Chapter 79: The Money Printer

Watching ten thousand electronic pet devices being packed into crates and loaded onto trucks for delivery to retail stores he had lined up across Yangcheng, Chen Zuhan let out a long breath—but his heart still fluttered like a maiden on her first bridal sedan.

Whoever controls Beijing, Shanghai, and Yangcheng controls the market; to judge whether a product will sell, you only need to test it in these three cities to know its fate!

In China’s domestic market, if a product sells well in even one of these three cities, it’s already a hit; if it sells well in two, it’s a blockbuster.

And if it sells out in all three, there’s no need for further testing—just flood the entire country with stock, and prepare plenty of bill counters, because… the money pouring in is so vast you can’t count it without them!

Success or failure rests on tomorrow; for Chen Zuhan, tomorrow is the debut of the electronic pet device in China—and the moment that will decide his fate.

“Aren’t you saying Li Zong from Dongling High-Tech isn’t coming tomorrow?!”

That evening, Zhang Ao arrived in Yangcheng to represent Dongling High-Tech at the product’s debut show. After three rounds of toasts, Chen Zuhan couldn’t help asking him.

Zhang Ao glanced at Chen Zuhan and slowly shook his head. To these distributors, tomorrow was the biggest event of their lives—but for Dongling High-Tech, which had already seen its devices snatched up overseas, it was far less thrilling.

“Li Zong has something more important to handle tomorrow!”

Zhang Ao told Chen Zuhan—he wasn’t lying. Li Dongling truly had something urgent to attend to: he was traveling to the capital of Hanzhong Province. What exactly, Zhang Ao couldn’t ask—and Chen Zuhan certainly couldn’t.

“Tomorrow, everyone in Yangcheng will know your name, Boss Chen!” Zhang Ao raised his cup to Chen Zuhan.

The electronic pet device would go on sale at Yangcheng Department Store’s electronic counter. To prepare, the store had cleared multiple counters and assigned extra sales staff.

For the domestic debut of the electronic pet device, there was no middle ground—it would either be a crushing victory or a total failure, no in-between.

Chen Zuhan, eyes shadowed from barely sleeping all night, skipped breakfast and drove his Jetta straight to Yangcheng Department Store.

On the way, his heart pounded. How many customers would flood the store today? How many would gather at the electronic pet counter? And worse—it wasn’t even Sunday. That was his greatest fear.

But as he drove onto Xihu Road, where Yangcheng Department Store stood, he noticed the traffic felt heavier than usual—and when he arrived at the store’s entrance, his mouth dropped open.

Yangcheng Department Store was one of the city’s largest malls, with 300 counters, over 1,500 domestic and international brands, more than 130,000 products, and annual revenue reaching 500 million yuan. During holidays, daily sales could hit five or six million yuan—a staggering figure for this era.

But before him now, even before the store opened, stretched a long, growing line of people. Chen Zuhan didn’t know how the store usually looked before opening, but this queue already numbered seven or eight hundred—and still swelling.

“Are all these people here to buy electronic pet devices?!”

Chen Zuhan stared at the crowd—mostly young people—and asked himself aloud. No one answered. But the crowd itself seemed to answer.

“I’m a reporter from Yangcheng TV. Right now, outside Yangcheng Department Store, you can see a long line forming to my right.”

“May I ask, what product are you queuing for today?” the Yangcheng TV reporter asked a young couple.

“Electronic pet device,” the couple replied without hesitation. “We’re buying one. We heard it’s selling like crazy overseas!”

“I have a classmate in Japan—he asked me to buy one and mail it to him!”

“I just want to see what this electronic pet device actually looks like!”

The reporter interviewed several more queuers—all without exception said they were here to buy the electronic pet device: for gifts, for themselves, to send abroad. Most, however, had been drawn by media reports of its overseas frenzy and came out of curiosity.

Viewers watching Yangcheng TV were stunned. For the first time, they saw a domestic brand product drawing such a massive crowd.

Not just Yangcheng—Beijing and Shanghai, too, saw lines forming at all major electronic pet device outlets, though the numbers varied.

The doors opened, and the crowd surged into Yangcheng Department Store. Chen Zuhan walked in, heart still racing.

When he reached the electronic pet device counter, he saw another long line—sales staff still explaining, customers still testing.

Seeing not a single sale yet, Chen Zuhan grew frantic—he wanted to rush forward and buy the first one himself.

“We’ll take this color!”

Those words acted like a signal—the crowd erupted into chaos. Then Chen Zuhan watched as one electronic pet device after another was sold.

“Send another twenty thousand units! Stock is running low—we’ve got less than twenty thousand left!”

Near five p.m., the store’s sales manager rushed over to Chen Zuhan, who was on his brick phone. After six p.m., the real battle would begin.

“You’ve sold thirty thousand units?!”

Chen Zuhan’s face lit up. Over fifty thousand units had been shipped here—and more than half were already gone.

Even the store manager was stunned. Who could’ve predicted this thing would be so popular? Today’s revenue would likely set a new record—just from these devices alone, sales had already hit 3.4 million yuan.

If they sold a few more units, plus other products, Yangcheng Department Store’s daily sales might break ten million yuan—this was a meteor in China’s retail industry!

“All the stock’s gone… I’ve got nothing left…”

Excited but helpless, Chen Zuhan admitted it. To maximize sales today, he’d scattered inventory across Yangcheng. Now, trying to recall it was impossible—and would break the rules.

“Boss Chen!”

Faced with the chance of breaking ten million in daily sales, the store manager wouldn’t let go. “No matter what, get us more stock today. We’ve already lined up media and reporters—this must make the news. We’ll owe you one!”

“Fine, I’ll find a way.”

At this point, Chen Zuhan had no choice. As one of Yangcheng’s largest retailers, he couldn’t afford to offend this store.

After six p.m., as schools across Yangcheng let out, cars, bicycles, and pedestrians flooded the streets around Yangcheng Department Store—until traffic ground to a complete standstill.

Around 7:30 p.m., Yangcheng Department Store hung a sign: “Electronic Pet Devices Sold Out.”

Soon after, Yangcheng TV broadcast: “Yangcheng Department Store Daily Sales Break Ten Million Yuan.” The news shook the entire city—and every major department store across China was stunned.

“Electronic Pet Device Sells 81,000 Units on Debut Day in Yangcheng, Revenue Exceeds 5.5 Million Yuan!”

Local Yangcheng media broke the news first: over 80,000 units of the 100,000 shipped had sold.

Almost immediately, Beijing and Shanghai followed: Beijing sold 73,000 units, revenue over 4.96 million yuan; Shanghai’s sales were staggering—over 90,000 units, utterly astonishing.

Dongling High-Tech’s domestic trial results were in: 244,000 units sold, total revenue exceeding 16.59 million yuan.

These sales figures proved the electronic pet device had no trouble adapting to China—it was today’s undisputed top product in the domestic electronics industry.

Chen Zuhan and other agents in Beijing, Shanghai, and Yangcheng had all made a fortune. Selling 81,000 units meant 2 million yuan in distributor profits—even split evenly, Chen Zuhan walked away with a million.

This was only the trial. More units would soon hit Yangcheng’s shelves. The million-plus yuan Chen Zuhan had spent on agency fees and deposits? He’d earned back nearly half in one day.

The trial’s success sent agents into a frenzy. They flooded Dongling High-Tech with calls demanding shipments—some even flew to Hanzhong, camping outside the industrial park waiting to haul away stock.

Dongling High-Tech’s electronic pet device production lines restarted their next round of capacity expansion. Combined overseas and domestic orders nearly made the lines smoke.

But while reviewing today’s sales data, Zhang Ao’s sales team noticed anomalies—especially in Shanghai. By afternoon, there were outright stockpiling incidents: individuals buying dozens or even hundreds of units at once. Clearly, scalpers were hoarding to resell at inflated prices.

But Dongling High-Tech couldn’t stop it. Production couldn’t keep up—that was the hard truth. Huangniu appearing was inevitable. But the device’s massive success in China was now undeniable.

As Dongling High-Tech and the electronic pet device once again dominated media headlines, Li Dongling arrived at the Provincial United Laboratory.

Three chapters, ten thousand characters tomorrow!

(End of Chapter)