Rebirth 04: Starting from Taking an Unconventional Approach

"This is the content reserve list, along with the content review system documents and implementation records," Han Fei said, handing Zhang Ruiyi the tender documents he had taken from the printer. Zhang Ruiyi carefully placed them one by one in order. It was 11:45 a.m. They had spent twenty minutes that morning moving a new set of desks and chairs into the office. This meant that Han Fei and Zhang Ruiyi would be sharing the president's office from now on.

An hour ago, Fang Jing said on the phone that in order to maintain the appearance of "procedural justice" to the greatest extent, the bidding announcements for Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces would be released separately. Otherwise, if the two provinces were to bid at the same time and using the same standards, it would inevitably raise suspicions about whether there was unified coordination from headquarters behind the scenes.

"Okay, that's all," Zhang Ruiyi said.

Han Fei looked at the computer screen and confirmed once again that Guangdong Mobile had released a tender notice on its official website at 10:00 AM.

Open tender for Mobile Dream Network content-based SP business partners (high-quality content direction)

To enrich the content formats of Mobile Dream Network SP services and enhance user stickiness and paid conversion rates, it is planned to introduce one or two content service providers with mature content production capabilities, compliant review mechanisms, and successful operational experience to conduct a one-year pilot cooperation.

The tenderer set five qualification requirements. Besides the two basic requirements common to all legitimate companies, the remaining three were hidden thresholds tailored for Qingniao: having at least one month of continuous SP (Service Provider) business operation records, owning no fewer than fifty copyrighted pieces of content with proof of copyright, and having a system document and implementation record of a three-tiered content review mechanism. Han Fei believes these three requirements are enough to eliminate 80% of pure internet companies.

The subsequent scoring criteria are more like a customized medical check-up for Qingniao. Each item seems objective and fair, but only Qingniao can score in every single one. For example, the total score for content reserves and production capabilities is 30 points, of which the number of self-owned copyrighted content accounts for 15 points, the ability to add new content monthly accounts for 10 points, and the diversity of themes accounts for 5 points. The total score for operational experience and conversion data is 25 points, of which the paid conversion rate of existing SP business accounts for 15 points, and user retention rate and user scale each account for 5 points.

Han Fei downloaded the tender documents and clicked "Print". The printer emitted a faint beep and started operating.

There was a knock at the door, and Lu Hai walked in.

"Have you bought the plane tickets?" Han Fei asked.

"Buied. It's for around 2 PM, flying from Hongqiao to Baiyun. Back at 9 AM tomorrow." Lu Hai walked to the table, looking at the increasingly thick stack of documents. "President, this must be several hundred pages long, right?"

"Four hundred and thirty-seven pages." The printer stopped working, and Han Fei took out the bidding standards, placed them on top of the stack of documents, and pressed them down with his hand. "Content reserve list, copyright certificate, review system documents, operational data reports, three-level review execution records—every page is the result of our hard work over the past month."

"Teacher Zheng spent the entire morning scanning just the copyright certificate part," Zhang Ruiyi said.

Lu Hai clicked his tongue and flipped through the bidding standards: "President, I have a question."

"explain."

"Aren't these hidden barriers a bit too obvious?" Lu Hai said. "No matter how I look at it, I feel like this tender is specifically targeted at us."

Han Fei, with a helpless expression, turned around and said, "Ruiyi, you tell him what he calls this kind of mentality?"

"Informed person bias," Zhang Ruiyi said. "If you know the answer, then when you look back at the questions, you'll feel that every question points to that answer. But for someone who doesn't know the answer, the questions are just questions."

Lu Hai blinked in confusion: "What do you mean?"

"Think about it, what were the scoring criteria listed in Guangdong Mobile's tender announcement? Things like content reserves, operational experience, and review mechanisms. Aren't these all requirements for normal business cooperation? Shouldn't a provincial branch of China Mobile looking for a content partner be looking for someone with content, someone with operational experience, and someone with a sound review system?"

Lu Hai pressed his fingers to his forehead, lost in thought.

"Don't explain it to him in such a complicated way." Han Fei chuckled a few times. "Simply put, it's called having a guilty conscience."

Zhang Ruiyi laughed loudly.

Lu Hai suddenly realized and nodded.

"Alright, let's not dwell on this." Han Fei took a kraft paper file box from under his desk. Zhang Ruiyi had found the box in the finance office; it originally contained last year's scrapped ledgers. The box was slightly larger than an A4 sheet of paper, with the corners reinforced with transparent tape. A white label was affixed to the spine of the box, bearing Han Fei's handwritten words: Qingniao Publishing House · Guangdong Mobile Tender Document · Original.

Han Fei put the documents into the box: "Lu Hai, remember this. Your entire trip to Guangdong must be spotless and impeccable. No wining and dining, no asking anyone to pull strings, and no unnecessary actions. Most importantly, don't have any private contact with anyone from the mobile company. Even if someone invites you for tea, decline it. You just need to submit your tender documents to the designated location on time, completely, and in accordance with regulations. The rest is up to the evaluation criteria."

"Afraid of being seen?"

"I'm afraid of being seen by people who shouldn't see it," Han Fei said. "The people at Tencent won't be stupid enough to wait for the draft to come out, and they'll definitely notice this tender from China Mobile. If someone who won the bid for Qingniao has dinner with people from Guangdong Mobile, it might cause unnecessary trouble."

Lu Hai smiled, but immediately put on a serious expression and straightened his posture as much as possible.

"I understand, President. But what if... I mean, what if I run into someone from my travel companions at the airport or hotel and they ask me about Bluebird? What should I say?"

Han Fei glanced at Zhang Ruiyi.

Zhang Ruiyi opened the "Frequently Asked Questions Answer Manual," found a page, and read it aloud: "Sorry, this is internal company information and cannot be disclosed. Leave after saying this; don't linger. If they keep pressing you, just say it's all in the tender documents and the evaluation committee will see it. Also, if anyone approaches you at or near the bidding site, regardless of whether they claim to be a competitor, media, or anything else, do not exchange business cards, and do not reveal your hotel or return date. After submitting the tender documents, do not use public phones to discuss details with Han Fei; just briefly tell him using your own mobile phone."

"I've got it," Lu Hai said. "Uh... I'll memorize the 'Frequently Asked Questions Answer Handbook' as soon as possible."

Han Fei nodded: "This time in Guangdong, you're representing Qingniao. Speak slowly and think things through before you speak. You were one of the first people in our publishing house to support the transformation, following it from beginning to end. No one understands Qingniao better than you. So just be neither humble nor arrogant, there's no need to be nervous."