Soul Returns to Hong Kong: From Tailor Shop to Richest Woman

Two days later, Su Zhihao called again.

Lin Ying was on the balcony, basking in the sun with Zaozao in her arms: "Second Uncle, didn't you finish reading the notebook? What's up now?"

"It's not about the script; Ah Ying and I discussed it all night, and I plan to use all newcomers in this film."

"Use all new people?"

"Yes, we don't want any familiar faces."

Lin Ying handed Zaozao to the Filipino maid: "Second Uncle, didn't you used to like using familiar faces the most? You said familiar faces sell better films."

"That was then! Ah Ying, you don't know, now those veteran actors, their fees make my blood pressure spike; last month I found one, they asked for three million, and they only agreed to give me thirty working days, extra pay for each day over!"

"Three million plus my own makeup artist, driver, and assistant—five people in total, all staying in five-star hotels, and each needing their own car." Su Zhihao became increasingly angry as he spoke. "Am I making a movie or supporting a bunch of emperors?"

Lin Ying smiled: "So what kind are you looking for?"

"A fresh face! I've read your script three times for the female lead. She doesn't need any big stars to carry her; she needs a face that makes the audience believe she truly climbed her way up from the bottom. If you cast a female celebrity who's on magazine covers every day, the audience will be immediately pulled out of the story. Who would believe she earns three thousand a month?"

That was a very pertinent point, but Lin Ying still asked, "Where's the male lead?"

"They're also newcomers. I picked two from the training class, and the other one is from the drama troupe. He's twenty-six years old, looks refined, but has a fierce look in his eyes. I think he's a good fit."

"Apart from the director, are they all newcomers?"

Su Zhihao sighed and said, "The cinematographer and art director are veterans, but everything else is new! Ah Ying, don't think I'm stingy; I genuinely believe this film can succeed based on its story alone, without relying on its cast to sell tickets."

Lin Ying didn't really have any objections; newcomers are cheap, obedient, and willing to work hard to study the plot, and they won't throw a tantrum after only three days of filming; as long as the casting is right, plus Director Zhou's direction, the finished product won't be bad; if you really use big stars, the entire production budget will go to their salaries, leaving no money for quality: "Okay, as long as you find suitable new faces."

------

Time flies, and before we knew it, it was December. Hong Kong experienced a sharp drop in temperature during this period, and she had already learned to roll over. Every day, Pu Chuan would carry her downstairs to bask in the sun, while Lin Lanying followed behind, holding a camera and taking pictures.

Lin Ying had already submitted her script and took the opportunity to organize Yingchuang's R&D schedule for next year. On the morning of December 11th, Chen Guodong called: "Ms. Lin, there's something I need to tell you."

Lin Ying could tell from his tone that this was no small matter: "What's wrong?"

Chen Guodong began to explain in detail: "A 39-inch large-screen TV has been released on the market. It's called Xinxing Vision Electronics Factory. The factory is in Guangzhou. They held a press conference in Guangzhou last week, and the newspapers have started reporting on it these past two days. The boss's surname is Wan, Wan Guohua. This person used to be an OEM manufacturer of video recorders. He did the assembly of complete machines for several Japanese brands, as well as the casing and mechanism."

Lin Ying sat up straight: "How much did he price it?"

"Twenty-eight thousand eight, that's 20% lower than ours."

"Our second generation is priced at 36,000 yuan," Lin Ying said.

"Yes, so Manager Xu has already received seven calls from distributors this morning." Chen Guodong said with a hint of helplessness, "Two high-end department stores asked if we could lower the price accordingly; and a hotel client, who had originally signed an agreement for forty units, is now saying they need to think about it again."

"Have you bought the demo units yet?"

"I bought two units, they arrived yesterday, and Engineer Liu and his team have already disassembled one."

Lin Ying closed the notebook on the table: "Then I'll go back to Shenzhen tomorrow."

"So fast?"

"If you slow down any further, Xu Jianlan's phone will be ringing off the hook."

------

The next morning, Lin Ying passed through the checkpoint and went straight to the factory.

On the conference room table were a pile of things: a disassembled back panel, a driver board, a bunch of screws, a few pieces of broken glass, and Xinxing Vision's complete 39-inch prototype, which stood against the wall.

As soon as Liu Yang saw her come in, he waved and said, "Boss, you've come at the right time. We've been arguing all morning."

Li Jia handed a handwritten form to Lin Ying: "Boss, let me talk about the materials first; I checked and the glass for this screen is not supplied by our company; he used a substitute material from another company, and I asked someone to ask for a quote, and the unit price is 15% lower than ours."

Lin Ying: "A 15% discount means a 20% reduction in the price of the entire machine?"

"No," Li Jia shook her head. "His volume is small! We take in a lot of glass every month, and the suppliers give us tiered pricing; he takes in a few hundred pieces a month, and the price they give him is actually higher than ours."

Liu Ya chimed in: "The fluorescent powder is even more noticeable. We ran accelerated aging tests on this unit for 36 hours, and the brightness has dropped significantly, and color distortion has also appeared. This kind of powder is cheap, but its lifespan is limited."

"How much exactly dropped?"

"Under normal use, the screen will start to yellow after about a year." Liu Ya spread the test curve on the table. "Our standard is to control the degradation to within 10% within five years, and this data will reach that in just one year."

Sun Miaoshu then interjected: "Boss, I took apart his driver board and decoding module to take a look. He's using a generic external solution and hasn't modified it himself; the heatsink is almost half the thickness, and there's no airflow."

"Does that mean it will overheat and crash?"

"Not immediately. If it's run continuously for more than six hours in the summer, the temperature on the circuit board will rise. If used like that for a long time, the capacitors won't be able to withstand it! That's why he chose to sell it in the winter!"

Liu Ya continued, "The key is the yield rate! This line was modified from a VCR line; for this kind of TV, if a novice can achieve a yield rate of 50% in the first six months, that's considered good."

Liu Yang slammed his fist on the table: "That's right! That's the key! Our current yield rate is over 80%, and it took us a year to climb up to that; his yield rate is 50%, which means that for every unit sold, we have to factor in the cost of a defective unit."

After listening, Lin Ying picked up Li Jia's form and looked at each item one by one: special glass, phosphor, driver board, decoding module, structural components, packaging, transportation, labor, mold amortization, and yield loss.

Lin Ying finally concluded: "He can't offer that price."

No one spoke in the meeting room; everyone waited for the next sentence.

"We reduced the cost of our second-generation product to less than 12,000 yuan. This is not only because the price our supplier offered us was unavailable to others, but also because of the high yield rate and our own modified driver solution and system."

Lin Ying pointed to the prototype of Xinxing Vision: "He doesn't take any of these things; his material costs are around 23,000, plus mold amortization and yield loss, the factory cost is 26,000 or 27,000; the channels take 15%, and after-sales service also requires money; he sells them for 28,800, and he loses money on every single one."

Liu Yang was puzzled; how could a business owner not be in it for the money? "Is he crazy?"

"He's not crazy, he has his own plan; he's been doing OEM manufacturing for so many years, he has factories, workers, and cash; his idea is to first use low prices to seize the channels, and once the market share and volume increase, the cost will naturally decrease."

Li Jia understood: "He's trading losses for time."

Chen Guodong frowned: "Miss Lin, what do we do then? Lower our prices as well?"

"If we don't lower the price, our costs are achievable through cost reduction, not just through empty promises; if we lower it to 28,000, we won't even make 2,000 yuan per unit. Where will we get the money for R&D next year?"

"But the pressure on the distribution channels is immense."

"I know the pressure." Lin Ying glanced at Xu Jianlan's empty seat. "Where's Manager Xu?"

"In Guangzhou, will be back tonight."

"Tell her to come back and contact me immediately; what the channels want is not cheapness, but whether they can sell the products and whether people will come back to return them every day after they are sold; what we need to do is very simple: put the two machines together and let the customer see for himself."

Liu Ya knew Lin Ying wasn't one to passively wait: "A comparative test?"

"Make sure you get the aging data, color deviation data, and temperature rise data all processed according to standard procedures, the kind that third parties can reproduce. Don't mention their brand name, and don't criticize them in the newspapers; just stabilize your current channels. In six months, the batch of machines they sold will speak for themselves."

Thinking about the personnel issue, Lin Ying said to Liu Yang, "Go and call HR Manager He over."

Liu Yang immediately went out to find someone, and ten minutes later He Fangqin and Liu Yang both arrived at the office.

Lin Ying immediately told the person she met, "President He, Xinxing Vision will definitely try to poach our people; regarding the technical backbone, finalize the bonuses and job titles in advance, don't wait until someone else has been poached before we start talking about it."

He Fangqin was not flustered at all: "It's already being done; last week, someone from Xinxing Vision privately approached two team leaders in the workshop; they talked to them and then the person told us about it."

"What did you say?"

He Fangqin said with a smile, "They all think that since Xinxing Vision is selling so cheaply, they used to starve and have to clean up the messes."

After the meeting, Lin Ying returned to her office. She knew in her heart that it was only a matter of time before the competitor arrived, but she didn't expect it to be so soon.