Chapter 616 - 440: This Guy Is So Damn Shameless! 80 Million Registered Users, the Red-Hot Mimo

The next morning, mist dampened the windowsill as a warm sunbeam pierced through the glass and sheer curtains, landing diagonally across the third-floor study floor.

Chen Yansen got up and walked outside.

After the previous night’s storm, the pond was filled with camphor leaves. Several plump koi darted between them, swimming about joyfully.

July was approaching, and the weather in Xucheng was growing increasingly hot.

President Chen pulled over a rattan chair, sat down on the veranda, and took out his phone to start scrolling through Mimo Short Video.

Ever since Douyin’s redesign, Mimo had also adjusted its video upload limit to five minutes.

With the spread of unlimited data plans and 4G networks, people in the North American Region had also gotten hooked on scrolling through videos.

The platform was flooded with endless content covering music, movies, food, beauty, fashion, and education. Works heavy on special effects and editing grew increasingly common, creating a positive feedback loop between the content ecosystem and new user growth.

Total registered users had surpassed 80 million, with daily active users stabilizing at around 30 million. The growth rate was incredibly fast.

By now, the platform’s advertising revenue alone exceeded 40 million US dollars per month, making it the new darling of the digital, beauty, and luxury goods industries.

’Mao Chaorong really is the man who ran Xiaohongshu. Just give him the funds and resources, and he immediately takes off.’

’In reality, many founders of future unicorn companies would come from BAT, some even from BAT’s failed projects. Did these people lack ability?’

’Of course not!’

’For a project to succeed, creativity and execution are the top priorities. The boss’s patience and investment are the next most important factors. You can’t succeed without both.’

Just then, he heard footsteps behind him.

Chen Yansen casually asked, "You’re not sleeping in?"

"I was worried you’d be hungry this morning," Song Yuncheng said softly.

"Since you’re up, go get washed up. We’re going to Qin Island today," Chen Yansen said.

"What are we doing on Qin Island? A business trip?" Song Yuncheng asked curiously.

"We’re gonna drink beer and eat clams," Chen Yansen said, imitating Jiao Enjun’s accent.

Song Yuncheng’s eyes lit up. She bobbed her head enthusiastically, let out a cheer, and dashed toward the bathroom.

’He’d already bought a private jet. Whether he used it or not, the management and maintenance fees alone cost over nine million a year. It would be a waste not to use it.’

’If he had enough time, President Chen wouldn’t even mind flying to London to feed the pigeons, then heading to Las Vegas to gamble a bit at night.’

The two of them had a quick breakfast and took a car to the airport. An hour later, they landed on Qin Island.

Then, they transferred to a Mercedes van and headed for the Pier.

A dozen or so meters behind them, a black MPV followed closely.

「At the same time.」

Someone posted a video on Douyin of celebrities like Yang Tianbao, Li Xiaolu, Huang Yi, and Wu Xin attending an event, taking selfies for the cameras with their Meitu Kiss phones.

What’s Worth Buying and Xiaohongshu also received a hefty advertising fee to display a promotional poster for the Meitu Mobile Phone in the most prominent spot on their apps’ home screens.

Tapping on it revealed a richly illustrated advertorial.

The article was written from a man’s perspective, conveying a single message to its readers: If you love her, buy her a Meitu Mobile Phone!

Boosted by celebrity endorsements and advertising, sales for the Meitu Kiss climbed once again.

In 2013, knockoff phones were on the decline, squeezed by both carriers and competitors. Internet mobile phone brands were rising forcefully, while established manufacturers still held their core positions in the industry.

Compared to two years ago, smartphones had gotten much cheaper. You could now buy a model with decent specs for just a thousand yuan.

Customers knew full well that this change was largely driven by Orange Technology working quietly behind the scenes.

The launch of the Qingcheng D2 and Qingcheng D2 SE completely sealed the fate of knockoff phones.

For customers, the Redmi 1 and 360 F1 were also excellent alternatives.

Brands like Celestial Language, Coolpad, ZTE, and Huawei were all quietly ramping up their efforts, working overtime to rush out thousand-yuan models in an attempt to get a slice of the pie.

「Jinling Hexi District.」

The owner of the Ni Cai Factory Store glared at the Orange Phone Direct Store across the street, his eyes smoldering with rage. He muttered a stream of curses, "They’re not just stealing my goddamn business, they’re stealing my goddamn employees too."

His two best sales associates, Big Mouth and Big Head, had just jumped ship to the competition.

In the 28 days from June 1st to June 28th, he had only sold a little over 600 phones. In the last few days, his sales had even dropped to single digits.

’Looks like this business is about to go under!’

’But he’d gone over to ask, and they said they were all company-owned stores, not franchises.’

’Ugh, what a fucking disaster. If this doesn’t work out, I’ll have to change careers. I hear the bubble tea business is pretty profitable these days. Maybe I can sell fried chicken cutlets, too,’ the owner mused.

Meanwhile, Big Mouth and Big Head, the very same men he was cursing as heartless, were dressed in clean, tidy polo shirts and enthusiastically helping customers.

"799 yuan is too expensive? Then I recommend this Little Qingcheng. It has 512MB of RAM, which is half of the Big Qingcheng, but the camera is still pretty good, and it runs smoothly without any lag. We have a promotion going on right now, so I can throw in an 8GB expansion card for free. That’ll be more than enough for you."

Big Mouth said cheerfully.

He had already memorized this sales pitch by heart.

’Only after joining Orange Technology did he realize that even sales associates could get full social insurance and housing funds, two-day weekends, supplemental medical insurance, and quarterly bonuses. Unlike the empty promises he was used to, all these benefits were clearly spelled out in the employment contract.’

’The thing was, Big Mouth didn’t want the time off. Working overtime on weekends meant double pay—one day of work earned him two days’ wages. He wanted to save up to buy a house in Jinling.’

’It was something he’d never even dared to dream of before, but now, the idea was slowly taking root.’