Chapter 103: Mutual Schemes
Three days later, Yang Wendong arrived at the new factory and once again saw a sleep-deprived Hong Xuefei and a weary-looking Wei Zetao.
"Old Hong, how's the progress on solving the Rubik's Cube?" Yang Wendong asked teasingly.
There was no need to guess—the dark circles under his eyes made it obvious he had been losing sleep, and naturally, it was because of the Rubik's Cube. After all, in this era, HK$1,000 was a huge reward—enough to buy a bathroom in a modest neighborhood.
Hong Xuefei shook his head. "Still haven't figured it out. No matter what I do, I just can't restore it."
Yang laughed. "Don't rush. Don't take it too seriously. Your health is more important—don't burn yourself out over it."
Hong replied, "I'm not actually staying up late to play with it. I go to bed at nine every night.
But my brain just keeps turning over how to solve it. I can't fall asleep. And even if I do, I wake up in the middle of the night still thinking about it."
Wei Zetao laughed. "Seems like Old Hong really loves a challenge. I tried a few times, couldn't figure it out, and just gave up."
Yang nodded and said to Hong, "Hand me the cube."
"Alright." Hong passed it over.
Yang took the cube and began twisting it rapidly. In less than three minutes, all six sides were restored to their original, single-color layout.
"No way!" Hong Xuefei was stunned. He'd been trying for days without getting anywhere, like a headless chicken. Yet in Yang's hands, the puzzle was solved in minutes.
Wei Zetao was also surprised. Even though he hadn't studied the cube in depth, he'd played with it enough to know how difficult it was.
Yang smiled. "If you just twist it randomly a few times, the color layout changes drastically. With 54 colored tiles, the number of possible configurations is in the billions, at least.
So solving it requires method, not luck—you need to follow specific steps to return it to the solved state from any given scramble."
"How long did it take you to figure that out?" Hong asked.
Yang grinned. "I didn't. Someone else did. But don't ask who."
"Alright," Hong nodded, still puzzled but unwilling to press the issue.
Yang continued, "Don't worry about solving it for now. What we need to do is start preparing the molds and equipment to mass-produce it."
He had no intention of copying the business model from later eras—like on Taobao, where solution guides came with the product. That would spoil the fun.
In modern times, with the rise of self-media and search engines, even if you didn't include instructions, people would find them online anyway. So companies just packaged them in.
But in this era, nobody knew how to solve the cube. That mystery could be turned into a selling point. Later, when the solution became widespread, they could adapt.
Hong said, "Mr. Yang, we'll need to make new molds. The prototypes were all handmade.
And based on your requirement for a polished finish, our current injection molding machines are too outdated. Also, I suggest we use dual-color injection molding. That way, each piece comes out with the colors already embedded."
Yang nodded. "So we'll need to buy new equipment."
His current machines were inherited from the old Hongxing Plastics Factory. They were ancient—good enough for making the base of a glue trap, but not for high-quality, color-specific products.
"Exactly," Hong confirmed. "I visited Dongsheng before. Their new injection machines can handle this."
Wei added, "Dongsheng's injection machines are well-known in the plastics industry here. Quality-wise, they're not inferior to imports and much more affordable.
Many factories producing high-end toys or artificial flowers are already using them."
Yang said, "Then buy one. We'll start with just one—it doesn't take up much space. Find a corner to install it.
And get the mold made. Make sure the quality is top-notch."
"Got it," Hong nodded. "I'll get started on the budget and give it to you shortly."
"Good." Yang nodded. "Let's move quickly. The design team has no other projects right now, so focus on this."
Although Changxing Industrial had grown, their products were still relatively simple—relying mainly on creative ideas.
The Rubik's Cube was probably the first product from his company that involved real engineering complexity.
"Understood," Hong said before leaving.
…
After he left, Wei and Yang returned to the office.
"Mr. Yang," Wei said, "the test results from the high-temp chamber on the glue traps are in. The Japanese adhesive we've been using begins to soften at 50°C.
There's slight leakage at that temperature. But once it hits 60°C, the glue liquefies completely and spreads out."
Yang frowned. "So in high-temperature environments, glue seepage is inevitable.
But then why did Haoyu say he saw glue leakage in Hong Kong last year? It doesn't get that hot here."
"It could've been due to long-term exposure," Wei replied. "Even at 30°C, over time, glue might degrade and leak.
Also, we don't buy directly from the manufacturer—we go through traders. So there could be inconsistencies we're unaware of."
Yang nodded. "That's the tricky part. Our volumes aren't high enough yet to deal directly with manufacturers."
In the early days, he had bought glue off the shelf. Later, as demand grew, he started buying directly from traders.
Once Wei and his team joined, they tried contacting Japanese manufacturers directly, but were refused—because there was already a local distributor in Hong Kong. And they weren't about to break that relationship over one small client.
Even now, though the company had grown, it still wasn't big enough to interest a factory. Unless their demand grew by dozens or hundreds of times, they would never get preferential treatment.
"We've started testing a wide range of commercially available adhesives," Wei said. "Hopefully we'll find a more stable replacement."
"Good," Yang nodded.
Wei continued, "The performance standards for glue traps are pretty simple. As long as the glue doesn't leak like this time, and still catches mice, it's good enough."
"We'll need to thoroughly test the new adhesive before making a switch. Once it's confirmed to be stable, we can proceed," Wei Zetao said.
"Mm, back when we were just a small workshop, things like this didn't matter much. But now we're becoming a real company," Yang Wendong replied thoughtfully. "So here's what we'll do: since our current product can't withstand high temperatures, let's avoid shipping to very hot regions for now and focus on areas with moderate climates.
Alternatively, you can designate a separate, heat-resistant glue formulation for high-temperature regions. That could work too."
Temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere were rising. Over the winter, Changxing had established contacts with numerous traders, bringing in a surge of potential clients.
Now, the massive stockpile of glue traps produced over the winter had been cleared out. Production at the old factory was running full tilt once again.
Since it was mostly manual labor, production ramp-up was rapid. The only limitation was space. At this rate, they'd likely have to relocate to a bigger facility before long.
That was the nature of explosive growth—factories might need to expand multiple times within a single year, or they'd be unable to keep up.
"Understood," Wei said.
Yang continued, "What's most important now is figuring out which glue we're going to use. Too bad we don't have any specialists in this field. I doubt there are any in all of Hong Kong. And those traders certainly don't know anything technical."
Since Hong Kong had no adhesive industry to speak of, it was no surprise there were no specialists. Yang felt helpless. They had tried headhunting from Japan, but the few Chinese chemical engineers they contacted rejected the idea outright—unwilling to relocate to an unknown startup in Hong Kong.
Someone might eventually agree, but that could take a long time.
Wei considered this and said, "Actually, 3M probably has experts in this field."
"3M?" Yang thought for a moment. "They definitely do. But would it be appropriate to ask them about glue when it has nothing to do with Post-it notes?"
3M was the global leader in adhesives and tapes—they had invented many types of tape, including double-sided tape, electrical tape, and automotive film. Their product range was massive and interconnected. It was only natural that they had a strong internal knowledge base and a full industrial chain behind it.
Wei said, "We probably shouldn't ask over the phone—our conversations with them are usually business-related. But face-to-face might work.
I actually got a call from Robert yesterday. He said he'll be coming to Hong Kong in three days."
"He's coming to Hong Kong?" Yang's eyes narrowed. "That sounds suspicious."
This wasn't like modern times when flights were cheap and easy. Even though commercial aviation existed, long-haul trips were still slow and exhausting. Boeing hadn't even released the 747 yet.
And with no mobile phones, even communication was a pain. No one would make such a trip without a serious reason.
Wei agreed, "Exactly. I asked, but he wouldn't say what it was. My guess is it's something important—probably business-related."
"Most likely," Yang said. "I'd bet it has something to do with Post-its. Let's wait and see."
Wei smiled. "A face-to-face meeting opens a lot of doors. For instance, we could ask Robert to connect us with an adhesive expert. We could pay them directly. That alone would help our factory tremendously."
"Good point," Yang nodded.
Running a factory—especially one with complex products—truly did require the support of specialized professionals.
If Yang had just wanted to make a little money, he could stop with glue traps, Post-its, or even the Rubik's Cube. But he wanted to build something great. Even with exclusive patents, a good price depended on good quality. That was the only way to make the business sustainable.
Three days later, Yang Wendong, Su Yiyi, and Wei Zetao arrived at Kai Tak Airport to welcome Robert, who had just arrived from the U.S.
This time, he wasn't alone—he brought a blonde American woman with him.
"Eric, this is my colleague, Robin," Robert said with a smile.
"Hello, Miss Robin," Yang greeted politely.
"Hello," Robin said with a polite handshake.
The company hadn't wanted Robert to come alone this time, so they'd sent Robin along as support.
"I'll drive you both to the hotel," Yang offered with a smile.
In an era without direct flights, traveling from the U.S. to Hong Kong could take over 20 hours. Add in the jet lag, and the first order of business should be rest.
"Thank you," Robert nodded.
Yang drove them himself, while Wei followed behind in the company's second-hand car.
They checked into one of Hong Kong's best hotels—there weren't many options in the 1950s.
The next day, Yang personally drove to the hotel again and brought the two visitors to see his new factory.
Robert had visited the old facility before. Seeing the new one now, he couldn't help but laugh. "Eric, this is a big step up."
"Haha, we've been improving steadily since we started working with 3M," Yang replied. In truth, even he had been embarrassed by his previous setup.
Robert nodded. "Post-its are selling extremely well in California and Nevada. I expect other states will be the same.
At your current capacity, you can just about handle two states. If we open up more, there's no way you'll keep up."
"I know," Yang said. "That's why I'm already preparing for the next expansion."
"But it's still too slow," Robert said directly. "3M is willing to offer you a substantial low-interest loan in advance, to help speed up your expansion. What do you think?"
"That would be great," Yang said with a smile. "But we have a saying in Chinese: 'There's no such thing as a free lunch.' If someone offers you a benefit, they always want something in return."
Sure, boosting his production would help 3M too—but Yang didn't believe they would fly all the way to Hong Kong just to offer him generous funding with no strings attached.
Robert laughed. "That's a good saying. We have something similar in English.
Our request is simple. Like I mentioned before, 3M has excellent sales channels in countries beyond the U.S.
This time, we'd like to revisit the idea of acquiring exclusive distribution rights in those regions."
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