Rebirth 04: Starting from Taking an Unconventional Approach

The first rays of sunlight that day had just emerged from the edge of Fragrant Hills, shining into the half-drawn blinds of the conference room in the China Mobile headquarters building, and seeping into the wrinkles around Zhang Qiming's swollen eyes.

Chen Yuanshan stood at the other end of the long table, his hands behind his back, legs apart, sometimes rising on his tiptoes, sometimes lying flat. Behind him was a poster with "Welcome" written in large red letters. Zhang Qiming guessed that Chen Yuanshan had brought it from the speech seminar specifically to welcome him. As the general manager of the data business department began to speak, he half-seriously suppressed the urge to yawn.

"Hey Lao Zhang, even if the sky falls down, can you at least wait until dawn before calling me?"

Zhang Qiming smiled and sat up straight in the chair. No matter how he turned his head, the sunlight still blinded him. He got up, drew the curtains, and checked his watch. It wasn't even 6:30 yet.

There were only the two of them in the meeting room.

The reason they arrived here so early was that after Han Fei sent the information to Zhang Qiming's email at 5:30, Zhang Qiming couldn't wait to call Chen Yuanshan and say that he had a very interesting case and wanted to give him a sneak peek.

Zhang Qiming did this not to show off, but to win a key supporter.

The mobile company has a strict hierarchical structure and a lengthy decision-making process. Although Han Fei's project achieved excellent results on its first day, as a new business that had only been online for a few days, headquarters might be hesitant to invest significant resources due to concerns about its sustainability. Generally speaking, for a project from a local branch to rise to the level of headquarters-level cooperation and obtain special policies, it usually requires exceptionally outstanding performance and repeated justification.

Zhang Qiming knew that Han Fei couldn't wait that long, as NetEase and Tencent were already eyeing the market covetously.

However, it would be difficult for Zhang Qiming to persuade headquarters to provide support on his own, but it would be different if Chen Yuanshan were brought in.

Chen Yuanshan is the general manager of the data business department, which oversees the approval, resource allocation, and policy formulation for all SP (Service Provider) businesses nationwide. In other words, the fate of any company wanting to offer value-added services on the Mobile Dream Network ultimately rests in his hands.

More importantly, Chen Yuanshan is also a standing member of the Strategic Committee at the China Mobile headquarters. This seven-member committee is responsible for approving all major strategic directions and coordinating cross-provincial business operations.

With over thirty provincial branches across the country, hundreds or even thousands of projects are reported each year, but only a very small number can catch the committee's eye.

Once a project is designated as a "strategic innovation pilot" by the committee, it means that it can receive preferential treatment in terms of resources at the headquarters level: priority access to provincial channels, a lower revenue sharing ratio, and even official recommendation.

Chen Yuanshan's voice in the committee ranks among the top three.

Zhang Qiming has worked in the postal and telecommunications system for more than 20 years and has come to understand a principle: when doing things within the system, what determines success or failure is often not the quality of the plan, but whether someone is willing to pave the way for you before you even speak up.

His friendship with Chen Yuanshan dates back to the early 1980s. At that time, they were both studying at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications Cadre Training School and lived in the same dormitory. Chen Yuanshan was a poor boy from the Northwest, and he only had one cotton-padded coat in winter. Zhang Qiming gave him the extra one he had brought with him. Later, Chen Yuanshan was transferred to Guangdong and rose through the ranks, but he would still call Zhang Qiming every Spring Festival to wish him a happy new year.

Chen Yuanshan was so surprised after seeing the data for Han Fei's project that he couldn't sleep. Zhang Qiming suggested that they hang up the phone and come to the conference room to talk.

"Old Zhang," Chen Yuanshan said, "I've thought about that data you sent me over and over again. A 13.7% conversion rate on the first day... Do you think you might have made a mistake? Are you sure there's no problem with the statistical methods, like mistakenly counting clicks as subscriptions?"

Zhang Qiming clicked his tongue: "Yuanshan, I've been in this business for so many years, would I call you in the middle of the night to bother you if I wasn't sure about something?"

Chen Yuanshan strolled over to Zhang Qiming, sat down, and reached out to touch the shiny top of his head. The hair around the top of his head was very thick, so some people had suspected that Chen Yuanshan's hair volume was actually quite normal, and that he had just found a strange hairstylist.

"That's true." Chen Yuanshan nodded. "But the key to content is sustainability. What if users get bored once the novelty wears off? Do they have a backup plan?"

"That's exactly what I wanted to tell you. That young editor-in-chief, Han Fei, may be young, but he's very sharp. His father is an old-fashioned scholar, with integrity, and we've known each other for a long time. Han Fei has surpassed his father; he's full of ideas, bold, and most importantly, steady. He's already cultivating his own core pool of authors. When it comes to content, he's thinking further ahead than we are."

"Wow! You know how to cultivate a core pool of authors; you have a long-term vision. You're quite impressive."

"Well, but that's probably not enough." Zhang Qiming sighed. "Yuanshan, to be honest, there are already wolves watching. Wangyi has already made its move, and Tencent, Han Fei just met with their people. Xu Cheng from the Strategic Development Department personally took charge."

"Xu Cheng?" Chen Yuanshan raised his thick eyebrows. "That guy is no pushover. Tencent really has its eye on this project. Old Zhang, you need to be aware that you can't protect this project with just the resources of the local branch."

"That's why I came to find you, isn't it?"

"I?"

Zhang Qiming cleared his throat: "At the meeting later, I need your help to secure headquarters' support for this project."

Chen Yuanshan stared at Zhang Qiming thoughtfully for a while before slowly nodding, as if he was carefully and cautiously considering the matter.

"13.7%..." Chen Yuanshan stood up from his chair and paced back and forth in the room. "The average conversion rate for SP (Service Provider) businesses is only between 1% and 3%, while Qingniao's conversion rate is 4 to 10 times the average. This is truly phenomenal data in the SP field..."

Zhang Qiming interjected, "Moreover, although China Mobile's user base has surpassed 3 million, the growth of its SMS business has slowed down in the past two years. Yuanshan, don't forget, we're still worrying about finding new growth points for our data business."

"Indeed," Chen Yuanshan said. "The emergence of such a high-conversion content-based SP at this time is like sending charcoal in snowy weather for us."

"So you're saying you agree?"

Chen Yuanshan stopped and looked at Zhang Qiming: "What reason do I have to disagree? Besides, when have I ever refused to do something for you?"

"Go to hell!" Zhang Qiming laughed.

"However," Chen Yuanshan said, "this is, after all, a project just starting out, and it's unrealistic to expect full support from headquarters right away..."

"Yuanshan, I understand," Zhang Qiming interrupted. "Let's just do our best."