"I asked my friend in Chengdu to help me. He is a senior of mine who is currently an editor at Computer News. He had noticed the tabletop game that was popular in the University Town of Chengbei Normal University. After I contacted him, he was surprised that we made it ourselves."
Early in the morning of a new week, Qin Xizhen and Cheng Ran were walking and talking in a small alleyway towards No. 1 High School, holding the lesson plan.
The two had already agreed to meet here at 7:20, and then go to school through the alleys of old houses instead of the main road, so that they could make some simple arrangements during the journey.
No matter how you look at it, this feels like an underground party meeting, and it is also to avoid being seen by too many people. After all, Qin Xizhen and Cheng Ran always appear in public, and there are always too many things to pay attention to. And who could have thought that the two of them would actually start a business
Obviously, from Qin Xizhen's perspective and position, she should have an attitude of education and persuasion towards Cheng Ran, who started a small business in the first year of high school. But Qin Xizhen is not such a teacher. Even as a teacher, she is more willing to get along with students as friends. She used to go to college through a direct route to a music major. After all, she is only four years older than these current high school students. She may have to put on the airs of a teacher when scolding people, but she really can't do it at other times. Many students basically smile at her, and she doesn't have that kind of majesty.
Secondly, how can we persuade Cheng Ran to focus on his studies
Without saying a word, he handed over the top spot in the grade.
But Qin Xizhen felt it was necessary to say it again, "By the way, will this work if it is expanded? Will it delay your later studies? I know you are the first in the grade, but the competition here in No. 1 High School is fierce, and it doesn't mean you can always be the first."
Cheng Ran nodded. "Yeah, it's impossible that I will always be like this. I probably won't be like this in my second year of high school. I plan to take the transfer exam and go to Rongcheng No. 10 Middle School."
Qin Xizhen was speechless for a while and resisted the urge to slap him on the forehead. After all, he has no official reason to be his disciple. Could it be that he just can't stand your arrogance
Sure enough, reminding him about studying might just be asking for trouble.
The meaning of these words was very clear. Just like what Cheng Ran had shown in the past, he had a clear plan. He planned to take the transfer exam of Rongcheng No. 10 Middle School, which was known as a nightmare. If an ordinary student, even the top students in any class of No. 1 High School, said this, Qin Xizhen would probably encourage him, "Then you have to work hard..."
But it was only Cheng Ran who found that she didn't even need to say such words of encouragement.
There's no point in saying it.
He will probably just glance at you. Does he need you to remind him of this
Let’s get down to business.
Qin Xizhen said, "This senior is very capable. He also shares the same idea as us. He thinks that the Computer Newspaper can also be innovative and open a small column to introduce this kind of desktop game. In his opinion, most people who like to tinker with computers are actually very interested in this kind of offline game with a mechanism."
Computer News is a popular science newspaper published by Southwest University and Chengdu Association for Science and Technology in 1992. It was in line with the times and just caught up with the process of popularization of computer applications in China. Once it was released, it has always ranked first in the circulation of electronic and computer newspapers in the country.
It can be said to be the first-hand bible for popularizing IT computer application knowledge among Chinese people. It has survived the 1990s and the 21st century. Even when print media declined in later generations, this newspaper still kept up with the trend of the times. Both offline and online, it still stands at the forefront of the country's largest IT newspaper.
If my memory serves me correctly, this newspaper was rated as a first-class newspaper in the province last year. Its current circulation in the country is quite large. Many people read every issue of Computer Newspaper to learn various computer skills, such as DOS and indos tricks, and the application of new software, just like they are tirelessly exploring a mystery.
At this time, being ahead of others in computer expertise is considered a very pretentious thing, whether at work or at school.
I won’t say much, even when I helped girls fix their computers, I was ignored by the god-like aunt in the dormitory, who had the privilege of freely entering the male-forbidden area.
"Geeks are all interested in this type of tabletop game, because it was these people who first invented the tabletop games, and these are the cornerstone and source of nutrition for early classic computer games. Even many game modes derived from tabletop games will continue to be popular in later generations, creating many classic hit games." Cheng Ran said.
"Publishing a small column in Computer News has great potential and can quickly create an impact in colleges and universities," Cheng Ran is well aware that college students account for a large proportion of the sales of Computer News.
This is also a group with strong learning and exploration abilities. Computers are becoming increasingly popular. Some people who don't have computers can practice in the school's electronic reading room, computer room, and Internet cafes these days.
Computer newspapers are not just about popularizing scientific knowledge. They often have columns introducing computer games. If tabletop games can also be included in the columns, it will have a huge impact on the promotion of tabletop games.
Qin Xizhen said, "But senior brother still needs time. He still needs to submit a report to the editor-in-chief for approval, and then implement it... But it is said that there are more than a dozen new plans emerging from various groups, and we may not be able to stand out. Anyway, let's promote it according to the club model first. You said your brother is at Rongcheng Normal University, he can run club business in various universities, similar to the promotion of our music school... But I think you may not be able to keep up in terms of production capacity. So the printing factory should be put on the agenda."
Cheng Ran nodded. "You can contact Shanhai Printing Factory. I called them before. They accept large orders from government agencies and schools. They said that they print at least 5,000 sets. They don't accept ordinary jobs of a few thousand. When you are free later, bring the materials to talk..."
Qin Xizhen nodded and asked, "How much commission will you give me this time?"
"If you can get the cost of printing cards and outer packaging hard shells down to 10 yuan, I'll give you 1.5 yuan for a set." Cheng Ran calculated that a set of board games now only has 200 cards, and the requirements for craftsmanship in this era are not too high. In fact, based on the cost of the printing factory, a set of chess may cost less than 4 yuan, but most printing factories will not charge you that much. Since it is the first cooperation and it is not a big customer, the printing factory will still strive for the maximum benefit.
The printing factory will also provide manual labor for cutting and sorting. If the packing process can be finalized at the same time, the products can be put on the shelves directly after leaving the factory. Cheng Ran is of course happy to pay a little more to do these time-saving and labor-saving tasks.
"Long-term effectiveness?" Qin Xizhen asked with her head tilted. Five thousand sets, that's seven thousand five hundred yuan, not low. Her eyes began to shine again.
Cheng Ran said, "With my current status, it is not convenient for me to move around, and I don't like negotiating with people. If you can do it for me, and Rongcheng Computer News uses your connections to promote it, and we print more copies later, you will naturally get more commissions."
Qin Xizhen's eyebrows curved, "Sure. Deal."
After the word "deal" was finalized, a group of students who were talking and laughing walked out quickly from the corner of the low building behind them. They were talking and laughing just now, but after hearing the noise here, their laughter and chattering became quieter. When they turned around the building, they saw Qin Xizhen and Cheng Ran.
A group of people were stunned for a moment, and they all spoke up, "Teacher Qin..."
Qin Xizhen said "hmm" to them, then turned around and waved the music score at Cheng Ran, "I asked you to bring the electronic keyboard to classroom 210 last weekend, how come you forgot? What should I do if I don't have an instrument today? Are you going to ask me to move it? Remember to move it over after the second class!"
Phew, it’s still a hard labor…
A group of people passing by looked at Cheng Ran, and their eyes were all gloating.
Facing Qin Xizhen, whose smile was suppressed, Cheng Ran nodded, "I understand, Teacher Qin."
Then a group of people came over.
Qin Xizhen's eyes became crystal clear again. "Let me do the math. If the printing factory sells all 5,000 sets, and you said you want to lower the price to 50 yuan per set... that would be 250,000 yuan in sales! Wow... what a big order."
You actually want to say a lot of money! Cheng Ran rolled his eyes at her.
"If it continues to expand in the future..." Qin Xizhen stared at him blankly, "Cheng Ran, you're going to become a small millionaire!"
“With the emergence of piracy, profits will become thinner and thinner in the future, but we will always be at the forefront and we will definitely get the first bite of the cake.” Cheng Ran smiled.
In this era, many things cannot be simply measured by price levels; some things are inherently luxury items.
For example, a bowl of noodles was only three yuan at that time, but the Audi dual-spin four-wheel drive car, which was owned by every primary and secondary school student, was priced at thirty or forty yuan. A model toy of Japanese Dragon Warrior was priced at 18 to 30 yuan. As for the robots and remote-controlled cars that everyone liked at that time, they were easily hundreds of yuan. A Nintendo FC game cartridge was priced at hundreds of yuan. Later, the domestic pirated FC appeared, which pushed the price down to the range of dozens of yuan.
Therefore, Cheng Ran could put a high price on board games, which were ahead of their time. In this period of scarcity of spiritual entertainment, there was indeed a market for this price.
However, with the increase in output in the later period and the interference of piracy, the pricing will have to be adjusted downward as appropriate.
…
Money has to be earned, and gaining wealth through foresight and the advantages of one's own life experience is also what Cheng Ran wants to do. However, he is currently developing in multiple areas, and career is only one of them. Experiencing and enjoying the current peaceful life is the main line.
So he was very happy to have Qin Xizhen involved. The most important thing was... he was rather lazy now.
After agreeing on the follow-up plan with Qin Xizhen, this kind of life continued.
But now in the music classroom where the band is rehearsing, such conversations often occur. Qin Xizhen greets all the members with great concern, "You've worked hard. Do you want to have something to drink?"
When everyone nodded excitedly, "Okay, okay, thank you, Teacher Qin!", Qin Xizhen turned to Cheng Ran with a smile and said, "Give me the money!"
Later, whenever Qin Xizhen asked something like "Everyone has exerted a lot of energy today, do you want to eat something delicious?"
The whole band looked at Cheng Ran and said, "We want to... but we don't have the money."
Qin Xizhen coquettishly spread her hands towards Cheng Ran, "Give me the money!"
Cheng Ran: "I have something to say but I don't know if I should say it..."
…
The days passed by, and before we knew it, the art festival was here.
(Someone told me not to put three dots, which is good advice.)