Feature Shows Extravaganza - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Father And Son

Translator: Henyee Translations

Editor: Henyee Translations

“Our yo-yos are selling so well that it’s only natural that people are jealous of us. I know that a lot of people are trashing yo-yos online, saying that they’re dangerous toys, because prolonged use can lead to dysplasia in the hand bones…”

Raising a finger, Meng Lang gave his verdict. “Here’s what we’re going to do. We’ll sue someone for libel and for those whose conduct isn’t libellous enough, we’ll just ignore them. There’s no point wasting out spit in arguing with them.

“This marketing department is set up to expand our market and in order to do that, we need to know who our customer base is.”

Who was buying yo-yos?

Primary and middle school students!

Such a group of customers wouldn’t pay much attention to some stupid comments on forums and social media.

“If you ask me, the online promotion has its merits, but we may do a better job by giving out fliers outside school gates.”

The marketing strategy Meng Lang gave the department was quite straightforward: Focus on the target consumers and don’t waste resources on anyone irrelevant.

“For example, if we want to increase the sales on yo-yos, we’ll have to think of ways to give them a higher profile. How are we going to do that? We throw a yo-yo competition!

“Then, there comes the promotion of yo-yos. How do we do that? That’s easy. I’ll give you something in a moment. Find a printing house, make a few hundred thousand copies, and hand them out…”

After that, Meng Lang gave them a booklet called “13 Yo-yo Stances You Must Know”, then left the newly-formed marketing department.

He was just about to leave the factory office on his scooter when he was stopped by his old man.

The father and son went to the general manager’s office, each poured themself a glass of water, then sat down across the desk from each other in silence. The mood felt as strange as when a man met his future son-in-law for the first time.

However, Meng Lang wasn’t the fidgeting son-in-law here, but Meng Minghui, his father.

“Dad! Just speak your mind! Quit rubbing your hands already!” Baffled, Meng Lang broke the silence.

Meng Minghui smiled awkwardly, then announced their accomplishment to his son in an eager tone. “Our yo-yos are so trendy now!”

“I see…” Meng Lang nodded.

“The capacity of our factory is very tight at the moment and some of our fellow manufacturers want to join in as authorized manufacturers…”

“What are their terms like?”

The newcomers were expected. When a business was profitable, it was only natural that more people wanted to join in.

That was the eternal truth.

Yo-yos had become a great hit and Pengda Toy Factory, a manufacturer on the verge of bankruptcy, took off almost overnight, making tens of millions every day. It was impossible for other players to not be envious.

Meng Lang didn’t plan to keep the cake all to himself. Cooperation and win-win situations were always desirable in the business world. “Walk your own road so that other people have nowhere to go” might have sounded like a wonderful claim, but it was highly likely that those people whose roads were deprived would work together and dig a hole in your road, burying you alive while they were at it…

Asking for Pengda’s authorization was a good thing!

It wouldn’t earn them as much money as when they produced and sold everything themselves, but the difference was in whether they wanted to make the money standing up or lying down.

If they could earn some profit without breaking a sweat, giving other people a slice of the pie would be one of the ways to achieve that win-win situation!

Rubbing his hands together, Meng Minghui said in excitement. “The terms are great! I would have given them the authorization if I had the authority…”

Meng Lang decided that his grandfather had the sharpest eyes!

“Dad! You’re an impossible businessman!”

Meng Lang vented his sarcasm. “If their terms are great, shouldn’t we build on it and make them even better for us? You’ve practically let a cooked duck flee. This is no way to run a business!”

“But… but isn’t that a bit pushy?”

The excitement on his face was gone and Meng Minghui said hesitantly. “We’re all toy makers and see one another all the time. That way…”

Meng Lang rolled his eyes.

His father was indeed hopeless!

He had mixed business with comradeship together and was talking about one when it was the occasion for the other…

It would be the biggest joke on earth if someone like him could run a profitable business.

“Business is business! Don’t get your comradeship involved! The two can’t be mixed together.”

Knowing that his father didn’t have much education, Meng Lang tried to explain to the latter in the most plain terms.

“They’ve come to you to ask for the authorization. Why? Because yo-yos can make them rich! If it’s going to make them money, why are you thinking in their shoes? If you had really agreed to their terms, they would call you an idiot the moment they walk out of our door!”

“You brat! Since when can you talk to me like that?”

Meng Minghui cursed loudly. He then lit himself a cigarette and went on talking as he smoked. “You have a point, but in the business world, we believe that an even temper brings wealth. Just because you’re doing well today doesn’t mean you’re going to stay that way. What if you run into trouble some day and they decide to twist the knife?”

“Good people get bullied the way horses get ridden!”

Meng Lang couldn’t hold back his sarcasm anymore. “Dad, you’ve taken over the factory for many years and you’ve been nice to the others, haven’t you? Have those people stopped picking on us?

“I won’t go too far back to find an example. When we tried to get the right to make Kitaro, quite a few factories from Jiangchuan alone were competing against our factory, weren’t they? When they raised the bidding price, did they think of you as a friend? They didn’t relent at all!”

It was said that doing business was like fighting a battle, but in Meng Lang’s opinion, the business world was much more cruel than the battlefield.

On the battlefield, at least one could still find reliable fellow soldiers, but when doing business, one couldn’t trust anybody.

Falling out and double dealing were things all businessmen would have to learn.

Unfortunately, Meng Minghui wasn’t well-versed in that common knowledge.

One could say that deep down, Meng Minghui wasn’t a businessman. He still had a naive side, thinking that the business world wasn’t all that cruel and that he still had friends who he could trust.

Meng Lang couldn’t be bothered to correct his father’s concepts anymore. His job was to keep an eye on his old man and intervene when necessary.

For instance, his intervention was needed now.

“Tell them to come to Pengda Pictures and talk to me. They really knew how to play the friendship card, bypassing Pengda Pictures and talking to you like that…”

The patents and intellectual property rights belonged to Pengda Pictures, or Meng Lang. Although it was also called “Pengda”, essentially, Pengda Pictures had nothing to do with Meng Minghui.

Instead of talking to the actual owner for the authorization, they went to Meng Minghui. That was very clever of them.

Too bad for them. They had overestimated Mr. Old Meng’s influence…

When Pengda Toy Factory was concerned, Mr. Old Meng called all the shots. However, when it came to Pengda Pictures, he had no say whatsoever.

Even at home, Li Shufen still had the same “intimidating” power from when they were young, which rendered Mr. Old Meng powerless.

Hence, the final decision on the authorization was up to Meng Lang.

Mr. Old Meng had no right to decide which factory to give the authorization to or how the profit made would be divided.