Chapter 64: Someone Who Brings Pride
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Wow!”
“Not bad, it’s bad at all.”
“This robot is too cute!”
“Oh, everyone look, the robot is crying. It’s saying it’s so tired from working.”
“Hahaha…. Hahahaha, this robot is too amusing!”
The children of his three uncles, as well as another two younger grandchildren, could not stop gasping in shock.
22-year-old He Hai Tao, who was the son of his second uncle, was a handsome fellow with thick eyebrows. Pulling on Chen Jin’s elbow, he said with a wors.h.i.+pful expression, “Cousin, you really made this robot?”
Chen Jin nodded. “Yes, the tech team in my company developed it. I partic.i.p.ated in the development process too.”
He Hai Tao gave a thumbs up. “This is good, it’s very good!”
When Chen Jin introduced working principles of the robot and explained some of its more advanced capabilities, the audience was captivated, and felt a growing sense of admiration despite his words going over their heads. As they watched the floor getting cleaner and cleaner with each movement of the robot, they broke out in praise all at once.
Indeed, Chen Jin had termed this robot “The Best Cleaner In The World.” Although this robot might only be used for the trivial task of cleaning, its existence was enough to cause a shockwave for the He family.
Especially to old man He Chang Hou, he was over the moon! Calling Chen Jin over, he pulled on his arm and said excitedly, “Good boy, good grandson. I may be old and retired, but I still pay attention to national affairs. What our Z country needs now is not unrealistic and overpriced real estate but real and practical high technology! If we don’t develop our high technology, Z country will still be bullied! In this area, your dad is your model. Now, both you and your dad are our pride! Good boy, create more technological products in the future. This year, my favorite present is the robot you gave me!” The old man’s bold and determined words reflected the feelings of patriotism and nationalistic struggle of the older generation. The audience listened with watery eyes. When the old man was an official in the party, he remained free from corruption and thus did not gain any riches. As such, he did not achieve much or left any significant legacies for his children. But, he had done his duties responsibly for this country.
Chen Jin’s eyes started to water too. Immediately, he said, “Grandpa! I’ll develop my career in the tech industry and I’ll give you a high-tech product as a present each year!”
The old man laughed heartily. “Good, good!”
Standing to the side, little aunt’s face felt red and hot. She was totally speechless. Her daughter, He Xiao Ling, watched the robot moving back and forth as it worked. Hearing the silly voice that was emitted from its body, she felt a trace of curiosity and envy for it. However, the feeling dissipated quickly. It was just a robot cleaner, what was there to gawk about?
Looking at how well the robot had cleaned the floor, the first aunt was struck with a thought. Pulling on He Li, she asked, “Big sis, I saw that you brought a few of these robots. Are they all for Mom and Dad?”
“No.” He Li smiled. “Besides the one we gave to Mom and Dad, there are four remaining robots. Each family can take one robot. Help yourself to one after dinner.”
The first aunt immediately rejoiced, “That’s great! I was initially very pleased with the larger house that we upgraded to last year, but, mopping it is such pain! All that backache from the mopping caused me to regret getting such a big house. I bought a robot cleaner, but it didn’t do a good job cleaning. I’ll take this one home to try.”
With his sharp ears, the child, He Tian Hao, had heard that each family could have a robot. Immediately, he whooped with joy and abandoned his dinner. “Aunt He Li said that each family gets a robot. Quickly grab yours!” Leading a merry band of followers to the robots, they divided the three robots amongst themselves and took them away.
Shaking her head at this scene, He Jia thought, Upbringing and education… I don’t know how many generations it will take for us, the He family, to finally lift ourselves up in society. Of course, this has to do with the village-born status of our old man. That rustic simplicity from the farming village will never be erased.
First uncle, He Guo Qiang, pulled Chen Jin aside and asked with confusion, “Xiao Jin, you quit your job at the government department? And went down to the city to start your business?”
Chen Jin nodded. “Yes, Uncle. I quit my job.” That so-called civil servant job was made up by mom to deceive others. It had always been a worry that others would see through the lie. Now, there was no need to worry about it.
“Ah, why did you quit? What’s wrong with developing your career in the government? Do we, as the He family, lack money? Moreover, it’s risky to start your own enterprise. It’s not easy to be an entrepreneur, unlike getting involved in real estate or finance. Even if this product model succeeds, the next model may fail. It’s more stable and safer to remain in government jobs. Also, it’s because we have insufficient a.s.sistance and popularity within the government that we can’t progress upwards as a family. I don’t have the ability to continue fighting for us anymore, but you’re still young. As long as you’re steady and bold, you can definitely get further ahead than me….”
He Guo Qiang did not have high hopes for his career ambitions as a government official. However, he never expected that, other than Chen Jin, any of the younger generations of the He family was interested in the party. Now, even Chen Jin had quit his job to become an entrepreneur. The next generation would be nothing in the world of politics. In the end, was the He family only able to move towards being a family whose power was built purely on business? At this point, He Guo Qiang started to feel anxious and lost again.
“Um….. ” Chen Jin did not know what to say. He thought that first uncle was too mired in certain traditional thoughts and ideas. Everything revolved around the need for popularity, a.s.sistance from followers, and backgrounds. Of course, he was not too knowledgeable about the party. Maybe the first uncle was right. However, in his two months as a city official, he had experienced the toxic and chaotic environment of a government department. As such, he had no interest in joining the government party. He only wanted to do something that he was interested in, something that was purer. He did not want this world to be too complicated.
The second uncle, He Guo Fu, held up the robot and was surveying it meticulously with a sharp gleam in his eyes. Then, he took Chen Jin aside and asked him many questions. For example, what was the production cost for one robot? What were the parameters for its individual functions? What were the differences, pros, and cons as compared to similar products?
Chen Jin answered each and every one of his questions.
Bam!
He Guo Fu slammed his fist against his palm in great excitement. “$5,000 for a robot. It can totally sell for $5,000! If $300,000,000 was invested for its advertising; with an aggressive promotion campaign….I have a hunch that this robot model can achieve sales of at least 1,000,000 units! With $5,000,000,000 in sales revenue, and after subtracting various costs; there’ll be a profit of at least $2,000,000,000!” He Guo Fu was extremely excited, with a face that was flushed red. “Xiao Jin, you can entrust all the sales operations of the product to me. I’ll fork out $300,000,000 to market this product! If the sales break 1,000,000 units and you earn a profit, you can pay back the $300,000,000 advertising fees. If the sales are poor and you don’t profit, you don’t have to pay me back the advertising fees. I’ll bear all the losses! Xiao Jin, I can sign a contract with you that includes this statement!”
He Guo Fu was very positive about the market prospect of the “Wa-Wah” cleaning robot that Chen Jin developed. He was even willing to sign a contract with a speculative nature. He bet that its sales would break 1,000,000 units!
The audience was very shocked.
The second aunt quickly held back her husband, He Guo Fu. She gave him several meaningful looks and said in a low voice, “Husband, it’s $300,000,000. Your face is so red, did you drink too much?”
He Guo Fu yelled rowdily, “What do you women know? And, I’ve not drunk any alcohol! Not even one drop!”
He Li walked over and advised, “Brother, $300,000,000 is too much. The risks are too great. How about this, you can foot $100,000,000 for advertising. When the robots are sold and there are profits, the advertising money will be returned to you immediately.”
“No! What can you do with $100,000,000; there are no results at all. With $300,000,000 I can buy the naming rights of an entertainment program and run an 8 second commercial on CCTV. Then I’ll place a series of ads on the internet. $300,000,000 will be gone just like that. It may not even be enough!”
“This is an era of word-of-mouth. People only have a 5-second frame of memory for an ad. If you don’t place huge quant.i.ties of ads to create a viral effect, your product will never be remembered by anyone no matter how good it is! Not to even mention selling it!” So, not even a cent could be subtracted from the $300,000,000 advertising budget!
At this point, He Li stayed silent. The expression on the second aunt’s face was one of pain, as if a pound of flesh had been taken from her body.
“Uncle, I understand your good intentions. But, I don’t need your help.” Chen Jin’s words shocked everyone.
He Guo Fu turned his head and asked in astonishment, “Why? Don’t you want to sell the robots?”
Chen Jin said that he really did not need his second uncle to help him with the advertising. “Of course, I do! But I have my own way. I’ve already put someone in charge of the first wave of promotion. The results will be apparent after a few days.”
“Ok, you try your promotions first. If the results are underwhelming, you can come to me. Trust me, I’ll definitely have a way to sell the robots, millions of them!”
Chen Jin nodded and expressed that if his method was proven wrong, he would go to his uncle for help.
As for the invisible third uncle, he did not care about robots at all. Pulling Grandma aside, he employed words expected of a filial son to charm her out of releasing some of the grandparents’ retirement savings to him.
…
They stayed the night in his grandparents’ place.
On the afternoon of the next day, Chen Jin and his family went home. In the car, He Li looked extremely spirited and energetic. Her thoughts were clear. She felt that she could finally hold her head high now that her indignation and discontent had been expelled.
With a face full of smiles, she said, “Son, did you see how your aunt looked? She couldn’t say even one word at the table. She was so quiet sitting in a corner and her expression was so terrible. This year, the one that provides the most pride; the one that deserves the most pride is from our family! He is my son!”
Chen Jin said impatiently, “Mom, I only did something that’s slightly praise-worthy and you’re already showing off to this extent. What if I do something more amazing next year?
“Then, I’ll show off even more and be even prouder! Hahaha!” Mom laughed as her brows lifted in joy and her limbs danced with delight.