Rebirth 04: Starting from Taking an Unconventional Approach

Zhang Qiming read the manuscripts in silence.

Han Fei waited, listening to the sound of pages turning and the hum of the air conditioner, carefully observing Zhang Qiming's changing expressions. At first, it was his usual calm, approving manner, but soon, his brows furrowed slightly, and the corners of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly. He read slowly, even pausing briefly on certain paragraphs.

A dozen minutes later, Zhang Qiming put down the manuscript, picked up his teacup and took a sip, then resumed his focused reading. After a while, he looked up from the manuscript, stared directly at Han Fei, and nodded thoughtfully.

"These manuscripts," Zhang Qiming began, "are indeed very different from what we used to know, including the literary works that our generation pursued."

Han Fei waited for Zhang Qiming to continue.

"The writing is straightforward, even rough. The choice of subject matter is very bold. Desire, repression, and revenge in a rural setting amplify and dramatize the dark side of human nature. Some may say that this caters to lowbrow tastes, but it is undeniable that they are very impactful and captivating. Once you read the beginning, you want to know the ending."

Han Fei straightened up and nodded to Zhang Qiming, hoping this gesture conveyed his meaning—that he was satisfied with Zhang Qiming's objective evaluation.

"Yes, Uncle Zhang. These stories aren't for literary critics, but for ordinary people—while waiting for the bus, while queuing, before going to bed..."

"Fragmented reading"

"Yes!" Han Fei said excitedly, "That's exactly why I want to cooperate with the mobile company. Through SP services, we can push these stories to customers in the form of SMS. Moreover, SMS naturally limits the length, which is perfect for these fast-paced, conflict-packed short stories. A paragraph can be a few hundred or a thousand words long, leaving a hook so that you have to reply to read the next paragraph."

Zhang Qiming slowly revealed a look of sudden realization: "What about the payment model?"

"My initial idea is a monthly subscription model, 10 yuan per month, with 3 segments pushed out daily." Han Fei took out a handwritten proposal from his briefcase. "It can also be on-demand, charging 5 to 2 yuan per segment depending on its length. Users subscribe by replying with specific instructions, the cost is deducted from their phone bill, and the revenue is split between China Mobile and us."

Zhang Qiming stood up, paced around the room, pressed his fingers to his forehead, and fell into deep thought.

"But Han Fei," he said after a while, "everything has risks. Have you considered the issue of payment rates?"

Han Fei looked around, wanting to smoke, but couldn't find an ashtray in the office, so he gave up. Then he got up and walked over to Zhang Qiming.

"I researched the payment situation of several SP services currently on the market. Tencent's offline SMS service costs 5 yuan per month and has a penetration rate of about 3% among young people; NetEase's news push has a conversion rate of about 0.8% after a free trial. We provide continuous story content, which will result in higher user stickiness, and I conservatively estimate it to be at least 1%."

"You know all this?" Zhang Qiming looked at Han Fei in surprise, then smiled broadly and gently placed a hand on Han Fei's shoulder. "That's right, Brother Baohua has never been one to make decisions on a whim. You're just like your father."

The two burst into laughter at the same time.

Zhang Qiming walked behind his desk, sat down, and picked up the phone: "I'm attracted to the potential of this project, and I also appreciate your ideas. China Mobile needs innovative businesses, and you need new channels; this is a win-win situation. I'll have someone from the data business department connect with you."

When Han Fei left the office, he and Zhang Qiming exchanged phone numbers.

Zhang Qiming said he would take some time to visit Han Baohua at the hospital and hoped that Han Fei would come to his home for dinner another day.

Han Fei followed the secretary surnamed Zhou to the data business department.

A bald man in a black suit greeted Han Fei with a beaming smile and signed a contract. The contract stipulated that the mobile company would take a 15% cut of the profits.

"We're including 5 user phone numbers as a pilot program," the bald man said, emphasizing the word "numbers."

Han Fei did not reply, but simply nodded and smiled.

In fact, 5 phone numbers were far from enough for him, because he knew very well that the price of such numbers through official channels was very expensive, and it was far more cost-effective to buy them in bulk from township business halls.

The bald man tried a few more times, but seeing that the president was stubborn and unmoved no matter what he did, he had no choice but to stand up dejectedly and then disappear without a trace.

Han Fei walked out of the mobile company building with the contract in his hand and took a bus to a nearby town.

Han Fei found a mobile phone store on Jianshe Road. Jianshe Road is a busy shopping street, selling all kinds of miscellaneous goods, with greasy food carts and stalls full of flashy women's clothing everywhere.

The shop owner was a chubby middle-aged man. As soon as he saw Han Fei, he enthusiastically took him to see the premium phone numbers and data plans that covered an entire wall.

Han Fei interrupted the boss's fluent sales pitch, saying that he wanted to collect some phone numbers.

The shop owner's enthusiasm immediately waned, and he rolled his eyes: "Tch, another scammer."

Han Fei quickly showed the newly signed contract. For safety's sake, Han Fei added that he worked with words and that collecting phone numbers was to push articles to users.

Upon hearing this, the shop owner's attitude completely changed. Some people have swindled a fortune from those spam text messages, while this young man, wanting to spread knowledge through text messages, is truly respectable.

How many do you want?

50.

"How much?" The shop owner was shocked, his eyes widening as if they would pop out.

"50." Han Fei leaned forward and whispered, "I know you might not have that much here, but you can team up with other branches. You can act as a middleman, tell them you have a big deal, and charge them a referral fee. It's a good deal either way."

The shop owner's eyes darted around.

"It's not that it's impossible, but..." He brought his mouth close to Han Fei's ear, "Five bottles of foreign liquor, no bargaining."

Han Fei chuckled a few times: "Sure, can you get it done by 5 PM tomorrow?"

The shop owner shook Han Fei's hand: "No problem. It's business!"

After returning to the city, Han Fei went home, withdrew 5 yuan in cash, and went straight to a bank that could exchange foreign currency.

In his previous life, when he was involved in the online literature and short drama industry, he had personally witnessed some gray promotion and underground settlement methods. Therefore, he knew very well that the "five bottles" mentioned by the store owner actually meant 5 yuan; and "foreign liquor" had two meanings, one was to refer to foreign currency - the default is US dollars, and the other was to use foreign liquor boxes as a disguise.

So "five bottles of foreign liquor" means "to exchange 5 yuan into US dollars and put them in a box of foreign liquor".