381: Chapter 381, after all that, still prioritizes the Fire Dragon.

"Later, the old gentleman authorized the technology to us for free because he said that in his view, Xiaomi is a company that respects technology.

He felt at ease leaving it to us..."

The Mi Fans in the audience heard about the technology and had an instant reaction... The applause was like it didn't cost a dime, reaching the stage.

But it really didn't cost money, they just needed to move their palms.

"But right after it ended, I asked Mr. Tanaka again, what kind of ceramic counts as good ceramic?

This great ceramic artisan of the Great Nation didn't even lift his head and said: 'Lei, have you ever guarded the kiln for a night?'"

Lei Jun paused slightly, letting everyone feel the dedication of this great artisan once more.

Seeing the audience below reveal that stunned look, he smiled smugly; choosing the story of the Ceramic Immortal was the right move.

So Lei Jun added more fuel to the fire: "I didn't understand, so I asked him what he meant.

Mr. Tanaka looked at my earnest learning expression and made an exception again. He demonstrated to me personally that from throwing the clay to putting it in the kiln, from 1000 degrees to 1300 degrees, every minute of temperature change affects the final color.

If the temperature is too low, the glaze isn't smooth; if too high, the porcelain body cracks.

A piece of good porcelain isn't burned; it is waited for."

He turned around and looked at the big screen.

A picture of Tanaka holding a tea bowl appeared on it.

That bowl was silvery white and translucent, thin as an eggshell, revealing a warm, jade-like color under the halo of light.

Tanaka said something in Japanese: "It took 7 years from when I started until it was finished."

"It took 7 years to burn one bowl.

It once again proves that our failures in the past few years were not because our technology was not good, but because there are just too many factors affecting a piece of good ceramic."

The Mi Fans in the audience were nodding frantically.

Failure is normal, and this spirit of having the courage to persist after failure... he is truly the Lei Jun they admire.

Looking at the audience, Lei Jun smiled; this bowl of chicken soup was quite effective...

After finishing the story, Lei Jun took the opportunity to steer the topic to the ceramic back cover.

"But this bowl also let me see the difficulty of ceramics, so I asked Mr. Tanaka, can we hire you to make ceramic back covers?

But this time Mr. Tanaka looked at me and smiled.

He said, 'You Chinese people change mobile phone generations every few months; can you afford to wait 7 years?'"

The audience instantly went quiet again.

Was this a rejection or... could it be that Xiaomi really only got a formula and didn't actually hire the artisan?

Lei Jun began to ask and answer his own questions in a reflective tone.

"I didn't sleep at all that night.

I was thinking, what are we really pursuing in making mobile phones?

Is it speed, AnTuTu scores, or iteration after iteration?

Or is it like Mr. Tanaka, spending 7 years just to burn one perfect product."

On the other side in Yangcheng, Shen Fei saw this and really couldn't hold back anymore.

After all, China is the birthplace of ceramics; Ru Kiln, Ding Kiln... with so many artisans in the country, you don't hire them, but instead, you run abroad to find a third-rate technician and even boast about him being a great artisan of the Great Nation.

The key is there's a bunch of fools...

And damn it, not bragging about AnTuTu scores—is it really that you don't want to run them, or can you just not beat the others?

Zhang Mingzhu, who was next to him, saw Shen Fei like this and hurriedly grabbed his hand, gently brushing it...

"Don't be angry... isn't it quite good to just treat it as a joke?"

At the launch event, Lei Jun pressed the remote control again.

"Ceramic is not just a material; it is a spirit."

The Mi Fans in the audience applauded enthusiastically once more... At this moment, they completely believed that the ceramic cover process was difficult, and doing it well was even harder.

Most importantly, the ceramic products from the neighbors were not as strong as Xiaomi's product.

"Early the next morning, I visited Mr. Tanaka again.

I told Mr. Tanaka very bluntly that I couldn't wait 7 years, but I could spend 7 months to create a flagship product that consumers could use for 7 years."

Lei Jun didn't talk about the follow-up; he pressed the remote control, and a render of the xiaomi note 3 appeared on the screen, with a white body and rounded corners.

But this was not ordinary white; it carried that white that Tanaka spent 7 years burning, as if the light was absorbed into the body, rather than simply reflected.

"xiaomi note 3, features a ceramic back cover burned by a great artisan of the Great Nation across the entire series."

The Mi Fans in the audience jumped up instantly; Xiaomi is far ahead.

At the same time, looking at the signature next to the lens, they also instantly understood that Mr. Tanaka had joined Xiaomi, and this back cover was personally burned by the artisan.

Who knows, maybe this xiaomi note 3 is even an investment product?

After all, the ceramic back cover crafted by a great artisan has an excellent feel, so appreciation in value is inevitable.

Thus, many Mi Fans in the audience were instantly tempted!

Just then, Lei Jun introduced this extremely difficult process.

"This time we are using zirconia ceramic.

Mohs hardness of 8.5, second only to sapphire.

7 processes, 27 days of burning, every back cover goes through 3 days and 3 nights of high-temperature calcination.

It is three times harder than glass, 10 times warmer than metal, and feels like a piece of jade in your hand."

As the voice fell, a detailed process flow appeared on the big screen.

Starting with the raw porcelain clay, it goes through... spray granulation... dry pressing... grinding and polishing, finally becoming a ceramic back cover with a thickness of only 0.60mm.

Every step was marked with time and temperature, every back cover was individually contained, and the yield rate was less than 40%.

"Everyone can see from this promotional video that the yield rate of ceramics is very low, so why are we so obsessed with ceramics?"

Lei Jun's voice rose a little again.

"Because plastic will age, metal will oxidize, and glass will shatter; only ceramic becomes warmer the more you use it, and more beautiful the longer you have it.

It will fuse with your hand, it will record your every touch; this is a material with life."

He paused, looking at the excited audience, and finally said one more sentence:

"This is the thing Mr. Ito handed to me; good products are not made, they are waited for."

The excited Mi Fans could not express their feelings and could only use continuous applause to express their anticipation...

After all, they believed that what Lei Jun said was serious, and besides, he wouldn't gain anything by lying to them, so supporting him was all there was to it.

"Of course, ceramic is just its surface."

Lei Jun pressed the remote control again, switching to the configuration page.

"Our interior is equally powerful!

It is a flagship mobile phone that is excellent both inside and out."

While the Mi Fans online were excitedly sending bullet comments, Lei Jun proudly took a chip out of his pocket again.

"xiaomi note 3, the first in the country to launch with the Qualcomm Fire Dragon 800 processor.

28nm process, quad-core, AnTuTu score..."

"How much? Can it crush the Taishan 910?

I've been unhappy with those people for a long time; a garbage chip being boasted about all day, I really don't know—people who don't know might think it's something amazing."