An enemy of my enemy is my friend

"We don't necessarily have to build it ourselves."

Hearing this, Dai Damai felt the anxiety that had just welled up inside him subside by half.

"You mean finding a contract manufacturer?"

"Not a contract manufacturer." Chen Zhi scrolled through his phone's contacts. "That's just borrowing someone else's production line. We'd still have to build the brand, the distribution channels, and the after-sales service entirely from scratch. That's too slow. I want to partner with an established smartphone brand. They provide the hardware and supply chain; we provide Moss and the software ecosystem."

Dai Damai thought for a moment. "Huawei? Xiaomi?"

"Do you really think those giants would be willing to hand over their entire system layer to us?"

Dai Damai shook his head. Impossible. These top-tier manufacturers were burning money to advance their own AI projects. Even if their products weren't as good as Moss, they would never surrender control of their operating systems.

"Then who do we look for?"

Chen Zhi showed him his phone screen.

On the screen was a name: J. Wong.

Dai Damai froze for a couple of seconds. "Meizu?"

"Right."

"The... dying Meizu?"

Chen Zhi pulled his phone back. "It's exactly because they're dying that I'm talking to him."

Dai Damai was a tech guy, not particularly sharp when it came to business, but anyone who followed the tech circle knew about Meizu's situation in recent years.

They were once the benchmark for domestic smartphone design, going toe-to-toe with Xiaomi at their peak. Later, due to chaotic internal management and lackluster product lines, their market share plummeted. Founder J. Wong had stepped down and returned several times, ultimately left physically and mentally exhausted by the turmoil of capital interference.

The current Meizu was "lying dormant" to put it nicely. To put it bluntly, they were lying in the ICU waiting to have the plug pulled.

But—

"Meizu's supply chain is still intact." Chen Zhi held up one finger. "Their partnerships with Qualcomm, Samsung, and BOE haven't been severed, and their production lines haven't been dismantled. They just don't have any new products to launch."

A second finger.

"Meizu's industrial design team is still there, and the Flyme system development team is still there. Their after-sales network has shrunk, but the skeleton remains."

A third finger.

"Most importantly, the Meizu brand still holds nostalgic value. Go to any digital forum and ask, 'Which domestic smartphone do you miss the most?' Meizu will definitely be in the top three."

Dai Damai digested this for a few seconds.

"So you're saying..."

"We stuff Moss into Meizu's phones. We use our AI capabilities to extend Meizu's life, and at the same time, we leverage Meizu's hardware ecosystem to deliver Moss into the hands of every user."

Chen Zhi picked up his phone and dialed the number.

"Hello?"

The voice on the other end was a bit hoarse.

"Mr. Wong, this is Chen Zhi from Deep Space Tech."

"Deep Space Tech? The ones making Moss?"

"Yes."

J. Wong's tone noticeably shifted, taking on a hint of caution. "What can I do for you, Mr. Chen?"

"I'd like to talk to you about a partnership."

"What kind of partnership?"

"Building smartphones."

This time, the silence lasted much longer.

Chen Zhi could hear the flick of a lighter on the other end; J. Wong had lit a cigarette.

"Mr. Chen, did you dial the wrong number? Go find Huawei or Xiaomi. Why are you looking for me?"

"Working with them wouldn't be interesting."

"And you think working with me is interesting?" J. Wong exhaled a puff of smoke and let out a laugh tinged with self-deprecation. "I can barely save myself right now, and you want to partner with me to build phones?"

"Mr. Wong, is your supply chain still functional?"

J. Wong didn't answer immediately.

"It is," he said. "But it's very expensive."

"I'll provide the money."

"You'll provide the money?"

"I'll provide the money, the technology, and Moss. You provide the production lines, the team, and the distribution channels. A fifty-fifty split."

Another bout of silence fell over the line.

"Mr. Chen, I've been making phones for twenty years. I've seen all kinds of people—those painting unrealistic pictures, scammers, opportunists looking for a cheap deal. The terms you're offering sound too good. So good that I hardly dare to believe them."

"Let me put it another way." Chen Zhi leaned forward. "Mr. Wong, do you have any cards left to play that can bring you back from the dead?"

J. Wong remained silent.

"Meizu's current market share is less than one percent. The cash on your books won't last two quarters. Distributors are scaling back their partnerships, and payment terms from the supply chain are tightening."

"If you don't release a competitive product this year, by this time next year, the Meizu brand might only exist in a museum."

On the other end, J. Wong's breathing grew slightly heavier.

"You've investigated me."

"One must always do their homework before doing business."

J. Wong scoffed coldly. "Then tell me, why fifty-fifty? You provide the money and technology, and I just provide a shell and some assembly lines. Why do I get half?"

Chen Zhi smiled.

This was exactly Old Wong's personality. Others might hastily agree because they were at a dead end, but a person like J. Wong only grew more stubborn the further he was pushed into a corner.

"Because I need more than just a shell and assembly lines."

Chen Zhi stood up and walked to the window.

"Mr. Wong, you've been making phones for twenty years. Your team's understanding of products, your aesthetic sense for industrial design, your control over the supply chain—these are experiences money can't buy. I could go to any contract manufacturer to piece together a phone for me, but it wouldn't have any competitive edge."

"What I want is a device that users won't be able to put down once it's in their hands. In this country, there are no more than three people who can achieve that, and you are one of them."

The other end of the line was silent for a long time.

"Can you come to Zhuhai tomorrow?"

"I'll be there tonight."

...

At five o'clock that afternoon, Chen Zhi boarded a flight to Zhuhai.

Dai Damai stayed behind to hold the fort in Beijing. Before leaving, Chen Zhi gave him three instructions: First, have the legal team continue investigating the financial backer behind that tech blogger; second, keep an eye on the public opinion trends over at NoteDance; third, he could ignore anyone's calls, but he absolutely had to answer Pei Ningxue's.

By the time the plane landed, it was already dark.

J. Wong didn't send anyone to pick him up. Instead, he sent a location pin: a barbecue stand in an alley in Zhuhai's old town.

Chen Zhi took a taxi there. Walking through the smoke-filled entrance of the alley, he saw a middle-aged man in flip-flops sitting alone at a plastic table, half a dozen beers and a plate of peanuts sitting in front of him.

"Mr. Wong?"

J. Wong looked up at him and pointed at the plastic stool opposite him.

"Sit."

Chen Zhi pulled out the stool and sat down.

J. Wong poured him a glass of beer, picked up his own glass, and downed half of it without saying a word.

"I had someone look into you this afternoon," J. Wong said, setting his glass down. "Currently studying at Peking University, nineteen years old, the actual controller of Deep Space Tech, with a pre-Series A valuation of fifteen billion US dollars."

He shelled a peanut and tossed it into his mouth.

"When I was your age, I was still soldering circuit boards for people in a factory."

Chen Zhi picked up his glass and took a sip.

J. Wong looked at him and suddenly asked point-blank, "What exactly is your Moss capable of?"

Chen Zhi put down his glass and pulled out his phone.

"Ask it yourself."

He opened the full-blooded version of Moss and slid the phone over to J. Wong.

"Ask it anything you want. Anything at all."

J. Wong stared at the screen for two seconds, then picked up the phone and used the voice input to say a single sentence.

"Analyze Meizu's current product line for me. Which models should be cut, and which should be kept?"

Moss's reply was generated within three seconds, and a full page of analysis flooded the screen.

From Meizu's SKU data over the past three years, profit margins across different price segments, and channel inventory turnover days, to competitive benchmarking, everything was laid out clearly. Finally, it gave a conclusion: cut all budget smartphone product lines and concentrate resources on building a flagship phone in the 3,000 to 4,000 RMB price range.

J. Wong stared at the screen for a long time.

He didn't comment on whether it was right or wrong, but simply typed in a second question.

Compared to Xiaomi's MIUI, what is the core difference in the daily active user profile of Meizu's Flyme system?

Moss produced the result in another three seconds.

After reading it, J. Wong put the phone down.

He took another sip of his drink and wiped his mouth.

Did you really make this thing?

Me and my team.

Can current smartphone performance handle it?

It features on-device deployment. It doesn't need an internet connection for basic functions, and it runs at full power when connected.

J. Wong peeled another peanut and chewed it for a long while.

A fifty-fifty split. How exactly do we divide it?

This was exactly what Chen Zhi had been waiting to hear.

In the new company, both parties will hold a fifty percent stake. Meizu will invest using its brand authorization, supply chain resources, hardware team, and channel network as equity; Deep Space Technology will invest with Moss's exclusive authorization, software ecosystem, and capital.

What about operational decisions?

You have the final say on product design and hardware. I have the final say on the software ecosystem and AI. For major strategic decisions, both parties have a one-vote veto power.

J. Wong picked up a skewer of roasted kidney and took a bite.

A one-vote veto? Doesn't that mean neither of us can get anything done?

Mr. Wong, you've been making phones for twenty years, and I built Moss. If the two of us can still make wrong decisions in our respective fields, then we might as well drop this partnership right now.

Chewing on the meat, J. Wong studied Chen Zhi for several seconds.

Then he smiled.

It was his first smile of the night.

I'll add one more condition.

Go ahead.

For the first product, from project initiation to mass production, I want half a year. We hold a press conference in a month, and ship in six months.

Chen Zhi raised an eyebrow.

A press conference in a month? We don't even have a product. What are we going to announce?

Announce the concept and the partnership. J. Wong put down the skewer and turned serious. Haven't you been ignoring those videos smearing you? Once the online traffic reaches its peak, we'll hold the press conference. You'll tell the world that you've created a product that can change the world. That works better than any advertisement.

Chen Zhi had originally planned to do just that. As expected, smart people always think alike.

Chen Zhi raised his glass.

So it's settled?

J. Wong also raised his glass.

Settled.