Rebirth 04: Starting from Taking an Unconventional Approach

The three senior executives nodded thoughtfully.

"Han Fei calls this 'exposure triggers'." Fang Jing wrote these five words on the whiteboard. "As long as Qingniao's business is rolled out on a large scale at the provincial level, it's like sending a clear signal to Tencent: This track has been officially approved by China Mobile. You either rush in now to grab it, or you won't even get a taste of the soup later."

Chen Yuanshan seemed to suddenly realize: "So he wanted to use the bidding process... to turn the exposure into something... explainable?"

"That's right." Fang Jing turned to face the three of them. "If Qingniao's cooperation was achieved through winning the bid, then its business in the two provinces would be a public commercial activity. The news was released by the provincial company, the bidding was conducted publicly, and Qingniao was simply one of the winners among many bidders. If Tencent tries to investigate further, the conclusion they will reach will be that Qingniao's cooperation with the two provinces is just normal business expansion, not some special policy being implemented by the mobile headquarters behind the scenes."

Liu Zhenhua nodded slowly and chuckled a few times: "What a brilliant idea! How did he come up with it?"

"Because of the reporters," Fang Jing said with a smile.

"A reporter?" Zhao Guoqiang said, his brows furrowing behind his glasses.

"A reporter from the Morning Post called the publishing house. Han Fei wasn't there at the time, but this incident made him realize that Qingniao could no longer hide. He had previously thought that as long as he didn't actively seek publicity and controlled the spread of information, he could continue to develop discreetly under the watchful eyes of the giants. But the reporter's attention told him that this idea was outdated."

Chen Yuanshan snorted: "The media's sense of smell is sharper than a dog's. One report, and Qingniao went from an industry rumor to a public event."

"That's right," Fang Jing said. "That's why Han Fei said that since it can't be hidden anymore, we can't just passively wait for the media to write about it. Because he can't control how the media writes, but he can influence what the media knows."

Liu Zhenhua's eyes lit up: "He wants to use the media?"

Fang Jing nodded: "He said that since the media is destined to focus on Qingniao, why not proactively provide them with the right script? Let Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces conduct open bidding. The execution of this plan inherently requires transparency; bidding announcements must be issued, winning results must be publicized, and cooperation news must be released. All of this is precisely what reporters are interested in and will report on. When Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces conduct open bidding, and Qingniao wins the bid, if a reputable media outlet like the *Xinmin Evening News* publishes a related report, that report will become the most important public intelligence on Tencent's desk. Compared to Qingniao claiming they won the bid based on merit, or information leaked privately by internal staff at China Mobile, a public report from a reputable media outlet has greater objectivity and credibility. When Tencent's strategic development department analyzes competitors, it will give higher weight to reports from reputable media outlets, which will further dispel their suspicions that Qingniao has support from China Mobile headquarters. Han Fei calls this amplifying procedural justice."

Chen Yuanshan clapped his hands: "Great! This will further delay Tencent. After Qingniao has the cooperation between the two provinces, its value will increase. As long as Qingniao maintains its willingness to cooperate with Tencent, and at the same time does not allow Tencent to find conclusive evidence that Qingniao has the background of China Mobile's headquarters, then Tencent will be more inclined to take over Qingniao. However, due to the increase in Qingniao's value, they will have to re-evaluate it and revise the cooperation draft."

"I admit this plan is ingenious," Zhao Guoqiang said, wiping his glasses with a handkerchief. "But there are risks too. What if Tencent's people aren't satisfied with just media reports and try to investigate further? What if they use their internal connections to find out the true depth of cooperation between Qingniao and headquarters?"

"Guoqiang's concerns are valid," Liu Zhenhua said. "Therefore, we must put the principles of procedural justice into practice. We must ensure that Tencent cannot find any official documents or inside information about the strategic pilot project in the case of Qingniao winning the bid. We must show them only market-based operations. Then they will not risk arbitrarily abandoning their investment and going all out in the battle."

"Han Fei also mentioned this point, so his suggestion is that the bidding process must be fully compliant. However, to ensure that Qingniao can win the bid 100% of the time..." Fang Jing's gaze drifted to Liu Zhenhua, and she bit her lower lip, "Uh, I think we can set some hidden thresholds that are beneficial to Qingniao."

Liu Zhenhua glanced at Fang Jing with a knowing look: "An invisible threshold? Whose opinion is it, yours or his?"

Fang Jing smiled faintly, pursing her lips: "President Liu, although this hidden threshold sounds a bit sensitive, Han Fei definitely doesn't want headquarters to engage in any underhanded operations, much less to give Qingniao a back door. That would definitely arouse Tencent's suspicion. On the contrary, what we need to do is translate Qingniao's advantages into scoring items in the bidding documents, under the premise of openness, fairness, and compliance. Therefore, we only need to ask Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces to give higher weight to those items where Qingniao naturally has an advantage when setting the scoring standards, such as having its own copyrighted content library, having a sound and strict review mechanism, and successful operational cases. This is completely compliant, because the bidding party has the right to set the scoring standards according to its own needs. Moreover, since we are recruiting high-quality content-based SPs, we should naturally prioritize content capabilities and review mechanisms. Qingniao fits the bill perfectly, while many other companies that want to participate may not even be eligible to apply."

"To put it bluntly, it's about narrowing the track with the rules, making Qingniao the only one who can make it through," Chen Yuanshan said.

"That's right," Fang Jing said. "This way, even if Tencent reviews the entire bidding process afterward, they won't find any fault. The scoring criteria were announced in advance, the bidding process was open and transparent, and Qingniao won the bid because it scored the highest in every category. No matter how much Tencent investigates, they can only conclude that Qingniao won based on its true abilities. Otherwise... to put it another way, if Qingniao really lost due to some unforeseen factors, the loss would be far more than just Qingniao itself. We at China Mobile finally found a benchmark that could ignite the content-based SP market, but it was buried in our own provincial company's bidding. If word got out, who would dare to cooperate with us on innovation?"

Liu Zhenhua shifted his posture in the chair, a smile spreading across his face. "Great, you've considered this step. What more can I say? Fang Jing, tell Han Fei that headquarters has agreed to this plan in principle. As for the specific implementation details, you and Yuanshan will take the lead, coordinating with Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces. Get it done immediately after the meeting, and finalize the plan today. Except for the scoring criteria, everything else will proceed according to normal procedures. The evaluation committee will be formed by randomly selecting experts from the expert pools of Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces, and Yuanshan will send an observer to supervise the process. The entire process will be compressed to the shortest possible time, with the announcement period reduced to five working days. Internal processes will be expedited, and Qingniao's content will be implemented in Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces in two weeks."

Fang Jing smiled broadly: "I understand, Mr. Liu."

"Furthermore, now that the media is starting to pay attention to the Bluebird, it's no longer a sapling hiding in a corner. It has to start facing the wind and rain and confronting more competitors. All we can do is provide it with a good scaffold, and the rest is up to it to see if it can grow into a big tree."