Chapter 13 Sunday, May 13th

It was nearly 3 PM, and Pei Qian was in his living room, playing games while sipping on his sugary soda.

Suddenly, his phone alarm went off, displaying a memo reminder: "Press Conference."

Pei Qian immediately saved his game, then mirrored his phone screen onto the TV to watch Otto Technologies' new product launch.

This time, it was the smart fitness clothes-drying rack.

The location was the same as before, the Oasis Seasons Hotel banquet hall, not far from Pei Qian's place.

But this time, Pei Qian didn't go.

He felt that the resounding success of the e1 phone and the g1 phone might be due to him.

Did something always go wrong with the press conferences whenever he was present?

What if he watched the livestream at home this time?

Sometimes, you have to acknowledge the existence of metaphysics.

Although he wasn't there in person, he could basically guess the audience's reactions from the comments section.

The press conference hadn't officially started yet. The livestream showed a wide-angle shot, giving a complete view of the stage.

A large, stylized font on the screen read: "Otto Technologies Smart New Product!"

Below it were a few keywords: "Smart Living," "Healthy Living," "Convenient Living," "Efficient Living," and so on.

These keywords were the tenets of Otto Technologies' smart product department, which aimed to bring customers a convenient, efficient, and healthy lifestyle by combining artificial intelligence technology with everyday digital or household products.

Although he couldn't see the seating arrangement in the hall, he could guess that it was packed.

Because each press conference invited various tech media outlets, and also selected many loyal users from Jingzhou through ticket giveaways. There were even some die-hard Tengda fans living nearby who came just to watch, willing to stand.

What's more, the previous e1 phone and g1 phone press conferences had been very well-received. The popularity of the g1 phone hadn't completely faded, and now another press conference was being held, so everyone was looking forward to what kind of product Otto Technologies would bring this time.

The comments section in the livestream had already started to discuss.

"Why hasn't it started yet?"

"Don't worry, Tengda's press conferences are always on time. It'll start soon."

"Anyway, it'll be exactly one hour, no more, no less. Starting early won't let us watch for even a minute longer."

"I wonder what product they're releasing this time? 'New Smart Product,' it's probably a smart home appliance, right?"

"Hard to say. Otto Technologies made something like the fully automatic smart arguing machine before. I don't think they'll make a smart home appliance, which has been done to death..."

"Who's the presenter this time? It's not Jiang Yuan again, is it! No offense to him, but I really want to see President Chang!"

"I heard that President Chang is indeed in charge of this project, but I don't know if he'll personally go on stage."

"Alright, alright, it's starting! It's President Chang!"

Amidst cheers from the comments section, Chang You took to the stage.

Sure enough, enthusiastic applause and cheers erupted from the audience.

Although Jiang Yuan's g1 phone press conference was also considered a success, his slightly timid speaking style formed a stark contrast with a phone product that boldly subverted tradition and adopted a lot of new technologies, in the end, his ability to create hype was still more than one level below Chang You.

So after more than a year, seeing Chang You return to the stage for a press conference, everyone had a feeling of "long time no see."

"Hello everyone, I am Chang You."

"Welcome everyone to the Otto Technologies smart new product launch in the midst of your busy schedules. On behalf of all my colleagues at Otto Technologies, I would first like to express my sincere gratitude for your arrival!"

It was the same old opening remarks, but this time the atmosphere seemed particularly enthusiastic.

Perhaps it was because people only realized how boring, tedious, and uninteresting other press conferences were after losing Chang You, so everyone cherished it even more.

Chang You was also very touched.

This warm applause and cheering represents everyone's recognition of me!

Before coming to Tengda, Chang You had never enjoyed such treatment.

After coming to Tengda, not only did Otto Technologies gain a foothold in the digital world, but he himself became a popular figure in the digital world, and even came with his own traffic, with his Weibo followers rapidly increasing, and he also gained a group of loyal fans.

All of this was obviously inseparable from President Pei's careful cultivation.

After the applause subsided slightly, Chang You began to introduce the main topic of the press conference.

"Many friends may be very curious, why wasn't I the presenter for the g1 phone press conference?"

"This starts from the resounding success of the e1 phone and the fully automatic smart arguing machine, and my receiving the outstanding employee award within Tengda..."

Chang You spoke eloquently, recounting his experience of being "first eliminated" in a humorous way.

Bursts of laughter erupted from the audience from time to time.

"Being transferred because you're too good at your job? Is that even possible?"

"Is this the legendary first elimination of Tengda?"

"Although a lot of things have already been known through inside sources, why do I still find it so funny to hear President Chang tell it himself in such a helpless tone hahahahaha..."

Of course, Chang You was telling it in a joking tone, and the audience was also listening with a joking mentality, and the discussion was mostly teasing and playing with memes.

Being transferred because you're too good at your job? How could that be!

President Pei must think that Chang You is very capable, so he let him be responsible for developing new businesses!

In that case, is the smart new product today more important in President Pei's mind than Otto Technologies' flagship g1 phone this year?

Many viewers couldn't help but have such a guess, and were full of curiosity about what product would be released today.

At the beginning, Chang You explained his job changes and the business changes of Otto Technologies during this period, and he explained it relatively concisely, without taking up too much time.

After all, President Pei has always had very clear requirements for the duration of the press conference, which cannot exceed one hour.

The main event has to be left for later.

Chang You pressed the remote control, and four large characters instantly appeared on the screen.

"Pricing Segment!"

As soon as these four characters came out, the audience seemed to have been expecting it, and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

The audience in the livestream also had an expression of finally getting their wish, feeling comfortable.

"Hahahaha, here it comes, the traditional skill, put the price first!"

"Another two hours of watching saved!"

"This is even more outrageous than the e1 phone that time. At least we knew it was a phone that time. This time, we don't even know what the product is, and we're already putting the price. Is this letting us guess the product based on the price?"

Everywhere was filled with a relaxed and humorous atmosphere.

After all, the product is secondary at this press conference, the key is to watch Chang You create hype.

Seeing that the atmosphere at the scene was so hot, Pei Qian couldn't help but sweat.

He hadn't even explained anything yet!

He could only hope that everyone would be greatly disappointed after seeing the product.

Chang You pressed the remote control again, and four huge numbers appeared on the screen.

"4999"!

He also specifically explained, "Actually, we have a lot of pressure in setting this price, because considering the research and development costs and material costs, this price is a relatively extreme pricing."

"In the long run, this price may decrease due to subsidies, but it will decrease by a maximum of 200 yuan."

The price of five thousand was set from the beginning. In fact, this pricing has some profit margin, but it is very small. After all, fitness equipment is all iron, and reliability and safety must be guaranteed. The cost of raw materials alone cannot be controlled.

What's more, the smart fitness clothes-drying rack also has styling design, artificial intelligence chips, and the development cost of *Fitness Battle*.

Of course, the *Fitness Battle* game itself can also make money back, and may even become the main source of profit, so the smart fitness clothes-drying rack can compress the price to this extent.

The audience at the scene and in the comments section started discussing.

"Five thousand? It looks like a big item!"

"What could it be? High-end speakers? Washing machine? Refrigerator? Air conditioner?"

"These aren't very related to smart, right? I think it might be a TV, which can also be related to Tengda's game business."

"Could it also be a robot vacuum?"

In the livestream, all kinds of comments floated by, guessing all sorts of things, but no one really guessed the point.

This is also normal, who can guess something as strange as a "smart fitness clothes-drying rack"?

The current smart home appliances are actually just a few types. Home appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners are more practical, and are basically the territory of traditional companies. It is not necessarily easy to use if you put a "smart" aura on them; while there are quite a few products such as robot vacuums and TVs, and the possibility is slightly greater.

But this price of five thousand makes many guesses become less reasonable.

For example, robot vacuums, at most, cost three thousand yuan. Selling for five thousand is really a bit absurd and not very realistic.

Everyone guessed for a while, but all failed to grasp the main point.

And some old fans have vaguely felt that things are not that simple.

Everyone is guessing some conventional products, is Otto Technologies like a manufacturer that makes conventional products?

Their brains are not something that ordinary people can think of. After all, the previous product was something like a "fully automatic smart arguing machine". Wouldn't it be very disappointing if they released a conventional product this time?

Chang You pressed the remote control again, and a length, width, and height dimension diagram appeared on the screen: length 2.1 meters, width 1.4 meters, height 2.1 meters, covering an area of 3 square meters, and a total weight of 218kg.

This dimension diagram did not draw the specific shape of the smart fitness clothes-drying rack, but only used some dashed lines to mark the dimensions and parameters it needed to occupy.

Everyone was confused again.