Siheyuan, Shazhu: I have both parents in this life

Chapter 356 Canton Fair

Before the opening of the Canton Fair in the spring of 1984, when the Yellow River Group's inland companies received the invitation, Xu Damao was holding the beautifully printed invitation and leaning back on the office sofa, clicking his tongue.

"Yuxin, why do you want us to join in this fun? In previous years, it was always those export companies that were involved. We mainly import, so are we just here to watch the show?" He waved the invitation card.

He Yuxin said, "Brother Mao, my brother said to go see if there's any opportunity. Since products from Hong Kong can't be exhibited, we can see if there are any other opportunities. Maybe we can discover something."

Xu Damao sat up abruptly: "What did you find? They can't even sell in Hong Kong, so how come they're selling in mainland China?"

"That's hard to say. Let's go take a look; it won't take up much time!"

"Alright, let's go, you two!"

Before the event, the two led their team to Guangzhou.

The Canton Fair was bustling with activity, as merchants from all over the world moved between the various booths.

Just as Xu Damao had predicted, the domestic exhibitors brought mostly primary products: Chinese medicinal herbs, leather, silk, and mineral sands, but the prices were shockingly low.

Xu Damao squatted in front of a medicinal herb booth, holding a handful of high-quality astragalus root and shaking his head: "Comrades, don't you think this price is a rip-off?"

The person in charge of the booth was an elderly man with gray hair. He smiled wryly and said, "There's nothing we can do, comrade. We know we're losing money, but we don't have the capacity for deep processing. We're lucky if we can exchange some foreign currency now."

Moving to the leather section, the situation was even worse.

High-quality raw hides were piled up in bundles, but the prices were pitifully low.

Several foreign businessmen were haggling over the price, their tone arrogant.

He Yuxin grabbed a manufacturer's representative who was about to sign a contract: "This price is too low, can't we discuss it further?"

The representative sighed, "We can't negotiate! They said this is the price, take it or leave it, there's nothing we can do."

Xu Damao's temper flared up immediately, and he pulled He Yuxin aside: "See that? This is called bullying! High-quality raw materials are sold cheaply, and then they process them into leather shoes and bags and sell them back for dozens of times the price!"

He Yuxin nodded, his gaze sweeping over the several booths on the periphery not far away.

In a certain country's exhibition area, cars and home appliances were neatly displayed, and many domestic purchasing groups surrounded them to inquire about prices. However, the company had even imposed purchase limits to prevent them from bargaining.

The head of a purchasing delegation from a certain region is negotiating the import of a television production line. The other party's price is outrageously high, and they also require settlement in foreign exchange.

The two sides were deadlocked, and the purchasing party was sweating profusely with anxiety.

"Yuxin, see that?" Xu Damao gestured with his chin. "That lousy production line is far worse than the one we gave to Jidong. And the finished products still have to be labeled with their brand!"

He Yuxin suddenly said, "Brother Da Mao, can we also go on the exhibition? Think about it, there are quite a few joint ventures in mainland China, producing refrigerators, color TVs, and cars. Also, I remember my sister mentioning that there are many versions of pagers now, supporting multiple languages."

"Well, we don't have a booth!"

"Aren't you familiar with this area? Why don't you go ask?" Xu Damao said, heading towards the organizers. After taking a couple of steps, he noticed He Yuxin hadn't followed, so he turned back and said, "Aren't you coming with me?"

"I'll ask my brother if we can urgently send some goods over. We still have a lot of big stuff. I'll ask if we can get it over here."

"Oh, you mean helicopter?"

"Not just that, we'll get whatever trucks, armored vehicles, and buses we can find."

"Sure, if we can't sell them, selling them domestically is a good alternative."

"We'll sell to those foreigners; we'll talk about domestic sales after the exhibition."

“Alright, let’s split up,” Xu Damao said.

When Xu Damao found the person in charge of the Canton Fair organizer, the other party was worried about several empty booths - a delegation from an eastern province that was originally scheduled to attend was unable to come for some reason.

"Comrade, we are from the Yellow River Group and would like to temporarily apply for a few booths." Xu Damao handed over his business card.

The person in charge took the business card, glanced at it, and his eyes lit up at first, then dimmed again: "Yellow River Group? But you are a foreign company, you can't enter the domestic exhibition area. Besides, aren't you an importer? Are you going to come in and then sell it?"

"Comrade, what you're talking about is Yellow River Trade. Many of the factories that our Yellow River Group partners with are located in China, so why can't we have a domestic exhibition area?"

"This is unprecedented!"

"Could you go and ask for permission?"

"Tell me what products you have, otherwise I can't really say anything."

“Our group has TVs, refrigerators, cars, motorcycles, pagers, and all sorts of other things. Look at those foreigners, so arrogant.” Xu Damao pointed to a small area.

The person in charge hesitated for a moment, glanced at the empty booths, and gritted his teeth: "Ah, so many? Okay, I'll go apply for them for you right away!"

Meanwhile, He Yuxin first called Ji Dong: "Uncle Zhao, why didn't our factory in Ji Dong come to the Canton Fair?"

"What? Nobody notified you?"

"Could you send over a batch of goods?"

"Yes, yes, we need a TV, a motorcycle, and a three-wheeled vehicle."

"Okay, Uncle Zhao, the sooner the better. Bye."

Then it was Xiangdu's turn: "Yang Tao, this is He Yuxin. Send two of each of our existing car models to Huadu, the Canton Fair. Oh, and also a few of all the refrigerator models."

"Let's set off today, the sooner the better."

"Okay, we're staying at the ** Hotel, phone number ****."

Finally, it was He Yuzhu's turn. "Brother, it's me, Yuxin!"

"Didn't you go to the Canton Fair today?" He Yuzhu asked.

"Oh, I'm right outside the venue. I need your help with something!"

"You want my help?"

"Yes, could you send me some cars, helicopters, and pagers from Hong Kong?"

"What are you doing?"

"Shanghai Exhibition".

"Have you finalized things on your end?"

"Not yet, let's ship it over first, just in case it works."

"Okay, when do you need it?"

"The sooner the better, ideally it should arrive tomorrow, otherwise the exhibition will be over."

"Okay, I'll arrange it right away. What's your phone number over there? I'll have the delivery person contact you."

"****, I'll have someone keep watch on the phone."

"Okay, is there anything else?"

"By the way, bro, we need the foreign language version of that pager, all languages!"

"You're not selling domestically?"

"That's right, domestic sales can be handled through trading companies; there's no need to participate in exhibitions at all."

Are you sure it will work?

"Always try it."

"Okay, just wait to receive the goods."

After hanging up the phone, He Yuzhu began arranging for He Yuxin to transfer goods, while He Yuzhu returned to the venue to find Xu Damao.

"Brother Mao, how are you?"

"We still have to wait. How about you?"

"Everything is arranged. The goods from Xiangdu will arrive tonight, the goods from Hong Kong should arrive tomorrow, I don't know about the goods from Jidong, they will probably arrive later."

"Alright, it's no big deal to transfer them. At worst, we can just sell them to a trading company," Xu Damao said.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too."

The two brothers waited for more than an hour before the person in charge of the exhibition returned.

"Comrade Xu, your application has been approved, but we still need to review your qualifications."

"Could we bring it together tomorrow? We didn't bring it today," Xu Damao said.

"That's fine. When will your exhibits arrive? You know, the exhibition only lasts a few days."

"One batch will arrive tonight, and another will arrive tomorrow."

"Okay, once your goods arrive, come back to me with your credentials. We need to inspect the goods and your credentials."

"can."

That evening, the car and refrigerator arrived first. After the exhibition organizers approved them, the workers from the Yellow River Group worked through the night to set up the booth.

The three adjacent booths were redecorated, with the "Yellow River Group" logo in gold lettering on a red background standing out prominently.

The exhibition opened on the second day, and everyone was curious about the extra booths. Everyone else had booths from various provincial departments, factories, and farms, but no one had ever seen a corporation.

However, the Yellow River Group's booth was blocked by barriers, so you couldn't see inside at all.

"What does this group do? I've never heard of it before."

"No way, they import cars, color TVs, and equipment, you didn't know?"

"Why is the import company here?"

"Who knows."

As the barriers were removed, the crowd surged into the Yellow River Group's exhibition area, where cars and minivans were the first things that caught their eye.

"Is this made in China? I've never seen it before."

"I haven't seen it either!"

"This car is really beautiful, much better looking than the ones over there. I just don't know how much it costs."

"They must be here to earn foreign exchange, so let's not even think about it."

As everyone was talking, a man wearing Yellow River work clothes picked up a megaphone and began to introduce the products.

First, in English: "Yellow River Sailing Minivan, 1.2 tons load capacity, suitable for urban and rural road conditions; compatible with Yellow River BMW-100; 180-liter refrigerator."

Then they switched to Mandarin, then English, then Spanish, and finally added a sentence in Korean, which attracted even more people from outside the exhibition area.

"Brother Mao, you're amazing! Where did you find someone who speaks so many languages?"

"Hehe, pretty cool, huh? I practically robbed this from a university. The salary isn't even as high as an average worker in Hong Kong," Xu Damao whispered. "Impressive, aren't you afraid he'll run away?"

"What are you afraid of? Your salary will increase here. If you perform well, it's not impossible to send you back to headquarters for further training."

"Ah."

Next to the display vehicle were also Huanghe's human hair product information, which he handed out while saying, "Don't rush, we have it all, we have it all."

"Comrade, do you only exchange foreign currency?" someone shouted.

“We sell it domestically too, come over and talk!” Xu Damao shouted.

"well!"

At the end of the day, a few cars were sold, but all to domestic customers. A lot of refrigerators were sold, mainly because they were cheap, about a third cheaper than refrigerators from abroad.

That afternoon, Xu Damao found the person in charge of the exhibition again.

"Director Pang, we don't have enough booth space."

"Oh, didn't we give you three booths? Why isn't that enough?"

"Come with me and you'll see."

"Hey, hey, don't pull me, I can walk."

As a result, Director Pang was taken by Xu Damao to a warehouse at the dock, and Director Pang was dumbfounded when he went in.

"These, these are all what you want to show." Director Pang pointed to helicopters, trucks, jeeps, cars, armored vehicles, and various bus lanes.

"Yes, I didn't say there were more exhibits coming today."

"Are these made in China?"

"No, these are from Hong Kong. Why can't they be displayed?"

"It's possible, but the venue won't be big enough." Director Pang's throat was a little dry, and he swallowed.

"Can we use the area outside the venue?"

"If you can set up the booth in one night, I can agree."

"Alright, just you wait and see."

The next morning, an open space at the entrance of the exhibition was fenced off again. Seeing the Yellow River Group sign hanging on the fence, the exhibitors did not enter the venue at all.

The massive construction barriers were finally removed.

In an instant, the crowd surged forward as if drawn by a magnet, followed by bursts of exclamations and discussions.

"A helicopter?! This thing can be exhibited and sold?" Someone pointed at the light helicopter with the Yellow River logo and sleek lines, incredulous.

"And those trucks, jeeps, and buses—judging by the logos, they're also from the Yellow River Group!"

Is there anything their group won't do?

Of course, many people can only look at these things as something new, but the most eye-catching thing is a smaller booth with several pagers neatly displayed on it.

Unlike other booths, this booth features a crisp and regular "beep" sound every few minutes.

Each time a pager rings, the screens of one or more pagers light up, displaying text messages.

What's even more surprising is that the text on those screens is all different—there are simple English phrases, clear Chinese characters, and even Korean and Spanish.

A staff member with a megaphone stood in front of the booth, loudly introducing in a foreign language: "Yellow River multilingual pager! Supports leaving messages, no need to call back, world-leading! Come and take a look!"

Before he could finish speaking, another beeping sound rang out, and several screens lit up simultaneously, displaying information in different languages.

This intuitive and efficient communication method stood in stark contrast to the mainstream digital machines that required callbacks for inquiries, instantly igniting the entire audience.

Many foreign customers' eyes lit up, and they crowded forward to inquire about technical parameters, prices, and supply capabilities.

Purchasing groups from the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and even South America showed great interest, crowding the booth.

The staff of the Yellow River Group immediately got busy, distributing more detailed multilingual materials and registering customer information.

"Mr. Xu! Mr. Xu!" A staff member squeezed next to Xu Damao, wiping his sweat as he reported, "There are so many people asking about it, especially the pagers and the helicopter! The pagers are fine, but several delegations have asked to take a test ride on the helicopter on the spot!"

Xu Damao was both excited and troubled by the exciting scene. He Yuxin said, "What should we do? We don't have any pilots!"

"Who says there aren't? Tiger and his friends are."

"Oh yeah, how could I forget about that, Tiger, Tiger."

"Brother Mao, what's up?"

"Can you fly the new plane?"

"Yes, it's similar to the first generation, but not as difficult as the Chinook."

"Wait a minute, I'll go ask if it can fly."

"Oh."

Xu Damao jogged over to find Director Pang and asked him to coordinate, because who knows if there's air traffic control? It would be troublesome if it got shot down.

"Mr. He, quite a few people want to test drive those cars, what do you think?" someone else ran over and asked.

"They can only test drive small vehicles; the others can only be driven by our people, and they can ride in them."

"But these are all new cars."

"What's there to be afraid of? The group can afford this loss."

"Okay, then, the driver?"

"How many of us who came here are qualified?"

"There don't seem to be many."

"This is a troublesome matter. I'll go make a call. You guys wait here for President Xu."

It was too late to transfer people from Xiangdu, so He Yuxin called Liao Wei.

"Brother Liao, I am He Yuxin."

"Yuxin, what's up?"

He Yuxin explained the situation, focusing on borrowing someone who could drive. Liao Wei was excited upon hearing this, as opportunities to drive a new car were rare. He immediately said, "Wait, I'll get you someone. Is it at that venue in ***?"

"Correct!"

"We'll be there in half an hour."

"Ok!"

The matter with Xu Damao is still a bit troublesome; we need to coordinate with the military. It seems unlikely that it can be resolved today.

Liao Wei's arrival startled He Yuxin, who immediately brought a platoon of men. Upon inquiring, he learned that Liao Wei had borrowed a platoon from a certain motor transport company.

The platoon leaders in that company almost came to blows over this mission.

"Yuxin, how about it? Are these guys any good?"

"Great, there's no safer option than these soldiers. By the way, bro, bringing them over here won't interfere with their daily work, will it?"

"No, don't worry."

On this day, the outdoor exhibition area of ​​the Yellow River Group became the most popular focus of the entire Canton Fair.

The roar of engines, the explanations of technicians, and conversations in different languages ​​rose and fell in waves. The booth of Xiao Rizi was completely deserted, as were those of other countries.

It's not that they think the Yellow River is so great, it's just that it's cheap and doesn't require foreign exchange.

Those foreigners were furious, and many of them went to the headquarters to request a price adjustment.

Yellow River cars are quite well-known in Southeast Asia and some parts of Africa. Why? Because they're everywhere. People there can't afford cars from other countries, but they can afford Yellow River cars.

The crowd gradually dispersed as the museum closed in the evening.

Although the staff at the Yellow River exhibition area were all hoarse and exhausted, their faces were filled with pride and excitement.

Xu Damao and He Yuxin looked at the thick stack of preliminary lists of potential clients and smiled at each other.

"Brother Liao, since you brought these people, let's treat them to a meal," He Yuxin said.

"That won't do, they have discipline."

“We can’t let people work for free for a day, there are still several days to go,” He Yuxin said.

"Let me go ask and see if they'll give us money or food or something."

“Sure, then why don’t you have a drink with us?” Xu Damao said.

"Let's talk about it another day, when I'm done with this."

“That’s settled then,” Xu Damao said.

"You can't hold your liquor, but you're quite addicted," Liao Wei said with a smile.

"Who's afraid of who? We'll see who comes out on top last."

"Ha ha ha ha."

After Liao Wei and his men left, Xu Damao said, "I really didn't expect it to become this popular!"

"It's normal, actually. If we don't show some things, people will always think that we don't have them, or that we are behind others."

"Looks like the next Canton Fair is going to be quite a spectacle," Xu Damao said with a smile.

"Yes, by the way, did you get the contact information for the people at the Chinese medicine, leather, and meat product booths?"

“I’ll have it a long time ago. I’ll send people to visit each store after the exhibition. It’s just equipment.”

"And the sales channels for their products, that might need to be troubled by you, sister-in-law."

You mean Xiao'e?

"That's right, my sister-in-law doesn't care about that."

"Well, once we're done with these next few days, I'll discuss it with your sister-in-law Xiao'e and see what sells well."

"it is good."

(End of this chapter)