Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 254 Star Alliance Project
Suddenly, Singularity Technology had no business to do.

The Taobao sales department has ceased operations, as has the Huaqiangbei business unit.

So far, only overseas business remains. Recently, India has started to legalize IMEI codes and implement a unified standard, so sales can be cut off at any time.

Chen Xuebing forcibly tied the profits of Singularity and Spreadtrum together, unleashing all of Lu Weibing's potential.

With hundreds of ground sales representatives and strong R&D capabilities, Singularity began helping Spreadtrum franchisees earn rebates for selling Spreadtrum-enabled mobile phones, and Spreadtrum's sales and problem-solving abilities were also significantly improved.

Technical faults are addressed and resolved by our team within 24 hours. We offer free solutions for hardware compatibility and IMI code issues, more flexible payment terms for small and medium-sized manufacturers, support for appearance and interface design, assistance in connecting with overseas manufacturers, resolution of contract compliance issues, and free online sales consulting services.
Previously, Qidian fully opened up its advantages and channels for acquiring customers to manufacturers, and manufacturers felt real benefits. In just ten days, the landscape of Huaqiangbei began to undergo subtle changes.

From the first day when a dozen big bosses forced their way into buying 20 chips, to the tenth day when sales exceeded 50.

Huaqiangbei, a street with a total area of ​​no more than 1.45 square kilometers, has always adapted to rapid changes.

Change happens every day, even in places where no one speaks.

On July 11, MediaTek headquarters realized what was happening and, as a shareholder, raised questions and concerns with Spreadtrum, demanding that Spreadtrum shift its focus to TD3G chip development to reduce direct competition with MediaTek. However, they have yet to directly contact any board members.

The following day, the MediaTek representative went to Spreadtrum's Shenzhen office on the 55th floor of SEG Plaza and finally met with Zhou Chengyun, the sales vice president in charge. His first words were a question:
"President Zhou, why isn't your General Manager Wu answering the phone at headquarters?"

Zhou Chengyun smiled enigmatically: "At headquarters, you are shareholders, and we have always respected shareholders. Of course, it's not appropriate for President Wu to accept this. This is a battlefield, and you are competitors. Just say what you have to say."

"We only joined because of our investment partnership."

Zhou Chengyun waved his hand: "Spreadtrum's mission is to break the technological monopoly and be responsible to users. Any other considerations do not meet market demands or the mission of a technology company."

"So you're going to go head-to-head?"

“We will not give up the market. If MediaTek does not want to compete, we can discuss technical cooperation and share this market together.”

"If you persist in this attitude, MediaTek will have no choice but to restrict your production capacity through the supply chain. You should be clear about TSMC's priorities."

"Thank you for the reminder. We are already in talks with SMIC about cooperation, and production capacity is not an issue."

In this minor exchange, MediaTek failed to intimidate Spreadtrum and also carefully avoided the sensitive topic of price competition, which neither side wanted to discuss.

After everyone left, Zhou Chengyun dialed Chen Xuebing's number.

"Mr. Chen, the MediaTek people have arrived; the battle should begin soon."

"It's not a matter of 'should'. Yesterday, our people discovered that MediaTek, along with two solution providers, Longcheer and Wintech, had already negotiated exclusivity agreements with some manufacturers. We're trying to lull them into a false sense of security, and they're trying to lull us into a false sense of security as well. Now, Singulato is also negotiating exclusivity agreements with 26 manufacturers. Since they've come to you, you don't need to hide anymore. Go and contact those legitimate manufacturers like Bird, Amoi, and TCL. Once they lower their prices, we'll offer those manufacturers the same low prices. We can't let them get too comfortable. Have you finalized the production line negotiations with SMIC and Huahong?"

"It's not easy to negotiate. Currently, we have spare capacity for 0.13-micron and 90-nanometer production lines, but the order volume for 0.18-micron production lines is actually very large."

"What efficiency! They secured 30% of their production capacity and prepaid a 50% deposit! Now Spreadtrum has 3G chips, DSP chips, and can also package and cooperate with high-generation production lines to solve their spare capacity issues! With such a good hand, why are they hesitant?"

Zhou Chengyun had just been tough on MediaTek and was secretly pleased with himself, but he didn't expect to become timid and hesitant in front of President Chen.

It's only selling for 50 yuan. And you're already talking about guaranteed production capacity and paying half as a deposit?
"President Chen, how about we start the war tomorrow!" Zhou Chengyun had come to Shenzhen and gradually adapted to this radical atmosphere, wanting to show his passion.

"Of course, since we can't hide any longer, what are we waiting for? The time lock will be activated tomorrow morning to catch them off guard! You contact Lu Weibing directly, I have something else to do, that's all."

On the other side, at the newly opened Kempinski Hotel in Shenzhen, there is the Four Seasons Restaurant.

Family dinner.

Chen Xuebing hung up the phone, smiled, and raised his glass.

"Mom, it's hot here in the summer. You might not be used to it yet since you just arrived in Shenzhen. After dinner, rest at the hotel first. I'll take Chen Xuejin to the company for a look around, and then I'll go sightseeing in Shenzhen with you tonight."

"Tsk, what's there to rest? It's not as hot as Chongqing!" Yu Chunyan blurted out, but when she saw the pitiful girl across the table with her head half-lowered, her tone softened considerably: "Xiao Yang, Xiao Bing has something to do. Will you accompany Auntie to go shopping this afternoon?"

A simple question made Yang Qingyue blush.

"Hmm, Auntie, I've just looked at a few places: Window of the World, Wutong Mountain. If Xuejin wants to go, we can go to the Wildlife Park, Happy Valley. Oh, Auntie, how about I take you to Window of the World?"

She wanted to appear poised and confident, but in her nervousness, she forgot that Chen Xuebing had just said he would take Chen Xuejin to the company, and instead recited the lines she had prepared.

She blushed even more after making a mistake, and exchanged a glance with Chen Xuebing.

Chen Xuebing noticed her nervousness.

Meeting your parents for the first time and spending time alone with them is bound to make anyone nervous.

He felt a chill run down his spine just thinking about it, and deep down he didn't want Yang Qingyue to go.

When he picked up his mother at the airport, he noticed that she had secretly taken a white box out of the taxi. He vaguely guessed what it was and was also worried that Yang Qingyue and his mother might have gone out alone, and that she would be wearing the ancestral pure gold ring when she came back.

That gold ring—three of my ex-girlfriends from my past life had it, and my ex-wife had it too—wasn't exactly a pleasant memory.

No, things are better at home now. The size of the box Mom took out should be a [family heirloom gold bracelet].

"Alright, alright, Mom, she's shy. I'll ask her to come shopping with you tonight, okay? If you scare her away, then don't keep urging me to find a girlfriend." Chen Xuebing said with a smile, not holding back at all.

As soon as these words were spoken, Yang Qingyue quickly retorted:

"No," she muttered softly, "I had already chosen what I wanted."

The more she spoke, the redder she became, and the softer her voice grew.

Seeing how nervous the little girl was, Yu Chunyan felt even more sorry for her. She glanced at Chen Xuebing and waved her hand, saying, "It's okay, Xiao Yang, Auntie can go anywhere!"

It was Chen Xuejin who spoke up first to defuse the situation: "Mom, Yang Qingyue is a college student. Her holiday starts late, and she has to go to class!"

"Oh, right, right!" Yu Chunyan slapped her forehead: "You go to class first, students, class is the priority!"

Chen Xuebing glanced at Chen Xuejin, knowing that this little devil's act of helping Yang Qingyue refuse was not out of kindness, and that he was still thinking about his Sister Xin. So he smiled and threatened, "Now that you're here, talk less, study more, and get along well with Sister Yang. Otherwise, I'll send you back."

Chen Xuejin rolled her eyes at him, put down her chopsticks, snorted, crossed her arms, and remained silent, unable to hide her emotions any longer.

He had been holding it in all day. When he left Chongqing, he heard that Sister Xiao Yang was coming. When he arrived in Shenzhen, he saw his brother and Sister Xiao Yang holding hands. His mother was also very happy about Sister Xiao Yang.

Thinking about how good Sister Xin had always been to him, and now that his brother had brought others to meet their mother, he felt that there was no point in saying anything. His clever mind imagined Sister Xin's sad appearance, and his nose suddenly tingled and his eyes reddened.

"Xiao Jin, what's wrong? Did you choke?" Yu Chunyan noticed her youngest son's condition but didn't understand why. She got up to wipe his tears and pat his back.

Chen Xuejin's lips were so pouty they could hang an IV drip. When his mother came over to check on him, he felt even worse and burst into tears. But he didn't dare mention Sister Xin to Sister Yang, so he could only nod and cry, even pretending to cough twice.

"Spicy! Ang ang ang!"

Yang Qingyue quickly handed over tissues to wipe Chen Xuejin's tears. Seeing the garlic scallops in front of Chen Xuejin, she hurriedly ran out to ask the waiter to bring a few more oysters and scallops, without chili peppers and with less garlic.

Only Chen Xuebing knew what was going on. He felt a little sorry for his younger brother, but couldn't help but want to laugh.

This kid's understanding of the complex adult world is too naive; he thinks that if one comes, another will definitely leave.

Chen Xuebing would occasionally check Xin Mengzhen's QQ space. The space had visitor records, and Xin Mengzhen would occasionally post some landscape photos she saw in her daily life, including the South Bund riverside where Chen Xuebing told her "I love you".

Hidden within the subtle interactions is a thread that remains unbroken.

But he didn't want to explain, afraid of setting a bad example for his younger brother. So he could only whisper to Yang Qingyue when she went out to call a waiter, "Alright, alright, I'll take you to Shanghai when I have time. Don't cry!"

Chen Xuejin immediately stopped crying, and then stared at her older brother's expression with tears in her eyes, repeatedly confirming the meaning of his words.

Chen Xuebing gave a helpless twitch at the corner of his mouth.

Chen Xuejin suddenly became happy and giggled, wiping away her tears with the towel her mother handed her.

"Mom, it's not spicy anymore!"

Seeing Chen Xuejin laughing and crying intermittently, and not understanding what he meant, Yu Chunyan got angry and rubbed the towel in her hand on Chen Xuejin's face: "What kind of secret code are you two brothers using! You're acting all mysterious all the time!"

When Yang Qingyue returned and saw Chen Xuejin smiling, she asked in surprise, "Are you alright?"

Chen Xuebing waved his hand: "It's nothing, this kid has a freckled face."

Yu Chunyan wondered if Chen Xuejin really liked Shanghai, and then, recalling something, said:

"Xiaobing, I heard your offices in Chongqing and Shenzhen are rented? And they're really luxurious? Are the rents expensive? I've heard that housing prices have been rising rapidly lately, especially in places like Beijing and Shanghai. Shenzhen isn't cheap either. Renting is always helping someone else pay their mortgage. If you have money, you should buy some assets, even if they're small. They're yours, and even if you don't use them anymore, you can rent them out and you'll never have to worry about money again."

Yu Chunyan and Chen Xuejin were picked up by Jiao Gui at the airport when they departed from Chongqing. Along the way, she also managed to get a lot of information out of Jiao Gui.

Now that she has gained status due to her son, her neighbors love to visit her and often share information about "rich people's investments" that they've seen on TV, in newspapers, and even in dramas with her, which has made her more anxious.

Chen Xuebing smiled upon hearing this.

"Mom, all this information you're giving us is outdated. This year, the central bank raised interest rates, the Eight Measures were introduced, and land supervision policies were also implemented. Housing prices in major cities are all being pushed down. Now is not a good time to invest in real estate."

This year's policies have strictly controlled housing prices and precisely targeted the Yangtze River Delta region, resulting in a poor real estate market trend, with Shanghai even experiencing a decline.

While BJ prices in Shenzhen and Guangzhou are rising, Chen Xuebing believes the increase is only moderate.

He was fully aware of the key turning points in the future real estate market.

Following the 08 financial crisis, a four trillion yuan stimulus package was launched. The massive influx of liquidity, coupled with a 7% discount on mortgage interest rates, triggered a retaliatory rebound in the housing market.

Several key policies subsequently boosted housing prices significantly: large-scale demolition and construction in shantytown redevelopment, interest rate and reserve requirement ratio cuts by banks, and regulations on school district housing.

The last 15 years was a choice the country had to make to address the issue of capital flight. After this surge, the government began to clearly regulate the housing market and implement the policy of "housing is for living in, not for speculation."

The most recent investment opportunity was the four trillion yuan stimulus package.

Most importantly, this was a period of loose monetary policy for infrastructure and the housing market, with broad money (M2) growing rapidly, which was seen as a strong boost to the rapid rise in housing prices.

Whether it's construction or the real estate market, it's not very fun to use your own money. Even if the price increases by 50% in a year, how much can you earn after spending hundreds of millions?

Only when there is money in the market and banking policies are relaxed, can playing with other people's money become the standard model for real estate. In terms of timing, it coincides with a bear market in the stock market, which could become its next cash cow.

By then, his trust license will be worth a fortune, giving him maximum leverage.

Why did Gu'an Group initially use the name of an engineering company?
Because that's China's largest market, several times larger than the stock market, and it's also his comfort zone. He had already planned how to play it.

Gu'an Construction will be the group's biggest asset in the coming years.

“Your son will have houses all over the country in the future, you won’t be able to live in them all, and you can go wherever you want,” Chen Xuebing said with a smile while drinking soup.

"You're just bragging. Why don't you just say you bought the skyscraper?" Yu Chunyan rolled her eyes at him and said.

The skyscrapers she was referring to were the Twin Towers in the United States.

When Chen Xuebing was a child, his father would tell him stories, always using "skyscraper" as a synonym for "the tallest in the world," saying things like, "If you stand downstairs and look up, your hat could fall off." He would also lament that although the Oriental Pearl Tower in China was tall, it was too narrow, and that it would be great if China had such a magnificent building.

“Skyscrapers.” Chen Xuebing was speechless: “That was years ago. The planes have already crashed. Do you think I’d buy them and charge admission for people to visit? Mom, what kind of old-fashioned thinking do you have? The Twin Towers are only 305 meters tall. They’re not the tallest in the world anymore. The tallest now is Taipei 101 in Taiwan! 509 meters.”

Thinking of his father, Chen Xuebing really wanted to burn photos of Taipei 101 and several tall buildings in Shanghai and send them to him to show him.

Yu Chunyan also missed her husband and reminisced about the past, so she retorted with dissatisfaction:
"What old-fashioned thinking do I have? Bill Gates was the richest man in the world ten years ago, and he's still the richest man in the world now!"

Chen Xuebing choked for a moment. Indeed, Bill Gates was the world's richest man when he was a child, and he still is.

Microsoft is making a lot of money.

"Wait until I take him down!" Chen Xuebing waved his hand and said.

"You think you can beat him? I'll cook rice for you on my palm!"

In just a few words, the mother's love entered a cooling-off period, and the mother and son resumed their daily battles.

Seeing this, Yang Qingyue quickly said, "Auntie, Chen Xuebing is amazing. He's already incredibly talented, and there's so much news about him online! More than Bill Gates! He's my idol."

"Oh! Really?" Yu Chunyan's expression changed instantly when she heard Yang Qingyue praising her son, but then she beamed with joy again.

Chen Xuejin kept her head down and began to pick at the food on her plate.

In the afternoon, Chen Xuebing and Chen Xuejin, who was carrying a Blue Cat backpack and wearing a fisherman's sun hat, entered the 57th floor of SEG Plaza.

This floor houses the IC department and the network company, and the people from the multi-touch research lab are also temporarily housed here. It's Chen Xuebing's main battleground during this period. The technicians are quite familiar with Chen Xuebing and greet him warmly.

"Hello, Chairman!"

"Chairman."

Most people nodded and walked by without paying attention to Chen Xuejin, but the two female researchers who came over together immediately spotted the chubby-faced little boy.

"Oh! Chairman, is this your house?"

Chen Xuebing chuckled: "My family? Am I that old? My own younger brother! Chen Xuejin!"

"Xuejin, this is Sister Xu Hui, a master's student from Sun Yat-sen University, and Sister Jiang, a top student from Huazhong University of Science and Technology!"

Chen Xuebing couldn't remember everyone's name either, and gave a cursory introduction.

"Sisters, you're amazing!" Chen Xuejin observed for a moment and noticed that both of his sisters had dressed up a bit, one of them even wearing a sparkly hair clip. Although it looked a little outdated, he still sincerely gave them a thumbs up and said, "You're so beautiful, and your grades are so good too!"

Children never lie.

The two women immediately took a liking to it.

"Oh my, so cute! Want to come play with me?"

Chen Xuebing waved his hand: "You guys go ahead with your work. I'll take him to General Manager Lin's place. He'll be staying here for a while to broaden his horizons. Your IC department is usually quite quiet, so I'll have him study there. If you have time, please give him some guidance."

“Okay, I’ll tell the people in my office!” Xu Hui, being intelligent and quick-witted, smiled and went to greet the IC department.

Upon entering the network office, a group of people were gathered around Lin Bin's computer.

"Chairman!"

Lin Bin noticed him coming in and stood up.

"This... adding a walkie-talkie to Starlink still doesn't work, it's too much of a stretch."

Chen Xuebing frowned and walked up to him.

"What's wrong?"

The so-called walkie-talkie communication is simply "press and hold to talk." Chen Xuebing used these descriptive terms to give the programmers a more intuitive understanding of the functions during development.

【Starlink】is the communication software that the software department will focus on next, aiming to compete with WeChat. This name was also come about through discussion.

Each user is like a star, and the singularity connects them.

Chen Xuebing ordered that the software must be developed before the first batch of smartphones were released, racing against time with Mobile QQ.

It needs to be simple, yet comprehensive.

The demands of a "daddy client".

The interface is simple, yet the functions are comprehensive.

The first batch of phones to be sold on the market will most likely not be Kirin-powered, but rather the Popcorn-powered phones, so they won't be available until June next year, but probably by the end of this year, which is quite a tight timeframe.

There are also many difficulties in the implementation process.

An engineer named Zhang Ming pointed to a string of code.

nd_pcm_oss_ioctl(struct file *file, unsigned int cmd, unsigned long arg)
{case SNDCTL_DSP_ECHO_CANCEL:{
struct echo_cancel_param ecp;…

In Chen Xuebing's eyes, it was like gibberish.

"We need to rewrite the kernel driver to use full hardware acceleration."

Zhang Ming pointed to the /dev/dsp audio device node and said, "The ALSA driver currently only supports basic PCM sampling; you'll have to implement your own echo cancellation module."

Chen Xuebing frowned again.

Lin Bin, who was standing next to him, coughed and translated for the chairman in plain language: "What he means is that the current driver is too rudimentary. The ALSA driver that comes with the system can only handle the most basic recording and playback functions. If we want to achieve voice input, we need to modify the Linux kernel driver ourselves to add echo cancellation, noise reduction and other functions in order to bring out the full potential of our excellent hardware."

"Oh," Chen Xuebing nodded, "That's great. We can modify the software functions while simultaneously modifying the underlying Linux system."

"Implementing a basic function is not simple and takes a very long time."

Lin Bin said, "Our phone microphone design needs to be modified accordingly. A single microphone is definitely not enough; the recording latency will be as high as 500ms or more, and it will also reduce our storage space. Moreover, this is software, and we need to promote it to various systems on the market. We need to consider their compatibility, and the display protocols they adapt to are also different. Blindly developing multiple functions will result in a significant performance loss, and may even affect the operation of their phones, making it regarded as junk software by other system manufacturers. Also, this contact access is a very sensitive function that requires permission request logic, which I think is difficult to implement on other phones at present."

Pioneers have their disadvantages; they face many obstacles that they must overcome one by one.

Chen Xuebing was also making a choice in his mind.

"Modification and spending money are no problem. It's just that when it comes to compatibility with other manufacturers, we only consider the capabilities of our own phones. We make simple versions of other systems and complex versions of our own. Is it possible for us to communicate with each other?"

"Yes, downgrade prompt."

Lin Bin casually typed two lines of code on the current screen:
MSG_TYPE:VOICE|FROM:user1|TO:user2|FORMAT:AMR|DATA: \n
"We use a base64 encoded text embedding protocol for voice transmission."

MSG_TYPE:ACK|CODE:UNSUPPORTED|DESC:VOICE_NOT_SUPPORTED\n
The other party will display a message saying "[A voice message has been received] but [Playback is not supported in the current version]".

"Or simply ignore it."

After Lin Bin explained it this way, Chen Xuebing understood.

The web version of WeChat in its previous life was like this.

Chen Xuebing's eyes lit up: "Great! Let's display 'The current version does not support playback,' so that users feel it's not our software that's outdated, but their devices that are outdated. This will force manufacturers to upgrade their underlying system functions and catch up with us!"

Lin Bin hesitated and said, "Anyone with eyes can see our little tricks. They'll offend people. You have to be prepared for everyone to boycott Starlink. Moreover, voice intervention is also a challenge to the bottom line of telecommunications operators. When QQ feels the crisis, it will definitely upgrade in sync. And it won't choose to release it in a way that offends everyone. This is giving them an opportunity."

"Heh, so be it. This feature is very important. It will allow many middle-aged and elderly users who can't type to use it smoothly. Let's optimize it as much as possible. Even if it's not perfect, we can upgrade it step by step. We must ensure that our mobile phone users get the best experience. I'll handle the carrier's problem. Let QQ run the first 200 meters. I'll prepare a 400-meter-long sword."

Now, Chen Xuebing has developed a different mindset. With the advancement of technology, he no longer wants to completely replicate the optimal development point of his previous life. Reborn, he must be prepared to reshape the world.

Even if the functionality is temporarily lacking, even if it requires others to learn from it, even if it means facing intense competition, he is fearless.

He already has enough ways to make money; he can do something that isn't very profitable for now, but it can improve the company's reputation.

"Uh, alright."

Lin Bin had already developed a revolutionary mindset from the moment he joined the development of this UI.

"And then there's WeChat Moments, which you mentioned."

Lin Bin opened another interface and gave a dynamic demonstration.

Chen Xuebing immediately let out a long sigh.

"It's too ugly, upgrade, upgrade."

(I've been busy during the day lately, so I'll be updating more at night. Please bear with me.)

(End of this chapter)