"Boss Chen, I'm Zheng Qiusheng, a reporter from Anhui Provincial Daily."
"The scene today where a thousand people lined up to buy radios after dreaming about them is definitely front-page news for our Anhui Provincial Daily. It's bound to create a sensation across Anhui Province."
"We at Anhui Provincial Daily have also wanted to interview you for a while. Last time, it wasn't convenient. I wonder if you have time this time."
Zheng Qiusheng looked at the impossibly young man before him. If Zhang Weiyang hadn't spoken, he wouldn't have believed it.
To be the founder of the nation's first individual industrial and commercial household, and to achieve a situation where thousands of people lined up to buy radios, was actually just a young man in his early twenties.
Truly, a remarkable young talent!
"Anhui Provincial Daily?"
Upon hearing the name of Anhui Provincial Daily, Chen Yang, who had initially been unwilling to be interviewed, could no longer refuse gracefully.
After all, they had used the Anhui Provincial Daily's name quite a bit in the past few days to gain their customers' trust in Meng Hui Radios. As the most official and authoritative newspaper in Anhui Province,
Chen Yang had to show it due respect.
Especially in the early stages of entrepreneurship, he needed the Anhui Provincial Daily to continuously promote Meng Hui Radios.
In those days, many people read newspapers.
Not only did every unit subscribe to newspapers, but ordinary workers, and even people in the countryside, subscribed to them.
"Yes, the report about the Qinghe City Administration for Industry and Commerce issuing the nation's first individual industrial and commercial business license was done by our Anhui Provincial Daily. Currently, brother newspapers across the country are vying to reprint it."
Zheng Qiusheng was clearly excited. The colleague who wrote that sensational report was directly rewarded with an advanced worker award from the bureau, along with a ten-yuan bonus.
Who among them, these writers, didn't envy it!
"Reporter Zheng, what do you want to ask? I'll answer to the best of my ability."
"Regarding policy issues, I believe you understand them better than I do. If something can't be reported, then we'll..."
Chen Yang didn't elaborate. He believed Zheng Qiusheng understood his meaning.
"Boss Chen, don't worry, I will absolutely not ask anything that doesn't comply with regulations."
"And even if I did ask, it wouldn't be published. The content that appears in the newspaper must be reviewed by the editors and the director of Anhui Provincial Daily."
Zheng Qiusheng smiled. He wasn't stupid.
"We are all quite curious. We heard you were a sent-down youth. We wonder how you suddenly got the idea to start an individual business?"
Zheng Qiusheng asked a question that many were very curious about. The report had to capture the readers' interest, even in this era.
"It's very simple. If your wife and children can't eat enough, you'll also try to find other ways to make a living."
"Then why specifically the radio business?"
Zheng Qiusheng carefully jotted down Chen Yang's answers in his notebook. He wrote quickly, but his penmanship was neat and orderly. His running script was beautiful – a fundamental skill for a reporter.
"It's quite a coincidence. Once, when I went to the city, I heard an old fellow crying by the street corner, saying that his family couldn't afford to buy a radio, and his son's marriage prospects were ruined."
"Later, I found out that a radio cost over a hundred and twenty yuan, and it also required industrial coupons. If you were to gather all the 'three turns and one sound' (bicycle, sewing machine, watch, and radio), it would indeed cost a lot of money."
"So I thought, how can I prevent the old man's tragedy from happening again? If there were cheaper radios, could the old man's son get married smoothly?"
"Actually, I hadn't had any clear ideas about this until one day, when I saw a junk collector paying five yuan to collect a radio from a household on the street."
"Then it suddenly occurred to me: if old radios could be repaired, wouldn't the price be cheaper?"
Chen Yang naturally couldn't say he got the inspiration from hearing Zhang Weiyang do it in his previous life. Inventing a small story like this was not a problem for him.
"Your business indeed stems from life. It's true, if it really costs twenty-one yuan per unit, it could significantly ease the burden on many families."
"Another question. As far as I know, Meng Hui Radios didn't do very well in Feishi City at first. How did you suddenly get thousands of people to queue up to buy radios?"
The previous questions were to supplement what his colleague had missed in the last interview. This was what Zheng Qiusheng was truly concerned about.
Thousands of people lining up to buy a product was an unprecedented feat, especially considering that the individual household responsible for this miracle had initially been quite unremarkable in Feishi City.
This was definitely news that countless people would want to understand. Zheng Qiusheng himself wanted to know.
"This involves a matter of business thinking. This is actually a business secret. If you hadn't spoken up for us just now, I wouldn't have answered."
Chen Yang glanced at Zheng Qiusheng with a knowing smile.
Hearing his words, Zheng Qiusheng felt grateful that he had spoken up for Meng Hui Radios earlier. Otherwise, he might not have been able to get this major scoop.
"Let me give you an example. Right now, meat is ninety fen per jin and requires meat coupons to buy, so people only eat it once every one or two months."
"But there's a question: do people not want to eat meat?"
Chen Yang looked at Zheng Qiusheng. Zheng Qiusheng didn't even need to think before answering.
"How is that possible? If I had meat coupons and money, I'd want to eat meat every day, meat at every meal. I could never get tired of eating meat. This meat, I'd eat it my whole life."
"See, you understand the logic yourself."
"It's the same with radios. A radio costing over a hundred and twenty yuan, plus industrial coupons – people can't afford it, not that they don't need radios."
"Now, I only ask for twenty-one yuan, and no industrial coupons are needed. Naturally, people will rush to buy them."
"It's like this: if I tell you now that pork is ten fen per jin, and no coupons are needed, would you buy it to eat?"
Chen Yang gave Zheng Qiusheng a look, letting him ponder it himself.
Zheng Qiusheng savored Chen Yang's words for a long time, then suddenly slapped his thigh.
"I understand! The needs of the people have always been there, but money and industrial coupons have suppressed their demand."
"And now, Boss Chen, you've lowered this barrier, making it an acceptable price for everyone, so they can afford it."
"However, that's not quite right. Meng Hui Radios were priced at thirty-one yuan before, not much more expensive than now. Why wasn't anyone lining up to buy them?"
Zheng Qiusheng first spoke to himself, and then another question arose in his mind.
Seeing that this reporter colleague was not easily fooled, Chen Yang stopped holding back.
"This relates to people's psychology."
"If I tell you pork is ten fen per jin, no coupons required, would you dare to buy it?"
"No!"
Zheng Qiusheng honestly replied. He really wouldn't dare to buy it. What if it was a diseased pig? What if eating it made him sick?
"Similarly, people initially didn't trust our Meng Hui Radios. But yesterday, I advertised that we refurbished old radios, hence the cheaper price, and we also promised a one-year warranty."
"On this basis, I then informed everyone that the more people buy together, the cheaper the price."
"Think about it, it's like I'm telling you that the pigs at my place are hunted, so there are no raising costs. Moreover, I guarantee that if eating it causes you discomfort, I'll compensate you. And buying more is even cheaper. Would you dare to buy it then?"