Chapter 17

Zhang Xiao became troubled again, but unlike before, when he had begged everyone for orders, now he was troubled because the production speed of the satellite dishes couldn’t keep up with sales!

The first day after increasing capacity, 430 satellite dishes were produced—and sold out before noon; then came a flood of customers demanding stock, forcing Zhang Xiao to enter the factory, place the bonus money inside the production hall, and urge the workers to ramp up output.

The next day, daily production rose to 700 units; though many materials were wasted and the defect rate climbed significantly, these losses were negligible compared to the profits from the satellite dishes—easily affordable.

At a factory price of 300 yuan per dish, after deducting material costs, labor, sales expenses, production losses, and transportation, the profit still exceeded 120 yuan per unit; under these conditions, they could only increase capacity regardless of cost, because the more they sold, the more they earned!

But 700 units per day still fell far short of demand—sold out again before noon; the sales clerks at the supply and marketing cooperatives and TV station outlets had gone completely mad—selling one machine equaled their monthly salary; no one needed to push them—they frantically hawked the satellite dishes.

When the daily output of the Yuanqi Factory reached 1,000 units, production hit a bottleneck—there simply wasn’t enough factory space to significantly increase capacity further!

Meanwhile, satellite dishes quietly gained popularity among nearly 900,000 TV households across Pingyang’s two districts and ten counties; the first buyers were mostly unit employees, due to their higher wages, then spread to towns and villages—installing satellite dishes had become a craze; whether genuinely impressed or driven by competition, the Guanxing satellite dish was now accepted among Pingyang’s TV owners.

“Satellite dish sales have broken 5,000 units!”

On the eighth day of sales, Guanxing’s sales officially surpassed 5,000 units, with revenue exceeding 1.5 million yuan—in just seven days, this exceeded the Yuanqi Factory’s total revenue from the past two years!

At this point, the agreement between Li Dongling and Zhang Xiao officially took effect: when sales of the satellite dish exceeded 3,000 units, Li Dongling was entitled to 20% of the profits; now, in less than eight days, sales had already surpassed 5,000 units.

Zhang Xiao had no regrets about giving Li Dongling his share; on the contrary, he felt relieved—if not for Li Dongling, the Yuanqi Factory would have gone bankrupt long ago, he would have lost the livelihoods of hundreds of workers, suffered the worst defeat since his military discharge, and likely been relegated to some cold desk job for the rest of his career, a lifelong source of guilt; now, Li Dongling had saved Zhang Xiao’s career and lifted the burden from his heart.

After sales broke 5,000 units, the satellite dish began attracting wider attention; more and more distributors came knocking, begging Zhang Xiao for business.

“Factory Director Zhang, I’m Ma Yingxian from Shangzhong City—our company is the largest TV seller in Shangzhong; I’d like to become the exclusive distributor for Guanxing satellite dishes in Shangzhong.”

“I’m willing to pay upfront—I want 5,000 units right away, I can pay now!”

The entrance to the Yuanqi Factory wasn’t small, but now it was completely blocked—delivery trucks bringing materials and trucks hauling away goods filled half the gate; meanwhile, local Pingyang appliance distributors, plus agents and dealers from neighboring cities, had all rushed over.

When Zhang Xiao appeared, someone shouted—and a mob surged toward him; foreign distributors like Ma Yingxian even waved checks, shoving them directly into Zhang Xiao’s hands.

This scene was utterly insane—Zhang Xiao had only read about it in newspapers, where companies like Jianlibao were so popular that distributors lined up daily to secure stock, paying upfront and waiting a month or longer just to receive goods.

Zhang Xiao had once doubted those newspaper reports—but now, before his very eyes, people waved checks, desperate just to hand him money—even if delivery was delayed, as long as he accepted their orders!

“I’m truly sorry, but Guanxing satellite dishes are temporarily out of stock—we’ve already booked orders ten days ahead; if you want to order, you’ll have to wait at least ten days before any delivery becomes possible…”

These orders had been tallied by the supply and marketing cooperatives, TV station outlets, and Zhang Ao’s sales department; some had even collected deposits—meaning the factory still needed to produce at least 10,000 more satellite dishes to fulfill them; now it wasn’t about money—even if offered more, Zhang Xiao simply couldn’t deliver.

But the moment Zhang Xiao said this, the distributors and agents outside grew even more frantic—they shoved checks into his hands on the spot, some even offered to raise the price: 370 yuan per unit, just to secure an order!

One dealer was willing to buy over 8,000 units at 370 yuan each—this single order would total nearly 3 million yuan!

Of course, this dealer couldn’t pay all at once—he’d pay in installments—but the price was staggering; Zhang Xiao was tempted—if this deal went through, he’d net nearly 1.52 million yuan—how could he not be tempted?

Zhang Xiao now knew what it felt like to have people fighting to hand him money—he could open his mouth and immediately secure orders for over 20,000–30,000 satellite dishes, with transaction values reaching 6–7 million yuan!

“I’m truly sorry—everyone, please come inside; we need to discuss this and will reply as soon as possible!”

Zhang Xiao dared not accept orders rashly—if problems arose later, he couldn’t afford to compensate; more importantly, collecting money before delivery was coming too fast, and in such massive amounts—he was uneasy and needed to consult Li Dongling.

Ma Yingxian and the others entered the factory; the bustling scene inside impressed the foreign agents—Ma had come because satellite dishes had appeared in Shangzhong; he’d seen them in some local units, studied their functions, and immediately sensed this product could become a blockbuster.

After confirming the origin of the satellite dish, Ma rushed to Pingyang, personally visiting districts, counties, towns, and villages to observe how widely accepted the dish had become—especially in rural areas.

As an appliance dealer, Ma instantly realized: the satellite dish could become as essential as TVs, air conditioners, or washing machines—a true household necessity!

Think of how many TV households existed nationwide—especially in vast rural areas—how many families needed satellite dishes to receive programming; how massive this market was—and still untouched! Whoever captured the first slice of this market could feast on enormous profits!

Thinking of this, Ma felt his scalp tingle; he rushed straight to the Yuanqi Factory in Shangguan Town, thinking he’d arrived early—but at the factory gate, he was stunned to find so many others already gathered, all desperate for stock!

“Dongling, what do you think—should we take these orders?!”

Zhang Xiao had invited Ma Yingxian and the others into the factory’s cafeteria, where workers ate; the factory had no auditorium, and the small meeting room couldn’t hold so many people—they had to be seated here.

“Why not take them?!”

Li Dongling looked at Zhang Xiao. “Right now, only the Yuanqi Factory can supply satellite dishes—nowhere else can they buy them—at least not for the next one or two months!”

“First, accept orders from out-of-town distributors; keep local Pingyang sales to the supply cooperatives and TV station outlets; next, have Zhang Ao and his team focus on expanding markets outside Pingyang—even beyond the province!”

“But…”

Li Dongling added one final point: “When signing agreements with these out-of-town distributors, require them to partner with local TV stations—otherwise, we won’t accept their orders!”

Whether in Pingyang, neighboring cities, or even other provinces, Li Dongling wanted every Guanxing user to use their dish openly—not secretly, afraid someone might burst in, smash the dish, fine them, or even arrest them; he wanted to make money, but he wanted to earn it with a clear conscience.

“The Yuanqi Factory will accept your orders, but due to current production capacity, delivery may be delayed; however, we guarantee: for each city, we will only cooperate with distributors who sign contracts and pay in full—we will not work with any other distributor in that city.”

“Of course, we have one condition: all distributors we partner with must collaborate with local TV stations, so users can use our satellite dishes without fear!”

When Ma Yingxian and the others heard they’d have to share profits with local TV stations, they were dissatisfied—felt the factory was overreaching—but when they learned they’d get exclusive rights, their annoyance vanished instantly.

“We’ve received 24,000 orders total—over 10,000 have been paid in full; the rest have paid deposits and will settle the balance within a week!”

Back in the office, Zhang Xiao excitedly told Li Dongling: 24,000 orders, plus the previous 5,000 sold, meant total revenue from satellite dishes had surpassed 8.7 million yuan!

After taxes, this left roughly 5.8 million yuan; Li Dongling’s share would be nearly 1.16 million yuan—a millionaire household, achieved!