Seeing that the Star God Card was set to succeed, Ma Xing could not find it in himself to celebrate; instead, he felt a looming sense of crisis.
In the workplace, if someone wasn't a friend, they were an enemy.
Duan Fangzhou was already the top chief of a major province. If he pulled off the Star God Card project on top of that, taking a step further to become a vice president of the group would only be natural.
However, the number of vice president seats at China Unicom Group was limited. If Duan Fangzhou came up, someone else would have to go down.
As for who would be pushed out—and whether it would be him—that was hard to say.
After all, in terms of background, network, and performance metrics, he ranked near the bottom among the vice presidents, making him an easy target for elimination.
Moreover, Duan Fangzhou hadn't spared his feelings at all this time, leaving him thoroughly humiliated on both sides.
It was entirely predictable: once the Star God Card succeeded and Duan Fangzhou was promoted, Ma Xing would basically be ousted.
Breaking into a cold sweat, Ma Xing refused to sit by and wait for death. His eyes darted around, and a scheme suddenly hatched in his mind:
"Chairman, executives, vice presidents... In truth, what I oppose isn't the Star God Card itself, but rather restricting such a card to a single province!"
"???"
Everyone present was stunned.
"!!!"
Duan Fangzhou's expression changed drastically:
This old bastard is up to no good!
The Chairman's interest was piqued:
"Elaborate."
Ma Xing spoke decisively:
"The Star God Card can indeed bring us a massive surge of new users and drive revenue growth. However, its data allowances and calling minutes are meant for nationwide use. The plan services are offered nationwide as well. Therefore, the credit for the Star God Card shouldn't belong entirely to Shandong Province alone. It should be rolled out across the board, allowing every province in the country to offer it."
Duan Fangzhou's lips twitched: "..."
Damn it, this old geezer is brutal.
Since he can't block the Star God Card, he wants to carve it up and split my credit!
It was just like China Mobile's Unlimited Card previously—it had been launched by Guangdong Province, so it belonged exclusively to Guangdong, and all line locations were tied to Guangdong.
Similarly, the Star God Card was a joint effort between Shandong Province and Starry Tech, with all phone numbers registered to Shandong. The full credit for this achievement would naturally land squarely on Duan Fangzhou's shoulders.
But now, Ma Xing was proposing to divide the pie.
This is going to strip a layer off my back, if not kill me outright!
After all, once distributed to all provinces nationwide, the achievement would be fragmented. It would mean Duan Fangzhou did all the heavy lifting only to hand the fruits of his labor to others on a silver platter!
Meanwhile, the top bosses of the other provinces would end up feeling deeply grateful to Ma Xing for this vice-presidential gift.
It had to be said that Ma Xing was remarkably adept at playing corporate politics and manipulating circumstances to his whim.
Fine, old coot, you win this round.
Duan Fangzhou made a mental note of this grudge.
The Chairman asked, intrigued:
"Fangzhou, what do you think about this?"
Duan Fangzhou took a deep breath:
"As Vice President Ma mentioned earlier, the business model of the Star God Card is indeed excellent, but it is also highly innovative—meaning while there are great opportunities, risks exist as well. If we roll it out nationwide across all provinces immediately, as VP Ma suggests, the consequences could be disastrous if anything goes wrong. It would be better to launch it in Shandong Province first as a pilot. That way, any issues that arise can be contained and risks kept under control."
Hearing this, several executives fell silent.
They understood Duan Fangzhou's reasoning, but they also knew that beneath his high-sounding words was simply a desire not to share his performance credit.
It was only human nature.
No one would be willing to give away credit they had worked so hard to build.
However, if that was all he had, his argument wasn't entirely persuasive.
Sure enough, Ma Xing smirked and said,
"While there are risks, they are manageable. We can certainly test it out across regions. General Manager Duan, surely you aren't trying to keep all the benefits to yourself?"
Duan Fangzhou frowned slightly and could only say,
"Truth be told, this was the result of my discussion with Chairman Wang of Starry Tech. Even if we were to divide it among the provinces, we would need to consult Chairman Wang before making a final decision."
"Consult Chairman Wang?" Ma Xing chuckled condescendingly. "We are China Unicom, one of the three major state-owned telecom operators! Do we really need to negotiate with a mere private enterprise? Do we have to listen to him? Who gave him such arrogance?"
"Manager Duan, groveling before a private firm like this... I'd say your loyalties are completely misplaced!"
Duan Fangzhou knit his brows and sighed:
"Now I finally understand why our China Unicom struggles to grow—it's because of bad apples like Ma Xing! What, just because we are one of the Big Three operators, we can act high and mighty and look down on our clients?"
"If it were an ordinary client, fine, but how dare you belittle a top-tier client like Starry Tech?"
"Vice President Ma, are you still living in the past, believing domestic smartphone brands are worthless?"
"Or do you seriously not know that in the domestic market, Starry Phones have already crushed Apple?"
"In front of Apple, you bow and scrape, begging for a partnership."
"Yet when it comes to Starry Tech, you put on airs and act superior? Have you lost your mind?"
"Thank goodness I was the one liaising with Chairman Wang! If it had been you, Chairman Wang would have turned around and gone straight to China Mobile!"
"I honestly wonder how many clients someone like you has driven into the arms of China Mobile while serving as VP! Are you sure you aren't a mole sent by China Mobile?"
"I..."
Ma Xing turned pale and opened his mouth to refute, but Duan Fangzhou cut him off again:
"China Mobile doesn't have heartless fools like you!"
"If Mobile partners with Starry Tech to launch the Mobile Star God Card, Amap Card, and Ele.me Card, their already dominant user base will skyrocket again. China Unicom will never catch up to them in our lifetimes!"
"Vice President Ma! Is that what you want to see?"
"I..."
Ma Xing broke out in cold sweat, completely unable to counter.
An old dinosaur like him was hopelessly slow to adapt his mindset.
Even as domestic brands rose across the board and outperformed international giants, he still held international brands in reverent esteem while looking down on domestic products as garbage.
Having spent so long on his knees, he could no longer stand tall.
Coupled with his bureaucratic arrogance, the outcome was inevitable.
The Chairman observed the exchange closely, his disappointment in Ma Xing deepening.
Vying for power and influence was human nature.
Duan Fangzhou was ambitious, capable, and capable of delivering real results.
Any superior would love having such a capable lieutenant.
Ma Xing, on the other hand, had ambition without competence, generated no results, acted as nothing more than a troublemaker, put on bureaucratic airs, and lined his own pockets...
He was a parasite through and through, and few could stomach him.
The Chairman said with earnest gravity:
"Manager Duan makes a valid point. As one of the Big Three operators, we are first and foremost service providers. We should serve our clients, not put on airs or browbeat them."
"A powerhouse like Starry Tech holds absolute leverage, so we must treat them with utmost sincerity and respect."
"Take the Star God Card for instance—without Unicom, both Mobile and Telecom would jump at the chance to partner with them."
"And without the Star God Card, China Unicom loses a prime opportunity to rise!"
"Old Duan, we will proceed with the Star God Card exactly as you and Chairman Wang agreed. It will be launched in Shandong Province as a nationwide plan—with nationwide data, nationwide minutes, and zero roaming fees nationwide."
Duan Fangzhou was overjoyed. The Star God Card was finally secured!
There was no need to share credit for a massive accomplishment he had personally negotiated, nor let internal rivals reap where they hadn't sown.
However, hogging everything completely wouldn't work either.
Since the Chairman had conceded a step, he knew he had to yield a bit as well:
"Thank you for your support, Chairman. The Star God Card will remain anchored in Shandong, and I will not disappoint you. As for the Amap Card and Ele.me Card, I will discuss them further with Chairman Wang to see if we can distribute them to the other provinces for regional operation."
"Additionally, regarding the China Unicom customized contract models for Starry Phones, Shandong has placed an initial order worth over 3 billion RMB for 700,000 units, arriving in two days. Pre-orders in retail stores have already begun, and market feedback is excellent. I wonder if our colleagues in other provinces would like to introduce them as well? If so, I am more than happy to help bridge the connection!"
The Chairman's eyes lit up.
Old Duan certainly knows how to play his cards.
The Star God Card, Amap Card, and Ele.me Card were all negotiated between Duan Fangzhou and Wang Yi, so the credit rightfully belonged to Duan Fangzhou.
Yet Duan Fangzhou understood that keeping every piece of the pie for himself wasn't realistic.
So he chose to keep the single most crucial piece—the Star God Card—to himself.
Meanwhile, he shared the Ele.me Card and Amap Card nationwide so everyone could benefit.
This way, neither the group executives nor the provincial heads would have any complaints; in fact, they would owe him a debt of gratitude.
Such political tact earned him even greater respect from the Chairman, who thought to himself,
This fellow has what it takes. He definitely has the potential to move up to headquarters.
Nodding approvingly, the Chairman said,
"Very good, Old Duan. You keep the bigger picture in mind, which is excellent! We'll proceed as you said. The Star God Card belongs to Shandong, while the Ele.me Card and Amap Card will be promoted nationwide by all provinces. The contract Starry Phones will also be pushed across all provinces simultaneously."
"Understood!"
everyone responded in unison.
Duan Fangzhou pivoted smoothly:
"There's one more thing. Shifting the Amap Card and Ele.me Card to individual provinces means their data and voice allowances will change from nationwide coverage to provincial coverage. Since this effectively lowers the service standard, Chairman Wang will likely either reduce the plan price or increase the included allowances. The commission rate will also likely go up by 10%."
These words were aimed directly at securing more profit for Wang Yi!
Having downgraded the plans from nationwide to provincial, if they didn't lower prices, bump up allowances, or give Wang Yi a higher commission cut, there would be no way to justify it to Chairman Wang!
It was safe to say Duan Fangzhou was impeccably thorough in handling business, leaving no angle unaddressed.
The Chairman nodded:
"That is only fair. You can discuss the specifics with Chairman Wang. If possible, avoid lowering the plan fee—add more plan allowances instead!"
As telecom operators, they would much rather offer higher volume caps than cut their plan prices.
"Understood, Chairman. Chairman Wang should be back in the capital tomorrow, so I will talk to him in person then."
"Good."
After the meeting adjourned, the attendees went their separate ways.
Only Ma Xing left looking utterly sour and disgruntled.
In this round of political maneuvering, Duan Fangzhou won a resounding victory, while Ma Xing was left thoroughly embarrassed and alienated.
The next day, having just returned to the capital, Wang Yi met with Duan Fangzhou at the Starry Tech Park.
"Chairman Wang, the contract phones are moving ahead smoothly. Unicom has everything prepared on our end. Once the Starry Phones arrive tomorrow, they will be immediately distributed across the entire province."
"Excellent! General Manager Duan, your efficiency is remarkable!"
Wang Yi was pleasantly surprised.
He had assumed state-owned enterprises were notoriously slow, thinking a contract phone deal would take at least half a month to finalize.
Unexpectedly, with Duan Fangzhou taking personal charge, it was wrapped up in just a few days.
It was impressive efficiency indeed.
"However, a small issue arose regarding the SIM cards,"
Duan Fangzhou said, shifting the topic.
Wang Yi's brows creased slightly:
"What happened? Did headquarters reject it?"
While provincial branches had a certain level of authority for such plans, final approval still required group headquarters.
If headquarters withheld approval, everything would fall through.
Duan Fangzhou sighed:
"It's not a rejection, but a minor adjustment. The Star God Card is completely unaffected and will be promoted exactly as we discussed."
Wang Yi nodded.
Duan Fangzhou continued,
"However, for the Amap Card and Ele.me Card, headquarters wants to allocate them to all provinces as intra-provincial plans operated regionally. After all, if our province swallowed such a massive market alone, the other regions would complain endlessly."
Wang Yi smiled:
"That's no problem at all. Ele.me riders and Amap drivers mostly operate within a single province or city anyway—a provincial plan is more than sufficient."
"I'm glad you understand, Chairman Wang." Duan Fangzhou breathed a sigh of relief. "Since it's becoming a provincial plan and the service area is reduced, we can increase the included benefits!"
"For the Amap Card, instead of the original 1,200 nationwide voice minutes, we'll change it to 500 nationwide minutes + 1,000 provincial minutes. The 200MB of nationwide data will be converted to 500MB of provincial data, plus zero-data usage for the Amap Navigation and Amap Ride-hailing apps, along with free caller ID. Out-of-plan calls will be 0.1 RMB per minute. The monthly fee remains at 166 RMB, but Starry Tech's commission rate will rise from 20% to 30%!"
Wang Yi understood Duan Fangzhou's intention.
Though the coverage shrunk from nationwide to provincial, they compensated by offering more voice minutes and data allowance.
While the plan price remained unchanged on the surface, raising Wang Yi's commission cut by 10% was effectively an indirect price reduction.
And because this reduction was passed directly to Wang Yi as a higher commission, it placed full discretion in Wang Yi's hands.
Whether to pass it on as subsidies for Amap drivers or retain it as operating profit for Starry Tech was entirely up to Wang Yi.
Duan Fangzhou was undeniably a master of interpersonal relations, leaving zero room for fault.
Wang Yi nodded:
"Agreed. Let's arrange the Amap Card like that."
Duan Fangzhou relaxed slightly and continued:
"As for the Ele.me Card, its original 1,200 nationwide voice minutes will likewise be adjusted to 500 nationwide minutes + 1,000 provincial minutes. The 200MB nationwide data will become 500MB provincial data, with zero-data usage on the Ele.me app and free caller ID. Overage calls will be 0.1 RMB per minute. The monthly fee remains 126 RMB, and the commission rate is raised to 30%!"
"No problem!"
Wang Yi had no objections. In any case, he intended to pass these extra commissions down as subsidies for the delivery riders and Amap ride-hailing drivers.
However, these subsidies wouldn't be a one-size-fits-all payout where everyone received the exact same amount.
Instead, they would be distributed based on performance.
Top performers could get up to a 50% subsidy, meaning they'd only pay around 60 to 80 RMB out of pocket per month for phone bills.
Slackers who barely worked would only get a 5% to 10% subsidy, keeping their bills over a hundred RMB.
"Furthermore, the 50 RMB user acquisition reward for every new user driven through Starry Tech's channels remains unchanged," Duan Fangzhou added. "Also, I brought up a suggestion at headquarters to deepen the cooperation between China Unicom and Starry Tech. The group had no objections and instructed other provinces to launch customized contract models for Starry Phones as well. Moving forward, as each province promotes the Amap Card and Ele.me Card, they will also place massive orders for Xphone 1 and Xphone 1pro!"
Wang Yi was in high spirits. Duan Fangzhou had handled this brilliantly.
Shandong alone, despite its population exceeding 100 million, ordering 700,000 contract units of Xphone 1 and Xphone 1pro combined, would take at least two to three months to digest that inventory.
But with other provinces joining the fray, sales of Starry Tech's contract phones were bound to surge.
For the entire month of April, Xphone 1 had a real shot at surpassing 5 million units sold once again.
As for the newly released Xphone 1pro, its momentum was even stronger, with hopes of breaking past 6 million units.
Of course, Starry Tech calculated sales strictly by actual units delivered to end-users—or even by device activations.
Unlike certain brands that claimed 2 million monthly sales when 1.5 million were simply sitting in distributor warehouses and sales channels, leaving only 500,000 actually reaching consumers.
Wang Yi eschewed inflated puffery; everything was measured by real sales.
Take Shandong Unicom's bulk order of 700,000 units: that couldn't be counted as 700,000 sold upfront. It depended on how many were actually sold to customers that month.
Now, bolstered by China Unicom's nationwide contract phone channels, sales of both the Xphone 1 and Xphone 1pro were set to explode.
Apple's sales, on the other hand, were bound to take a heavy hit.
After all, Apple was also a key carrier-contract smartphone brand for Unicom, accounting for a huge chunk of sales through Unicom channels.
Wang Yi smiled faintly:
"General Manager Duan, you did a fantastic job. I won't waste breath on polite pleasantries—from now on, you are forever a friend of Starry Tech. Even if things ever go south for you at Unicom, my doors are always open to you!"
"Hahaha, Chairman Wang, hearing those words from you is more than enough!"
Duan Fangzhou laughed heartily.
Wang Yi grinned and added,
"Of course, it's best if you stay at Unicom—especially once you become a Group Vice President."
"Ah, don't get me started! The bastard who tried every trick in the book to block the Star God Card this time was a Vice President named Ma! Damn him!"
Duan Fangzhou grew visibly agitated just bringing it up...
Wang Yi was quite speechless after hearing the details:
"Thank goodness you're the chief of Shandong Unicom. If it had been someone like Ma Xing, I would have abandoned the partnership long ago."
"Sigh! Whether it's Unicom, Telecom, or Mobile, there's no shortage of people like Ma Xing. It's unavoidable."
Wang Yi agreed completely.
Even within Starry Tech, there were fools of that sort.
Lacking in competence and performance, yet bursting with bureaucratic self-importance, putting personal gain ahead of the bigger picture and the company...
Such people were truly black sheep!
They harmed not only their subordinates, but the entire enterprise!
It seemed Starry Tech also needed to tighten character evaluations for management.
Having made up his mind, Wang Yi summoned the head of the Inspection Department right after seeing Duan Fangzhou off:
"Optimize our internal anonymous whistleblowing system and the moral assessment framework for managers. Anyone engaging in misconduct, suppressing subordinates, or enforcing unspoken workplace rules—once reported, investigate immediately. If verified, punish severely without leniency!"
Starry Tech was expanding rapidly. Previously, covert inspections at Meiyou had unearthed numerous parasites, mainly involving embezzlement.
There were undoubtedly similar issues taking root at Starry Tech now.
However, Wang Yi wasn't just targeting corruption; he also wanted to weed out bad apples like Vice President Ma who suppressed subordinates, engaged in toxic internal competition, and damaged company interests.
"Understood, Chairman. I will arrange it right away."
Wang Yi waved his hand, and the official withdrew.
He then dialed Song Sining's number:
"Sining, pull a few trustworthy people from Meiyou to conduct covert inspections on Starry Tech's side..."
Before the New Year, Wang Yi had used Starry Tech's Inspection Department to secretly inspect Meiyou.
Now, it was the perfect time to use Meiyou's inspection team to audit Starry Tech.
Only through cross-departmental audits could real problems be uncovered.
As for internal self-auditing, who could say how much fluff and cover-up it contained?
"Understood, Chairman,"
Song Sining replied promptly, catching his drift.
"Going forward, this must become a regular practice. While we can't eliminate every single parasite, catching as many as possible is the goal."
"Yes, sir!"
China Unicom moved swiftly, particularly in Shandong Province.
On April 7, shipments of the Xphone 1 and Xphone 1pro arrived at Unicom's Shandong warehouses, launching a massive distribution blitz that very day.
By April 8, China Unicom retail stores across Shandong were fully stocked with the Xphone 1 and Xphone 1pro.
Many customers walking into the stores were astonished to find that the display counters previously reserved for the iPhone 4s had been converted into display counters for the Xphone 1 and Xphone 1pro.
The iPhone 4s POP posters at the entrances had also been replaced with Xphone 1pro advertisements featuring Leonardo DiCaprio!
The primary contract plans recommended by store staff shifted from the iPhone to the Xphone 1 and Xphone 1pro.
Unless a customer specifically insisted on buying an iPhone 4s, staff wouldn't even bring up the iPhone contract plans.
And for good reason: the iPhone 4s suffered from poor sales momentum and was hard to pitch, nowhere near as compelling as the Xphone 1 and Xphone 1pro.
Sales associates earned commissions based on performance—there was no reason for them to work against their own pockets by forcing the iPhone 4s.
It was safe to say that overnight, everything changed.
The iPhone 4s Unicom contract phone was demoted from its flagship throne straight to a backup option.
Meanwhile, the Xphone 1 and Xphone 1pro Unicom contract phones were crowned as the true kings.
Unsurprisingly, the already wildly popular Xphone 1 and Xphone 1pro, now bolstered by carrier contract promotions—such as free phones with prepaid call credits or bonus airtime with handset purchases—saw their value proposition skyrocket, triggering a massive surge in sales.
In particular, the Xphone 1, which had been on the market for over four months, had passed its peak online sales window. Short of steep price cuts, there were few ways to drive another explosive online surge.
However, price cuts were unrealistic. Competitors' products were so inferior that none could match the Xphone 1, so Wang Yi had no reason to slash prices.
The offline channel was a different story: as long as there were enough brick-and-mortar stores and advertisement saturation, offline sales could still spike dramatically.
This was precisely the strategy used by domestic offline giants like Oppo and Vivo.
Simply put, offline consumers were insensitive to hardware specs or value-for-money ratios—many didn't even understand them.
They only recognized brand names and believed whatever sales reps pitched to them.
Partnering with China Unicom for contract phones was equivalent to giving Starry Tech over ten thousand new offline brick-and-mortar storefronts overnight!
Combined with active pitches from store associates, sales naturally exploded!
Furthermore, Leonardo DiCaprio's ubiquitous advertisements drove sales even higher.
Even if some offline customers didn't recognize Leonardo, the prominent bold text reading "International Superstar" beside his image was immensely impactful.
TV screens inside numerous service centers played Starry Phone commercials on endless loop.
Coupled with Starry Tech's continuous growth and skyrocketing brand recognition...
Faced with such a powerful combination of marketing tactics, consumers were dazzled into eagerly opening their wallets.
In just three days, 100,000 units of Starry Tech contract phones were sold!
Keep in mind that this was the contract phone sales figure for a single province in just three days!
It was nothing short of staggering.
Duan Fangzhou was beamed with delight. He had initially worried that selling off the bulk order of 700,000 units would take two to three months.
Now it looked like the entire stock would be completely sold out in just over a month, and they might even have to place follow-up orders.
Seeing Shandong's contract Starry Phones selling like hotcakes, China Unicom branches in other provinces couldn't sit still any longer and decisively accelerated their own deployment!
Even the top chiefs of various provinces got personally involved, urging their teams to speed up the process.
Thus, partnerships that originally took three to four days to finalize were wrapped up in just two.
Distributions and payments that normally took ten days were completed within five.
Without exception, massive purchase orders came pouring in from all directions.
For the Xphone 1 and Xphone 1pro, some provinces placed single orders of 700,000 units just like Shandong.
Others placed smaller orders of 200,000 to 300,000 units.
When combined across all provinces, total orders for the Xphone 1 exceeded 5 million units!
Orders for the Xphone 1pro crossed 3 million units as well!
Gaining a sudden windfall of 8 million unit orders left even Wang Yi stunned.
Zhu Changlin, who was originally inspecting Visionox, was forced to alter his itinerary and fly directly to BYD.
There was no choice—orders had exploded once again!
Zhu Changlin had to personally oversee production on BYD's assembly lines.
Facing such a situation, what could Wang Yi say?
He was simply suffering from success—in pain, yet thoroughly enjoying it.
(End of chapter)