Rebirth: Fan Debiao rises from the Liaobei land

When Fan Debiao woke up, his head was throbbing as if it were about to explode. He squinted and saw sunlight squeezing in through the gaps in the curtains, casting a glaring white line on the wall.

He tried to sit up, and as he braced himself with his arms, the blanket slid down halfway—oh my god, why is he shirtless?

Fan Debiao jumped in surprise and quickly lifted the blanket to peek inside. Sure enough, he was only wearing his underwear; his vest and underwear were nowhere to be seen.

He pulled the blanket tighter around himself and listened intently. There was noise from the outer room: the clanging of pots and pans, and the sound of someone humming a tune, "The first snow of 2002... the No. 2 bus parked on the eighth floor..."

"Who is it? Who's outside?" Fan Debiao shouted, his throat so dry it felt like it was on fire.

The sounds from the kitchen stopped. Footsteps approached, and the bedroom door creaked open a crack.

Awei poked half her head in, holding a spatula in her hand. Her hair was loosely tied back, with a few stray strands clinging to her fair neck. She was wearing a red sweater today, which made her skin look even whiter.

"Awake?" Avi's eyes crinkled with laughter.

Fan Debiao panicked immediately and quickly pulled the blanket up to his chin: "Ah, Ah Wei? What are you doing here?"

"If I'm not here, who is?" Awei pushed the door open, leaned the spatula against the doorframe, and looked at him. "Last night you were completely drunk and threw up everywhere. How could I leave in peace?"

Fan Debiao's face turned bright red with embarrassment, and he stammered, "Then...then you stayed here last night?"

"Hmm, what's wrong?" Avi crossed her arms and tilted her head to look at him. "Not welcome?"

"No, no..." Fan Debiao looked down at his bare upper body, then looked up at Awei, his face turning even redder. "Then...did you help me take off these clothes?"

Avi chuckled, took two steps forward, and walked to the bedside: "Oh, what's wrong? I undressed you, and I've seen everything, things you should and shouldn't have seen. What, are you afraid to look?"

Fan Debiao stared blankly, unable to utter a single word for a long time, his face turning a deep purplish-red. He instinctively pulled the blanket up further, only to find his toes sticking out, so he quickly pulled them back in.

Seeing his embarrassed expression, Awei laughed so hard she bent over: "Just kidding! When I came over last night, Gangzi had just finished cleaning you up. You threw up all over yourself, and Gangzi helped you take off your clothes and wipe yourself down. I boiled some water in the outer room and used it to wipe your face and hands."

Fan Debiao finally breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead: "Oh my god, that scared me to death... You little rascal, you'll make any kind of joke."

"What are you scared of?" Avi straightened up, raised her eyebrows, and smiled. "What can I do if I really see this? Are you going to repay me with your body?"

"Well, you bet," Fan Debiao blurted out, "If you saw all this, I'd be in big trouble..."

He realized what he was saying halfway through, quickly shut his mouth, and darted around with his eyes darting about.

Awei leaned against the doorframe, staring at him with a half-smile: "You're still not willing to repay me with your body?"

The room suddenly fell silent. The sunlight shifted slightly, shining directly on Awei, making her red sweater appear gold-trimmed, and she seemed to glow. Fan Debiao could see that the base of her ears was slightly red, and her long eyelashes cast a small shadow on her face.

"Um..." Fan Debiao cleared his throat, his Adam's apple bobbing, "Where are my clothes?"

"I washed it and hung it up to dry on the radiator." Awei turned to leave, but turned back at the door, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him. "Hurry up and get up to eat; we have a meeting at the company later. Weren't we supposed to be discussing year-end promotions today?"

Fan Debiao watched the door close before letting out a long sigh of relief. He threw back the covers and got out of bed. His vest and shorts were draped over the radiator; they were warm to the touch and already dry. He quickly put them on, slipped on his shoes, and went to the outer room.

On the table sat a bowl of millet porridge, two large steamed buns, a dish of pickled cucumbers, and two boiled eggs. The porridge was still steaming.

"Just make do with this." Avi handed him the chopsticks and sat down opposite him. "Your fridge is full of nothing but beer, not even a single instant noodle. This is what I bought this morning."

Fan Debiao sat down and took a sip of the porridge. The porridge was quite thick, with a fragrant aroma of rice, and it warmed his stomach instantly.

"Thank you for your help last night," he said.

"No trouble at all." Awei broke off a piece of steamed bun and took a small bite. "But Brother Biao, you should drink less with Ma Dashuai in the future. You know what kind of person he is, it's not worth getting angry with him."

Fan Debiao shoveled some pickled vegetables into his mouth, chewing loudly: "I'm not angry. It's just... a little..."

"What's up?"

Fan Debiao put down his chopsticks and smacked his lips: "It's nothing. It's just that some things, the more you try to understand them, the less you understand them."

Awei looked at him without saying anything, but simply pushed the peeled egg in front of him.

"Forget it, let's not talk about this." Fan Debiao finished his porridge in a few gulps and stuffed a steamed bun into his mouth. "I'll go to the company later and finalize the promotion plan. The New Year is just around the corner, so we need to make some money first."

Nine o'clock in the morning, in the conference room of Dexing Communications.

Awei, Sister Zhou, and several key members of the mobile phone store were all present—sales staff Liu Qiang and Wang Fang, and sales clerks Xiao Juan and Xiao Ling. A thick stack of sales slips was spread out on the table.

Fan Debiao pushed open the door and came in; everyone looked up.

"Is everyone here?" Fan Debiao sat down in the main seat. "As you all know, the project has stopped, but we can still talk. The project may be suspended, but people can't stop. Winter may freeze the land, but it can't freeze the way to make money. So today I'll talk about one thing—how to sell mobile phones during the Chinese New Year."

He opened the ledger: "Let me give you some figures first. We currently have 240 TCL 3188 units, 160 Amoi A8 units, and over 300 other models in total. We have enough stock; the key is how to sell them."

Liu Qiang chimed in, "Brother Biao, the TCL 3188 is sold out everywhere right now, so these two hundred-plus units are practically hard currency."

"Right." Fan Debiao nodded. "So we have to keep prices stable and not sell at rock-bottom prices. But we still need to do year-end promotions. How should we do it? I've come up with a few ideas."

He took a sip of water: "First, starting this year, we'll be giving rebates to retail stores. Previously, it was all direct sales, but now we're having a year-end promotion. For each TCL 3188 sold, we'll give one point back; for each Xiaxin A8 sold, we'll give two points back. Ten units will get an additional one point, 20 units or more will get an additional two points, and 30 units will get an additional three points. The rebate will be paid immediately upon payment. This will only last for one month; after the New Year, the price will return to normal."

Wang Fang asked, "Brother Biao, what if the retail stores ask why we didn't have it before, but only now?"

"No problem," Fan Debiao laughed. "Just tell them this is the manufacturer's year-end policy to support our Kaiyuan market. If they don't believe it, have Awei bring out the manufacturer's documents—Awei, you make an official document with our company seal."

Avi smiled and nodded: "I understand."

"Second, we'll implement a volume-based incentive program," Fan Debiao continued. "In small towns and villages, each individual store may not sell many units, but the total volume is considerable. Here's what we'll do: if three or more stores join together and sell a total of fifty TCL units this month, we'll give each of them an extra 1% bonus."

Xiao Juan's eyes lit up: "Brother Biao, this is called sticking together for warmth!"

"That's right," Fan Debiao said. "Third, there's a trick to product placement. For best-selling models, you can stock more in one store, placing them in the most prominent spot on the counter. For models that don't sell well, just put one or two demo units in each store. If they don't sell, take them back; they won't take up their space."

Xiaoling raised her hand: "Brother Biao, what about the promotional materials? It's almost Chinese New Year, and every store needs to put them up."

"Awei will be in charge of this." Fan Debiao looked at Awei. "You contact TCL and Xiamen and ask them to provide year-end promotional materials. Posters, display stands, lanterns, and 'Fu' characters—we need them all. We sell so much of their merchandise every month; asking for these things isn't unreasonable."

Awei wrote in her notebook: "Brother Biao, I'll make the call this afternoon."

"Fourth, Sister Zhou, keep an eye on after-sales service," Fan Debiao said. "We cover all after-sales service for all goods that leave our store. Retail stores just need to sell the goods; we'll handle the troublesome issues. That's our biggest advantage."

Sister Zhou nodded: "Don't worry, Brother Biao, I've made all the arrangements at the repair center."

Fan Debiao looked around: "Finally, let's select two large stores on the mobile phone street and turn them into 'year-end promotion model stores.' We'll stock them with more goods, and we can negotiate an extra half-point rebate privately. We'll send our people to help with the promotions. We'll make these two stores a hit, so other stores will be envious."

Liu Qiang slapped his thigh: "Brother Biao, that's brilliant! That's called the power of example!"

"Right." Fan Debiao stood up. "Now let's divide the work. Liu Qiang and Wang Fang, you two go to the retail stores in the city and negotiate rebate policies with each one. Xiao Juan and Xiao Ling, you two prepare promotional scripts and memorize the selling points of each phone. Awei is in charge of getting materials and preparing documents. Sister Zhou will coordinate after-sales service and finance."

Everyone stood up.

"I only have one thing to say." Fan Debiao tapped the table, "This year for the Spring Festival, we want the people of Kaiyuan to think of TCL and Amoi when they need a new mobile phone. Let the retail stores make money, and we'll make money too, and have a prosperous New Year."

After the meeting, Fan Debiao called Awei to his office.

"Are you confident about getting the materials?" he asked.

Awei's eyes curved into crescent moons: "Brother Biao, we're selling hundreds of machines to them every month now, shouldn't we get some promotional materials? Mr. Wang, the provincial distributor for TCL, said last time that we're the best performing market in northern Liaoning. If I ask for something, does he dare refuse?"

Fan Debiao chuckled: "Alright, you handle it. Oh, and you need to keep a close eye on the sales staff training. Don't just shout 'It's cheap!' They need to clearly explain the benefits of the phone. What are the advantages of a color screen over a monochrome screen? What are the more polyphonic ringtones? They need to explain all of that clearly."

"Okay, Brother Biao," Awei said, taking a small pillbox out of her bag and placing it on the table. "This is hangover medicine; take two pills before drinking next time. Also, some stomach medicine; your stomach isn't good, so drink less alcohol."

Fan Debiao was taken aback, picked up the medicine box and looked at it: "When did you buy this?"

"I bought these on my way out this morning when I went to buy eggs." Awei turned and walked out, but turned back at the door. "Brother Biao, I'll bring you dinner tonight. You don't have any food at home."

After saying that, he closed the door and left.

Fan Debiao stood there, examining the medicine box for a long time. He opened the drawer, put the medicine box inside, and placed it with the company seal.

The phone rang. It was Liu Qiang.

"Brother Biao, I just visited two stores, and they're all happy to sell our products when they hear about the rebates. They're just asking if we can give them more promotional items."

"Tell Awei to ask the manufacturer for more," Fan Debiao said. "Tell those stores that as long as they meet their sales target this month, I'll treat them to dinner during the Chinese New Year."