All the heavens begin with the love in the courtyard.

If 1980 was the year Xiaoleijia laid a solid foundation, then 1981 was the year Xiaoleijia took off.

Despite the many difficulties and troubles that Xiaolei Village encountered this year, overall, everything went smoothly.

With Lei Dongbao in charge of the overall situation, everyone just needs to do their own job well, and everything will be fine.

With Lao Xu's support behind the scenes, Lei Dongbao's personal reputation is also rising rapidly.

In October 1981, Lei Dongbao received his first national award, the title of "Top Ten Farmer Entrepreneurs in China," and his name appeared in the China Daily for the first time.

The China Daily called Xiaoleijia a representative of township enterprises. The rise of Xiaoleijia also represents the brilliant achievements of reform and opening up. Lei Dongbao's daring and enterprising character represents the indomitable qualities of Chinese farmers over thousands of years!

With the approval of the top leadership, Lei Dongbao's momentum is now firmly established, making it difficult for certain people in Jinling County to stop him.

Lei Dongbao was not surprised to receive the title of provincial people's congress representative. From county people's congress representative to provincial people's congress representative, Lei Dongbao's rise was unstoppable in just two short years.

Lei Dongbao's ability to gain recognition from the top was undoubtedly due in no small part to Lao Xu's influence. What kind of background does Lao Xu have?

He meticulously recorded and analyzed all the development directions of Xiao Lei's family over the past few years, and finally wrote a report, which he sent to Yanjing and gave to the office of certain people who really wanted to understand the development of rural collective enterprises.

Old Xu's own investigation revealed that township collective enterprises like Xiao Lei's were not replicable and could only serve as a reference. Even if given the same funds and projects, another township enterprise would not be able to achieve the success that Xiao Lei has today.

All of this is because Xiao Leijia has a leader named Lei Dongbao. Lei Dongbao is unique; his boldness and accurate predictions have made Xiao Leijia's electrical appliance factory invincible.

Old Xu is paying close attention to the injection molding machines that Leiting Electric Factory is currently purchasing and the plastic Hongyun fan project. Lei Dongbao has invested millions or even tens of millions of yuan in the Hongyun fan project. If it were any other township enterprise leader, they wouldn't have such boldness.

Lei Dongbao seems to have been gambling ever since the establishment of Leiting Electric Factory, betting that he could win. He did win, and the winner takes all. Of all the electric fan factories established this year, less than a third are actually profitable.

These electric fan factories, backed by state ownership, were large enough to survive, and with government support, they could struggle for a few more years.

This year's electric fan war is a good example. State-owned enterprises have rigid systems and lazy employees, and are completely lacking in fighting spirit. In Lao Xu's view, facing the more flexible Leiting Electric Factory, the reform of state-owned enterprises is imperative. He has written all of this into his report.

Indeed, for Lei Dongbao, the 1980s was the best era for the development of township enterprises.

For example, this year we competed with those large state-owned factories. We originally thought it would be a fierce battle, but in the end, there wasn't a single one that could compete.

On the contrary, the small factories in the dozen or so towns of Anyun Province, by being flexible and adaptable, quickly produced high-quality imitations of Thunder brand electric fans. With price reductions, these similar-looking imitations were a quarter cheaper than the genuine products. Under these circumstances, they really attracted a large number of unsuspecting customers.

Their sales channels were also diverse. In the 1980s, many collective markets had already emerged, whether in cities or rural areas, or in places similar to fairs. People would cooperate with individual vendors selling electric fans and straw mats, and quickly create a sales point.

With high-quality imitations and flexible sales channels, these small factories in rural towns are thriving. They sell 20,000 to 30,000 electric fans a year, earning hundreds of thousands of yuan in profit. They are self-sufficient and live a very comfortable life.

However, the state-owned factories are no longer viable. Their traditional sales models have long been outdated, and even if they wanted to engage in price wars, their rigid systems have made them disconnected from the market.

If a state-owned factory wants to lower the price of its electric fans, it must go through layers of approval. However, many leaders are afraid that they will be held responsible for poor sales, so they would rather let the fans rot in the warehouse than agree to lower the price for the mall. They are all afraid of taking responsibility!

Besides, I'm working for the government, why should I lower the price?

It was precisely this kind of thinking that led to the rapid decline of state-owned enterprises, which failed to keep up with market demands and changes. Ultimately, in the 1990s, they had no choice but to make painful sacrifices and begin a vigorous reform of state-owned enterprises.

The most unfortunate are always the ordinary workers. The relentless wave of layoffs makes the outside world seem too cruel for those workers who have lived in state-owned factories for two generations!

In the 1990s, private enterprises emerged, and competition became even more brutal, leading to rampant growth. The sales methods employed were incredibly diverse and varied.

The Chinese who were able to start businesses and open companies in the 1990s can all be described as having bold personalities and an indomitable spirit. However, once these people became bosses, the moral bottom line hidden deep in their hearts gradually collapsed.

To keep their businesses alive and to make more money, these people use all sorts of methods.

Taking shortcuts has become an unspoken rule. Take advertising as an example: from the 1990s to the early 2000s, the most profitable industries in China were not real estate, but selling alcohol, medicine, health products, and games.

Lei Dongbao is now spending a million yuan on advertising to develop Xiaolei Village, which is already considered crazy. For entrepreneurs in the 1990s, the minimum standard in the industry was to spend 50 yuan of the 100 yuan in sales revenue from health products sold on advertising. The craziest thing was that advertising costs accounted for 90% of the sales revenue for every product sold.

Can you believe it?

In a bottle of health supplement that costs 100 yuan, advertising costs 90 yuan, packaging costs 1.5 yuan, the cost is 0.5 yuan, and the profit is 8 yuan. They only follow two principles for their products: first, they are not poisonous; second, they are useless!

Starting from a dilapidated house, the company grew to an annual sales volume of 10 billion yuan in just a few years. Isn't that ruthless?

Behind all this madness, with money paving the way, everything seems perfectly normal!

During the Spring Festival of 1982, Lei Dongbao finally returned to Xiaolei Village on New Year's Eve. After a busy year, he was finally able to rest for a few days.

I cooked a meal myself, and the whole family gathered together for a New Year's Eve dinner.

At the dinner table, my mother looked unhappy the whole time. She looked at Lei Dongbao for a while, then at Song Yunping, her lips pouting.

Lei Dongbao and Song Yunping exchanged a knowing smile, both understanding why their mother was unhappy. They had been married for three years but still didn't have a child. Lei Dongbao sighed, realizing it was indeed time to have one.

He then smiled and picked up a piece of braised pork, placing it in his mother's bowl, and said with a smile.

"Mom, don't worry, I'll stay home for an extra month this year, just to give you a grandson!"

Upon hearing this, the old woman was overjoyed and quickly replied.

"Dongbao, are you telling the truth?"

Lei Dongbao laughed heartily, looked at Song Yunping whose face was flushed with embarrassment, and said earnestly.

"Don't worry, don't worry, it's absolutely true, I guarantee I'll complete the mission!"

When the old woman received Lei Dongbao's answer, she immediately beamed with joy, picked up the braised pork, and began to eat it heartily.

Lei Dongbao shook his head helplessly, picked up a piece and put it in Song Yunping's bowl. Seeing Song Yunping's still thin face after all these years, Lei Dongbao said with some heartache.

"Pingping, starting today, you must feed me plenty of meat and fish for a month. I'll cook for you myself!"

Song Yunping rolled her eyes at Lei Dongbao, happily accepted the braised pork, and then asked...

"Dongbao, are you really planning to stay home for a month?"

Lei Dongbao nodded without telling them the reason. The injection molding machines purchased by Guangdong Province had arrived at Xiao Lei's house one after another before the Lunar New Year. This cost several million yuan, plus the supporting material warehouses and factories, totaling tens of millions of yuan. Lei Dongbao had to wait until the new factory was running normally before going to Jinzhou.

Last year was a year of takeoff for Leijia, and this year will be a year of soaring growth. After the planning in the second half of last year, Leiting Electric's sales network now covers four provinces and municipalities, and they are just waiting for the fans to be launched next year.

Newspaper advertising continued, and the marketing teams that had been set up in advance had already entered various cities to conduct surveys and visits, analyze local customer consumption habits, and even investigate the best-selling electric fan brands in the area and what marketing models these competitors were using. These were all tasks personally assigned by Lei Dongbao.

After more than two years of training, Leiting Electric now has a market-leading sales team and has incorporated the concept of marketing. Although Lei Dongbao is only a mediocre person, his many forward-thinking ideas are enough to be considered genius ideas in this era.

From 1977 or 1988 to 1982 this year, Lei Dongbao has been working tirelessly. This year, he really wants to take this opportunity to spend some quality time with Song Yunping at home.

Over the years, they had no children. Besides bad luck, another reason was that Lei Dongbao was always worried that if Song Yunping got pregnant, it would end up like in the original story, with both mother and child dying. This worry might have been related to that.

However, the timeline from the original story has passed, so Lei Dongbao's reservations have gradually eased. Moreover, the medical standards in the Lei family are now several levels higher than in the original story. The clinic established by the Leiting Electric Factory alone has more than a dozen doctors specializing in various fields.

Lei Dongbao chuckled to himself as he watched Song Yunping glancing at him from time to time. Suddenly, he realized that it had been a long time since he and Pingping had played their "couple's game," and the thought made his heart flutter.

Life and accidents are unpredictable; you never know which will come first. Lei Dongbao had planned everything: to take a few days off during the Spring Festival, wait for the technicians to adjust production, start stocking up, and then head to the Jinzhou headquarters in early March to take charge and prepare for the new battlefield!

But before the Spring Festival was even over, an unexpected change in the situation put Lei Dongbao in a very passive position.

Chapter 45: Old Xu Gets into Trouble

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Lei Dongbao accompanied Song Yunping back to her parents' home. Her brother-in-law, Song Yunhui, happened to be home. Upon seeing his brother-in-law Lei Dongbao, he immediately pulled him aside to inquire about the current situation in Xiaolei Village.

Lei Dongbao reluctantly went inside to pay his respects to his father-in-law and mother-in-law before chatting with Song Yunhui outside the courtyard.

Song Yunping looked at her younger brother with doting eyes. Song Yunhui was the pride of the whole family. He was a senior in college this year and would graduate in the fall. Four years had passed in the blink of an eye. Watching her husband and younger brother chatting at the gate of the compound, Song Yunping couldn't help but sigh that life had been so good to her!

In recent years, Song Yunhui has consistently ranked among the top students in his class. Apart from tuition fees, he has relied on scholarships and various awards to cover his living expenses. He has never asked his family for money and is an extremely sensible child.

Over the past few years, Song Yunhui has been paying attention to Lei Dongbao. Besides the fact that he is his brother-in-law, the most important reason is that this man has given him endless imagination. Every time he finds out about the current development of Xiaolei Village through various channels, he is amazed.

Last year, he even saw a report about Xiao Leijia and Lei Dongbao in the China Daily. The title of one of the top ten farmer entrepreneurs in the country elevated his brother-in-law to a pedestal. He often thought of Lei Dongbao's achievements in just a few years and felt inferior.

He, who was originally somewhat arrogant in front of Lei Dongbao, now had to lower his head and ask Lei Dongbao some questions.

In terms of professional knowledge, ten Lei Dongbaos couldn't compare to Song Yunhui, but when it comes to talking nonsense, Song Yunhui is still a newbie. Lei Dongbao simply explained the advertising and marketing of Leiting Electric Appliance Factory and made some predictions about the future, leaving Song Yunhui completely bewildered.

The two chatted happily, and two hours passed in the blink of an eye. It wasn't until Song Yunping called them to eat that they smiled and walked into the house. At this moment, Song Yunhui suddenly spoke up with a sigh.

"Brother, when do you think our country will be able to export electrical appliances? Air conditioners are common abroad now, but in our country, even electric fans aren't common yet. The gap is indeed quite big!"

Song Yunhui's words stunned Lei Dongbao. Song Yunhui's words suddenly opened his mind. It wasn't about air conditioning. Xiao Lei family would consider an air conditioning project within the next five years, but not now. He was thinking about another issue.

"exit!"

Although electric fans are not high-tech products, they can still be exported. The reason is that for developed countries such as the United States and Europe, the low labor cost in China is a huge advantage. The cost of producing an electric fan there is tens of US dollars, while in China it is only tens of RMB.

With the establishment of diplomatic relations with the United States and the reform and opening up, China comprehensively introduced foreign technology and goods. It goes without saying how much foreign exchange was needed in China during this period.

In those days, 80 percent of China's exports were agricultural products, and even crude oil was exported. You heard right, China used to earn foreign exchange every year through crude oil exports, and the amount was not small, in the billions, in US dollars.

Lei Dongbao suddenly thought of making money from foreigners through exports because he remembered how, in the 1980s and 90s, the domestic electronics market was ruthlessly plundered by Japan and the United States. Thinking about it now, he felt somewhat resentful!

A 21-inch CRT TV costs over 6,000 yuan, a VCD player costs over 4,000 yuan, a pager costs 4,000 to 5,000 yuan, an IBM laptop with terrible specs starts at 10,000 yuan, an analog mobile phone costs tens of thousands of yuan, and a Volkswagen Santana starts at 200,000 yuan...!

Can you imagine? In an era when the average monthly wage in a country was only a few dozen yuan, imported home appliances costing thousands or even tens of thousands of yuan became a source of pride and bragging rights for some Chinese people. In the eyes of foreigners, however, there were only two words: "idiot!"

For the next twenty years, from Japanese electronics to high-tech from Europe and America, countless riches were plundered from China without restraint. Lei Dongbao could not change this, but he also wanted to use his foresight to make some money from foreigners.

Seeing Lei Dongbao standing there in a daze, Song Yunhui quickly shook Lei Dongbao's shoulder. Lei Dongbao immediately snapped out of it, smiled, and patted Song Yunhui's shoulder back.

"Xiaohui, what are your plans after graduating from university this year?"

Song Yun smiled shyly and said.

"I studied chemical engineering, and Jinzhou Chemical is the best chemical company in the country, so naturally I want to work at Jinzhou Chemical!"

Lei Dongbao nodded and said casually.

"Jinzhou is now the headquarters of Leiting Electric. I still have some connections there. If you need any help, remember to call me. Also, if you don't want to work in the chemical industry anymore, you can come and help me, Xiaohui. I'm really short of talent right now!"

Song Yunhui nodded, and the two went inside to eat. At the dinner table, the father-in-law intentionally or unintentionally advised Lei Dongbao and Song Yunping to have a child soon, as they were both getting on in years.

Lei Dongbao readily agreed, saying he had to agree, and the family happily finished their meal.

The worry on Song's father's face has obviously faded in the past two years, and his face is much more cheerful. His son is a college student from a prestigious university, and his son-in-law is now one of the top ten farmer entrepreneurs in the country.

The Lei family is now the envy of every household in Jinling County. So many people are begging Song's father to find a job at Leiting Electric Factory, because he is Lei Dongbao's father-in-law!

Those people who used to look down on the town are now all envious of his family. Father Song's face was beaming with joy, clearly extremely happy!

The only regret is that the couple has been married for more than three years, but there is still no sign of a child. Pingping is already twenty-five years old and is still single. They have to be asked to hurry up.

So Song's father started urging Lei Dongbao to drink, one cup after another, his words implying that he should hurry up and have a baby.

Lei Dongbao was unusually happy. He not only drank with his father-in-law but also with his brother-in-law. Song Yunhui entered the Jinzhou Chemical Plant, a small world with tens of thousands of people. Although Song Yunhui was technically very skilled, he was defeated in Jinzhou because he didn't know how to behave and was too straightforward.

Lei Dongbao was also at the dinner table, teaching Song Yunhui some principles of life and conduct. Unfortunately, Song Yunhui drank cup after cup, his face turning red, and it was unclear whether he had taken it all in.

After having a meal at his father-in-law's house, Lei Dongbao left. Given his current status, he receives a constant stream of visitors every year to wish him a Happy New Year. His home is occupied by his elderly mother, and he was worried about leaving her alone, so he went home in the afternoon.

When she got home, the house was already full of guests. In addition to her aunts and uncles, all sorts of people, both familiar and unfamiliar, came in batches. Song Yunping was so busy that she didn't have time to rest. She had already brewed several pots of tea.

Lei Dongbao originally planned to visit Lao Xu in Jinling County on the third or fourth day of the Lunar New Year. However, after making a New Year's greeting call on the first day, he learned that Lao Xu's wife from Yanjing had come to visit him with their child. So Lei Dongbao said he would visit Lao Xu a few days later, and Lao Xu naturally agreed with a smile.

This year marks Lao Xu's fourth year in Jinling County. He hasn't been back to Yanjing for four years. This year, his wife and children came to visit, and the couple finally reunited for a few days.