Chapter 225 Little Tyrant and Great Vision
On the phone, Wang Rui laughed heartily.
"You know about Xiaobawang, right? The company that's been selling learning machines like crazy the past two years?"
Su Yuanshan blinked and nodded. "Yeah, I know. Why? Are they getting into mobile phones now? Or are they moving into VCDs?"
"No, no," Wang Rui said. "Xiaobawang was just a tiny factory originally... but last year, they pulled off ten billion in output value. During that period, their factory director Duan Yongping played a huge role."
Su Yuanshan smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I've heard about him. So what's going on?"
He hadn't just heard about him—he knew perfectly well. In the original timeline, Duan Yongping had been crowned the "King of Workers" after Xiaobawang refused to undergo stock restructuring, and he quit in frustration. The next year, he founded BBK (BuBuGao), which later birthed OPPO, VIVO, and OnePlus.
Realizing this, Su Yuanshan's mind immediately clicked: this year must be when Duan Yongping resigned.
He quickly asked, "Has he quit?"
"You..." Wang Rui let out a low laugh. "How the heck did you guess that so fast? But you're right. His demands weren't met, so he walked."
Su Yuanshan chuckled. "Sounds like you and Director Duan are on good terms?"
"Not bad," Wang Rui said. "After the New Year, the Special Zone government invited all the major factory directors to a banquet. I got to know him through some supply chain work afterward. We've talked quite a bit."
Then he added, "Xiaoshan, Director Duan is real talent."
Su Yuanshan thought, Of course he is.
But not every talent had to be scooped up into Yuanxin's bowl. For instance, with his old employer's group of people, Su Yuanshan hadn't touched a single one. Even though he knew a lot of them personally and could easily recruit them, he refrained.
Because it wouldn't help the broader domestic industry. In a market this huge, Yuanxin alone couldn't hold up the sky.
Yuanxin needed to act as a guide, not as a monopolist.
Seeing Su Yuanshan silent, Wang Rui continued, "Over the past couple of days, I've talked with him a lot about the domestic communications and electronics markets. His instincts are razor-sharp. He even gave me a lot of valuable advice. I'm not one hundred percent sure he's thinking about joining us, but if he did... he could easily lead a division to glory."
Su Yuanshan hummed in response, tapping his fingers lightly on the sofa.
Wang Rui went on, "Xiaoshan, let me be blunt. Yuanxin's biggest weakness right now isn't technology—it's the corporate side. China's not like Silicon Valley. Whether it's CPUs or microcontrollers, you can't just 'have good technology' and call it a day. You need people with market strategies, instincts, and technical understanding. And Duan Yongping is exactly that kind of person. We can't let him go to waste."
Su Yuanshan's eyes sharpened instantly.
"Senior Brother, you're absolutely right!"
Because he realized that if Duan Yongping stayed on the same trajectory as before—making VCDs, then mobile phones—then Yuanxin would now be directly competing with him.
And honestly, with Yuanxin already having eaten up those industries, even a genius like Duan Yongping might end up quietly fading away.
"Senior Brother," Su Yuanshan said decisively, "reach out to him. If he's willing to jump ship, have him take over your current work—running the Mobile Communications Division. Meanwhile, you'll move up and broaden your horizon."
He paused and added with a grin, "Senior Brother, you've got a big vision."
On the other end, Wang Rui froze for a second, then burst out laughing.
"Hahaha, are you buttering me up because you want me to manage Yuanxin's global operations?"
"Exactly. Look at us now—every time we need to negotiate abroad, we have to rely on Sister Sun and President Chen... two women!"
Su Yuanshan chuckled. "Can you tolerate that?"
"Why not? I have great respect for both President Chen and Sister Sun," Wang Rui said cheerfully. "But alright, I'll talk to Duan Yongping. What about compensation?"
"Same as yours, plus a stock option package to join the holdings team," Su Yuanshan said. "He didn't like being a mere employee over there. Here, everyone's an owner."
"Alright then! I'll definitely bring him in."
Wang Rui hung up briskly.
Su Yuanshan leaned back and let out a long breath.
His sleepiness was completely gone.
In his previous life, he had barely interacted with Wang Rui, only knowing that this senior eventually stayed at Hongguang Factory, survived the restructuring, and later ran a small machining business—not rich, but comfortable.
Who would have thought that after getting pulled onto a different path this time, Wang Rui's vision had expanded dramatically?
And he was right: Yuanxin's weakness wasn't technology.
With Su Yuanshan—the ultimate cheat character—leading the charge, Yuanxin naturally avoided the biggest pitfall of most tech companies: strategic misdirection.
Su Yuanshan himself was a hands-on integrated circuit engineer.
But the consequence of that was... Yuanxin's R&D was insanely strong, and their foresight exceptional, but their corporate operations lagged a bit.
Chen Jing was strong, but she was only one person. And as CEO, her role was more about overall management.
Meanwhile, the tech landscape had shifted. It wasn't like the early Silicon Valley days anymore, where good tech guaranteed good partnerships. Now, most products targeted mass consumers. Winning the market required intense marketing instincts and a diverse toolkit of market tactics.
In fields like BP machines and VCDs, Yuanxin had succeeded because there was little competition. But in mobile phones? Facing real competitors head-on?
The marketing department struggled to develop effective strategies—and Su Yuanshan himself, mainly a tech guy, had been forced to prop things up using his knowledge of future trends.
If Duan Yongping really came on board, Yuanxin's corporate strength would gain a huge boost.
...
That afternoon, Su Yuanshan welcomed Zhang Xiaolong to his office.
He listened seriously as Zhang Xiaolong shared his thoughts about email—and it was obvious that Zhang had been preparing meticulously for this meeting. He had thought through many additional ideas for improving the system.
For example, Zhang suggested that since 163 Email was targeting both corporate and personal users, it should optimize specifically for office environments: integration with office software, adding calendar management features for scheduling, and grouping emails by sender to make historical conversations easier to track.
They talked non-stop until 7 p.m.
By the end, looking into Zhang Xiaolong's bright, earnest eyes, Su Yuanshan had no doubt:
If he rejected Zhang or showed the slightest lack of enthusiasm, this guy would probably turn around and develop his own solution from scratch without hesitation.
Whether it would be called Foxmail or something else... Su Yuanshan couldn't say.
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