Unexpected orders
As the two whispered to each other, several sounds of "Red Dragon," "Pong," and "Self-draw" came from the living room. In a corner unnoticed by anyone, a red telephone covered by a white lace cloth was continuously emitting a low, hoarse "dizzy-dizzy-dizzy" sound.
Yu Chunsheng glanced at it, then turned back and whispered to Xu Tangmian, "I'm going to answer a phone call."
Just as he was muttering, "These guys are playing mahjong like crazy," he saw a small figure rush out of the bedroom to answer the phone, so Yu Chunsheng had no choice but to retreat back inside.
The two men watched as Zhi hung up the phone but didn't disconnect, and even covered the receiver, so they asked her, "Who were you calling?"
"Looking for Brother Li." Zhi Meizi responded. At the same time, Li Qingmang looked up from the mahjong table and said, "Me? Give it to me." She then pulled out a section of the telephone cord, held the landline, and handed the receiver to Li Qingmang.
Li Qingmang took the receiver with his left hand, said "Hello," and then drew a card with his right hand, exclaiming, "Get rich!"
On the other end of the line: "Hey! I wish you good fortune too, Xiao Li."
“Uncle Wang?” Li Qingmang glanced at the incoming call number, made a “shh” gesture, and everyone fell silent. Even Xu Tangmian walked over with Yu Chunsheng’s help, holding her breath and staring at him intently.
"Is there something you need, Uncle Wang?"
The person on the other end chuckled twice and then said politely, "I hope this isn't bothering you? Is now a convenient time to talk?"
Li Qingmang also politely replied, "No, no, please tell me what you need to say."
"Um... I went to a meeting yesterday and happened to run into Aunt Su from the Industry and Commerce Bureau. We chatted for a bit and the topic came up: do you have a friend who runs a printing factory?"
“Yes, a friend of mine runs a printing factory.” Li Qingmang glanced at Yu Chunsheng and pressed the speakerphone button.
Yu Chunsheng was puzzled by the glance, and when he heard him mention himself, he walked over to him.
"Is that so?" The person on the other end clicked their tongue, seemingly finding it difficult to speak. Li Qingmang chuckled twice and then said politely, "Uncle Wang, please just say what you need. Is there anything you need printed? If there's anything I can help you with, please don't hesitate to ask."
A hearty laugh came from the other end. "Alright! I'll just get straight to the point then! ...Sigh!" He sighed, "That Xingye Tape Factory in our city is just outrageous! We just can't control them!"
Li Qingmang then asked him, "What's wrong?"
“They were bold enough to snatch a batch of cassette tape production orders. They were called something like ‘Mao Amin,’ which I’d never even heard of.”
"Mao Amin?" Xu Tangmian's eyes lit up.
"If it were some revolutionary song or a popular song, that would be one thing, but I heard it's called something like 'Longing,' it's just decadent music, utter nonsense!"
Everyone frowned, seemingly wondering if they had heard the song before, but Xu Tangmian excitedly gritted her teeth and tightly gripped Yu Chunsheng's arm.
Yes, that's right, it's Mao Amin's "Longing"! Tomorrow night, she will sing this song on the Spring Festival Gala stage, and the next day this song will become a hit all over the country!
Hearing this, Li Qingmang simply nodded slightly, knowing there would be more to come. Sure enough, the other person continued complaining:
"Who knew they were only focused on grabbing orders and not on shipping? The city printing plant printed the cassette covers for some popular singers first, and scheduled this one for after the New Year."
"The printing factory had a falling out with a local distributor, and now they're deliberately causing trouble with the contract. They can't find anyone else to print it, so they've come to me for help. But all the printing factories are closed for the Lunar New Year. Could your friend arrange something?"
Li Qingmang glanced at Yu Chunsheng, who was frowning, and replied helplessly, "He also..."
Xu Tangmian quickly pinched Yu Chunsheng's arm, and the latter immediately understood and nodded frantically at Li Qingmang.
Then Li Qingmang changed the subject, "He's quite busy too. The factory doesn't have many people right now. If the order isn't too big, we should be able to arrange it."
"Not many, just five thousand sets. The machines will be running very quickly once they're turned on."
Li Qingmang and Yu Chunsheng exchanged a glance, knowing that the other party was confident, before agreeing: "Then I'll have him go directly to the tape factory to find out the situation. If it's suitable, we'll sign a contract and get started. I'd also appreciate it if you could contact the tape factory and confirm the contact person."
"Okay, okay!" the person on the other end agreed with a smile. "I'll find their manager later, and you can have him go directly to the factory. Little Li, I owe you another favor now."
Li Qingmang feigned reluctance and flattered, "You're being too polite. How about we arrange a time for me to visit your residence? It's been a long time since we caught up."
"Sure! How about the third day of the Lunar New Year? I'll book a table at a restaurant."
"OK."
After hanging up the phone, Li Qingmang looked at Yu Chunsheng with a serious expression, "5,000 cassette tape sleeves, delivered to the tape factory by tomorrow morning. Can you handle that by yourself?"
"Yes." Yu Chunsheng replied without hesitation, "Is this the leader you called last time to help me find Liu Peng?"
"Yes, he works for the Municipal Light Industry Bureau. If you get along well with him, you'll leave a good impression on the government in the future."
"Let's talk about that later." Yu Chunsheng didn't think too much about it. "Printing cassette tape covers, right? I'll go to the cassette tape factory now."
"Wait!" Xu Tangmian suddenly called out to him.
Yu Chunsheng thought she was going to blame him for not hurrying to print her "sticker plan," so he turned around and coaxed her:
"Don't rush what you said. I'll get it done right away after I finish this, okay? They're waiting for our help urgently. There are priorities, after all."
“Not this one!” Xu Tangmian turned to Li Qingmang again, “Xiao Mang.”
Li Qingmang: "..."
Having gotten used to calling her Xiao Tao, Xu Tangmian changed her address and asked, "Brother Li, how much influence does this leader have at the tape factory?"
Despite being used to his awkward name, Li Qingmang still said speechlessly, "He's the director of the Light Industry Bureau, so..."
“Alright then.” Xu Tangmian understood and turned to Yu Chunsheng, “Go to the tape factory and make sure you sign a contract with them before printing. Helping is helping, but you must try to secure all subsequent orders for these covers. And verbal agreements are not enough; make them put it in writing.”
"Why?" Li Qingmang's lips curled up, seemingly very interested in her statement. "Even Uncle Wang didn't care about this batch of tapes, yet you think so highly of them?"
"Of course." Xu Tangmian smiled confidently and said with a sure mind, "You will all come to my place to stay up for the New Year tomorrow night, and you will know then."
Seeing her mysterious demeanor, Yu Chunsheng didn't say anything and rode his bike to the cassette tape factory that his leader had mentioned on the phone.
It's already 2 PM. If the contract is finalized, we need to deliver 5,000 tape sleeves tomorrow morning, so time is quite tight.
In the distance, a multi-story building stood with the words "Yilin City Xingye Magnetic Tape Factory" prominently displayed. Yu Chunsheng pushed his cart toward the entrance.
The security guard, an elderly man in his fifties, stopped him abruptly: "What are you doing here?"
Yu Chunsheng took out a business card from his pocket and handed it to him. He chuckled twice and politely said, "My surname is Yu. I'm here to discuss some business with Manager Ma from your company's sales department."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a man bundled up like a penguin came waddling over from behind the barricade, waving and shouting, "Are you from the printing factory?"
“Yes!” Yu Chunsheng also raised his hand in response.
Seeing that the two knew each other, the security guard let Yu Chunsheng in.
When they were more than a meter apart, Manager Ma had already extended his arms to shake hands with Yu Chunsheng in a friendly manner, and he seemed to be a humorous and witty person.
"Hello, Director Yu. Director Wang only said that he had arranged for a factory director to come over. I thought he would be a middle-aged man about my age, but I didn't expect him to be such a talented young man. He is truly promising at such a young age."
On their first meeting, they always treated it as a polite greeting. Yu Chunsheng smiled and said, "You flatter me. I barely make ends meet with my family's support. How can I compare to Manager Ma, who manages the entire department with his real abilities?"
Whether Manager Ma noticed the insincerity in his words or not, she put her arm around his shoulder warmly and said as they walked, "Let's go inside and talk, it's too cold outside."
Although it was cold in the office, it was still much warmer than the biting wind that occasionally blew in from outside, which could seep into your pores.
The interior was similar to that of the brigade headquarters, with two reddish-brown solid wood desks and chairs facing each other. There was no one else in the room except for the two of them.
Manager Ma bent down and took out a tea mug with the words "Learn from Comrade Lei Feng" printed on it from the cabinet by the door. He then picked up a thermos next to him, poured a cup of water, and handed it to Yu Chunsheng.
"Let's get straight to the point." He took a completely transparent cassette tape from the drawer, placed it on the table, and pushed it towards Yu Chunsheng. "Do you have a radio over there?"
Yu Chunsheng nodded.
Previously, fearing that Xu Tangmian would be bored at home, he bought a radio at a low price from the supply and marketing cooperative's defective products and repaired it at home. It had no problem playing cassette tapes.
“Alright.” Manager Ma took out another contract. “This card holder doesn’t have a design. You just need to make a copy based on the style of common cassette tapes on the market. I will send a car to your printing factory to pick it up before eight o’clock tomorrow morning.”
"Time is tight and the task is heavy. We won't confirm the drawings with you anymore; we'll leave everything to you. You must complete it as quickly as possible. Here is the contract. If there are no problems, you can sign it now, and we will fulfill the contract according to its terms."
Yu Chunsheng took the contract, glanced at it briefly, and then put it back.
"What, you think the price isn't right?" Manager Ma frowned slightly, seemingly thinking about this friend introduced by the bureau chief, who appeared somewhat greedy.
Yu Chunsheng simply shook his head. "I don't need any advance payment. I'll design and print the cover for this set for you free of charge, along with the lyric sheet."
"Oh?" Manager Ma's eyes lit up. "What are your requirements?"
"Let's not beat around the bush." Yu Chunsheng confidently took another contract from his bag and said slowly:
"My requirements are simple: these 5,000 copies can be sold for free, but if the sales volume of this batch of tapes exceeds 10,000 copies within three months, any subsequent orders must be given priority to our factory under the same conditions, and the price will be based on the market price."
Manager Ma took the contract and looked it over carefully. After hearing what he said, she suddenly laughed, "You're doing all this for nothing. Not many people have even heard this song. Let alone 10,000 copies, you'd be lucky to sell 100."
“I have my own opinion.” Yu Chunsheng insisted on his stance and asked again, “Do you think this request is acceptable?”
"Yes! Absolutely!" Manager Ma took a black pen from the pen holder and signed his name crisply. "Make sure you're on time by eight o'clock tomorrow."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com