Chapter 5: The Grand Merchandising Plan

Soon, the third day arrived. The workers who had left previously gathered once again at the entrance of the company’s office building, eager to hear how the chairman intended to resolve the crisis this time.

But when they arrived at the office building, they were informed to assemble in the warehouse instead. Upon entering, they found that a section of the warehouse had already been cleared, and Huang He was standing there, beaming at everyone.

Seeing Huang He, the crowd’s anxiety eased a little—at least the man hadn’t run away.

It wasn’t long before the appointed hour arrived. Huang He clapped his hands and said, “Alright, those who didn’t show up don’t matter for now. Let’s begin!”

“First, I have good news. The bank has taken our company’s difficulties into account and has agreed to defer our loan repayment for three months. That means our company has three more months to live, three months in which we can bring everything back from the brink.”

“Chairman, what exactly are you planning to do to save us?” someone couldn’t help but ask.

“It’s simple,” Huang He replied with a smile. “You can all see the mountains of goods piled up around us. These are our lifeline. If we work together and sell a portion of these stockpiled goods within three months, we’ll not only be able to pay your wages immediately, but you’ll also have the chance to earn a tidy profit for yourselves!”

“Damn it, I thought you had some brilliant plan. So it’s just selling the goods?”

“Huang He, do you take us for fools? If this junk could be sold, would it still be piling up here?”

“That’s right, no company in the market will take our goods now. All our distributors have pulled out—where are we supposed to sell this stuff?”

“I get it,” someone interjected, “He’s trying to pull the same trick as the Meilin Leather Factory last year. They gave everyone their backlogged stock as wages at full price. My uncle was owed twenty thousand, and they gave him two hundred pairs of shoes at a hundred each, telling him to sell them at the market for two hundred apiece and pocket a twenty-thousand profit!”

“In the end, those shoes piled up at my uncle’s house for a year. My aunt was so angry she divorced him. No one wanted that junk, not a single pair sold!” The man’s outrage was palpable as he exposed Huang He’s supposed scheme.

The crowd was no fool; many immediately understood, and the atmosphere became restless and agitated. Some even jumped up, shouting, “We want our wages, not your goods!”

“To hell with you, you swindler! Huang He, I’ll beat you to death!”

“Quiet! All of you, quiet!!”

Suddenly, a piercing voice thundered through the warehouse like a rolling storm, startling everyone so much their eardrums nearly burst. The entire room fell instantly silent.

“Sorry, my apologies,” Cold Zhiruo, whose voice had just shaken the warehouse, now hung her head sheepishly and hurriedly handed the microphone to Huang He. Behind her was a karaoke setup, decorated with all sorts of stickers, including her own photo booth pictures.

So Cold Zhiruo had brought her own karaoke machine to the warehouse. The sound quality was truly formidable, and it had certainly silenced the crowd.

“Everyone, please let me finish!” Huang He said with a wry smile. “Yes, our only way out is to sell these goods, but not as that coworker just described. I’m not going to use these goods to offset your wages. I promise you here and now: in three months’ time, I, Huang He, will pay every cent of your wages in full, plus three extra months’ bonus, all in cash—not a scrap of leather among it!”

These words calmed the crowd.

Still, someone asked, “Then why do you want us to work together to sell the goods?”

“Because your job for the next three months is to help the factory sell these goods.” Huang He patted the boxes of leather goods beside him. “For the next three months, the factory floor will be shut down. But you’re still workers of this company. Your task shifts from working on the production line to helping me sell these goods, going out into the streets and neighborhoods to do it!”

“So that’s it!” Understanding dawned—Huang He intended to turn the entire workforce into salespeople. This, at least, was a solution.

“But Chairman, we only know how to work, not how to sell things!”

“Yeah, going door-to-door selling is embarrassing. I can’t do that!”

Many workers still resisted. After all, for most, selling goods in the streets was a difficult and humiliating task.

“There are so many leather factories in Wenzhou—you must know that. Who in Wenzhou still needs leather goods? This little city couldn’t absorb even a thousandth of our stock!” someone else objected.

“You raise a good point,” Huang He replied, “so let me ask you all: how many here are locals, and how many came to Wenzhou for work? If you’re from Wenzhou, please remain standing. If you’re from elsewhere, please crouch down for a moment.”

Though puzzled by his request, most complied. The result was striking—over 80% of the crowd crouched. They were all migrants.

This was normal for Wenzhou in 2001, a bustling time when droves of migrant workers poured into the city. The locals had mostly struck it rich, or at least had relatives who had, and worked in family factories. Most frontline workers were from out of town.

“Good, everyone stand back up,” Huang He said with a smile. “You’ve all come so far to Wenzhou to work—surely you miss home. So today, I, Huang He, will buy train tickets for all of you to go home.”

“Wait, don’t be alarmed—I’m not sending you away. The tickets are round-trip. In three months, you’ll all return! And during these three months, you’ll remain on the payroll; I’ll continue to pay your wages!”

“Why am I doing this? Am I a fool? Of course not. Because each of you must take ten thousand yuan’s worth of goods home with you to sell. Someone just said the Wenzhou market is saturated—that’s true. So I need you to return to your hometowns, to the places you know best. Borrow, rent, or buy a tricycle, load it with our goods, and go out into the streets and alleys to sell!”

Huang He laid out his plan for a mass sales campaign, while the workers stared at him in confusion.

“What if nobody buys?” That was the question on everyone’s mind.

“Excuse me, is anyone here? The cardboard boxes you ordered have arrived!” At that moment, as everyone pondered their uncertain future, a delivery driver entered, looking at the packed warehouse and holding a delivery slip, asking cautiously.

“Haha! Our precious boxes are here!” Huang He laughed heartily, as if the boxes were not mere containers, but crates of gold.