sonovelo Chapter 28 Business Card
Chapter 28 Business Card
One o'clock in the afternoon.
Su Chen sat on a folding chair at the back of the booth, scrolling through his phone, waiting for the afternoon's peak visitor time.
The exhibition closed at four o'clock, leaving him with only three hours.
The morning's results were already quite impressive: the "Zero-Based Challenge" session was extremely attractive, and with the official interview by Yuchen.com, B-237's total number of visitors today exceeded sixty—twice that of yesterday.
But the third goal remains unresolved.
The woman in the dark blue dress did not appear today.
Su Chen knew he couldn't put all his eggs in one basket with someone whose identity hadn't even been confirmed. Maybe she wasn't with Mingyuan Capital, maybe she'd lost interest after just one glance, maybe she'd already left Shenzhen today.
Regardless of the outcome, the plan remains unchanged: leverage reports from Hardcore Innovation and Yuchen.com to amplify our voice, and then proactively contact investment institutions.
Just as he was about to stand up and go to the booth to help, he caught a glimpse of a figure walking in from the passageway.
They weren't there to stroll around—their steps were quick, their direction straight, and their goal clear.
Dark gray suit jacket. White shirt. Short hair.
It wasn't the same dark blue dress as yesterday, but the face was the same.
Su Chen's pulse suddenly quickened.
She walked from the entrance to booth B-237 without stopping to look at other booths—her destination was clear: this was the place she was coming to.
This book was first published on 2009.com, providing you with a reading experience free of errors and disordered chapters.
She first glanced at the three prototypes on the table, then at the F2 that was doing a hovering demonstration on the open ground, and then moved her gaze to the back of the booth.
Su Chen stood up.
The two locked eyes.
"Hello." Su Chen extended his right hand. "Hongyuan Intelligent, Su Chen."
The other person's handshake was neither too light nor too heavy, demonstrating just the right amount of professionalism.
"Shen Yumeng. Mingyuan Capital."
The four words are like a pebble thrown into a calm pond.
Mingyuan Capital.
Su Chen's facial muscles didn't move at all, but a voice inside his chest said: Found it.
"Please have a seat, Mr. Shen." He brought over a folding chair from the back.
After taking her seat, Shen Yumeng didn't exchange pleasantries and immediately opened her notebook.
"I listened to your speech at the forum yesterday, and then came here to watch the F-2's return demonstration. I made a special trip here today."
Her speaking speed was indeed very fast, perfectly matching the description in Su Chen's memories of his previous life.
"There are a few points I'd like to discuss in person."
"First, regarding the small and medium-sized commercial aerial photography sector you mentioned, I haven't seen any industry reports covering this sub-sector. What are your criteria for assessing market size?"
Su Chen was not surprised by this question at all. Investors always ask first, "How high is the ceiling?"
"Over the past month, our eight field sales teams have reached out to more than 300 commercial clients in county-level cities—wedding studios, real estate agencies, and local small media outlets. More than 70% of them don't own drones, and over 90% expressed willingness to purchase one if the price is right." His answer was concise and to the point. "In the wedding industry alone, there are over 600,000 companies nationwide, with over 70% located in county-level cities and below. This doesn't even include building inspections, real estate promotions, and social media. Conservatively, the potential user base is in the millions."
Shen Yumeng's pen moved swiftly across the notebook.
"Secondly, the sustainability of the technological barrier in flight control. I saw the demonstration yesterday, and the quality certainly exceeded expectations for this price range. But how long will it take for competitors to catch up?"
"The flight control firmware is a deeply customized solution developed in-house. Only I and the technical lead have had contact with the core code, and we have signed a confidentiality agreement. If competitors were to pursue self-developed solutions, it would take at least six months to a year. Our 2.0 firmware is already complete, with the addition of automatic return-to-home and one-click orbit functions, which will further widen the gap."
"Third," Shen Yumeng looked up from her notebook and stared directly into Su Chen's eyes, "How old are you this year?"
"Twenty-three."
Her pen paused for a very brief moment.
"Just over a month ago, the company was facing bankruptcy, but now it's on a growth trajectory. What happened in between?"
Su Chen spent three minutes condensing Hongyuan's experiences over the past two months into an oral briefing—taking over the company, discovering the mole, channel collapse, F2 development, channel repair, launch of the working version, and the rollout of ground promotion.
The narrative pace is clean and concise, without sentimentality or embellishment, like a business roadshow.
But Shen Yumeng's pen never stopped.
"One last question," she said, closing her notebook. "What are Hongyuan's long-term plans?"
Su Chen thought for three seconds.
He was well aware of the weight of this issue. The "long-term plan" that investors talked about wasn't about making empty promises, but rather about assessing whether you had a clear strategic depth.
"Our short-term goal is to become the number one player in the small and medium-sized commercial aerial photography niche market within six months. There are currently almost no direct competitors in this field, giving us ample time."
"Our medium-term goal is to enter the agricultural plant protection market. The technology we've accumulated in flight control can be directly transferred there, and the size and profit margin of the plant protection market are far higher than those of consumer products. DJI will launch the MG series of agricultural drones priced at over 40,000 yuan by the end of the year, but the market lacks reliable products priced within farmers' affordability."
"Our long-term goal is to become a drone platform company with flight control algorithms as its core capability, spanning both consumer and industry applications."
Shen Yumeng drew a short horizontal line after the last word with her pen.
Then she took a business card out of her suit pocket and handed it to her.
"Mr. Su, I will discuss this with the team after the exhibition. If all goes well, I will call you next week."
She didn't say the word "investment," but Su Chen heard it clearly.
"Yes, Mr. Shen. I'll be at your service anytime."
He accepted the business card with both hands.
White cardstock. A dark blue abstract mountain-shaped logo in the upper left corner. A line of silver-stamped text in the middle:
Shen Yumeng, Partner at Mingyuan Capital
Su Chen put the business card into his shirt pocket and watched Shen Yumeng walk away down the corridor.
She walked as fast as she had come, without looking back.
Su Chen stood in front of the booth, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.
It has been more than two months since I was reborn.
From 1.2 million yuan in cash, 52 employees, and a completely collapsed distribution channel—to the F2 work plan, eight ground sales teams, and a growth curve with weekly sales exceeding 100—and now to this business card.
Every step was on the edge of a cliff, but every step was perfectly executed.
This business card is not the end. We are still a long way from true safety.
Shen Yumeng said she would "call next week"—this means that Mingyuan Capital has developed an initial interest in Hongyuan, but there is still a long way to go from interest to due diligence to signing an investment agreement.
Moreover, financing is not a panacea. How to spend the money after obtaining it, how to maintain growth, and how to hold the line amidst competitors like Tianying—each question requires precise execution.
But at least, one door has been opened.
Su Chen turned around and returned to the booth.
Xiao Wu is explaining how to operate the remote control to a new "beginner with no experience." Xiao Zhao is enthusiastically handing out product manuals nearby. Above the open space, the F2 working board hovers quietly three meters high, like a satellite that will not fall.
There are still two hours left in the exhibition.
Su Chen walked behind the booth, picked up a stack of new business cards, and headed towards the entrance of the passage.
He couldn't wait for people to come. In the last two hours, he had to take the initiative—go to Area A, the tea break area, and the corridors, handing out Hongyuan's business card to everyone who might be of use.
A six-square-meter booth cannot change the industry landscape.
But the seeds sown in these three days—media reports, word-of-mouth marketing, and investor outreach—will sprout one by one in the coming weeks.
By then, B-237 will no longer be a number relegated to a corner.
It will become a marker of a starting point.