Chapter 34: Fifty Bikes to Wenzhou
The Road South
At dawn, two long-haul trucks rumbled out of Kaiyuan's gates, each loaded with motorcycles wrapped in protective covers. Rui rode shotgun in the lead truck, a checklist in his lap.
Six hours later, they rolled into Wenzhou. Liu Peng was already waiting at his dealership, grinning as the tarps came off.
"They look even better in person," he said, running a hand along the tank of the first bike. "Let's take one around the block."
The test ride lasted ten minutes — and Liu Peng came back beaming.
"These will sell themselves," he said. "I'll have them on the floor by tonight."
Haotian's Countermove
Two days later, Haotian plastered Wenzhou with new billboards:
"The Future Rides the Falcon Z — More Power, Same Price!"
The Falcon Z's chrome gleamed under stage lights at its launch event. They even brought in a famous TV actor to pose on it.
"Overcompensating much?" Li Wei muttered when he saw the coverage.
Rui didn't answer — but he knew Haotian's bigger budget could drown out Kaiyuan's word-of-mouth if they weren't careful.
An Unexpected Boost
That weekend, a local Wenzhou newspaper ran a small feature titled:
"From School Desk to Factory Floor — Young Man's Motorcycles Win Riders' Hearts"
The article described Rui as a "student entrepreneur" balancing exams and assembly lines, with quotes from trial riders praising the Light Rider's reliability.
It wasn't a national headline — but in Wenzhou, customers started asking:
"Is this one of those student-made bikes?"
Dealers found it charming. The first ten units sold in under a week.
Evening in Wenzhou
Rui sat with Liu Peng outside the dealership, watching a young courier strap parcels onto the back of a new Light Rider.
"You know," Liu Peng said, "if you can keep this quality, fifty won't be my last order."
Rui smiled, sipping his tea. "Then we'd better start building a bigger factory."