Chapter 46: The Shills

In March 1994, the country began implementing a "5-day work week every other week" system, commonly known as the "big and small week," but this system was only implemented in some provinces and cities; the remaining provinces and cities either continued to implement a 6-day work week or implemented a 5.5-day work week, and Yuncheng implemented the latter.

The fifth day of the first lunar month was a Saturday; in the morning, there should have been a half-day of work, but since the Spring Festival had just passed, many companies or units had no business, and employees had no heart for work, so they simply gave the day off, making the streets exceptionally lively.

In this atmosphere, the news that all shops on Qingyun Road had been plastered with *Red Sorghum* posters overnight quickly spread through the streets and alleys, becoming the hot topic of the day.

When Di Ye organized the operation, he did not use strong glue, but rather double-sided tape to stick the posters, which could be easily torn off, thereby attracting fans who liked Cheng Long to tear them off voluntarily, which increased the popularity of many shops; therefore, it not only did not cause the owners' resentment, but instead they talked about it with relish, further fueling the fame of Yingfeng.

Around 10 o'clock in the morning, Fu Wenjing drove her family's Accord and arrived at the Yingfeng Flagship Store with several close friends; after getting out of the car, she was startled by the four long, dragon-like queues at the entrance and said in surprise, "Why are there so many people?"

"Exactly, wasn't it said that today is a trial operation and not open to the public?"

"There are at least a hundred people in each queue; how long will we have to wait?"

"Wenjing, didn't you say this shop was opened by students from our university? Go find him and help us cut the line."

"I'll go look."

Fu Wenjing walked to the shop's display window and peered inside, discovering that at the front of the four long queues were four checkout counters, each with a blue-background, white-letter sign standing on it, which were "Yun University Customer Channel," "Post and Telecommunications Customer Channel," "Media Customer Channel," and "Other Customer Channel" respectively.

A close friend also saw the signs and felt a bit strange, saying, "Wenjing, those people in the Yun University Customer Channel, why don't I recognize a single one? Do you recognize them?"

"I don't recognize them either."

At this moment, Fu Wenjing saw Di Ye walking out of the shop with a woman wearing a dark green Post and Telecommunications uniform, and she hurriedly waved, "Di Ye, Di Ye!"

Hearing the call, Di Ye hurriedly brought Di Yan over, introduced the two, and then observed the few close friends Fu Wenjing had brought, discovering they were all housewives in their thirties or forties, so he said, "Sister Wenjing, you don't need to come in person; just make a phone call to reserve it, and I will have the VCD Player delivered to your home later."

Fu Wenjing was clever and knew he was just being polite, so she responded with a smile, "You are so busy right now that your feet don't touch the ground; I'm afraid that 'later' will take ten days or half a month, so it's better to come and handle it myself."

People are social animals and have a strong herd mentality; Fu Wenjing's friends had originally just come to stroll around, but seeing the scene so explosive, they couldn't help but be moved, surrounding Di Ye to ask about the specific details of the event, and then were talked into a daze by his few words, deciding to collectively sign up for the package of topping up 2,500 to get a VCD Player.

"Sister, go arrange the business for the Post and Telecommunications Bureau side; I'll take Sister Wenjing and the others to the checkout counter to handle the procedures."

"Alright."

Di Yan's height was about the same as Xia Fangfei's, about 170, and when wearing the uniform, she appeared heroic and spirited with an extraordinary aura; it was the first time Fu Wenjing had seen her, and she was quite amazed, looking at her back and saying, "Di Ye, your sister has a great figure; she could totally be a model."

"She isn't interested in being a model."

Di Ye brought Fu Wenjing and the others to the checkout counter and announced loudly, "Everyone, this channel is specifically for Yun University customers to handle business; they hadn't arrived earlier, so it was temporarily borrowed, but now the customers are here, so we must prioritize them; it doesn't count as cutting the line, please make way."

Yun University was the only key university in Yuncheng and held high prestige among the people; moreover, Fu Wenjing and her group were only four or five people, not a large number, so no one objected and they quickly vacated the position.

While handling the business, Di Ye made an excuse about needing to fill in family information and asked for the identity information of the husbands of Fu Wenjing's friends, then reported it in a voice that seemed not loud but could be heard by many; the string of professor titles caused a commotion among the queuing crowd, among whom a "smart aleck" didn't believe it and said to a friend beside him, "How could Yun University professors come here to rent discs? They must be shills!"

Fu Wenjing had come specifically to show support, and hearing this, she immediately took her Big Brother out of her Handbag and retorted tit-for-tat, "Do you want me to call my husband over to show you his credentials?"

Those friends were all housewives and cared very much about the vanity brought by the title of professor's wife, so they all voiced their support; Di Ye waited for them to make a scene for a while and only stepped in to mediate after the person was left speechless, calming the disturbance.

"Sister Wenjing, thank you for today; later I will send you a collection of the top ten classic films of 1994."

"That's great, but don't make me wait too long for this so-called 'later'."

"I won't, I'll have it delivered to your house tomorrow."

Not long after Fu Wenjing and the others left, Di Yan brought over a dozen middle-level cadres from the Post and Telecommunications Bureau to handle the packages; in the mid-90s, the Post and Telecommunications Bureau was infinitely glorious, with high profits and many benefits, which the citizen class generally envied, so the various titles like "Section Chief" and "Director" caused another commotion.

After the people from the Post and Telecommunications Bureau left, another group of customers claiming to be from television stations, publishing houses, and newspaper offices came; going back and forth like this, they fooled the other customers who came to handle package business until they were dizzy, allowing Yingfeng's reputation to ferment rapidly and trust to be established invisibly.

By 5 o'clock in the afternoon, Di Ye ignored the collective protests of the hundred people at the door and announced the shop was closing, then posted a notice stating that due to supply falling short of demand, from the sixth day to the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, there would be a daily limit of 300 package quotas, of which 200 would be distributed on-site and 100 would be decided by lottery.

"Damn! It looks like I have to get up extra early tomorrow to queue."

"Queuing is too tiring; I'm going to call tomorrow to sign up for the lottery and see if I can win."

"It's too much trouble; I'll just get the ordinary 'watch whatever you want during the first lunar month' package, and then rent discs to watch at my relatives' place."

Yingfeng had just been founded, and the only formal employee was Huang Ya; the cashiers, receptionists, and security guards maintaining order were all hired externally; after closing, Di Ye gave everyone a salary of 100 yuan and a bonus of 100 yuan to stimulate their work enthusiasm, because the next few days would be busier and more tiring.

In 1994, the national average monthly wage was less than 400 yuan, so 200 yuan a day was a super high salary; everyone was very excited after receiving the money, and two of them expressed on the spot that they were willing to resign from their original units to work at Yingfeng, but Di Ye declined them both with excuses.

On this day, besides Di Ye, Lu Hanming, and Huang Ya being busy until their feet didn't touch the ground, Xia Jianwu was also exhausted, because he had been in the reception area communicating with all kinds of customers, investigating their views on the VCD Player and their user experience.

Because they were too exhausted, no one wanted to fuss over dinner; Di Ye found a local restaurant near the shop, ordered a few dishes at random, and asked, "Second Brother, how is the survey result?"

Xia Jianwu's face was full of exhaustion, but his spirit was very high, and he said in a slightly hoarse voice, "Very ideal; catalyzed by pirated discs, urban residents have a very strong desire to watch movies and TV series; the market potential for the VCD Player is even greater than I estimated; I plan to return to Jinling tomorrow morning to start preparing for the factory construction."

Xia Fangfei had acted as a female secretary again today, helping to record a full notebook, and was equally exhausted; leaning on Di Ye, she said listlessly, "Brother, you go alone tomorrow; I'll go back before the Lantern Festival."

"Alright, I'll come pick you up then."

That night, Xia Fangfei finally didn't cause any trouble, and after returning to the hotel and taking a shower, she fell asleep quickly; seeing this, Di Ye drove the Audi home to report the day's grand occasion to Di Yongchang, telling him to hire a few more people and increase the production of the VCD Player to 500 units per day.

"Didn't you say there was a daily limit of 300?"

"Dad, a limit of 300 doesn't mean we only sell 300; if an acquaintance comes to buy, can you not sell it? If my sister's superior wants to buy, can I not sell it?"

Di Yongchang suddenly realized, then frowned and added, "But in this way, in a few days, the CD Player and Decompression Card won't be enough again."

"President Xia is returning to Jinling tomorrow; he will help me order another 2,000 CD Players, and he will also help purchase some Decompression Cards."

Di Yongchang's brows furrowed even tighter, and he asked, "Last time we ordered 3,000 units, and this time another 2,000; at 600 yuan per unit, the total price is 3 million; where are you getting so much money?"

"We don't need to pay the full amount, just pay some deposit to President Xia; the balance will be settled at the end of the month."

Buying CD Players from Section Chief Wang of Panda Electronics, the price was less than 500 yuan, but Di Ye always told the outside world it was 600 yuan per unit, because the 100-plus yuan difference was Xia Jianwu's labor fee—he had to help Di Ye fool Section Chief Wang to get all the goods with an extremely low deposit.

The next morning, when Di Ye returned the Audi to Xia Jianwu, he asked, "Last time we gave Section Chief Wang 200,000, and he only produced 500 CD Players; this time I want 3,000 units, how much deposit do I need to give him?"

"If you can guarantee to settle the payment with him in one lump sum at the end of the month, I can pay zero, and have him produce all 4,500 CD Players."

"I swear by the car lights, I guarantee to settle with him by the end of the month."

"Alright then, I'll send someone to deliver the goods in three days."