Ways to Sell Televisions

The next morning, Fang Bai and his father ate breakfast and headed into town together.

On the way back, Fang Shi pedaled the bicycle with Fang Bai riding behind him.

Fang Bai sat on the rear rack with his father's clothes on his back. Watching his father pedal hard, he jumped down whenever they reached an uphill stretch.

Once he made some money, he would buy his father a motorcycle.

He couldn't bear to buy one that was too good. The next time he went to T City, he would find a way to get a secondhand one. That would make it much more convenient for his parents to travel into town, instead of taking at least half an hour to bike to the rental house like they did now. Riding a motorcycle at night would be more convenient too.

Half an hour later, father and son arrived at the rental house.

"Son, this place is pretty nice. How much does it cost to rent for a year?" Fang Shi asked as he watched his son unlock the door, then looked up to inspect the second floor and the surroundings.

"About 360 yuan."

"That's expensive."

"Dad, you need to get used to this. When you do business, you have to think like a businessman." Fang Bai opened the front door, revealing a house full of televisions that left his father stunned.

"My god, there really are hundreds of TVs." Fang Shi clicked his tongue and couldn't resist starting to count them.

The televisions were lined up against the walls, taking up half the room and stacked several layers high.

Fang Shi was somewhat worried. "Son, can all of these be repaired?"

"It's impossible to fix them all. As long as we can piece two broken ones together into one working TV, that's enough."

Fang Bai had long prepared an explanation for why he knew how to repair televisions. From now on, he would gradually reveal his genius in front of his family.

Even if his family had doubts, they would not question him too deeply. They would attribute Fang Bai's sudden intelligence and capability to an accident.

"Dad, you can sleep on the second floor. There's a bedroom up there."

Fang Bai took his father upstairs. He had already discussed it with the family. Since his father was helping out here, it was impossible for him to rush back to the village every night.

Whenever his mother was not working, she could come over as well. The family could reunite and live together here.

"Son, get busy first. I'll put my things down and see what I can do to help you."

Fang Shi quickly settled into the role of working for his son. He did not know how to repair televisions, nor did he understand how to run this business. His son had earned more than ten thousand yuan and managed to bring all these televisions back. Since Fang Bai had found a way to make money, he was already more capable than his father.

As long as some of the televisions could be repaired and sold, they could recover their capital. But Fang Shi did not understand the specifics, so he could only listen to his son's arrangements.

Fang Bai went downstairs to write recruitment posters. A while later, his father came down from the second floor and said to him, "Dad, we need to hire a few people to help repair these TVs. I generally know what problems they have, so I need people to help dismantle them. It'd be best if they know a little electrical work. I can direct them through dismantling, reassembly, and repairs.

"The pay is negotiable. The main thing is finding people. I want to recruit students with relevant skills from nearby electronics factories or Wencheng University.

"Later, we'll split up. You ride around nearby and see whether there are any electronics factories. If there are, put up the posters near the factories. Don't stick them right at the factory gates, or people will curse us out.

"I'll go to Wencheng University to put up posters. Interviews will all be held at the shop."

"Alright, no problem. But isn't ten yuan a day too much?" Fang Shi nodded and glanced at the recruitment information on the poster, feeling that the wage was too high.

"Dad, we're short on time. There are still lots of secondhand TVs over in T City, and this television market is enormous. We can't possibly earn all the money out there.

"Forget ten yuan a day. If we can find capable people who can help me handle this whole mess and let me sit back and reap the rewards, I'd pay a hundred yuan a day.

"Think about it, Dad. If one person can help us make hundreds or even thousands of yuan a day, what's the big deal about giving them a little incentive?

"Sure, we could hire people for a few yuan a day, but they wouldn't be capable enough. They'd hold us back from expanding and delay my studying too. That would be penny-wise and pound-foolish. It wouldn't be worth it."

Fang Bai patiently explained it to his father, hoping he would understand the key point.

Over the next few years, the currency would depreciate quickly, and wages would rise just as fast. Ten yuan a day was high pay now, but by 1993, it would be commonplace.

"Alright, you have a point."

Fang Shi had been unable to accept it at first, but after hearing his son's analysis, he saw the logic in it. You had to risk bait to catch big fish.

A while later, father and son set off.

Fang Bai took a rickshaw to nearby Wencheng University, which was still a vocational college at the time. He slipped onto campus and posted recruitment notices on the school bulletin boards.

[High-Paying Recruitment: As our company expands its business, we are eager to recruit several students familiar with television and circuit board repair!

Pay: 10 yuan/day!

Paid daily, lunch included. This job can be part-time or long-term.

Note: Only third-year students will be recruited.

A reminder: No registration fee is required. Any company that charges registration fees for interviews or applications is a scam!

Work and interview location: Across from Oubei No. 1 Middle School...

Contact: Mr. Fang]

There was no phone number, and the company had not even been established yet, but there was nothing wrong with wording the poster that way. The company would be founded sooner or later anyway.

As soon as Fang Bai finished posting the notice, passing students swarmed over to read it. Once they saw the contents clearly, they began discussing it animatedly.

"Wow, that pay is high."

"It's not that much. Once we graduate and get into a good work unit, we might earn even more than that."

"That's different, isn't it? They're only hiring temporary workers. Where else could we find a part-time job with such high pay?"

"Working for a private business? I wouldn't do it anyway."

Most students did not have much monthly living money. For children from rural families, their families generally gave them less than ten yuan a month.

The state also subsidized university students, but students who were not in teacher-training programs received less.

Quite a few students came from families that were desperately short of money. Their younger sisters and brothers still needed money for school. In this era, who did not have siblings?

This company was offering ten yuan a day, enough to solve the immediate financial problems of most students.

Students in this era thought differently from those in later generations. Many were proud and lofty, believing that after graduation, they would enter the system and get an Iron Rice Bowl job. There was no way they would work for a private business.

They would not go even if it killed them!

What they did not know was that five or six years later, the country would begin implementing a policy of no longer guaranteeing job placement for university students. It would be rolled out on a large scale in 1998, and by 2000, the job assignment system would be completely abolished.

Some students were arrogant, but others were willing to give it a try.

Forget ten yuan a day. Even if it were only a few yuan a day, many students would still be tempted.

It was extremely rare for a private business to come to Wencheng University to recruit part-time workers. Many students had never seen anything like it.

Since wages were paid that very day and lunch was included, the students were not afraid of being scammed.

But the requirements were not low either. They had to know how to repair televisions or circuit boards.

Fang Bai posted several notices on the bulletin boards around Wencheng University, then left campus and returned to the rental house.

How should he sell the repaired televisions?

That was the question he had been considering lately.

He had considered several ways of selling televisions, such as setting up a street stall, opening an electrical appliance store, and going door to door.

Families that could afford a television would not be doing too poorly financially. They would be more inclined to buy from a legitimate shop, so it would be best to open an electrical appliance store.

But opening another storefront required capital.

Renovating the shop would take time as well.

For Fang Bai, spending a little more money was no big deal. Time was the real issue.

After thinking briefly, he felt that people in this era were still perfectly accepting of street stalls. He could try that first, saving some money and time.

If street-stall sales did not work well, he could consider other sales methods.

Maybe his idea was wrong in the first place.