Chapter 32: The Tactic

"Forget it, I won't look anymore. I'll go to a friend's place to get those celebrity photos for you; I'm not waiting until tomorrow."

"Brother-in-law, be careful. Don't let my sister find out you're doing personal business while at work again."

"It's fine. I've been helping your dad promote VCD players these past few days, and the results have been remarkable. Your sister doesn't bother me anymore."

Lu Hanming was a very casual person; he was extremely perfunctory when doing his proper job, yet very proactive when it came to his hobbies.

At noon, he spent over an hour in the archives looking for a novel he wanted to reference, but couldn't find it. In the afternoon, he simply took time off, ran to find a reporter friend, and obtained over a hundred promotional photos of Hong Kong and Taiwan celebrities. He combined these with a movie catalog to concoct a rental manual filled with pictures and text, then found a printing house to print several hundred copies overnight.

Huang Ya had previously built a sales network covering all of Yuncheng through video hall owners. Now that they had a film source library, the promotional offer of watching movies for a month for 100 yuan was enticing enough to immediately ignite the market.

In just the two days of January 28th and 29th, they received as many as 337 orders for VCD players, consuming more than half of the MPEG Decompression Cards they had purchased. Di Yongchang no longer had any worries and was so happy he couldn't keep his mouth shut.

Fan Dazhi, however, was in pain and happy at the same time. He was happy because these orders not only sold out all the CD players piling up in his warehouse but also drove the price up significantly. He was in pain because his peers in Computer City had discovered the utility of the Decompression Cards and started competing with him for business.

On the morning of Lunar New Year's Eve, Fan Dazhi couldn't spare the time to celebrate at home and ran to Di Ye to vent his grievances: "Those people have no sense of rules. They're selling one video disc player for only 2000, which is 500 cheaper than ours. It caused over a dozen people to cancel their orders just last night."

Di Ye had long anticipated this situation and comforted him: "They don't have film sources and can only rely on price cuts to compete with us. There's no need to worry for now."

"I have to worry. Several groups of people have already gone to Guangdong Province to buy discs in the last two days."

Fan Dazhi was full of anxiety. After taking two puffs of his cigarette, he sighed: "We were selling them for 2500 each before. If we follow suit and lower the price now, the customers who have already picked up their goods will definitely come back to make a scene. If we don't lower the price, the orders will keep slipping away. It's truly like a mouse in a bellows—caught in a dilemma on both ends!"

Di Ye was sitting at the kitchen door helping Zhang Xiuzhi pick vegetables. Without raising his head, he said: "No need to lower the price. Have the customers who placed orders come to our shop to apply for a Super VIP Membership Card. As long as they pay 2500 yuan and promise to only rent discs from our shop for the next 5 years, we'll give them the video disc player for free. If the 2500 yuan isn't used up after 5 years, the balance will be fully refunded."

"Give it away for free?"

Di Yongchang wasn't idle on Lunar New Year's Eve either; he had brought a few CD players home from the studio and was busy modifying them in the living room. Hearing this, he was shocked, turned his head, and said: "Xiao Ye, how can you give away something as expensive as a video disc player for free!"

"Dad, I said they pay 2500 yuan first, and then we give them the video disc player. It's a fake free gift, not a real one."

Fan Dazhi was also a bit confused and urged: "Xiao Ye, your dad and I don't have much education. Don't keep us in suspense; explain it in detail."

"Let's assume a customer watches one movie a week. That's 4 a month, 48 a year, and 240 over 5 years. The current market price to rent a movie is 10 yuan, so the total rental fee is 2400. We have the customer pay 2500 for a VIP Membership Card, which is equivalent to taking home a video disc player for 100 yuan. Sounds like a good deal, right?"

"Of course it's a good deal."

"Actually, it's not. Because the rental fee is 10 yuan now, it doesn't mean it will be 10 yuan for the next 5 years. Maybe in a few months, the rental fee will only be two yuan. According to the calculation just now, it would only cost 480 yuan over 5 years."

Di Yongchang had no heart to work anymore and said: "The balance will be refunded after 5 years, right? If the rental fee is only two yuan, then the money refunded will be more, so it's still a good deal."

"How much balance is refunded isn't important. What's important is that we use something that isn't worth 2500 to lock up the customer's capital for 5 years. During these 5 years, we can freely use the customer's money, for example, to buy more discs or open more shops, thereby making more money. So, the video disc player is nominally a free gift, but in reality, it's collateral we're getting from the customer."

This kind of operation by Di Ye was a common tactic in the internet era, but in 1995, it felt a bit like a dimensional strike. So, he didn't mention terms like "lending" or "stock speculation" that could easily lead people astray, and only spoke of using the money to expand the business.

Di Yongchang was an honest man and was left completely bewildered. Fan Dazhi was more shrewd; after thinking for a while, he understood and said with a smile: "Xiao Ye, oh Xiao Ye, you really are slippery. Doing it this way is almost like illegal fundraising."

"If we run the company into the ground after 5 years, then it's illegal fundraising. If we grow the company after 5 years, then it's normal business operation. Whether it goes under or grows depends on what Uncle Fan thinks."

Fan Dazhi pressed his cigarette butt hard into the ashtray and said confidently: "Although I love money, I never do anything illegal. I'm definitely going to grow the company!"

Wholesale smuggling of electrical appliances and renting pirated discs were both illegal businesses, yet this guy kept claiming he was law-abiding. Di Ye shook his head inwardly, but wore a smile on his face and wished him well: "I hope Uncle Fan can keep his original intention, grow the company bigger and stronger, and create new brilliance."

"You have a share in the company too. Let's grow it bigger and stronger together!"

Fan Dazhi didn't know if it was because of his nicotine addiction or because he was in a good mood, but he lit another cigarette and asked: "Then how should we arrange things for the customers who have already picked up their goods?"

"The same tactic, just use it in a different way. Just say that for compensation, as long as they pay 800 yuan for a VIP Membership Card, they get 50% off disc rentals for the next two years."

"You're really something, VIPs flying everywhere."

Fan Dazhi laughed heartily, stood up to take his leave, and when he reached the door, he turned to Di Yongchang and said: "Brother Chang, you've raised an amazing son. You'll be enjoying a life of leisure from now on."

"What life of leisure? I've been driven crazy by him these past few days."

Di Yongchang sent Fan Dazhi to the stairwell with a face full of smiles, then returned to close the door and asked: "Xiao Ye, was what you just did really illegal fundraising?"

"If Uncle Fan has the money to return the balance to the customers after 5 years, then it isn't. If he doesn't have the money to return it, then it is."

Di Ye's explanation was actually the same as what he said before, but it sounded more grounded. Di Yongchang was relieved and said: "Fan has assets of over a million; a balance of a hundred or so yuan is nothing. He'll definitely be able to pay it back."

If Fan Dazhi were honest and reliable, he could indeed easily pay it back after 5 years. If he were greedy, after 5 years, let alone a million in assets, even hundreds of millions could very well be squandered. However, Di Ye didn't need to say these things and just echoed: "I suppose so."

Zhang Xiuzhi had cooked a big table of dishes at noon, but unfortunately, only three people were eating. She complained that it wasn't lively enough and nagged at the dinner table, urging Di Ye to find a girlfriend quickly.

Di Ye didn't expect to encounter this kind of thing after transmigrating and found it hard to handle. After finishing his meal in a hurry, he found a thermal container, packed a few meat dishes, and said: "Huang Ya is on duty alone at Chenghuang Temple today. I'm going to take her some food."

"You should take her some food. Go on, hurry up."

After Di Ye left the house, Zhang Xiuzhi tidied the dining table while gossiping: "Old man, do you think Xiao Ye and that Huang girl are dating?"

"Probably not. They grew up together since they were kids; they're like brother and sister."

"They were brother and sister when they were little, but that might not be the case now that they're grown. That Huang girl is quite good, and I'm satisfied with her in every way, it's just that her family is too troublesome, dragging along two younger brothers..."

"Children and grandchildren have their own fortunes. Don't meddle blindly. Xiao Ye has such great ability; if he really likes the Huang girl, he'll definitely be able to handle her two younger brothers."

"That's true."

Huang Ya wasn't on duty at her own shop, but at the disc rental shop belonging to Bi Wanxi's family. When Di Ye walked in, he saw a chubby middle-school student shouting loudly: "Sister, I know you have Cheng Long's 'A Project' here. Hurry up and take it out; I'm going to a classmate's house to watch it this afternoon."

"'A Project' has already been reserved by a VIP Member over the phone. You should rent something else."

"I don't want anything else, I want 'A Project'!"

"This isn't home. No matter how loudly you shout, it's useless. If it's not there, it's not there."

After Huang Ya finished reprimanding her younger brother unhurriedly, she turned her head and saw Di Ye. She smiled and said: "I was just about to go cook some instant noodles, and then you arrived. Hurry, bring it over, let me see what delicious food Auntie Zhi made today."

Di Ye handed her the lunch box and sized up the middle-school student, feeling he must be Huang Ya's younger brother, so he asked: "You must be Huang Zonghai, right?"

"That's right!"

Seeing that he was clearly full of childishness but had a cocky expression, looking like a young gangster mixing in society, Di Ye slapped him directly on the back of the head and scolded: "It's the New Year, why aren't you at home keeping your mother company instead of running here?"

Huang Zonghai had probably been spoiled rotten. After being slapped, he ignored the disparity in strength and immediately swung a punch. Di Ye was quick-eyed and fast-handed; he grabbed his wrist, pulled him forward, and then twisted it, pinning him down in a reverse-arm lock, and demanded again: "Why aren't you at home keeping your mother company instead of running here?"