Chapter 494: Asserting that his business will get worse
At seven o'clock in the evening, I was reading in the study and heard someone talking to my mother in the living room outside. I guessed that Kong Haoran had brought guests.
I stood up and opened the door. Sure enough, I held out my hand and said, "Come in."
Kong Haoran introduced: "Mr. Li, Li Xiuxi. He works with agricultural machinery. He means 'xiuxi' as in furniture repair."
The man was in his fifties, rather tall, with a slicked-back hairstyle. He looked like a big businessman. He extended his hand and said:
"I've heard of Teacher Wan's name. I chatted with Mr. Kong and learned that you are neighbors. I've been wanting to visit for a long time."
As I said, "Welcome, welcome," I felt his hands were incredibly strong and rough. I thought, how could an entrepreneur look like a production worker? These hands must be rough from daily labor.
I immediately understood that he must like to develop machines by himself and tinker with them every day.
The three of us sat down. I said as I made tea:
"Mr. Li, your name is interesting. Very few people choose it like this."
He smiled and said, "Yes. This name has a history. My father is a farmer, and my uncle is a cadre. He was the deputy director of the only auto repair shop in the county at that time.
I said, "It should be around the 1960s or 1970s. Being a worker was prestigious back then, and being a factory manager was even more impressive."
He nodded and said, "That's true. At that time, everyone in the village envied me for having such a good uncle. When I was born, my father said that he should go to my second uncle's factory to work as a repairman. So he gave me this name."
I laughed out loud. "Your father wanted your uncle to remember this responsibility. Since it's called 'Repair', you, as his uncle, must recruit 'Repair' as a worker."
Li Xiuli slapped his thigh and said, "That's exactly what I meant. However, by the time I graduated from high school, the factory had been acquired by a private individual. My uncle also retired."
My uncle was a college student in the 1950s who studied mechanics. He took me, a high school student, to set up a private auto repair shop.
Ten years later, I left home and started my own agricultural machinery factory. I produced rice mills, small tillers, harvesters, and so on.
I poured some tea and said, "Have some tea. You must still have retained your old habits, enjoying tinkering in the workshop."
He asked, "How do you know?"
"Your hands are calloused."
He laughed heartily: "Teacher Wan observes things very carefully."
After chatting for a while, we finally got to the point.
Li Xiuli said, "The purpose of coming here is to ask the master to tell me a fortune."
"Yes. One test for each thing is more accurate. That means, if you say one word, you will only be tested for one thing."
Kong Haoran was anxious and said, "Master, please give me some face. I boasted in front of him that as long as I said a word, I would know why he came."
I pointed at Kong Haoran and said with a smile, "Mr. Kong, you've given me a difficult problem. However, since you're Mr. Kong's friend, if I made a mistake, Mr. Li, please don't tell anyone else. I rely on this to make a living."
Li Xiuli waved his hands repeatedly and said seriously: "I won't do that. Everyone makes mistakes, and you're not a god."
When I heard this, I knew that Li Xiuli was an honest man. His emotional quotient was lower than his IQ. This also aroused my fighting spirit, so I said:
"Mr. Li, how about this? Go outside and write something."
"Outside?"
I handed him the paper and pen and said, "Yes, write it. Just fold it in half so I can't see it."
He was a little surprised and asked, "You're taking the test without looking at the words?"
"You follow my lead first."
Kong Haoran was also curious, so they left the table and went into the living room. They probably discussed things outside. When he came back, he handed me the folded paper.
I said, "Don't give it to me, hold it with a cup."
He placed the piece of paper on the coffee table and turned the teacup upside down on it.
I said, "Let's chat first. You tell me what you want to help you solve your problem. At the end of the conversation, I will guess what word you wrote."
Both of them stared at me.
Based on their experience, unless there is a surveillance camera installed in my living room, how can they guess it?
The two of them smiled, and Kong Haoran asked, "Just to talk about what he wants to consult about?"
"Yes." I wouldn't say a word more.
Li Xiuli began his story: He'd been making agricultural machinery, and it was selling very well. He was interested in research and invention. Last year, he developed a seed drill, but it hadn't sold well.
Kong Haoran helped introduce:
"Strictly speaking, Mr. Li isn't a manager, but a mechanic. He can repair any machine and enjoys research in his spare time. He holds over a hundred patents in mechanics alone.
The reason he came here was to talk to you about why this planter, which is obviously very practical, is not selling well.
I took a sip of tea and said, "Mr. Li, please tell me more about your seed drill." Then I handed him a pen and paper.
Li Xiuli explained it to me while drawing a diagram.
I understand. They put the seeds in two tires. The tires have holes, and as the machine moves forward, the seeds fall out at a certain distance. A trench is dug in front of the machine, and sowing is done behind the tires.
I reached for a cigarette. Li Xiuli then realized I smoked and hurriedly offered it to me. Kong Haoran didn't smoke. We each had one.
He respectfully lit the fire for me and waited for me to speak.
I took a sip and said, "What regions do you sell to?"
"Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan are the main sales areas for small agricultural machinery."
I have a clear idea in my mind.
"I won't discuss quality issues. If the quality is not good, there's no point in discussing it. If the quality is good, I can give you some advice."
Kong Haoran looked at me blankly. According to him, what advice could a layman like me come up with?
"You should make this machine larger and sell it in the north. The north is flat, while the south is hilly and mountainous. To plant seeds, you have to lift the seeder up and down. It's very troublesome."
Li Xiuli said, "Northern China? We've built a few large prototypes, but farmers won't buy them."
I laughed and said, "Of course farmers won't buy it. The machine is so expensive. It's so big, how many times a year can you sow seeds? So your customers are not farmers, you sell to professionals."
Professional farmers sow seeds for others every day, sowing seeds for one family and then another. They buy seeds not to sow for themselves but to make money."
Li quickly understood: "Oh, just like selling harvesters."
I said, "That's right. Your thinking shouldn't be limited to one aspect. I know your original idea was to reduce the labor intensity of farmers. But the result is neither cheap nor easy. Which farmer would buy it?"
He nodded and said to Kong Haoran, "You see, Teacher Wan still has an idea."
I said, "Your rice mill may seem to be selling well now, but in a few years, it won't be selling well."
He was surprised: "No way?"
I said, “The number of people who absolutely want it is decreasing.”
He leaned forward: "Master, tell me about it."
I pressed the cigarette butt into the ashtray and began to explain to him—
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