Siheyuan: At the beginning, I can integrate everything!

"Available across the board!"

These four words swept out of the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse like a hurricane.

Thanks to the frenzied reporting by the Workers' Daily and major radio stations, the news spread throughout Beijing and across the entire country overnight.

A week later.

Wangfujing Street was bustling with people.

The sky was just beginning to lighten, and the chill of early spring had not yet completely dissipated.

The square in front of Wangfujing Department Store was already packed with people.

The procession stretched like a winding dragon, turning several corners along the main street for a full ten miles.

It stretches as far as the eye can see.

"Don't push! Oops, don't step on my shoes!"

"Hey buddy, you've been queuing all night, haven't you? Aren't you cold?"

"So what if it's cold! As long as I can buy that 'future TV,' it's worth it even if I freeze to death!"

The people queuing up all had bloodshot eyes from exhaustion.

He clutched his savings book, grain coupons, and even the various small denomination bills he had just borrowed tightly in his hands.

These days, buying a TV is the biggest event in a household.

not to mention.

Newspapers have long been praising LCD TVs as "future technology" to the skies.

It's as thin as a picture frame! The image quality is so clear you can even see a bird's feather!

The key is.

Its price is only half that of those Japanese CRT TVs!

Half the price, performance that's 20 years ahead!

This is simply the ultimate temptation for ordinary people's wallets and eyes!

"This Future Technology Group is truly a source of pride for the Chinese people!"

An elderly man wrapped in a military overcoat was so excited that he kept rubbing his hands together.

"I heard that Chairman Zhang is the legendary figure who made bulletproof steel plates back in the day!"

"That's called serving the country through science and technology! Unlike those little devils who try to rip us off with outdated junk!"

Nine o'clock in the morning.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Several deafening cannon salutes followed.

The glass doors of Future Technology's first flagship store in China, located on the first floor of Wangfujing Department Store.

Slowly pull it open.

"Charge!"

"Give me one! No, two!"

The crowd was like a flood that had burst its banks, instantly submerging the spacious storefront.

On the display stand of the flagship store.

Dozens of ultra-thin LCD TVs, ranging from 21 inches to 42 inches, lit up simultaneously.

The stunning 4K resolution showcases the magnificent landscapes of our motherland.

The colors were so vibrant, and the image was so smooth and detailed.

The moment they rushed in, all the customers were stunned speechless.

"My dear mother, my fourth maternal great-aunt..."

An older woman looked at the beautiful peony on the screen and couldn't resist reaching out to touch it.

"These flowers...they look so real! And this TV is so thin, like a sheet of paper!"

"It's so beautiful! It was totally worth the money!"

After a brief moment of shock, an even more frenzied buying spree ensued.

In front of the cashier, banknotes were piled up like a small mountain.

In the pick-up area, workers, sweating profusely, carried beautifully packaged cardboard boxes.

In less than two hours.

The flagship store has a full five thousand units in stock.

It was completely sold out by the frenzied citizens!

Even the prototypes on the exhibition stand were bought at high prices by several wealthy factory managers.

"Out of stock?! How can it be out of stock?! I queued all night!"

"Manager! I'll pay more! I'll pay more, okay?! Order me one for tomorrow!"

Those who hadn't bought any yet were so anxious they were slapping their thighs, wishing they could tear the store down.

This contrasts sharply with the extremely popular scene at the Future Technology flagship store.

It's across the street, that once arrogant Japanese-owned home appliance store.

In the past, this place was always crowded with wealthy people who came to buy high-end imported goods.

But today.

The huge shop was deserted and quiet, without a soul in sight.

Several female saleswomen in kimonos yawned boredly, looking at the bustling scene across the street with eyes full of confusion and fear.

In the manager's office on the second floor of the shop.

"Baka! Baka yarou!"

The manager of the Japanese-owned specialty store was like a mad wild boar.

He roared wildly behind his large desk, smashing everything on it.

Documents, teacups, telephones—all shattered on the floor.

"Why?! Why did this happen?!"

He gripped the sales report tightly in his hand.

The data above looks like a precipitous, deathly curve.

It all started a week ago when the futuristic color TV was unveiled at the State Guesthouse.

Sales of Sony Trinitron TVs in their store plummeted.

to today.

We didn't sell a single unit all morning!

Zero sales!

"Manager..."

A deputy walked in tremblingly, his voice shaking.

"It's not just our store...the entire North China region, our chamber of commerce's home appliance sales have completely collapsed."

"Those Chinese distributors who have already paid deposits would rather pay penalties for breach of contract than accept a full refund!"

"They said...they said our TVs are electronic waste, nobody wants them even if they're given away for free..."

boom!

These words were like a heavy hammer blow, completely shattering the manager's last psychological defenses.

"Electronic waste..."

The manager slumped in his chair, his face ashen.

He recalled Ichiro Sato's boastful words at the state guesthouse.

They claimed that China wouldn't be able to produce a color TV in thirty years.

But now?

Not only did they manufacture it, but they also took only a week to disrupt the home appliance industry that the Great Japanese Empire was so proud of.

In the Chinese market, they were utterly crushed, leaving not even a trace!

This is no longer a business war.

This is blatant dimensional reduction and slaughter!

"It's over...it's all over..."

The manager covered his face in anguish, tears streaming down his face through his fingers.

He knew that an accountability call from headquarters would come soon.

His managerial career has come to an end.

Even the entire Japanese home appliance market in China will face annihilation.

In front of the Wangfujing Department Store.

The buying frenzy has not subsided.

People gathered around the lucky ones who had bought the televisions, looking enviously at the thin packaging box.

Just then.

A gaunt old man wearing worn-out gold-rimmed glasses and a patched gray cotton-padded jacket.

They were desperately trying to push their way forward from the back of the crowded throng.

"Excuse me! Make way, everyone!"

The old man squeezed through the crowd while protecting a bulging old cloth bag in his arms.

The way they were protecting him was even more intense than if he were protecting his own manhood.

"Why are you pushing, old man! Can't you see everyone's in line?"

A burly man roared in dissatisfaction.

"I'll buy a TV! I have money!"

The old man finally managed to squeeze to the front row, panting as he clung to the glass door of the flagship store.

His usually calculating, beady eyes now gleamed with an almost maniacal vanity and fanaticism.

He suddenly pulled open the old cloth bag in his arms.

He pulled out a large stack of crumpled, even slightly moldy, small bills, one-yuan notes, and five-yuan notes.

He slammed the wad of cash onto the counter.

He yelled in a hoarse, strained voice at the dumbfounded salesperson:

"Give me one!"

"I want the biggest one!"

This old man is none other than...

It was in the Hongxing Courtyard that he lived a life of stinginess and scheming.

Even a sip of porridge has to be weighed, that's Uncle Yan Bugui!