All the heavens begin with the love in the courtyard.

Chapter 67: The Solution!

Chapter 67 of "Love in the Courtyard": The Solution! Lei Dongbao's words made everyone raise their heads and look at him in surprise!

Lei Dongbao rubbed his sore eyes and forced a smile as he spoke.

The biggest challenge we face now is the recycling of hundreds of thousands of Thunder brand electric fans on the market!

This requires tens of millions, even hundreds of millions, of funds. I think all of you leaders should already be aware of this, right?

The crowd below nodded, signaling Lei Dongbao to continue.

Lei Dongbao paused for a moment before speaking slowly.

“I don’t think any company can afford this amount of money. Xiao Lei’s family can’t afford it, and Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory certainly can’t afford it either. But instead of thinking about how to recover the money, we should think about how to regain the trust of those hundreds of thousands of customers!”

The leaders in the audience still didn't quite understand what Lei Dongbao meant.

Lei Dongbao didn't keep them in suspense and continued.

"Here's my solution!"

"First, I need all provincial, municipal, and county departments, major department stores, and Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory to jointly issue a statement. The statement should say that all people who have purchased Thunder brand electric fans can exchange their purchase receipts for a Peak brand electric fan of equal value at the department store or shopping mall where they originally purchased the fan!"

The leaders in the audience fell into deep thought upon hearing Lei Dongbao's words!

Lei Dongbao continued.

"Since Thunder brand electric fans have a bad reputation, and Peak brand electric fans are guaranteed by Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory, the people are naturally worried about the possibility of bankruptcy. I think the vast majority of people would agree to the request to exchange Thunder brand for Peak brand!"

Lei Dongbao's words gave the leaders in the audience a pleasant surprise; this was a good idea!

However, the leaders in the audience soon realized that there were some problems. The public would indeed agree to this alternative trade-in program, but could Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory afford the cost of hundreds of thousands of Peak brand electric fans?

Lei Dongbao smiled and continued speaking.

"I know everyone is wondering if we can afford such a large exchange event. Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory certainly cannot afford such a large exchange cost. This is where all the major shopping malls and department stores need to share the burden!"

Lei Dongbao didn't let the leaders continue guessing; he went straight to explaining his plan.

"I originally wanted the people to pay a little money based on the year they purchased the goods, so that Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory could have a lighter burden. But after thinking about it, public opinion is very negative right now. We can't afford to create a bigger uproar. At this time, we need a more prudent solution!"

"The statement is that all customers who purchase Thunder brand electric fans, as long as the fan has no quality problems, regardless of how many years have passed since they purchased it, can exchange it for a Peak brand electric fan of equal value for free!"

"Secondly, if customers who purchased Thunder brand electric fans do not wish to exchange them for Peak brand fans for other reasons, they can still enjoy the trade-in service and the three guarantees service by presenting their proof of purchase. The responsibility in this regard can still be pushed to Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory!"

The leaders nodded and began to discuss it. This was indeed a good idea; once the statement was released, the crisis could be resolved instantly!

Lei Dongbao stood on the stage, listening to the leaders' discussions. After a long while, he finally spoke.

"Next, let's discuss how to share such a huge responsibility and cost!"

Everyone looked up at Lei Dongbao. They knew that Lei Dongbao probably already had an answer, and now he was trying to negotiate with them!

One of the leaders smiled and said to Lei Dongbao.

"Director Lei, regarding this matter, as far as policy matters, we will definitely provide strong support whenever the government's involvement is required. Please tell us your proposed solution!"

The meaning behind these old foxes' words was quite clear: the government could offer verbal support, but there was definitely no money to be given. Lei Dongbao shook his head helplessly before speaking.

"Let me calculate the cost for you leaders. A Thunder brand electric fan has a different selling price depending on the specifications. Let's take the average selling price as around 135 yuan, and the average ex-factory price as around 85 yuan. The 50 yuan in this is the store's profit, and the factory cost is around 45 yuan for the 85 yuan ex-factory price, so the factory's profit is also 40 yuan. Let's calculate the cost of our Peak brand electric fan at 45 yuan per unit. Do you leaders have any objections?"

After thinking for a moment, the leaders all nodded in agreement.

Lei Dongbao pondered for a moment before continuing.

"For every brand-new Peak brand electric fan that Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory replaces, they take back one used Thunder brand electric fan. These recycled used electric fans are definitely not worth 45 yuan in actual value. Let's calculate the cost per fan as 30 yuan. Do you leaders have any objections?"

The cost of each recycled electric fan is thirty yuan?

Who will bear the remaining fifteen yuan cost?

Since the government wouldn't provide any funding anyway, everyone turned their attention to Lei Dongbao, awaiting his answer.

Lei Dongbao continued.

"The 15 yuan difference should naturally be borne by the department store. For every Thunder brand electric fan they take back, they will give us 15 yuan to Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory. They have already made a profit of 50 yuan. Now, giving back 15 yuan per electric fan should not be a problem, right?"

The lower-level leaders were hesitant to agree to this, so they all turned to the leader in charge of this matter. After a moment's thought, the leader finally nodded and agreed to Lei Dongbao's request!

Immediately afterwards, Lei Dongbao began to assign responsibilities and specific arrangements to both parties involved in the exchange, and the leaders agreed to Lei Dongbao's arrangements.

Now that the biggest problem has been solved, the future of Xiaolei Village is another big question, and everyone's attention has turned to Lei Dongbao.

Lei Dongbao rubbed his eyes. He also bore some responsibility for the mess that Xiaolei Village had become. His bold development in the past few years had emboldened those mediocre people, who then recklessly took out loans to develop the village, ultimately leading to its current state.

No matter what, I'm surnamed Lei!

Lei Dongbao pondered for a moment and then said.

"Xiao Lei Jia is a mess right now, everyone knows that. If I were to say that I would take over that mess on behalf of Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory, the thousands of workers in the factory would not agree. I suggest that the leaders discuss this issue first. After all, even if Xiao Lei Jia were sold now, it wouldn't be worth ten million. Xiao Lei Jia still owes the bank tens of millions of yuan in loans!"

Lei Dongbao's words made it clear that he couldn't bear the responsibility. The leaders present exchanged glances, understanding Lei Dongbao's situation. Their main concern was resolving the issue of the hundreds of thousands of people who had purchased Leiting electric fans.

As for Xiao Lei's family, who will ultimately take over that mess is no longer their concern; that's a headache for the leaders of Jinling County!

Thus, the meeting concluded smoothly, and Lei Dongbao's solution is currently the best solution.

In fact, everyone knew that Lei Dongbao had used some clever tricks. For example, the actual value of those used electric fans that were replaced was definitely more than 30 yuan, while the production cost of an electric fan at Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory was definitely not 45 yuan. In addition, the 15 yuan that each fan was supplemented by major department stores, Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory was definitely making a profit from this price difference.

However, the leaders ultimately accepted Lei Dongbao's calculation method without any bargaining. As for the reason, the leaders had their own reasons.

First of all, the cost of hundreds of thousands of electric fans is a considerable sum. Even with the 15 yuan subsidy from the department store, Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory will still have to spend at least tens of millions of yuan to get hundreds of thousands of second-hand Thunder brand electric fans. That brand has a terrible reputation. The Thunder brand logo is engraved on the base and the outer shell. Even if they are sold cheaply, they will probably be sold for several years.

The after-sales service for these hundreds of thousands of electric fans would also be a considerable expense. Therefore, Lei Dongbao quoted a cost of 45 yuan per unit, and after exchanging glances, the leaders all agreed to his price!

The best outcome would be if this matter could be resolved as quickly as possible!

That afternoon, the joint statement was posted at the entrances of major department stores. Although a small number of people were not entirely satisfied with Lei Dongbao's solution.

However, the vast majority of people are satisfied with the plan, especially those who bought Thunder brand electric fans the year before last and last year. They never expected that they could get a new electric fan after using it for two years, and it would be a free replacement!

The Chinese people are the easiest to compromise with, and Lei Dongbao's solution was implemented with almost no resistance!

Soon, customers flocked to the appliance counters of major department stores to exchange their electric fans. Since the main sales market for Thunder brand electric fans is in Anyun Province, the appliance counters of major department stores in Anyun Province were packed with people after the announcement was released!

Despite it being September, the Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory is operating three shifts a day, producing Peak brand electric fans!

Major department stores quickly ran out of stock because so many people wanted to exchange their items, which caused quite a stir!

Helpless, Lei Dongbao once again had the factory issue a notice stating that the longest valid redemption period for this redemption activity was one year. Even if you came to redeem it at the end of August next year, you could still get a brand new Peak brand electric fan!

As soon as this statement was released, the number of people coming to redeem their items decreased by more than half, greatly relieving the pressure on major department stores and the Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory.

It's normal that more than half of them are missing. People have their own calculations in mind. If they come to replace them at the end of August next year, wouldn't they be able to use free fans for another year?

Who doesn't like free stuff?

Of course, even with this statement, thousands of people still come to redeem their items every day. In addition to being greedy for bargains, the Chinese people also have a cautious nature. Given the precedent of Thunder Electric Factory, everyone would rather use it for a year less than feel at ease once it's settled!

Fortunately, the daily exchange activity of thousands of people finally gave Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory a much-needed breather. Working overtime every day, they were still able to keep up with the demand, and this exchange activity was finally able to pass smoothly!

The biggest challenge facing Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory right now is collecting thousands of used Thunder electric fans every day. The exchange cost of tens of millions of yuan is not a big problem for Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory at the moment!

This year has been a bumper year. Sales are now in the tens of millions every month, and profits have already exceeded ten million. This amount of money is not much for Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory!

However, Lei Dongbao's leadership in this recycling operation caused considerable controversy within the Second Machinery Factory. But Lei Dongbao was currently riding high, and no one objected to his demands, so the plan proceeded smoothly.

It's already past September, and what to do with these recycled second-hand Thunder brand electric fans is indeed a big problem. However, Lei Dongbao didn't take it to heart; he already had a plan for these second-hand electric fans.

For Lei Dongbao, this recycling plan was entirely beneficial to Jinzhou No. 2 Machinery Factory, making them a clear winner!

Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory produced a new Peak brand electric fan. The factory quoted a cost of 45 yuan, but the actual cost could be controlled at around 35 yuan. Even if the cost was 35 yuan per unit, the department store would subsidize it by 15 yuan, so the actual cost would only be 20 yuan. Even if 500,000 units were recycled, the cost would only be 10 million yuan!

Perhaps it's a bit more, after all, these Peak brand electric fans that have been exchanged will be covered by Peak brand after-sales service and warranty, and these costs will add up to one or two million, let's say it's a cost of twelve million!

What did Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory gain from this investment of 12 million?

The first gain is 500,000 new users. In the future, how many of these 500,000 new users will choose to buy Peak brand appliances again? The value of this part is incalculable!

The second gain was the recovery of 500,000 used Thunder brand electric fans, which was also a huge gain. Lei Dongbao planned to spend one or two million yuan to refurbish and repackage these recovered electric fans. Although the sales season had passed, Lei Dongbao already had a sales strategy in mind!

The third gain is naturally the production target of 500,000 units. With an additional 500,000 units of spare parts produced, how many workers can be supported? And how much profit can these workers generate for Jinzhou Second Machinery Plant with their wages?

In short, Lei Dongbao thought this exchange plan was like finding a treasure!

Lei Dongbao doesn't have a solution for Xiao Lei's family for the time being. He really doesn't want to deal with that mess right now!

If you can help once, you'll help a second time. Besides, I don't want to go back to Xiaolei Village anymore. Village collective enterprises will be eliminated by society sooner or later. Lei Dongbao now compares the Second Machinery Factory with Xiaolei Village Leiting Electric Factory and finds that Leiting Electric Factory's disadvantages are too obvious, and it will be difficult to realize his ambitions!

The Autumn Canton Fair is about to be held in October, and Lei Dongbao has been preparing for it for a long time. The products that Jinzhou No. 2 Machinery Factory will bring to the exhibition this time are mainly electric fans. Lei Dongbao naturally plans to sell the hundreds of thousands of second-hand Leiting brand electric fans that he has recycled to foreigners!

The foreigners attending the Canton Fair were not only from developed countries in Europe and America, but also from Africa and Southeast Asia. The price war at the Canton Fair in the 1980s was much more brutal than the current domestic business environment. Many companies produced for foreigners at a loss in order to meet their foreign exchange targets, just to exchange for US dollars!

Lei Dongbao believed that his African and Southeast Asian friends would definitely scramble to buy these second-hand Thunder brand electric fans, which cost him only about 20 yuan each!

In addition to electric fans, Lei Dongbao also made some gadgets, such as kettles, bread makers, and his own patented product, the air fryer!

Lei Dongbao was indeed inspired by a novel about rebirth when he read about the air fryer, a gadget that only came into existence in the 21st century. He even asked the relevant departments in Jinzhou to help the foreign affairs department apply for a foreign patent for the Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory in the port city.

This tactic was also learned from others. Although there were many twists and turns involved, the Jinzhou Second Machinery Factory, with its state-owned enterprise background, still found it quite convenient to handle certain matters.

With everything ready, Lei Dongbao packed his bags and led his team to Guangdong Province to participate in the Canton Fair at the end of September!

Chapter 68: Yang Xun's Rules of Conduct

Before going to Guangzhou, Guangdong Province to attend the Canton Fair, Lei Dongbao held a one-month celebration for his son Lei Xiaoliang. In fact, it was also the one-month celebration for his other son, Gao Jin!

Unfortunately, he couldn't take care of his other son. Three days ago, he went to Jinling County to hold a full moon celebration for Gao Jin in advance, but Gao Shengnan refused. In the end, Lei Dongbao left a few hundred yuan and left!

Lei Dongbao, a well-known and capable man in Anyun Province, ultimately found it difficult to balance his personal relationships with his children, which is a kind of helplessness!

More than a dozen leaders from various provinces, cities and counties attended Lei Xiaoliang's full moon celebration. Even the newly appointed acting county head of Jinling County came in person. Of course, his brother-in-law Song Yunhui also came, but he hid in a corner and rarely showed his face.

At the banquet, Lei Dongbao was in high spirits, toasting all the leaders with glass after glass, and got thoroughly drunk. In the evening, he was helped home by Song Yunhui.

Men are truly strange creatures. They can drink when they're happy, and they want to drink even more when they're upset. In the end, all their sorrows and joys are contained in alcohol.

For this trip to the Canton Fair, Jinzhou City sent a delegation led by a vice mayor, comprising more than a dozen state-owned enterprises.

Lei Dongbao didn't try to stand out; he quietly followed the main group. After arriving at their destination and settling into their accommodations, Lei Dongbao held a meeting with his team.

Lei Dongbao brought eight people with him this time. They were all young people he had taken a liking to over the past year and were considered as potential future talents. That's why he brought them here to broaden their horizons!

Among them was Yang Xun. Logically, Lei Dongbao shouldn't have brought Yang Xun along, but Yang Xun had performed exceptionally well over the past two months, so much so that Lei Dongbao personally investigated him.