King of Technology: A Fresh Start in 1983

Zhang Wei and He Fan left Beijing on the same day.

He Fan went to Pengcheng, while he went to Chengdu.

The purpose was to hold a product showcase and a signing ceremony for distributors of [Xuanyuan] for the Southwest region the following day.

This time, Zhang Wei not only didn't take advantage of Zhan Yiling and IBM, but also spared no expense in choosing the Jinjiang Hotel as the location.

But he still couldn't bear to arrange his accommodation at the Jinjiang Hotel.

Instead, he stayed in a small hotel across the street with Wei Chen and the others who came with him.

With the Spring Festival fast approaching, Zhang Wei was worried because many companies were already distracted from doing business.

Especially in this city that is known as the most leisurely in the country, people's pace of life is slow. They spend their days either making tea, cleaning their ears, or playing mahjong. They are used to being lazy.

I remember last year, Tiangong held a national distributors conference in Chongqing.

After the meeting, everyone departed from the mountain city and took a boat along the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River to the river city.

For three days and three nights, everyone enjoyed the scenery of the Three Gorges from the deck, afraid of missing a single view.

Meanwhile, the colleagues from the Chengdu branch, after boarding the ship in Chongqing, holed up in their cabins playing mahjong all the way to Jiangcheng…

Although the sales performance of the Chengdu branch improved compared to the previous year, it still ranked last in the country.

Therefore, Chen Jianghe hopes that Zhang Wei will provide more support for the various tasks of the Southwest Region in the new year.

The Chengdu branch also repeatedly stated that at least ten computer companies with cooperation intentions came to support and negotiate at this meeting.

We also have several industry clients in the Southwest region.

Wei Chen also said that he has two pre-arranged agents who can sign contracts at this meeting.

Given the painful lesson learned from clashing with Inspur's computer launch event in Qingcheng that year…

Zhang Wei specifically asked his colleagues at the Chengdu branch to inquire at the Jinjiang Hotel beforehand whether any other companies were holding large-scale events that day.

The hotel's sales department said that the holiday was coming soon, and several companies were having their annual dinner parties that evening.

During the daytime, there's only one motor company holding a promotional event, which doesn't conflict with computer-related activities.

Apart from that, no other meetings were scheduled.

Zhang Wei was relieved.

The next morning, everyone arrived at the Jinjiang Hotel early.

As soon as I arrived at the door of the pre-rented meeting room, I noticed that something was amiss.

The entire corridor was filled with flower baskets of all sizes, and the walls were covered with colorful ribbons and banners.

A row of registration desks stood at the entrance of the large conference hall not far away.

Various enlarged and reproduced newspaper pages were propped up on aluminum alloy frames along the hotel route.

The numerous promotional materials and banners above all repeatedly emphasize the same keyword: CC Electromechanical.

Zhang Wei's heart sank!

It seems like what I feared most has come to pass. Will we repeat the mistakes of our trip to Qingcheng?

Surely my luck can't be that bad?

He walked into the conference hall and peered inside. Above the already arranged stage, a banner hung that read:

"CC Electromechanical New Generation Energy-Saving Technology Cooperation and Promotion Conference".

Wei Chen immediately urged his subordinates to hang up the banner in Tiangong's conference room as well.

Several prototypes of the [Xuanyuan] with different configurations were then arranged in place.

After installing the demo software, several people placed the document bags on each seat one by one.

Zhang Wei took a break from his busy schedule to go to the CC Electromechanical sign-in desk and grab a brochure.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out they were fellow villagers and neighbors.

CC Electromechanical not only originated from Beijing, but its headquarters are also located near Tsinghua University.

Therefore, he wanted to find out more about CC Electromechanical's so-called new technology, what its wonders were, and what clever strategies it employed for cooperation and promotion...

But the more I looked, the more confused I became.

The so-called new technology is actually a new generation of energy-saving motor.

It is claimed to save more than 70% energy compared to existing motor technology.

Zhang Wei immediately suspected that this was yet another farce involving perpetual motion machines or water turning into oil.

Without breakthroughs in basic science, it is impossible to create groundbreaking products simply by improving processes or materials.

Zhang Wei immediately realized that even without his professional background, based solely on common sense, very few people would buy into it.

Unexpectedly, his expression stiffened involuntarily after he had just scoffed at it.

The cooperative promotion model he was introduced with genuine surprise.

This achievement was not only recognized and recommended by the State Science and Technology Commission.

Many provincial and municipal science and technology commissions, and even local governments, have vigorously promoted it.

Most astonishingly, the annual return on investment is as high as 24%!

With such high returns, how could people not flock to it?

As expected, before nine o'clock in the morning, a large number of people flocked in like a tide.

CC Electromechanical's employees, along with their locally hired marketing staff, were enthusiastically fueling the fire:

"The people of Chengdu are in for a treat! This is a one-day event, don't miss it! Don't miss this opportunity!"

At that moment, someone suddenly shouted through a megaphone: "Mr. Wang has arrived! Mr. Wang has arrived! The promotional event is about to begin! Please hurry and enter!"

...

Tiangong's product showcase and investment signing ceremony are scheduled for 9:30.

Zhang Wei was filled with remorse!

It would have been better if we had scheduled it for the afternoon, or even if we could have moved it to 10 o'clock.

Several guests who arrived early, whether swept up by the crowd or attracted by it, all went to CC Electromechanical's venue.

Zhang Wei had no choice but to bite the bullet and have everyone invite the guests back.

And everyone was in position, ready to go, to ensure that no more guests would be taken to CC Electromechanical's venue.

He himself picked up the signpost of Tiangong Group and, like a pillar in the middle of the corridor, stood it in the middle of the corridor.

Hold the road sign above the heads of the crowd, making sure the arrow points conspicuously to the entrance of Tiangong's conference room.

It was past 9:30, and facing fewer than twenty guests, Zhang Wei walked to the microphone and, forcing himself to stay alert, announced the start of the exhibition and signing ceremony.

But the noise from outside the door continued unabated.

While Zhang Wei was giving his speech, he could clearly hear the words of another speaker from next door.

He had a Northeastern accent, was very eloquent, and extremely persuasive.

They frequently clamor for things like "a life-changing moment," "the last chance to create wealth this century," and "making 10,000 Chinese people millionaires"...

The man with the Northeastern accent also invited several so-called early investors to come on stage and give their testimonials.

They enthusiastically claimed to have doubled their profits in just three months…

At this moment, Zhang Wei couldn't help but wonder who these listeners in the Tiangong conference room were actually listening to.

...

The morning passed just like that.

The results of this investment promotion trip to Chengdu were predictable.

Compared to CC Electromechanical next door, it's worlds apart.

I barely managed to get through the entire ceremony and saw all the guests off.

Although Zhang Wei was nearly exhausted, he still had to encourage his colleagues in the Chengdu branch with great enthusiasm to regroup and make persistent efforts in 1994.