Extraordinary Genius

The Motor Factory got to modify the production line. They only have a temporary production line for the humidifiers now, and it was not enough. There must be a specialized production line for this. Feng Yu had said that once the Aviation Factory’s research was ready, the Motor Factory must start the production immediately. The output must not be lower than 50,000 units a month.

The market was empty, and this was considered a monopoly. But they must capture the market first. Even in this era, Feng Yu’s forecast was at least a few hundred thousand units will be sold a year in China. There was still the bigger overseas market.

……

The Post Office had just open, and there were 2 customers. It was snowing heavily today, and these 2 men must have something urgent.

“Welcome, oh, it’s Shiqiang. You are here to fax documents again?”

“Brother Hui, I am not here to fax documents. I am here to buy something. Will chat with you later. I am going over to that side.”

Brother Hui looked at Li Shiqiang walking over to a corner, and his eyes opened wide. This Li Shiqiang really became wealthy. He was going over to look at pagers! This pager costs a few thousand RMB a piece.

But since Li Shiqiang could drive cars now, he can surely afford a pager.

“Brother Qiang, you are here. These pagers had just arrived. Which one do you want to see?”

There were only numeric pagers, and Feng Yu was disappointed. The Chinese characters pagers were only available the following year. But this pager should be enough for the time being. It was better than unable to contact him if there were any emergencies.

“How many do you have?” Feng Yu asked.

The staff looked at Feng Yu. Who was this arrogant kid? 1 pager was not enough for him?

“Sun Wenwen, how many pagers do you have?” Li Shiqiang asked again.

Sun Wenwen’s eyes grew big: “Brother Qiang, what do you mean? You are buying a few?”

Feng Yu smiled and said: “Not a few. We need about 20.”

Feng Yu’s tone was casual, and he had interrupted Sun Wenwen. She thought to herself: “What? 20 pagers? 1 pager cost 4,000 RMB. You want 20? Then it will be 80,000 RMB. This kid does not know how expensive these pagers are. It’s 80,000 RMB. Have you seen 80,000 RMB?”

“Young man, this pager cost 4,000 RMB.” Sun Wenwen said to Feng Yu.

“4,000 RMB? It’s not expensive. I want 20. Take it out. I want to see.” Feng Yu thought the pager would cost at least 5,000 RMB. Seems like the prices were lower compared to last year.

“Brother Qiang, who is this kid? Stop joking with me.” If it were not for Li Shiqiang, she would have scolded them crazy. This kid was arrogant. A pager cost 4,000 RMB, and he wanted 20? He thinks that these were 4 RMB toys?

“This is my brother-in-law. He is not joking with you. We are buying for the company. Do you have 20 pieces? Take them out.”

Feng Yu had discussed with Li Shiqiang. Wu Zhigang and the rest of the staffs had to travel frequently and were always uncontactable. What if there were any emergencies?

Feng Yu said that the losses caused by being uncontactable would be higher than these measly few thousand RMB. Furthermore, Tai Hua Trading had made lots of profits this year, and Feng Yu wants to reward Wu Zhigang and the staffs. That’s why Li Shiqiang did not oppose this idea.

Li Shiqiang was also more generous now. He was staying in a big apartment, drive a small car, and the status of the people he met now was higher. How could he forget the staffs who had work hard together with him?

Sun Wenwen heard Li Shiqiang and said embarrassedly: “Brother Qiang, we do not have 20 pagers. We only have 16 units.”

16 units? It’s enough too. Feng Yu waved his hands and said: “Take out everything for me.”

At that juncture, someone walked into the Post Office and came to Sun Wenwen’s sales counter.

“Hey girl, you sell pager here? Give me the most expensive one!”

He had said that in a loud voice. It was as if he was afraid other people could hear him. The most expensive pager? Couldn’t he read the sign on the wall? Every pager was selling for 4,000 RMB.

Feng Yu turned to look at that man. That man was wearing a coat and a bowler hat. There was nothing unusual about his dressing, but Feng Yu could not accept it when he opened his mouth to show off his two gold tooth.

“Oh, that’s a pager? Let me see.” The golden tooth man stretched his arm over to take the pager from Feng Yu.

Feng Yu stepped back. This person is rude. Can’t he see that I am holding on to the pager? Can’t he ask for it nicely?

The golden tooth man did not expect Feng Yu to dodge him. He growled: “Where did this kid come from? Get lost. This thing is costly. Can your family afford to pay for it if you break it?”

After he said that, he tried to snatch the pager from Feng Yu again.

“Whether if we can afford to pay for it, is our problem. It has nothing to do with you.” Feng Yu can’t be bothered this type of people. He turned to Sun Wenwen and said: “Okay. These pagers are fine.”

“Who you think you are speaking to? Hey, salesgirl. I want that pager. Bring it over!” The golden tooth man shouted at Sun Wenwen.

Salesgirl? Sun Wenwen rolled her eyes and said to the golden tooth man: “I’m sorry sir, this is sold.”

“Then get me another one. Hurry up, stupid!” The golden tooth man said impatiently. He had made 30,000 RMB from his business this year. If he had a pager clipped to his belt, then even if that pretty girl from the village does not want to marry him, her parents would also force her to marry him!

“Sorry. There are no more pagers.” Sun Wenwen replied.

“Little girl, you are treating me like a fool? There are so many pagers in your counter, and you are telling me there’s no more? Where’s the Manager? Ask him out! I want to ask him; how did he train you!” Golden tooth man shouted angrily.

Li Shiqiang could not stand it anymore and said: “Mister, these pagers were all sold. It is no use even if you look for the manager. If you have the time to shout here, why not go to other Post Office? Also, it’s better for you to not speak so loud in public. It just shows how uncultured you are.”

“Who are you calling uncultured? I am here to buy things and have you heard of the saying, customers are gods?” Golden Tooth man said and tried pushed Li Shiqiang.

Li Shiqiang sidestepped and grabbed the golden tooth man’s wrist with his right hand and twisted it hard. The golden tooth man immediately kneels on the ground. Li Shiqiang was in the military for 3 years, and it was a piece of cake for him to handle thugs like him.

“Ahhhhh…… You dare to hit me? Help! Someone is hitting me!”

The Post Office Manager came running in: “What happen? Xiao Li, let him go first.”

Li Shiqiang released his grip, but the Golden Tooth man remained on the ground.

“Humph, this guy thinks that he had a bit of money and tried to create trouble here. He even scolded Sun Wenwen just now.”

Sun Wenwen also added: “Manager, he was trying to create trouble here. I told him that the pagers were sold out, but he insisted me to sell one to him. I am not a magician, and I can’t make one pager appear in thin air.”

“Sold out? Didn’t the new stocks just arrive this week?” The Manager asked.

“That’s right. She did it on purpose. You are the manager, right? This person must be fired!” The golden tooth man stood up and started shouting. He felt that the manager was on his side.

Suddenly, Feng Yu said nonchalantly: “It was indeed sold out. Just 5 minutes ago, I had bought all the pagers.”

“Bluff. You can carry on bluffing. You have the money to buy all the pagers here?” The Golden tooth man shouted.

Feng Yu opened his bag, which was placed on the counter, and took out money from it. His salary was all in hundred RMB notes rolled into bundles.

1 bundle, 2 bundles…… 6 bundles, 7 bundles, 8 bundles.

Feng Yu tapped on the money: “There is 80,000 RMB here. 1 pager is selling for 4,000 RMB, 16 pagers will cost 64,000 RMB. The network fees are 800 RMB for a pager. Is this money enough?”

Author’s notes:

Chinese characters pager was introduced in 1990 by Inspur and Motorola together. China’s Ningbo Bird Company introduced the domestically produced pagers in 1993. By that time, there were mobile phones. But the talk time was only about 30 mins.