Chapter 140: Follow Her

Advertising companies are still rare. Through a conversation with a taxi driver, Li Xian learned that there aren't many in Ice City. The few on this street essentially control half of the advertising market in Ice City.

Upon arriving, Li Xian saw the sign for the first company, "ChuanYang Advertising," and after looking at their business display board, he felt uncertain whether his ideas would work here.

The so-called advertising company was primarily engaged in flyer printing and posting.

Inside, the small office had rows of desks covered in advertisements for "miracle doctors" and "Miss Bao" that you commonly see on street corners.

Compared to later small ads, the content was even more exaggerated—miracle doctors claiming to cure all diseases with one treatment, with their workplaces located in some alley on Jingyang Street.

Furthermore, the quality of the ads was poor. They were just thin sheets of white paper, similar in size to children's exercise books, printed with black text.

There was no layout or artistic fonts to enhance aesthetics.

Seeing the third item on the business board read "Add Thick Paste," Li Xian shook his head and smiled—this place was essentially a living fossil in the small ad industry.

The room was also quite empty. At noon, Li Xian walked in and found no one to greet him.

"Hello? Is anyone here?"

He put down the miracle doctor advertisement and called out.

Then, he heard a rush of water from upstairs.

"Coming, coming! What do you need?"

Soon, a woman with a noodle-style haircut, dressed in oversized attire she called professional wear, hurried down the stairs, pulling up her pants.

The woman was about in her thirties, heavily made-up. As she descended, Li Xian glimpsed the lower half of her buttocks through her unadjusted cotton pants.

Fair-skinned.

When she reached Li Xian, her pants were now properly adjusted.

She looked Li Xian over. Seeing his black briefcase and the large mobile phone he carried, her smile grew warm, "Boss, what business are you here for?"

As she asked, Li Xian noticed the strong perfume scent and frowned slightly. Smiling, he took out his business card and handed it to her, "Hello, I'm from Xinbei Paper Co., Ltd. I'm not here for business but to discuss my company's products."

"Products?" The woman seemed puzzled that Li Xian wasn't conducting business, "What products?" She wiped her wet hands on her pants and took Li Xian's business card. Seeing the "General Manager" title, she looked Li Xian over once more.

Li Xian took out a stack of napkins and handed them to her.

"This?" The woman seemed confused, "What kind of business is this? What's it for?" She opened the pack of napkins, noticing the fine, thick paper with embossed patterns, inspecting it inside and out. "Wipe your bottom, huh?"

Facing her unmasked sarcasm, Li Xian smiled and explained that this was a napkin intended for use in restaurants for customers.

The woman paused, took out two napkins, wiped her still-wet hands, and then waved at Li Xian, "Bro, I can't use this here. As you can see, we deal with ads, and…"

"How about printing restaurant ads on napkins?"

As the woman turned to clean up the scattered small ads on the desk, Li Xian proposed this idea.

"Nonsense…" The woman initially rejected the idea, but her steps back slowed down.

"I can provide you with pure white paperboard in packs of ten or five sheets, and unprinted packaging. Your company could print restaurant ads, features, addresses, and other information on the outer packaging."

The woman stopped in her tracks, turned back to look at Li Xian, "This… Can it be done?"

Li Xian flashed a smile, "As long as you can design it yourself and have a printing machine."

"Really?"

"I've visited many places. In Ice City alone, there are over two thousand restaurants and large-scale dining establishments. I guarantee that this isn't being done anywhere nationwide. Do you think it's feasible? The cost for a small pack of plain paper is seven cents, and a big pack is twenty-two cents. I'm not concerned about your external pricing."

Li Xian picked up the business card the woman had dropped and placed it on the table, "There's my number on it. Call me if you're interested. This sample pack is yours."

After saying that, Li Xian didn't linger and turned to leave the store.

Once outside, the woman quickly followed him. Seeing Li Xian go to an advertising company across the street, she immediately picked up the landline and dialed a number, "Where the hell have you been? Come back quickly, we need to discuss something!"

After visiting all the advertising companies on this street and taking a taxi to check out several more around Ice City, it was already getting dark.

Li Xian then took a cab to Xu Maoheng's place.

Xu Maoheng was furious that Li Xian had missed their midday appointment, "Damn it! You didn't answer your phone. I thought you were lost! I even arranged for a girl to keep me company at noon, but now that's not the case!"

Li Xian laughed and punched Xu Maoheng's chest, "Oh, come on. You're always free. What's the difference when we eat? I'm here for business."

Xu Maoheng pretended to be angry, grumbling for a bit before asking, "By the way, I thought about it this afternoon. If the napkins don't work out, my aunt's family runs a restaurant. I can ask them to try it out and introduce it to their peers."

Li Xian quickly interrupted, "That's already sorted. Don't worry about it."

How much can one or two restaurants sell?

As Xiang Yu said, a single person is not enough to learn from.

I've already found a solution for a large-scale approach.

In the evening, Li Xian didn't let Xu Maoheng arrange any meals and went straight to the warehouse in the suburbs where the lathes were stored. Together with Wang Tiecheng and Xu Maoheng's assistants who were keeping an eye on the lathes, they had a hot pot noodle dinner in the freezing cold warehouse using an electric rice cooker.

Wang Tiecheng remained his usual silent self. He didn't ask when the lathes would be sold or how much he would get after the deal.

It was only when Li Xian inquired about news of his wife and children that Wang Tiecheng's face showed a hint of emotion.

"I've called her family twice. They didn't say much, but it seems there's some news. I'm thinking, if you're free, I might go back to the Forestry Bureau first."

Seeing Wang Tiecheng's eyes suddenly light up, his cheeks puffing up, Li Xian hesitated and asked, "If you find them, what do you want to do?"

"Bring my son back."

Wang Tiecheng took a sip of liquor and wiped his mouth.

"And your wife?" Li Xian was surprised not to hear the typical "broken leg" remark.

"Let her be."

He downed the remaining half cup of Maotai liquor in one gulp.