Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 795 Transformers
My previous trips to the mainland were primarily aimed at meeting with high-ranking leaders.
But since we went there, we naturally took the opportunity to cooperate with some local state-owned enterprises.

In fact, the reform and opening up in the mainland was a last resort, because too many factories could not operate, the quality and technology were out of sync with foreign countries, and exports were impossible, while domestic demand was very bleak due to the poor economy.
The core purpose of reform and opening up was to introduce foreign management methods, equipment, technology, quality, orders, etc., while also looking to expand overseas markets and earn foreign exchange. China was indeed short of foreign exchange, and there was no money to buy many pieces of equipment and technology.

Therefore, my cooperation with some mainland companies can be seen as a trial run, and it can also help me to get on good terms with the two future megacities of Shanghai and Shenzhen. Anyway, it won't do me any harm.

Wang Zhiqun replied, "I plan to outsource some of my home appliance orders to domestic manufacturers, but the audit results from the teams we sent there are very poor and cannot meet our requirements at all."

“This is a problem. Can we ask them to make improvements?” Yang Wendong asked.

Wang Zhiqun said, "We mentioned it, but they asked us to cooperate first and then improve things after we had money. Moreover, some of the companies had a very bad attitude and even cursed at our people. They didn't consider themselves suppliers at all."

“Just cut off cooperation with impolite factories and kick them out.” Yang Wendong frowned. “For the others who are polite, we can have a good talk. If that doesn’t work, give them some very simple, unimportant parts to try and see how their products turn out.”

In those days, factory workers in inland China were considered to be at a very high level.

In his past life, he had heard a joke: In the mid-80s, a group of students were assigned jobs. Everyone wanted to work in a factory, not a government office. Some of those assigned to be civil servants or police officers even cried and offered gifts to get into the factory.
Of course, this is also due to the times. Before the mid-90s, factories were the place where society produced wealth and workers' wages were high, while the government was the place where wealth was consumed and its treatment was naturally average.

But after the rise of real estate companies, the government became the biggest wealth transfer machine. The auction of land made the government a fortune, and state-owned factories, except for monopolistic industries, were basically no longer viable.

As a result, workers' wages declined or they were even laid off, and their status also decreased. Naturally, the wages of civil servants rose accordingly, ultimately becoming the end of the universe.

Overseas, however, it's a different story. Customers come first. For a client like Glory Electronics, even if they go to Japan or the United States, suppliers have to be very respectful and courteous. As the client, Yang Wendong can't tolerate suppliers from the mainland. He won't cooperate with suppliers who understand their own position, even if it's not the same as overseas.

Regardless of which party he is with, he always seeks a win-win situation.

Wang Zhiqun smiled and said, "Okay."

Yang Wendong continued, "If all else fails, we can arrange for Hang Seng Bank to provide loans to some factories so that they can invest first and then start production. Whoever has the guts can take on more orders."

In other words, the reform and opening up hasn't started yet. Otherwise, it would be much more convenient to form joint ventures with these factories and directly inject equipment, capital, and management personnel. Of course, many workers still have headaches, but there are solutions.

Wang Zhiqun shook his head and said, "I don't think it will work. This plan is very common in Hong Kong, so our people have also talked to the mainland about it. But as soon as they heard about borrowing money, they disagreed even more. Moreover, it involves overseas banks. This kind of thing may need to be reported to the municipal government or even the central government, which is too troublesome."

"Then forget it. We'll just cooperate with whatever they have the capability for now. Don't worry too much about it." Yang Wendong continued, "No matter what, the quality of our own products is the most important thing."

Even with other interests at stake, Yang Wendong would never risk the quality of his products, even something as simple as a small household appliance.

"Yes, Mr. Yang," Wang Zhiqun replied.

He had a general idea of ​​the bottom line for cooperation with his boss.

The next day, Yang Wendong also found Wei Zetao and inquired about cooperation with the mainland. The reply he received was similar to that from Wang Zhiqun, so the orders Yang Wendong gave were naturally similar as well.

Wei Zetao replied, "Okay, Mr. Yang, I understand what you mean."

"Well, let's have some tea. Wu Hailin from Changxing Culture will be here later, and I also have something to discuss with you," Yang Wendong said with a faint smile.

"Okay," Wei Zetao replied.
A short while later, Wu Hailin arrived: "Hello, Mr. Yang and Mr. Wei."

"Old Wu, I heard you went back to the mainland a few months ago? Did you see your family?" Yang Wendong asked.

This Wu Hailin came to Hong Kong from the mainland in the 60s. At that time, Yang Wendong was short of top-notch painters, so he found him. Otherwise, who knows where this guy would be now, fixing screws.
Although the mainland has not yet undergone reform and opening up, its openness to the outside world is becoming increasingly evident. Wealthy businessmen in Hong Kong can apply to return to the mainland as long as they have not violated any taboos. Although Wu Hailin is not a big businessman, he has been a wealthy man in Changxing Group for many years and has a high status. China Resources can handle these matters.

Wu Hailin nodded and said, "Yes, I went back and brought my parents and children here. I also want to thank Mr. Yang for providing us with a house, otherwise they would have nowhere to live."

"The houses the company provides are what you deserve, so don't be shy," Yang Wendong said with a smile.
The company's middle and senior management all have extra benefits, such as housing, which is the basic requirement. People like Wei Zetao also have their own villas, and those at a lower level usually have a mansion of thousands of square feet.

Although many mainlanders mocked Hong Kong's small houses in the past, in this era, even small houses in Hong Kong are much better than the living environment on the mainland, not to mention the various living facilities.

After chatting for a while, Yang Wendong got to the main topic and said, "Gentlemen, over the years you have worked together to develop the toy industry, but the results have not been very good. Although we have become the largest toy exporter in Hong Kong, we are still far behind the overseas toy giants."

Wu Hailin nodded and said, "Yes, Mr. Yang, our Changxing Culture already has a lot of copyrights, but due to cultural factors, it is basically only famous in Chinese communities or Asia."
However, apart from a few countries like Japan, other countries do not have sufficient copyright and patent protection, which has prevented our exports from increasing.

"But in Europe and America, the regions with the highest concentration of wealth, our animations have a very difficult time entering, except for Peppa Pig."

Changxing Culture's strongest export toy is plush toys such as Peppa Pig, and the sales volume is still considerable, mainly exported to Europe and the United States.
Relying solely on this one copyright might allow one to dominate in Hong Kong, but it falls far short compared to international giants.
Furthermore, Peppa Pig toys are relatively simple, mainly consisting of stickers and plush toys, and are made of plastic. They don't sell very well, and plastic toys are the biggest segment of the toy market.

Wei Zetao also said, "Yes, among Changxing Industrial's core businesses, the toy industry is the worst."

Yang Wendong said, "So, I'm going to create a new comic. This comic will be set in Europe and America, so that once the comic becomes famous, we can export the toys to Europe and America."

"What kind of comics?" Wu Hailin asked curiously.

Yang Wendong said, "This comic is called Transformers. Its main content is that Cybertron is the home planet of the Transformers. The Autobots and Decepticons wage war for the AllSpark (a magical energy cube that can give life to machines). The AllSpark was lost in the war and eventually crashed to Earth."

Sam is an ordinary high school student who accidentally buys a second-hand yellow Chevrolet Camaro (Bumblebee).

Sam's great-grandfather discovered the fallen Decepticon leader "Megatron" and left behind a map of the AllSpark's coordinates, hidden in his glasses.

The Autobots and Decepticons began a struggle for the glasses on Earth, which alarmed the military.

In fact, Yang Wendong had never read the Transformers comics. What he described was just the plot of the Transformers movies. The subsequent plot still needs to be creatively modified by Wu Hailin's team.

After listening to the comic's content, Wu Hailin said after Yang Wendong finished, "Mr. Yang, this idea is really good. It just so happens that the American movie 'Star Wars' is very popular right now, so we can also make a comic about alien robots, which meets market demand."

"Yes, that's exactly what gave me this idea," Yang Wendong nodded.

The immense popularity of Star Wars has had a significant impact on the global economy. People have gradually developed a fascination with space, and many science fiction movies, TV series, and animated films have followed suit.
Yang Wendong's decision to release this comic at this time was also based on this consideration;

Otherwise, if it had been launched earlier, it might not have had such an effect; it might have taken many years to become famous.

Wei Zetao was a smart man and understood what his boss meant: "Mr. Yang, do you mean that when the Transformers comic is released, I will launch similar toys?"

“Yes, we’ll launch them together. Once the comic becomes famous, the toys will naturally sell well too. These two things complement each other.” Yang Wendong continued, “However, I position this toy as a high-end toy. In addition to high-quality materials, it also needs to have the ability to transform.”
In other words, a robot needs to look similar to those in comic books and also have the ability to transform into a car in order to truly attract people.

“A transforming robot? That would take a long time to design,” Wei Zetao replied. “We have made simple car robots before, but they are quite different from what you are looking for.”

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Yes, so you need to focus all your efforts on studying the structure in this area, how to transform a relatively complex robot into a car, which is also a great test of technical ability."

Reaching the top in any industry is not easy;

For example, if a simple cola drink or mineral water wants to maintain its market position in the long term, it needs to put a lot of effort into marketing.
Toys may be simple, but some high-end toys are quite technologically advanced or have sophisticated marketing.

“Okay, I’ll organize a team to study it right away,” Wei Zetao replied.

Wu Hailin added, "If that's the case, should I wait until the toys from Changxing Industrial are made before I start drawing the comics? Otherwise, once I've finalized the design, the research difficulty for Wei Sheng will probably increase a hundredfold."

Wei Zetao didn't say anything, but he confirmed it.
If you conduct your own research and only need to achieve the transformation between a robot and a car, but have limited shapes, the difficulty is not much less.

Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "That's fine, but we can't delay Changxing Industrial too much. We need to make the model as soon as possible."

"Old Wu, you should start by developing a plot based on my brief introduction. Refining the plot will take some time, and then we'll see how Changxing Industry is progressing."

Even the movie plots he provided were only the general outlines; he couldn't remember the detailed parts.

Fortunately, he had liked the Transformers movie series in his previous life, so he could still remember some of the plot.
“Okay, Mr. Yang,” Wu Hailin replied.

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Alright, that's settled then. You all go back and form your teams. We'll meet again in a week to discuss and see if there's anything that needs improvement."

His memory might not be the best, and his subordinates might come up with some good ideas. As long as it doesn't affect the main storyline, he's willing to agree to make appropriate changes.
The only downside is that it's impossible to set the Transformers movie in Hong Kong; that's just not realistic.
Just like a major plot hole in Ultraman, that is, why do monsters always attack Japan instead of other countries?
Transformers involves the military, battles against aliens, and various conspiracies, so writing about Hong Kong is even less suitable. It can only be about the United States or the United Kingdom. The British Empire is barely qualified, but for the sake of the largest American market, choosing the United States as the background is still the most appropriate.

Whether it's current comics or future movies, and movies will inevitably need to collaborate with Hollywood giants, but given technological advancements, that's something for over 20 years from now, so we won't consider it for now.

August arrived quickly, and Yang Wendong brought Su Yiyi to Yuen Long;
"Roar~~" A fierce tiger's roar startled Yang Wendong.

Zhang Guangdou, who was standing next to him, immediately said, "Yang Sheng, don't worry. This tigress is in an iron cage, and we have weapons around us. Even if she escapes, we are not afraid."

"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded.
He came here today to see the first tiger to arrive in Hong Kong;

Tigers are unique to Laos and China; people in the past rarely saw them. Most tigers in zoos are Siberian tigers or Bengal tigers.
Yang Wendong soon spotted the tiger, along with its two cubs.

Su Yiyi looked at them for a while and said, "It would be nice to be able to pet those two tiger cubs."

"There will be plenty of opportunities in the future," Yang Wendong smiled. The big tiger doesn't dare to approach, but the little tiger cub can still be bullied.

Zheng Zhijie said, "Mr. Yang, the zoo has expedited the construction of several houses, which can temporarily house the tigers, bears, and wolves, making it easier for our people to gradually become familiar with these wild animals."

This way, once the business opens next year, we can train a group of people capable of raising the animals, and by then, the number of wild beasts will also increase.

“Okay, but please be careful. It doesn’t matter if it costs a little more,” Yang Wendong said.
Although he meant well by wanting to preserve some wild animals, it wouldn't be worth it if someone lost their life.

PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)