All the heavens begin with the love in the courtyard.

Just as they started eating, there was another knock on the door. Pushing it open, they saw another guest standing at the door, a short man who quickly bowed.

No need to look, the Japanese are here!

The young Japanese man was very respectful. He wore gold-rimmed glasses, had a receding hairline, and looked like an elite. As soon as he entered the room, his nose, like a dog's, immediately turned to the air fryer. Instantly, his short legs moved towards the air fryer without him even realizing it.

The young Japanese man first circled the air fryer, examining it carefully, before walking up to Lei Dongbao with a smile and speaking in standard Mandarin.

"Rei-san, your air fryer has a fantastic design. On behalf of Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., I would like to express my purchase request to you!"

Lei Dongbao nodded, took the last bite of the chicken leg in his hand, and then mumbled something indistinctly.

How many units are you planning to purchase?

The young Japanese man looked at Lei Dongbao with a smile, and finally said seriously.

"We plan to purchase ten units!"

Before Lei Dongbao could react, Old Zhang next to him opened his mouth wide and exclaimed in surprise!

"Ten units??"

The young Japanese man glanced back at Old Zhang, then turned to Lei Dongbao with a smile and said earnestly.

“Yes, Mr. Lei, we don’t know much about this product yet, so we’d like to purchase ten units to test the quality. Our quality standards in Japan are much stricter than those in China. If your quality meets our domestic standards, we will purchase more in the future!”

Lei Dongbao looked at the Japanese man who was talking nonsense with a serious expression and said with amusement.

"Sure, $1,000 per unit, cash only!"

The little Japanese boy was stunned by the price and exclaimed in surprise.

"Leisang, are you kidding me?"

Lei Dongbao's expression changed, and he reprimanded him in fluent Japanese.

"Sir, you were the one who joked with me first. There's a Chinese saying, 'Speak frankly,' so you're buying ten units because you want to copy them, right? I regret to inform you that we've already applied for an international patent for our air fryer, so you've miscalculated!"

Lei Dongbao's sudden ability to speak Japanese was purely due to a sudden surge of familiar memories in his mind. This skill must have been learned by Zhong Yuemin when he was a special forces soldier. Why learn Japanese when we were fighting against the monkey country?

Lei Dongbao was also a little confused. But who cares? Maybe he still has some untapped skills in his mind!

The little Japanese man was stunned when he heard Lei Dongbao's fluent Japanese. After a long while, he hurriedly bowed and apologized. It seemed that the other party was not as easy to fool as other Chinese people!

Everyone around was stunned, completely bewildered, especially Old Zhang, who looked at Lei Dongbao again with a different kind of gleam in his eyes.

Lei Dongbao was too lazy to waste words with the Japanese, so he took out the notebook he had just taken out and handed it to the Japanese!

The young Japanese man took the notebook and began to read it carefully. As he read, he frowned and remained silent.

Just then, there was another knock on the door. When they opened it, two elderly white men came in.

Lei Dongbao checked the time and saw that it was almost eight o'clock. He estimated that more people would arrive gradually.

So they continued to slowly grill chicken cutlets and drumsticks, giving each new customer a drumstick and a bottle of beer on a first-come, first-served basis. Everyone sat on their beds, looking at the notebooks being passed around, and the crowd started to chatter.

Sure enough, a little while later, seven or eight more people came. However, after each person finished eating the chicken cutlet, drinking the beer, and looking at their laptops, they frowned and said goodbye and left. No one placed an order. They all said they would go back and call to discuss it!

And so it went until 9:30 p.m., when the last group of people finally left and the room fell silent. Looking at the trash all over the floor, Lei Dongbao started cleaning up, and Yang Xun, who was on the upper bunk, quickly got off to help.

At this moment, Old Zhang, who had already left, turned around and slipped back in. Looking at the room full of trash, he glanced at Lei Dongbao, and finally sighed and asked.

"Don't end up with nothing, Lao Lei. Are you sure you can sell this air fryer for $300 a unit?"

Lei Dongbao yawned, stretched, and said helplessly.

"Old Zhang, be confident. Our Chinese products are not inferior. We have complete patents for this air fryer. The appliances we import from abroad cost thousands or even tens of thousands of yuan. Why can't our appliances be sold at a high price?"

Old Zhang sighed helplessly and stopped talking. Tonight felt like a farce to him. It was so lively, but not a single dollar's worth of orders were placed. He felt empty now.

Lei Dongbao patted Lao Zhang on the shoulder helplessly, then went to the public bathhouse to take a shower. He had a big plan for tomorrow!

Although he has indeed attracted about ten potential buyers this afternoon, most of them are unscrupulous, and he hasn't caught a single big fish. So he has to increase his bait!

Early the next morning, Lei Dongbao got up and assigned tasks to everyone. Apart from Li Jin and another person who went to the exhibition hall to stand guard and wait for the enemy to come to them, the rest of them all started to work for him.

For example, he would go to the market to buy potatoes, chicken legs, chicken cutlets, and so on, and the others would follow him to the market.

His market outreach wasn't about selling inside the exhibition halls, but rather about visiting all the stalls around the Canton Fair that sold fast food and snacks. He even went to the food street, carrying his air fryer into any shop that had electricity to promote his product.

He wasn't there to sell machines; he was there to partner with people. He'd put the machines in their shops, and for each shop, he'd provide marinated chicken legs and cutlets, as well as pre-cut fries and kraft paper packaging—all at their own expense!

All you need to do is follow my instructions and sell them for five dollars each. I'll take one dollar, and the remaining four dollars are your profit. I'll also distribute some flyers in your shop. Whenever a foreigner asks you about the machine, just give them a flyer!

Five dollars a serving seems like absurd to many, and they simply don't believe it. But Lei Dongbao has a living advertisement: yesterday's Guangpu boss.

Lei Dongbao always took Guangpu Boss with him when he went to discuss business, and he made a deal with Guangpu Boss: "If you help me successfully promote more than ten stores today, I will give you an air fryer!"

This is a $300 air fryer, how about that?

What else can we do?

Without saying a word, the owner of Guangpu stopped opening his shop and took Lei Dongbao to start running around the market. With the advantage of being a local and the promotion of his products, Lei Dongbao managed to get most of the surrounding stalls in one morning. Of the twenty air fryers he brought, only two were displayed in the exhibition hall, and the rest were distributed elsewhere.

When Lei Dongbao brought twenty air fryers, Lao Zhang gave him a good talking-to, and in the end, he had to pay for the logistics and transportation himself to resolve the issue. Unexpectedly, even after sending them out, it's still not enough. However, Lei Dongbao feels that sending out eighteen air fryers would be about right.

Soon, Lei Dongbao transformed from Factory Director Lei into Chef Lei. He started cooking alone in a house near Boss Guangpu, cutting French fries and marinating chicken legs and cutlets. He cut over 100 pounds of French fries and marinated over 100 pounds of chicken legs and cutlets in the morning. Finally, he had Yang Xun and the others carry buckets and start distributing the food to each household.

Lei Dongbao used Guangpu's venue, but it wasn't free. As a "simple and honest" person like Guangpu, he naturally made some demands, such as providing chicken legs and cutlets for free. Lei Dongbao didn't mind spending a little money, and everyone was happy!

Lunchtime arrived quickly, and as the exhibition hall began to open, a faint, unique aroma gradually filled the air, leading many people to the stalls.

When everyone asked about the price, good heavens! Five dollars for a chicken leg! What a rip-off!

The price scared away 100% of Chinese people, but many of the remaining foreigners couldn't resist their curiosity and bought one to try, and then they couldn't stop!

That noon, many Chinese people witnessed the most astonishing scene of their lives: a group of foreigners eating roasted chicken legs, shedding tears of happiness, their satisfied expressions as if they had never eaten before. The sounds of vendors selling cakes rose and fell. Many Chinese people suspected that those shady shops had drugged the chicken legs!

After trying the chicken legs and cutlets, many foreigners became interested in the novel air fryer. Many merchants with purchasing needs took the brochures and went to the exhibition hall. Finally, they arrived at the Huaxia Home Appliances exhibition area and received a complete set of air fryer brochures that Lei Dongbao had prepared for them.

Li Jin's halting English explanation couldn't clear up their doubts, but Lei Dongbao had already left them the price list from the previous night. In the end, the foreigners received the price list that Lei Dongbao had already printed out, and they all left quietly with furrowed brows.

By lunchtime in the afternoon, word of mouth spread, and more foreigners learned about a magical machine outside the exhibition hall that could quickly bake delicious fries, chicken legs, and chicken cutlets. Many foreigners couldn't wait to go to the shops before 5 p.m.

This time they were very generous, buying several at a time, which made the stall owners very happy. Some stall owners who didn't get air fryers were furious to see their competitors making so much money, and they all asked where these things came from!

Finally, they found the owner of Guangpu and, through connections, contacted Lei Dongbao. Unfortunately, Lei Dongbao felt that eighteen air fryers were enough and directly rejected them.

However, Lei Dongbao also changed the commission from one yuan to two yuan. Although the stall owners were somewhat dissatisfied, they eventually agreed and handed over their profits on time every day, fearing that Lei Dongbao would give the machines to other vendors.

Scarcity drives up value. Eighteen air fryers, plus enough food for two to three hundred people per meal, are more than enough!

People shouldn't eat too much. Lei Dongbao wants to let a small group of people eat their fill, so that it becomes a legendary delicious dish. Only then can those merchants who really need to purchase air fryers see the business opportunity. Lei Dongbao now feels that two or three hundred servings are still too much, and he wonders if it should be reduced.

Old Zhang, who was leading the team from Jinzhou, spent the entire day in the home appliance section, watching the endless stream of customers. From initial excitement to eventual dejection, he witnessed the entire day pass without a single order being placed. Every foreigner left with a price list, frowning, and Old Zhang's brows furrowed as well.

That evening, Lao Zhang barged into Lei Dongbao's dormitory and saw Lei Dongbao shirtless, his face greasy, counting the day's earnings with Yang Xun and the others. The US dollars in his hands were shiny green. Lao Zhang was furious and started yelling at Lei Dongbao!

Lei Dongbao was unmoved by reasoning, but the business continued on the third day. Business got better and better each day, and the hundreds of servings of fries, chicken legs and chicken cutlets were sold out before mealtime!

Lei Dongbao seemed to have lost interest in being the factory director and instead took a special interest in being the chef. On the fourth day, he added whole roasted chicken; on the seventh day, he added hamburgers; and on the tenth day, he even made pizza. In short, he could roast anything. He counted money until his hands cramped every day, but foreigners came to the exhibition hall one after another, and he still didn't make a single sale!

Old Zhang was so angry that he had already given up on Lei Dongbao. He made several phone calls to complain to the Jinzhou authorities. The leaders in Jinzhou were also taken aback. In the end, they personally called Lei Dongbao several times. On the phone, Lei Dongbao gave perfunctory answers, saying that he was about to close the net and that the leaders should just watch the show.

Lei Dongbao's grand finale hasn't even begun yet, but the leaders are already impatient. It's been almost half a month since the deal was finalized in Jinzhou, and they've only managed to close less than $500,000. The leaders are getting anxious.

It's been half a month since the Canton Fair started, and Jinzhou No. 2 Machinery Factory still hasn't closed a single deal. Now, Lei Dongbao and his team have become the chefs, with Lei Dongbao as the head chef and the others as assistants. They are extremely busy every day.

The Jinzhou leadership not only received numerous complaint calls from Lao Zhang, but also from the organizers of the Canton Fair. Finally, the Jinzhou authorities made up their minds and personally dispatched a working group to the Canton Fair to investigate Lei Dongbao.

Just as the working group was preparing to depart, Jinzhou suddenly received a phone call. After hearing the caller's purpose, the leaders were overjoyed and immediately gave verbal approval!

Almost the day after that phone call, a Japanese purchasing team led by a young Japanese man arrived in Jinzhou. Amid the warm welcome from the leaders of Jinzhou, the young Japanese man, with his short legs, shook hands with the leaders one by one!

Lei Dongbao never expected that after spending half a month planning for the Canton Fair and just when the harvest season was about to arrive, his home was almost ransacked!

Chapter 74: The Japanese's Asking Price

He's here! He's here!

They came walking over with their short legs!

The leaders of Jinzhou held a grand welcoming ceremony for the young Japanese. The leaders felt a mix of amusement and nervousness as they watched the young Japanese walk towards them with respectful expressions and short legs to shake hands.

Fortunately, despite their comical attitude, the leaders took the Japanese businessmen's visit to discuss cooperation very seriously, and the level of formality was quite high, with almost all the leaders from Jinzhou present.

The purpose of the Japanese delegation's visit to Jinzhou was very clear: they wanted to purchase the patent for the air fryer and offered a price that excited the leaders of Jinzhou!

This price was irresistible to any leader of that era, except for Lei Dongbao.

A refrigerator production line worth over five million US dollars!

This hits Jinzhou's sore spot right!

Of course, this production line was secondhand, and the Japanese just glossed over it with a casual remark!

Even a second-hand refrigerator production line would be fine. There are only a few dozen refrigerator manufacturers in China, producing only tens of thousands of refrigerators a year. Moreover, most of them are old-fashioned and ugly, noisy, and of inconsistent quality.

You read that right. In 1982, the entire Huaxia refrigerator industry only produced tens of thousands of units per year!

In the days before electric fans were common, refrigerators were considered high-tech for most Chinese people. Owning a refrigerator was a source of great pride.

The economic vitality brought about by reform and opening up is boundless. Many self-employed individuals and special groups have become rich quickly through various channels.

With money, people naturally pursue material enjoyment. Those with connections spend thousands or tens of thousands to purchase imported appliances. Of course, some people are unwilling to spend that money and can only choose to buy cheaper domestic products.

This has led to a growing shortage of high-end home appliances in China. People aren't blind, and countless local governments are trying to find ways to acquire production lines for high-end home appliances such as color TVs, refrigerators, and air conditioners.

But these things are not available domestically and can only be imported from abroad. Moreover, most of the imported goods are second-hand. This has become an international unspoken rule. Developed countries discard their products and then sell them to developing countries at the original price or even several times the price. You can't complain. Even with these second-hand goods imported at high prices, the supply still can't meet the demand.

These things cost millions or tens of millions of dollars, which are in US dollars. Neither businesses nor local governments can afford them!

Against this backdrop, a well-known Japanese company came to your area with great respect, bowing and scraping, saying nice things and being very courteous.

They simply said that for the sake of friendship between the two countries, they would take a loss and only need to exchange something that seemed to have little practical value with you. This windfall made countless leaders in Jinzhou feel that they had really struck gold!

Once in the meeting room and both sides were seated, the Japanese representative took out a thick document, bowed and scraped, and distributed it to the leaders present.

After the leaders had looked at the materials for a while, the representative from Japan stood up, bowed in respect, and introduced himself in fluent Mandarin.

"Our CB250 refrigerator production line is the latest refrigerator production line in Japan from the 1970s. Its technology is still at a world-class level. This equipment can produce up to 300,000 refrigerators per year. It can produce refrigerators ranging from 120 liters to 360 liters, with 22 different specifications. All the blueprints and tooling are complete. Once the production line is installed, it can be put into production at any time!"

When the leaders heard that the annual production capacity was 300,000 units, their eyes lit up and they all became very excited. If this cooperation could be completed, Jinzhou would be able to completely crush other refrigerator manufacturers in China. What a great achievement that would be!

But nobody really listened carefully to what the Japanese were saying about an annual production of 300,000 units, with the word "maximum" added to it. This wordplay is truly masterful!

The two sides discussed the cooperation for another morning and almost quickly reached an agreement. This cooperation is very interesting. Both the Japanese side and the Jinzhou side are willing to speed up the negotiations and want to finalize the cooperation as soon as possible.