Chapter 287: Drink this bowl of millet porridge
The 13th floor of the Yingu Building on the Fourth Ring Road in Beijing is the location of the newly established Xiaomi Technology Company.
Although the office is simple, the new company is full of vitality and has a sense of prosperity.
At this time, in the office area of Xiaomi, several employees gathered together, whispering and discussing.
"Am I seeing things? The person who just entered Mr. Lei's office is Song Ci?"
A young short-haired girl beside him nodded vigorously: "You are not mistaken, he is indeed the richest man, so handsome!"
"The company is holding an inaugural meeting today. It is said that all the company's founders and shareholders will be there. Song Ci will not be a shareholder of our company, right?"
The girl who just spoke raised her lips and said, "The richest man holds 15% of the shares, making him the second largest shareholder of our company after Mr. Lei."
After hearing this, several people looked at each other and saw a hint of surprise in each other's eyes. They didn't expect that the richest man was actually the major shareholder of their own company. It seemed that Xiaomi had a bright future.
In the CEO's office, Lei Jun was warmly welcoming the richest man who came to show his support.
The small office is simply and plainly decorated, with a slightly old desk and two rows of ordinary leather sofas as the main furnishings here.
"In the early days of our business, the office environment was shabby, which made Mr. Song laugh."
Song Ci took the tea handed over by Lei Jun and said, "A tall building is built from the ground up. Mr. Lei spends money wisely, so that investors can feel more at ease."
Mr. Lei nodded slightly. He knew very well that starting a business was difficult, and now he tried to save as much as possible. Compared with those technology companies in Europe and the United States that were born in garages, Xiaomi's starting point was already very high.
Song Ci leaned lazily on the sofa. He and Lei Jun were both neighbors and friends. They had a close relationship and at this moment he felt less restrained in front of outsiders.
"Xiaomi's supply chain has been fully opened, right? When will the first batch of mobile phones be released?"
"Thank you, Mr. Song! The first generation of the phone is expected to be released in half a year." Lei Jun showed a sincere smile. The hardware supply chain of Xiaomi mobile phone can be quickly opened up, and Song Ci has been helping to thread the needle and made great contributions.
“How is the pre-sale stock?”
"The expected production volume is 300,000 units." When saying this number, Lei Jun's eyes showed a hint of nervousness, and it was obvious that he had no idea about this goal.
"That's too few. Let's prepare for 500,000 units first."
Lei Jun was stunned. He didn't expect Song Ci to be so optimistic about the unreleased Xiaomi mobile phone. He set the pre-sale target at 300,000 units. He had already mustered up his courage and assumed tremendous pressure.
"Mr. Song, isn't 500,000 a bit... maybe we should be more pragmatic and take it step by step?"
Song Ci did not comment on Lei Jun's idea: "I am just making a suggestion, you still need to make the decision yourself, Mr. Lei.
Smartphones are the trend of the future, but they are too expensive, costing several thousand or even tens of thousands of yuan. China still has many poor people and many people cannot afford smartphones.
When the inexpensive and high-quality Xiaomi smartphones are launched, people will realize how huge the demand in the mid-range market is.”
Lei Jun has always been rigorous in his work. He did not stick to his original plan, nor did he reject the goal proposed by Song Ci. He pondered for a while and said, "I will seriously consider your proposal, Mr. Song, and do further market research."
Song Ci took a sip of the green tea in the cup and said, "Boss Lei, I have something to discuss with you. I want to pre-install WeChat and other Tenda apps on Xiaomi phones."
Lei Jun is familiar with the pre-installation mode. After all, pre-installing apps is a common practice on smartphones nowadays. "No problem, but I won't bind the app to the system. If users don't like the app in the future, they can uninstall it freely."
"That's natural. Users have the right to choose." Song Ci smiled confidently, "I believe that once Xiaomi phone users have used Tenda's products, they will be unable to leave them. As for the specific pre-installation charges, we will calculate them according to the market price."
Lei Jun shook his head slightly when he heard this: "Mr. Song, I won't charge for the pre-installed apps on the first batch of phones, including the next few batches."
Song Ci understood that there is no free lunch in the world, and couldn't help but ask curiously: "Then what do you want, Mr. Lei?"
"When Xiaomi 1 comes out, I want it to be recommended on Toutiao and Weibo as a splash screen." Lei squinted his eyes, looking expectant.
He has long coveted the huge traffic from the flash screen recommendations of Tenda's apps, which is an excellent tool for Xiaomi to quickly increase its popularity.
Song Ci only considered it for a moment and immediately decided: "No problem, it's a win-win situation, I fully support it."
The two chatted for a while, Lei Jun looked at the time, smiled gently and said: "Mr. Song, please move, let's go to the next door to attend Xiaomi's founding ceremony."
Song Ci readily followed Lei Jun out of the office and went to the next door, where he met a dozen founding members of Xiaomi.
Among those who followed Lei Jun were the former vice president of Google Engineering Research Institute, the former director of Motorola R&D Center, and the former director of the Design Department of Peking University of Science and Technology. . .
These people are all outstanding talents in their respective fields, and they have abundant channel resources and are good at fighting in the business world. They can be described as a top luxury entrepreneurial team, which makes Song Ci envious.
The ceremony was simple, with no luxurious arrangements and no complicated procedures. Everyone gathered together with a pot of hot rice porridge in front of them.
Lei Jun stood in the center, looking very excited: "Since our company is called Xiaomi, let's drink a bowl of millet porridge today as a ceremony for the establishment of the company."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lei Jun stepped forward, scooped up a bowl of millet porridge with his own hands, and faced Song Ci with full respect.
"I want to give this first bowl to Mr. Song, the most handsome and successful one among us. It was he who strengthened my determination to start Xiaomi, and it was Mr. Song who worked tirelessly to help me open up the company's supply chain.
It can be said that without Mr. Song, there would be no Xiaomi today, so I am really grateful to Mr. Song. Next, let's ask Mr. Song to say a few words!"
"Great!" All Xiaomi employees were enthusiastic and applauded and cheered.
Song Ci did not refuse and took the small porcelain bowl handed to him by Lei Jun. He was wearing an exquisite high-end suit, looking handsome, elegant and dazzling.
He swept his eyes across the audience and said loudly: "Having seen the elite talents of Xiaomi, I firmly believe that Xiaomi will become a great company under the leadership of Mr. Lei..."
Song Ci was elegant and eloquent, expressing his expectations for Xiaomi, a new company: "Finally, I would like to make a gentleman's agreement with everyone.
In the near future, the names of Xiaomi and Tenda will appear on the list of the world's top 500 companies. "
Mr. Lei was slightly stunned. He didn't expect Song Ci to have such high expectations for Xiaomi. But when his eyes fell on the entrepreneurial dream team around him, full of fighting spirit and talent, he immediately cheered up and was full of energy:
"Mr. Song has set a long-term goal for Xiaomi. I am very confident. Do you have the confidence to make Xiaomi one of the world's top 500 companies?"
"Yes!" The voices of the crowd were like thunder, majestic and powerful. At this moment, every Xiaomi employee was infected by Lei Jun's confidence and Song Ci Xu.
Afterwards, after everyone shared the millet porridge in the rice cooker, the fourteen founders took a group photo. The camera captured this simple yet meaningful moment. The ceremony ended, but the legend of Xiaomi had just begun.
In mid-March, the warm spring breeze gently blew across the bustling city of Donghai. After resting at home for nearly a month, Liu Shishi returned to the city again.
"Ting ting ting, Sister K, did you miss me?" Liu Shishi tiptoed into the office, wanting to give the female president a surprise.
Cai Yinong was sitting behind his desk. He had already noticed Yijie's arrival and looked up and glanced at her.
Pretending to be angry, "You still remember to go back to the company. If the crew of "Love Apartment 2" hadn't urged you to go back, I think you would still be staying at home."
Liu Shishi sat down gracefully at the desk, her figure light and she sighed softly. Mr. Song's gentleness was indeed hard for this young woman to resist, and she almost had the idea of retiring from the entertainment industry. Fortunately, she had great willpower and broke free from Mr. Song's temptation.
After teasing Sister Yi for a few words, Cai Yinong's expression became serious and he talked about business: "The New Year is over, and it's time to work hard during this period."
"Well, I'll go back to the crew tomorrow to finish filming the remaining scenes."
Seeing that Yijie had settled down, Cai Yinong arranged the work in an orderly manner: "In addition to filming, there are many other important tasks. Brand New Year advertisements, spring magazine cover shooting..."
"Sister K, please arrange the specific matters. I will be on standby during this period."
After finishing off some of the urgent tasks at hand, Cai Yinong breathed a sigh of relief.
After a brief pause, he continued, "Regarding the selection of the male lead for "Scarlet Heart", I would like to hear your opinion. Recently, your fans held a vote for the male lead on Weibo, which was very popular. Did you know about this?"
Liu Shishi nodded her chin and said, "I also paid attention to the voting, but I think the top few votes don't like this play."
Although fans are very enthusiastic about the voting activity, she thinks that the male stars who get the highest number of votes are likely to look down on "Scarlet Heart".
Currently, the top few people who have received votes are Huang Xiaoming, Qiao Zhengyu, and Chen Kun. They are all top names in the entertainment industry and have prosperous careers.
However, "Startling by Each Step" is a drama with strong female lead, and the first role is played by the female lead. How could a few people possibly raise the role for a younger actress? From the perspective of commercial value and performing arts status, it is not very realistic.
Cai Yinong explained: "Of course I know that Huang Xiaoming and others don't think highly of "Startling by Each Step". I mean the male actors who are ranked lower. If you have anyone you want to work with, Tangren will invite you."
Liu Shishi silently recalled several candidates in her mind: "I don't care, Sister K, just audition normally."
Seeing that Yijie had no special requests, Cai Yinong made a decision immediately: "In that case, the company will start organizing interviews next week, and filming is expected to start in late April. By then, your scenes in "Love Apartment 2" will also be finished."
After saying that, he leaned over and pulled out a script from a pile of materials on the desk and handed it to Sister Yi: "This is a new script that has been revised according to your requirements.
The screenwriter downplayed the emotional line between the heroine and the two princes, and emphasized the heroine's wisdom and her helplessness in struggling in the palace. The kissing scenes were all dealt with, and you will be satisfied. "
Liu Shishi took the script with a happy face: "Sister K really understands me. I will definitely prepare well."
"By the way, there is something else I want to discuss with you. I want your opinion."
While flipping through the script, Liu Shishi casually responded, "Sister K, if you have something to say, just say it. Why are you being so polite to me?"
"Since Tangren wants to go public, it has to take out some shares to retain talent. The company's shares are currently concentrated in the hands of you, me and Director Li.
In this case, the three of us will have to contribute to the shares subscribed by employees. Hu Ge doesn't have many shares to begin with, so we won't let him contribute this time. "Shishi, what do you think?"
"No problem. We can just split the shares among the three of us. For a boss like Lao Hu, other companies would try their best to win him over by offering him shares. He has few shares to begin with, so there's no reason to ask him to give up more."
Liu Shishi readily agreed. She had already discussed the issue of Tangren’s equity with Mr. Song at home.
"I'm glad you have no objection." Seeing that Sister Yi understood his good intentions, Cai Yinong nodded with relief.
Tangren Film and Television did do Hu Ge a favor, but if they want someone to stay in the company wholeheartedly, it is not enough to just talk about feelings, they also need to be bound by interests. This is why she did not touch Hu Ge's shares.
"Ms. K, who are the first batch of internal subscribers of the company's equity?"
“There are only a few directors and heads of production teams.”
When Liu Shishi heard this, she was surprised and asked, "No Lao Yuan?"
"No!"
Sister K answered clearly and concisely. Sister Yi raised her eyes and took a peek. She looked calm, as if she had made the decision after careful consideration.
Considering that Yuan Hong is also a friend, Liu Shishi couldn't help but ask, "Old Yuan is a veteran of the company. It would be bad not to give him a chance."
Cai Yinong didn't care about Yijie's concerns: "There's nothing wrong with it. At least he won't be included in the first batch of equity subscriptions."
The ratings of "Tianya Weaver Girl" were average, and the audience response was mediocre. Facts have proved that Yuan Hong's ability to handle dramas is indeed average. As a result, even if you are a veteran of the company, if you cannot create higher value for the company, your status will naturally be greatly reduced in her eyes.
The atmosphere was a little depressing. Liu Shishi understood that except for herself and Lao Hu, Sister K would be cautious and sentimental, but to everyone else, she was still the smart, capable and decisive president of Tangren.
Liu Shishi was just asking out of curiosity, and she didn't pay much attention to Yuan Hong's affairs, so she changed the subject: "Where is Lao Hu? I haven't seen him in the company. What is he busy with recently?"
"I'm going to act in a play."
"Drama?" Lao Hu's destination was a little beyond Sister Yi's expectation.
"Don't mention it. In The Myth, his acting was completely outshined by Zhang Shi. Netizens said he was a vase male lead, which irritated him so much that he went to the drama theater to practice his acting skills."
There is a deep sense of powerlessness in Cai Yinong's words. The top men and women in the company are all troublesome people.
"The Myth" was a huge hit, and she was thinking about Hu Ge participating in more activities, taking advantage of this wave of popularity, and getting one or two good endorsements to take her career to the next level.
But she didn't expect that her brother would suddenly run to the drama theater without saying a word, which made her very angry.
"Well, it shows that Lao Hu also has his own aspirations. It's a good thing for an actor to pursue acting skills. Sister K, you should support him." Liu Shishi didn't know what to say and could only comfort Cai Yinong in this way.
(End of this chapter)
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