Lin Chunfeng and Qian Guotao were both completely stunned.
They had known before that Wang Yu was a mechanical genius, which was evident from the novel equipment in their automobile factory.
Especially his small wind and hydropower generators, which Lin Chunfeng greatly admired, finding them incredibly useful! They were a huge boon for impoverished rural areas!
With that batch of ordered generators, which were cheap, portable, and reliable, Lin Chunfeng had successfully brought electricity to many poor villages, thus taking the first step towards poverty alleviation and prosperity for those villages!
Furthermore, the fuel-assisted systems during the earthquake relief efforts, along with the agricultural vehicles and small dump trucks, had all made Lin Chunfeng recognize Wang Yu's technical skill and level.
However, to learn that electric kettles were also designed and developed by him was hard to believe. This item had no overlap with mechanical equipment; the only commonality was perhaps being made of metal!
Qian Guotao was even more shaken. As the head of the bus factory, he understood the specialization within industrial fields even better.
A talent like Wang Yu, who could directly cross professional boundaries to engage in manufacturing, could only be described as abnormal!
It was not that easy to cross over between fields!
"Really? You developed and designed this?" Lin Chunfeng still couldn't quite believe it and repeated the question.
"Brother Lin, I have no reason to lie to you. I have quite a few electric kettles in my warehouse," Wang Yu said with a smile.
Wu Lingling, standing beside them, quickly added, "Besides this, he's also tinkered with many other strange and wonderful gadgets, like timed electric fans, and automatic electric pressure cookers that prevent explosions."
"Oh? There are so many good things like that? Why haven't we heard about them?" Qian Guotao asked, looking confused. "Logically, such good products should have been promoted long ago."
"It's because he offended the manager of the department store. They say he's been blacklisted," Wu Lingling said, pouting. "Now, most of the sales channels in the entire province have banned him, so he can only sell locally in Jiangyang County."
"Something like that happened?" Lin Chunfeng and the others were taken aback.
"That's right," Wang Yu shrugged, appearing unconcerned. "The department store's conditions were either I hand over the underlying production technology for them to handle, or I sell through their channels and pay a 15% commission."
"Commission?"
"Yes, it's an industry rule. Goods sold in department stores or supply and marketing cooperatives have to pay a commission," Wang Yu smiled. "My products have thin profit margins, so I couldn't afford to pay this protection fee. Naturally, I chose to refuse, and then I was blacklisted.
Other sales channels were unwilling to offend the department store, so naturally, no one else would sell my products."
"This is outrageous! Isn't that monopolistic? Can't anyone do anything about it?"
Lin Chunfeng was immediately furious and slammed his hand on the tea table in front of him.
"There's no need to get angry. Their actions are normal business practices. While it might seem unpleasant, there's nothing wrong with what they've done. If you find the conditions unacceptable, you don't have to sell through their channels," Qian Guotao said, seeing things clearly.
"Even if you say that, they aren't afraid."
Wang Yu nodded in agreement. "Exactly. For this reason, I didn't agree to their terms. At worst, I'll develop slowly on my own. I have great confidence in my products, so I'm not afraid of not being able to open up the market.
And I also believe that their monopolistic style won't last long. I have my own plans!"
Wang Yu's words were not mere boasts. He knew that the operating model of state-owned department stores with their monopolistic clauses would soon be swept away by the tides of the era.
Although many large enterprises in later generations would eventually start down this same old path, like Meituan, Didi, and Tencent, they would all eventually be brought into line.
Ahem!
Therefore, Wang Yu was also brewing his plans, preparing to support people from his factory to expand into various regions when the time was ripe.
One must take steps one by one, and eat one bite at a time. His direct sales outlet in Jiangyang County now was just a trial run.
After all, taking too big a stride could lead to injury, and blind expansion would likely lead to a quick demise.
He needed to further integrate production resources, develop new products, increase the types and quantity of products he had, and build his reputation. After all, even good wine fears a deep alley! Especially in this era where information was relatively undeveloped!
Therefore, the upcoming Industrial Exposition was the most important part of his plan. He needed to make a stunning debut in front of the entire province, the country, the whole of Dongzhou, and even the world!
The only issue was whether Secretary Yang could resolve the issue of his eligibility to participate!
At this moment, Wang Yu did not hold back and directly laid out all his plans to Lin Chunfeng and the others.
"Oh? So that's how it is." After listening to Wang Yu's explanation, Lin Chunfeng stroked his chin. "Looking at it this way, young man, you're playing the long game! Although I don't quite understand your business development and factory management strategies, since you say so, you must have your own ideas.
As for that Dongzhou Industrial Exposition... Old Qian, I recall your factory has an internally designated qualification to participate, right? Why not just give it to Brother Wang?"
"This qualification?" Qian Guotao pondered for a moment. "Yes, there is such a qualification. However, our buses' performance... hehe, that so-called qualification is merely for participation; we've never held any high hopes for it.
If you're asking if I can give it up, then of course there's no problem. But..."
Qian Guotao's words immediately made Wang Yu's eyes light up. It was truly a case of finding what you weren't looking for!
Even Wu Lingling beside them looked overjoyed, almost jumping for joy. After all, Wang Yu's success was of great importance to her!
In the past few days, Wang Yu and Wu Lingling had been quite worried about the issue of the participation slot.
Who would have thought that Qian Guotao would actually have a participation slot on hand!
"But what?" Wang Yu quickly pressed.
"But this is ultimately a slot allocated by the province and is considered public property. We as individuals do not have the right to arbitrarily change or use it, as that would be abuse of power. We cannot make such a mistake."
Qian Guotao's words immediately poured cold water on everyone.
Indeed, such a mistake could not be made!
"Then what are you saying all this for?" Lin Chunfeng asked with dissatisfaction.
Even Wu Lingling's expression faltered slightly.
"But I didn't say it's impossible either?" Qian Guotao continued. "This slot is allocated to our Bus General Factory, and the scope of this is quite broad.
This means that any subordinate subsidiary, branch factory, or cooperating unit can also participate.
But the prerequisite is that the cooperating unit must have a real and effective product that can be presented at the exhibition."
"In other words, as long as you have a product that is suitable for cooperation with the Bus General Factory, you will have the qualification to participate."
After speaking, Qian Guotao suddenly looked fixedly at Wang Yu. "Do you... have the capability for that?"