Back to 1958: Creating a Century-Long Family Empire

Chapter 79: Orders Pour In

The next morning, Yang Wendong arrived at the factory early, accompanied by Su Yiyi and Zhao Liming.

"Ah Long?" Yang called out as he approached the production area and spotted Ah Long and several others already huddled around the machine.

"Huh? Dong-ge!" Ah Long looked up, a little startled. He'd been so focused on the equipment that he hadn't noticed anyone come in.

Yang glanced at their tired faces and dark circles and asked, "You guys didn't go home last night?"

Ah Long scratched his head and grinned. "Yeah... we stayed. We know how important this machine is. We wanted to get familiar with it as soon as possible, so we spent the night tuning it. Better to figure out any issues now than panic later."

"You didn't need to push yourselves so hard. One or two days won't make a difference." Yang said, but paused, then turned to Liming. "Go get some meat buns."

"No need, Dong-ge. Meat buns are expensive. We're fine with reheated leftovers and some fried rice," Ah Long quickly said.

Yang waved his hand. "No need to be frugal on food. You all should be eating more meat."

"We're already grateful just to be eating well in the factory," Ah Long said sincerely. Seeing Zhao Liming had already dashed out, he didn't insist further.

Yang nodded. "I've lived through those tough days too. But those days are behind us — remember them, but don't let them limit us. We remember hardship so we don't waste food… but more importantly, to push ourselves to live better lives. That's the goal."

"Yes, Dong-ge." Ah Long felt a jolt of energy from those words. "We'll restart the machine now. Glue mixing still needs about half an hour."

"Alright, carry on. Don't hold back when the buns come," Yang smiled. "We'll check back in half an hour."

"Got it, Dong-ge."

Yang then returned to his office with Su Yiyi and Lin Haoyu.

He picked up a sample sticky note produced by the machine and said, "This is pretty much our final product. Maybe we'll add front and back covers like a little notebook."

The sticky note, despite its simplicity, was a truly ingenious idea — capable of improving the productivity of millions of office workers. Structurally, it was no more complex than a mini notepad.

Though the machine still needed fine-tuning, the product was already formed. The remaining work was just about refining efficiency and consistency.

Su Yiyi examined the note carefully. "This looks way better than the ones we made by hand. The edges are perfect, no creases at all."

"Well, you think I spent thousands on the machine just for show?" Yang chuckled.

In an era where labor was cheap and jobs were scarce, manual labor was still king. If something could be done by hand, there was no reason to invest in equipment. But for products like this — complex, delicate — mechanization was a must.

Su Yiyi smiled. "Now that we can mass-produce, we can start selling, right? I've already collected contacts from many companies that were interested — they all want to buy more."

"Of course." Yang nodded. "That's what we've been working toward. All that effort these past few months — this is the payoff."

When the factory had no orders, keeping dozens of workers hand-assembling sticky notes still cost over a thousand HKD a month in wages and food. That money could've been spent on ads in local papers, but for a product no one had ever heard of, advertising would've been a total waste.

Instead, Yang chose to let companies try it for free — not only saving money, but also keeping his team employed.

Su Yiyi laughed. "Dong-ge, your idea to give it away first really worked."

Yang waved a hand. "It's not original. A lot of products use this strategy. Western soda companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi have been doing free sampling for over a century.

Those so-called 'internet business models' of the future — free trials, freemium access — they're just old wine in new bottles."

Su Yiyi giggled, then asked, "Now that we can produce at scale, what price are we setting?"

"Let's go with 10 cents per pad — 100 sheets each," Yang said. "We'll adjust if needed later."

Paper was expensive in Hong Kong — especially with no local paper mills — but a palm-sized sticky note pad only cost about 3 cents in materials. After factoring in equipment amortization and labor, everything beyond that was pure profit.

Su Yiyi nodded. "That's a high margin. But will people be turned off by the price?"

Yang replied, "Maybe. But most of our buyers are corporate procurement officers. They aren't price-sensitive like individual consumers.

Besides, from their perspective, even a few thousand pads only cost a few hundred HKD. For a big company, that's nothing."

Su Yiyi frowned. "I'm just worried someone will copy us. You said before that Hong Kong's patent protections are weak."

Yang picked up another sticky note and replied, "I've thought about that too. That's why we're rushing to take over the market first.

Sticky notes have long lifespans. A pad can last weeks or even months. If we sell to all the big companies first, who cares if someone copies us later?

That's one of the downsides of the sticky note business — it's great, but not high-frequency."

Su Yiyi nodded. "So we focus on exports after that?"

"Exactly," Yang said. "Exports are key. Same for glue boards and flypapers. Hong Kong manufacturers die without overseas markets."

"What about channels?" Su Yiyi asked.

"Still working on it," Yang admitted. "We'll focus on owning the Hong Kong market first."

Then he glanced at the clock. "It's about time. Let's check on production."

"Okay," Su Yiyi agreed.

Down in the workshop, the machine was already running. Less than a minute later, a freshly-made yellow sticky note pad slid out from the machine.

Yang checked his watch — around 40 seconds per pad.

Factoring in breaks and maintenance, the machine could produce around 2,000 pads per day.

"Now we'll see how well it sells," Yang grinned.

Su Yiyi was already prepared. With her list of hundreds of company contacts, she immediately started reaching out after production began.

As Yang predicted, the 10-cent price point wasn't a problem for corporate buyers. Most simply placed their orders without hesitation.

Within the first week, Changxing Industries' sticky note business exploded.

The machine ran 24/7, and delivery teams — usually made up of factory workers — took advantage of clear weather to carry crates across the city.

For the first time, Yang experienced what it was like to earn money every single minute of the day.

The orders were coming in faster than he could count.

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