Chapter 464: Recharging and Getting a Free Phone

Yang Shuan and Guo Zihang wore playful smiles as they entered the house and headed to the kitchen door. They put the lamb and roasted chicken they brought into the fridge before turning to sit down.

At this moment, Jiang Qin had finished eating. He placed his chopsticks on the empty plate and looked up at his two adopted sons. “Old Guo, do you like washing dishes?”

Guo Zihang: “…”

“What about Shu’an? Do you like it?”

Yang Shuan twitched the corners of his mouth: “Uncle, take your time. We’ll wait for you.”

Jiang Qin couldn’t help but frown: “I’ve told you, when you come to your uncle’s home, it’s like coming to your own. Why do you always have to be so polite?”

“It’s better to be polite since we’re not blood-related, right, Old Guo?” Yang Shuan nudged Guo Zihang with his elbow.

Guo Zihang immediately nodded: “Exactly. Even though our foster father doesn’t see me as an outsider, I still need to be self-aware.”

Jiang Qin frowned at their distant attitude and cursed as he entered the kitchen, thinking today’s youth really are lazy, not wanting to help out at home.

After finishing the dishes, the three of them put on their jackets and left the house to stroll around the Lunar New Year market.

This open space, left over from the old district’s renovation phase, was temporarily used as a New Year’s market this year. Smaller than Wuan Mountain yet bustling with vendors, its several hundred stalls were already buzzing with activity from afar.

Pockets stuffed, Jiang Qin walked ahead, muttering, “Normally, I’m monopolized by Feng Nanshu. Otherwise, when would you get the chance to walk with such a handsome man like me alone?”

“Ah, right, right.”

“You’re coming home with me tonight. If you accidentally share about our shopping trip, she’ll be envious enough to cry. What’s so good about shopping with my mom? You’re at a loss!”

Guo Zihang and Yang Shuan exchanged glances, thinking he really had strong feelings about Feng not accompanying him but his mother-in-law instead.

He emphasized this twice in just a few sentences.

Jiang Qin casually arrived at a snack stall, bought some sunflower seeds, some roasted chestnuts, and then spent ten yuan on ring tossing – catching only air and the stall owner’s smile before heading to buy two squid skewers.

Look, even without the little rich girl clinging to him, he was still having fun!

“Uncle, why don’t you look happy? Your face is expressionless.”

“Nonsense, I’m thrilled right now.”

A bit annoyed, Jiang Qin cracked a roasted chestnut and pulled a branch from the greenery shaped like a “sword,” swiftly shaking off the snow.

This vacant lot behind was close to Middle School No. 4, probably where some high school student had hidden it, planning to retrieve it when school resumed.

Seeing this, Yang Shuan and Guo Zihang were exceedingly eager.

“Uncle, let me play with it.”

“Foster father, please pass me the sword.”

Jiang Qin swung the branch a couple of times: “Damn, such a lack of ambition. I’ll play first!”

Yang Shuan and Guo Zihang eagerly followed, waiting to take over the branch while arguing over who should be the “great crown prince.”

No matter how old, men’s hearts always harbor a bit of childishness.

Some who seem mature are merely forced by societal chains. Without these, the older they get, the more childish they become.

From the head to the tail of the market, Jiang Qin bought quite a few things – a head ornament with a red ribbon, a metal hairpin suggesting rabbit-year luck, New Year greeting cards, and cell phone charms.

“Uncle, get me a sugar figurine.”

“Sure, what shape do you want? I can write names, draw zodiac signs, or maybe a little rabbit?”

A pattern flashed in Jiang Qin’s mind – a big bear 【heart】 little rich girl – then turned to Guo Zihang and Yang Shuan: “There’s a public toilet across; go take a leak.”

Guo Zihang hesitated: “I’ve already gone when I arrived.”

“You feel like going again now. Hurry up, no going means no red envelopes for New Year!”

“…”

The two exchanged glances then dashed away.

Jiang Qin turned back to the sugar figurine seller: “Give me three – one with ‘big bear,’ one with ‘little rich girl,’ and draw a heart on the last one.”

The sugar figurine seller scooped a spoonful of syrup, murmuring that “big” and “small” were easy, but those four words after were quite a waste of sugar.

The man’s craftsmanship was decent, writing joined script with sugar quickly and well, even drawing the heart neatly.

Jiang Qin paid, ate the heart without leaving a trace, and then walked back with the remaining two figurines.

That heart was as if it had never existed in this world—a stroke of genius.

By now, Guo Zihang and Yang Shuan had returned, giving perplexed looks at the two sugar figurines in Jiang Qin’s hands, wondering what was so secretive that they had to be sent away.

Jiang Qin chuckled at their puzzled faces, thinking, what’s secretive has already been eaten by me; no one can see it now.

“Uncle, look over there.”

“What?”

Jiang Qin turned at the sound and saw a young clerk walking out of a mobile store across the street, putting up a poster at the entrance.

It read, “Year-end Benefits: Pre-pay 300 yuan in credit, get a free Samsung smartphone,” with ‘Samsung smartphone’ highlighted in bold red.

“300 yuan for a free phone? That can’t be real.”

“It’s true.”

“That must be a loss!” exclaimed Guo Zihang, puzzled.

Jiang Qin explained to Guo Zihang, “It’s a marketing tactic. Offering phones is to cultivate the market and gain market share. Once the audience grows, the losses can be recovered.”

The transition from feature phones to smartphones happened swiftly, nearly complete around 2012.

Jiang Qin remembered, even before graduating, everyone around was already using Coolpad, Meizu, HTC, and Xiaomi, which burst onto the market with its creation for enthusiasts and hunger marketing.

At that time, Samsung and Apple were also popular, while brands like Motorola, Doov, and Bird had faded.

Even Nokia, once the king, clung stubbornly to its Symbian OS, seeing its market share plummet even after launching a Windows version after its acquisition.

Smartphones were an inevitable part of technological evolution, but it was schemes like free phones with a recharge that truly accelerated this change.

Back then, to expand its domestic market share, Samsung introduced contract phones in collaboration with telecom operators, offering free phones with recharges.

Whether it was recharging phone credit or installing broadband, getting a phone felt almost like a steal.

Such schemes were fierce because the threshold for a freebie has always been the lowest, providing telecommunication companies a large volume of contracted users and enhancing brand recognition for phone manufacturers.

Indeed, many leaders of the feature phone era were just catching the scent of change when this burning money tactic left them far behind, struggling to catch up.

Yes, it was this marketing strategy that knocked down 80% of its competitors in the phone market.

Later, ZTE and Huawei also joined the free phone with recharge market, rising from obscurity to become famous manufacturers.

It seemed like a loss at first, spending a lot, but those planning for long-term benefits focused on the subsequent returns.

Starting with low-end models to build a user base, then gradually increasing prices and introducing high-end models, the return on this investment was nearly tenfold; it was much like the groupons burning cash.

Jiang Qin took the two men into the store, topped up 300 yuan, and received a new phone.

It was white with a China Telecom 3G logo on the back and the Samsung logo on the front; its plastic back cover was still removable, and it came with an original battery in the box.

When the phone powered on, there weren’t many pre-installed apps, and its simple interface even looked a bit ugly, but compared to just being able to make calls, send texts, and use WAP from a feature phone, this was a huge step down.

“We need to move fast with apps, how else to keep up with bundled pre-installed ones?”

Jiang Qin opened the music player, which had a demo song “Thousand Miles Away” pre-loaded.

“This phone feels even better than the one I bought,” Yang Shuan stared regrettably. He had just switched to a HTC, spending two grand, yet it wasn’t as smooth as Jiang Qin’s freebie.

“That’s how it is, sometimes winning or losing is decided from the start. The market hasn’t even opened up and you insist on going high-end; how can you win against freebies that are more durable than what you’ve bought?”

“…”

It was evening by the time they returned from the market. As soon as they entered the house, they saw Yuan Youqin cooking in the kitchen while Feng Nanshu sat on the sofa watching Mango TV’s new year drama “Accidentally in Love with You.”

After the success of “Meteor Shower” made Ah Hai a star, Hunan TV custom-built this romantic idol drama for the little rich girl, quite exciting to watch.

“I went out shopping with Guo Zihang and Yang Shuan today.”

Jiang Qin sat next to Feng Nanshu and emphasized, “We shopped all day.”

Feng Nanshu paused, “I also want to wander with you for a day.”

“Who told you to go shopping with my mom early in the morning? You’re at a loss, but I brought you a gift.”

Jiang Qin took out the two sugar figurines, one reading ‘big bear’ and the other ‘little rich girl,’ instantly brightening the little rich girl’s eyes. She looked at it for a long time, then handed Jiang Qin the ‘little rich girl.’

“I’ll eat you, and you eat me.”

Guo Zihang and Yang Shuan averted their eyes at the sound, thinking how the elders talk so suggestively that kids can’t listen at all.

Jiang Qin couldn’t help but smirk, handing her the Nokia from his pocket, “Here, play with my spare phone.”

Feng Nanshu: “?”

“I switched to a new one; this is spare now.”