One Yuan First Recharge: I'm Actually the Boss Behind a Fortune 500 Company

The first trip to Yuantong Digital City was like a pebble thrown into a pond.

The ripples were slight, but they were there nonetheless.

After returning to the company, Wang Hao placed Li Desheng's business card on the table and stared at it for a long time.

He didn't immediately call to follow up—haste makes waste; the relationship between a new brand and its distributors needs to be nurtured slowly and cannot be rushed.

In the following days, he went to Yuantong Digital City several more times.

Instead of immediately pushing his products, he strolled around the different stalls as if he were just browsing, chatting casually with some of the more approachable owners—one day they talked about which machine was selling well, the next day about how much more difficult the wholesale business was compared to last year.

Instead of revealing his hand, he first figured out the pain points and needs of these bosses.

After a few days, he found that the feedback he had heard from Zhou Haibo was indeed largely true.

But there's one more point Zhou Haibo didn't mention—many stall owners are actually more enthusiastic about domestic brands than they were a few years ago. The reason is simple: Apple and Samsung's profit margins are being squeezed thinner and thinner, and the control over parallel imports is becoming increasingly strict, squeezing the profits of small wholesalers from both ends.

In contrast, some domestic powerhouses, though less well-known, offer more flexible rebates and policies to distribution channels.

This discovery gave Wang Hao peace of mind.

In mid-April, Wang Hao decided to take bigger steps.

He rented a small office in the city center of the provincial capital—it wasn't big, only about 40 square meters, and the monthly rent was 3,000 yuan.

The location was chosen on a street near Yuantong Digital City, less than a ten-minute walk away.

The purpose of this office is simple: it serves as Xingyue Intelligent's first office in the provincial capital and as a contact point for future channel connections and after-sales service.

Yu Xinxin equipped the office with the most basic office equipment—two tables, two chairs, a printer, a filing cabinet, and a water dispenser.

A whiteboard hung on the wall with the words "Provincial Capital Office" written on it. Yu Xinxin wrote it herself with a marker, and the handwriting was neat and tidy.

"Isn't this place too rudimentary?"

After Yu Xinxin finished setting things up, she stood at the door and looked around for a while, then asked Wang Hao with some uncertainty.

"That's enough," Wang Hao said. "We'll upgrade to a bigger one once the business takes off."

He handed the office keys to Zhou Haibo—among the existing team members, Zhou Haibo was the most suitable person to handle channel liaison.

He had accumulated extensive communication experience on the supply side and was also quite composed, so he wouldn't show any fear when dealing with distributors.

"I don't expect you to make a huge splash all at once," Wang Hao said to Zhou Haibo.

"First, we need to keep those interested shop owners in the Yuantong Digital City on our side and build their trust in our products. Getting even one trial customer would be a victory."

Zhou Haibo nodded, took the keys, and didn't say anything sentimental.

He simply moved a trial production machine to the office that afternoon, placed it in the most conspicuous position on the table, and then wrote a line on the whiteboard:

"Yuantong Digital City, target customer count: 5."

After he finished writing, he glanced at the line of text, picked up the eraser, and changed the 5 to 3.

Set a more realistic, smaller goal first.

In late April, news spread through the mobile phone industry in the provincial capital that Xingyue Smart had obtained the network access license from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

This message was sent by Song Kai in an internal group chat.

He didn't post a long explanation, but simply posted a photo of the license and a message: "Network access license arrived."

The group was quiet for a few seconds, then it exploded.

Someone posted five clapping emojis, someone posted a firecracker GIF, someone wrote "Awesome," and someone followed with a long string of "+1" comments.

When Wang Hao saw the message, he was discussing matters with Zhou Haibo in that simple office. He turned his phone screen towards Zhou Haibo so he could see it.

Zhou Haibo paused for a moment when he saw the photo of the license, then grinned:

"Now we have a bit more confidence when we talk to our distributors."

Wang Hao put his phone away and asked, "What about the MOCA certification?"

"Song Kai said the materials have been sent out and the review period will take about three to four weeks."

"Please urge them, expedite it if possible."

"clear."

A network access license is a necessary condition for mobile phones to be sold in China.

Without this certificate, it constitutes illegal sales, and those caught will be severely punished. So no matter how good the product is, without this certificate, everything is for naught.

Now, that zero has been filled in.

As May arrived, the weather in the provincial capital grew warmer day by day.

In Xingyue Smart's office, the air conditioning has been switched to cooling mode.

The faint chirping of cicadas drifted in from outside the window—summer was almost here.

Song Kai's R&D team entered the final stability refinement phase. After the second phase of testing, they conducted three rounds of system-level optimizations based on the pilot production unit—mainly adjusting some minor power consumption and heat generation issues.

After each round of optimization, a full-featured regression test is run to ensure that no new problems are introduced.

At the same time, Chen Wei began the final round of adjustments to the imaging system.

He no longer pursues the theoretical limit of image quality, but focuses more on the consistency of user experience—ensuring that users can get a satisfactory photo with a simple snap in various scenarios without having to manually adjust various parameters.

"Ordinary users don't bother adjusting ISO, shutter speed, or white balance," Chen Wei said in a casual conversation with Wang Hao.

"All they want is to open the camera, press the shutter, and get a nice photo."

That's all. So my task isn't to create the best-looking sample photos in the lab, but to create the best camera for the user.

Wang Hao agreed with Chen Wei. This is precisely what many mobile phone manufacturers tend to overlook—most users may never use the parameters and features they tout at their launch events, or even know that those features exist, after buying the phone.

What users care about are always those few basic experiences: how fast the app opens, how clear the photos are, how long the battery lasts, and how laggy the system is.

One day in mid-May, Zhou Haibo completed Xingyue Intelligent's first business deal.

The target was Li Desheng, who ran a stall in that corner of the Yuantong Digital City.

After playing with the trial production machine for nearly three weeks, Li Desheng finally relented and decided to start with thirty units to test the waters.

Thirty units—that's a pitifully small number for any mobile phone manufacturer.

But for Xingyue Intelligence, this is a breakthrough from zero to one.

Wang Hao personally participated in the negotiations for this deal. At the simple desk in the office, he finalized the details of the supply price, settlement method, and after-sales support with Li Desheng.

"You don't need to worry about after-sales service," Wang Hao promised Li Desheng.

"Our office is located near the Far East Digital City, less than a ten-minute walk away."

If the machine malfunctions, it will be resolved within three business days. If it cannot be resolved, a new machine will be provided.

After hearing this promise, Li Desheng pondered for a moment, then nodded:

"Okay. I'll take thirty units to try first. If they sell well, I'll add more later."

That afternoon, thirty of Xingyue Smart's first mobile phones were packed into three ordinary cardboard boxes and personally delivered by Zhou Haibo to Li Desheng's stall.

When unloading the goods, Li Desheng stood at the entrance of the stall, looking at the three inconspicuous cardboard boxes, his expression was somewhat complicated—there was anticipation, but also trepidation.

Having been in the wholesale business for so many years, he has seen too many new brands come and go.

Some products are indeed good, but they fail due to distribution channels; some products are so-so, but they survive thanks to strong marketing; and some products don't meet either of these criteria and disappear within three months.

Which type of intelligence would Star Moon Intelligence be? He didn't know.

But he was willing to take the gamble, because of what Wang Hao had told him: "If the product is right, everything else can be solved."

After these thirty mobile phones were placed on the counter, someone in the Yuantong Digital City noticed this new face.

A person who runs a wholesale business is very sensitive to the emergence of new machines in the market.

Occasionally, retailers who come to pick up goods will pass by Li Desheng's stall, see the few new mobile phones displayed in the glass cabinet, and stop to ask, "What brand is this?"

"New brand, Xingyue Intelligent." Li Desheng would pick up a machine and hand it over.

"Try it yourself, the workmanship and system are both pretty good."

Most retailers walked away after hearing that—a new brand with no recognition, they weren't interested.

However, a few people are willing to take it and give it a try. After swiping a few times, their expression changes from nonchalant to slightly serious.

"How much is this?" someone asked.

Li Desheng quoted a wholesale price.

The man was silent for a few seconds, then said, "The price is acceptable. I'll take two back to try them out."

In this way, after the first week, Li Desheng sold seven of his thirty machines.

This result isn't particularly good, but it's not bad either.

For a new brand that had no brand recognition in the Yuantong Digital City, this start was better than expected.

Li Desheng told Zhou Haibo about the sales figures, his tone tinged with surprise:

"There are actually people willing to buy it."

When Zhou Haibo relayed this message to Wang Hao, Wang Hao was in his office reviewing the next round of test reports.

After listening, he didn't show much excitement, just grunted in response, and then continued to look through the report in his hand.

He cannot be blindly optimistic just because of the sales of seven machines.

The competitive landscape of the mobile phone market will not change because of the sales of seven phones. The leading brands will not take them seriously because of the sales of seven phones, and Qian Decheng will not abandon his plan because of the sales of seven phones.

But one thing is certain—the first shot has been fired.

The seven users behind the seven machines will be the first real users of Xingyue Smart.

They will vote with their feet, providing the most direct feedback during product use.

This feedback is more valuable than any test data from a laboratory.

Wang Hao called Song Kai that evening:

"The first batch of products has already been shipped. Please be prepared to collect user feedback and respond immediately to any issues."

"Understood," Song Kai replied on the other end of the phone, then added,

"Mr. Wang, finally someone is using our machine."

Wang Hao paused for two seconds, then said, "Yes."