Chapter 22: Xinghai Experience Store Opens, and the Line of Calls is Outrageous

Donghai City International Airport.

Just out of the arrival gate, Lu Jingming was tossing something in his hand.

Sunlight streamed through the terminal's massive glass roof, hitting the object and refracting a warm, dazzling glow.

It was a flawless glass back panel for a mobile phone.

Shen Qingqiu walked beside him, her mind still a bit dazed.

These three days in Shenzhen, for her, an elite investment banker from Wall Street, felt like a dream.

Zhou Qunfei, the boss of Lanhai Glass Factory, was a well-known Iron Lady.

The factory was on the brink of bankruptcy, yet she held onto the production line, refusing to sell out.

In the end, Lu Jingming didn't waste a single word; he simply pulled that "Retina-Grade Double-Sided Glass Processing Technology" document straight out of his backpack.

That Iron Lady only looked at the parameters once before she was completely broken.

Forget about taking cash; she even offered to give Xinghai Technology a 30% stake in the company, just to secure the exclusive license for this cross-generational technology.

The 500,000 in travel expenses hadn't been spent at all.

Lu Jingming had pulled off an empty-handed trick and managed to secure a top-tier panel supply chain.

"What are you spacing out for, my female God of Wealth?" Lu Jingming stopped and tucked the glass panel back into his pocket.

Shen Qingqiu pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses and let out a long sigh.

"I'm just wondering, how exactly is your brain wired?"

"You just pull out a few blueprints and you're able to rub Shenzhen's physical industry giants into the dirt."

Lu Jingming grinned.

"Basic operation, don't get excited. Once the xinghai gen 2 goes into mass production, that will be a true dimensional strike."

The two of them walked out of the terminal, and Chu Xuan was already waiting at the entrance in that borrowed black Santana.

On the way back to the factory, Lu Jingming gave Chu Xuan a new order.

"Did you secure that three-story prime storefront on the corner of the city center pedestrian street?"

Chu Xuan gripped the steering wheel and nodded repeatedly.

"I got it, Boss Lu. But the rent in that area is really outrageous—over two million a year."

He glanced at Lu Jingming through the rearview mirror, hesitating to speak.

"Speak," Lu Jingming said, leaning back against the seat.

"Over in Huaqiangbei, as well as our competitors in Donghai City, everyone is watching us like a joke."

Chu Xuan curled his lip, looking annoyed.

"They say you've gotten ahead of yourself, Boss Lu. Having finally managed to get online direct sales going, you're now retreating to the old path of offline physical stores."

"Fatty Xu is still mocking us in the group chat, saying we just have too much money to burn and will sooner or later be dragged to our deaths by the high rent."

Lu Jingming chuckled, rolled down the car window, and lit a cigarette.

"How can the sparrow know the ambition of the swan?"

"They think a physical store just means setting up a few glass counters and hiring a few sales clerks to smile at customers?"

He exhaled a cloud of smoke, his eyes sharp.

"Chu Xuan, renovate immediately according to the blueprints I gave you. Smash all the walls on the first floor and replace them with floor-to-ceiling glass."

"Don't install any cash registers inside, and don't put up any promotional posters."

"Cover everything with solid wood tables, connect the phones directly to the tables with anti-theft cables, and let the customers touch and play with them as they please."

Chu Xuan was stunned, his foot even easing off the gas pedal.

"This... what if these anti-theft cables get cut? Without even a counter, it's not secure at all, right?"

Shen Qingqiu frowned from the side as well.

This futuristic retail store style was definitely an anomaly in 2007.

"Just do as I say," Lu Jingming said, stubbing out his cigarette. "The store will be called the Xinghai Experience Store."

Half a month later, Donghai City Pedestrian Street.

It was nine in the morning, and the sun was already scorching enough to bake an egg.

But at this moment, traffic at the intersection was completely paralyzed.

A sea of heads blocked the entire street, and the line stretched out for three streets.

"Don't push! Those in the back, don't push! You're stepping on my feet!"

Niu Dazhuang was shirtless, with a whistle hanging around his neck, leading over thirty security guards to maintain order.

His throat was hoarse from shouting, and sweat streamed down his knotted muscles.

"The Young Master was right; there are just too many people!" Dazhuang wiped away some sweat, his bull-like eyes wide.

A few passing Bolang Mobile dealers were all dumbfounded.

Their own stores were so deserted you could play mahjong in them, while the scene here at Xinghai was like a train station during the Spring Festival travel rush.

"Are these people crazy? Is it worth lining up for three streets just to buy a crappy phone?" a competitor cursed sourly.

At ten o'clock sharp, the two massive glass doors of the experience store opened on time.

The crowd surged in like a breached dam.

Once inside, everyone was shocked by this cross-generational decor.

There were no cramped counters, no sales clerks shouting sales pitches.

In the spacious and bright area, dozens of xinghai generation 1 units were neatly arranged on several long solid wood tables.

The best part was the area on the left.

A large sign hung on the wall: Violence Testing Zone.

There were no phones on the table, just a pile of red bricks, walnuts, and a few plastic water guns.

"Brothers! It's really the actual device! We can smash it however we want!"

A young man excitedly grabbed a xinghai generation 1 unit and smashed it down onto a walnut.

With a "crack," the walnut shattered everywhere, but the phone screen didn't even have a scratch.

"Incredible! It's exactly like what they said online!"

"Give me three! I want to take them back to my hometown to give to my relatives!"

The sales clerks all wore wireless headsets and held mini POS machines, processing card payments right there at the table.

This smooth, seamless shopping experience made the customers feel a rush of excitement.

But the true star of the experience store was on the second floor.

The entrance to the spiral staircase leading to the second floor was cordoned off by security guards, who were letting people up in batches.

In the very center of the upstairs area stood a temperature-controlled bulletproof glass display case.

There was no phone inside the case, only a solitary glass back panel.

Spotlights shone down on it, and the double-sided glass panel refracted a deep, mysterious sea-blue light.

"Holy crap! This texture is invincible!"

"Compared to this, plastic shells are just dog shit on the side of the road!"

"Is this the xinghai gen 2? When is it going on sale? I'll pay double the price to pre-order!"

The fans, separated by the glass case, had eyes flashing with fanatic light.

In this era where everyone used plastic shells, the visual impact brought by this piece of glass was nothing short of a nuclear bomb.

Lu Jingming stood on the second-floor circular corridor, holding a cup of iced Americano and looking down.

The "Mental Breakdown System" in his mind was scrolling frantically.

[Ding! The group of competitors in Donghai City saw the grand scene of the queue, their mental states collapsed, Mental Breakdown Value + 15000!]

[Ding! Fatty Xu learned about the experience store's customer traffic, smashed his thermos in anger, Mental Breakdown Value + 8000!]

Lu Jingming curled the corner of his mouth; the "showing off" effect of this physical store was truly maxed out.

Just as the store was bustling with noise and excitement.

Two men wearing black baseball caps squeezed in near a display table in the corner of the first floor.

The two lowered their brims, their eyes gloomy, not even looking at the mysterious xinghai gen 2 back panel.

They stared fixedly at the xinghai generation 1 units on the table and exchanged a glance.

"Get to work," the taller man on the left said in a low voice.

The man on the right nodded and pulled a thick stack of cash from his pocket.

He found a customer who had just finished checking out and shoved the money directly at him.

"Buddy, I'll pay 500 extra, sell me the device in your hand."

The customer was ecstatic—he could make 500 just by reselling the phone he'd bought—and nodded repeatedly, handing the machine over.

The two repeated the process, each acquiring a brand-new, unopened xinghai generation 1.

Tucking the devices into their bulging windbreaker pockets, they turned and slipped out of the crowded experience store.

The sunlight outside was a bit blinding, and the two slowed their pace, turning into an empty dead-end alley.

The tall one took out his phone and made a long-distance call.

The phone rang three times before it was picked up, and Brother Biao's impatient voice came from the other end.

"Did you get the stuff?"

The tall one sneered and patted his bulging pocket.

"Don't worry, Brother Biao, I got two unopened ones."

He looked back toward the street entrance, lowered his voice, and spoke with a hint of ruthlessness.

"I'm buying the next green-skinned train ticket back to Huaqiangbei right now. Even if this guy Lu welds the motherboard shut, we're going to peel a layer of skin off him!"