The literary era since 1979

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa."

The white waves on the river surface were like salt snow, piling up layer by layer. A cool breeze blew on the faces of Fang Yan, Ren Zhengfei and Han Yuemin.

Watching Ren Zhengfei and Han Yuemin introducing themselves to each other, Fangyan smiled without saying anything and did not reveal his identity at the first moment.

Ren Zhengfei also seemed not to recognize Fangyan's identity. From the beginning, his attention was focused on the pager in Han Yuemin's hand.

"Can I take a look at this high-tech communication product?"

"of course can!"

Han Yuemin agreed readily.

After all, whether from his demeanor or appearance, this middle-aged man in front of him gave people a feeling of dignity and integrity.

"This is a pager." Ren Zhengfei carefully examined it. "When I was in Hong Kong, I saw pager advertisements in newspapers more than once. I didn't expect it to be designed like this."

Fang Yan narrowed his eyes and asked, "Mr. Ren, are you also interested in this pager?"

Ren Zhengfei answered frankly "yes", saying that he had gone into business and founded a private enterprise called "Huawei" in Pengcheng. Although it currently does not have any main business, he has sold gas tanks and tinkered with video recorders, but he eventually focused his business on selling communication equipment.

Huawei?!
Fangyan was very surprised. He didn't expect that he would not only meet Ren Zhengfei by chance, but also happen to meet him when he had just founded Huawei.

If I remember correctly, the reason why Ren Zhengfei founded Huawei was entirely out of helplessness. He had transferred from the army to the local area and served as the deputy general manager of an electronics company under the Pengcheng Nanyou Group. However, in a business deal worth 200 million yuan, the buyer cheated him of the goods and he failed to receive the payment. As a result, he was dismissed from his position, lost his job, and even divorced his wife.

Even with such a hellish start, Ren Zhengfei, who was in the midst of a mid-life crisis, still brought Huawei to heights that would be difficult to achieve in later generations.

"The name 'Huawei' sounds pleasant and powerful. Does it have any special meaning?"

Han Yuemin savored it carefully.

"Haha, where do I start?"

Ren Zhengfei said that when Huawei was first established, he had not thought of a name. One day he saw a slogan hanging on the wall that read "Caring about China and making a difference", so he chose two words from it and named the company "Huawei".

However, after the business license was obtained, the employees in the company felt that the name "Huawei" did not suit their taste, because "Huawei" has a closed sound and is not loud enough or domineering enough when called out. So they thought about changing to a better name, but they had not yet made up their mind.

"This is a good name, 'China has a bright future'."

Fang Yan smiled and said, "Besides, the communication product business you want to do happens to be the technology industry that our country is currently lagging behind in the world."

Ren Zhengfei sighed quietly and said that his company was a very small one, which he founded with 2 yuan from his friends.

"Every business starts small and grows big. To be honest, I started from a small stall and built up step by step!"

Seeing Han Yuemin talking big in front of Ren Zhengfei, Fang Yan's mouth twitched slightly. I give this guy a 10 for pretending! Full marks!

Ren Zhengfei handed the pager back, saying that it was indeed a good thing and that he was considering whether Huawei should start selling pagers next.

Han Yuemin blurted out: "This can't be done now."

Ren Zhengfei asked: "Why is this?"

"Because the mainland currently does not have a market for pagers to grow and develop."

Han Yuemin repeated what was said to him in dialect word for word.

"That makes sense. That makes sense."

Ren Zhengfei's eyes suddenly turned sad, and he muttered to himself, "If we want pagers to become popular and have a market, we must build paging stations across the country, and such construction is simply impossible without three to five years, so the pager business will take three years to start."

"you do not say."

Han Yuemin grinned.

Ren Zhengfei admired and said: "As expected of a big businessman, you really hit the nail on the head." Han Yuemin looked proud and said: "This is actually not my idea, it's all thanks to my brother-in-law."

Ren Zhengfei only felt that Fangyan looked familiar, but he couldn't remember his name. "We just chatted for a long time, but I haven't asked who this person is..."

"Don't you know him?"

Han Yuemin directly introduced Fangyan's identity, with an undisguised sense of pride between his brows.

"So you are the famous dialect writer."

Ren Zhengfei's tone was full of excitement, "It's really my honor to meet you here."

Fang Yan smiled and said, "Judging from the way Mr. Ren talks and handles things, he must have been in a high position before he went into business, right?"

"Why talk about high positions?"

Ren Zhengfei told his debt collection story with some reservations.

Fang Yan suddenly realized, "So Mr. Ren came to Hong Kong just to collect debts?"

Ren Zhengfei nodded and said that if he wanted to be reinstated, he had to recover the 200 million yuan in payment for the goods. This forced him to learn law on his own and collect the debt. However, the gang of scammers had long left Hong Kong and disappeared. It was impossible for him to collect the debt in this lifetime, so he could only bear the debt himself.

That’s why they hope Huawei can make a fortune from its BP machines and fill the hole they have created.

"Why does Mr. Ren bet on the pager?"

Fangyan curled his lips.

Ren Zhengfei couldn't wait to ask, "Does Teacher Fang have any good ideas?"

Fang Yan said: "Since you have chosen communication products as the main business for Huawei, why don't you choose communication products that are currently in urgent need in the mainland?"

Han Yuemin half-jokingly said, "Yanzi, don't keep us in suspense. Look how anxious Mr. Ren is."

Fangyan said that the demand for telephone installation is increasing, but the country does not have the ability to independently produce programmable switches and can only rely on imports.

"Telephone switchboard!?"

Ren Zhengfei's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Mr. Ren can find a company in Hong Kong that specializes in telephone switch products and then become an agent to sell its products in the mainland."

Fang Yan said, "Of course, if Mr. Ren needs help, I am willing to provide some. I still have some face and connections in Hong Kong."

Ren Zhengfei choked up. This was the rare warmth and enthusiasm he felt since he was dismissed from his job as a debt collector.

"This... this is a bit difficult to deal with at the moment. Even if I don't have a debt of 200 million to pay off, I can't come up with that much money to buy equipment."

"The first method is that you can buy the equipment on credit, and then pay for it after you sell it to the customer and receive the payment."

Fangyan held up a finger.

Ren Zhengfei frowned, "Teacher Fang, is there any other way?"

"Another way is to raise funds and find someone who is willing to invest in Huawei to inject some funds into your company."

Fangyan extended a second finger.

Ren Zhengfei said gloomily, "Who would be willing to invest in a company like mine?"

Fang Yan said: "Mr. Ren, to be honest, I have actually been intending to invest in domestic high-tech enterprises for many years, but due to the system and policy, state-owned enterprises cannot invest for the time being, so I plan to look for and invest in potential private telecommunications companies."

Ren Zhengfei heard the hidden meaning behind his words, and his heart was pounding. He was going to invest in Huawei! (End of this chapter)