153: Chapter 153 What?! Glory has been punished too!

Precisely because it was announced that they had absolutely no connection with Huayao,

Honor's sales in Eagle Country's mobile phone market were not affected much.

Furthermore, Honor didn't sneakily take the cost-effective route;

instead, they were priced quite expensively.

However, because its specifications were indeed very good,

and the Kirin 970 processor could truly crush the mainstream processors currently on the market,

sales of the honor phone in Eagle Country were quite decent.

At the same time, Honor didn't directly pre-install TikTok when it debuted this time;

instead, they pushed TikTok heavily in the phone's advertisements

to increase TikTok's installation rate in Eagle Country.

Soon, the honor phone gained a solid foothold in Eagle Country,

capturing a 10% share of Eagle Country's mobile phone market.

It might not seem like much,

but it was already a breakthrough.

After all, this was Eagle Country,

the home turf of world-renowned tech giants like Apple, Microsoft, and Google.

Being able to carve out a path in the gaps between them

was truly no easy feat.

Zhao Ming, as the greatest contributor, was also quite proud;

although he was exhausted every day,

his elegance was undiminished from years past,

and he was even more charming.

He now possessed the leadership aura of a world-class enterprise.

However, in front of Bai Jingqing,

Zhao Ming immediately reverted to his old self.

Toward such a young man,

he was extremely respectful.

After all, jokes aside, don't be late for the meetings at Songshan Lake.

Theoretically, Honor had become independent from Huayao,

but the two were still inextricably linked.

Secretly, Bai Jingqing was still Zhao Ming's superior.

Basically every month,

Zhao Ming had to travel back and forth between Eagle Country and Dragon Country several times;

when he came to Dragon Country,

it was mainly to attend routine meetings at Songshan Lake.

Of course, if you asked Zhao Ming if he went to Songshan Lake to report his work to Bai Jingqing,

he would definitely not admit it,

"I'm just going to Songshan Lake for tourism,

I like camping and fishing by the shores of Songshan Lake.

I think the fish in Songshan Lake are particularly plump and delicious,

and catching them to make a fine meal is very tasty."

This was the reason he publicly gave for his frequent trips to Songshan Lake,

which also drew teasing from netizens,

"Can you sometimes fish up a phone or some blueprints too?"

"Wouldn't those blueprints have to be waterproof then?"

As the honor phone's market share in Eagle Country grew,

and its scale expanded,

Bai Jingqing didn't even have to worry about the honor phone clashing with Huayao's other domestic phones.

After all, the main task he gave to Honor was to sell in Eagle Country,

so he also applied all the good designs and configurations from Huayao's other domestic phone lines to Honor.

This resulted in the newer honor phones always bearing a resemblance to other Huayao Phones in the domestic market,

which made people feel that the honor phone was indeed still inextricably linked to the Huayao Phone.

Although they were nominally two separate companies

with absolutely no connection whatsoever.

At the end of that year,

the honor phone achieved another breakthrough,

capturing a 15% market share in the local mobile phone market of Eagle Country.

Finally, the honor phone once again drew the attention of the Eagle Country government.

James Smith, the Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, sent people to investigate the honor phone's background again,

only to discover that it was also a Dragon Country manufacturer.

At that time, he felt very conflicted: "We just took down Huayao Communications,

and now here comes the honor phone.

And it already has a 15% share of the local Eagle Country mobile phone market.

I can't just sanction the honor phone again using the same tactics we used on Huayao Communications, can I?"

You see, while sanctions are effective,

if used too often,

they eventually lose their impact.

Furthermore, if Eagle Country kept acting this way,

it would undoubtedly be considered domestic trade protectionism.

If you play the trade protectionism card every day,

who would still want to do business with you?

This would also have a huge impact on Eagle Country's reputation in the global market.

Just as James was feeling very conflicted,

he heard some very good news: "This honor phone used to be a sub-brand of Huayao Communications,

and only became independent later."

Although both sides insisted they no longer had any connection

and were two completely different companies,

their investigation revealed

that the two companies still maintained inextricable ties;

one could even say Honor was essentially Huayao's reincarnation.

"Fine, you're playing Whac-A-Mole with me here?

I whack one down,

and you pop up with two.

I just whacked down Huayao Communications,

and now you pop up with an Honor Communications.

Well, I'd like to see

if I whack down the honor phone again,

how many more sub-brands will pop up!

You like making trouble like this, do you?

Then let's keep going.

Anyway, for me, a sanction is just a matter of a single sentence.

Just keep sanctioning them!"

James Smith was fuming with rage,

feeling that the Dragon Country people nowadays just loved playing little tricks,

and he wished he could kick them all out of Eagle Country.

At the instruction of the Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce,

a new sanction order was quickly issued.

When he first received the news that the honor phone had been sanctioned,

Zhao Ming was naturally very upset: "Damn it,

I've already said

that I have no connection with Huayao anymore,

not even a cent's worth.

If you want to sanction Huayao, then sanction Huayao;

what does it have to do with my Honor?

These sons of bitches from Eagle Country!

I curse you to be struck by lightning and die a miserable death!"

Zhao Ming immediately arranged for local internet trolls in Eagle Country to spread the word,

insisting that Honor had absolutely no connection with Huayao,

and that Eagle Country's sanctions against Honor were completely illegal and non-compliant,

a pure manifestation of trade protectionism!

But when he arrived at Songshan Lake and saw Bai Jingqing,

he said to Bai Jingqing with a silly grin, "Little Boss Bai,

uh... we've been sanctioned too. What should we do?"

Bai Jingqing nodded with a smile;

it was clearly within his expectations.

However, now that Zhao Ming had been sanctioned,

why did he look so happy?

During all this time,

Bai Jingqing hadn't been idle at home.

Although he didn't need to busy himself with expanding territory

or continuing to promote products to other countries around the world,

he had still investigated many things.

So at this moment, he pointed the way for Zhao Ming, saying, "Don't just grin like an idiot.

Don't think that just because the honor phone is sanctioned again, you can come back home.

You're staying over there,

and from now on, you'll be primarily responsible for the mobile phone business there."

Upon hearing this,

the silly grin on Zhao Ming's face instantly froze.

"Alright then, what should I do now?"

In the end, Zhao Ming accepted the news quite helplessly.

Bai Jingqing continued, "I'll tell you a secret—

or maybe it's not a secret,

just some inside information.

I heard that James Smith, the Secretary of the Eagle Country Ministry of Commerce,

has a very unique hobby."