44: My name is Zhang Feng, and I'm very panicked right now.

My name is Zhang Feng, and I am a professional manager without feelings. I never expected to be so sought after; Liu De from Xiaomi tried hard to invite me to their company.

Lu Weibing, an old friend from Red Star, also enthusiastically asked me to visit and tour Red Star before making a decision.

After resting for a few months, I ultimately chose Red Star, but I regretted it soon after.

I thought my career would usher in a second spring; as soon as I joined Red Star, I became the head of a department.

I am panicking right now because, having just joined Red Star, I am facing a new challenge.

President Chen asked me to make a power bank with a cost of under 80 yuan. It not only needs to support our Red Star fast charging but also has strict requirements for quality and design. I am really panicking; how is this even possible?

The company's young President Chen enthusiastically patted my shoulder and painted a big picture for me, promising options and shares, and saying that as long as I did this project well, the entire Red Star ecosystem chain would be handed over to me in the future. He said the Red Star ecosystem chain would become a huge market, and I would become the head of the entire department.

I swallowed this "big pie," but when I happily arrived at what President Chen called the "huge" ecosystem chain department, a cold wind blew by, and my heart turned cold. The entire department, including me, only had 20 people.

With President Chen's "big pie" in my stomach, I adjusted my mindset, discussed it with the members of the ecosystem chain department, and decided to give it a try.

Taking the design drawings given by President Chen, I ran to many factories and suppliers. They only said one word when they saw my requirements: "No."

I am really panicking right now. As a professional manager, I cannot just join a company and say, "I can't do it." No man would say he can't do it; I must be able to!

I ran to many factories in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions and finally found a factory that could produce our mobile power bank casing. I was overjoyed. Looking at the master craftsman's exquisite mold-opening technique, I almost shed tears.

I used Panasonic's 18650 battery cells, an aluminum alloy shell, sandblasting technology, and a rounded grip, which made my first product full of industrial design style.

Mobile power banks on the market were all over 100 yuan, and those with a bit of quality were around 200 yuan. However, the cost of this Red Star mobile power bank that I personally created was strictly controlled at 77 yuan, meaning we only make 3 yuan for every unit sold.

When I excitedly reported to President Chen with this mobile power bank, he smiled and patted me again, then gave me a new task: to create our Red Star air purifier.

I said I had no experience with such products and didn't know how to make an air purifier. President Chen soon gave me a lesson.

He took two layers of filter elements, fixed them onto a tilting electric fan, turned it on, and told me that this was an air purifier.

I don't know why there was an electric fan in President Chen's office in the middle of winter, but I seemed to have realized something.

An air purifier is just a fan plus a filter; I can do it!

Chen Chen didn't know about Zhang Feng's inner monologue. He picked up a can of cola, walked to the office window, looked quietly at the outside of the building, and enjoyed his own leisure time.

It had been almost two years since he arrived in this world. He discovered how difficult it was to truly manage a company. Every link and every department had to be personally supervised by him. Only after Lu Weiqi arrived at Red Star could he share some of the burden.

Now with Zhang Feng joining, he only needed to control the company's major strategic direction.

Sometimes running a company is like driving a boat. The sea surface looks calm, but in reality, there are undercurrents beneath the water. Sometimes, one wrong step could lead to destruction.

What was gratifying was that the company was now completely on the right track. hongxing 2nd generation, Kunpeng mobile phone, and shining 2 were constantly transfusing blood into the company, providing a steady stream of cash flow. At the beginning of this year, under his instructions, Lu Weibing invested in several small enterprises, or rather, studios.

The Huami team and the Stone company from his previous life were all preemptively invested in and controlled by Chen Chen. He didn't want to be like Xiaomi in the early days, only investing without holding controlling stakes, failing to fully control the company.

In the end, all the supply chain companies wanted to strike out on their own, to the extent that Xiaomi's own ecosystem chain products didn't support their own system.

This situation was absolutely intolerable to Chen Chen. He could ask Red Star not to participate in the company's management, but Red Star had to have absolute control and absolute say in the company. Chen Chen wouldn't let these companies bite the hand that feeds them.

Chen Chen had now seen Zhang Feng's ability. From proposing the plan to delivering the finished product, it only took him a short two months, faster than the speed in his previous life at Xiaomi.

The Stone team he invested in was also researching their first-generation product, and the fan company he acquired produced a finished product according to his design in just one month, which would soon be available on Red Star Mall.

The fan that Zhang Feng was curious about was the one sent by the manufacturer, though it was a bit out of place in the office in the middle of winter.

The fan had a built-in WiFi module, which could connect to the Red Star Mobile Phone via WiFi for remote control and adjustment. In the future, except for some things that really couldn't be installed with modules, such as towels and power banks, Chen Chen planned to imitate Xiaomi from his previous life; everything had to be able to connect to the internet.

For the center that controlled the devices, he shamelessly copied it directly and called it Xing Family.

The interface and operation were completely copied according to Chen Chen's ideas.

Chen Chen: "Lei Zi, I've taken a step ahead in this life. Can your Mi Home still be launched?"

In these two months, shining 2 swept the market with an unstoppable momentum; there was no one who could compete. There were two sales in January, and 800,000 units were sold easily.

After the Spring Festival, Lu Weiqi used a new copywriting approach, meaning it was not only the first mobile phone for young people but also the first smart mobile phone for parents. As soon as this marketing copy came out, it brought another small climax to shining 2.

With 5 sales in February, a total of 3 million units were sold. Added to the shipments from offline operator channels, it meant that shining 2 had sold 5 million units in just two months after its release.

This kept the entire BYD foundry running at full capacity.

In the new year, in addition to Kunpeng mobile phone targeting the high-end, Shine targeting the low-end, and Red Star targeting the mid-range, Chen Chen was also preparing to open another product line. He was also copying it, preparing to call it the CC series, focusing on thinness, lightness, and photography, specifically targeting the female market.

As for the price, it would naturally fill the middle price range between the 1,999 yuan Red Star 2 and the 3,499 yuan Kunpeng mobile phone.

You have to know that in China, when it comes to spending power, it is definitely women > elderly > children > dogs > men. If the appearance is high enough and the photography is good enough, as for performance, it just needs to be passable; not many girls care about that now.

Didn't OV back then rely on "soft light selfie, lighting up your beauty" to sweep the female market? Now Chen Chen was preparing to use offline distributors to lay out this market in advance.