Chapter 117: Swift as the Wind, Aggressive as Fire

With the hammer of the property transfer firmly struck, Li Xian felt a heavy weight lift off his shoulders.

As New Year's Day approached, and with some regions already preparing for the festive season, the sales of Sina's premium toilet paper had surged. After celebrating with the staff in the cafeteria, Li Xian instructed Zhao Dongliang and others to arrange for the workers to return to the workshop.

He then went to his office and called Xu Maohé. Previously, he had promised to lend the staff the capital to buy shares, and with his own 1 million in capital, he now faced a funding shortfall of at least 1.5 million.

Although both factories had made a decent profit recently, it was just enough to cover year-end debts. Li Xian realized that he could only make up for the shortfall by selling the batch of machine tools.

Upon learning that Li Xian wanted to sell the machine tools, Xu Maohé objected.

He had thoroughly understood the market for machine tools over this period. Currently, the price of a new Shenyi 20 machine tool commonly used in the North was about 180,000 yuan per unit, and a five-year-old second-hand one was between 130,000 and 150,000 yuan. The price for a 40-bed machine tool was almost double that!

However, during this period before the New Year, most factories in the North had already shut down. This made it difficult to find buyers quickly, which would force him to sacrifice profits. Moreover, the Ministry of Industry was responding to the 14th National Congress's call and had issued a series of policies that would come into effect in February.

When that happened, machine tool prices were expected to rise.

Upon hearing Li Xian's desire for a quick sale, Xu Maohé urged, "Brother, how much money do you really need? I can help you out. I know I was wrong about bringing you to the North before, but this time, you must trust me. Just wait for two more months, and machine tool prices will rise by at least another 30%!"

Facing Xu Maohé's confident words, Li Xian hesitated and revealed the 1.5 million shortfall.

Xu Maohé on the other end of the phone immediately slapped his chest, "Damn, I thought it was a bigger hole! Alright, don't worry. I'll transfer the money to you tomorrow!"

Li Xian was stunned, "You have that much money? If only we had done this earlier! Why am I even running a paper factory!"

Xu Maohé almost cried, "Damn right! Don't mention it. It's like being stabbed with a knife in my heart. When I came back, I felt so miserable seeing the balance in my savings book! There was clearly a chance to add another zero to that amount!"

"…"

Li Xian was at a loss for words but was relieved that the funding issue was resolved. He promised to provide a loan note for the funds, with interest.

Xu Maohé was exasperated, "Are you slapping me in the face? You trust me with over seventy machine tools and still want a loan note and interest for 1.5 million? Are you kidding me?"

Hearing Xu Maohé's incessant complaints, Li Xian was irritated, "Alright, stop the nonsense. Transfer the money to me tomorrow. I need it urgently! And Wang Tiecheng is not a mute. His wife just left, so take good care of him!"

"Got it! Alright!"

After being reprimanded, Xu Maohé felt relieved.

The next day, Li Xian spent the whole day at the district government. In a joint meeting with the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the district government, and staff representatives, with the help of lawyers, he finalized the establishment of the joint-stock company.

The plan was as previously set: Li Xian invested 1 million to hold 50% of the shares and control the company. The district government, aside from providing personnel for financial management and factory party committee, would not interfere in factory operations.

Li Xian himself would take on the role of General Manager, with Chen Shulin as Business Manager and Zhao Dongliang as Production Manager.

Regarding employees, Li Xian did not plan to make changes for now. With the New Year approaching, stability was needed, and there would be plenty of time to make adjustments after the holidays.

The plan considered all major stakeholders, making the process unusually smooth. With the district government's intervention, the municipal industrial and commercial bureau quickly issued the license.

On January 1, 1993, New Year's Day.

Beilin New North Paper Industry Co., Ltd. was officially established.

After a series of speeches from district and municipal leaders and attending the company's ribbon-cutting ceremony, Li Xian organized a banquet to invite several key leaders.

As it was a municipal reform pilot project, several leaders declined the invitation to avoid any suspicion.

Though they did not attend the meal or drinks, some important points needed to be addressed. Li Xian's intention in involving the district government was not only for the factory's assets but also for the government resources.

With the company now established, he needed to secure everything required.

When the leaders heard that Li Xian wanted the district to contact the provincial TV station for advertising Sina's premium toilet paper, they were a bit surprised.

"Xiao Li, the factory has just completed the equity change. Isn't it better to stabilize things for now?" Liu Wanfa pondered.

"No, Secretary Liu," Li Xian sighed slightly, "Now that the company is established, our current product is only Sina's premium toilet paper. With such a product structure, if a larger competitor targets us, we will be at a disadvantage! In fact, Daqing Glory Paper Factory has already started preparing to move in this direction. To protect our current advantage, the most important thing now is to quickly establish our brand in the market, expand our distributor network and market coverage, and introduce new competitive and profitable products!"

Li Xian's urgency was driven by the sharp words of Zhou Xiaobo from earlier, which felt like a thorn in his side. He was struggling to breathe under the looming threat.

Hearing his reasoning, Wu Zhengsi asked, "Advertising is fine. We can have the publicity department contact the provincial TV station. But what about the new product you mentioned?"

In response to this question, Li Xian smiled and took out a small package from his office drawer.

"Handkerchief?"

Seeing the square white item with a pattern in Li Xian's hand, everyone was puzzled.

"No," Li Xian shook his head, "This is our New North Paper Industry Company's second product, Sina's dining paper!"

"Napkins? What are they for?"

Wu Zhengsi's question was understandable given the lack of common knowledge. Li Xian had conducted market research and found that while many restaurants already used paper towels, most were of poor quality. High-end foreign hotels used handkerchiefs instead.

Although some paper factories had started producing small-pack napkins, most were exported and did not focus on the domestic market.

High-end napkins were still a market gap!

Since the late 1980s, with the rise of the domestic economy and income levels, the number of hotels had increased. However, due to the planned economy's insensitivity to the market, there was a lack of corresponding support.

Li Xian targeted this gap.

After patiently explaining the uses and prospects of napkins to the leaders, they fell silent. Clearly, they were not very interested in this seemingly nice-sounding but practically insignificant product.

However, after learning that Glory Paper Factory was preparing to move in, Wu Zhengsi and the others supported Li Xian's proposal to advertise on the provincial TV station.

Unconsciously, the attitude of Wu Zhengsi and others toward New North Paper Industry and Li Xian had subtly changed after the grand ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Partner, one of us.

These two labels were slowly emerging on Li Xian.

With the municipal publicity department's involvement and Li Xian's proactive efforts, the provincial TV advertising was quickly finalized.

Li Xian went to Ice City to record two simple ads with a director assigned by the provincial TV station.

The ad featured a happy family of three holding a roll of Sina's premium toilet paper. The woman was smiling as if she had finally found a long-lost treasure, the man was smiling as if he had caught a glimpse of a female colleague changing clothes, and the child was smiling as if they had found 200 yuan on the way home from school.

Overall, it was a scene of happiness.

The ad slogans were two sentences: the family said in unison, "Silky enjoyment, delicate to the end. A beautiful life starts with Sina's premium toilet paper!"

Then the child loudly reminded, "Provincial brand, worth trusting!"

The ad then faded to the message, "Now recruiting agents across the province, call 0455-xxxxxxx."

The radio version was simpler and more direct: "With it, bring home meticulous hygiene. Sina's premium toilet paper, the first step to a beautiful life."

Then, like the TV version, it included an ad for recruiting agents.

Since Longjiang Province did not have cable TV and households relied on black-and-white or color TVs for signal reception, the entire province, except for some areas on the edge of the province, could only receive two channels: Central One and Longjiang TV.

Considering this, Li Xian decided to air the two ads during prime time. For a whole month before and after the New Year, the combined cost for TV and radio ads was 200,000 yuan.

This 200,000 yuan became the first and largest expense since New North Paper Industry's establishment.

The cost was difficult for the factory's staff

 representatives to accept, but Li Xian's persistence led to the decision being finalized.

The market was still relatively undeveloped, and people's information channels were very limited, relying on newspapers and TV and radio broadcasts.

Some expenses could be cut, but Li Xian believed that advertising was essential.

In fact, it proved to be a wise decision. In an era when brand awareness was low but consumer awareness was rising, advertising paid off.

The effect was almost immediate.

A wholesaler from Tolu Street, after seeing the ad, immediately went to Beilin and paid 50,000 yuan for the exclusive agency of the Ice City area.

Under the bombardment of prime-time ads, calls from QQHE, Mudanjiang, JMS, Daqing, SYS, and other regions overwhelmed New North Paper Industry's business office. Despite the nearing New Year, negotiations continued daily.

By January 15, in just two weeks, agents for major regions like Ha Qi Mu Jia Da, Yi Ji He Shuang Qi, and others were all finalized! The total agency fees collected amounted to over 300,000 yuan.

The words from Sun Tzu's *The Art of War*, "swift as the wind, slow as the forest, aggressive as fire, immovable as a mountain, hard to discern as a shadow, and sudden as a thunderclap," perfectly described the series of rapid and decisive actions taken by New North Paper Industry after its establishment.

As a result, the six workshops at Beilin Paper Factory were working overtime to meet production demands. However, while agents showed great interest in the market's standout product, Sina's premium toilet paper, Li Xian's high expectations for the napkins were relatively neglected.

On January 16, the Little New Year.

Li Xian finally managed to take a break from the heavy company affairs. Considering the profits of the past two weeks and the enthusiasm of the staff at the company's opening, he arranged some benefits like eggs, raw meat, and drinks, and then took leave himself.

After two busy months, he felt it was time to relax and celebrate the New Year.