The next morning, Fang Bai and his father had breakfast and went into the city together.
On the way back, Fang Shi rode the bicycle with Fang Bai.
Fang Bai sat on the rear rack, carrying his father's clothes, watching his father pedal hard, and he would jump off when they reached a slope.
When he earns money, he'll buy his father a motorcycle.
He couldn't bear to buy too good a motorcycle. Next time he goes to T City, he'll try to get a second-hand one. This way, it will be much more convenient for his parents to go to the city. Unlike now, it takes at least half an hour to cycle to the rented house, and riding a motorcycle at night would also be more convenient.
Half an hour later, the father and son arrived at the rented house.
"Son, this house is pretty good. How much does it cost to rent for a year?" Fang Shi saw his son open the door with a key and looked up to observe the second floor and the surrounding area.
"About 360 yuan."
"So expensive."
"Dad, you need to get used to this. When doing business, you have to think with a business mindset." Fang Bai opened the door, and a room full of televisions appeared before his father's eyes, astonishing him.
"Oh my goodness, there really are hundreds of televisions," Fang Shi exclaimed, unable to resist counting them.
The televisions were placed against the wall, taking up half the space, stacked several layers high.
Fang Shi was slightly worried: "Son, can all of these be repaired?"
"It's impossible to repair all of them. It's fine if two can be pieced together to make one."
Fang Bai had long since stated that he knew how to repair televisions. From then on, he would slowly demonstrate his genius in front of his family.
Even if his family had doubts, they wouldn't suspect too much and would attribute Fang Bai's sudden intelligence and competence to an accident.
"Dad, you can sleep on the second floor. There's also a bedroom."
Fang Bai took his father to the second floor. He had already discussed it with his family. His father was helping here, so it was impossible for him to rush back to the village at night.
When his mother was not working, she could come over, and the family could gather and live here.
"Son, you go ahead and get busy. I'll put my things down first and see what I can help you with."
Fang Shi quickly entered the role of working for his son. He wouldn't know how to repair televisions, nor would he bother with this business. His son could earn over ten thousand yuan and could bring these back. Seeing the path to making money, he was stronger than his father.
As long as some could be repaired and sold, they would break even, but he didn't understand the specific operations and could only follow his son's arrangements.
Fang Bai went downstairs to write posters. A while later, his father came down from the second floor and said to him: "Dad, we now need to hire a few people to help me repair these televisions. I know the general problems with these televisions, so I need someone to help me disassemble them, preferably with some electrical knowledge. I can direct them in disassembling, assembling, and repairing.
Wages are negotiable, the main thing is to find people. I want to recruit students with relevant majors from nearby electronics factories or Wencheng University.
In a while, we'll split up. You ride your bike to search nearby for electronics factories. If there are any, post the posters near the factory, but don't post them at the factory gate, or you'll be scolded.
I'll go to Wencheng University to post posters, and all interviews will be at the shop."
"Okay, no problem. But isn't 10 yuan a day too high?" Fang Shi nodded, glancing at the recruitment information on the poster, feeling that the wages offered were too high.
"Dad, we're pressed for time now. There are still many second-hand televisions in T City. This television market is very large, and there's no end to the money to be made.
Let alone ten yuan a day, if I can find talented people who can help me solve this mess and allow me to enjoy the fruits of their labor, I'd give them a hundred yuan a day.
Dad, think about it, if one person can help us earn hundreds or thousands of yuan a day, what's a little incentive for them?
Although a few yuan a day can also attract people, their capabilities in all aspects might be insufficient, delaying our continued expansion and delaying my review. It's penny wise and pound foolish, not worth it."
Fang Bai patiently explained to his father, hoping he would understand the key points.
In the next few years, currency would depreciate quickly, and wages would also rise rapidly. Ten yuan a day was a high wage now, but by 1993, it would be very common.
"Okay, you make sense."
Fang Shi was a little hesitant at first, but after listening to his son's analysis, it made sense. You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a cub.
A while later, the father and son set off.
Fang Bai took a pedicab to the nearby Wencheng University, which was still a vocational college at the time. He snuck into the university and posted recruitment posters on the school's bulletin board.
[High-Paying Talent Recruitment: Due to our company's business expansion, we are eager for talent and are currently seeking several students familiar with repairing televisions and circuit boards!
Salary: 10 yuan/day!
Settlement on the same day, includes lunch. This job can be part-time or long-term.
Note: Only recruiting third-year students.
Also, a reminder, no registration fees are required. Any company that asks for registration fees for interviews and applications is a fraudulent company!
Work and interview location: Opposite Oubei No. 1 High School…
Contact Person: Manager Fang]
There was no contact number, and no company had been established, but writing it this way on the poster was not wrong. Anyway, a company would be established sooner or later.
As soon as Fang Bai finished posting the posters, students passing by swarmed to look, and after seeing the content, they started discussing animatedly.
"Wow, this wage is high."
"It's not that much. If we get into good units after graduation, we might earn more than this income."
"This is different, isn't it? They're only hiring temporary workers. Where else can we find such high-paying part-time jobs?"
"Working for a private enterprise? I'm not doing it, anyway."
Most students' monthly living expenses were not high. For students from rural families, what their families gave them was usually less than ten yuan a month.
The state also subsidized university students, but if they were not normal school students, the subsidy was small.
Many students' families were particularly short of money, and their younger siblings at home also needed money for schooling. In this era, who didn't have siblings?
Now, this company could give ten yuan a day in wages, solving the urgent needs of most students.
The students' mindset in this era was different from later generations. Many students were arrogant, thinking that after graduation, they would enter the system and get an 'iron rice bowl' job, and it was impossible to work for private enterprises.
They wouldn't do it even if it killed them!
What they didn't know was that five or six years later, the state began to implement the system of no guaranteed job assignments for university graduates, which was widely implemented in 1998, and by 2000, the full distribution system was completely stopped.
Some students were proud, but some were willing to try.
Let alone ten yuan a day, even a few yuan a day, many students were tempted.
Private enterprises coming to schools to recruit part-time workers was extremely rare at Wencheng University; many students had never seen it.
Being able to settle wages on the same day and including lunch, students weren't afraid of being scammed.
But the requirements were not low; they had to be able to repair televisions or circuit boards.
Fang Bai posted several posters on several bulletin boards at Wencheng University, then left the university and returned to the rented house.
How to sell repaired televisions?
This was the problem he had been pondering recently.
He had considered various sales methods for televisions, such as setting up a street stall, opening an appliance specialty store, and door-to-door sales.
Families who could afford televisions would not be in bad economic condition. They would prefer to buy from a regular store, so it would be best to open an appliance specialty store.
However, opening another store requires funds!
Store renovation also takes time.
For Fang Bai, spending a little more money wasn't a big deal; the main thing was time.
He thought for a moment and felt that citizens of this era were still receptive to street stalls. He could try it first, which would also save some funds and time.
If the street stall sales effect was not ideal, he could also consider other sales methods.
Perhaps his idea was wrong.