Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Putting out the first issue of "Crimson Youth" was clearly no easy task. Everyone was a novice, and even with guidance, they needed practice. Every day, I drilled Zhang Xiaotong on all the things to watch out for when running a magazine, and she passed them on to the editorial staff. As for distribution, we simply asked Dong Qinghua to handle the legwork. He knew perfectly well that doing things for Zhang Xiaotong always came with benefits.

While training this fledgling team, I also helped Zhang Xiaotong choose a warehouse location and started scouting people for the advertising department. Dong Qinghua was exceptionally quick to pick up on this and immediately recommended two advertising department buddies who had quit after falling out with the station director. Their first act upon joining Zhang Xiaotong was to ask Dong Qinghua for half a page of advertising space in Radio and Television News, without paying a cent. Dong Qinghua loudly lamented his poor choice of friends.

With publicity underway, I had Liu Mingyao put in a word with Wan Bochen, asking Professor Wan and his old colleagues to remember to promote Zhang Xiaotong when they went out to give lectures. These people had all benefited from Sun Electronics to some degree, and they had students everywhere, quite a few of whom carried some influence. Thanks to these Old Men, the initial publicity for "Crimson Youth" really cost very little.

I remarked to Zhang Xiaotong, "Classmate, this is the power of connections and celebrity appeal."

Zhang Xiaotong shook her head. "Someone refuses to be a celebrity, so I take the fall."

I smiled wryly. "Sis, do you think I want to shove you out into the spotlight? The problem is, putting myself out there would cause even more trouble..."

Zhang Xiaotong pinched my cheek. "I know. That's why I'm willing."

I pretended to be a puppy and snapped at her hand, startling Miss Zhang into snatching it back.

After a few woofs from me, Zhang Xiaotong's mobile rang. It was Lu Wei.

"President Zhang, the negotiations for the appliance center are more or less settled. Building it would take an investment of eight million and around eighteen months. So I'd suggest buying or renting an existing building and renovating it. Three months at most."

Standing beside Zhang Xiaotong, I could hear Lu Wei. Zhang Xiaotong looked at me and handed over the phone.

"Hello? Lu Wei? This is Zhou Xingwen. I heard your suggestion just now, and I think it's very good. Do you have a location in mind?"

Lu Wei addressed me rather awkwardly as President Zhou, then answered softly, "There's a state-owned store beside Beiguan City Experimental Primary School, near Riverside Residential Community. It's basically stopped operating now."

"Oh, right..." I remembered. "You mean that department store that used to sell kitchenware and small appliances?"

"Yes, that's the one. We contacted their manager earlier. He said it wouldn't be a problem as long as the city approved. The rent is very cheap, too. Including renovation costs, the initial investment shouldn't exceed 350,000."

"All right, I'll leave this to you, then. Go discuss it with the city. North Gate doesn't have many investors right now, so it'd be best to secure as many preferential policies as you can."

"Okay, go ahead with what you have in mind. Have Liu Mingyao visit a few major appliance manufacturers to discuss distribution rights and sales. Make sure our channels are secured."

"Understood. I'll pass that on to him."

After hanging up, I looked at Zhang Xiaotong with a miserable expression.

Zhang Xiaotong looked puzzled. "What's wrong?"

With a long sigh, I flopped headfirst onto the sofa. "No money..."

Zhang Xiaotong burst out laughing. "Still no money? Just how rich do you want to be?"

I wriggled over beside Zhang Xiaotong and gently nibbled the back of her hand. "I want 120 million, for real estate."

Zhang Xiaotong pulled back the hand I had bitten. "120 million? We should be about there after this year, shouldn't we?"

I shook my head. "Next year will be a little late. This year is when we can make the big money."

Zhang Xiaotong blinked at me. "A loan?"

I nodded. "A loan. But we need someone else to take the lead on this. I don't want you doing it."

Zhang Xiaotong ventured, "Have Dong Qinghua invite the credit department chief to dinner?"

"Yes, let's start with that. We don't need much. Forty million at low interest, for two years. Give the credit chief a little extra. We need to look sincere."

Zhang Xiaotong said, "That depends on what Dong Qinghua can do. I can only tell him what we have in mind. Haven't we been asking rather a lot of him lately?"

I stretched. "He's delighted. How much do you think he makes in a whole year from advertising commissions and corporate publicity? What he earns from doing two things for you is enough to match a year's work. Why wouldn't he be willing? Besides, the better you do, the higher he rises along with you, doesn't he?"

"That's true. But I'm still worried about whether Dong Qinghua can pull this off."

"Don't worry. Dong Qinghua and Chief Liu are good friends." Realizing I had let something slip again, I hurried to patch it up. "He mentioned it once. They seem very close. As long as all your paperwork is in order, there definitely won't be a problem."

Zhang Xiaotong nodded. After working out what to say with me, she called Dong Qinghua the next day.

Dong Qinghua hesitated over the loan. "Forty million? That won't be easy..."

Zhang Xiaotong said, "Trust me. There'll definitely be enough assets for collateral, and we certainly won't lose money."

The cake business had recently entered an era of fierce competition, and profits had plummeted. Watching from the sidelines, Dong Qinghua had come to admire Zhang Xiaotong's judgment utterly. After hesitating for a while, he finally made up his mind. "All right. Liu Shaoyi has been my friend for years. As long as your paperwork is in order, I'll definitely get this done for you."

Zhang Xiaotong chuckled. "Thank you, Uncle Dong. Once I've finished dealing with the magazine next week, let me treat you to dinner."

Dong Qinghua chuckled on the other end. "Xiaotong, you're far more capable than all us uncles. That drive of yours alone is enough to make me help you. There's no rush to talk about money."

Zhang Xiaotong phrased it beautifully. "Don't worry. You'll have a share of the profits, and any losses are mine. Whatever happens, I won't let you suffer for it, Uncle Dong."

That reassured Dong Qinghua considerably. "I'll invite Liu Shaoyi to dinner this weekend. I'll go alone. Just get all your paperwork ready."

"All right."

After putting down the phone, Zhang Xiaotong asked me, "Should we tell our families about this?"

I shook my head. "Telling them would be no different from dropping a bomb. Keep it secret for now. Put the property development company in Lu Wei's name, and have them find a good real estate manager as soon as possible. If they can't find one, hire an MBA on a high salary to keep up appearances. We'll still make the actual decisions ourselves."

"Also," I said to Zhang Xiaotong, remembering something, "replace Sun Electronics' spokesperson as soon as possible. Tell the public you've stepped away from the business. Let's stay behind the scenes as much as we can."

Zhang Xiaotong agreed completely with this suggestion. After all, she had been at it for over a year, and being stared at every day really was uncomfortable.

Revamping Sun Electronics' brand image took quite some effort. First, Zhang Xiaotong and I selected one boy and one girl from nearly six thousand candidates at secondary schools across the country and signed them on as spokespeople for hefty fees. We then announced that Zhang Xiaotong's previous endorsement contract had expired, and that all claims about her relationship with Sun Electronics had been nothing but commercial hype. This came at a considerable cost. A gap in publicity caused business volume to plunge for nearly a month. It only recovered once promotional puff pieces flooded in again and images of the two new spokespeople covered the streets.

Lu Wei lived up to expectations, successfully securing the lease on the Beiguan City shopping premises and obtaining practically the best preferential terms of any investor in the city. Liu Mingyao was still out contacting appliance manufacturers, so opening day remained a long way off. I personally designed the appliance center's renovation plan and sent it to Lu Wei, telling her to choose a better renovation company to do the work. The designs once again left Lu Wei utterly in awe of me. Just thinking about it made me blush.

Perhaps it was payback for making Zhang Xiaotong run around for the past two years, but now I was the one run off my feet. First, I had to keep refining our publicity strategy to deal with the change in spokespeople. Sun Electronics had no planning team, so I did practically everything myself. Once that was more or less done, the magazine problems came one after another. This bunch of rookies averaged three minor questions and one major question a day, driving me up the wall. With no other choice, I invited the famous science fiction writer Miss Zhang Xiaotong to preside over the editorial office. If I was going down, I was taking someone with me.

Zhang Xiaotong remotely directed Sun Electronics' various operations from the editorial office, and her enthusiasm for writing soared. Not only did she exceed the assignments I had given her for several works, she even wrote some informal essays on the side. Delighted, I had her use pen names and vary her style for each one before placing them in the magazine. I also had someone order a large batch of youth entertainment magazines from Hong Kong to reprogram these editors. By 1993, at least some things from outside were trickling in, and they weren't particularly resistant to this overseas material. Once I had reviewed and approved the section plans, they were handed out, and everyone got to work at their assigned posts.

Zhang Xiaotong and I occasionally sneaked off to look at the appliance center while it was being renovated. Lu Wei often came to North Gate from Sun Electronics headquarters to meet us. Every time, she brought the usual message from Liu Mingyao: "I'm dying, but I feel so fulfilled..." Zhang Xiaotong laughingly replied, "No raise, and more work. Otherwise, you won't get to see our tomorrow."

Liu Mingyao was actually very practical. Not only did he settle the several issues that needed negotiating, he also successfully secured provincial distribution rights for Philips and several other major appliance manufacturers. I increasingly felt he was an extraordinary talent. Yet he had another great passion: asking Zhang Xiaotong to give him a signed copy whenever she wrote a new book.

I couldn't help remarking to Zhang Xiaotong, "The power of an idol knows no bounds..."

Zhang Xiaotong tilted her head. "Actually, weren't all those novels he likes written by a certain someone?"

"Well..."

Joking aside, with no good manuscripts available for our launch, I had to roll up my sleeves and write too. Food, drink, fun, books, cards, movies, music, identifying models, video games-in short, anything entertaining that could be written about. Having contributed to various lifestyle magazines before, I was thoroughly familiar with this sort of running-account prose. When I actually finished and showed the editors, they all stared at me with stars in their eyes, imagining how many novel things this kid might have tried with Zhang Xiaotong.

Around the time "Crimson Youth" reached its submission deadline, Dong Qinghua called. "The loan can be approved in early September." That simple sentence nearly had Zhang Xiaotong and me hugging each other. I couldn't understand it. I had known Dong Qinghua for quite a few years before, so how had I never noticed he was this capable?

On August 13, the appliance center's renovations were completed. Considering that Sun Electronics' major projects were basically all on track, I planned to transfer Lu Wei to Beiguan City as the appliance center's manager. But I worried Liu Mingyao, who had only just settled into working with her at Sun Electronics, would have trouble adjusting. I could only call Lu Wei rather sheepishly and ask what she thought.

Naturally, Lu Wei was eager to come to Beiguan City so she could learn more from me. After hearing my concerns, she suggested I find another young woman with a similar academic background to partner with Liu Mingyao.

"Then why don't you recommend someone?" I kicked the ball straight into Lu Wei's court. "I'll certainly trust anyone you recommend, and I doubt Liu Mingyao will object."

Lu Wei thought silently for a while, then said, "There is someone, but I'd like to ask Liu Mingyao what he thinks too."

"Don't rush to ask him yet. Is this person you're recommending as pretty as you?"

Lu Wei was a very clever girl and immediately caught my meaning. "She's very pretty."

I chuckled. "Do you think Liu Mingyao will object?"

Lu Wei laughed. "Show him a photo first, and he'll probably raise both hands in favor."

"Exactly. We even managed to win over HP. President Liu is one of our own. Surely he can't be harder to negotiate with than the people at HP?"

And so, Sun Electronics' business department manager changed from Lu Wei to a classmate of hers named Cai Qing. Liu Mingyao had just caught his breath after racing all over the country. Seeing that his new partner was still a beautiful woman, he had nothing to complain about and happily took Cai Qing off to "get familiar with the work." Lu Wei, meanwhile, hurried to North Gate to devote herself to helping us with the appliance center.

As for me, I stared at the calendar every day and roared, "Summer vacation, slow the fuck down!"