Advertising would require a great deal of capital, and he had virtually no money on hand now. The several hundred thousand he had before had already been used to purchase CNC Machines and raw materials. Even if he had not bought the machines and materials, that amount would not have been nearly enough. What was more, he had less than a hundred thousand left now, so promotion was simply impossible at the moment.
In other words, given the current circumstances, large-scale online sales would still be very difficult. He could only start by selling through physical stores.
Just then, Zhang Yi suddenly thought of the electric vehicle shop where he had worked in Hangcheng.
Without hesitation, he took out his phone and called Huang Jie.
Huang Xiru had also been deeply troubled lately. In recent years, electric vehicle brands had continued to multiply, and more and more electric vehicle shops had opened in Hangcheng. Workers' wages had also kept rising. Although she sold high-end branded electric vehicles, and her profits were much better than those from low-end bicycles, her profits had indeed fallen by more than half compared with a few years ago. If this continued, she would barely make any money at all.
Most importantly, all of her electric vehicle shops were located in the busiest areas of Hangcheng. If the profits were too low, she might as well rent all the shops out. That way, she would still have a considerable monthly income without working, and she would not have to exhaust herself every day like she did now.
Recently, she had been considering whether to change careers. As a result, she had become far less diligent about the shop than before. For example, it was already so late this morning, yet she was still sleeping in bed. That would have been unimaginable not long ago.
In fact, Huang Xiru had been awake for quite some time; she simply had not gotten up. As she lay in bed wondering whether she should leave the electric vehicle industry, her phone rang. When she picked it up and saw who it was, a faint smile appeared on her face.
After Zhang Yi called Huang Xiru, the call was quickly answered. Huang Xiru's familiar voice came through the phone. "Xiao Yi! Is that you? You finally called me! I thought you'd forgotten about me. I treated you so well before, but tell me, since you went home, have you ever taken the initiative to call me?"
"Huang Jie! Aren't I calling you now? I've been a little busy lately, so I..." Zhang Yi held the phone awkwardly, not knowing what to say.
He had worked at Huang Jie's shop for several years, and she had always thought highly of him. His skills were also better than those of ordinary employees, so his salary had been somewhat higher than theirs.
Even so, after returning home, Zhang Yi had rarely called Huang Xiru. He knew that the two of them could never be together; they belonged to completely different worlds. To put it bluntly, Huang Xiru was beautiful, fair, and rich, while he was the typical nobody with nothing. He had thought that after returning home, their paths would never cross again. Yet unexpectedly, he still had to call her this time.
"Tell me. Is there something you need? Otherwise, with your personality, you would never take the initiative to call me." Huang Xiru knew Zhang Yi's personality very well. If there were no reason, he definitely would not call her.
Zhang Yi then told Huang Xiru that he had invented an Aerodynamic Bicycle and hoped to sell it in her shops.
After hearing that Zhang Yi had invented an Aerodynamic Bicycle, Huang Xiru felt somewhat disappointed. She had heard of Aerodynamic Bicycles before; after all, they occasionally appeared in the news and other media. As an electric vehicle dealer, she had even specifically looked into them.
She did not think Aerodynamic Bicycles could sell. Compared with electric vehicles and ordinary bicycles, leaving aside everything else, their appearance alone made widespread adoption difficult. Every Aerodynamic Bicycle she had seen before had a huge air tank mounted on it.
Together with gauges, air tubes, and all sorts of miscellaneous components, every one of them looked terrible. No one would like them. On top of that, there were limitations in speed and range, so she believed Zhang Yi's so-called Aerodynamic Bicycle was no different from those featured in the news.
"Xiao Yi! I don't think Aerodynamic Bicycles have any future, so I don't support you doing this." Upon hearing that Zhang Yi planned to manufacture Aerodynamic Bicycles, Huang Xiru spoke to him directly.
"Huang Jie! Listen to me! My Aerodynamic Bicycle is fundamentally different from those in the news. How about this? I'll send you photos of the bicycle I made. Look at them first, then we can talk." Hearing Huang Xiru's words, Zhang Yi knew what she was thinking. After all, when he had been in Hangcheng, he had discussed this kind of bicycle with Huang Jie before.
After saying that, Zhang Yi immediately aimed his phone at his Aerodynamic Bicycle and took several photos. He also attached the specifications of the bicycle before sending everything to Huang Jie.
When Huang Xiru received the photos Zhang Yi had sent, along with the specifications of his Aerodynamic Bicycle, she could hardly believe it. The bicycle in the pictures looked little different from an ordinary bicycle, yet it was an Aerodynamic Bicycle with such outstanding performance.
Of course, this Aerodynamic Bicycle was still very different from an ordinary bicycle. Its frame was clearly much thicker, roughly three times the size of a normal bicycle frame. It had pedals, but she could not see a chain, and she was certain it was not powered by an internal drive shaft either.
Only after looking through the photos did she examine the bicycle's specifications. In this age where appearance was king, without good looks, no matter how outstanding a product's performance was, it could never achieve good results.
That was especially true for a novel product like this. So after receiving the Aerodynamic Bicycle's specifications, she had first looked at its appearance before examining anything else.
Just look at the products on the market: if their exterior was even slightly more distinctive, they cost far more than standard models. It was normal for them to cost several times as much. Yet in terms of other performance, those electric vehicles were actually no different from ordinary ones, and were sometimes even worse.
After looking over the bicycle's appearance and performance data, she was finally relieved. At the same time, she felt that this Aerodynamic Bicycle had great potential. She called Zhang Yi again, and as soon as he answered, she immediately said, "Fine. If the Aerodynamic Bicycle you produce is really the same as in your photos, and its performance is the same as well, then I agree. And I want the agency rights for all of Hangcheng."
Before you continue