Rebirth: Fan Debiao rises from the Liaobei land

Monday morning, Netcom building.

When Fan Debiao knocked on the door of General Manager Zhang's office, General Manager Zhang was standing by the window looking at documents. When he saw Fan Debiao come in, he pointed to the sofa and said, "Xiao Fan, have a seat."

"Mr. Zhang." Fan Debiao sat down and took out a newly printed base station site selection plan from his bag. "I've inspected those sites after spring, and the planning maps are ready. Please take a look."

Mr. Zhang took the proposal, glanced at it, and put it aside: "Leave the proposal here for now. Xiao Fan, the main reason I called you here today is to discuss something—from now on, the construction of base stations will have to go through the formal bidding process."

Fan Debiao's expression remained unchanged: "It's only right, formalization is a good thing."

"That's definitely a good thing." Mr. Zhang picked up his teacup. "But it might take some effort for you. Before, it was an internal recommendation, and you just had to submit the materials. Now it's an open tender with more than three companies competing. You have to go through the whole process: tender documents, technical solutions, and on-site presentations. You can't skip any of them."

"I understand," Fan Debiao said. "Openness and transparency are good for everyone."

"It's good that you think that way." General Manager Zhang stood up and walked to the window. "The tender notice will be issued in the next few days, and there will be a two-week public announcement period before the bidding opens before the New Year. Time is tight, so you need to hurry up and prepare."

As he came out of General Manager Zhang's office, Director Zhao was waiting in the corridor and gave him a wink.

The two entered Director Zhao's office. As soon as the door closed, Director Zhao lowered his voice and said, "Boss Fan, General Manager Zhang didn't say it explicitly just now, but there are certain requirements in the bidding documents."

What are the requirements?

"There's one requirement: at least three years of experience in telecommunications engineering construction." Director Zhao lit a cigarette. "Your Dexing Communications has been established for less than a year, and this one requirement alone is enough to stop you."

Fan Debiao frowned: "Who made this decision?"

"Who else could it be?" Director Zhao exhaled a puff of smoke. "It was suggested by General Manager Li. But General Manager Zhang tried to negotiate and added a parenthetical note—'or can provide proof of similar project performance'."

Fan Debiao understood: "Similar project performance... does the base station we just completed count?"

"Sure," Director Zhao nodded. "But one isn't enough. You need to prepare solid materials: proof of performance, technical skills, qualifications of partner organizations—you need the whole set. It would be best to get a few more reputable organizations to provide letters of recommendation."

"Understood." Fan Debiao stood up. "Director Zhao, thank you."

"Don't mention it." Director Zhao saw him to the door. "By the way, you need to hurry up and sign formal agreements with Motorola and Ericsson. Having manufacturers' endorsement will be a plus during the bidding process."

On the way back to the company, Fan Debiao went through the matter in his mind. The three-year experience requirement was indeed harsh, but since there was a loophole of "similar performance," he could take advantage of it.

As soon as he entered the office, he began to give instructions: "Awei, compile all the documents for the first base station—contract, drawings, acceptance report, construction records, nothing can be missing. Gangzi, go to the Motorola and Ericsson offices in the provincial capital and ask them to issue official cooperation certificates, original documents with official seals."

Gangzi asked, "Brother Biao, who's going to write the tender documents? This is a specialized field; we need to find someone who knows what they're doing, right?"

Just as Fan Debiao was about to speak, Awei looked up and said, "Brother Biao, I can do the tender documents. I helped the technical department with tender documents in my previous company, so I know the format and process."

Fan Debiao's eyes lit up: "Great job, Awei! You've been keeping a low profile! I'll leave the tender document to you then."

Awei blushed slightly: "I just have to work overtime, time is tight."

"Overtime pay will be tripled," Fan Debiao readily agreed. "Just make a list of what documents you need, and Gangzi and I will get them for you."

As they were talking, Fan Debiao suddenly remembered something: "Hey, I've been so busy lately that I forgot to ask... how's that girl Ma Xiaocui doing at that trading company? Maybe she can help out in some way?"

Gangzi chimed in, "Xiao Cui just does odd jobs there, like photocopying and typing. Tender documents... she probably wouldn't understand them. By the way, Brother Biao, Ma Dashuai came to the construction site a couple of days ago, saying he was looking for work."

"Ma Dashuai?" Fan Debiao thought for a moment, "When the base station construction starts in the spring, let him come to the construction site to do odd jobs, like moving materials or keeping an eye on the site. He's a relative after all, we can't just leave him hanging."

Three days later, the bidding announcement from China Netcom was posted.

The notice, posted in black and white on the bulletin board, attracted a crowd. Fan Debiao stood at the back of the crowd, looking at the line on the notice that read, "Requires more than three years of experience in telecommunications engineering construction (or proof of similar project performance)," and felt reassured.

A middle-aged man wearing glasses next to me was also looking at the announcement, muttering to himself, "Three years of experience... this rule is really strict."

Fan Debiao chimed in, "Brother, are you also planning to bid?"

The bespectacled man turned his head: "I'm from 'Liaobei Communications,' my surname is Zhou. You must be Boss Fan? I've heard so much about you."

Fan Debiao shook hands with him: "Boss Zhou. These three years of experience... does your company meet the required years?"

"We've been established for five years, that's enough time," Boss Zhou pushed up his glasses. "But I heard there's an even more impressive company, 'Northern Communications,' which has been registered for four years. The boss's surname is Gao, and I heard he has a very strong background. He's saying this bid is definitely his."

Fan Debiao nodded and made the name in his mind.

Back at the company, Gangzi was already back, holding two documents: "Brother Biao, the certificates from Motorola and Ericsson are ready. They're both official documents with red headers and company seals."

Fan Debiao took a look and saw that the document was written in a very formal manner: "Motorola (China) Co., Ltd. confirms Dexing Communications as its partner in the Kaiyuan area..." "Ericsson (China) Communications Co., Ltd. certifies that Dexing Communications has the capability for base station construction and maintenance..."

"Okay!" Fan Debiao put the documents away. "What about Awei?"

Awei looked up from a pile of documents, her eyes a little dark: "Brother Biao, the data is almost ready. The tender document framework is set up, divided into three parts: commercial bid, technical bid, and price bid. It's just the technical solution section... we need to ask Engineer Li and Engineer Zhang to help review it."

"That's easy," Fan Debiao said. "You write a first draft, and tomorrow we'll invite two engineers to the company so we can go through it together."

On Friday afternoon, both Mr. Li from Motorola and Mr. Zhang from Ericsson came.

Fan Debiao invited the two men into the conference room: "Brothers, I'd like to trouble you to review the technical proposal for the tender. Our Awei has written the first draft; please take a look and see if there are any professional issues."

Engineer Li took the manuscript, flipped through it, and nodded: "The framework is fine. But we need to add some solid details—the basis for equipment selection, construction process standards, and quality control measures; these all need to be written in detail."

Engineer Zhang added, "We also need to write an emergency plan. How to handle situations where problems arise during base station construction? The judges like to see that."

Awei was taking notes quickly beside her.

Fan Debiao offered the two men cigarettes: "There's one more thing—on the day of the bidding, we need to invite you two brothers to be there as our technical support representatives. In case the judges ask any technical questions, you can help answer them."

Engineer Li smiled: "Boss Fan is very thoughtful. Okay, let's go together that day."

"We can't go for nothing." Fan Debiao took two envelopes out of the drawer. "This is the service fee, one thousand each. There will be additional thanks if we win the bid."

After a few words of polite refusal, the two accepted the gift.

That evening, Fan Debiao was in his office reviewing the draft tender document prepared by Awei.

It was a thick stack of documents, neatly categorized and clearly organized. The business section included company qualifications, performance records, and cooperation agreements; the technical section included construction plans, equipment lists, and quality assurance; and the quotation section was clearly laid out, with itemized prices, total price, and payment methods.

"Well done, Awei," Fan Debiao looked up, "with your abilities, this position is a waste of your talent."

Awei raised an eyebrow: "Brother Biao, you mean you want me to be the boss's wife?"

Fan Debiao glanced at Awei's perfect figure and sighed, "Alas, I'm afraid I'm not fortunate enough to have her!" He then closed the tender document. "We'll start binding it officially tomorrow. We need five copies of the tender document: one original and four copies. Review it again to make sure the content is solid."

"Understood," Avi said. "Leave this to me."

Fan Debiao stood by the window, looking down at the brightly lit training center. On the first floor, the trainees were still practicing pole climbing, while on the second floor, under the lights, eleven technical trainees were struggling with a circuit board.

My phone vibrated. It was a text message from Director Zhao: "Boss Fan, the list of the bidding committee is finalized. Seven people: three from General Manager Zhang's side, three from General Manager Li's side, and one from the provincial company to be the team leader. Boss Gao from Northern Communications is a classmate of General Manager Li's brother-in-law."

Fan Debiao replied, "Understood, thank you, Director Zhao."

He thought for a moment, then sent another text message to Mr. Zhang: "Mr. Zhang, the tender documents are ready. Engineers from Motorola and Ericsson have agreed to attend as technical support representatives."

A few minutes later, Mr. Zhang replied: "Okay. I'll wait for your reply."