Rebirth 04: Starting from Taking an Unconventional Approach

As expected, Bluebird Magazine's first-day sales were very promising, successfully exceeding 1500 copies. When Zhang Meimei delivered the handwritten sales statistics sheet to Han Fei's office in the morning, everyone followed her in. The office was filled with lively chatter. Han Fei personally called Shen Jian to inquire about Bluebird Magazine's sales figures at the Shanghai Bookstore so far. Shen Jian told him in an eager voice that a total of ninety-two copies had been sold the day before yesterday afternoon and yesterday, and he hoped to restock immediately.

They had reason to celebrate, but they weren't in a rush. Because everyone understood that these 1500 books were merely the first milestone proving the offline channels were viable. Success is never the end; it simply presents new challenges.

Han Fei asked Zhang Meimei to compile a list of the top three best-selling outlets and analyze their common characteristics: was it high foot traffic, prominent location, or recommendation from store staff? He also planned to use the first day's sales data to expand to new outlets, moving from pilot projects to large-scale operations, and quickly covering the core areas of Shanghai.

Chen Jianguo was responsible for contacting Jin Hongfa to print an additional 5,000 copies to capitalize on the initial popularity and strike while the iron was hot, thus avoiding sales losses due to stockouts.

Zhang Ruiyi then worked with Zheng Xiaowen to prepare for the post-production of the magazine.

The others continued reviewing new manuscripts, writing copy, and finalizing the signing of exclusive agreements.

After everyone left the office, Han Fei called Han Baohua and Zhang Qiming to report the situation, and then he went to sit in the conference room occupied by the technical team for a while.

Zhang Ruiyi's TV has already been moved back. Wen Jie and Lin Feng are arguing about the syntax of a certain SQL statement in front of the screen, while Wang Zhe is flipping through the interface documentation. The documentation specialist has just returned and hasn't even had a chance to sit down yet, because she was standing at the back of the office watching Han Fei assign tasks to everyone.

Han Fei briefly inquired about the progress of the technology handover. The data splitting library and caching strategy plan had been finalized, the user profiling system and green channel had been basically configured, and the provincial push function had begun to be verified.

Han Fei returned to his office and heard his phone ring. He took out his phone and looked at the caller ID.

This was supposed to be a perfect day, but now it's time to ruin it, Han Fei thought to himself.

He pressed the green button and held the phone to his ear: "Director Xu."

"President Han," Xu Cheng's cheerful laughter came from the other end of the phone, "I'm truly flattered."

Why?

"You knew it was me before I even said my name. It's clear you either memorized my number or saved it in your phone. Looks like you value me quite a bit."

"Of course I have to keep such a distinguished guest as Director Xu in my contacts. It would be a terrible mistake to forget him one day and miss out on a cooperation opportunity."

"President Han, it's a shame you're not in business with that mouth of yours. But since you've brought up cooperation, I won't beat around the bush. Tomorrow afternoon, would it be convenient for you, President Han? I'd like to visit your company and discuss this in person."

"Director Xu, why are you in such a hurry?" Han Fei switched the phone to his left hand. "Did headquarters issue a direct order, or are you having trouble sleeping because you can't stop thinking about your analogy of the supply station?"

Han Fei could tell from the brief silence on the other end of the phone that he had guessed correctly. Tencent's headquarters must have accurate data on Qingniao Reading's first-day conversion rate to be in such a hurry. Delaying was the only option.

"President Han, you're putting me on the spot," Xu Cheng said with a smile. "Alright, I'll be frank. Headquarters is indeed paying close attention to your direction, but attention doesn't mean anything. There are tons of new tricks popping up in the internet world every day. I think instead of sitting in a room reading reports, you should come here in person and see what kind of team can make such a splash."

"Director Xu is welcome to come anytime. But tomorrow afternoon..." Han Fei paused, "We've been so busy lately, it's a complete mess, there's so much stuff to write that there's barely room to move. It's fine for you to come, but you might not even get a cup of hot tea, and you'll have to listen to a bunch of us arguing in front of the computer."

"Then I definitely have to go." Xu Cheng's voice was filled with excitement. "A real test is in a fight. If everyone in the room is all polite and courteous, that's just a performance. But if President Han is really unable to go, the day after tomorrow is fine too."

Han Fei tapped the table lightly with his index finger. He wanted to prolong the process, but not to drag it out indefinitely. Prolonging it too long would make him appear guilty, while prolonging it too short would leave him vulnerable.

"The day after tomorrow afternoon," Han Fei said. "I'll make time specifically between two and four o'clock. But Director Xu should be prepared; our little place doesn't have the grandeur of your Feiyada Building."

"President Han, you're being too polite," Xu Cheng said. "Then it's settled. I'll be there on time at 2 PM the day after tomorrow."

"it is good."

Just as Han Fei was about to hang up, Xu Cheng suddenly spoke up again: "By the way, President Han, you said last time that you had to pedal these bikes yourself for a while. How's it going? Are you tired? Do you need to get bigger wheels?"

"Director Xu," Han Fei said, "have you ever seen a real rider? What they enjoy most is not the finish line, but the uphill road."

Xu Cheng chuckled and said, "President Han, I'm increasingly looking forward to meeting you. See you the day after tomorrow!"

After hanging up the phone, Han Fei immediately convened a meeting in the main conference room, which included not only the publishing staff and Zhang Ruiyi, but also the technical team.

The four members of the technical team looked puzzled, probably because they felt that Han Fei's decision to have external personnel participate in internal meetings was somewhat abrupt.

Han Fei briefly explained Xu Cheng's upcoming visit to everyone, and then added, "We have proven ourselves and won the support of headquarters. But at the same time, we have also exposed ourselves, putting the data on the table for all the giants to see."

"There's nothing to worry about, President Lu?" Lu Hai said. "Don't we have the mobile headquarters protecting us now?"

"No," Han Fei said. "The support from headquarters hasn't been fully implemented yet, and even if it is, we must try to keep this fact a secret from Tencent."

"Why?" Zhang Meimei asked.

Han Fei cleared his throat: "Because the support policy for Qingniao from the China Mobile headquarters was decided in a small meeting and not announced to the public, Tencent still doesn't know our bottom line. The information they have is still limited to the fact that Qingniao's data is very impressive. Based on my understanding of Tencent, they won't just focus on one direction. Xu Cheng came here this time to discuss investment under the guise of cooperation, while simultaneously testing our strength and weaknesses, to see if we have any cooperation with the China Mobile headquarters, and to what extent. Think about it, if Tencent knew that we had received strategic support from headquarters, what would they do?"