASDAQ. We should just peacefully sell our thousand-yuan phones."

The atmosphere in the group was peaceful. Everyone felt that the guillotine hanging over their heads had finally been lured away by the Americans.

Boss Lei picked up the porcelain bowl and happily slurped a mouthful of millet porridge. The sweet, glutinous taste slid down his throat, warming his stomach.

Just then, a message suddenly popped up in the group. It was sent by a supply chain boss in Shenzhen.

The boss threw out three long images in a row, all of which were purchase intent forms stamped with the official seal of Xinghai Technology.

"Everyone, don't rush to celebrate just yet."

The tone of the boss's typing was filled with ghostly horror. "Xinghai Technology just placed a massive order. They want to buy out the entire half-year inventory of high-frequency memory sticks in Huaqiangbei."

Boss Lei's hand paused. The rim of the bowl knocked against his lower lip.

"Why sweep up memory sticks? Phones don't need that stuff." He typed a line and sent it.

The supply chain boss replied instantly. "It's not just memory sticks. There are also laptop-specific hinges, keyboard membranes, and fifteen-inch LCD screens."

The group fell into instant silence. It was as if someone had grabbed everyone by the throat.

A full half-minute passed. The supply chain boss finally sent one last message.

"Xinghai Technology isn't building phones."

"That madman Lu Jingming is going to build computers."

"Pfft—!" The mouthful of millet porridge Boss Lei had just drunk sprayed directly onto his phone screen. Little yellow grains of millet plastered over Boss Yu's avatar.

He didn't bother to wipe it, instead shouting at the top of his lungs toward the door. "Secretary! Cut off all calls from the channel distributors for me!"

Boss Lei's eyelid twitched violently, and his heart beat as if it were about to jump out of his throat. "Go check! Is Xinghai Technology planning to acquire some bankrupt computer brand!"

On the other side of Beijing. The headquarters building of the comprador enterprise, Lenovo Group.

In the high-level conference room on the top floor, the air conditioning was set to sixteen degrees. Several pot-bellied executives sat in leather chairs, but their suit backs were already soaked through with cold sweat.

On the huge projection screen, the leaked procurement list from Xinghai Technology was shining brightly.

At the head of the conference table, President Yang of Lenovo had a gloomy face. The hair gel on his head was polished bright, but it couldn't hide the livid look on his face.

"Who can tell me what this order list is about?" President Yang gritted his back teeth, squeezing the words out from between them.

He gripped a Montblanc fountain pen in his hand. The nib poked deep pits into the mahogany tabletop.

"These mud-legged phone makers are now reaching their hands into our PC market?"

The Vice President in charge of the supply chain wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He stood up, his legs still a bit weak.

"P-President Yang." The Vice President swallowed dryly. "Xinghai Technology did indeed place the order, and the premium they offered is high."

"Several old OEM factories in Taiwan are already restless and want to take on Xinghai Technology's orders."

President Yang looked up abruptly, his eyes like poison-tipped knives.

"That Lu Jingming doesn't even have the license for Intel's X86 Architecture!" President Yang's voice rose sharply, cracking with strain.

"Without Microsoft's Windows system, is he planning to weld a pile of parts into a lump of iron and sell it as scrap!"

The conference room was deathly silent. Everyone knew the ironclad rule of the PC industry.

Hardware is easy to make, but a system is hard to come by. Without Gates's nod, any computer anyone builds is just a brick that can't turn on.

Another executive with a Mediterranean hairstyle bit the bullet and spoke up.

"President Yang, that may be true. But Lu Jingming is a madman who doesn't play by the rules."

He swallowed, his throat dry.

"Weren't Samsung phones and Apple worn to death by his ghostly Xinghai OS?"

"Shut up!" President Yang grabbed the blue and white porcelain teacup in front of him and smashed it hard onto the carpet.

Tea splashed all over the floor, and shards of porcelain splattered onto the Mediterranean executive's leather shoes.

"Phones are phones, and computers are computers!" President Yang panted, his chest heaving violently.

"We at Lenovo have been a channel distributor for Microsoft for twenty years to earn our current status in the industry."

He braced his hands on the edge of the table, staring fixedly at the procurement list. His eyes were filled with the violence born of fear.

Xinghai Technology's current cash flow is too terrifying. A behemoth with a trillion-dollar valuation.

Even if the computers they build are a pile of crap, just the dollars they are dumping into the supply chain are enough to drive up Lenovo's parts costs by thirty percent.

President Yang absolutely would not allow this to happen. He turned around and slapped the armrest of the leather sofa behind him, making a dull "bang" sound, causing the remaining teacup lid on the table to jump.

"What the hell does Lu Jingming know about PCs! Does he really think building computers is like playing with building blocks?"

President Yang gritted his back teeth, his eyes bulging like an ox's. Red bloodshot lines spread across the whites of his eyes.

"Put the word out: whoever dares to OEM motherboards for Xinghai Technology is smashing Lenovo's rice bowl!"