Chapter 40

Part two: The Allure of Business. Chapter 40: Every problem can be solved

Xie Zhan had inflated the company's assets to obtain a ten-million-yuan loan from the Bank of China, and this was the key reason he had been driven out of Haiyu Company. Of course, with the connections behind Xie Wanqing, she could easily have kept that enormous sum in the company. Instead, she had repaid the Bank of China ahead of schedule, leaving Haiyu Company strapped for working capital. The chaotic management of the past few years had already paralyzed the distribution network Xu Zhiming had built single-handedly.

The so-called Haizhou office had no resources whatsoever beyond an office with two months left on its lease.

Seeing the worry in Xu Si's eyes as she sat across from him, Zhang Ke smiled at her and spoke into the phone to Ye Xiaotong, whom he had yet to meet. "There are a lot of unfavorable rumors about Haiyu Company right now, and some of the things that have happened recently are no secret in the industry. I don't deny that Haiyu Company currently has some problems with funding and distribution channels. But you can't deny that Haiyu Company has the ability to resolve these problems very quickly. At the very least, the Haizhou office can resolve its funding and distribution problems in a short time."

Hearing Zhang Ke directly hint that Xu Xueping, deputy secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, stood behind Haiyu Company, Ye Xiaotong fell silent on the other end for a while before saying, "Apart from Ericsson, several other international telecommunications manufacturers will be entering China this year and next. Why doesn't Haiyu Company become an agent for those brands?"

"Only Ericsson has plans to launch a Chinese-language digital mobile phone next year. Although international telecommunications manufacturers such as Philips, Siemens, Alcatel, Sony, and Dopod will also enter the domestic market one after another, they lack confidence in its prospects. That will constrain their expansion in China next year, which is quite fatal for an agent." Seeing Ye Xiaotong take the initiative to turn the conversation to digital phones was just what Zhang Ke wanted, and he continued with practiced ease. "Of the few digital phones with English interfaces currently available in China, I believe Ericsson is the only brand that can compete with Motorola in the short term. The GH388 will pioneer the candy-bar phone, and the signal indicator light it uses may also become a standard feature on digital phones. The Chinese-language phone Ericsson launches next year should be an upgraded version of the GH388. For mobile phone users accustomed to those 'big brother' phones shaped like enormous kettles, this model will always feel stunning. Just as I'm very much looking forward to meeting you, Miss Ye, I'm also eagerly awaiting the arrival of Ericsson's Chinese-language digital phone. Looking back a few years from now, failing to become an Ericsson agent will be a considerable regret..."

Xu Si watched Zhang Ke holding the phone and speaking with assurance. Without looking at his boyish face, she would never have imagined he was a sixteen-year-old. No wonder Xie Wanqing had handed the Haizhou office over for him to play around with.

The familiarity with China's mobile phone market and the confidence in its prospects that Zhang Ke displayed over the phone interested Ye Xiaotong considerably. Besides, Haiyu Company was not a company she could simply brush off. She said she would make time to visit Haizhou and meet with them.

China's mobile phone market was only just emerging, and there was nothing particularly complicated about it. Moreover, most of the other agents venturing into mobile phone sales had switched over from selling pagers, and none had a comprehensive understanding of the mobile phone market that was just taking shape in 1994. Even the knowledge Zhang Ke had crammed into Xu Si in a mere half day was enough for her to pass herself off as half an expert in 1994, let alone when he handled things himself.

Zhang Ke put down the phone and clenched a fist at Xu Si to signal that the job was done.

The office was very quiet, and Xu Si had been able to faintly hear the voice on the other end. Seeing how excited Zhang Ke looked, she hated to dampen his spirits. "If you want to secure the agency rights, where are the distribution channels? Where's the money to stock the goods? Tricking her into coming here doesn't count as success, does it?"

"Taking the first step toward success is worth celebrating too," Zhang Ke said lightly. "Haizhou is my territory, after all. Do you think she'll still be able to escape my clutches once she sets foot here?"

"Oh, stop flattering yourself." Xu Si took a newspaper out of the drawer. "Who knows how many more people this recruitment ad will lure here."

Xu Si had no confidence that the two of them alone could keep the office running. She had stayed more because she felt she owed him a great debt of gratitude. Zhang Ke chuckled and said, "There'll be a lot of applicants next week. Screen some of them for me. Pick the ones who look highly capable and not easy to fool for interviews. Schedule the interviews for next Saturday. That's when I'll have time to attend."

The next day, the day before school officially began, Zhang Ke again spent his time at the office with Xu Si. There was very little material on digital communications available in Chinese, so most of what Zhang Ke collected was in English. It contained a great deal of technical vocabulary, and even Xu Si struggled to read it, having to consult the Oxford Dictionary whenever she encountered a technical term. Seeing Zhang Ke casually turning pages as quickly as if he were reading a novel, she smiled and said, "Stop putting on an act. If you're bored, go out and play for a while. You can read it once I've translated it."

"You're saying I'm putting on an act?" Zhang Ke pointed at his own nose. Looking up to find Xu Si eyeing him with disdain, he could not help laughing. "'To attitudinize,' 'to put on airs,' 'to assume airs,' 'to put on a show,' 'to strike a theatrical attitude,' 'affected'-those are the only English expressions I remember for 'putting on an act.' Why don't you check whether there are any other translations?"

Xu Si stared blankly at Zhang Ke. "Are you serious?"

Before his life had been reloaded, he had been a professional manager responsible for foreign trade at Longyu Group. How could his English possibly have been poor?

Zhang Ke took the black tortoiseshell glasses off Xu Si's nose and fixed his gaze on her clear black-and-white eyes. She was quite beautiful when she looked surprised, too. Beneath her straight nose, her soft red lips were slightly parted, her pearly teeth gleaming faintly, making one want to lean in and lick them.

"So all that writing and scribbling was you trying to translate these materials. Let me see whether your English is up to standard..."

Zhang Ke took the writing paper and English materials from in front of Xu Si. "Haizhou City Agricultural Machinery General Factory" was printed in red across the top of the paper. Her father, Xu Haishan, had brought it home from the factory, and she had taken some to use at the office. Zhang Ke sighed. "I forgot to ask my mom for pocket money. The office doesn't even have money to buy writing paper. How embarrassing if word gets out." He picked up a pen and began correcting Xu Si's translation.

Xu Si remembered the first time she had seen Philip Kotler's Marketing Management in the original English in Zhang Ke's room, with dense English annotations on slips of paper tucked between its pages. So he really had been reading it. Seeing him draw several lines through her translation, she blushed and hurriedly snatched the paper back. "As long as you can understand it. That saves me translating."

"That won't do either. I saw a lot of mistakes in there, and I've corrected them all for you. Your English needs work. How about I tutor you..."

Xu Si's pretty face flushed crimson. Seeing Zhang Ke watching her teasingly, she could have died of embarrassment and indignation, and reached out to cover his eyes. Zhang Ke caught her hand and pressed it down. Gazing into her beautiful eyes, which looked ready to brim with moisture, he smiled. "I told your dad I wanted you to tutor me anyway. I can't usually come to the office, either. Why don't you come over to my place in the evenings to help me with my schoolwork?"

"We'll talk about that later." Xu Si pulled her hand back. How could I ever have thought he was innocent? I must have been blind. His stare made her a little flustered, but she refused to concede. "Even if I can't tutor you in English, I can still help with your other subjects."

Zhang Ke smiled faintly. "I'm looking forward to it too."

"You're still staring?" Xu Si protested, but it had no effect on Zhang Ke. Feeling uneasy, she turned sideways. Wouldn't I be in trouble if Zhang Ke really were some kind of teenage genius? She remembered that understanding Philip Kotler's Marketing Management in the original English took more than just good English.