I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

For some reason, after calling out "President Shen," Wu Jiahao was first taken aback, then a little embarrassed, and quickly added, "Hehe, Manager Mai kept saying 'President Shen,' and he led me astray..."

Then, I turned my head to look at the scenery outside the window.

When he feels awkward, he'll pretend to be looking at the scenery.

However, upon closer inspection, Wu Jiahao also discovered something.

"This doesn't seem to be the road we came by, does it?"

Shen Kang stared ahead as he drove, then hummed in agreement. "No. I have something to do; I need to go somewhere."

Going to another place?

Wu Jiahao's heart skipped a beat, feeling a mixture of anticipation and resistance.

The anticipation stemmed from the fact that Shen Kang had just introduced him to two leaders from Canon China, a truly eye-opening experience. Back at school, he could proudly say, "You know Canon, right? I had tea with Mr. Li from Canon." Now, Shen Kang was heading off to another place; was he going to meet some important figure again?

This made him quite excited.

The resistance is because...

Wu Jiahao himself didn't know why he resisted, he just resisted.

With these mixed feelings, Wu Jiahao sat in the car, which drove on and on.

About twenty minutes later, the car entered an area that resembled an industrial park, with factories visible from time to time on both sides of the road.

Finally, the car stopped in front of a large iron gate, and a sign that read "Anjia Technology" was hanging on the wall in front of the gate.

To the right of the iron gate, against the wall, there is a guardhouse. An old man in his sixties is sitting by the window, wearing a faded dark blue cotton-padded jacket and drinking tea from a large porcelain mug.

"Beep beep"

Shen Kang honked the horn.

The old man recognized the car, pressed a switch, and the iron gate slowly opened.

Shen Kang drove in.

As Wu Jiahao passed by the guardhouse, he glanced twice at the half-open window: on the old man's table sat an old-fashioned transistor radio, the numbers on the tuning knob blurred and illegible, emitting the strained sound of opera singing.

There was a small whiteboard on the wall next to me with a few lines of words written on it in marker. I could only catch a glimpse of fragmented words such as "one box of motor samples" and "two visitors: registered".

After entering, there is a courtyard.

The car was driven into the yard, stopped, and the engine was turned off.

"We've arrived, let's get off," Shen Kang said as he got off the bus.

Wu Jiahao also got out of the car and looked around at the scenery:

The cement floor of this yard is much smoother than the farmhouse yard on Huanhuan.com, and there are no cracks. In the corner of the yard, there is a flower bed, but instead of flowers, there are two dwarf Podocarpus macrophyllus trees, and a wrought iron bench is placed next to it.

On the right side of the yard, against the wall, there was a gray-green electric tricycle. In the truck bed were several cardboard boxes and a roll of shockproof bubble wrap, as if the goods had just been unloaded. There were also several neatly stacked blue plastic turnover boxes next to the vehicle.

The wind blew through the yard, carrying a faint smell of plastic and metal.

Wu Jiahao followed Shen Kang toward the factory gate in the courtyard.

As he passed by the neatly stacked blue plastic crates, he glanced at them and noticed that each crate had a white label with words like "Motor Sample," "2008.12.8," and "To be tested."

It looks like just a small factory. And the person Shen Kang is coming to see doesn't seem to be anyone important, does he? Wu Jiahao thought to himself, feeling both disappointed and relieved. Anyway, it was still quite complicated.

With these thoughts in mind, Wu Jiahao followed Shen Kang to the front door.

Before the two could even step forward, the glass door was opened from the inside, and a chubby middle-aged man came out with a big smile.

"Mr. Shen! I was just talking inside, and I figured you should be arriving soon. Speak of the devil, and he appears! Come in, come in! It's windy outside, don't catch a cold!"

"..."

Wu Jiahao stretched out his right hand and felt it, but he couldn't feel anything—where the hell did this wind come from?

Shen Kang, however, was used to it. He smiled at Tao Yinchu and said, "Haven't seen you in a while, Lao Tao. You seem to have lost weight. Have you been working too hard?"

This chubby middle-aged man was none other than Tao Yinchu.

"It's also my fault," Shen Kang continued. "We clearly agreed that you were here to oversee Anjia Technology, but we kept transferring you to the housekeeping department to worry about logistics and warehousing."

Tao Yinchu quickly replied, "President Shen, what are you saying? Whether it's over there or over here, it's your business, and your business is my business. It's what I should do. Besides, our products still rely on the housekeeping company to help with shipping. Helping them is also helping ourselves. I, Lao Tao, understand this distinction. Being busy is also a happy thing..."

After exchanging a few words, Tao Yinchu looked at Wu Jiahao behind Shen Kang and said, "This must be Mr. Shen's friend, right? Please come in."

The three of them went inside.

Wu Jiahao couldn't help but ask, "Shen... Old Shen, is this factory also yours?"

Shen Kang hummed in agreement.

Wu Jiahao subconsciously opened his mouth, wanting to give Shen Kang some pointers: Old Shen, I've been watching you since this morning, and while you have many businesses, they're all scattered and disjointed. I don't understand what you're trying to do at all. What you need to do most right now is to quickly learn from Ma Yun, find a main direction, and build up your user base first. Once you have users, you can succeed no matter what you do.

But before he could utter a single word, all those words were on the tip of his tongue, he swallowed them back down.

For some reason, Wu Jiahao is now hesitant to speak.

So he simply stopped talking and followed along silently, taking in the layout of the factory.

The factory interior is larger than it appears from the outside. The single-story space of over 500 square meters is roughly divided into three areas by two rows of low partition walls. The ceiling is very high, and the original industrial beams have been preserved, but a new white suspended ceiling has been installed, with rows of fluorescent lights hanging down, providing bright and even lighting.

Near the entrance is an office area with five L-shaped workstations arranged in a U-shape. The desks are piled with blueprints, laptops, mugs, and stacks of documents.

Two young men sat at one of the tables. One, wearing black-rimmed glasses, was adjusting a 3D model on the screen, clicking the mouse rapidly; the other was on the phone, his voice low, sounding like he was urging a supplier to ship the goods…

The group didn't go any further inside.

Shen Kang followed Tao Yinchu to a long table and stopped. On the table was a cardboard box with its opening open.

Beside the table stood a tall, thin man wearing glasses; he was Yang Xinkai, the head of the technical team, who was already waiting.

Upon seeing Shen Kang approach, Yang Xinkai greeted him, "President Shen."

Shen Kang nodded and smiled: "Manager Yang."

After greeting him, his gaze fell on the cardboard box on the table.

Upon closer inspection, you can see that inside are rows of flat, square boxes.

Shen Kang picked up a flat, square box from inside and examined it closely.

The box is entirely white, with an image of an electric toothbrush in the center of the front, along with a few simple design elements, giving it a clean and minimalist style. In the upper right corner is a picture of four real toothbrushes.

This is the electric toothbrush from Anjia Technology.

After several months of team building, design, trial production, and factory testing, the first qualified product has finally been completed.

Next, we'll find some customers to test it for a few days. If there are no problems, we'll place orders and start mass production.

Because this is a test product, it doesn't have the words "Anjia Technology" or "Anjia Electric Toothbrush Model" printed on it. Instead, it uses a substitute to showcase the overall packaging design effect.

After looking at the other sides of the outer packaging box, Shen Kang opened the box and took out an electric toothbrush.

The electric toothbrush has a white matte handle.

Shen Kang's fingers slid along the curve of the handle, and then he pressed the switch again. The toothbrush emitted a deep hum, and the vibration was transmitted from the handle to his palm, even and stable.

Tao Yinchu, standing to the side, saw that Shen Kang had already gotten started and suggested, "Manager Yang, why don't you explain the overall technical details to General Manager Shen?"

Yang Xinkai then began, "Mr. Shen, let me start by talking about some of the products currently on the market, so that you can have a concrete understanding."

Shen Kang nodded. "Okay."

Yang Xinkai then began, "Let's talk about Philips first. Philips follows the sonic approach, and their core technology is their NCA sonic technology. The brush head vibrates approximately 31000 times per minute. Their principle isn't to rely on the bristles to brush hard, but rather to use high-frequency vibrations to amplify the toothpaste into micro-foam, which is then flushed into the gaps between teeth by water to clean. In October of this year, they also released a new FLCA product, which has three modes: cleaning, sensitive, and massage, and also offers two programs: thorough cleaning and quick cleaning."

"We are also sound wave vibrations."

"Regarding the motor, we use a custom-made magnetic levitation motor from Shenzhen Zhenhua, with a vibration frequency calibrated between 28000 and 31000 times per minute, which is on par with Philips' NCA. However, the advantage of Zhenhua's motor is that its torque output is more stable, and the speed drop is not obvious under load. With Philips' motor, the vibration amplitude will decrease significantly when the brush head presses on the teeth, while ours can maintain a more stable amplitude under the same pressure."

After hearing Yang Xinkai's words, Tao Yinchu added something.

"The entry-level Philips H5251 sells for 359 yuan. The higher-end FLCA model will definitely go for 600 or 700 yuan or more. Based on our current cost calculations, if we still go through the housekeeping channel, the final retail price will be less than 200 yuan, which is about half the price of the entry-level Philips model..."

Wu Jiahao stood silently to the side, listening with his mouth slightly open.

Wu Jiahao certainly knew Philips; it was another big brand.

No, this factory doesn't just belong to Lao Shen, but Lao Shen also made a product. It sounds like he's going to attack Philips and compete directly with them.

Well, Canon and Philips are both B. Shen Kang just showed him that Shen Kang is friends with a B, and now Shen Kang has shown him that Shen Kang is rivals with a B.

Guo Pinyan hadn't told him that Shen Kang was like this...

Shen Kang's attention was focused on the toothbrush in front of him, and he didn't notice Wu Jiahao. He was just listening to Yang Xinkai continue explaining some technical things.

"Olay takes a different approach—rotary brushing. Their entry-level 4 models rotate clockwise and counterclockwise at about 7600 times per minute, with a cup-shaped brush head that covers the entire toothbrush. This year's new 30 Smart Guide model adds back-and-forth vibration, rotating left and right 8800 times per minute, and vibrating back and forth 40000 times per minute. It has four cleaning modes: Clean, Gentle, Massage, and Polish."

Tao Yinchu added at the opportune moment: "4 is probably a little over two hundred, while 30 is expensive, heading towards a thousand."

Yang Xinkai continued, "However, the rotary brush does have strong cleaning power, and Oulibi has always had a good reputation for removing plaque. But the disadvantage of the rotary brush is that it is noisy when the brush head is spinning, and it is not very friendly to people with sensitive gums. If you brush too hard, it is easy to bleed. Ours is sonic, which is much gentler and more tolerant to gums."

Hearing this, Shen Kang began to grasp the situation and asked, "What about domestic brands?"

Yang Xinkai was very knowledgeable and could rattle off a list: "There aren't many manufacturers of electric toothbrushes in China right now, and their technology basically follows Philips' sonic approach. For example, Shangpengtang also released an electric toothbrush this year, but they all have one common problem: the motor is not good."

"What do you mean it won't work?" Shen Kang asked.

Yang Xinkai said, "There are two main problems. First, the vibration frequency is overstated; it's advertised as 28000, but it doesn't actually reach that. Under load, it drops below 20,000. Second, the noise control is poor; there's a buzzing sound from the handle, which feels like holding a power drill. As for the bristles, most domestic manufacturers use ordinary nylon bristles, which have poor wear resistance and resilience, and they fall apart after only one or two months. We use DuPont bristles, and the rounding process is also done properly; the bristle tips are rounded so they won't hurt your gums."

Shen Kang picked up the toothbrush and looked closely at the bristles. He saw that the bristles were arranged in a wavy shape, with the bristles in the middle being slightly longer than those on the sides. The bristles of different lengths were staggered and could conform to the natural curvature of the teeth.

"Regarding the bristle layout, we referenced Philips' wavy design but made adjustments. The middle tuft of bristles is slightly higher than Philips', the purpose being to allow the bristle tips to slightly penetrate the gum line while cleaning the tooth surface. We adjusted this detail three times before finalizing it," Yang Xinkai said, his tone carrying a subtle hint of smugness.

Shen Kang put down his toothbrush and asked, "What about the timer function?"

Yang Xinkai replied, "Currently, Philips and Olebi's high-end models have a timer function, but not all entry-level models have it. The Philips H5251 has a MATM two-minute smart timer, and the Olebi 30 has a 30-second interval reminder and a two-minute timer function. However, domestic brands' products in this price range basically do not have this function."

"Our model has a built-in complete timing program. It automatically times for two minutes after powering on and then stops automatically when the time is up. Every 30 seconds, the motor will automatically pause briefly, for about three seconds, and then continue vibrating."

Tao Yinchu then added, "This feature is called a 'four-times timer' on Philips and Olebi's high-end products. To my knowledge, we've managed to incorporate it into a product that costs less than two hundred yuan, which is currently unique in China."

Hearing this, Shen Kang couldn't help but laugh and patted Tao Yinchu on the shoulder, "It's all thanks to you, Lao Tao. Otherwise, even if the price of this component in China has dropped significantly, we wouldn't be able to get it into the market at this price. I can tell from how thin you've gotten. You've worked hard."

Tao Yinchu then became modest, waving his hands repeatedly, "It just so happens that we encountered the financial crisis, and everyone had fewer orders. We were just hoping to get some orders to get by. Otherwise, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't have placed orders at this price."

Then, the tone immediately shifted, "Of course, the most important thing is that you, Mr. Shen, insisted on including this four-times timer. To be honest, I wasn't too keen on it at the time, but I didn't dare to say anything. But now that the product is out, I realize how intuitively advantageous this feature is, and how much it greatly enhances the competitiveness of our product! In the end, it's all thanks to your foresight, Mr. Shen!..."

Yang Xinkai glanced at Tao Yinchu, pursed his lips, and thought to himself, "Why don't you spread your arms wide and point them towards the sky, and shout, 'May President Shen enjoy eternal happiness and longevity as long as the heavens'?"

He actually does say these things, but he's too lazy to say them, and he can't bring himself to say them.

After Tao Yinchu finished flattering him, Yang Xinkai continued, offering his final summary: "Technologically, we're on the same path as Philips, with sound waves and vibration frequencies in the same range. In details like bristle material, motor stability, and timing functions, we're more solid than domestic brands in the same price range. However, compared to Philips and Olay's high-end products, our technological capabilities do lag behind. They have patented expertise, and features like multi-mode switching and UV sterilization are things we can't catch up to in the short term."

Tao Yinchu quickly added, "But our prices are only half or even a third of theirs. Customers who spend less than 200 yuan to buy our toothbrush experience almost the same core functions as Philips' entry-level model which costs over 300 yuan, and they also get the four-timer feature that's only available on Philips' high-end models. You can't find another company on the market that offers this kind of value for money..."

After the two explained it to him and based on his first impression, Shen Kang was quite satisfied with the electric toothbrush. He immediately decided to give everyone a bonus to reward them for their hard work these past few days.

This naturally pleased Tao Yinchu and Yang Xinkai, who thanked General Manager Shen on behalf of everyone.

After staying there for a while and talking about some things, Shen Kang picked up the box and left with Wu Jiahao.

Tao Yinchu escorted him all the way to the iron gate.

"Mr. Shen, please take care on your journey..."

Shen Kang's car had already disappeared at the end of the road, but Tao Yinchu was still looking in that direction and hadn't gone back.

A gust of wind blew by, and two sparse, withered yellow leaves swirled and drifted to his feet.

Tao Yinchu looked down.

It's already December, and most of the autumn leaves have already fallen. These two withered leaves were stubborn, struggling desperately, but ultimately they couldn't escape the inevitable course of winter and fell.

Tao Yinchu was suddenly filled with emotion, recalling the scene a few months earlier when he was just starting out in his career. How similar was he then to these two withered leaves struggling and ultimately falling? Both were unable to escape the inevitable trend of the times.

However, I was lucky to have met President Shen.

Tao Yinchu was very grateful to General Manager Shen for giving him a job and entrusting him with important responsibilities. However, what made Tao Yinchu even more devoted was the unprecedented system that General Manager Shen had built, which filled him with confidence.

This is why Tao Yinchu, despite his advanced age, still works so hard and has even lost weight.

……