Chapter 133: Developing Productive Forces Is the Fundamental Root of Everything

Rang Weidong had thought seriously about the advertising impact of the Yanwu tape recorder. Up until now, he hadn't seen this particular model, manufactured in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region, in any department stores in Jiangzhou, Yuezhou, Rongdu, or even Pingjing. In an era where logistics were not well-developed, how could one achieve nationwide simultaneous sales? He did not believe that, in the 1980s, a factory could stock goods across the entire country.

During his time at the Shanghai Industrial Guesthouse, while chatting with traveling salesmen and sales representatives from all over, he had learned that no factory could afford to keep a sales force of hundreds or thousands of people roaming the country—the costs would be astronomical. Yet, if you advertised nationwide and consumers couldn't buy the product, wouldn't that be a waste of advertising?

After turning it over in his mind, Rang Weidong could only surmise that the factory likely kept a larger stock in the Yangtze River Delta region, and the advertisement actually triggered a frenzy where merchants and sellers from across the country flocked to the factory to pick up goods themselves. Because Yanwu was so famous back then, many had heard of the scenes where people from all corners of the country drove to the factory to collect stock; getting the goods was synonymous with making money. Once that commercial aired, they didn't have to worry about sales. It was a craze—people across the country scrambled to pick up stock to sell. It was absolute madness.

Rang Weidong had originally intended to use the tape recorder as his opening act, following that exact model. He had sold tens of thousands of twenty-nine-yuan cameras over the past six months. The office had received thousands of calls, but most were from ordinary consumers inquiring about single purchases after seeing a friend's camera, and the few who were interested in selling them didn't dare wire large sums to place orders, let alone travel to Jiangzhou. Rang Weidong could only guess that perhaps the items were too cheap, making it not worth driving over to pick up the stock. But this time, the sanitary napkins had actually caused various municipal units to send trucks to collect them—even if a thousand packs were only a few burlap sacks. Perhaps it was just that popular because it was a necessity?

There were too many factors involved, and Rang Weidong, as an amateur, could only guess and experiment. Seeing the tape recorder Dong Xueqing had brought back made him lean toward the sanitary napkins. Once he thought of the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives as a channel, he changed his direction entirely. He would never give such a golden idea to a manufacturer that harbored ulterior motives.

When the equipment factory tried to equivocate, Rang Weidong hit the nail on the head: "I only need to contact the casing factory in Xishan to know exactly how many units you've produced!"

The school official tried to smooth things over: "Your sister is also an outstanding student at our school, and her assignment to the Jiangzhou Post and Telecommunications Bureau really owed a lot to your care. The factory is truly in economic difficulty; as far as I know, they've only sold about seven hundred units on the market."

Rang Weidong sneered: "Seven hundred units. And the price?"

The factory director said helplessly: "The repeaters sold for 110 yuan because they incorporated new technology we developed, and we sold over two hundred of those. The large tape recorders were indeed made larger to be more attractive, as you suggested, and sold for 180 yuan. Similar models on the market are double-deck recorders and sell for over 300 yuan, so these sold particularly well. Five hundred units was our entire inventory, and they were all sold as soon as they were taken out."

The food and drinks had arrived, but Rang Weidong remained merciless: "You are short-sighted! Only caring about immediate profits—once these small ideas are exposed to the market, other manufacturers can easily copy them with a little observation. How complex is the technology in your repeater? Could others replicate it?"

The engineer admitted honestly: "They could. The repeat function we spent so much time testing is something any appliance repairman could figure out just by looking at it. They could copy it directly."

That was why Rang Weidong looked down on these people: "How can this situation be avoided? By becoming a brand name!"

This was the brand consciousness that everyone would eventually become accustomed to in the future: "Only a repeater that has been advertised on the national broadcaster can make consumers form an attitude of 'if it's not this, we won't buy it.' It makes the whole country trust this specific name. But as for how to run a good ad to make the whole country believe it, I've already spent hundreds of thousands. So, you all just wait and see how other 'X' brands flourish, and then come begging me later."

After speaking, he picked up his chopsticks and began to eat. Mao'er, as expected, had a picky palate; after tasting a few dishes, he dutifully placed a bit of the two or three decent ones on his older brother's plate to try, then sat there sipping tea in a measured manner, his left hand still flipping through his thin, dark yellow bamboo strips. For a child of only eight or nine, his feigned maturity and composure were absurd. Shi Tou served the rice and soup, then sat on the other side and ate unhurriedly. Both seemed as if they hadn't heard a word of Rang Weidong's string of pronouncements. The editor-in-chief couldn't help but observe the two boys a few more times.

Rang Weidong also put food on his younger brother's plate, chatting casually about going to eat river snails in the evening. Now that he had a car, he didn't need to crowd into public transport or walk kilometers. He felt a sense of nostalgia. As he thought this, the aura of the three brothers made it clear they didn't regard these cowards as anything at all. This business deal hadn't even captured the attention of their seven or eight-year-old brother. Since the contract was breached, they would just brush off the dust and leave. From start to finish, Rang Weidong never spoke of compensation or making a scene; he simply told them they would regret it and to wait and see others achieve glory and become legends. He had come purely to give them a heads-up to watch and see.

The three men on the other side were stammering and unable to speak. Rang Weidong was not afraid that others would think of advertising on the national broadcaster. Did they have the connections to know how to book it? Did they know which time slots to choose? Did they know what kind of ad would break through the noise? Without grasping those points—especially the third one—that advertising investment would only make things worse. Thus, he was very confident; he was doing this to show them that he didn't care about them. There was indeed a stubbornness in his character: once betrayed by Er Feng's family, he would never look at them again; if the Shi family always acted as if they were doing him a favor, then Mrs. Shi would never enter his eyes again; with Zhang Lanzhi, despite all the turmoil, the moment she said she didn't want to have feelings for him, he left immediately. He would never be a sycophant.

At this moment, Editor-in-Chief Feng tried to smooth things over: "Is this 'crab-eating' product already confirmed?"

Rang Weidong nodded: "One hundred percent confirmed. It has already been inspected by Jiangzhou city leaders at the workshop, and has the full support of the Women's Federation, the Commerce Bureau, the Industry Bureau, Jiangzhou University, and other units. Let's put it this way: from the moment this factory started production, there have been lines of cars waiting outside to pick up the goods. It is already in short supply. But you know my intention is to go nationwide, so I will need the *Sunshine Daily* to help out with sales channels later. Actually, this product is even more worthy of the *Sunshine Daily's* follow-up."

Editor-in-Chief Feng applauded and said it was good, but he still wanted to hold onto the current situation: "I know your product plan is to launch several items so that people across the country can use cheap and high-quality goods. Since the first round was given to another product, the tape recorder still has a chance for a second or third round."

Rang Weidong shook his head and finished his meal quickly: "Why should I trust them now? They saw a little money and immediately gobbled it up. I don't care how much money I could have split from those seven hundred units. It's the fact that you acted this way over only seven hundred units—what's to stop you from stabbing me in the back when it's seven thousand, seven hundred thousand, or seven million?"

As he said this, he dropped his chopsticks and stood up: "I really just came to ask. I never expected such a stupid enterprise, blinded by a few hundred units. Go ahead and wait for other manufacturers to copy you and swallow your sales. It's laughable—do you even have sales? You're nothing, yet you dared to guarantee me a solid cooperation. Shi Tou, go pay the bill."

His original intention was truly to mock them before parting ways. But he was so young, and with his tone of voice dripping with sarcasm as his two younger brothers stood up with him, it was genuinely provocative.

Editor-in-Chief Feng had no choice but to shake his head helplessly and stand up as well. He added: "At the time, this project was us driving Rang Weidong, a reform expert who had already sold hundreds of thousands of cameras nationwide, to cooperate with the Rongdu Electronic Appliance Factory. We even specifically published a newspaper recommendation of your initiative to develop. I didn't expect that before sales had even begun, you would have already breached the contract. It's such a pity."

The engineer also felt the meal had lost its flavor and turned to look at the factory director in frustration. The school official, who was likely in charge of this aspect, also looked at the factory management with a very ugly expression.

The factory director stood up, his face flushing red and then white: "Comrade Rang, I know we breached the contract. My starting point was also to ensure the factory could pay wages and put food on the table. Twenty thousand is a matter of life and death for us; we couldn't look to the long term. So now I hope you can give us another chance. We can accept whatever solution you propose."

They had already reached the entrance of the restaurant. Rang Weidong thought for a moment and turned back: "The agreement was to split the profits after sales, but now that you've breached the contract, pursuing you would be a waste of time. To put it bluntly, the cost of breach is too low. Either give me half the shares of the Post and Telecommunications Equipment Factory, and I will invest with my sales channels. If this happens again, the law will support me in directly seizing the inventory and factory equipment for compensation, or even shutting down your factory. Only then will you be wary."

Having said that, he left. Mao'er even helped him open the car door! Mind you, that was just a small van worth sixty-something thousand. But the younger brother acted as if it were a Rolls-Royce, with such willing deference. Perhaps they had grown up listening to their elders brag that those big shots all had this kind of sweeping, conquer-all demeanor.

The three men were left standing stupidly by the table. The engineer finally called the waiter to bring a bottle of white liquor and began drinking in silence.

Editor-in-Chief Feng got into the car and stopped trying to mediate: "They are a school-run factory, a small collective enterprise. There is indeed such a thing as joint-stock reform. If it could be done, it would be a very advanced case. Little Rang, your vision is very broad."

Rang Weidong gave a wry smile: "It's like a married couple living together. If she is always secretly taking things from the house to sell and spending the money recklessly, can this life be lived well? Can they work together? Ultimately, it's that I have no say in this factory. The city of Jiangzhou is very supportive of my other factory and doesn't interfere. I want to strive to start advertising in July or August and expand sales nationwide. Can the *Sunshine Daily* provide more support?"

Editor-in-Chief Feng, sitting in the second row, also leaned forward: "We are a central newspaper, a Party newspaper. Everything we do is to support reform policies and support pioneering and innovative enterprises. Since the tape recorder matter has already been recommended in the newspaper, other enterprises are watching, and we have to bear the pressure. We still hope you can sell these tape recorders well."

In the world of adults, everything is indeed a skillful transaction and manipulation. Even though this Editor-in-Chief Feng appeared to be an intellectual, he could still lay out his conditions with ease.

Rang Weidong started with the main course: "This matter depends on them. I don't want these enterprise shares; what I want is to be able to complete things according to my correct steps. Jiangzhou is doing a good job. It's a sanitary napkin factory. Have you heard of sanitary napkins..."

They were both men, so it wasn't that awkward to talk about it in the car: "Everyone who uses them says they are good. This is a huge improvement in personal hygiene conditions. We... Hey, Mao'er, where is the photo you took when you came to inspect yesterday afternoon?"

Editor-in-Chief Feng immediately became interested. He didn't lack that sense of news sensitivity: "But now that your production in Jiangzhou is already tight, how can you sell to the whole country?"

Rang Weidong said easily: "This production is just a few steps. Are there raw materials? Jiangzhou happens to have the largest cotton mill in the southwest, and several fabric and printing and dyeing plants, all with unlimited supply. Can we expand equipment on a large scale? The electromechanical department at Jiangzhou University can continuously assemble new machines. Every additional machine means tens of thousands more in daily production. And finally, is there enough manpower to pack them? Isn't that just hiring people to stick on tape?"

Warming to the subject, he gave an example: "An auntie who previously didn't have a job can earn thirty-six yuan a day if she works hard at packaging. Do you think I can hire people?"

Editor-in-Chief Feng was already taking out his notebook and recording: "Continue! Continue!"

Solving employment and expanding productivity—this was the very core of reform.