“Stay calm. We must never lose hope in any situation.”

“There must be a better solution!”

Pei Qian’s brain was working rapidly as he sank into deep thought.

When it came to limited editions, there were only two paths: either everyone competed based on speed, which was essentially surrendering to scalpers, or Pei Qian would rather make money than benefit those parasites for nothing.

Or establish something like a “credit value” system that would give Tenda consumers higher purchasing priority, with benefits bound to the purchase that couldn’t be resold, thereby filtering out scalpers.

But Pei Qian had already tried this approach with Sea Fortress. While it could indeed largely avoid the influence of scalpers, it wouldn’t reduce profits. Instead, it would encourage consumers to spend more on Tenda’s other industries.

In short, neither approach seemed viable!

So, mass production was the only option. As long as stock was always available, scalpers couldn’t drive up the price, and their scheme would naturally collapse.

But how should they mass produce to minimize profits?

Or rather, was it possible that producing too much might result in a loss?

Pei Qian looked at Chang You: “I said before that the phone’s profit margin should not exceed 5%…”

Chang You quickly responded: “Yes, Mr. Pei, we’ve completely adhered to that standard. It was precisely because we couldn’t achieve this point just by packing in hardware that I collaborated with other Tenda departments to include various additional benefits!”

Pei Qian: “…”

Great, apparently all these extra benefits were his fault, too.

But now was not the time to dwell on this point.

Since this phone’s profit margin was only 5%, it meant that these benefits came from other departments giving up their profits.

Overall, they were making money, but not a lot.

Currently, 1,000 phones have been snapped up so quickly only because the stock is too limited.

The phone’s biggest advantage was actually the various benefits from the Tenda Group, which had enormous appeal to local Jingzhou residents.

Everyone who attended this launch was from Jingzhou, and they were all customers of Tenda’s other businesses. These benefits were extremely attractive to them, and with the launch event’s persuasion…

That’s why the phones sold out at the speed of light!

But for users not in Jingzhou, the phone seemed much less attractive. Those benefits from Slackin’ Internet Café, Mingyun Private Kitchen, and Headwind Logistics couldn’t be enjoyed if you weren’t in Jingzhou or Lin City, right?

Many people frantically rushed to buy because they got caught up in the launch event, plus the limited quantity factor.

But once they calmed down, they would surely regret purchasing a phone that was so heavy, so expensive, and had such a plain native system.

Moreover, media reviews might not say many good things about this phone. Once the wind changed direction, those mass-produced phones would still just gather dust in the warehouse…

So, mass production—they must mass produce!

As long as they produced quickly enough and stockpiled enough inventory, profits wouldn’t be able to catch up!

And once the market became saturated, with the few wealthy people in Jingzhou each having one, and others gradually seeing the phone’s shortcomings, that inventory naturally wouldn’t sell. And with the previously established never-discount strategy, these products would just rot in the warehouse!

Of course, Pei Qian wasn’t overly optimistic. He considered implementing double insurance to ensure they wouldn’t make a profit this cycle.

Chang You and the others were all quietly waiting for Mr. Pei’s orders.

Although everyone knew the next step was mass production—an answer that shouldn’t require much thought—Mr. Pei had sunk into contemplation, surely thinking of levels completely beyond what others could imagine.

So, everyone continued to wait for “Mr. Pei in favorable circumstances” to provide the perfect solution.

After thinking for a moment, Pei Qian sighed somewhat dejectedly: “Then let’s mass produce.”

He looked at Chang You: “When can the next batch of products be delivered?”

Chang You quickly responded: “Mr. Pei, the production lines at the contract manufacturer can produce phones very quickly. Some major manufacturers produce their phones at a rate of 100,000 units per day without issue. We don’t have that many production lines, but the contract manufacturer can easily produce several thousand units per day.”

Pei Qian: “…”

Damn, that fast?

It’s frustrating.

Come to think of it, other phone companies’ hunger marketing strategies involve selling tens of thousands of units within three minutes.

OTTO phone’s hunger marketing was selling 1,000 units in three minutes.

This wasn’t even in the same league…

Pei Qian considered for a moment: “Today is March 6th. Let’s start large-scale inventory production now.”

“We’ll sell on Wednesdays and Sundays each week.”

“Buyers must log in with their Tenda account and fill in their ID number. Each person is limited to one phone. ID must be shown upon delivery to ensure the order, ID, and person match; otherwise, the order will be canceled and refunded.”

“Next Wednesday we’ll sell 2,000 units, next Sunday 4,000 units, the following Wednesday 8,000 units. As soon as they sell out, immediately use the money for production, and so on.”

“Even if they don’t sell out, use the available funds to replenish stock.”

“If there’s not enough working capital, let me know. Tenda has funds to advance.”

Chang You hurriedly said: “But Mr. Pei, regarding the profit-sharing with other Tenda departments…”

Pei Qian waved his hand: “Don’t worry about that for now.”

He was very clear that at the current price of 8,199 yuan for the OTTO phone, the raw material cost was only a bit over 4,000 yuan, nearly half. The other half of the price was supported by profit-sharing from other Tenda departments.

According to Chang You’s plan, after the phones were sold, these profits would be returned to the respective departments.

But now, with Pei Qian’s grand gesture, this money would not be returned to the departments yet, but would continue to fund inventory.

A phone sold for 8,199 yuan, while the production cost was just over 4,000 yuan, meaning that the quantity sold each time could double compared to before.

This time they sold 1,000 units, next time 2,000 units, with the number rapidly increasing.

This would lead to one of two scenarios:

If all went well, as the market became saturated, these phones would soon stop selling, resulting in a large inventory backlog. The profits owed to other departments couldn’t be repaid, and Mr. Pei would lose money.

If things didn’t go well and the phones sold out every week, by the end of the month, the 30th, just before settlement, the inventory would reach around 100,000 units.

At that point, a large batch of inventory would enter the warehouse. As long as they didn’t sell out, making a little less profit was better than nothing.

Of course, if they directly used excess funds from other departments to stock up massively, they could spend more money instantly. But that approach carried significant risk; after all, once products were manufactured, they had to be sold, possibly causing immediate failure in this cycle.

Extending the inventory period to a month at least ensured no major problems this settlement cycle.

Chang You was deeply moved.

In Chang You’s view, Mr. Pei was temporarily redirecting all profits from other departments to ensure funding and supplies for OTTO phones!

It seemed that in Mr. Pei’s eyes, OTTO Technology was a very important link in the industrial chain, which also showed how much trust he had in Chang You!

Moreover, this action effectively curbed scalpers while considering the emotions of general consumers.

Limiting purchases to one per person and requiring ID verification upon delivery greatly increased the cost for scalpers reselling phones.

Sales every three days, with each sale doubling the quantity of the previous one, prevented consumers from becoming so impatient that they would buy at high prices from scalpers—they would rather wait three more days.

“Mr. Pei… I will not let down the expectations of all Tenda departments. Even if I have to personally tighten screws on the production line, I will ensure supply!”

Chang You was instantly filled with motivation.

…

Back in his office, Pei Qian leaned back in his chair, looking somewhat listless.

How painful!

Although he had figured out remedial measures, the success of the OTTO phone launch still dealt Pei Qian a heavy blow, making him feel indescribably uncomfortable.

He opened his computer and browsed through the forums.

Then he saw more bad news.

The puzzle had been solved by players!

PYFFDEWHVJ

This string of code looked random, but it was a Shuangpin natural code.

Shuangpin is a special way of typing pinyin, assigning vowels to different keys so that each Chinese character can be typed with just two keystrokes.

For example, F represents the vowel “en,” so pressing FF in a shuangpin input method is equivalent to typing “Fen.”

Thus, in the eyes of someone who uses shuangpin input, this line of code became: pingfendewangzhan!

This pointed to the TPDb website.

As a result, a large number of players flooded the TPDb website, checking various sections and clicking different buttons, but they got stuck at this point, unable to find any useful information on the site.

Although few people use Shuangpin input methods, there are still some. It’s not surprising it was discovered.”

“This puzzle should last until settlement, right?”

Pei Qian suddenly felt a bit nervous.

…

…

March 8, Tuesday.

Qiao Liang and his fans were battling in other Tenda games.

Previously, Qiao Liang, like others, had frantically searched for clues on the TPDb website but found nothing.

Some players even went to other rating websites, which was a completely wrong direction.

As always, given Qiao Laoshi’s understanding of Mr. Pei, there was no way he would collaborate with other random games or websites.

So, this “rating website” definitely referred to the TPDb website, no doubt about it.

But why couldn’t so many people find any clues after searching for nearly three days from Sunday until now?

Was it because the clue was hidden too deeply on the website?

That was possible.

But there was another possibility: the information “rating website” was incomplete!

Qiao Liang realized that since finding this clue in The Lonely Desert Highway, everyone’s attention had been focused on solving the puzzle and the TPDb website. No one had gone back to Tenda’s games to look for clues.

Could this be a diversionary tactic?

Perhaps there was more than one clue hidden in Tenda’s games?

Now players were too fixated on the TPDb website, forgetting to go back to the games to search—they had fallen for the trap!

So, Qiao Liang decisively mobilized his fans to search Tenda’s other games again!

Although many people had searched before, they hadn’t been thorough enough, and there were many places still hiding clues.

Qiao Liang was now replaying previous levels in Ghost General, wondering if this old game concealed some special information.

Just then, his fan group suddenly became lively.

“I found it! In Game Producer!”

Qiao Liang quickly checked the screenshot sent by this fan.

The image showed the step before a certain ending in Game Producer. Qiao Liang vaguely remembered this ending called “Total Loss,” where the player’s game suffered terrible sales with no interest after release, forcing them to leave the gaming industry in despair.

This scene in the image was the step before that ending, the moment when the game’s sales figures were determined.

The scene included disappointed fans, players cursing loudly, reports of sales failure, media criticism with low scores…

And in the corner of the room, on the floor, was a stack of documents. Among them was an inconspicuous piece of paper with a long string of numbers written on it.

221021102111021110101201102121010120211021210102121011110212101111021110212102111

“Indeed! There are other clues in the game! My direction was correct!”

“I told you, I’m Mr. Pei’s kindred spirit!”

Qiao Liang couldn’t help but get excited.

This password seemed simpler than the previous one!