Chapter 39: Monopoly

Third day of the first lunar month, 10:00 AM, Xinjiekou, Jinling, Central Shopping Mall.

Xia Fangfei walked out of the fitting room wearing a black turtleneck and a light gray petite suit, and asked, "Di Ye, how is this outfit?"

Di Ye cosplayed as an overbearing CEO, arms crossed over his chest, looked her up and down for a moment, and nodded, "It's fine, let's go with this one."

This outfit was far more expensive than the coat bought in Yuncheng back then, but Xia Fangfei no longer stopped him, let the sales clerk cut off the tag, put it on directly, then carried the old clothes she had changed out of and suggested, "There's an optical shop nearby, how about I go get some non-prescription glasses? It looks more professional."

"No need, we're going there to bluff people, not to act in a movie; doing too many tricks makes it look too fake."

"Alright then."

The location of the Panda Electronics headquarters was very prime, only about 2 kilometers away from Xinjiekou; Di Ye hailed a taxi and arrived at the South Gate in just a few minutes, meeting up with Xia Jianwu, who was smoking next to an Audi.

After Xia Fangfei got out of the taxi, she bowed slightly to Xia Jianwu and said respectfully, "Director Xia, I am your secretary, Flora. Please look after me."

Xia Jianwu threw away his cigarette butt and laughed heartily, "I've been looking forward to you working for me, little sister, and today it's finally come true; it feels really good."

"Director Xia, please mind your status and don't speak nonsense."

"Alright then, Flora, come over and rub my back... Ouch, you're actually rubbing it!"

After the siblings finished their playful banter, Di Ye pointed to the two trucks parked behind the Audi and asked, "500 CD players were produced so quickly?"

Xia Jianwu opened the rear car door, beckoning them to get in while explaining, "These two days are statutory holidays, and there are many people in the factory with nothing to do. If you pay enough, let alone 500 units, even 3,000 units could be produced in an afternoon and an evening."

"As expected of an old state-owned enterprise, the foundation is deep enough."

"That goes without saying, there is no electronics enterprise in the country with a deeper foundation than Panda."

Xia Jianwu waved at the drivers of the two trucks to signal them to depart, then sat into the Audi, picked up the two Big Brothers placed on the front passenger seat, turned his head and said to Di Ye, "If you're going to put on a show, do it properly; how can a big boss not have a Big Brother? We'll each take one; you hold yours yourself, and I'll have my secretary hold mine."

Di Ye took the Big Brother and looked at it, seeing the Panda Electronics brand logo on it, and asked, "Did your group produce this?"

"Yeah, we produced a total of 30,000 units last year, but only sold a little over 10,000; the rest are just gathering dust in the warehouse. This was taken out by our department in the name of research, feel free to use it."

"This thing uses analog signals, it's about to be phased out, right?"

"That's why I've always said the group leaders are all pig-brained. Knowing full well that GSM using digital signals is about to roll out across the country, they still insisted on spending money in vain to import technology from Dongying to produce this trash that uses analog signals..."

Xia Jianwu was only 25 years old this year; although he was very slick in his dealings, he was still a hot-blooded youth at heart. On the way to Yuncheng, he went full throttle, counting off all the stupid things the top management of Panda Electronics had done. Di Ye listened with great interest, not only discovering some business opportunities but also gaining a new understanding of Xia Jianwu, because he not only had vision but also ideals.

"The core component of a VCD Player is the decoding chip produced by C-CUBE in the United States; the cost is no more than 5 dollars, yet the retail price is 70 dollars. How is that any different from robbery? If I build up the company, I'll develop the chips myself and let them not earn a single cent!"

"What a coincidence, I have similar thoughts and plan to develop a chip once I have money."

"What kind of chip are you going to develop?"

Di Ye raised the Big Brother in his hand and said, "Mobile phone chip."

Xia Jianwu was a graduate of the Electronics Department of the Jinling Institute of Posts and Telecommunications and knew very well that the difficulty of developing a mobile phone chip was far higher than that of a video decoding chip. He was somewhat surprised, glanced at him through the rearview mirror, and teased, "Your father didn't give you the wrong name; your ambition is big enough."

"I also think this name is quite good, it fits my personality very well; as the saying goes, a person is like their name..."

Xia Fangfei, indignant at Di Ye's thick skin, secretly pinched the soft flesh on his waist and whispered a rebuke close to his ear, "You're even a flirt! Why not call yourself Di Hua?"

Di Ye felt itchy inside from her orchid-like breath and coquettish scolding; he adjusted his sitting posture, wrapped his arm around her slender waist, and teased in a low voice, "I'm Di Hua, you're Cong Hua (scallion flower), we're a match made in heaven."

"If you want to be Di Hua, you be it; I'm not being Cong Hua."

"Then what flower do you want to be? Flowing peach blossoms or a lotus rising from the water?"

Yesterday, the two of them had spent seven or eight hours in the guesthouse researching and unlocking many interesting ways to play; the four-character idioms Di Ye used alluded to two of them.

Xia Fangfei was just beginning to understand love and was particularly sensitive, almost ignited at a touch. She clenched her fist and punched Di Ye's chest twice, complaining in a cloying voice, "Why are you so annoying, talking nonsense again."

Communication between lovers is an interactive game where the stakes rise; Di Ye originally thought he was an experienced veteran with high self-control, but he ended up triggering a chain reaction from Xia Fangfei's charms and instantly stood at attention. He had no choice but to silently recite a few mantras like "the heart is as clear as ice" to force himself into a sage state, then continued to chat about serious topics with Xia Jianwu.

When they arrived in Yuncheng and were unloading at the warehouse near Chenghuang Temple, Xia Fangfei gave Di Ye an inscrutable look and said, "I'm going to the rental shop to find Huang Ya and ask her to come eat lunch together."

"There are many people coming to rent discs these two days, she probably won't have time."

"Then I'll go chat with her and come back to find you guys later. How do I get to the rental shop?"

Di Ye pointed in a direction casually and then went back to direct the unloading. Seeing his look of unconcern, Xia Fangfei couldn't help but snort and threatened fiercely, "Di Hua, just wait and see how I deal with you tonight!"

Besides the 500 CD players, there were also over 200 MPEG Decompression Cards purchased from Jinling this time. After Di Ye finished counting, he paid double the shipping fee, sent the truck drivers away, and said to Xia Jianwu, "Speed is the essence of war; let's not rest this afternoon and start working directly, how about it?"

Xia Jianwu didn't like to drag things out either and said, "You arrange it, I have no problem."

"Wait here for a moment, I'm going to make a phone call to see if the previous arrangements are ready."

Since those two Panda-brand Big Brothers were analog signal phones, they had to go to the Post and Telecommunications Bureau to register the numbers and join the network before they could be used. Di Ye had to find a public phone booth and call Lu Hanming to invite him out for a meal.

"I'm already eating, I have guests at home."

Lu Hanming seemed to have drunk quite a bit of alcohol and his speech was a bit slurred, but fortunately, he was still clear-headed, saying, "I've found the storefront you wanted; it's right next to Tianma Cinema, about 200 square meters. The rent is a bit expensive, 30,000 a year."

"30,000 a year isn't expensive. What did the newspaper office say?"

"Editor-in-Chief Jin of the *Yuncheng Evening News* really likes the film reviews you wrote and agreed to open a column. As for those news releases, since they are all soft advertisements, they can only be placed in the Life Section and cannot be placed on the Headlines or the second page."

"The Life Section is fine. You go contact them again this afternoon and start publishing tomorrow; run it for 5 days in a row."

"Got it."

After Di Ye finished the call, he sorted through the entire plan in his mind and felt there were no problems, so he returned to the warehouse and said to Xia Jianwu, "Everything is ready, just waiting for your sister to come back."

Coincidentally, just as he finished speaking, Xia Fangfei walked in from outside and said nonchalantly, "The rental shop is too busy, Huang Ya can't get away."

"Then let's ignore her and eat first; after eating, we'll go to Computer City to stage a good show of a strong dragon sweeping away the local snakes."

There is a famous saying in *The Art of War*: "In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory."

Previously, due to a lack of strength, Di Ye could only come up with ideas for Fan Dazhi to defeat them one by one. Now that he had a strong reinforcement in Xia Jianwu, he changed to a frontal crushing approach. After lunch, he drove the Audi to Computer City, gathered the owners of a dozen shops, big and small, and forced them to cooperate.

"This is Director Xia from the VCD Player Division of Panda Electronics, and this is his secretary, Flora..."

"Panda Electronics has imported a VCD player production line from Dongying, which will be put into production next month. Director Xia is fully responsible for market promotion, and he has already reached a strategic cooperation agreement with our Yingfeng Company..."

"The CD players Director Xia sells to me are only 600 each, and there are as many as I want. Your CD players cost at least 800; what are you using to compete with me?"

"Before the sixth day of the first lunar month, I'll buy your VCD players at 1,500 each; after the sixth day, I'll only buy them at 1,200. If you want to sell, hurry up..."

"Director Xia has already agreed that as long as you don't fight for business with me during the first lunar month, when Panda Electronics' VCD players are officially launched, you can get a 20% discount when you pick up the goods..."

"Those willing to cooperate with me, go find Flora to register and receive the voucher for the 20% discount..."

The three of them cooperated tacitly, using the tiger skin of Panda Electronics to bluff and deceive, beating the scattered soldiers of Computer City into a rout. Not a single one resisted, and they all signed the cooperation agreement, allowing Di Ye to exclusively monopolize the VCD player market in Yuncheng.

"Where to next?"

"To Tianma Cinema; I'm planning to open a Flagship Store there. I need to make the storefront look good so that when customers come to top up their accounts, they'll feel at ease."

"No wonder little sister always says you're especially good at swindling people."