Siheyuan: Returning to 61 to collect waste

Although they did not have completely new ideas, the design of refrigerators did improve significantly after adopting Ye Chuan's suggestions.

Looking at everyone's thoughtful expressions, Ye Chuan left the R&D center without taking away a trace of dust, leaving behind the key to unlock the rigid thinking.

Three days later, the latest refrigerator design drawings were placed on his desk. Although there was no revolutionary technical breakthrough, everyone worked together to come up with a lot of clever ideas, some of which made Ye Chuan's eyes light up.

Ye Chuan crossed out the unnecessary parts of the design and then handed the document back to Ma Jianshe.

"Construction, we can start trial production now, and make a few machines to test their operation. If there are no problems, we will start large-scale production immediately."

"Understood, Director Ye, I will arrange it immediately."

Before they finished speaking, the phone on the desk interrupted them. Picking up the phone, the voice of Xia Zhongyuan, who had been traveling outside for half a year, came from the other end.

"Zhongyuan, how have things been going in the past six months? Are things going well?"

Xia Zhongyuan's excited reply came from the headset, "Director Ye, I have lived up to your trust. I have traveled to nearly a hundred cities and initially established a sales network. Although the business scale of these customers is not large at present, I believe that they will become leaders in various regions in the future."

Others might not take Xia Zhongyuan's words seriously, but Ye Chuan believed them without a doubt.

After all, many of the future rich people started out by setting up stalls in the 1980s, some selling clothes, some running breakfast stalls, and some dealing in home appliances. In comparison, there are very few people who have a higher platform from the beginning.

At that time, the workers' monthly salary was usually 30 to 50 yuan, and many people looked down on street vendors, thinking that they were of superior status.

The stall owners also look down on these workers. Although it is hard work to purchase goods and they have to endure wind, rain and sun, their monthly income often reaches hundreds of yuan. Even an old lady selling tea eggs can earn more than 100 yuan.

Since China abolished the voucher purchase system, the quality of life of this group of people has greatly improved, and fish, shrimp and seafood, which are luxuries for ordinary people, have become regular guests on their tables. Whether it is household items, table dishes, or clothing, the changes in living conditions can be clearly felt.

The ticket system was officially abolished nationwide after the 1990s, but since the beginning of reform and opening up, the number of street stalls has increased, and you can buy food without tickets by spending only a few cents more.

Shenzhen, in particular, was the first city to abolish the various ticket systems in the early 1980s, followed by Beijing, Shanghai and other large cities. People no longer had to rely on food ration cards, and their tables were now more abundant and diverse.

After supply and marketing cooperatives across the country introduced this electronic watch into their own cities, a craze for buying electronic watches swept across China. Especially for ordinary people who could not afford a watch worth dozens of yuan, the electronic watches produced by Huade Electronics Factory were particularly attractive.

In a fourth-tier city, a man named Yang Daniu has a relative named Yang Dazhuang, who works as the purchasing section chief at the local supply and marketing cooperative.

The city also received an invitation from the Beijing Supply and Marketing Cooperative to attend a business promotion conference in Beijing.

As the consumption level in this city is relatively average, the head of the supply and marketing cooperative did not go there in person, but only sent Yang Dazhuang to attend the meeting. Before leaving, the leader approved 100 yuan for the purchase of electronic watches for the sake of face.

After hearing Ye Chuan's introduction, Yang Dazhuang thought that this electronic watch was affordable and of high quality, and would definitely be warmly welcomed in his small city. But he only had 100 yuan in funds, so he decided to call his cousin who was far away in his hometown to discuss countermeasures, and planned to...

After raising some funds, we purchased another two hundred electronic watches.

Yang Daniu has always been like a lawless character, relying on his cousin, the head of the purchasing department of the supply and marketing cooperative, to do some opportunistic things and barely make a living.

After receiving the loan from his cousin in the capital, he tried his best to borrow money from some factories related to the supply and marketing cooperatives under the name of his cousin.

Although he knew nothing about his cousin's plan, he decided to support him unconditionally given that he had been relying on him for survival for many years.

When his cousin came back with a 300-degree electronic watch, he was caught off guard. Selling eggs was easy for him, but selling electronic watches was new to him.

However, he was greatly encouraged by the sales of electronic watches in the supply and marketing cooperatives.

As a state-owned enterprise, the supply and marketing cooperative could not raise prices without authorization. In just five days, the two models of electronic watches, W80 at 01 yuan and W20 at 02 yuan, were sold out, surprising both the head and deputy head of the supply and marketing cooperative.

When they contacted the capital to place additional orders, the reply they got was that it would take half a year.

This shocked the two leaders, as they had never expected that electronic watches would be so popular in their small fourth-tier city.

In his heart, he couldn't help but complain that Yang Dazhuang had ordered too little, but after all, this was done under their instructions, and now he could only swallow the bitter fruit.

The popularity of electronic watches in the supply and marketing cooperative made brothers Yang Dazhuang and Yang Daniu excited. Looking at the 200 yuan inventory at home, they seemed to smell the scent of money.

As the director of a supply and marketing cooperative, Yang Dazhuang is not suitable for setting up stalls everywhere to sell goods, but Yang Daniu does not care about these restrictions. He takes dozens of electronic watches to set up stalls in the city's most prosperous places every day.

In the past, he was mostly responsible for collecting eggs from the countryside, or asking his cousin to help get some goods from the supply and marketing cooperative that did not require ration coupons to sell, usually at a very low price.

It was the first time for Yang Daniu to sell such a high-priced product as an electronic watch, so he was extremely careful, fearing that the watch might be damaged.

In this city, only a few people could afford to buy the electronic watches that cost only one hundred yuan at the supply and marketing cooperative. Most people rushed to the supply and marketing cooperative after hearing about it, but didn't even see a trace of it.

Although the quality of electronic watches may not be as good as that of mechanical watches, young people's pursuit of fashion makes them very eager for these trendy products, especially when they see their friends owning them, they are even more envious.

Children who come from well-off families and have relatives and friends in big cities will ask their relatives to help buy the items and send them back to show off.

For those who have no access but still desire to get a digital watch, they are more impatient and eager.

Of course, Yang Daniu had no idea that so many people hoped to buy this coveted item. He only saw that electronic watches were selling well in the supply and marketing cooperative.

Yang Daniu came to a busy neighborhood, used the plastic sheet on the ground as a booth, displayed several electronic watches, and sat on the ground, smoking leisurely.

Soon, a couple walked by and the young man glanced at the booth and stopped. "Comrade, are these all electronic watches?"

"Good eyes!" Yang Daniu responded approvingly, "They are the ones that are hot-selling in the supply and marketing cooperatives these days."

The young man looked at the electronic watch with a little suspicion and asked, "Is it the kind sold in the supply and marketing cooperative during that period?"

"Well, but I heard that the supply and marketing cooperative has run out of stock a long time ago, and the next batch will have to wait until half a year later!" Yang Daniu said softly.

The young man pulled the young woman up and squatted down together. "Xiao Li, my co-worker just bought one, and it can also display the date and day of the week. It's amazing."

"I've heard about it, but it seems that it's not available on the market now."

Yang Daniu said to them proudly, "You two, now in the whole city, except for here, you can't buy electronic watches anywhere else!"

"How much is it?" the young man asked. "Which one do you want to buy? Model W01 or Model W02?"

"What's the difference between these two models?" asked the young woman, who obviously didn't know much about electronic watches.

Yang Daniu was well prepared and picked up two watches to introduce:

"This is the W01 model, which only has time display and chronograph functions. This is the W02 model, which is not only much heavier than the W01 model, but also has calendar and day display functions!"

"How much is the one with the calendar and day of the week?"

"35 yuan!" Yang Daniu stretched out three and five fingers and answered.

"So expensive?" The young man almost jumped up like a cat whose tail was stepped on. "The supply and marketing cooperative only sells it for 19 yuan, and you're asking for 9 yuan?"

"Then you can wait half a year before going to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy it!" Yang Daniu continued to sit on the ground and said sarcastically.

“But... it’s too expensive!” The young man was reluctant to spend so much more money, but he also wanted to get this watch very much.

Yang Daniu counted on his fingers: "Comrade, this price is really not expensive. I got all these electronic watches in Beijing. What about the money for the train tickets? What about the accommodation? What about the living expenses? What about the favors?"

The young man thought about it carefully and it did make sense, but 35 yuan was equivalent to more than 70% of his monthly salary. He would still feel distressed for a while to spend so much money on a watch.

"Comrade, 35 yuan is really too expensive, can it be cheaper?" "The W01 model is cheaper, only 18 yuan!"

The young man has tried the W02 model, so why would he like the W01 model? Although it is half the price, he needs the calendar and day functions more.

"Comrade, I want the W02 model. Can you give me a discount?"

Yang Daniu thought about it for a while, and finally said helplessly: "Okay, I'll sell it to you for 32 yuan. With my travel expenses, I won't even make a profit. I'm selling it to you because you don't want to part with it!"

Although the young man still felt that it was a bit expensive, 3 yuan was his living expenses for a week after all, and it was not a small amount. He gritted his teeth, stamped his feet, took out three big unity notes and two one-yuan notes from his pocket and handed them over. "Deal! Give me one yuan!"

Yang Daniu took the money, counted it twice, and then put it in his pocket with satisfaction. Then he took out a well-packaged W02 watch from his bag and handed it to the other party.

The young man took the W02 electronic watch, played with it for a while, and then reluctantly handed it to the young woman.

"Xiao Li, this electronic watch is for you!"

The young woman named Xiaoli excitedly took the electronic watch and hurriedly put it on her wrist. Yang Daniu was so excited because he successfully sold his first watch that he seemed to see piles of cash floating in front of him.