Movie: Get Alpha Dog at the start

Chapter 1583 Sales Rebates

In the guesthouse room, Chen Qiming lay on the hard bed, staring blankly at the dim light bulb on the ceiling.

His wallet was already empty, and his stomach was growling in protest, but he didn't even have enough money to go downstairs for a bowl of noodles.

To make matters worse, the guesthouse owner has already come twice to collect the room fee. If they don't pay soon, they'll have to pack up and leave tomorrow.

"Damn it," Chen Qiming cursed fiercely, turned over, and buried his face in the pillow.

He couldn't understand it at all. He had won the lottery on his first purchase of subscription certificates, turning a little over a thousand yuan into more than seven thousand yuan. It felt like a dream. Why had he never won again after that? He attributed it all to his lack of capital. If he had bought more subscription certificates, he would definitely have won.

Then, Chen Qiming pictured the thick wad of hundred-yuan bills in Liu Yuan's wallet.

Liu Yuan was reviewing the month's financial statements in his office when he suddenly heard a commotion outside.

"Liu Yuan! Is Liu Yuan there? This is Chen Qiming!"

Liu Yuan frowned, put down his pen, and went outside to see what was happening. He saw Chen Qiming standing at the door, talking to the receptionist.

"Liu Yuan!" Chen Qiming's face immediately lit up with a smile upon seeing Liu Yuan. "Oh, I've finally found you!"

"Why are you here?" Liu Yuan asked, somewhat surprised. "Didn't I tell you to report to the Great Wall Power Plant?"

"I just wanted to come and see you first," Chen Qiming said, rubbing his hands together with a fawning smile. "By the way, Liu Yuan, could you lend me some more money? Something urgent has come up on my end."

Liu Yuan stared at Chen Qiming, his brows gradually furrowing.

He knew Chen Qiming all too well. Back in college, Chen Qiming always had this look on his face whenever he was short of money.

"Wait a minute," Liu Yuan interrupted him, "Didn't I give you two thousand yuan before? It's only been a few days, and you've already spent it all?"

Chen Qiming's smile froze on his face, and his eyes began to flicker: "It's expensive in Shenzhen, with things like food and accommodation."

"Two thousand yuan for food and lodging?" Liu Yuan's voice turned serious. "You eat abalone, sea cucumber, and shark fin every day, and stay in five-star hotels?"

Chen Qiming stammered, unable to utter a complete sentence for a long time.

Liu Yuan stared at him for a while, then suddenly remembered something: "Did you use it to invest in stocks?"

Chen Qiming's expression changed instantly. His lips moved, but he ultimately lowered his head and said, "I..."

"You really went into stock trading?" Liu Yuan's voice rose several octaves. "What did I tell you before? The stock market is a very complex and dangerous place. What are you, a complete novice, doing jumping in?"

"I...I clearly made a profit the first time," Chen Qiming whispered in defense. "A thousand became seven thousand, I was thinking..."

"And then what happened?" Liu Yuan interrupted him. "Did you lose everything?"

Chen Qiming lowered his head, not daring to speak.

Liu Yuan sighed deeply, leaned back in his chair, and rubbed his temples.

“Chen Qiming, we’re classmates, so I’ll be frank.” Liu Yuan looked at him, his tone becoming serious. “You’ve just arrived in Shenzhen, you’re unfamiliar with the place, you don’t have a stable income, and you have no savings. Going into the stock market now is gambling. I can provide you with a meal and a bed—that’s just in an emergency, no problem. But if you want me to give you money to invest in stocks, forget it.”

Chen Qiming's face flushed red and then turned pale. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he swallowed it back.

"How much money do you have left?" Liu Yuan asked.

"No...that's all." Chen Qiming lowered his head, his voice so soft it was like a mosquito's hum.

Liu Yuan sighed again, took out two hundred-yuan bills from his wallet, and handed them to Chen Qiming: "Here, that's your food allowance for the month. Starting today, you're going to report to the Great Wall Power Plant. Work diligently and don't think about anything else. Once you've settled down and saved some money, you can do whatever you want, but for now, listen to me."

Chen Qiming stared at the two banknotes, his heart filled with mixed emotions. He had come to Shenzhen hoping to make a fortune, to show Sun Yumei that he was no less capable than Qin Hao, but now…

"Alright then." He took the money, forcing a smile. "Thanks, Liu Yuan. When I become successful, I'll definitely repay you tenfold."

"Alright, hurry up and report for duty." Liu Yuan waved his hand. "I've already spoken to Director Du, you can just go directly."

Chen Qiming nodded and turned to leave.

After he left, Liu Yuan shook his head, picked up the phone, and dialed Du Heping's number.

"Director Du, hello, this is Liu Yuan. My classmate Chen Qiming will be reporting to your office today, so could you please look after him? Thank you."

After hanging up the phone, Liu Yuan sighed again and continued reviewing the pile of reports.

The Great Wall Power Plant is located in an industrial area in Futian District, Shenzhen. The factory buildings are not large, but they are very clean and tidy. In the security booth at the entrance, an elderly man is listening to Cantonese opera on the radio.

"Sir, I'm here to report for duty. My name is Chen Qiming." Chen Qiming said with a big smile.

The security guard glanced at Chen Qiming and said, "Oh, register now, then report to the personnel department."

When Chen Qiming arrived at the personnel department to register, Du Heping happened to be there as well. Seeing Chen Qiming enter, Du Heping greeted him warmly, "You must be Chen Qiming?"

"Hello, Director Du, I'm Chen Qiming." Chen Qiming nodded quickly.

"General Manager Liu told me about your situation." Du Heping patted him on the shoulder: "A college graduate, our factory needs talent like you."

"Thank you, Director Du, but I don't know much about electronics..." Chen Qiming said somewhat awkwardly.

"It's okay, you can learn slowly if you don't understand." Du Heping turned around and called out, "Old Zhang, come here for a second."

A middle-aged man in his forties walked in.

"This is Section Chief Zhang from the Administration Department. You'll need to go there and help out with some document organization," Du Heping said to Chen Qiming. "The pay is 1,200 yuan per month, including three meals a day. The factory provides dormitories; you just need to pay a small electricity fee each month."

Although Chen Qiming looked down on this salary, he had no choice but to stay and work there for the time being.

Following Section Chief Zhang to the administrative department, Chen Qiming was assigned to a desk in the corner, where his main tasks were to organize documents, copy data, and run errands.

After finishing his work, Chen Qiming sat there, staring blankly at the factory buildings outside the window, feeling extremely unwilling.

How did he, a college student, end up doing such menial work?

But when he thought about the two hundred yuan that Liu Yuan had given him in his pocket, he could only grit his teeth and endure it.

Let's just muddle along for now, and figure out a solution once we've saved enough money.

……

Meanwhile, in the production workshop of Zeus Power Plant, Qin Hao was standing in front of the test bench, staring at the oscilloscope in front of him.

"President Qin, the test data is in." Zhang Weiming walked over with a report: "Power outage protection response time: 0.02 seconds; voltage fluctuation range: 170V-260V; overload protection test passed."

Qin Hao took the report, looked at it carefully, and a satisfied expression appeared on his face.

"Mr. Zhang, you've worked hard." He patted Zhang Weiming on the shoulder: "How much better are these figures compared to our domestic counterparts?"

Zhang Weiming thought for a moment: "The response time for power outage protection is generally between 0.05 and 0.1 seconds for domestic competitors, while ours is two to five times faster. The voltage fluctuation range for domestic competitors is generally 180V-240V, while ours has a wider range of applications. Overall, our product performance is at least 30% to 50% higher than that of our domestic competitors."

How does it compare to Japanese products?

Zhang Weiming paused for a moment: "Compared to Japanese products, there's still a gap. Japanese products can achieve a power outage protection response time of 0.01 seconds and a voltage fluctuation range of 160V-270V. However, considering our cost advantage, this gap is acceptable."

Qin Hao nodded: "Then let's mass-produce according to this standard. As for pricing, I've considered it; it will be 50% more expensive than domestic power supplies, but half the price of Japanese power supplies, targeting the mid-to-high-end market."

"50% more expensive than domestic products?" Zhang Weiming asked with some concern, "President Qin, isn't this price too high? Can consumers accept it?"

Qin Hao smiled and said, "Price wars are the most foolish form of competition. Our products are better than domestic ones, so why should we engage in a price war with them? Consumers aren't stupid; they're willing to pay for quality. As for those consumers who only look at price and not quality, they're not our target customers anyway."

Zhang Weiming nodded thoughtfully.

Qin Hao then returned to Beijing and began discussing cooperation with distributors using information gathered from Zhongguancun Yellow Pages.

Initially, many distributors were reluctant to buy in. Nobody had ever heard of the Zeus brand, and its prices were significantly higher than domestic brands; who would be willing to take the risk?

Until Qin Hao came up with a sales rebate plan.

"Sales rebates?"

"Yes, it's about giving rebates to distributors based on sales volume. The more you sell, the higher the rebate. And there's no upper limit."

"What exactly is the rebate?"

"Based on a standard of 500 units, we can get a 2% rebate on every 500 units sold."

2% may not seem like much, but it's a real profit margin. Plus, power supplies aren't cheap; they easily cost several hundred yuan. If you can achieve the sales target, it adds up to a considerable sum.

Gradually, some dealers began to be willing to give it a try. A few units, a dozen units, dozens of units...

Once the first batch of dealers who tried the product gave back their feedback, word-of-mouth began to spread.

"This power supply is really good; the power outage protection is excellent, and the repair rate of assembled computers has decreased significantly."

"The price is a bit high, but the quality is definitely excellent, it's worth it!"

"Hehe, the rebate for 500 units arrived in three days. This is the first time I've seen a company pay so quickly."

Word spread quickly, and orders began to pour in like snowflakes.

In addition, it coincided with the peak sales season at the end of the year, and compatible computer assemblers in Zhongguancun were frantically stocking up, so Zeus power supply sales suddenly surged.

In just one month, monthly sales exceeded five thousand units!

This number is nothing short of a miracle for a newly established brand.

However, this also brought about a problem: production capacity could not keep up.

"President Qin, the orders are already booked for six months ahead. Our production line is already running at full capacity with three shifts, and we simply can't meet the demand." Liu Yuan held a report, his brow furrowed.

Qin Hao stared at the numbers on the report in silence.

The three production lines have an annual capacity of 50,000 units, theoretically producing over 4,000 units per month. However, in practice, equipment malfunctions, raw material shortages, and insufficient worker skill all affect production capacity. Orders for 5,000 units are already at their limit.

“We must expand production capacity.” Qin Hao put down the report: “But building a new factory, buying equipment, and hiring workers will take at least six months. Six months is too long; the market waits for no one.”

"Then what should we do?" Liu Yuan asked.

Qin Hao thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled: "Do you still remember the Great Wall Power Plant?"

Liu Yuan was taken aback: "Great Wall Power Plant? You mean...?"

"As for Du Heping, the head office is still in a meeting discussing the acquisition." Qin Hao stood up and walked to the window. "Since the acquisition negotiations aren't going well, let's try another approach."

"In what way?"

“OEM manufacturing.” Qin Hao turned around. “We provide the orders, the technology, and the raw materials, and Great Wall Power Plant will handle the production. This solves our production capacity problem while also keeping Great Wall Power Plant busy.”

Liu Yuan's eyes lit up: "That's a great idea! The other day, Du Heping was complaining to me about the sales slump; the products they produced were just piling up in the warehouse, and the more they produced, the bigger the losses became."

Qin Hao smiled and said, "Then let's place an order for 30,000 units at once."

Thirty thousand units?!

“That’s right.” Qin Hao nodded. “We want to show Du Heping what real strength is.”

A few days later, Qin Hao and Liu Yuan returned to the Great Wall Power Plant.

Du Heping received them in his office, his attitude remaining polite, but his eyes held a hint of wariness.

"President Qin, Mr. Liu, what brings you here today?" Du Heping asked tentatively.

"Director Du, I'm here today to discuss a business deal with you," Qin Hao said bluntly. "Our Zeus Power Supply business is currently experiencing a surge in orders, and our production capacity can't keep up. We'd like to ask your factory to help us with contract manufacturing."

"OEM?" Du Heping was somewhat surprised.

“Yes, OEM.” Qin Hao took out a document from his bag: “This is our technical standards and quality requirements. You can take a look. If there are no problems, we plan to place an order for 30,000 units at once.”

"Thirty thousand units?" Du Heping's eyes widened. "President Qin, are you kidding me? Thirty thousand units! That's our factory's entire annual production capacity!"

“I’m not joking.” Qin Hao looked at him calmly. “The order is right here. I can pay 30% upfront, and the balance upon delivery. So, Director Du, are you interested?”

Du Heping was caught in a dilemma. As a power supply expert, he didn't want to manufacture power supplies for others, but as the factory manager, he had to consider the profits. The head office was already very dissatisfied with Great Wall Power Supply Factory's continuous losses.

“Mr. Qin, your terms are indeed very attractive. However…” He paused, “Such a large order cannot be decided by me alone; it still needs to be reported to head office.”

“I know,” Qin Hao nodded. “But contract manufacturing doesn’t involve a change of ownership like an acquisition, so it should be much faster. Director Du, please take a look at the technical standards first. If there are no problems, we can start a trial production batch. Once the head office approves it, we can proceed with large-scale production.”

Du Heping flipped through a few pages of the document, his brows gradually furrowing.

“President Qin, your technical standards… are even higher than our existing products.” Du Heping looked up at Qin Hao with a complicated expression.

“That’s natural.” Qin Hao smiled. “Our products are positioned in the mid-to-high-end market, so the quality must be excellent. Director Du, you’re an expert; you should be able to tell that these technical standards aren’t impossible for Great Wall Power Supply Factory to meet, but they do require some improvements.”

Du Heping was silent for a moment, then finally nodded: "Okay, I'll look into it and get back to you as soon as possible."

"Then I'll await Director Du's good news." Qin Hao stood up and extended his hand: "Pleasure doing business with you."

Du Heping grasped Qin Hao's hand, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

This young man is wealthy and influential, and in contrast, Great Wall Power Plant is rigid in its system and inefficient, making it increasingly difficult to adapt to market competition.

Perhaps being acquired isn't such a bad thing.

……

Three days later, the square in front of Shenzhen Railway Station was bustling with people.

In 1993, Shenzhen was at the height of its reform and opening-up, with countless people flocking from all over the country every day, seeking opportunities and pursuing their dreams. The train station, as the city's gateway, was bustling with activity.

Qin Hao stood at the edge of the square, his eyes searching through the crowd.

"Honey!"

A clear voice rang out, and Qin Hao looked in the direction of the sound, only to see two young women walking towards him.

Walking in front was Sun Yumei, in her early twenties, tall and beautiful, wearing a light blue dress, with her long, black, shiny hair cascading down her back. She walked with a light and graceful gait, clearly a former dancer.

Following behind her was Han Ling, who was about the same age but slightly shorter. She wore a white short-sleeved shirt and jeans, with delicate features and a cool temperament, yet her brows held a hint of reserve.

"Let's go, the car is outside." Qin Hao led the two out of the station square.

A black Toyota Crown sedan was parked quietly on the side of the road, its gleaming body shining in the sunlight.

Sun Yumei's eyes lit up immediately upon seeing the car: "Wow, a Crown! Is this your car?"

"Just bought it." Qin Hao opened the car door. "Get in."

Sun Yumei got into the passenger seat, and Han Ling sat in the back. After the door closed, Sun Yumei couldn't help but look around, touching the seats and glancing at the dashboard, clicking her tongue in admiration: "These leather seats are so comfortable, and the air conditioning is so good too. It's so much better than our company's beat-up Jeep."

She turned to Qin Hao and asked, "How much did this car cost?"

As Qin Hao started the car, he casually said, "Four hundred and fifty thousand, I guess."

"Four...four hundred and fifty thousand?!"

Sun Yumei and Han Ling were both stunned, their eyes wide open, unable to utter a word for a moment.

In 1993, the monthly salary of an ordinary worker was only two or three hundred yuan. 450,000 yuan was equivalent to more than a hundred years' salary for one person! Even in the dance troupe, Sun Yumei and Han Ling's combined salary was only five or six hundred yuan. This 450,000 yuan was an astronomical figure for them.

The car drove out of the parking lot and headed east along Shennan Avenue. The scenery outside the window flashed by: skyscrapers, wide roads, bustling construction sites... the vitality and dynamism of Shenzhen were on full display.

"Shenzhen has changed so much!" Sun Yumei exclaimed, looking out the window. "Just a few years ago it was a small fishing village, and now there are so many high-rise buildings."

"Shenzhen has developed very rapidly in recent years," Qin Hao said. "It will develop even faster in the future."

Han Ling sat in the back row, silently watching the scenery outside the window.

The car quickly pulled into a restaurant near Huaqiangbei. Qin Hao parked the car and led the two inside.

Liu Yuan was already waiting in the private room. As soon as he saw the three of them enter, he immediately stood up to greet them.

“Sun Yumei…Han Ling, you…you’re here!” Liu Yuan’s eyes lit up immediately, especially when he saw Han Ling, his face was filled with undisguised joy.

"Liu Yuan, it's been a long time," Sun Yumei greeted him with a smile.

Han Ling nodded: "Liu Yuan, how have you been lately?"

"It's alright. If I follow Lao Qin, how could he treat me badly?" Liu Yuan scratched his head and grinned foolishly before warmly greeting Han Ling, making a point of arranging for her to sit down next to him.

"Come, come, sit down."

The four sat around a round table, and Liu Yuan ordered a table full of dishes, eating and chatting at the same time.

"How long do you plan to stay in Shenzhen this time?" Liu Yuan asked.

"We'll stay for two or three days and then go back. There's not much to do in Shenzhen. We just happened to have some free time after the performance, so we thought we'd come to Chung Ying Street to buy some Hong Kong goods to take back," Sun Yumei said. "We'll get some for relatives and friends."

"There are a lot of people in Chung Ying Street now, so it's best to go early, otherwise you'll have to wait in line for ages," Qin Hao advised.

“Then we’ll go first thing tomorrow morning.” Sun Yumei nodded.

After chatting for a while, Sun Yumei asked sweetly, "Darling, what have you been busy with lately? You haven't come back to Beijing to see me in so long."

Qin Hao casually replied, "I recently opened a power supply factory, and I've been busy expanding the market. I'm so busy every day that I don't have time."

"A power supply factory?" Sun Yumei was somewhat surprised: "Didn't you guys deal in stock subscription certificates before?"

Liu Yuan explained with a smile: "That kind of thing can't be done forever. Now everyone in the country knows that stock subscription certificates can make money. Every time stock subscription certificates are issued, people from all over the country flock to Shenzhen. Old Qin felt that making money was too difficult, so he simply switched to other businesses."

Sun Yumei was immediately disappointed, as she had actually wanted to make some money from this.

After dinner, Sun Yumei suddenly suggested, "Qin Hao, since your power plant is nearby, could you take us to see it?"

Qin Hao nodded: "No problem. Liu Yuan is going back to the factory anyway, let's go together."

Upon hearing this, Han Ling frowned slightly, seemingly hesitant.

Sun Yumei noticed and whispered, "Let's go take a look. We don't have anything to do this afternoon anyway."

Han Ling hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded: "Alright then."

Liu Yuan was overjoyed when Han Ling agreed. He had been pursuing Han Ling for almost four years; it wasn't something he could just let go of so easily. Han Ling's visit to Shenzhen was a rare opportunity for him.

The four left the restaurant, and Qin Hao drove them to the Zeus Power Plant in the Shangbu Industrial Zone.

The factory was small but very clean, with a sign that read "Zeus Power" hanging at the entrance. Several workers were loading and unloading goods, creating a busy scene.

Stepping into the factory, the roar of machines hits you as workers busily work on the assembly line, assembling, testing, and packaging power components in an orderly fashion.

Liu Yuan enthusiastically acted as a tour guide, leading Sun Yumei and Han Ling on a tour, explaining as they walked: "This is the production line; our power supplies are assembled here. This is the testing area; every power supply undergoes rigorous testing before leaving the factory. This is the warehouse; finished products are stored here, waiting to be shipped..."

Sun Yumei watched with great interest, occasionally exclaiming in admiration, "I never imagined that such a small power plant could be so complex."

"Liu Yuan, how much money does your factory make in a year?"

Liu Yuan subconsciously looked at Qin Hao, and seeing that Qin Hao did not intend to stop him, he then spoke.

"If we can maintain the current sales volume this year, the annual profit should be around four million."

"so much?"

Sun Yumei and Han Ling were both taken aback. In their minds, factories in the north were all on the verge of bankruptcy; they never expected Qin Hao's factory to be so profitable. (End of Chapter)