Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

Ye Fan expected that most people would want to go out for a stroll during the rare vacation, so when he came back from the south in mid-September, he customized a batch of mouse pads. The mouse pads were bright red, with a line of large golden characters on them, which were Fanhua Company's blessings to the motherland.

Ye Fan had a car, so he drove to the computer store. The store manager said in a rather confused tone, "A few days ago, several college students came in one after another. As soon as they entered the store, they asked if this was the computer endorsed by Senior Brother Ye. It sounded like they were here for your son. But a computer is so expensive, and I always find it a bit strange that they bought it just for your son."

It is very common to buy idol-endorsed items in Hong Kong these days. It is not uncommon to boo people on the spot, fight and curse each other for idols. But these are not the case in the mainland, so it is no wonder that the store manager cannot understand.

Ye Fan comforted the store manager that everything was fine, and that it was probably a junior schoolmate from Dabao's alma mater who was taking care of his business.

After leaving the store, Ye Fan asked the company that had previously produced the posters to make 100 copies of the posters. He would ask Dabao to sign them when he came back, and then asked the employees who were on a business trip to the south to bring 20 copies of the posters and 20 mouse pads to the Hangzhou office and computer store.

Of the remaining 80 posters, half were sent to the city center and the other half to the sales office. The mouse pads were divided 40% and 60% between the office and the central store.

On the morning of October 1st, these three places put up signs outside - there will be surprises for today's consumption.

The old men and women were very surprised to see the surprise, but when they looked inside the store, they realized that they couldn't afford it or use it, so they shook their heads and left in disappointment.

Anyone planning to buy a computer today, come in and take a look - if you spend over 100 yuan, you can choose any poster or mouse pad you want, first come first served, while supplies last.

I bought a computer not long ago, and today I was just strolling around and asked if the previous purchase was still available. The store manager estimated that he couldn't sell all the free gifts today, so he said that all the gifts would be available for purchases in the past two months. The prerequisite is that you have made the purchase here, or you can show the receipt.

In order to understand customers' evaluation of computers, Ye Fan reminded sales staff to leave contact information and names no matter who they sold to, so that they could contact each other again. If someone gave her name and the time when she bought the computer, the sales staff would let her choose one.

Young women almost all chose Dabao's posters, while men chose more festive and practical mouse pads. Not many computers were sold in the morning, but word of mouth spread.

In the afternoon, sales volume skyrocketed. Ye Fan specially transferred two sales staff from the company. Six people in one store were still busy and exhausted from driving to deliver goods.

There were not many people on the street in the evening. The store manager locked the door and took his wallet to Ye Fan's house. He had too much cash and didn't dare to leave it in the store. He was very confused when he talked about this: "Why are there so many rich people in the capital?"

Ye Fan said: "Relatives of rich people cannot be too poor, unless they themselves are not ambitious or their relatives are too selfish, otherwise one person will help two people, two people will help one person, and everyone will become rich together."

The store manager understood immediately: "The people who bought our computers before took advantage of today's holiday when their relatives gathered together to talk about our computers, and thought of the surprises they could get from today's purchases, so why not ask their relatives to buy today?"

Ye Fan nodded: "So business is average in the morning, but booming in the afternoon."

"Won't that mean there will be no business in the next few months?"

Ye Fan: "It's not like the sales today don't count towards the commission."

The store manager really didn’t expect to get a commission, but he was very happy to hear this.

The next day, when I went to the store, the manager was full of energy, not even a trace of the exhaustion from the day before. The employees teased him that he valued money over his life. While counting how many computers the store had sold yesterday, the manager said, "The boss has said that the computers sold yesterday will be counted as commissions."

The shop assistants all knew that yesterday's business was good, and the posters and mouse pads played a big role, otherwise they wouldn't have attracted so many people to the store. The mouse pads and posters were made by the company, so they were prepared to not get any commission yesterday. As soon as this was said, the five people instantly became energetic, some mopping the floor, some cleaning the glass, their hands and mouths kept on, and they kept asking the store manager: "How did you calculate so many customers yesterday?"

The store manager said, "The boss said that everyone was busy yesterday, so the commission was divided equally. The boss also reminded that although a machine can be used for several years, you can't think that you only do business with the other party once and then forget about it. Rich people gather in groups. His family doesn't need it, but his relatives and friends do. It was similar to what happened yesterday afternoon."

Yesterday afternoon, five salesmen and the store manager all encountered a customer who brought his relatives to buy computers. One of the salesmen couldn't help but say, "How could you know that the boss didn't come yesterday?"

Store manager: "The boss used to sell vegetables at a stall, then he sold clothes, and later he did wholesale business. She knows everything. The boss knows more business people than we have met."

After figuring out how much commission he could get from next month's salary payment, the store manager had a smile on his face that even AK couldn't suppress.

Because of this event, Ye Fan thought it was necessary to pick two more secretaries. If he continued to work with her, one would go to the human resources department and the other to the public relations department in a few years, so that she wouldn't have to personally come up with posters, advertisements, and gifts for the annual meeting.

Ye Fan acted as soon as he thought of it. The next day, he asked his secretary to notify the sales manager, R&D director and Geng Sensen from the finance department to hold a meeting to discuss the necessity of adding two departments.

The R&D director spoke first: "It's really not your place to be involved in such a small matter as making posters. But you don't have to do PR, right?"

Ye Fan raised his eyebrows: "Have you watched too many movies? When you hear about public relations, do you think of those young masters and young ladies in entertainment venues?"

Geng Sensen opened his eyes wide and almost said, "How do you know? You've been there."

Ye Fan glared at Geng Sensen and continued, "Don't think I have to add a lot of people just because I said I'm adding a few departments. Geng Sensen's finance department has only three people."

The R&D director understood that the boss meant to build the platform first and then fill it with employees little by little. When he thought that in two years the PR department would be just a few people running errands for the boss every day, he immediately raised his hand to agree.

Ye Fan looked at her secretary again, "I'll need you to take care of them more in the future. If you want to be a department manager, you can ask one of them to take over your job."

The secretary nodded slightly in response. In fact, she was not greedy for the future department manager at all. After working with the boss for a few years, the boss would take over a factory and perhaps ask her to be the factory manager. If the factory was profitable, she would have a chance to get dividends. As far as she knew, only the R&D department in the company had dividends. The boss's nephew Geng Sensen also had a fixed salary.

Ye Fan turned to the sales manager, who was also Geng Zhiye's former bodyguard. The sales manager thought for a while and said, "We should add a few more people. Otherwise, you will have to personally deal with everything, and you will be so busy."

Ye Fan: "That's settled, I'll go to the school in a few days. Meeting adjourned!"

The sales manager was stunned for a moment and asked, "Is it over?"

"Do you have anything else to say?" Ye Fan asked doubtfully.

The sales manager thought to himself that the boss was as straightforward as ever: "I thought you had other instructions."

"That's all for now. By the way -" Ye Fan turned to the R&D director, "Pick a few colleagues to explain common computer faults to the sales staff."

The R&D director didn’t understand: “Teach the sales staff how to use computers?”

Ye Fan: "Teach them how to repair. Take cars for example. Ten years ago, it was hard to find a car repair shop on the roadside. Now, there is one every few miles. The same goes for computers. In the past, few people were willing to buy computers, but now more people are buying computers. After a year or two, the computers that were sold previously need to be repaired."

Sales Manager: “There’s a repair shop down the street.”

Ye Fan: "For the same two car companies, do you buy the one with warranty or the one without after-sales service?"

The sales manager blurted out: “Of course it’s warranty!”

"That's it." Ye Fan said.

The manager asked: "How long is the warranty?"

Ye Fan: "One year, maybe. If the warranty is three years, who will we sell our new models to? You two departments should discuss this matter between yourselves. I have no other requirements. A store must have two sales staff who know how to repair."

The manager asked: "How is the salary calculated?"

Ye Fan: "It's the same as now, but you have to sign a three-year labor contract."

The manager was thinking, who would do this? Suddenly, he thought that being able to repair computers would help him build good relationships with customers, and the company would teach him for free, so perhaps many people would be willing to do it.

Ye Fan thought about it carefully again and decided that there was nothing else to do, so he asked them to leave.

Nowadays, most salespeople have low education and no skills. When they heard the manager say that the company would teach them how to repair computers, even though it was just common problems and not very technical, they all signed up. However, when they heard that they had to work in the company for three years, those who wanted to make money and start a small business hesitated.

In the end, there were still eight people, two of whom were from other places and were willing to go to the Hangzhou store in the future. Ye Fan said that each store must have two people, so the manager simply reported all eight to the R&D department.

There is no shortage of enthusiastic people everywhere, and the R&D department is no exception. The director also reminded everyone in the R&D department that the better the store business is, the more bonuses you will get at the end of the year, so that employees who are too lazy to teach others are also happy to instruct the sales staff.

The director asked them to communicate with the sales staff themselves. Like Ye Fan, he only looked at the results.

Employees like this kind of boss, who has no negative emotions when teaching people, and can teach common computer problems in just one month. Not long after, someone really came to the store to ask what to do if the computer can't be turned on.

The salesperson asked her to bring the invoice and the computer. The salesperson saw that it was bought a few months ago, so he tinkered with it for her and let her take it back. The owner asked how much it cost. The salesperson replied that he would repair it for free within one year.

It was a very cold day and the owner was exhausted from repairing the computer. He felt embarrassed, so when he came out of the sales office and saw someone selling roasted sweet potatoes, he bought a few pounds of them and sent them to him.

On New Year's Day, the owner brought a neighbor over. As soon as she entered the door, she called the salesperson who helped her repair the computer, saying that she had bought it from him and he would provide warranty service.

The salesperson quickly explained that the warranty would be available no matter who the purchase was made from, as long as there was a receipt issued by their company.

With the arrival of New Year's Day, Ye Fan prepared another batch of small gifts. This time, you can choose one as long as you make a purchase. As a result, there were many customers in the morning and afternoon.

The sales office was crowded, so on New Year's Eve, some sales staff offered to go to the central store to help. The manager called four people over. The commission for the day was just split equally, and the central store had no objection - more people means better service, and it also builds up the reputation of the central store.

Although all units were closed on New Year's Day, Geng Huihui didn't come because it was hard to drive in the snow, and Chen Xiaohui didn't bring her daughter. Sun Laifu's home was close, so Yu Wentao took the nanny Xiao Wang to visit her daughter, and Ye Fan took Erbao back to her parents' home. Geng Leilei and Geng Sensen were naturally driven back to the compound where Geng Laoda lived by Ye Fan.

When Tao Chunlan saw Ye Fan and Erbao, she moved behind them.

Ye Fan said: "Dabao is at school."

"What project is so busy? There's no New Year's Day holiday." Tao Chunlan complained.

Ye Fan shook his head: "Who knows. It could be a project from heaven."

Tao Chunlan understood immediately that she couldn't explain this kind of project in detail to Ye Fan, the biological mother of Dabao. Ye Fan was probably not clear about it. So Tao Chunlan asked Erbao if she was tired and if anyone bullied her.

Erbao laughed: "Who dares to bully me?"

Ye's father knew something about the selection process of the diplomatic department. It was impossible for the leader not to know who Erbao's father, mother, grandparents were. If he knew, he would not bully Erbao, so he said, "What a useless thing to say. Let Erbao sit down. Erbao, are you thirsty?"

Tao Chunlan glared at the old man and gave the candy to Erbao.

Erbao thought to himself, I’m already twenty-two years old and I’m still eating candy.

In Tao Chunlan's eyes, she was a child who needed candy. Ye Fan stuffed two candies into Erbao's hands and said to her mother, "Take more after you finish eating." He looked around, "Where's Xiaohui?" Tao Chunlan said, "She went out with your sister-in-law and the two children. I don't know why they went out in such a cold day."

Ye Jingjing's classmate bought a computer not long ago, and when she found out, she asked her mother for it. Li Mingyue wanted Dabao or Erbao to go to the sales office to get one. In order to do the accounting, Dabao and Erbao also had to pay for the computer, but it was based on the factory price. Li Mingyue said that she gave the money to Dabao and Erbao to save the sales staff from earning commissions.

Ye Jingjing didn't want to, she wanted to ask her cousin for it. Since the salesperson didn't give her a gift, she still wanted the gift from the computer store.

Li Mingyue wanted to tell her mother-in-law when she couldn't convince her. Ye Jingjing threatened her mother, "If you dare to tell grandma, I will say that you are reluctant to spend money and want grandma to buy it for me."

Ye Jingjing had been a big worry for Li Mingyue, but she didn't ask her to spend much money. Li Mingyue bought Ye Jingjing a house close to the bus and subway, and she still had tens of thousands of yuan left, so why did she need her mother-in-law to sponsor her?

But there is also a saying that "children's words are not to be feared". What if my mother-in-law and sister-in-law believed them?

Li Mingyue could only take her there during the day off.

When Chen Xiaohui arrived at the central store, she found out that her niece wanted a computer and also wanted to buy a computer as a gift. Chen Xiaohui said speechlessly, "These were all prepared by Ye Fan. Maybe she still has some left at home."

Li Mingyue whispered, "Don't say it. It feels different when people say it."

Coincidentally, Yu Wentao’s nephew came to the store to help today.

Yu Wentao's nephew didn't know Li Mingyue, but he had seen Ye Jingjing and Chen Xiaohui. When he heard Chen Xiaohui say that Ye Jingjing bought a computer, he was speechless.

The store manager came over to ask what was going on. Yu Wentao's nephew whispered in his ear, "The boss's niece."

After hearing this, the store manager was speechless, and then asked Yu Wentao's nephew to take them aside and give them a 30% discount.

Yu Wentao's nephew could drive a van, so he drove them back. The ground was icy and there were many people on the road, so they didn't get home until after eleven o'clock.

Li Mingyue invited him to go in and have a rest, but Yu Wentao's nephew refused. Firstly, he was not familiar with the Ye family, and secondly, the store was very busy, and since the store promised to deliver the goods, they had to do it.

Chen Xiaohui was carrying the display screen, Li Mingyue was carrying the host computer, and Ye Jingjing was holding her little sister. As soon as Ye Fan entered, he was stunned. He wanted to ask where the computer came from, and also wanted to ask if they had gone shopping.

Erbao took the little sister and asked, "Did you buy it?"

Ye Jingjing shows off the small gift given by the computer store.

There were few people idle in the company, so the small gifts prepared by Ye Fan were packed by Erbao and the nanny Xiao Wang over the weekend. Erbao looked at the familiar wrapping paper and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Ye Fan was at a loss whether to laugh or cry: "Do you know how to install it? I'll teach you how to use it."

Ye Jingjing was so happy that she jumped upstairs.

Tao Chunlan was exhausted: "——What is this child thinking?"

Erbao: "…It feels different when I buy it with my own money than when my mom gives it to me."

“Aren’t they all computers?”

This matter can only be understood but not explained. Erbao simply said, "Who knows what she thinks. There is a generation gap between her and me." He asked the child in his arms, "What does your sister think?"

"My sister wants a gift." The child pointed upstairs in a childish voice.

Erbao, look at grandma and grandpa, did you hear it?

Ye's father heard it and said, "The one given by the computer store is different from the one given by your mother."

Erbao nodded and touched the child's face, which was cool: "Are you cold?"

The child’s answer was to pull off the uncomfortable scarf.

There was heating in the room, so Erbao didn't stop her and took off her thick cotton jacket. The child felt comfortable and climbed upstairs holding the handrail. Erbao quickly followed.

When Ye Fan saw Erbao coming up, he asked Erbao to teach his little niece.

The mother and daughter didn't return home until four in the afternoon.

Little did they know that it was not only Ye Jingjing who bought a computer that day. Those who used to do business with Ye Fan saw Dabao's poster while shopping, and their children were curious about computers, so those whose family conditions allowed it all went to get a computer today.

Before the bank closed, several stores deposited today's revenue into the company's account, including the office and computer store in Hangzhou. This was what Ye Fan had instructed before.

The advertisement that Ye Fan bought on the national TV station was broadcast on January 1st. Although it was not during prime time and was only broadcast once during prime time, it quickly attracted the attention of peers.

Colleagues inquired about Ye Fan’s company in many ways.

The atmosphere in Ye Fan's company is good, and the employees all hope that the company will get better and better. They can't let them betray the company with small favors, so they didn't ask about the sales situation. But the equity structure is not something that employees can hide. Knowing that Ye Fan gives 8% to the research institute every year, they roughly calculated that 8% of the net profit can support a research institute. Miss Ye gave so much money to the research institute just for some of its projects. I'm afraid she has never been poor before and doesn't take money as money.

They didn't know that Ye Fan had shares in Chang Guangrong's sportswear factory, nor did they think that she also had shares in Xiushui store and the law firm. They also didn't know how much money Ye Fan's two clothing stores could make. They thought that Ye Fan had money to invest in because she had benefited from the dramatic changes in Eastern Europe.

"Smugglers" make money quickly, so it's normal that Ye Fan doesn't take the money seriously.

The good thing about the underdeveloped information these days is that as long as Ye Fan wants, she can make a fortune quietly.

They thought Ye Fanren was stupid and rich, so they naturally wouldn't learn from her. Some even thought it was better to buy chips than to develop them themselves.

There is a lot of opinion these days that “it is better to buy than to make”, and it wasn’t long before Ye Fan heard about this.

What’s funny is that this matter also reached Geng Zhiye’s ears.

In March 1994, the two sessions were held in Beijing. The leader of the tobacco department met a group of soldiers and was about to let them go first. He heard someone shouting "Chief". He looked in the direction of the voice and thought, could it be the commander of the capital troops? This leader had never seen Geng Zhiye, but he knew Dabao. Seeing Geng Zhiye, he felt familiar. Thinking carefully, he suspected that he was Ye Fan's lover, so he trotted over and said, "Chief Geng?"

Geng Zhiye stopped and realized that he had guessed correctly. He first introduced himself and then said that thanks to his wife, the company's profit this year was so-and-so.

The companion left first after hearing this. He took the opportunity to remind Geng Zhiye that there were a lot of rumors that were unfavorable to Fanhua Company recently, and he didn't know whether President Ye knew about it. Geng Zhiye thanked Ye Fan on her behalf and said that he would tell her when he had a chance to go home.

The leader of the Tobacco Bureau was a smart man and immediately said "don't bother".

After the meeting, Geng Zhiye returned to the army and worked for a few days before going home.

It was not appropriate to talk about work in front of family members. Before going to bed, Geng Zhiye asked Ye Fan how even people outside the circle had heard about her company's affairs.

Ye Fan: "Are you saying I'm stupid and rich?"

"Not really." Geng Zhiye realized something and couldn't help asking, "You know?"

Ye Fan sighed, "The employee heard about it from others. Then he asked the director, who asked me if we still need to do research because we can't catch up with foreigners who are many years more advanced than us even if we work hard."

"Then what do you say?"

Ye Fan: "How many professional computer talents are there? Ordinary people still have more. Ordinary people don't need such high configurations when using computers. I can't develop the best, so I'll just eat the low-end market. The mainland has low consumption and low wages, and there is no import tax. Foreign low-end components will definitely not be able to compete with me. I don't sell computers, but only sell these, and I can make more money than those who make high-end computers."

Geng Zhiye was puzzled: "They couldn't think of this?"

"Of course they can. But if they don't do it, they can't imagine how much money they can make from this." Ye Fan said, "There were only two machines before, but after the scientific research unit copied and improved them, they can now fill up an entire workshop. I can see the return of the money within a year. I will definitely get my money back within three years!"

“Then it’s time to rush in and join in.”

Ye Fan shook his head slightly.

Geng Zhiye was surprised: "You know you can make money but you won't do it?"

"First, it requires long-term investment, and it's hard to get that much investment. Second, it doesn't make money as quickly as software. I heard from an employee of my company that his schoolmates and seniors are busy developing software." Ye Fan said, "Many companies in the capital think foreign software is too expensive. If you spend 100,000 yuan to start a company, you have to give half to foreign companies. Otherwise, you can't do anything."

Geng Zhiye asked: "Does your company need it too?"

Ye Fan nodded: "It's been better in the past two years. My company also has a research and development department. If no one changes jobs or betrays the company, in a few years, my company's computers, from the system to the software, can be replaced with our own."

Geng Zhiye remembered that the comrade from the tobacco bureau did not mention software: "Other companies don't know that your company has a software development department?"

"I don't know. Everyone in the R&D department has signed a confidentiality contract. The cleaning staff can only go upstairs during specific times." People's minds are unpredictable, and Ye Fan had no intention of testing his employees, so he had been on guard against this from the beginning.

The R&D department thought Ye Fan valued them, and they felt that they had a great responsibility. Ye Fan did not reduce the dividends he promised, and even if it was less than the previous year, Ye Fan would give a detailed explanation. The R&D department then thought that the company did not belong to the boss alone, but everyone in the R&D department had a share, so they never brought information downstairs and did not talk about work with their families.

Geng Zhiye was surprised: "This confidentiality work has caught up with us."

Ye Fan: "Some of your comrades are not resolute, and they may leak secrets if they are paid a few thousand. My employees do not have tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of employees, so don't even think about getting a single word from them."

"Your company's salary is so high?" Geng Zhiye has dealt with several leaks in the past few years. One of them did not get any actual benefits, but he became a coward because of a few soft words from the female spy. "If you don't pay, I will tell you about the company and I will take you to meet your idol. Are your employees tempted?"

"No. I took them to Hong Kong City, and they all saw Hong Kong's big stars filming on the roadside. Oh, and last year I spent 200,000 to invite a few singers to liven up the company's annual meeting."

Geng Zhiye turned over and sat up.

Ye Fan was startled: "What are you doing?"

(End of this chapter)