Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 29 Determining the Channel (Part 2)

"How do you define pirated mobile phones in relation to the long-standing intellectual property rights protection practices of the chicken industry?"

As soon as Chen Xuebing entered the store, Gao Shu asked in a low voice.

Chen Xuebing simply shook his head.

"First of all, the trademarks cannot be exactly the same." Gao Shu's first words made Chen Xuebing nervous.

The trademarks are all different, what's the point of doing it?

Isn't that obviously fake? Why bother making high-quality replicas?
Gao Shu noticed the change in Chen Xuebing's expression, took out a box from a pile of boxes in the corner, and opened it.

It was full of cell phones.

Gao Shu pulled out a Sony Ericsson from inside.

Then he took one out of his pocket and showed both to Chen Xuebing.

Wow, it even has a camera! There's a camera button on the side.

“My phone was bought for me by my family, a genuine T618i. Take a look, what’s the difference between the two phones?” Gao Shu raised his chin.

Chen Xuebing compared them carefully.

The buttons in the box and the ones that Gao Shu took out of his pocket look exactly the same.

It's the phone in this box... it's not labeled.

I tried the user interface again, and it was the same.

The reaction speed is the same.

The image clarity remains the same.

After picking it up and examining it for a while, Chen Xuebing said slowly, "This little joystick, the center button... look, from the back, the shape seems a little different."

Gao Shu then smiled: "Good eye, we did this on purpose."

Chen Xuebing understood some of it and looked up: "How much difference do we need to deliberately make?"

Gao Shu nodded, his eyes showing appreciation: "Six. As long as there are six minor design differences, it won't be considered infringement. However, regarding the trademark, whether it's completely identical or different is your choice. There's a stall at the very back of the third floor of Huaqiang that specializes in labeling and engraving. They can make any label look exactly the same, or at least make some differences, depending on your requirements. The labeling price is very cheap and fast. You can get the machine from us and then go there to label it according to your ideas. However, your choice has nothing to do with us. We only make blank machines. If the manufacturer sues you later, and you're fined or have to pay compensation, we won't be responsible."

"Oh...you've got something." Chen Xuebing smiled, neither confirming nor denying.

Gao Shu noticed his slight dissatisfaction and softened his tone: "Don't worry, you're just sellers. If anything goes wrong, the manufacturer won't sue you. We have a large volume, so we have to protect ourselves. We'll reimburse you for the cost of the labels."

"I understand." Chen Xuebing didn't dwell on the matter.

In reality, if a lawsuit were to be filed, their methods would inevitably be implicated; it would just create more room for wrangling and shirking responsibility.

Selling counterfeit goods isn't really a sin of capitalism, as long as you grow big and give back to society... What Ren Zhengfei of Huawei did back then was called illegal fundraising, but later he changed it to a specially approved equity structure, the only one of its kind in the country.

Others are even more...

Let's not talk about the first pot of gold.

Chen Xuebing thought for a moment, then suddenly laughed and said, "Is this why Liu Tao's messy debt from two years ago has been dragged on until now?"

If Liu Tao regularly buys goods from him and knows their factory address, reporting them would be a troublesome matter for them.

When this topic came up, Gao Shu began to ponder for a long time. He realized that Chen Xuebing was the one who collected the accounts, so there was nothing he couldn't say.

"Um... When Xi had a batch of inventory, Boss Liu bought it all, so we gave him credit. We generally have good relationships with our downstream customers, but now we definitely can't give credit anymore, it's cash on delivery."

These words reminded Chen Xuebing of the problem of unsold inventory, and he frowned, saying, "If a customer places an order but is not satisfied, can we send it back for a refund?"

Gao Shu laughed and said, "You put on the label, so there will be some loss when it comes back, but the loss fee is not high. If there are no problems with the test, we will charge 10%. We are easy to talk to in this regard and will not deliberately cause trouble for you. Look at this counter, there are no individual customers at all. It is all the merchants on the third floor who come to us to transfer goods. You saw it just now, so we have a good relationship, right?"

As he spoke, he patted Chen Xuebing on the back: "Our goods sell very well. Many people in this building want to get their goods directly from us, but they can't. The price you get is so good that you can resell them to anyone."

Chen Xuebing expressed his agreement.

This is the truth.

If he had been able to get this kind of product when he first arrived two days ago, he probably would have gone straight home. 321 is already on the link, what else is there to choose from?

"Let's get rich together."

Chen Xuebing said with a smile, using his limited Cantonese vocabulary.

Gao Shu laughed loudly: "Haha, I'm just a wage earner, I can't get rich, but I think you're very smart, you'll definitely get rich."

Chen Xuebing's lips curled up in a smile.

Really good at reading people.

……

Starting a business, just like the word Chen Xuebing often recites, requires passion.

Shopping, noting down what you bought, taking photos.

Not a moment's rest. Sony T618i, Nokia 3310, 8250, 6108, Motorola E365, T190, Philips 530...

Chen Xuebing recalled that the first mobile phone he bought in 05 in his previous life was a cheap knock-off brand. It had a Snake game that was quite popular, and a bunch of his brothers borrowed it to play. So he asked Gao Shu which mobile phones had Snake.

As a result, he was mercilessly mocked by the tall tree.

Gao Shu casually pulled out a Motorola from Kaifeng, opened a Java racing game to show him, and said that it was far cooler than Snake. He also mentioned that Motorola had released a Linux version phone last year that could be modified like a PDA, and called it a smartphone.

However, the market price is too high, so they can't make it.

Chen Xuebing suddenly realized that what he thought was trendy back then was outdated in the eyes of those who were at the forefront.

By 2003, some people were already using smartphones with smart operating systems.

He couldn't live his life as a fool; he wanted to stay ahead of the curve with the latest information.

No, it's an announcement!

I bought a USB flash drive and borrowed the store's digital camera. I placed each of my phones on the beautiful glass display case and took photos from different angles, then saved them to the USB flash drive.

I also opened the USB drive containing the surveillance video that I had taken from Liu Tao's shop, and found some phone book documents inside. I kept an eye on it and copied it all, intending to take it back and review it carefully.

Chen Xuebing also sent Liu Tao's USB drive back. It's true that this is SF Express's stronghold; there are still people picking up packages in Huaqiangbei at 11 pm.

These past few days, besides shopping, taking photos, and going to internet cafes, Chen Xuebing has spent the rest of his time running around with Gao Shu.

Refurbished phones are essentially disassembled devices, often using imported junk materials, which are mostly shipped to Zhongguancun and Hailong shopping malls. "Loose new" phones lack original packaging and are often assembled from components that failed factory testing. "Rebranded" phones are mislabeled, using components from different brands instead of the original. "Falsely labeled" phones are smaller than advertised, like a 256K display being sold as a 512K display, masquerading as a high-spec product. "Domestic replacement" phones are domestic designs copied from foreign ones, which usually requires some technical expertise.

There are also stolen goods, goods confiscated by customs, and surplus goods returned from closed ODM factories.

In the small city of Huaqiangbei, a street only 900 meters long, a bag of electronic components can hold more than a dozen stories.

Huo Xiaowen was slow to learn, but he was thick-skinned. He already had a cell phone, so he would wander around the market, chat with the stall owners, and watch them buy and sell goods. If the owners ignored him, he would say that he was from the third floor and that he would call Gao Shu to ask if he didn't understand something. He made the most of the arrangement made by Boss Zhao.

While Chen Xuebing was finishing his preparations, Huo Xiaowen also pondered a question:
If he finds local customers who want to sell in bulk, can he sell it?
Chen Xuebing thought this was a good question, so he took Huo Xiaowen to the warehouse to find Zhao Wanping. After all, they had agreed to sell it back in Chongqing, and they couldn't break the agreement.

As it turned out, things went much more smoothly than expected.

When Zhao Wanping heard that Huo Xiaowen wanted to stay in Shenzhen to pick up the goods, he agreed without even thinking about it.

……

"Let's visit Hui Lau Shan together; our friendship doesn't need to be ranked..."

At Hui Lau Shan, a long-established Hong Kong-style dessert shop, two young men are eating mango glutinous rice balls.

"Oh? Is that Twins' voice?"

"Oh, you even know Twins..."

"Of course! They starred in that movie with Brother Hao Nan, and Gillian Chung was so damn beautiful... That's right! I heard there are celebrities everywhere in Hong Kong, can I go?"

“Okay.” Chen Xuebing took out his phone and checked the time.

November 19th.

On the 19th day after his rebirth, he finally took the first step on his entrepreneurial journey.

“I’m going back. If you’re going to Hong Kong, at least speak Mandarin fluently. People won’t understand your Chongqing-accented Mandarin.”

"Hmm." Huo Xiaowen scooped the ice syrup in the bowl with a spoon: "You hurry up and sell them. I'm also looking for channels. The phones I sell will be split 50/50 as agreed. I'll expand the business. I'll call Hei Er and Chen Yong to come and help me. I'm too bored by myself."

People from the martial arts world don't talk about loneliness; it's too sentimental. They all say they're bored.

Chen Xuebing nodded, a hint of worry in his eyes: "Don't worry, I'll do it as soon as possible. But you can stop doing business here, but you can't collect debts for him anymore, and you can't cause trouble. I'm giving you these two strict rules, so remember them clearly."

"I know." Huo Xiaowen's expression was unusually serious. "Don't worry, I will definitely do what I promised. Actually, there's no need to rush to close the deal. Mobile phones aren't that easy to sell in Chongqing. We can make at least four or five hundred yuan per phone. As long as we have a few orders a month, and I do a few more on my end, it'll be enough for us to live on."

This was the first time Huo Xiaowen had told Chen Xuebing, "No need to rush."

The two relied on each other for a few days and developed a brotherly bond.

Chen Xuebing didn't say much.

"Believe me."

After saying that, he turned around and said, "Waiter, do you have any ice packs here? Please pack up four servings of mango sticky rice balls for me."

……

After a brief stroll around Futian, I bid a hasty farewell to Shenzhen.

This place has a magic. I've been here for five days, but I haven't been to Window of the World, Shenzhen Bay, or even the Lo Wu border crossing to Hong Kong. I've just wandered around Huaqiang Road. It really feels like I've become a part of this place, living an ordinary yet busy life. Money has become just a number, merely a pass for each transaction.

Once you reach this state, it's really easy to get rich.

Everyone busy here seems to have become numb to money and passionate about transactions, which has indeed created a number of wealthy people.

The charm of reform and opening up is fully displayed here, deeply attracting everyone.

(End of this chapter)