Chapter 171 I Want to Do Business with You

At the crossroads in the center of Dongsheng Town, Xiangshan City, there is an electrical appliance repair shop called Dongsen. It is small and consists of two ordinary bungalows. There are at least ninety-nine electrical appliance repair shops like this in Xiangshan City, where the electrical appliance industry is developing rapidly. But compared to the other ninety-nine shops, Dongsen Electrical Appliance Repair Department has a person that Zhang Yunqi has been looking for for many days.

Hu Zhibiao.

When Hu Zhibiao was young, his family was actually very poor.

How poor are you?

There is a big river in Shazai Village where he lives. There is a piece of land on the other side of the river, which is very suitable for growing straw mushrooms in summer. However, the river is very wide and few people can swim across it. Since he was twelve years old, Hu Zhibiao has used his extremely thin body to swim across this several hundred meters wide water to grow straw mushrooms on the other side, making several trips back and forth every day.

After the harvest, Hu Zhibiao, who had just graduated from elementary school, walked dozens of miles to Dongguan to sell the crops. In addition to paying his tuition, he could sometimes use the money to buy a few of his favorite books and some radio parts.

Hu Zhibiao had a natural interest in home appliances since he was young, and enjoyed assembling semiconductors. When he was in the second grade of junior high school, he found an autobiography of Matsushita Shinnosuke at the garbage station at the entrance of the village. After reading it for two days and nights without sleep, he had a dream to become "China's Matsushita".

After graduating from junior high school, Hu Zhibiao dropped out of school.

He found a job as an electrical appliance repairman in Minzhong Town, helping people fix televisions, and he did this for six years. Perhaps it was because he had been repairing televisions for too long, or perhaps it was because he had read too many books by Konosuke Matsushita, or perhaps it was because he was getting old. Being in Guangdong, a bridgehead of reform and opening up, he was deeply influenced by the ever-changing atmosphere of the times and the highly materialistic society. He became increasingly dissatisfied with the status quo, increasingly restless, and increasingly wanted to start a business and make a fortune.

It is said that the prosperous 1980s was a poetic era, in which pure spiritual pursuits and abstract idealism dominated the thinking of the Chinese people. In comparison, the 1990s were absolutely materialistic and the beginning of the entertainment era of the 21st century. The grand narrative of Chinese modernity seeking truth from the West since the May Fourth Movement was gone, ideology was put aside, and everything was about money and thickness. Even in literature, one can only say that the avant-garde was dead, and writers such as Su Dongpo and Yu Hua turned their pens to the trend of marketization. Jin Yong and Wang Shuo were popular, and Cui Jian was no longer people's favorite. Pseudo-sentimental pop songs such as "The Waves Still Are", "The Crescent Moon" and "Xiao Fang" were played on the streets. They were not as intense as rock and roll, nor were they so melancholy. Everyone was busy making money.

Hu Zhibiao, who was born and raised in Guangdong, felt these changes in the spirit of the times more clearly and deeply. How to make money was the question he thought about most. Because he was interested in electrical appliance repair and because Xiangshan had a famous brand called Little Overlord, the first thing he thought of was to open a factory to make pirated game consoles.

Hu Zhibiao had been thinking about this idea for a long time and it was quite mature. He had also discussed it with his best friend Chen Tiannan. The two planned to work together, but the most realistic problem at the moment was that he had no money in his pocket, so he had to postpone his dream of starting his own business and continue working in the appliance repair shop to accumulate capital for his business.

In the early 1990s, after-sales service for most household appliances was inadequate, or even nonexistent. When something broke, it was sent to an appliance repair shop for repair. Dongsen Appliance Repair Shop was doing very good business. On this morning, Hu Zhibiao had hardly had a break until a brand new luxury car, Santana, appeared at the door of Dongsen Repair Shop. A young man in a suit and tie walked into the shop and asked, "Excuse me, is Hu Zhibiao here?"

Hu Zhibiao put down the appliance, looked at the young man, wiped his sweat and said: "I am, who are you?"

The young man stared at Hu Zhibiao from head to toe, then took out a business card and handed it to him, saying, "Wang Guibing, Deputy General Manager of Lianzhong Trade, my boss wants to talk to you."

Hu Zhibiao glanced at the business card. The address on it was Jiangchuan City, Xiangnan Province. This made him feel quite puzzled. He asked: "What do you want to see me for?"

"You'll know when we get there."

Wang Guibing laughed, turned around and left the repair shop, opened the car door, and got straight in.

Hu Zhibiao stared at the open door of Santana and Wang Guibing sitting inside. He was silent for a long time, then got into the car. He didn't even change his work clothes or ask for leave from his boss.

Ever since the first Santana was launched in China in 83, opening a new era of Chinese automobiles, Santana has become a symbol of wealth, an absolute luxury car, and those who can afford it are either rich or noble. This is the first time that Hu Zhibiao has sat in one in his years of life. Looking at the street scene that keeps receding outside the window, he feels very good. Although the young man named Wang Guibing sitting next to him never said a word to him from beginning to end, he has no idea what the purpose of Wang Guibing's boss looking for him is, but he is clear about one thing: people who can afford a Santana will not have fun with an appliance repairman like him who earns more than yuan a month.

No time.

The Santana finally stopped in front of the Xiangshan International Hotel. This hotel is the most upscale hotel in Xiangshan City. It was Hu Zhibiao's first time here. He followed Wang Guibing in a somewhat reserved manner in his work clothes that were still stained with oil. He walked through the magnificent lobby and took the elevator to the western restaurant on the fourth floor. After entering a luxuriously decorated large private room, he saw a boy, no more than 19 years old, sitting on a sofa under a huge French window, looking at him with a natural demeanor and a calm gaze, smiling.

It was already mid-July, and the hottest day of the year was approaching. The sun was particularly strong, shining through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto the young boy, making his eyes blind. Hu Zhibiao felt it was unreal, as he didn't know who he was facing, but he had an inexplicable expectation. However, looking past the boy, he could vaguely see the rippling green waters of the Qijiang River outside the window, where he had often taken a bath and urinated in the past two years.

Overlooking the banks of the Qijiang River from this angle was a spiritual experience that Hu Zhibiao had never had before. He saw a white cruise ship passing slowly in the water. The enthusiastic female tour guide at the bow was talking to a group of tourists about the golden years laid in the former residence of the founding father. Everything was so vibrant, just like this barbarian land with a sparse population and endless refugees since ancient times, as shown in the process of reform and opening up. Once-prominent brands such as Weili, Robust, Subor, Jinzheng, and Dihe and countless energetic young entrepreneurs whizzed past here, leaving a strong mark in China's modern commercial history.

Hu Zhibiao and his Aiduo were among them, but he didn't know it at the moment. He was still too young and had no experience. Facing the boy with a strong aura in front of him, his throat was a little dry. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "Hello, are you looking for me?"

"Yes, my name is Zhang Yunqi, and I want to talk to you about something."

"Excuse me, what is it?"

"It's time for dinner. Let's talk while we eat." Zhang Yunqi raised his hand to check the time and said with a smile, "Sometimes, you still have to put on airs and act cool."

Hu Zhibiao had long been thinking about starting a business and making money. If he didn't intercept him now, Zhang Yunqi estimated that the Shengda Electronics Factory, which Hu Zhibiao and Chen Tiannan had spent 2000 yuan to build, would be ready. Although the Shengda Electronics Factory was just a small, run-down factory that specialized in counterfeit game consoles and was later attacked by Duan Yongping, it would not amount to anything. But Zhang Yunqi didn't want to create any more trouble on this matter. After all, they had never met before, and it would not be easy to gain Hu Zhibiao's trust in a short time. Without doing something fancy, many things would be difficult to discuss.

In fact, when it comes down to it, it means that it is not easy to gain other people's trust, but money is easy.

This principle is eternal. When an ordinary person approaches you to do business, your first impression is that the other person is stupid; when a rich boss approaches you to do business, your first reaction is that it’s a piece of cake.

The seafood meal at noon was rich and exquisite. Hu Zhibiao, a native of Guangdong, had never eaten much of it. However, he held his chopsticks and looked at Zhang Yunqi, who was chewing slowly across the table. He did not pick up any food for a long time. Finally, he could not hold it in any longer and asked, "Mr. Zhang, why don't you tell me what you want to talk to me about? Otherwise, I am too upset."

Zhang Yunqi put down his chopsticks and said with a smile: "Okay, let me ask you a question. Have you heard of VCD?"

Hu Zhibiao shook his head.

Zhang Yunqi asked: "Do you know the technology of 'digital compression chip'?"

Hu Zhibiao shook his head.

Zhang Yunqi asked again: "Have you seen LD?"

Hu Zhibiao nodded.

Zhang Yunqi said, "Now I can tell you that the technology of 'digital compression chip' has already flowed into Hong Kong, China. The player produced with it is called VCD. VCD is a hundred times better than the popular LD for watching pirated discs. You might as well imagine the potential of this thing in the Chinese market in the future. Besides, there are no people in China making this thing now, at least it has not become popular yet."

Hu Zhibiao listened to Zhang Yunqi's words word for word. A lot of information suddenly flooded into his mind. He didn't have time to think about it because he still had one biggest question in his mind: "Mr. Zhang, why are you telling me this?"

Zhang Yunqi said: "I want to do this business with you."

******
(End of this chapter)