All the heavens begin with the love in the courtyard.

"Are you looking at an idiot?"

Song Yunhui smiled helplessly, stood up, took out a copy of yesterday's Jinzhou Daily from under his bed, and handed the newspaper to Xun Jianxiang.

Xun Jianxiang took the newspaper with a puzzled look, and looked it over. It was just an ordinary Jinzhou Daily. What was there to it?

Seeing Xun Jianxiang's puzzled look, Song Yunhui helplessly pointed to the top headline and said...

“That man is my brother-in-law. I asked him to help me get into Jinzhou Chemical Company through connections.”

Xun Jianxiang then focused his attention on the headline of yesterday's Jinzhou Daily, and was immediately drawn to a large headshot on it.

The photo booth picture was naturally of Lei Dongbao. His resolute face showed no expression, and there was even a hint of ruthlessness in it.

Yesterday's Jinzhou Daily headline read, "Jinzhou No. 2 Machinery Factory's Hongyun Fans are a Great Success, Selling 200,000 Units in Ten Days! Sold Out in Multiple Locations Across Four Provinces!"

Xun Jianxiang glanced at the photo booth pictures again before turning his attention to the news. He was immediately captivated and didn't put the newspaper down until he finished reading the entire article, then fell silent.

When Song Yunhui saw Xun Jianxiang's appearance, he burst out laughing. He picked up the newspaper and saw his brother-in-law's picture. He never imagined that Lei Dongbao would rise to such heights.

Now, every time news about Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory appears, Lei Dongbao's name is always mentioned. It seems that Jinzhou is intentionally or unintentionally creating a personal myth about Lei Dongbao. Song Yunhui naturally doesn't understand why Jinzhou would do this.

It's actually quite simple. The problems of large state-owned factories across the country are becoming increasingly serious. Since 1977 or 1978, state-owned enterprises have been trying to reform, but the results have not been obvious. However, Jinzhou No. 2 Machinery Factory has risen strongly, which is simply a model among models. This is a living example of political achievement. The more prosperous Jinzhou No. 2 Machinery Factory is, the higher Lei Dongbao's reputation will be, which means that the leaders have a better eye.

But Song Yunhui didn't understand any of this. He only knew that the higher Lei Dongbao's reputation and the stronger his position in Jinzhou, the more secure his own reputation as a relative would be. That's why he had no choice but to start from the bottom!

Xun Jianxiang remained silent for a while, then finally realized what was going on. He snorted, picked up his wine glass, clinked it with Song Yunhui's, and drank it all in one gulp. Then he smacked his lips and said with some envy.

"I think you're living a life of privilege and don't know it. If I had a brother-in-law like that, so what if people say he got in through connections? They're just envious and jealous. Your choice to go to the factory is just a joke to others. They'll say, 'Look at that idiot, he has such good connections and doesn't use them, he goes to the factory to work three shifts. What a fool!'"

Song Yunhui smiled helplessly, poured Xun Jianxiang a glass of wine, and then spoke.

"Da Xun, thank you for your concern, but I really want to go to the workshop to learn more about the production process. I've found that a lot of what I've learned is just theoretical; what's in books and what's in practice are completely different. I'm planning to spend a year understanding the equipment and production processes of the entire Jinzhou Chemical Plant!"

Xun Jianxiang was completely bewildered. He picked up his wine glass and spoke in a tone of someone who had been through it all.

"It's easy for you to go down now, but it won't be so easy for you to go up later. The line between workers and leaders isn't so easy to cross!"

Song Yunhui, however, did not take Xun Jianxiang's words seriously. He believed that with his knowledge, it was only a matter of time before he shone brightly!

Seeing that Song Yunhui was determined, Xun Jianxiang stopped trying to persuade him. The two of them finished a bottle of wine without realizing it. Xun Jianxiang then breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the Jinzhou Daily from next to Song Yunhui, looked at Lei Dongbao's photo on it, and said with some longing.

"Xiao Hui, you know what, I really admire your brother-in-law. Under his leadership, a run-down factory has achieved such success. It's truly remarkable. I heard that the Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory had several petitions and disturbances last year, and hadn't been paid for half a year. I never expected things to change so quickly!"

Song Yunhui did not answer Xun Jianxiang's question. He just looked at the row of auspicious fan patterns at the bottom of the newspaper and couldn't help but sigh. He didn't expect that he would actually succeed!

The success of the Hongyun Fan project was something that Song Yunhui hadn't expected, and even more so, something that countless others hadn't anticipated.

Back when the equipment was purchased from Xiao Lei's house at the original price, Jinzhou had been discussing this matter endlessly. After all, it was a project worth tens of millions of yuan, and many leaders wondered if Lei Dongbao was trying to transfer something.

But in the end, Lei Dongbao still managed to get it done and put it into production very quickly. Everyone was watching to see how Lei Dongbao would make the most of the Lucky Fan!

On July 10th, advertisements for Hongyun Fans were simultaneously launched in four provinces, including Anhui Province, one municipality, hundreds of newspapers and radio stations, and finally, television commercials.

"Safe, energy-saving, drop-resistant, priced between 29.8 and 39.8 yuan, Hongyun electric fans are a must-have for the whole family!"

There are almost no fans on the market priced under 100 yuan. When a fan priced at 20 or 30 yuan appears on the market, everyone's attention is drawn to it!

The advertisement clearly states the advantages of the Hongyun fan, with safety being the primary advantage.

Furthermore, it is stated that, according to statistics from relevant departments, the number of accidents involving children and adults cutting their fingers due to the sharp blades of traditional metal fans is increasing every year. However, the Hongyun fan eliminates this concern because over 95% of its components are made of plastic, so even if children are playing, they will not cut their fingers.

The second advantage is that it saves electricity. Don't think that people in this era don't care about electricity bills. Many families go to bed early at night to save a few cents on electricity.

The claims about energy saving still rely on comparing the power consumption of ordinary aluminum-iron fans with that of Hongyun fans. Experiments have shown that Hongyun fans can save about half the power compared to ordinary metal fans. In addition, Hongyun fans have a timer function that can be set for one to two hours and then automatically turn off when the time is up.

This feature is also accompanied by an illustration depicting a scene where a child falls asleep in their mother's arms while being fanned by a lucky fan. Two hours later, the fan automatically stops, but the mother and child are already fast asleep, showcasing the safety and energy-saving advantages.

The last one is its durability, which resonates with many people. According to incomplete statistics, more than half of the electric fans of this era were damaged and had to be repaired because they were accidentally dropped from beds or tables.

Because this is caused by human error, most brand-name electric fans are not covered by warranty, making it a pain point for consumers. Now, Hongyun Fan is using this pain point as a selling point in its advertising, which naturally attracts the attention of countless consumers.

Another point that attracts ordinary people to buy is not advertised, but it is the most attractive reason for people to buy, without exception!

That's definitely cheap!

The cheapest electric fans on the market now cost over 100 yuan. If a fan that costs only 20 or 30 yuan suddenly appears, how can you not be tempted?

With its various advantages and powerful advertising campaign, the electric fan market was instantly ignited. From Anhui Province to Fujian Province, hundreds of cities were advertised almost simultaneously. In just ten days, the sales of Hongyun fans exceeded 200,000 units, breaking all records once again!

Actually, if Xiao Lei's Hongyun fan had had a stronger advertising campaign, it wouldn't have failed so miserably. Although they did do some advertising, they didn't highlight the advantages of the Hongyun fan at all.

Anyway, they tried their best to let everyone know that they had a plastic fan that was cheaper than aluminum and iron fans, and they didn't shy away from advertising it. Although plastic fans are all plastic products, they are half the price of traditional aluminum and iron fans. This kind of reckless advertising did not attract any interest. Coupled with the failure of the price of 59.8 yuan, the Hongyun Fan project went bankrupt.

If this lucky fan were sold in Xiao Lei's shop, the cost of each unit would be around 15 to 17 yuan. However, at Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory, the cost can be reduced to less than 12 yuan. After mass production, Lei Dongbao plans to reduce the cost to less than 10 yuan. Currently, there are two different specifications: a small one and a medium-to-large one, with a factory price of around 18 to 25 yuan.

Lei Dongbao's goal is to unify the market with low prices first and build up the Hongyun brand. Even if similar plastic fans appear in the future, people will still subconsciously think of Hongyun brand plastic fans when the prices are similar. He wants people to think of Hongyun brand plastic fans as their first thought when they think of plastic fans!

Lei Dongbao has been so busy lately that he hasn't had time to deal with Song Yunhui's little matter, so naturally he doesn't know about his brother-in-law's little scheme.

Besides his career, he is also worried about something else recently: Song Yunping is about to give birth, and Gao Shengnan is also about to give birth.

The pregnant woman's emotions were extremely unstable. During this time, Gao Shengnan called more than once, hoping that Lei Dongbao could come to the hospital to accompany her on the day the child was born!

For the past year, Gao Shengnan has been resting and preparing for childbirth in Jinling County. To ensure her safe delivery, Lei Dongbao rented a two-story house for her and hired two nannies to stay with her 24 hours a day, fearing that something might happen to her. However, due to his busy work schedule, he only visited Gao Shengnan in Jinling County twice this year, which shows that he has indeed been somewhat negligent in his care for her.

No matter how capable Lei Dongbao was, he was still just an ordinary man. In this respect, he was simply unable to take care of both women. Lei Dongbao naturally knew Gao Shengnan's disappointment. He had originally planned to go to Jinling County to be with her during the two days of Gao Shengnan's delivery, but he never expected that things would sometimes be so coincidental!

Chapter 62: Finally, I'm a Dad.

At the end of July, Song Yunping, who was heavily pregnant, suddenly fell and suffered a massive hemorrhage. At the time, her nanny had gone to buy groceries. When the nanny returned, she was so frightened that she immediately contacted the hospital, which then promptly notified Lei Dongbao.

When Lei Dongbao rushed to the hospital, Song Yunping had already entered the operating room. The doctor informed Lei Dongbao that the mother was experiencing severe postpartum hemorrhage and needed to undergo surgery immediately, asking him to sign the consent form right away!

Lei Dongbao signed his name with trembling hands, overwhelmed by guilt. Despite all his precautions, things still went wrong. Sitting on a chair in the hospital corridor, Lei Dongbao wearily rubbed his cheek. Now, all he could do was pray that fate wouldn't play this trick on him.

Fate was indeed playing a cruel joke on Lei Dongbao. Just as Lei Dongbao was sitting on a chair in the hospital corridor praying, in a two-story building in Jinling County, two middle-aged women helped Gao Shengnan, who was covered in sweat, slowly walk down the stairs.

Gao Shengnan's pained expression prompted the two middle-aged women to comfort her. At that moment, Gao Shengnan tightly grabbed one of the middle-aged women and shouted.

"Third Aunt, quickly call him and tell him to come back right away! Hurry, it hurts so much!"

The middle-aged woman whom Gao Shengnan called Third Aunt also looked anxious and quickly comforted her.

"Shengnan, don't worry, don't worry, the car will be here soon. No one is answering the phone, they're probably busy. I'll take you to the hospital first, and then I'll call again!"

Gao Shengnan clutched the middle-aged woman tightly in pain, unable to speak, her face covered in sweat that soaked the woman's collar.

Finally, a small truck slowly drove up from a distance. The vehicle stopped, and a young man got out. Seeing Gao Shengnan's appearance, he glanced at her with some displeasure. The middle-aged woman next to him quickly said with a fawning expression.

"Mr. Xiao, thank you for your help. Please take me to the People's Hospital!"

As she spoke, the middle-aged woman took out five yuan from her pocket and handed it to the young man. The young man looked at the money in his hand and finally nodded.

Two women tried to help Gao Shengnan to the passenger seat, but the young man quickly stopped them and pushed them to the back. Finally, the young man had no choice but to push Gao Shengnan into the back of the truck. The two women got in the truck as well, and then the truck started and drove towards the hospital two miles away!

Gao Shengnan lay on her back in the truck bed. The metal truck bed was hard and hot, but Gao Shengnan couldn't care less about that at the moment. She was in so much pain that her clothes were completely soaked with sweat. She gritted her teeth, looked in the direction of Jinzhou, and tears streamed down her face without her noticing.

At that moment, Lei Dongbao was sitting on a chair in the corridor when he suddenly felt a tightness in his chest. He stood up and paced back and forth in the corridor!

The level of hospital care in this era made him feel extremely panicked. He didn't know what he was panicking about, but he just felt anxious, as if he was going through a hurdle in his life. This hurdle seemed very low, but he just couldn't get over it. It was driving him crazy!

He didn't know how much time had passed when suddenly a baby's cry rang out from the operating room. Lei Dongbao's steps faltered, and he almost collapsed to the ground. He looked up at the direction of the operating room and prayed silently, "Please, please, nothing bad will happen to Song Yunping." Perhaps his prayers worked, because at that moment, the operating room door was pushed open, and several doctors strode out!

Lei Dongbao quickly stepped forward and asked anxiously.

"Doctor, how is my wife?"

The doctor glanced at Lei Dongbao, then took off his mask, a smile appearing on his lips, and slowly said.

Congratulations, mother and baby are safe and sound!

When Lei Dongbao heard that the mother and child were safe, he felt as if he had suddenly overcome a hurdle in his mind, and his whole body felt weak with exhaustion!

The doctor smiled when he saw Lei Dongbao's appearance and asked the nurse to take Lei Dongbao inside.

Lei Dongbao quickly expressed his gratitude and followed the nurse into the operating room. Once inside, Lei Dongbao saw a tiny baby next to Song Yunping, and a surge of fatherly joy welled up within him—he had finally become a father!

What he didn't know was that, a hundred kilometers away at the Jinling County People's Hospital, two middle-aged women at the entrance breathed a sigh of relief as a baby cried out!

Lying on the hospital bed, Gao Shengnan looked at the baby in the nurse's arms, and a sense of relief finally appeared on her face. Looking at the man who still hadn't appeared outside the door, Gao Shengnan closed her eyes, and tears flowed again!

On the same day, Gao Shengnan also gave birth to a son for him. Lei Dongbao only found out about this a week later. He later learned that Gao Shengnan had someone call him more than a dozen times on the day she was in the hospital, but he was in the hospital at the time and not in his office at all.

Unable to contact Lei Dongbao, Gao Shengnan's resentment reached its peak, and in the end, the strong-willed Gao Shengnan stopped asking anyone to call him.

It wasn't until a week later that Lei Dongbao remembered there was a pregnant woman in Jinling County. He hurriedly made a phone call to inquire, only to receive a cold, indifferent reply.

"The baby has been born, and I've already chosen a name: Gao Jin!"

Lei Dongbao was stunned on the spot and rushed to Jinling County to apologize. However, Gao Shengnan was strong-willed and insisted on her choice. Lei Dongbao had no choice but to let the child named Gao Jin take his mother's surname.

This is for the best. Lei Dongbao knows that he may not be able to spend much time with this child as he grows up, so giving him his mother's surname is a way to comfort her.

Lei Dongbao couldn't stay with Gao Shengnan for long. After half a day, he returned to Jinzhou. He had to run around to the factory and Song Yunping's place, and he also had to find time to visit Gao Shengnan occasionally. He was too busy and too tired.

The Hongyun Fan project was indeed very successful. Following advertising and marketing, it successfully reaped the first wave of benefits. With three shifts of production and full-speed production, it could produce more than 10,000 Hongyun Fans every day, but it still could not meet the market demand!

Besides the Hongyun fan, the Peak brand aluminum and iron metal electric fans are still on sale. However, due to the strong rise of Xiao Lei's Thunder brand electric fans, coupled with the success of its own Hongyun fan in grabbing the largest share of the market, the sales of Peak brand electric fans in July only reached 60,000 units. This is the peak season of the year, so it seems that sales in August will hit a new low!

With the rise of plastic electric fans, the market for metal electric fans will gradually shrink. In a few years, after other electric fan manufacturers start producing plastic electric fans, all-metal electric fans will gradually withdraw from the market and eventually become a mere accessory!

Next year, Lei Dongbao will have the design department design several electric fans with plastic fans and metal frames, trying to make the combination of metal and plastic look high-end, so that they can be sold at a better price and the cost can be reduced.

In the next few years, the electric fan market will enter a period of intense competition and consolidation, with thousands of electric fan factories across the country rapidly being phased out.

Lei Dongbao had always had a plan in mind: to take advantage of the booming period of the past few years to expand rapidly and make a fortune. Electric fans were the foundation of Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory. Only by stabilizing this foundation could he proceed with other plans.

Lei Dongbao received the sales report for July, and he was basically satisfied with the amount and sales performance. Although Hongyun Fans were only sold for 20 days in July, the sales volume reached 4,000 units (43 units). Even with three shifts, the daily supply still couldn't meet the demand. The sales volume in August was expected to be around 350,000 units, as this was already the largest production capacity of Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory.

He needs to expand the scale of the Hongyun Fan project next year. Taking advantage of the current period of high profits, reaping the rewards quickly is the key.

The electric fan market is far from reaching its limit and will likely continue to benefit for at least another ten years. Air conditioners will only truly enter the public eye in the 1990s. Even so, after the period of high profits, electric fans will become just another ordinary electrical appliance project at the Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory.

From the very beginning of his employment at Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory, Lei Dongbao paid special attention to the research and development department. He paired some experienced workers with some young technicians, and gave them some ideas to help them research new products.

The technical strength of Jinzhou No. 2 Machinery Factory was still quite good, but it had gradually fallen into disuse over the years. The first thing Lei Dongbao did after taking office was naturally to revive the factory.

Back in May, when the Peak brand electric fan was gaining popularity, the Jinzhou City government approached Lei Dongbao to discuss whether Peak brand electric fans could participate in this year's Autumn Canton Fair project. At that time, the leaders approached Lei Dongbao simply to have Peak brand electric fans make up the numbers.

In this era, every province and city had the task of earning foreign exchange through exports. China had just entered the reform and opening-up period and currently needed a large amount of foreign exchange to purchase foreign technology and equipment.

At that time, the national policy was to prioritize the export of trivial and insignificant items. Every province, city, and county encouraged exports, and Jinzhou was no exception.

However, apart from exporting some agricultural products and raw materials, Jinzhou's other specialty exports are mainly water bottles and bed sheets with various embroidered flower and bird patterns. In terms of electrical appliances, they really don't have anything worth mentioning. Just then, the Peak brand electric fan became very popular in Anyun Province, and the leaders of Jinzhou immediately had an idea.

Lei Dongbao thought about it for a while and finally agreed. Indeed, it was time to take some money out of the foreigners' pockets. In Lei Dongbao's mind, there would probably be many electric fan manufacturers competing at the Canton Fair. Which province doesn't have several electric fan brands like Peak that sell well in a certain province?