All the heavens begin with the love in the courtyard.

Even though it's already September in Jinzhou, the weather is still very hot, which gives Thunder Fans a last bit of comfort.

They can still ship 200 units a day to various cities and counties in Jinzhou, but everyone knows that this is the last gasp of their energy!

At this moment, on the campus of An Yun University, Song Yunhui was taking a walk with a little girl. The two walked to a rest pavilion, and Song Yunhui casually found a stone bench to sit down.

Seeing that the little girl was about to sit down, Song Yunhui called out to her carefully.

"Liang Sichen, don't sit down yet!"

The little girl glanced back at the stone bench where she was about to sit, and saw that there were some rotten leaves on it!

As he spoke, Song Yunhui, not minding the dirt, first picked off the rotten leaves with his hands, then casually wiped them with his shirt sleeve before nodding and gesturing for Liang Sichen to sit down!

The little girl looked up at Song Yunhui's dull and thin face, and a smile appeared on her lips. This teacher is really excellent!

Thinking about it, the little girl took off the backpack behind her and took things out of it while saying something.

"Teacher Song, I have something for you!"

Song Yunhui raised his head blankly, adjusted his glasses, and watched as Liang Sichen took out a jar he had never seen before from his backpack, which had a red pattern on it!

"Here, this is something my grandfather brought back from the United States!"

Song Yunhui took the can with some confusion. He read the English on it and it was for something called Coca-Cola. This was the first time he had ever seen Coca-Cola and the first time he had ever heard of the name. He looked at the can in his hand and was still not quite sure what it was!

Looking at the silly-looking Song Yunhui, Liang Sichen teased him playfully.

"Is Teacher Song, who is usually so smart, able to guess what this is?"

Song Yunhui didn't answer. Instead, he picked up the can, carefully read the instructions, and then suddenly realized that it was just a beverage. He looked at the pull tab, hesitated for a moment, and then casually pulled it open as if he had seen it all before. The moment he opened the tab, the gas inside the cola gushed out. Song Yunhui was startled and quickly stood up, somewhat at a loss!

Liang Sichen laughed heartily and quickly called out to Song Yunhui.

"Hurry up and drink it, it's really delicious!"

Song Yunhui was flustered and tried to catch the gushing Coke with his mouth. As soon as he took a sip, he frowned. What was this strange taste?

Liang Sichen watched Song Yunhui savoring the food and couldn't help but smile and say something.

"Have a coke and a smile"

Song Yunhui said slowly.

"Coca-Cola brings joy?"

Liang Sichen nodded and looked at Coca-Cola.

"Teacher Song, I might be going to the United States in the next few days. Will we see each other again?"

Upon hearing Liang Sichen's words, Song Yunhui was taken aback, but then pretended to be indifferent and said...

“We can keep in touch by letter. You can’t stay abroad forever, you’ll have to come back eventually, and then we can meet again!”

Liang Sichen nodded, looking at the man in front of her. The little girl only had admiration for this teacher. The two looked at each other in silence. Song Yunhui looked at the Coca-Cola in his hand and slowly took another sip. This stuff is sweet, and if you savor it carefully, it is indeed delicious!

Although Song Yunhui and Liang Sichen only had a teacher-student relationship for a short year, their lifelong bond began on that campus. Sometimes, fate is just that wonderful!

At this moment, in the far northeast, a short man sneakily emerged from an alley carrying a bundle of electrical wires. He was covered in sweat. After leaving the alley, he looked around at the house numbers and muttered something under his breath.

"It said number 48 Hongxing Street, but there's no number 48 on this street at all!"

The short man walked along, looking around at the house numbers with a puzzled expression. When he reached number eighteen, his eyes lit up, and he quickly stepped forward and knocked on the door!

The door was slowly opened, and a middle-aged man appeared. The middle-aged man was stunned when he saw the short man outside the door. The short man's eyes lit up when he saw the middle-aged man, and his face immediately became full of smiles. He nodded and bowed as he spoke.

"Mr. Sun, I've finally found you! I'm Xiao Yang from the electronics street. This place is really hard to find. Last time, didn't you say you needed several types of wires? I'm sorry we didn't have them in stock last time. But I just got some today, so I came to get them for you. Please see which types you need, and I'll give you a discount!"

After listening to the short man's words, the middle-aged man suddenly realized what he meant. He looked at the electrical wires behind the short man, pondered for a moment, and then said...

"Come in and talk!"

The short man nodded, still wearing a humble smile, and covered in sweat as he carried the wires inside!

Upon entering the living room, the middle-aged man carefully examined the electrical wires the short man had brought. He then picked and chose four different models. Standing up, he handed the wires over and said...

"Xiao Yang, actually, your stall was out of stock that day, so I went to another store to buy some. We just couldn't agree on a price then. I was planning to go and negotiate today, but this is the first time I've seen someone offer door-to-door delivery service for electrical wires. You're a really nice guy. So, if the price is right today, I'll order from you. You know how many I need! Just tell me the price!"

The short man smiled broadly upon hearing the middle-aged man's words and quickly replied, "No problem, no problem."

A dozen minutes later, the short man walked out of the room, carrying the power cord back. He put the cord down at the alley entrance, wiped the sweat from his face, and looked at the cord at his feet with a smug smile.

This short man is none other than Yang Xun. Yang Xun, who used to sell steamed buns, now helps his fellow villagers sell electrical wires in Northeast China. With his eloquence and diligence, Yang Xun earned his first pot of gold in the 80s!

Yang Xun made a living by running errands for his fellow villagers, delivering goods, and occasionally taking on odd jobs outside. During that year in Northeast China, he saw a whole new world.

With a sum of money in hand, Yang Xun's mind started to wander. Of course, this amount of money was not much, only a little over three thousand yuan, but for Yang Xun, who had worked hard selling steamed buns for two years and only managed to save less than fifty yuan, he was already very content. He even thought about the day he would return home in glory!

Before 92, private enterprises in China were considered inferior and were not even qualified to do business in places like electrical appliance stores. So why were Yang Xun's fellow villagers able to rent stalls in the store to sell electrical wires?

This naturally brings us to the wisdom of the Chinese people. Starting in the 1970s and 1980s, a new term emerged in China!

"Affiliation!"

This means that individuals pay a management fee to a collective or even state-owned enterprise, and by using that enterprise's name, they can openly do business just like any other collective enterprise!

The Northeast in the 1970s and 80s was not the Northeast of later generations. Now it is the richest region in China and the heavy industry base of China. After the reform and opening up, countless people from all over the country came to this land to make a fortune!

Yang Xun's fellow villagers were affiliated with a local state-owned wire factory, paying a management fee every year, and thus began to settle down in Northeast China!

I won't go into the risks of affiliation; in short, it's an unspoken rule under the law!

After the great leader's southern tour in 92, the private economy was opened up, and many bosses who had been groping their way forward in the dark expressed their heartfelt gratitude!

Before 92, collective and state-owned enterprises dominated the market. In those days, even if you made money, you didn't dare to boast about it. In later generations, if you had money, you could buy luxury cars, but in those days, you didn't even have the right to buy a car.

If Yang Xun succeeds in this deal, he can earn more than 300 yuan. Thinking about the hard times he used to live, Yang Xun is filled with emotion. He is not even 18 years old now, but since he dropped out of school three years ago, he has been the one who earns the money for all the big and small expenses of his family. Every penny he earns is hard-earned money for Yang Xun!

However, his experience in Northeast China also deeply influenced Yang Xun's future character and conduct. His fellow villagers had become wealthy in the 1980s by running an electric wire stall, and Yang Xun had witnessed how they earned that money.

Shortchanging customers, substituting inferior goods for superior ones, passing off inferior goods as superior ones, and being solely driven by profit—these business skills profoundly influenced Yang Xun's fate afterward!

Chapter 32: Caojiagou Hardware Factory

As October deepens into late autumn, Xiao Lei's appliance factory has finally taken a temporary break. It's only temporary because the new models and parts haven't arrived yet. At the earliest, by the end of October, Xiao Lei will be working overtime again to prepare for next year.

The two electric fans at Jinzhou Department Store were also removed on October 1st.

From March 1st to October 1st, a full seven months and five thousand and forty hours of continuous operation, they finally completed their mission on October 1st!

Lei Dongbao invited many media reporters to take countless precious photos of this scene. The next day, more than a dozen newspapers published the news. It can be said that in 1980, the Thunder brand electric fan left the people of Jinzhou with the last bit of memory.

These two electric fans have become heroes of Xiao Lei's family. After being disassembled and inspected by Gao Shengnan, they will be preserved. In the future, Xiao Lei's family will set up an exhibition hall, and these two electric fans will be the number one heroes of Xiao Lei's family!

For Xiaolei Village, the 1980s were like a rollercoaster ride – incredibly exciting! Lei Dongbao went from being ridiculed to receiving numerous honors, experiencing a lot along the way!

By October 1st, Xiao Lei Home Appliance Factory had produced 39,400 electric fans, of which 38,500 had already been shipped. Several hundred remained in the warehouse. If possible, the goal of shipping 40,000 units this year might be achieved!

With 40,000 electric fans, sales of over four million yuan, and profits exceeding one million yuan, Xiao Lei's family was able to retain over seven hundred thousand yuan in cash after deducting bank loans. In the 1980s, this amount was enough to make many people envious.

Even in the county and town, many departments are eyeing this fund. Lei Dongbao is on high alert and will not allow it to be touched. This fund is the bullet for Xiaolei Village next year. Lei Dongbao will not agree, and neither will the more than 800 people in Xiaolei Village!

In addition to the 700,000 yuan, Lei Dongbao also plans to borrow another 1 million yuan from the county bank to prepare for next year's competition. Lao Xu is already actively handling this matter and trying to secure more preferential interest rates for Xiao Lei's family.

With Xiao Lei Jia's hit product this year, Lao Xu has successfully secured his position and temporarily won a round. With Lao Xu backing him up, no one has dared to mess with Xiao Lei Jia for the time being!

October is usually a month when the Lei family should be celebrating their victory, but Lei Dongbao is still busy traveling around.

Since the inspection team returned at the end of August, Lei Dongbao has not stopped working. He traveled back and forth between Guangdong Province and Anhui Province three times!

This inspection trip made Lei Dongbao realize the shortcomings of Xiaoleijia. If Xiaoleijia wants to gain a foothold in the electric fan market next year, or even in the next few years, it must have its own advantages!

The biggest weakness of Xiao Lei's family right now is the lack of parts factories. He must take advantage of the big battle next year to integrate a parts supply chain that belongs to Xiao Lei's family!

In the past two months, Lei Dongbao has visited hundreds of parts factories throughout Anyun Province. He doesn't care about the size of the factories, but only whether they are suitable for Xiao Lei's family. He wants to select the most suitable parts factories for Xiao Lei's family and use orders as an incentive to try to tie these factories to Xiao Lei's family.

He now needs time and money. In addition to the parts factory in Anyun Province, Lei Dongbao also went to Guangdong Province three times. He saw a new type of electric fan in a foreign magazine, which gave him endless inspiration.

This electric fan is a new type of plastic oscillating fan, which later became the famous Hongyun fan in China.

In 83, the owner of a township electric fan factory in Shunde saw this all-plastic electric fan in a foreign television advertisement. He had a flash of inspiration, bought two of them from the port city, and began to imitate them. He eventually succeeded in imitating them and quickly put them on the market.

In just two years, this township electric fan factory successfully achieved an annual output value of over 100 million yuan in 1985, becoming the most valuable township enterprise in Guangdong Province.

Lei Dongbao fully understood why this plastic electric fan was successful: apart from the motor, more than 95% of the other parts were made of plastic, and the parts could be produced almost like an assembly line using injection molding machines.

Not only will it not require as many parts factories, but the cost can be reduced to a dozen yuan or even less. Once this kind of electric fan appears on the market, it would be no exaggeration to say that it will become a national treasure in an era where the average wage is only thirty or forty yuan.

Lei Dongbao has been inquiring about the market for injection molding machines for the past few months. Currently, the Lei family's funds are insufficient. He plans to launch the Hongyun fan project next year after earning enough capital. The Hongyun fan project could be listed as early as 82.

Thinking about the future and turning Xiaolei Village into a township enterprise with an annual output value of over 100 million yuan, he felt excited!

That day, Lei Dongbao appeared in the suburbs of Jinzhou carrying a briefcase. Although this place was still within Jinzhou's territory, it was already considered a rural area. However, in Lei Dongbao's opinion, the conditions and location of this village were significantly better than Xiao Leijia's, and it was only five kilometers away from Jinzhou's urban area.

Lei Dongbao rode his motorcycle into the village, which was called Caojiagou Brigade. The motorcycle clattered as he stopped at the brigade headquarters. Lei Dongbao had come to find someone: Cao Chengwang, the hardware factory director who had left a deep impression on him.

Lei Dongbao came to Caojiagou at the invitation of Cao Chengwang. He had just returned from an inspection last month when Cao Chengwang approached him, saying that the hardware factory in Caojiagou had undergone an equipment upgrade and invited Lei Dongbao to visit and inspect it.

Lei Dongbao had been visiting parts factories for over a month, and only after he had finished visiting most of them did he remember about the Caojiagou Hardware Factory, so he decided to come and take a look today.

As soon as Lei Dongbao entered the Caojiagou brigade headquarters, a man rushed in from outside. It was Cao Chengwang, whose face was covered in grease. When he saw Lei Dongbao, he smiled and tried to shake hands, but when he saw the grease on his hands, he said somewhat embarrassedly.

"Secretary Lei, we've been waiting for you like the stars and the moon! Come on, let's go and chat first. Let me show you the new equipment our hardware factory has acquired!"

Lei Dongbao was somewhat surprised, but smiled helplessly and gestured for the other party to lead the way.

Cao Chengwang was clearly excited, chattering incessantly the whole way. He talked about recent policies, the changes brought about by Shenzhen's reform and opening up, and finally the electric fan market. Cao Chengwang remained confident, saying that in the next few years, electric fans will enter thousands of households, and his hardware factory in Caojiagou will also adapt to the times and keep up with the pace of the times.

If it weren't for the oil stains on Lao Cao's clothes and the low mud houses around him, Lei Dongbao would have almost thought he was sitting on a leather sofa discussing a project worth hundreds of millions.

Cao Chengwang is indeed a talented person, but unfortunately, the small stage of Caojiagou is not a place where he can put his talents to use!

The two walked towards the village until they arrived at a dilapidated hall with a sign written in calligraphy hanging in front of it.

"Caojiagou Hardware Factory," the nameplate reads with a strong, ancient style. Seeing Lei Dongbao standing at the door staring blankly at the signboard, Cao Chengwang smiled and pointed at it, saying.

"This signboard was written by the former principal of our village primary school. His handwriting is quite good, isn't it? The former principal even won third prize in the Jinzhou City calligraphy competition back in the day. He really has some skill!"

Lei Dongbao nodded and followed Cao Chengwang inside. Before they even entered, they could hear the rumbling sound of the machines. Once inside, the sound became even louder. Cao Chengwang excitedly led Lei Dongbao further inside.

Lei Dongbao carefully examined the environment of the Caojiagou Hardware Factory before him. When he went inside, he saw several rumbling machines and countless young people covered in grease and dirt, busy working around the factory.

Lei Dongbao frowned as he looked at the machine tool. Those machine tools looked older than him, and they seemed a bit like a mishmash. The sound they made was obviously wrong. Driven by electricity, they struggled to lift the huge iron mold and made loud banging noises. A few seconds later, a fan blade was hammered into shape.

However, this was only a semi-finished product. The young man next to him took the semi-finished product down, started hammering and tinkering with it, and then put it back under the machine tool. A minute later, finally, a fan-like iron blade was formed.

After the fan blades were formed, Cao Chengwang picked up the finished product, walked up to Lei Dongbao, and said with a smile.