Rebirth: Fan Debiao rises from the Liaobei land

July 29th, just as dawn was breaking.

Fan Debiao was awakened by his phone vibrating. Zhou, the channel manager of the mobile company, sent him a text message: "The first batch of goods has arrived at the Shenyang transit station and can be delivered to Kaiyuan this afternoon. It mainly consists of Nokia and Motorola phones that are being mass-produced."

He leaned against the headboard and lit a cigarette. In the smoke, he pondered: TCL and Amoi won't be listed until October, so these two months will have to rely on mass production to maintain appearances. Not only do we need to establish the reputation of Dexing Communications, but we also need to get the prototypes on display and pre-sales going.

At 7:15, he walked to the entrance of Dexing Communications, where the roller shutter door was already half open.

Yu Fen was wiping the windows with her backside sticking out, while Ma Xiaocui was sweeping the floor. When she saw him arrive, Yu Fen straightened up and said, "De Biao, yesterday Master Zhao said it would take another half month to completely finish the project; there's still some finishing touches to be done."

"Look, you took a day off and still came to help me with the work. Thank you so much." Fan Debiao opened the door and went in. He first checked the surveillance footage—the four corner cameras had been installed, and the moving point camera in the middle still needed to be adjusted. This would ensure that the entire store was under surveillance, especially key areas such as the warehouse, cash register, and entrance.

A moment later, Ma Dashuai arrived on his beat-up bicycle, the only thing rattling was the bell. He parked it, hands behind his back, and strolled around the doorway: "Biaozi, it's been two months, hasn't it? Still not fixed?"

"Big stores like this need to take their time and do things meticulously," Fan Debiao said, offering a cigarette.

Ma Dashuai took the cigarette and tucked it behind his ear. He went inside and looked around. "If you ask me," he said, "you're just too serious. That's enough. The sooner we open, the sooner we can make money."

"Brother-in-law, you don't understand," Fan Debiao said, pointing to the workers polishing the floor. "A big store has to look like a big store. The biggest mobile phone store in Kaiyuan can't be blamed."

"Okay, okay, you know what I mean," Ma Dashuai said sourly. "You're the big boss now, you know everything. I'm just a toilet cleaner, I don't know anything."

Yu Fen glared at him: "Can you please shut up?"

Gangzi arrived at nine o'clock in the morning.

"Brother Biao, everyone's at work, I just took a break to come and check on things." Gangzi looked up at the camera. "They've already installed this thing?"

"Yeah, safety first." Fan Debiao pulled up the surveillance footage. "Look, this guy really shines, all-around, no blind spots, he can even tell the male and female of a mouse."

At ten o'clock, all the newly recruited people had arrived.

The accountant was found by Awei; her name was Sister Zhou, she was in her forties, and she used to work as an accountant in a department store. As soon as she entered the room, she said, "President Fan, our accounts need to be set up separately, completely separate from Victoria's."

"Yes, you should get started on it today," Fan Debiao said. "The assembly line will arrive this afternoon. There need to be receipts for both incoming and outgoing goods, and every single transaction needs to be clear."

Warehouse manager Chen nodded, holding his teacup: "Don't worry, General Manager Fan. I've worked at the supply and marketing cooperative for twenty years, and keeping the accounts and inventory in sync is a basic requirement."

Salespeople Liu Qiang and Wang Fang also arrived; both young and capable, exuding a sharp and efficient spirit. Xiao Juan and Xiao Ling were wiping the counter when they saw Sister Zhou arrive. Xiao Juan whispered, "Accountant Zhou, when do we get paid?"

"On the 15th of every month, right on time." Sister Zhou took out the account book. "You all come and sign here, leave your bank account number, and we'll make payments directly from now on."

Commander Ma watched from the side, clicking his tongue: "Look, the regular army is really something else. Biaozi, you've got this set pretty complete."

"If we're going to do it, we'll do it properly." Fan Debiao smiled, opened his computer, and pulled up the price list he had prepared. "For the next two months, we'll mainly sell Nokia, Motorola, and Siemens mass-produced phones. Once the TCL and Amoi sample phones arrive, we'll just display them, not sell them, but register them for pre-sale."

"When will the prototype arrive?" Liu Qiang asked.

"Next week," Fan Debiao said, pointing to the space marked on the poster on the wall. "We'll put the actual device here and demonstrate it. If someone wants to buy it, they can pay a deposit, and it will arrive in October."

The truck arrived at 2 PM.

This time it was mainly a shipment of mobile phones, more than twenty boxes. Gangzi, along with Liu Qiang and Wang Fang, unloaded the goods, Lao Chen checked the serial numbers, and Sister Zhou kept the accounts. Each time a box was opened, Lao Chen would call out: "Nokia 8250, ten units, serial numbers starting from LN2002..."

Ma Dashuai squatted by the door, staring at the cell phone boxes. Suddenly he said, "Biaozi, this one must be worth over two thousand, right? These twenty boxes must be worth several hundred thousand."

"Almost there." Fan Debiao stared at the monitor screen, watching the unloading process from five different angles.

"My goodness," Ma Dashuai stood up, patting the dust off his backside, "you've really gone too far. Let me do the math, you're the vice president at Victoria, making five thousand a month, and this store cost over eight hundred thousand... you'd have to work for over ten years without eating or drinking."

Fan Debiao laughed: "Brother-in-law, that's not how you do it."

"How do we calculate that?" General Ma leaned closer. "Teach me, so I can learn too."

"Once the store opens, you can be a warehouse assistant and learn from Lao Chen," Fan Debiao said half-jokingly.

Ma Dashuai's face hardened: "Work for you? I'm your brother-in-law! Besides, are we even in the same league?"

"We're not on the same level now. You should learn from him. Once you've mastered it, your level will rise."

General Ma snorted, said nothing more, turned around and went outside to squat by the door to smoke.

All the goods were put into storage. Sister Zhou organized the documents and had Fan Debiao sign each one. Old Chen locked the warehouse. There were three keys in total: one for Fan Debiao, one for Old Chen, and one for Sister Zhou as a spare.

"Mr. Fan, this is the rule," Sister Zhou said earnestly. "Money and goods must be managed separately, with mutual supervision."

"Yes, that's the plan." Fan Debiao was very satisfied.

At six o'clock in the evening, everyone had left, leaving only Fan Debiao in the store to check the accounts. His phone rang; it was Awei.

"Mr. Fan, are you free tonight? I'd like to go over some of your expense reimbursement documents with Victoria."

"Okay, where?"

"The usual place, the stew restaurant we always go to."

Fan Debiao hung up the phone, locked the ledger, and hummed a little tune as he headed straight for the stew restaurant.

The stew restaurant wasn't crowded. Awei had already ordered: pickled cabbage with pork belly and blood sausage, chicken stew with mushrooms, and a plate of peanuts.

"Mr. Fan," Awei poured him a drink, "Mr. Wu asked me to inquire whether those ten machines have been reserved?"

"I've kept them all. Six Xiaxin A8s and four white TCLs." Fan Debiao clinked glasses with her. "Please thank General Manager Wu for me."

"Mr. Wu also said," Avi paused, "that you shouldn't just focus on the new store, but also keep an eye on Victoria's business."

"I know, I won't let either side interfere with the other."

The two ate their food, chatting casually. Awei was wearing a light yellow shirt today, her hair was tied up, and she looked more energetic than usual.

"Mr. Fan," she suddenly said, "don't you think... we've known each other for quite a while now?"

"Yeah, it's been almost half a year."

"Time flies." Avi looked down and picked up some food. "When I first came to Victoria, you were still the head of security, and now you're a big boss."

"What big boss? He's just trying to make a living."

"Don't be modest." Awei looked up at him, her eyes sparkling in the lamplight. "You may seem rough around the edges, but you're actually very meticulous. You do things methodically, step by step..."

She paused there, picked up her glass, and took a sip. Fan Debiao looked at her but didn't reply.

"What I really wanted to say was," Avi said, her face slightly flushed, "that you're... quite nice."

Fan Debiao laughed: "What's so great about it? I'm already 29, and this is just the beginning."

"Starting isn't scary, what's scary is not daring to start," Avi said softly. "I... really admire you."

It was getting dark outside, and the streetlights were coming on one by one. The proprietress came over to add soup, glanced at the two of them, smiled, and left.

After the meal, Fan Debiao was about to pay the bill, but Awei insisted on paying instead: "This meal is on me, consider it... to celebrate your upcoming business opening."

"That won't do. How can a woman pay for the meal?"

"Just this once," Avi insisted. "You can treat next time."

Stepping out of the stew restaurant, the night breeze was chilly. Awei lived not far away, and Fan Debiao escorted her to the alley entrance.

"Mr. Fan," Avi stopped under the streetlight, "I won't be able to go for the opening tomorrow. Victoria's busy..."

"Yes, I understand."

"But..." Avi bit her lip, "If you need any help, just let me know anytime."

"I understand, thank you."

Awei turned and entered the alley, but after a few steps, she turned back and waved. Fan Debiao stood under the streetlamp, watching her figure disappear into the darkness.

It was already past nine o'clock when I got back to the store.

Fan Debiao turned on the monitoring host and played back today's footage: unloading, code matching, and warehousing, every frame was clear.

In the corner, the space for TCL and Amoi posters is still empty; they can only be filled in once the demo units arrive.

We'll have to rely on the assembly line to get through these two months.

We'll have a soft opening tomorrow, just to get started. Once the TCL and Amoi products arrive in October, we'll go all out and have a big launch.

Isn't this the day when things start to get better?