On October 1st, the Orange Intelligent Life Hall officially opened.
Zhou Shouzhi had completed the first phase of the rollout across 32 core business districts, covering major cities like Yanjing, Jinling, Luzhou, Hu City, and Jiang City, reaching a consumer base of over 30 million people.
At 8:40 AM, the directly-operated store had not yet opened, but a long line had already formed at the entrance. The crowd was mostly young people, gathered in small groups, chatting and laughing with friends as they waited.
"Sister Ling, there’s a huge crowd up ahead. Let’s go check it out."
Zhang Peng held his direct supervisor’s hand as they strolled down Jinling Road Pedestrian Street. When he saw the dense mass of people ahead, the curiosity inherent in his youth became impossible to suppress.
"Alright."
Chen Fengling smiled faintly, feeling the warmth of his palm in hers. Her heart fluttered.
She was ten years older than Zhang Peng. Successful in her career, mature, and sophisticated, she was also well-maintained, still voluptuous and charming. How could a young man fresh out of college resist the gentle allure of an older woman?
One was a woman in her thirties, fierce as a tigress; the other, a man in his twenties, hungry as a wolf. After watching a movie together, they had haphazardly ended up in the same bed.
However, Ping’an prohibited office romances, even between employees in different departments. As a result, the two had to diligently play the roles of manager and subordinate at the company.
But once they returned to his rented apartment, their superior-subordinate relationship would immediately be inverted.
"Sister Ling, it’s an offline, directly-operated store for Orange Technology. It just so happens to be opening today. Want to go in and look around?"
Only after getting closer did Zhang Peng spot the Orange Intelligent Life Hall at the front of the line.
"Don’t you like the Moss Smart Speaker? I’ll buy one for you," Chen Fengling said, nodding slightly.
"It’s not that I like it *that* much, Sister Ling. I can’t always let you spend money on me," Zhang Peng said, scratching his head and politely declining.
’An older woman really is the best. She’s full of tricks, thoughtful, and always buying me gaming laptops, sneakers, and clothes. She even covers most of the rent, meals, and travel expenses.’
"But what if I *want* to spend money on you?"
Chen Fengling whispered softly, her lips close to Zhang Peng’s ear.
The corners of Zhang Peng’s mouth curved up slightly. ’Being a kept man in my early twenties doesn’t seem so bad after all.’
At nine o’clock sharp, the store employees slowly opened the glass doors. The crowd surged in like a school of fish, and the two of them followed the line into the store.
On the brand-new display tables were all sorts of Orange Technology products, from phones to speakers, headphones, power banks, and digital accessories. Although the variety was limited, the Orange Mobile Phones of every color were arranged in perfect order by model.
Li Yunzhu stood before the repair counter, a brilliant smile spreading across his face as he watched the massive crowd of customers in the store.
Six months ago, he was a migrant worker in Shencheng City. After a period of hard struggle, he had made his way to Hu City. He was still a worker, but his compensation had undergone a world-shaking transformation.
"Moss." Zhang Peng leaned toward a Moss Smart Speaker and spoke the wake word.
"I am here, Master! What can I do for you?" the Moss responded instantly.
"Will it rain in Hu City tomorrow?" Zhang Peng asked, testing it out with excitement.
"The weather forecast for Hu City tomorrow is: light rain turning to overcast skies. The high will be 24 degrees Celsius and the low will be 19 degrees Celsius. Relative humidity will be 60%, with the weakest UV index. The air quality will be 24. There will be a small amount of rainfall between 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM. Please bring an umbrella if you go out."
After receiving the voice command, Moss converted it into text, used an AI algorithm to analyze the Lingxi Search results, and then used speech synthesis technology to relay the answer back to the user through its speaker.
The process sounded long, but in practice, this ’thinking’ took only two or three seconds.
Seeing this, Chen Fengling called over a staff member and asked them to get a brand-new Moss Smart Speaker, planning to gift it to her little boyfriend.
"The 16GB Orange C3, priced at 2,899 yuan! Order now and get a free pair of Bluetooth headphones valued at 99 yuan! Supplies are limited, first come, first served!"
"The 8GB Qingcheng D1S, priced at 999 yuan! Order now and get a free phone case and tempered glass screen protector! Today only!"
"The 4GB Orange D1, priced at 799 yuan! Order now and get a free phone case!"
"..."
Besides the products themselves, the display tables were also adorned with promotional posters. Although most of the freebies weren’t worth much, they at least gave customers a reason to buy on the spot.
"I’ll take a 64GB Orange C3. Can I swap the Bluetooth headphones for a power bank?"
"I want a Qingcheng D1S!"
"Do you have the Moss Smart Speaker in white?"
The store manager, Xu Hao, and his six sales associates were instantly so busy they were run off their feet. The Qingcheng D1S and Orange C3 were the bestsellers, moving over a hundred units in just one hour.
Even the Orange C1, which had been on the market for over a year and had its price dropped to 1,399 yuan, and the Orange C2, released over six months ago and now priced at 2,399 yuan, were being eagerly snapped up by customers.
Orange Technology’s Market Department and brand department had already contacted a group of bloggers from the digital, tech, and internet business circles to build hype for the Intelligent Life Hall’s launch.
High-definition photos of the queues, customers shopping, and placing orders were successively posted on platforms like Weibo, Youku, and Toutiao, creating the atmosphere of a red-hot sales event.
Even though sales really were that good, good wine still needs a good bush, and increasing exposure was hardly a bad thing.
Meanwhile, after a busy six months, Lei Yijun had brought Xiaomi’s founding team to Qiong Island for a vacation.
At that moment, he was lying on a beach chair, enjoying the sea breeze.
"President Lei, Orange Mobile Phone has opened offline, directly-operated stores," Li Wanqiang, who was wearing patterned swim trunks and a small tank top, suddenly said.
"So they opened them. They should have done it a long time ago," Lei Yijun replied nonchalantly.