206: Arrive in Riyadh

"Hello, CEO Lu."

"CEO Lu."

Taiwan Novel Website is super thoughtful and convenient.

"CEO Lu!"

Lu Weiqi stepped forward and warmly patted the shoulders of these key members of the Red Star Africa Business Department. "Take your vacations when you need to. Old Xu, it's been almost half a year since we last met, hasn't it?"

"Last year when you went back home for vacation, it just so happened that I was on a business trip to Germany."

"Yeah, it's been over half a year," Xu Han said with emotion.

"You've gotten a bit darker. How are these boys doing under you? I saw that you sold 7 million Transmission Star phones in the first two quarters of this year. That's pretty good."

Xu Han smiled. "Our shipment volume for the whole year is expected to reach 12 million units. It's just that the consumption level here isn't high, and with shipping costs and taxes, there's not much profit."

"By the way, CEO Lu, why did headquarters set the global launch event for the Red Star X in Riyadh? Shouldn't it be held in Europe or America?"

The two talked as they walked from the airport. Liu Qi and Zhi Peng also pricked up their ears to hear what Lu Weiqi would say next.

"About that, you know Red Star was on the Network News, right?"

"I know, but what does that have to do with holding the global launch in Riyadh?" Xu Han asked curiously.

The Little Prince Abdullah purchased several hundred Red Star X phones from our Xing Family in one go, and even donated 5 million us dollars to the Wucai City store."

"That happened?"

"So headquarters put the launch event in Riyadh?"

"I'm not finished yet. CEO Chen felt that since the Little Prince gave us 5 million us dollars, we should naturally return the favor."

"So we had our Engineers make a few customized versions of the Red Star X for Prince Abdullah. The Little Prince liked them very much, and when he heard we were going to hold a global launch event, he strongly invited us to hold it in Riyadh."

As Lu Weiqi spoke, he opened his phone's photo gallery to show Xu Han the customized Red Star X.

"It was hard to refuse such hospitality, so it was set in Riyadh."

"So that's how it is."

"It's actually quite good to have it here. Besides the media we invited, Prince Abdullah also used his influence to invite some media outlets. We basically don't have to worry about exposure."

"In the meantime, we can also survey the market here. If it works out, headquarters will send people directly to develop the market."

"Little Fang, are you interested in this place? You have the best Arabic in the company."

Lu Weiqi turned his head and asked Fang Haoge behind him.

The reason he brought him along this time was, first, because he was proficient in Arabic, English, French, and Italian, and second, because he had met the people around the Little Prince once before and was considered an acquaintance.

When it comes to dealing with people, it's sometimes more reassuring to have one of your own.

"Ah, CEO Lu, are you talking about me?"

"Letting me be in charge of the business in the Middle East?" Hearing Lu Weiqi call him, Fang Haoge hurried his pace and walked half a step behind Lu Weiqi.

"Why? I see you're very proficient in Arabic and have management experience."

"Plus, with the connection to the Little Prince, you're very suitable."

"Well, CEO Lu, let's survey the market here first. If I'm asked to develop the market here, I'm worried I'll mess it up," Fang Haoge said, not knowing how the conversation had suddenly shifted to him.

Looking at the situation, even if he returned to the Imperial Capital, it would probably be impossible for him to be a store manager.

"What are you afraid of? Look at Little Liu and Little Zhi. They were still interns before going to Africa, and now aren't they selling tens of millions of units a year?"

"Young people should have some drive," Lu Weiqi said, sounding a bit frustrated by his lack of ambition.

Look at Zhi Peng and Liu Qi; they dared to take the initiative to apply to go to Africa to build a career while they were still interns.

"Mr. Fang, Mr. Lu." As they approached the airport exit, Lu Weiqi's group was called out to. "Mr. Fang, Mr. Lu, I was sent by the Prince to pick you up."

"The vehicles are already outside, please follow me."

Lu Weiqi looked at Fang Haoge, and Fang Haoge nodded at him.

Fang Haoge had seen this person before; he was the butler and translator for the Prince at the Xing Family store in the Imperial Capital last time.

He didn't expect Abdullah to value Red Star so much that he would even send his own butler to greet them.

"Please follow me, everyone."

The butler led the way, taking Lu Weiqi's group outside.

"Whoa, is this Little Prince that generous? They're all Rolls-Royces."

"It seems he really received a lot of benefits from CEO Lu."

Zhi Peng's mouth hung open in surprise when he saw the row of Rolls-Royces waiting for them.

Liu Qi nudged him. "Keep it down, that butler knows Chinese."

"We're here to help with the launch event. Don't say too much if it's not necessary. The religious beliefs here are different from back home."

"It's also different from Nigeria. Be careful not to let your mouth get you into trouble."

Zhi Peng sensibly shut his mouth. Abroad, there's basically no reasoning with people. If it were ordinary people, it would be fine, but this was a prince of the Abdullah family, the most powerful family in Saudi Arabia.

If he offended his people, there would really be no good outcome.

The group got into the cars sent by the Prince and headed toward the hotel.

"Liu Qi, Zhi Peng, I heard from Manager Xu that you sold nearly 7 million Transmission Star phones in the first half of this year. In a poor place like Africa, how did you do it?" In the car, Fang Haoge asked Liu Qi and Zhi Peng, who were a shade darker than him.

He had heard a bit about the company sending a team to Africa last year. At that time, the company was still recruiting candidates internally for Africa.

However, most people were put off by the harsh conditions and the rumors of frequent wars, so very few people signed up.

Even though the company offered twice the domestic salary.

He never expected that in just one year, from September last year to September this year, Manager Xu would say the estimated annual sales could reach 12 million units, which shocked Fang Haoran.

Asking the two of them also had his own reasons. To say he wasn't tempted by Lu Weiqi's suggestion to have him develop the market in the Middle East would be a lie.

Seeing how well things could sell in Africa, the market in the Middle East was definitely promising.

Liu Qi laughed. "Brother Fang, to be honest, when we first arrived in Nigeria, we were completely in the dark."

"We had no idea where to start."

"We surveyed the local market and found that feature phones were still the majority. There were 3G networks, but only in big cities, and there were over a dozen operators nationwide."

"Within a month of arriving, Uncle Xu fell ill and returned home for treatment. At that time, I was just a little intern. I chose to go to Africa entirely because CEO Lu offered so much. Just like Zhi Peng, my family situation isn't great, so I had to choose to take a chance in Africa."

Fang Haoge nodded. This was also why only some interns signed up when CEO Lu, Lu Weibing, recruited internally.

If their conditions were even slightly better, who would run to Africa for no reason? And it was pure market development; success wasn't even guaranteed.

"So what happened next?"