Rebirth: An Outlier in the Entertainment Industry

Chapter 2

kitchen.

Huang Yiliang skillfully tossed the wok, his movements so fluid and graceful, a sight to behold, displaying the demeanor of a master chef.

As for whether it tastes good or not.

Huang Yiliang could only say that it was absolutely guaranteed to be cooked, and that it wouldn't give him diarrhea.

He has been the head of the household cooking since he was ten years old, and his ability to grow to 1.8 meters tall is entirely due to his own efforts.

"Huang Yiliang, you're my real father!"

After Huang Haidong opened the cardboard box, his face turned as green as if he had eaten a poisonous mushroom that had been left overnight: "You bought this for 90,000 yuan?"

"It's just an MP3 player!"

As a trendy middle-aged man, Huang Haidong naturally knows about these popular gadgets among young people.

"To be precise, there are 600 MP3 players, and five large boxes in the storage room."

Huang Yiliang brought out the last plate of stir-fried bok choy.

"Oh, by the way, I cleaned out the storage room, and I pushed your motorcycle to the back alley to change the oil. You can use it from now on!"

Wu Hao quickly moved the tables and chairs, and took the bowls and chopsticks.

When Wu Hao found out that Huang Yiliang had emptied his father's bank account,

This guy didn't dare to say anything easily, and was thinking about at what minute to call an ambulance for Huang Yiliang.

A fight is definitely going to happen.

What father doesn't beat his son? It all depends on how badly he beats him. Wu Hao estimates that Huang Yiliang will have to stay in the hospital for at least three days this time.

"Six hundred pieces, that's 150 yuan per piece, that's acceptable!" Huang Haidong's reaction surprised Wu Hao. He wasn't even taking off his belt?

"Let's eat first!"

Huang Yiliang served Huang Haidong a large bowl of rice, and while eating, he laid out his plan.

"I've been running around to various digital malls these past few days to check the retail prices of MP3 players. They're about a third cheaper than last year, but the average price is still around 400 yuan, and they're all black and white screens with only 256MB of storage space."

As Huang Yiliang spoke, he took an MP3 player out of the box next to him and opened it.

"My MP3 player has 512MB of storage space, five color themes to choose from, and most importantly, it has a recording function, making it very suitable for college students to use for listening to lectures. At least that's a great selling point."

Huang Haidong nodded in agreement. If you say you're spending a few hundred yuan on a digital product to listen to music or play games, your parents will definitely scold you for being wasteful. But if you say you're spending a few hundred yuan on a learning tool, your parents will be happy to spend the money.

"You plan to sell your goods at your school?" Huang Haidong looked at his good son with satisfaction.

My son has grown up and is now proactively thinking about how to earn money for the family.

Although Huang Yiliang hasn't started making money yet, Huang Haidong's decades of experience allow him to see at a glance that this is a good business opportunity.

"I'm curious how you manage to get a wholesale price of 150 yuan per item?"

Wu Hao also looked at Huang Yiliang with curiosity. His cousin, who worked in Zhongguancun, had an MP3 player, 128MB, which he said cost more than a thousand yuan.

"Actually, the retail stores in the digital mall all get their goods from our electronics distributors in North China. I called and asked, and for the same specifications, if you order 200 pieces or more, it's about 240 to 260 yuan per piece."

While diligently eating, Huang Yiliang explained, "Our distributors in North China all get their goods from Huaqiangbei in Shenzhen. I estimate their purchase price is around 150 yuan, or even lower."

"My goods are shipped directly from Huaqiangbei, and the minimum order quantity is 580 pieces."

"Huaqiangbei?" Huang Haidong looked puzzled.

At this time, Huaqiangbei was already quite well-known in Guangdong and Guangxi, but not many people in northern cities knew about it.

"The price difference is so big, this is a good opportunity!" Huang Haidong's eyes lit up.

Huang Yiliang quickly stopped Huang Haidong's daydream.

"The market for electronic products is no joke. Prices can change every ten days or two weeks. Don't be fooled by the fact that these products are selling for four or five hundred yuan at the retail level now. Next year, the price will be reduced by at least half. Don't let them become unsellable."

Huang Yiliang's words were not an exaggeration. At the end of 2006, you could buy an MP3 player for around 100 yuan.

"What's wrong with cutting the price in half? Selling it cheaper means buying it cheaper from the source, and most importantly, the two or three times difference in price is too tempting."

Huang Haidong then asked Huang Yiliang to write down his address.

"Huaqiangbei in Shenzhen, right? Give me the address and the phone number of the distributor you get your goods from. Luckily, there's not much work to do at the station lately, so I'll go make a trip there."

Huang Yiliang thought about it and realized it made sense. The past two years had been the peak of MP3 popularity, and almost all the merchants had made a fortune.

It wasn't until 06, when mobile phones began to come pre-installed with media player software, that these unfortunate merchants lost all their money.

As long as you stop before the market dries up, making a little money is perfectly possible.

"Wait, I've used all your money to buy goods, where would you get any money left?"

After writing down his phone number and address for Huang Haidong, Huang Yiliang finally realized an important question.

"Son, today I'll teach you a life lesson." Huang Haidong chuckled and held up one finger: "A man, especially a mature man, must have his own little nest egg."

Huang Yiliang: "..."

"At the very least, this yard was bought by your dad, right? Can't I at least get a loan from the bank?"

The small courtyard that Huang Haidong bought is a bit old, but it is quite large, with a total of six rooms.

One room was converted into a kitchen.

One room was converted into a bathroom.

A room filled with all sorts of odds and ends belonging to the father and son.

One room was given to Huang Yiliang as a bedroom.

One of them is Huang Haidong's studio.

There is also a living room, where Huang Haidong usually sleeps on the sofa bed.

Huang Yiliang has just been admitted to university and will soon be able to live in the school dormitory, so the father and son changed rooms.

Back in the day.

Huang Haidong didn't have enough money to buy an apartment, so he settled for a courtyard house instead. But now his detached courtyard house is worth a lot of money, and he can definitely get a loan of a few hundred thousand yuan from the bank without any problem.

After the three of them had eaten and drunk their fill, they went to the Broadcasting Academy together.

Huang Haidong also wanted to see if the products would sell well.

This guy even dressed up specially before going out, sporting a shiny American-style slicked-back haircut, wearing a very flashy Rolex watch, and even spraying on cologne.

That's just too flashy.

Huang Yiliang's preparations were, of course, very thorough.

He not only disassembled four MP3 players to use as test devices, but also spent a lot of money to buy a Samsung MP3 player for comparison.

There's nothing we can do about it; it sells for 2499 yuan, and the bigger the price difference, the more shocking the comparison becomes.

As for why I didn't buy an iPod mini, which is also priced at 2499 yuan, for comparison, it's because the build quality and feel of that iPod mini are indeed comparable to products costing over 1000 yuan.

Moreover, the iPod mini has a full 4GB of storage space, while Samsung only has 256MB. It would be an injustice not to criticize it.

"Let's go, I've made the arrangements. The area in the middle of the playground is reserved for us."

Huang Yiliang was about to unload the boxes from the car.

Huang Haidong waved his hand to stop him: "No need, we'll just drive over and sell the stuff on the hood of the car, that'll look more impressive."

Huang Yiliang: "Uh—!"

Well! In comparison, Huang Haidong probably does understand these young people better.

As soon as Huang Haidong parked his car, several students who were also working part-time gathered around curiously. They were partners selling mobile phone SIM cards, which was a good business opportunity.

The Communication University of China (CUC) is quite supportive of students' independent entrepreneurship. If Huang Yiliang and his classmates had arrived earlier, they might have even received guidance from dedicated teachers.

"Brother Liang, your school is so lively!" Wu Hao exclaimed as he carried boxes.

There are at least fifty or sixty stalls in this small square, all run by students.

There are vendors selling food and drinks, various trinkets, and school supplies. Of course, the most popular items are bedding sets, shampoo, shower gel, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and other daily necessities.

These items are also sold in the school's small supermarket, but students can get them for a lower price.

Huang Yiliang is the only store that sells MP3 players.

Firstly, MP3 players are too expensive to buy in bulk, so students don't have much money to spare.

Secondly, they also lack channels to obtain low-priced goods.

After Huang Yiliang and Wu Hao quickly placed the MP3 demo unit on the hood, they took out a homemade popGG sign from the trunk, opened it, and stood it on the roof of the car.

The GG tag clearly states:

The latest MP3 player of 2004.

It has a massive 512MB of storage space.

With a built-in recording function, it's a boon for students; you'll never have to worry about being too slow at taking notes in class again.

Price: 398 yuan.

Student perk: Buy two, get one free.

Note: Only students of this school are eligible for the "buy two get one free" offer.

In particular, the four characters "Buy two get one free" were enlarged, bolded, and displayed in a striking red font.

"You're selling MP3 players! 398 yuan, can I see what they're like?"

"Three hundred and ninety-eight yuan a unit, buy two get one free? That's only two hundred and sixty-five point three three three three..." This guy is good at math.

Several students who had set up stalls nearby were the first to be attracted.

"What's the use of just looking? Of course, you have to try it to know if it works or not. Try it out, these are trial units, and songs have already been recorded on them."

"And this is a Samsung MP3 player that I bought for 2499 yuan the day before yesterday. The invoice is on the windshield. You can compare the sound quality with our 398 yuan MP3 player."

Hearing that they could try it out freely, several students couldn't resist and started listening to the lessons.

"Senior, how long can this MP3 player play music on a full charge?" a student wearing glasses asked.

"That's hard to say. It usually lasts between 15 and 20 hours, depending on how loud you turn the volume up and how long the screen stays on. Also, I'm not a senior student; I'm a freshman this year."

While answering the question, Huang Yiliang handed a demo unit to a female classmate with short arms next to him.

"Holy crap, this cheaper one has better sound quality! Boss, no, junior, is this really only 398?" asked the tall student who was the first to audition.

This guy skillfully fiddles with all the functions of the MP3 player; he's clearly an expert and probably owns an MP3 player himself.

"Yes, it's 398 yuan per unit, buy two get one free. Also, the sound quality difference between the two players isn't that big, you're just imagining things. But it's a fact that my model has twice the storage space of Samsung's." Huang Yiliang said honestly.

Actually, this guy reduced the sampling rate of audio files in Samsung players by half; otherwise, the overall sound quality of Samsung would still be much better.

However, students at that time did not understand these things, and most of them believed that the lower the bass and the more powerful the booming sound, the better the sound quality.

The two key elements for a product's success are good quality and low price, and Huang Yiliang possessed both of them, so it's no wonder he was able to make his first fortune.

"I want three units, the third one is free!" The tall student who tried it first decisively took out his money.

"Yes, you must register your student ID." Wu Hao solemnly pulled out a small notebook.

Huang Yiliang said that the goal was to make it more professional so that these students would know that only they could enjoy this special price.

"You can use three players by yourself?" Huang Yiliang looked at the tall student who was paying with suspicion.

The other students gathered in twos and threes to discuss buying the items together and splitting the cost, but this guy paid for everything himself.

"Junior, I'm the Minister of Publicity in the Student Union. If I can't even get rid of two measly computers, then that's a huge failure."

"You're awesome, senior!"

Before Huang Yiliang could speak, Wu Hao, who was busy registering student IDs for other students, gave him a thumbs up.

The emotional value provided is more than enough.