Rebirth: Starting from a Trainee Teacher

Chapter 648: R&D Base Launched
On March 1st, Zhou Jing arrived in Tangdu at around 2:00 p.m. Bai Xiyao was busy preparing for the groundbreaking ceremony of the R&D base and sent someone from the company to pick up Zhou Jing at the airport.

Zhou Jing went to Ideal Technology first. Bai Xiyao explained the procedure of the groundbreaking ceremony of the R&D base to Zhou Jing's office. Zhou Jing familiarized himself with the procedure and called the office to invite the senior official again. The senior official's secretary answered the call, and Zhou Jing asked the secretary to tell the senior official the time of the groundbreaking ceremony.

The senior official arranged the time, and Bai Xiyao booked a hotel for him to rest in advance, but as the head of the company, Zhou Jing's second invitation seemed more sincere.

"Didn't you have lunch?"

Bai Xiyao returned to the company at around three o'clock and went straight to Zhou Jing's office.

"Dinner is two meals in one."

Zhou Jing did not eat after getting off the plane.

“You take care of other people but not yourself.”

Bai Xiyao said with a smile.

"People are always like this, always caring about others and ignoring themselves."

Zhou Jing smiled and said.

"So we need to stick together and care for each other."

Apart from her family, Bai Xiyao usually only cares about Zhou Jing, and he is used to ignoring her.

"Has your family started urging you to get married?"

Zhou Jing is very concerned about Bai’s best friend’s life events, which not only affect their relationship, but also have an impact on the company.

"It's no use urging them. If you can't make a photolithography machine, you won't find a man."

Bai’s best friend has no plans to find a partner in the short term, and may not find one in this lifetime. Having children and the daily necessities of life are not suitable for her. She just wants to live a good life. Anyway, she has an elder sister at home to continue the family line.

"Have ambition."

Zhou Jing felt sorry for Bai’s best friend.

Bai Xiyao said, "You and Gu Jia can have two more children and give me one."

"No need for Gu Jia, I can take you there."

Zhou Jing said half jokingly and half seriously.

"Do you think it's troublesome to take care of a pregnant woman?"

Bai Xiyao thought to herself that it was hard to say what would happen in the future. If Zhou Jing continued to be unfaithful and followed the path of many bosses and broke up with his wife peacefully, she might not be able to avoid being taken advantage of by Zhou Jing. If she had an illegitimate child with Zhou Jing, she would not be unable to keep the child.

"Fortunately."

Zhou Jing wanted to say that it was not just an ordinary trouble. When a pregnant woman's belly gets big, she has difficulty moving. She needs someone to take care of her eating, drinking, defecating, urinating, sleeping, washing her hair, feet and taking a bath. This is how Zhou Jing took care of Gu Jia. It would be a lie to say that it was not troublesome. Since she chose to start a family, these are the responsibilities and obligations she should have.

“This is the arrangement for March.”

Bai Xiyao threw a schedule of important events for March to Zhou Jing.

Zhou Jing opened it and took a look. On it was a schedule of some important events. There was the groundbreaking ceremony of Ideal Technology's Tangdu R&D base on March 1, the Taiwei Semiconductor R&D team went to HiSilicon for exchanges on March 1, the Ideal Technology Southern Headquarters project agreement was signed with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on March , the pre-sale of Ideal s and Imagine s and other products started on March , and the National People's Congress visited Ideal Technology on March , etc. Some of these events required Zhou Jing to take part in personally.

“Has the February earnings report come out yet?”

Zhou Jing glanced through the schedule and put it down and said.

"Let me ask."

Bai Xiyao called Liu Hanyu and asked.

After a while, Liu Hanyu delivered the Ideal Technology February briefing that she had compiled at noon to the office.

"What time did you come back?"

Seeing Zhou Jing, Liu Hanyu asked softly.

"It's a little after two. How are you doing in your new position?"

Zhou Jing looked at the girl and smiled.

“There is pressure.”

Liu Hanyu is now the acting deputy manager of the Finance Department of Ideal Technology. She is only 25 years old and is under tremendous pressure to serve as the deputy manager of a company valued at over 300 billion yuan. The financial flow easily reaches hundreds of millions, and a slight miscalculation may result in huge losses.

“There is motivation only when there is pressure.”

Zhou Jing trusts Liu Hanyu. Liu Hanyu is not a money-grubbing person and is very principled.

"The performance in February was relatively poor due to the Spring Festival holiday, and overall it was basically the same as in January."

Bai Xiyao probably understood Ideal Technology's February data without reading the briefing.

"good."

Zhou Jing nodded. In February, the global sales of Ideal traditional mobile phones were close to 1 million units, the global sales of Ideal 1 were more than units, and the global sales of Ideal were more than million units. Ideal Bluetooth speakers and smart speakers accounted for more than % of the market share of similar products, and Ideal smart lamps accounted for more than % of the sales share.

The mobile phone sales do not include the more than 200,000 customized Changxiang phones.

Total sales in February were over 54 billion yuan. After Ideal Technology significantly increased its R&D investment, it still achieved a net profit of over 8 billion yuan in February.

Zhou Jing experienced the joy of working at Apple, the most profitable technology company in the world. It was really great to have large profit margins for its products.

The Ideal 1 smartphone was originally priced at 2599 yuan, and is now sold in China for 2499 yuan. However, the average price in February did not decrease but increased instead, reaching more than 1 yuan. The Imagine 1199 was originally priced at 1099 yuan, and is now sold in China for yuan. The average price in February was over yuan. The first reason for this phenomenon is that the selling price is high abroad. As overseas sales increase, the average price has been significantly raised. Another reason is cost reduction.

Including the net profit of more than 2013 billion yuan in January, Ideal Technology has achieved a net profit of more than billion yuan in the first two months of the first quarter of . Such performance has exceeded the annual profit of most domestic competitors.

“Do you want to increase the R&D budget?”

Bai Xiyao said as she stood beside Zhou Jing's chair and looked at the briefing.

"Not yet, see if needed."

Zhou Jing will not be reluctant to invest in R&D, and will definitely increase R&D investment if the R&D team needs it.

Bai Xiyao said: "Two more mobile phone manufacturers are rumored to be going bankrupt, Xinxia and Doov. Doov was only founded in 09. Do you know Xinxia? Li Yuchun was the spokesperson for it."

"Have you heard that Gionee went bankrupt?"

Zhou Jing was deeply impressed by Gionee mobile phones. The 8848 advertisement on TV at that time made people want to own one.

"I don't know. If it's not bankrupt, it's probably on the verge of bankruptcy."

Bai Xiyao hadn't seen any news about Gionee for a long time. Gionee's market was not big to begin with, and it was built for a specific group of people, so it was destined that the users would not be too wide, unlike the wide user base of Ideal Bluetooth mobile phones. After staying in the office until after four o'clock, Zhou Jing and Bai's girlfriend went to the company cafeteria to eat. After eating, it was time to get off work, and the two returned to the office building to work overtime. After get off work, except for the project team in the R&D department who was working overtime, other people got off work on time, and the office building was very quiet.

Ideal Technology has been very busy recently. Not only does it have multiple expansion projects to do, but the expansion of its headquarters plant is about to be completed, and it has begun recruiting personnel for training. According to the company's plan last year, recruitment for Ideal Technology's new plant is open to offline store clerks, and offline store clerks can become formal employees of Ideal Technology through recruitment.

Although Ideal Technology provides the same benefits to offline store clerks as the company's regular employees, including basic salary, performance-based salary, quarterly bonuses, annual bonuses, and annual dividends, they are still ordinary contract workers. Ideal Technology opens channels to offline store clerks, which can be regarded as a way for them to become regular employees and get promoted.

“This is the final expenditure budget for the factory expansion.”

Bai Xiyao gave Zhou Jing the cost budget for expanding the factory.

“How much do you still owe the bank?”

Zhou Jing took a quick look and found that the total cost of the Ideal Technology expansion project was much higher than the initial budget.

The initial budget was more than 500 million yuan, but the actual cost was more than 900 million yuan. It was not because of the budget error at the beginning, but because Ideal Technology's performance was getting better and better in the middle of the project, so they adjusted the project. On the original basis, they added a piece of land next to the second and third phases, expanded the scale of the second and third phases, the living area and the office area, added a research and development building to the office area, and added a living hall to the living area. The living hall is a comprehensive activity building within the company.

"We still owe the bank more than 500 million for this project. Do we need to pay it back in advance?"

Bai Xiyao said that Ideal Technology is not short of money at present. Considering this year's R&D reserve fund of more than 20 billion yuan and the turnover of several major projects of more than 10 billion yuan this year, the company still has more than 20 billion yuan of idle funds.

"Need not."

Zhou Jing shook his head. The bank was eager to lend more money to Ideal Technology!
When the company reached the level of Ideal Technology, banks lined up to provide loans, and bank presidents and vice presidents often took the initiative to contact Zhou Jing to greet him and ask whether he would lend money or make deposits.

Classmates who work in banks would also contact Zhou Jing to ask if they had any needs for loans or deposits. One of Zhou Jing's college roommates graduated and went to work in a bank, which was very stressful. Last year, Zhou Jing asked that classmate to deposit 100 million yuan. The bank directly promoted Zhou Jing's classmate from a consultant who deceived customers into buying financial products to deputy director of a department. This is the charm of money management.

"All tests for Ideal 1s and Changxiang 1s have been completed. We are going to start mass production on the th and pre-sale on the th. How much stock do you have?"

Bai Xiyao said as she looked at the mass production report of Ideal 1s and Imagine 1s.

"We have 1 Ideal 1s units in stock, and Changxiang s units in stock. The specific amount will depend on the order placed after the pre-sale starts."

Zhou Jing thought for a moment and said.

There will be no press conference for Ideal 1s and Changxiang 1s. Pre-sales will start directly on March th, and the official sale will go on sale on April st. This method does not require too much stock. After the pre-sale starts, the order volume is ideal, and it is not a problem to add hundreds of thousands of units to stock from March th to st.

"If the Ideal 2nd generation is to be released in November, we will increase the production capacity of the Ideal 1st and Imagine 1st generations."

Zhou Jing continued to say that the target for Ideal smartphones this year is 1 million units. Originally, the plan was to control the supply of Ideal 1 in the first two quarters and then make a final push after the release of the second-generation smartphone in September. However, due to chip supply reasons, Zhou Jing had to adjust the plan and let Ideal 1 make the most of this year's performance. Fortunately, Ideal S was launched in April, and starting from the second quarter, Ideal 1, Ideal s, Imagine and Imagine s will all be launched at the same time, so this year's sales target will definitely be achieved.

"Okay, then we will start with the mass production of Ideal 1s and Imagine 1s and increase the production capacity to million units per month. If these two models sell well after they are launched, should we directly increase the production capacity to million units per month?"

Bai Xiyao nodded and said.

The monthly production capacity of Ideal smartphones in January and February was 2.5 million units. Increasing it to 2.8 million units may seem like an increase of only 300,000 units, but it is actually not that simple. Increasing production capacity means expanding market share, which requires the cooperation of marketing efforts. After all, these are products priced at more than 1,000 yuan and 2,000 to 3,000 yuan.

"No, let's get to 2.8 million first, and then we'll see in the third quarter."

Zhou Jing insisted on taking one step at a time. The domestic price of Ideal 1s was 2799 yuan, and the overseas price was 3099 yuan. The domestic price of Imagine 1s was 1399 yuan, and the overseas price was 1599 yuan. The Imagine series did not matter. The price positioning of Ideal 1s was already at the upper-middle level among mid-range phones. Brand building must be done well. If you rush to increase sales, all your efforts will be wasted if you miscalculate.

Hunger marketing is essential in the brand building stage.

"OK."

After working overtime until around eight o'clock, Zhou Jing and her bestie Bai had some midnight snack and went home.

The groundbreaking ceremony for Ideal Technology's Tangdu R&D base started at 2 p.m. on March 3. Zhou Jing and Bai Xiyao went to the hotel booked for the guests forty minutes in advance. The senior official's assistant had already arrived at the hotel to check the room. Zhou Jing and Bai Xiyao did not go to the room booked for the senior official, and Zhao's assistant would not let them in. A person like Zhao must attach great importance to safety when traveling.

After arriving at the hotel, Zhou Jing and Bai Xiyao went to their own rooms to familiarize themselves with the procedures.

Because of Zhao's participation, the groundbreaking ceremony is particularly grand. District leaders will also attend, several senior executives of Ideal Technology will be present, and the provincial television station will film and record it.

"How about this position for the main personnel?"

Bai Xiyao told Zhou Jing the standing order of the main people participating in the groundbreaking ceremony.

"no problem."

Zhao is naturally the C position, and Zhou Jing is next to Zhao.

In order to highlight Zhao's center position, Bai Xiyao arranged an odd number of people to stand on the stage for a group photo. The person in charge of the groundbreaking ceremony of Ideal Technology had told Zhao's assistant about the specific process.

"So nervous, you're not nervous at all?"

Bai Xiyao looked at Zhou Jing who had a calm expression.

"Nothing to be nervous about."

Zhou Jing has participated in bigger events before, so this small one is nothing.

Zhao arrived at the hotel in a special car at 2 o'clock. Zhou Jing and Bai Xiyao greeted him outside the hotel. Zhou Jing bent down to shake hands with Zhao as he got off the car and said, "Thank you Secretary Zhao for taking the time to attend the groundbreaking ceremony."

"This is a big event for our Tangdu." Zhao held Zhou Jing's hand and said enthusiastically: "The contribution that Ideal Technology has made to our province is obvious to all. It has driven the rapid development of our province's science and technology industry!"

"."

After a few polite words, Zhao went to the hotel room to find out the situation from the secretary, while Zhou Jing and Bai Xiyao went to the groundbreaking ceremony.

The groundbreaking ceremony was held at the Ideal Technology Tangdu R&D Base construction site. Construction vehicles and construction equipment were parked on both sides of the road, which was quite spectacular. Balloons and colorful banners floated in the wind above the spacious construction site. A simple shed had been built next to the groundbreaking ceremony. Two cranes were craning their necks on both sides of the road leading to the groundbreaking ceremony site.

The site for the groundbreaking ceremony is ready. The flowers below the stage are beautiful, and the hostesses in uniform are even more beautiful.

"Boss Zhou, Boss Bai."

Ideal Technology executives walked towards Zhou Jing and Bai Xiyao.

Zhou Jing and Bai Xiyao nodded. Bai Xiyao looked at the project leader and said, "Pay attention to order later."

"Okay Mr. Bai."

"."

Zhou Jing and Bai Xiyao looked around the scene. After being informed by the person arranged by the hotel that Zhao's car was heading this way, the two of them took several executives to the intersection to greet him.

Although the groundbreaking ceremony was just a formality, the necessary procedures could not be skipped because of Zhao's participation, so everything had to be more rigorous, but at the same time, it could not be dragged out. People like Zhao had very limited time, so the ceremony went straight to the point, and each link was streamlined under the host's guidance.

Zhao's speech was nothing more than a bunch of clichés, such as congratulating Ideal Technology on its development achievements and hoping that Ideal Technology would lead Tangdu. After that, Zhou Jing made a brief speech.

Zhou Jing's speech was full of clichés, and he himself felt that there was no sincerity in it.

Finally, as Zhou Jing announced the start of construction, the salutes and streamers set up on site were launched into the sky, and the construction of Ideal Technology's Tangdu R&D base was officially launched.

(End of this chapter)