Chapter 341: Talent Development and the Hot Sale of Woven Plastic Sacks
"Hair dryer?" Wang Zhiqun paused for a moment and said, "I actually have one at home—it's a Japanese import."
Yang Wendong nodded. "Same here. We even have one of those large ones for women. I've used it many times—it's very convenient. But as you know, in Hong Kong—or Asia as a whole—very few households actually have one of these."
Hair dryers had actually existed since the early 20th century, but the early versions were large and clunky, designed mainly for women with long hair. You'd stick a hood over your head while hot air blew through a tube—something you'd only find in a salon.
As for men, they just let their hair air-dry.
By the early 21st century, compact hair dryers became more common—but even "compact" was only relative to their earlier bulky counterparts. Home-use models were still rare.
Wang Zhiqun agreed, "Yeah, most people just let their hair dry naturally."
Compared to essential appliances like rice cookers or kettles, hair dryers were clearly a luxury. Hair would dry on its own, after all. Even for women, as long as they washed their hair less often in winter, it wasn't really a big deal.
And winter in Hong Kong wasn't that cold to begin with—stand in the sun a while, and you wouldn't even catch a cold.
Besides, with the recent droughts, hygiene had taken a back seat. Having lice was better than having no water to drink.
"That's why I want to develop a compact, household-friendly electric hair dryer," Yang Wendong said. "So everyone can dry their hair after a wash. The key here is that it has to be small—not several kilos heavy and so tiring to hold that you need someone else to help you."
Long hair, weak arms, and a clunky, heavy dryer—it wasn't a match. Most women couldn't even hold it long enough to dry their hair, so they had to ask someone else to help. In this era, even Westerners were used to that dynamic. It just seemed "normal."
But as someone from the future, Yang Wendong saw the opportunity. The time was right to introduce a truly convenient hair dryer.
Wang Zhiqun thought for a moment. "If we're going small, we'll need to solve two core technical challenges. One, the motor needs to be compact but still powerful. Two, the casing has to be heat-resistant."
"Exactly. The housing should be made of plastic," Yang Wendong said. "Get in touch with Wei Zetao. Changxing Industrial's R&D center in Taiwan has been working on heat-resistant plastics and has made some progress.
Plastic is lightweight. As long as it can handle high temperatures, it'll make the perfect shell for a hair dryer."
Changxing Industrial had built its empire on creativity and enjoyed massive profits. But Yang Wendong didn't want to rely solely on innovative ideas. Even 3M, with its vast IP portfolio, owed its strength not just to Post-it Notes but to a range of advanced materials technologies.
That's why, once plastic became a core raw material for Changxing Industrial, Yang Wendong invested heavily to set up an R&D center in Taiwan, leveraging the island's strong chemical engineering talent.
As a time-traveler, he also knew that plastic would become a core component in appliances, cars, computers—even airplanes. And heat resistance would always be a top requirement.
"Got it. I'll look into materials. I also plan to use plastic extensively in our upcoming fan models," Wang Zhiqun said. "As for the motor, I'll start reaching out to suppliers in Japan and Germany."
Yang Wendong nodded. "That's fine. But once you find the right design, we need to buy the tech outright and start manufacturing the motors ourselves. These components are too critical to rely on others for.
Motors have huge value—not just in hair dryers and fans, but in appliances like air conditioners, fridges, washing machines, microwaves, and more."
"Understood." Wang Zhiqun thought for a moment, then asked, "Yang Sheng, hair dryer tech doesn't seem too complicated. We can make some improvements, but compared to existing products, we don't have a strong advantage."
"Then let me ask you—what advantage does our TV have?" Yang Wendong countered.
Wang Zhiqun shook his head. "None, really. Other than the fact that it's made in Hong Kong. Once we have our own supply chain, it'll be much cheaper."
"Exactly. Being cheap is good enough. In many cases, it's the most important factor," Yang Wendong said. "In consumer electronics, not everything can be revolutionary like Changxing Industrial's inventions. Most of the time, products are 90% the same. You compete on price, quality, branding, and distribution.
We'll gain experience, build a customer base, and then consider tech differentiation. I'm not saying our fans and dryers will outperform legacy brands—but we need to get started now and improve later."
If it were already the 1970s, Yang Wendong would be developing computer-related products—arcade machines, calculators, etc. But that was still a decade away. He had to develop a foundation in appliances first.
Especially now, with Asia's economies just beginning to take off, demand for household electronics was surging—just like 1980s mainland China in his past life.
This was the perfect time for local brands to rise. Samsung had done just that in South Korea. In the 1960s, they had no technology to speak of. Yet it didn't stop them from eventually becoming a tech powerhouse.
One step at a time.
"I'll have the design team start working on a small hair dryer," Wang Zhiqun said.
"Good. Once you have the renderings, show them to me. I might have some feedback," Yang Wendong said.
"Design," in this context, mostly meant buying existing products, disassembling them, and reverse-engineering. That was the norm.
For developing countries wanting to catch up fast, imitation was the way forward. So long as you didn't blatantly infringe on patents, there was nothing wrong with it. Trying to invent everything from scratch? That was the real fool's errand.
"Understood," Wang Zhiqun replied.
Yang Wendong then asked, "How's recruitment for designers going? Hong Kong doesn't have much tech talent, right?"
Wang Zhiqun laughed. "True. We're seriously short on local talent. That's why I've been recruiting mostly from Taiwan.
Taiwan started building up its tech workforce in the 1950s. Universities there have electronics programs. Their local industry is better developed than Hong Kong's. The population's bigger too, so it's easier to poach talent. Wages are higher here, and once you solve housing and food, they're happy to come."
"Not bad." Yang Wendong nodded. "Chinese University of Hong Kong is about to launch. Wei Zetao has negotiated with the Education Bureau to add two engineering classes—one for structural design, the other for electronics. Coordinate with him to make sure we benefit as much as possible."
Hong Kong's universities couldn't compare to those in large countries—not in campus size, not in enrollment. So for now, only two classes were secured. That would have to suffice.
"Only two?" Wang Zhiqun thought for a moment. "It's not a lot, but if we can make them the school's top classes and attract the highest-performing students, it'll still benefit us.
In R&D, it's not just about numbers—it's about getting the best minds. If the smartest students enter those two classes, we're set."
"How do we attract them?" Yang Wendong asked. "Isn't that up to the school?"
Wang Zhiqun smiled. "It's easy. Just offer high-paying jobs to graduates from those two classes. Word will get around. People go to university to find a good job afterward—unless they're rich kids looking for a degree to frame on the wall."
"Not a bad idea," Yang Wendong nodded approvingly. "But that's a long-term plan. For now, keep poaching from Taiwan and overseas."
Wang Zhiqun nodded and said, "Yes, that's for sure. A few years ago, Hong Kong barely had any electronics industry, and even its general manufacturing base was minimal. It's really only in the past few years, thanks to you, Yang Sheng, that these industries have grown so much. But local talent and supply chains will definitely take longer to fully develop."
"Mm, it can't be rushed." Yang Wendong thought for a moment and then added, "Alright, your current strategy can target not just future Hong Kong university graduates, but also graduates from Taiwan. Go headhunt top students from their university programs—or even professionals already working in the industry.
We need to strengthen our R&D team now. In the future, when we scale up, we'll need to develop multiple projects simultaneously. We won't be able to take things one at a time anymore."
There were far too many electronics products in the pipeline, and Yang Wendong wasn't short on capital. What he lacked was the technical talent to execute. Although some R&D could be outsourced to overseas centers, communication in this era was slow and inefficient. Ultimately, it was more practical to base most development in Hong Kong or Taiwan.
"Got it. I'll focus on recruiting talent from Taiwan," Wang Zhiqun replied with a smile.
"Alright." Yang Wendong continued, "Once you've finished the first batch of TVs, bring a few over to me."
"No problem," Wang Zhiqun agreed.
A week later, on the morning of May 20, a shipment of Glory-brand televisions arrived at Changxing Tower.
"This is a 17-inch screen?" Yang Wendong asked as he looked at the display. "Feels really small."
Wang Zhiqun chuckled. "Yang Sheng, you're used to watching 20-inch or larger color TVs. That's what you've always had. But in reality, most consumers buy 14-inch models."
"Mm, not bad." Yang Wendong nodded. "How many units did you produce in this batch?"
"Two hundred units," Wang Zhiqun said. "Half will stay in our factory for testing. The rest will be sent to our sister companies to display and offer to staff. That way, employees who want one can register to receive it."
Yang Wendong laughed, "So you're mainly relying on Changxing Industrial—they've got the most people."
"Exactly. Of the 100 we're distributing, 80 are going to them," Wang Zhiqun replied. "I'll be heading over to Kwun Tong with the delivery truck later."
"I'll go with you," Yang Wendong said. "I have something to take care of there anyway."
"Great," Wang Zhiqun said with a grin.
After lunch, a group including Yang Wendong and a truck arrived at the Changxing Industrial Park in Kwun Tong.
Wei Zetao came out to greet them. He had already made preparations. As soon as the truck arrived, workers were ready to unload, and several smaller vehicles were standing by.
Wei Zetao escorted Yang Wendong and Wang Zhiqun into one of the buildings.
A mid-level manager from Changxing Industrial wheeled over a small cart full of cardboard boxes. "Yang Sheng, this is the plastic woven sack we made using our new Japanese equipment," Wei Zetao said.
"Woven sack?" Wang Zhiqun looked a bit puzzled.
Yang Wendong picked up one of the sacks and examined it. Then he turned to Wei Zetao. "Old Wei, explain this to everyone."
"Sure thing." Wei Zetao smiled. "This woven sack is…"
As Wei Zetao explained, Wang Zhiqun and the others began to understand. They picked up the sacks and tugged hard at them—no damage whatsoever.
"This thing is tough," Wang Zhiqun exclaimed. "This would be perfect for packaging rice, flour, and other bulk goods."
Yang Wendong smiled. "Also cement, fertilizer—basically anything granular or powdered. These bags can handle it."
"Right," Wei Zetao added. "Our first target market for these woven sacks is the cement factories. Their current packaging methods are a huge hassle."
"How many can we produce per day?" Yang Wendong asked.
"About 500 bags per day for now," Wei Zetao replied. "We plan to scale up."
"Five hundred? That's enough to test the market," Yang Wendong nodded.
Even for something like cement, these woven sacks wouldn't be single-use like traditional plastic bags. So a production rate of 500 per day wasn't bad at all.
May 22 – Green Island Cement Factory, Hung Hom
BOOM~
From far outside the cement factory, the deafening sound of machinery could be heard.
A young man arrived at the entrance and was stopped by a guard. After a brief chat—and offering a pack of cigarettes—he was allowed in.
"Mr. Jian?"
In a meeting room, the young man stood up when he heard someone enter. "Hello, Section Chief Xu. I'm Jian Jiahua, sales manager at Changxing Industrial."
"Hello, please have a seat," Xu said politely. "So what brings you to Green Island Cement?"
Green Island Cement was the largest cement factory in Hong Kong and already had some minor dealings with Changxing Real Estate. Still, given Changxing's current status as an industrial titan, Xu was careful to show proper respect.
"I'm here to introduce a new product from Changxing Industrial—our plastic woven sack, also known as the 'snake skin bag,'" Jian Jiahua said, pulling a sample from a cardboard box beside him.
"Snake skin bag?" Xu looked surprised. "And what's this bag used for?"
"Take a look," Jian Jiahua said, handing it over.
Xu examined it carefully. "You're suggesting we use this for cement packaging?"
"Yes, it's extremely durable," Jian Jiahua explained. "The outer layer is tightly woven plastic. It's waterproof, highly resistant to tearing, and can carry heavy loads without damage. Even sharp objects won't easily puncture it."
"It's waterproof?" Xu's eyes lit up.
"Absolutely. We can test it right now," Jian Jiahua said with a smile. "The inner layer is essentially the same material as common plastic bags, sealed with a strong outer weave. It can take a serious beating."
"Alright, let's test it out," Xu said, clearly interested.
They headed to the back courtyard of one of the factory workshops. Under Xu's command, workers filled the woven sacks with raw cement.
They poured water on the surface, scratched it with sharp tools, and tested its weight capacity.
It passed every test with flying colors.
"How much is one of these bags?" Xu asked eagerly.
"Three dollars each," Jian Jiahua replied.
"Three? Can't go any lower?" Xu asked.
"These are brand-new, high-quality products. Costs are still high," Jian Jiahua said. "And compared to your current wooden crate method, this will save you loads in transportation and handling. That's where the real savings are."
"How many bags do you have available?" Xu asked.
"Three thousand," Jian Jiahua said, holding up three fingers.
"I'll take all of them. But can you give me a 50-cent discount?" Xu grinned.
"You're a tough negotiator, Chief Xu," Jian Jiahua said, smiling. "I can give you 1,500 bags at that price. The rest we need to allocate to other clients."
"Fine. I'll take the 1,500 and try them out. If they work well, I'll reorder."
"Deal," Jian Jiahua said.
After a working lunch at Green Island Cement, Jian Jiahua rushed off to a nearby flour mill to continue promoting the product.
The next day, more Changxing Industrial sales reps fanned out to markets, small factories, and other places that might need these woven sacks.
By the end of May, the phones in Changxing Industrial's plastic products division were ringing non-stop. Everyone wanted to place orders for the snake skin bags.
Wei Zetao quickly reported the news to Yang Wendong.
Yang Wendong, calm as ever, simply said, "Increase production. Meet Hong Kong's demand as soon as possible. After that, we'll focus on developing overseas markets."
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