Rebirth: Fan Debiao rises from the Liaobei land

Fan Debiao has been having a relatively easy time these past few days. Wu Derong has already made contact with several universities in Shenyang, and more than ten students have submitted their resumes and are just waiting for interviews. The mobile phone store is also doing very well, with all models selling at normal volume. Gangzi and Liu Tiezhu have already started working on the construction of the base station.

This idle man of mine spends his days either shamelessly sweet with Awei or running to the China Netcom office to have tea and chat with Director Zhao, and inquire about the broadband installation schedule.

That afternoon, he went again.

Director Zhao had just hung up the phone when he saw him come in, and shook his head with a wry smile.

"De Biao, you've come at the right time. I was just looking for you."

Fan Debiao sat down and offered him a cigarette.

"What's wrong, Director Zhao?"

Director Zhao leaned back in his chair and sighed.

"The bureau is pushing hard for the broadband, but the server room equipment still hasn't been finalized. I'm about to explode."

Fan Debiao took a puff of his cigarette but didn't say anything.

Director Zhao continued, "Motorola, Ericsson, Cisco, Alcatel—we're in talks with several companies. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Opinions within the bureau are divided; one person says Motorola is stable, another says Cisco is advanced, and the day after that, someone says Alcatel is cheap…"

He rubbed his temples.

"Debiao, what a mess this is. The server room equipment can't be ordered, and your cabling can't be moved either. The last mile has to be completed first."

Fan Debiao put down his teacup, thought for a moment, and said, "Director Zhao, I can offer some advice on equipment selection."

Director Zhao looked at him. "Oh?"

Fan Debiao leaned forward.

"I'm familiar with Motorola and Ericsson. Last year, we used their equipment for the base station project. I've dealt with everyone from the sales manager to engineers Li and Zhang. Their work on product selection, order placement, after-sales service, and debugging is impeccable."

He paused.

"How about I arrange for them to come over and discuss it in person? I can help negotiate the price; we should be able to get a more suitable 'location'."

Director Zhao's eyes lit up. "De Biao, you're a lifesaver!"

Fan Debiao waved his hand. "Director Zhao, we're not outsiders. Only when the server room equipment is finalized can our broadband service run smoothly. I'll definitely do my part in this matter."

Director Zhao nodded. "Okay, contact them and tell them to come as soon as possible. I'll report to my superiors about things at the bureau first!"

The next day, Fan Debiao called Engineer Li.

Upon hearing this, Engineer Li was overjoyed.

"Mr. Fan! Your news is so timely! We've been eyeing this Netcom project for almost half a year, but we haven't found the right person to speak to. Your connection is half the battle won!"

Fan Debiao smiled.

"Mr. Li, don't just be happy. The price needs to be lowered, and the after-sales service needs to keep up. This isn't a one-off deal."

Engineer Li said repeatedly, "Absolutely! Don't worry, Mr. Fan, I'll take people to Kaiyuan tomorrow to discuss this in person."

After hanging up, Fan Debiao called Zhang Gong again. Zhang Gong readily agreed, saying he would arrive the day after tomorrow.

On the third day, Mr. Li from Motorola and Mr. Zhang from Ericsson arrived one after the other.

Fan Debiao took them to see Director Zhao to discuss the solutions, prices, and after-sales service. In the end, Motorola's DSLAM, Ericsson's transmission and BRAS secured the order from China Netcom.

On the day the letter of intent was signed, Engineer Li held Fan Debiao's hand and kept thanking him.

"Mr. Fan, this deal would have been really risky without you. Cisco is keeping a close eye on it too; it was just one last push that made things happen."

Fan Debiao waved his hand.

"Engineer Li, we're all on the same side, so let's not talk like strangers. We'll need your help with debugging and maintenance in the future."

Engineer Li patted his chest and guaranteed.

"Absolutely! I'll have engineers from the training center give regular lectures, free of charge."

Engineer Zhang nodded in agreement.

"Yes, we can do that too. Technical training and equipment debugging are all taken care of by Mr. Fan."

Fan Debiao laughed and said, "We're all old friends, so there's no need for formalities. The matter is settled, so you can relax. Victoria, have your meal and take a bath..."

While the server room was undergoing a major upgrade, Fan Debiao's side wasn't idle either. That afternoon, Wu Derong led three people to Dexing Communications and shouted as he entered, "President Fan, I've brought the people with me!"

Fan Debiao stood up.

Wu Derong pointed to the three young men: "This is Xiao Liu, who studies finance. This is Xiao Song, and this is Xiao Wang, who studies communications engineering."

The three students quickly bowed and said, "Hello, Mr. Fan."

Fan Debiao nodded and looked them up and down. Xiao Liu seemed quite quiet, Xiao Song wasn't tall but had bright eyes, and Xiao Wang at the back looked very energetic, wearing glasses and a slightly worn down jacket. He stood straight, his eyes meeting Fan Debiao's directly without flinching.

Fan Debiao didn't say anything, but picked up the resume and looked at it again.

"Wang Yinghui, Shenyang University of Technology, Communication Engineering." He put down his resume. "How were your major courses?"

"good."

What does "it's alright" mean?

Wang Yinghui thought for a moment.

"Top 15 in the grade."

Fan Debiao nodded.

"Why do you want to come to Kaiyuan? Isn't Shenyang better?"

Wang Yinghui said, "Shenyang offers many opportunities, but the competition is fierce. Kaiyuan is just starting out, and I'm here to help fill that gap."

Fan Debiao smiled.

How do you know you can handle it?

Wang Yinghui did not dodge.

"Mr. Fan, I didn't study my major courses for nothing. I've studied communication principles, signal systems, and data communication. I also interned at China Unicom for two months, installing broadband and adjusting equipment."

He paused.

"What you need is someone who can do the work, isn't it?"

Fan Debiao looked at him without saying a word.

After a few seconds, he nodded.

"Alright, you and Xiao Song will work with Engineer Wang for now. Xiao Liu will work with Sister Zhou." He stood up. "Awei, you make the arrangements."

Wang Yinghui also stood up, walked to the door, and then turned back.

"Mr. Fan, may I ask you a question?"

Fan Debiao looked at him.

"Will we be able to access core business operations here in the future? Or will we just continue with broadband service?"

Fan Debiao paused for a moment, then laughed.

"Get your broadband installed for a month first. Once you've got it set up, we can talk about core business."

Wang Yinghui nodded, pushed open the door, and went out.

Avi remarked from the side, "This kid's a bit reckless."

Fan Debiao picked up his teacup.

"I'm not afraid of Biao. As long as you have the ability, that's enough."

When the equipment upgrade in the data center was almost complete, the first batch of broadband users was announced.

Three hundred households, half a month's construction period. Gangzi frowned immediately as he held the list.

"Brother Biao, this address is wrong."

Fan Debiao leaned over to take a look.

Gangzi pointed to one of the rows: "Look, the staff quarters of the Sugar and Wine Company. Those are old buildings from the 1980s, and the wiring is long gone. It used to be a struggle to install telephones, and now to install broadband, we have to rewire."

Fan Debiao nodded.

"Let's go take a look."

At 2 p.m., Fan Debiao, along with Gangzi, Engineer Wang, and Wang Yinghui, went to the staff quarters of the Sugar and Wine Company.

The building was six stories high, with red brick exterior walls. The stairwells were pitch black, and the plaster crumbled at the slightest touch. Engineer Wang climbed to the roof, took a look, and then came down, shaking his head.

"Brother Biao, this is tough. The main storyline is severely outdated and needs to be redone. This job alone will take three days just to complete this one building."

Gangzi did the math.

"More than 50 out of 300 households are in these old buildings. If they are all like this, it will definitely take more than half a month to finish."

Fan Debiao didn't speak, but looked at Wang Yinghui.

Wang Yinghui was squatting at the entrance of the stairwell, drawing something in a small notebook. After finishing, he stood up and walked over.

"Mr. Fan, I have an idea."

Fan Debiao looked at him.

"explain."

Wang Yinghui handed over the notebook.

"Look, this is the wiring map for the staff quarters of the Sugar and Wine Company. The main line is indeed old, but the incoming lines to each household were replaced later and are still usable."

He pointed to the drawn lines.

"We don't need to rewire the entire building. We can just install a distribution box on the roof and run cables directly from the distribution box to each household. This will save us more than half of the workload."

Engineer Wang came over to take a look.

"Distribution box? Where's the power supply?"

Wang Yinghui said, "There are solar lights on the roof, and the power source is from there. During the day, it's powered by solar energy, and at night it uses mains electricity, which is enough."

Wang's eyes lit up.

"That's a good idea."

Fan Debiao looked at the picture, then at Wang Yinghui.

How did you come up with that idea?

Wang Yinghui said, "When I was interning last year, there was a community in a China Unicom building that was like this. It was an old building, and they couldn't wire it. That's how the technician did it."

Fan Debiao nodded.

"Okay, let's go with this plan."

The first batch of 300 households was completed two days ahead of schedule under Wang Yinghui's plan.

Director Zhao called to praise him, and Fan Debiao exchanged a few polite words before hanging up.

That evening, he was settling accounts with Awei at the store when his phone rang again.

It's General Manager Zhang.

"Debiao, still awake?"

"No, Mr. Zhang, please tell me."

Mr. Zhang paused for a moment on the other end of the phone.

"The provincial company leaders called today to praise you. The broadband department acted quickly, and the entire bureau has noticed."

Fan Debiao said, "Of course, Mr. Zhang, with your support, we can't let you down."

"There's something else," General Manager Zhang said in a low voice. "I heard that the province is going to conduct an information technology pilot program, and Kaiyuan might be selected."

Fan Debiao's heart skipped a beat.

"Information technology pilot project?"

"Yes," said General Manager Zhang. "I'm not entirely sure about the specifics, but if we land this project, it'll be a major undertaking. Just keep that in mind, and don't tell anyone else."

After hanging up the phone, Fan Debiao sat there stunned for a few seconds.

Seeing his expression, Awei asked, "What's wrong?"

Fan Debiao stood up.

"Call Gangzi and Engineer Wang over for a meeting."

At 9:30 p.m., four people sat around a small round table in the inner room of Dexing Communications.

Fan Debiao repeated what General Manager Zhang had said.

Gangzi's eyes lit up after hearing this.

"Brother Biao, this is great news!"

Engineer Wang nodded in agreement.

"If we win the information technology pilot project, it won't just be a matter of a few hundred or a few thousand households; it will be the information technology construction of the entire Kaiyuan."

Fan Debiao looked at them.

"It's good news, but it's still very early stages. We don't even know what the pilot program will entail right now, so we can only prepare for it."

He looked at Engineer Wang.

"Mr. Wang, do you have enough technical expertise on your end?"

Engineer Wang thought about it.

"This current group is okay for broadband. But if we're really going to do an IT pilot project, we'll need a completely different team. However, Motorola and Ericsson have agreed to send engineers to give lectures, and our people can learn quickly."

Fan Debiao nodded.

"Yes, we need to make use of this resource. Awei, keep in touch with Engineer Li and Engineer Zhang, and get the training arranged as soon as possible."

Awei wrote it down in her notebook.

Fan Debiao then looked at Gangzi.

"Where's the construction team?"

Gangzi said, "The base station work can't stop, and the broadband work has already started. If another big project comes along, we definitely won't have enough manpower. But Brother Biao, aren't we recruiting interns? If those people can fill in, it'll be much easier."

Fan Debiao nodded.

"Awei, keep a close eye on the recruitment. Contact all the universities in Shenyang that you can. The more departments you can get in, the better, especially telecommunications engineering, computer science, and network engineering."

He paused.

"Also, Engineer Wang, take a closer look at Wang Yinghui. He's a bright kid, a promising talent."

Engineer Wang smiled.

"Okay, I'll keep an eye on him."

Fan Debiao stood up and walked to the window.

He looked out the window and lit a cigarette.

"Everyone, we're expanding our operations significantly this year. If we can secure base stations, broadband, and information technology pilot projects, it'll amount to several million or even tens of millions of yuan."

He turned around.

"The opportunity is right in front of us; whether we can seize it depends on how well we're prepared."