8: Pinduoduo's first order

"Using 320P resolution in 2011? This screen is just an eyesore!"

"What? 749 and it comes with 1G RAM? Then there's absolutely nothing wrong with this screen; if I can't see clearly, it's my eyes' fault, nothing to do with the phone."

"Where can I buy it for 749? What on earth is Pinduoduo?"

"Isn't Red Star about to go bankrupt? That side-sliding full keyboard they released at the beginning of the year almost blinded me. Bro, it's 2011, and you made a full keyboard phone, and it's freaking side-sliding!"

Many netizens were skeptical of these news reports. After all, everyone knew that President Chen of Red Star passed away last year, and then the young President Chen spent all his time drinking and chasing girls, completely ignoring company affairs.

Suddenly coming out with a phone for 749 with top-tier specs, people were more or less a bit skeptical.

Especially seeing the 1G RAM, they simply couldn't believe it. 749 for 1G of RAM?

You have to know that at that time, thousand-yuan phones on the market didn't even offer 1G; most were 512MB, and hundred-yuan phones were only 256MB.

And what's this Starlight OS? Red Star actually changed their system interface? Those old-timers actually know how to make a system interface? And it's a relatively young and fresh flat design style.

Soon, the Shine 1 was listed on Pinduoduo.

The product title even boasted a 100% authenticity guarantee.

"Official self-operation."

"A hundredfold compensation for fakes."

"Nationwide warranty."

Xiao Zhang, who was in charge of operating the store, was a bit dazed and hurriedly asked:

"President Chen, what does this mean?"

"Will labeling it like this be suspected of false advertising?"

"False advertising?"

Chen Chen's gaze instantly focused on Zhang Weichao.

"Is this not authentic? Is it not officially self-operated?"

Zhang Weichao felt Chen Chen's gaze and had no choice but to brace himself and continue.

"President Chen, we currently have very few offline outlets; there's no way to offer a nationwide warranty..."

"Are you stupid? Within the whole country, as long as they can mail it to our company, we'll provide the warranty. Isn't that a nationwide warranty?"

Everyone: "..."

Liu Qi, 22 years old, just graduated from junior college.

Like many of his classmates, he started working right after graduation and became a proud salesman.

After finishing work in the evening, Liu Qi, who had been running around all day, finally dragged his tired body back to his rented room.

His stomach had been growling for a long time. He took out some dried noodles from the cupboard to cook and lay on the bed, enjoying his long-awaited rest.

Having worked for nearly a month, besides being tired, he felt the phone in his hand was becoming increasingly useless.

He desperately wanted to buy a new phone.

That's right.

Like most salesmen, he needed to make a large number of calls every day and add customers' contact information.

In just one month, he could no longer distinguish between life and work.

Once he opened QQ, it was almost entirely work-related messages.

He hated this kind of life.

Liu Qi sighed, put the noodles into the boiling water, and after a thought, took out an egg and cracked it into the pot.

A simple dinner was ready.

While slurping his noodles, he opened a shopping platform, preparing to pick out a phone.

As an intern who had just started working, he didn't have much savings; buying a phone was already a major expense.

"No, no matter what, I have to replace this one this time. I'll just look for a cheap one. At worst, I'll eat dried noodles for another half month."

Actually, Liu Qi's requirements weren't high: a large battery and the ability to smoothly run Feiliao, WeChat, and QQ. Other than that, of course, the cheaper the better.

With such a budget, he didn't even dare to think about Fruit or Samsung.

Nokia, ZTE, Huawei, and Samsung—even their cheap mid-range models cost over 1,000 yuan.

Thinking about how he had used a Lenovo laptop for three years in college without a single problem, he directly narrowed his brand choice to Lenovo.

After all, Lenovo was considered a big brand.

Soon, he found Lenovo's cheapest smartphone—the usable kind, of course.

Seeing the MediaTek 4971 processor with a clock speed of 1.2GHz, Liu Qi frowned. Looking further down: 256MB RAM, 1GB internal storage, and a typical battery value of 1580mAh.

At a price of 1,100 yuan, it had basically no aesthetic appeal, just a black frame wrapping around a 4-inch screen.

But Liu Qi didn't care; as long as the performance was good, it was fine.

But with this memory configuration, how could it possibly be considered user-friendly?

Isn't 256MB of RAM the same as his current phone?

Moreover, the price of 1,100 was already a bit over budget.

"I'll look at others. If all else fails, I'll buy this one."

Out of options, Liu Qi had to continue browsing other phones.

He saw online that Dami Company was also going to make phones, and the specs were expected to be top-tier, comparable to foreign phones costing over 4,000, while the price would only be over 2,000.

But I need one now. And the price of over 2,000 is even more over budget.

Just then, a notification popped up at the top of his phone at an extremely slow speed.

"If you're a brother, come give me a slash—Pinduoduo."

Only then did Liu Qi remember that a salesman promoting Pinduoduo had downloaded it for him earlier.

As a fellow salesman, why should we torment each other? So Liu Qi had let it be downloaded.

Opening Pinduoduo, he found that the phones there were indeed cheaper than on Tmall and JD, but looking at the specs and such, he realized they were all knock-offs.

"It seems I'll have to grit my teeth and buy that Lenovo one."

"It just means eating dried noodles for another month!"

At that thought, the noodles in his mouth instantly became hard to swallow.

Just then, a new product refreshed on Pinduoduo's homepage.

【Red Star's Masterpiece: Dual-core 1G RAM phone for a limited time of 749】

【Lowest price on the web! Nationwide warranty! A hundredfold compensation for fakes!】

Seeing this, Liu Qi felt his noodles were becoming flavorful again.

After all, the phone he was currently using was a Red Star. Although it lagged a lot, its quality was undeniable; it had been through thick and thin with him and was still incredibly durable.

Perhaps it was because the marketing copy on the homepage always made one want to click, Liu Qi couldn't help but click in.

"100% Authentic!"

"A hundredfold compensation for fakes!"

"Red Star Official Flagship Store!"

Scrolling down to the product details, Liu Qi indeed saw the 1G RAM mentioned on the promotional page.

Looking at the parameters, his noodle-eating slowed down.

These specs?

Are they going to the moon?

Although the screen resolution wasn't high, everyone else was about the same, and it even had a front-facing camera.

The battery was also large, reaching 2000mAh.

Pushing the noodles aside, Liu Qi picked up the phone to carefully examine the specs.

Exactly, this is just what I'm looking for!

Moreover, Red Star Company is a brand with over a decade of history!

Reading the details over and over, the noodles in the bowl had clumped together, but Liu Qi grew more and more excited.

If the specs were truly as described in the details, it would undoubtedly meet all his requirements.

Smooth operation, large memory, large battery.

That's enough!

Without hesitation, Liu Qi directly chose to join the group buy. After filling in his bank card number and binding it to his Pinduoduo wallet, he decisively pressed pay.

The gears of fate began to turn at this moment. (Remember this person; he'll be on the test later)