Lei Jun Revisits Bet with Dong Mingzhu: It Was Just a Joke, Didn't Expect Her to Be Provoked and Criticize Me and Xiaomi from Head to Toe

By Fan Jialai, The Paper

"Taking photos during breakfast and got called out by a little girl?" Lei Jun has responded.

On June 21, at the 32nd Beijing International Book Fair's "Ambassador's Salon Special Session," author Liu Zhenyun and Xiaomi founder Lei Jun held a cross-disciplinary dialogue.

Talking about accidentally trending on social media during a breakfast outing in Wuhan, Lei Jun smiled and said, "Many reports, just take a look and have a laugh."

Lei Jun explained that on Monday of that week, he returned to Wuhan to attend the World Youth Development Forum. "In the morning, I told my colleagues, why don't we go 'guo zao' — that's what we call having breakfast in Hubei. I said I'd take everyone for an authentic local breakfast, and they suggested we record it to help promote our hometown. I agreed."

Lei Jun mentioned he found a famous alley and the most renowned spot, squatted by the roadside and had breakfast, but soon a crowd gathered. "A kid said, 'Why are so many people taking photos?' Such a simple thing, yet it trended for days."

"I found it unbelievable too, but then I realized — in this era of traffic, praise generates traffic, insults generate traffic, mockery generates even more traffic. These may be the costs we all have to bear in this era. Many people criticizing me may have no real stance — they're just chasing traffic, and some are even bot farms profiting from it. When you see such reports, just smile."

Liu Zhenyun noted that nowadays, many things "have no truth, only angles." The truth is not necessarily in the hands of those involved, but is easily carried away by traffic, emotions, and marketing accounts.

Lei Jun also discussed Liu Zhenyun's new book "Salty Jokes," and brought up his 2013 bet with Dong Mingzhu as his most fitting "salty joke" experience.

"In 2013, I attended a CCTV event and made a bet with Gree's Dong Mingzhu. It was just a joke, but then trouble followed — Dong took it seriously, and the consequences were severe. She said particularly harsh things on many occasions... Later she even said she would make phones. Under that pressure, we ended up making air conditioners."

Lei Jun recalled the vast gap in scale at the time, expressing deep regret. "In 2012, Gree had over 120 billion yuan in revenue, and we were just starting with about 20 billion. We made a bet that within five years, Xiaomi's asset-light model would surpass Gree's asset-heavy model. It was just a bet during an event, but Dong was perhaps offended or provoked, and started criticizing me and Xiaomi relentlessly."

"Under immense pressure, we couldn't retaliate — after all, Dong was a senior figure, and especially as a woman, it wouldn't be appropriate. In the end, we could only prove through action that we could also make good air conditioners. Looking back now, I shouldn't have joked with her."

Host Zhang Lei remarked, "Never casually joke with a serious, strong-willed woman."

Regarding recent public opinion controversies, Lei Jun admitted, "Over the past year or so, we've been mired in a lot of negative sentiment. Initially, I thought let it be — the clean need no defense. But it escalated, eventually attacking our users and car owners, even cursing them in comments."

"Early this year, I forced myself to face it head-on. I needed to let people understand Xiaomi cars' safety and quality. I did about ten livestreams, the longest lasting 15 hours."

He recalled recording a video during Xiaomi car testing last year: "I said the YU7 long-range version traveled from Beijing to Shanghai — 1,300 kilometers — on a full charge with just one recharge. I found it impressive; its range is excellent. People think EVs can't handle long distances, but I discovered through actual testing that only one recharge was needed. That simple statement was then amplified by bots, taken out of context — '1,300 km on a single charge' — and the whole internet accused me of false marketing."

"The damage to Xiaomi was severe. Later, colleagues suggested I livestream the entire journey. We woke up at 4 AM, departed at 6 AM, and drove until past 9 PM — 15 hours, over 1,300 kilometers — and indeed only recharged once."

"When facing so much distortion and smearing, explaining is difficult, but not explaining greatly affects your business. Perhaps we're not trying to convince those who don't believe, but to convince those who do — to make believers believe even more firmly."

He added, "Maybe we don't need to explain everywhere, but we should tell those who believe in us, so they understand the full story. That may be enough."

Originally published by The Paper (澎湃新闻)