Chapter 298: The Rise of Comics and the Bestselling Rice Cooker
"Black Cat Detective?" Wu Hailin repeated the name after hearing it. "That sounds like something that would really appeal to kids."
"Exactly. The general idea is…" Yang Wendong began explaining the story background.
Truth be told, he didn't remember the plot very well. He had watched the cartoon as a child in his previous life, and remembered liking it, but the details were fuzzy. Fortunately, that wasn't important. What mattered were the mystery plots. As long as each case was engaging, the story could be adapted freely without issue.
Wu Hailin listened attentively and nodded. "I get the idea. I'll work out the visual elements and the rest of the setting."
"Mm, don't worry too much about perfect detail," Yang Wendong said. "The most important thing is that the format allows you to keep the story going with new cases. It has to be episodic."
In the comic industry, longevity required segmented stories. Aside from some recurring characters and an overarching setting, every chapter could be its own independent story — no continuity required. That was how comics like Detective Conan, Pokémon, Ikkyū-san, Crayon Shin-chan, and Doraemon managed to keep going for decades.
By contrast, comics with full story arcs, no matter how great the writing or ideas, had natural limits. Once the story reached its end, it either became repetitive or collapsed. Just look at Dragon Ball, Slam Dunk, Saint Seiya, or Digimon — once the main story finished, any follow-ups were just franchise extensions, often uninspired cash grabs. Dragon Ball, especially, was notorious for its messy sequels.
Though Black Cat Detective had only a few episodes in its original version, Yang Wendong knew it had massive expansion potential. As long as the audience liked it and the writing team was good, the series could go on forever.
Wu Hailin nodded after a moment. "I understand now."
"Good. Use what we discussed and start creating the setting artwork. You can also start storyboarding some of the first plots. Assign a dedicated team to it. If you have other creative ideas, I'm happy to hear them," Yang Wendong said.
In fact, many films, shows, and anime from his previous life only left him with general outlines in memory — not the full details. Even for Black Cat Detective, he couldn't remember much beyond the premise. The execution would depend entirely on his team.
As long as the framework was solid, they could build on it however they liked.
"Understood," Wu Hailin said.
Yang Wendong added, "By the way, Old Wu, have you been watching any Japanese anime lately?"
"Japanese?" Wu Hailin looked a little embarrassed. "Not really. I've read a lot of local Hong Kong comics lately, but I haven't looked into Japanese ones. I've seen some American and British work, but I don't speak English, so I didn't get much from them. I imagine Japanese would be the same."
"Language," Yang Wendong muttered, frowning. He waved to his assistant. "Find a few people fluent in Japanese. Buy some of the best Japanese manga and have them translated. Also, organize Japanese language lessons for the comic team. They don't need to become fluent — just enough to read and understand."
For the next few decades, Japan would dominate the global comic market. Yang Wendong didn't need to take the entire pie, but he wanted a slice. Learning from Japan's strengths was essential.
Even with creative ideas, without skilled professionals to bring them to life, there was no way to compete. You could hand someone the entire outline for The Three-Body Problem, and without the right talent, they'd still write a bad story.
"Learn Japanese?" Wu Hailin repeated in surprise.
Yang Wendong explained, "Japan's manga industry is massive. Their culture and ours are similar. If you learn Japanese, you'll be able to read their works and get inspiration. That will help you and the company grow."
"I'll give it a shot," Wu Hailin nodded. After all, the company would be covering the cost.
"Great. Then let's hope I'll see the new story soon," Yang Wendong smiled.
"I'll complete the initial concept sketches within half a month," Wu Hailin promised.
"Perfect," Yang Wendong nodded.
Launching any business was the hardest part. But as long as the early stages went smoothly, and he combined his future knowledge with capital investment, growth would snowball.
September 20th:
Yang Wendong arrived early at his office. After finishing up some paperwork, he headed downstairs to the Carrefour supermarket.
"Mr. Yang Wendong," Liu Huayu and Wang Zhiqun greeted him upon arrival.
Yang Wendong nodded. "Today's the first day the rice cookers go on sale. Are we ready?"
"All set," Liu Huayu said. "We've got a dedicated table in the appliance section. Someone started cooking rice at 7 a.m., and it's ready now. As soon as we open, customers can sample it."
"Good," Yang Wendong said. "Are the other stores doing the same?"
"Yes," Liu Huayu replied. "All our stores are following the same plan. We've placed ad boards at each entrance promoting the Glory-brand rice cookers. Everyone entering will see them. If they're even slightly interested, they'll check it out."
Yang Wendong chuckled. "Great. The storefront ad space is invaluable."
One of the advantages of owning the retail channel was the ability to promote your own products freely. That prime real estate was off-limits to outside brands unless there was a major promotion. Even then, it was limited and less impactful than focused campaigns.
"No problem," Liu Huayu said. "That space is reserved. We only use it when it really matters."
"Right. If there are ads every day, people stop paying attention," Yang Wendong agreed. "By the way, do we have any data on our customer base?"
Liu Huayu replied, "We can't be exact, but we estimate based on daily transactions. Across our nine stores, we process between 30,000 and 40,000 sales daily. Based on survey ratios, we think we have about 100,000 to 120,000 regular customers.
People who live nearby might come daily or every other day. Those farther away might only visit every couple of weeks."
"So distance still matters most," Yang Wendong said.
In retail, convenience was king. No matter how good your service was, people wouldn't travel far for it.
That's one reason why mainland China never had a Walmart-sized retail king. Even big brands like RT-Mart couldn't match Walmart's dominance in the U.S.
Reasons included lower car ownership and different shopping habits.
In the West, people had cars and made big shopping trips. In China, even car owners preferred to shop close to home. That meant store coverage was smaller.
Hong Kong was the same — even fewer cars. People shopped where it was convenient.
"Mr. Zheng has found five new properties — a mix of rentals and purchases. They're currently being renovated," Liu Huayu reported.
Yang Wendong laughed. "So Jardine Matheson's pressure is pushing you hard?"
"Yes," Liu Huayu said. "They've got deep pockets. If they push hard and start a price war, we won't have much room.
Especially with all the properties under Hongkong Land — if they waive rent, it's a huge advantage. Even if we're more efficient, we can't beat free rent."
"If they waive it, we'll waive it too," Yang Wendong said casually. "Actually, a price war could help us. It would discourage new competitors and quickly teach Hong Kong consumers to shop in supermarkets."
Sometimes, commercial battles had upside. Look at how internet giants in China waged wars over group buying, food delivery, ride-hailing, and payments. Billions were burned, but they taught millions of people to embrace new services.
The same logic applied in Hong Kong. A supermarket price war could reshape shopping habits.
Of course, the benefits only went to the winner. The loser walked away empty-handed.
"Understood. Thanks for your support, Mr. Yang Wendong," Liu Huayu said.
On paper, Yang Wendong's assets might not match Jardine Matheson. But in a real price war? Who knew who'd outlast who.
Jardine was too big and too diversified. They couldn't pour endless money into a new business. Even if upper management agreed, their internal factions would clash over resources.
"But we'll still play to our strengths. Winning doesn't mean just cutting prices — we need a real moat," Yang Wendong said. "We plan to go beyond Hong Kong eventually."
No company could support a perpetually loss-making subsidiary forever. Even Walmart pulled out of markets when local operations failed.
But Yang Wendong knew the future. He knew supermarkets would become mainstream. That's why he was willing to invest long-term.
"Understood," Liu Huayu replied. "We've also been optimizing our cost structure."
"When is Jardine's new 'Yee Fung Supermarket' opening?" Yang Wendong asked.
"September 28th. It's an auspicious date," Liu Huayu answered.
Yang Wendong nodded. "Good. Let's see how they do."
At 9 a.m., Carrefour stores opened for business.
Foot traffic was steady. At the entrance, a large sign caught customers' eyes.
"Hong Kong's First Locally Produced Electric Rice Cooker — By Glory Electronics!"
A woman read it aloud. Below the bold Song-style typeface were several images of the product.
A staff member walked up and said, "Ma'am, this is Hong Kong's first domestically produced electric rice cooker. You can find it in the appliance section and see it in action."
The woman asked, "Is it cheaper than the Japanese ones?"
"Yes," the employee replied. "There's a sample pot of rice cooking right now. You can try it before you decide."
"Alright," the woman nodded. She'd been thinking about getting a rice cooker. Cooking with gas at home was getting too troublesome. But the Japanese models were just too expensive.
She and her friend made their way to the appliance section, where various imported fridges, air conditioners, and microwaves were on display.
In one corner, a crowd had gathered around the new rice cookers.
As the customer approached, another salesperson came up and said, "Ma'am, our rice cooker can cook rice in just thirty minutes. We already have a pot prepared here, please feel free to taste it."
"Thank you," the woman replied politely, accepting a small wooden plate with a spoonful of rice.
She took a bite—the rice was perfectly cooked and had a nice texture. She then asked, "Does this rice cooker create scorched rice?"
"A little bit," the salesperson responded, pointing to the edge of the sample pot. "You can see here—there's a layer, but it isn't burnt. It's perfectly edible."
"Are you sure it won't burn the rice?" she asked again, skeptical.
"Unless you add too little water," the salesperson explained. "And scorched rice is actually common. Even Japanese rice cookers can't fully eliminate it."
"Hmm." The woman nodded thoughtfully and followed up with another question, "Will it overflow?"
"As long as you don't overfill the water, that won't happen," the salesperson assured her. "We've run over ten thousand tests already, and it's extremely rare for it to overflow."
"What's the price?" she asked.
"One unit is 200 HKD," the salesperson said. "But we're offering a promotion right now—just 188 HKD."
"188?" The woman hesitated, clearly tempted. That was about half a month's wages.
The salesperson added, "Ma'am, this is an excellent deal. And if anything goes wrong, you can bring it back for repairs. If it's a major issue, we'll replace it for free."
"Really?" she asked in disbelief.
"It's true," the salesperson replied. "The manufacturer actually wants to examine defective products. If it's a serious malfunction, they'll take it back and give you a new one."
"Alright then, I'll take one," the woman decided.
At 188 HKD, it was a bargain, and Carrefour didn't negotiate on pricing—unless it was a high-ticket item.
Not far away, Yang Wendong stood sipping hot tea. Smiling, he said, "Looks like business is good."
Wang Zhiqun nodded. "Yes, we did some surveys a while back. A lot of Hong Kong residents need rice cookers, but Japanese ones are just too expensive.
Ours are significantly cheaper, and they're just right for middle-income families."
"Perfect. Hong Kong can be our testing ground for product quality," Yang Wendong said. "Any issues reported from the electric mosquito swatter or the electric kettle?"
Hong Kong might be a small market, but it was fully under his control. It was the ideal testing environment—millions of potential customers and distribution channels he directly managed. Selling tens of thousands of units would quickly reveal any common product defects.
Moreover, if problems did arise, retrieval and analysis would be straightforward.
Wang Zhiqun replied, "Nothing major. A few mosquito swatters short-circuited and burned out their transistors, and a few kettles had burnt-out heating coils. The quality department is already investigating the suppliers."
"Good," Yang Wendong said. "Then get ready. First we expand into Taiwan, then move on to other Asian countries."
He was very cautious with electronics. Even the most innovative design could be ruined by one massive quality issue.
"Understood," Wang Zhiqun said.
The next day, Yang Wendong returned to Changxing Tower. Wang Zhiqun and Liu Huayu arrived together to report on yesterday's performance.
"Mr. Yang Wendong, our nine Carrefour stores sold 113 rice cookers yesterday," Liu Huayu said.
Yang Wendong asked, "What's the average annual market size for rice cookers in Hong Kong?"
Wang Zhiqun replied, "Based on customs data, Hong Kong imported about 16,000 rice cookers last year. Sales figures aren't clear, but I'd guess they're in that ballpark."
"16,000? That's quite a market," Yang Wendong nodded.
Wang Zhiqun smiled. "Yes. Hong Kong's economy is improving. Last year alone, over 50,000 new residential units were sold. Existing homeowners are even more numerous. Realistically, every household needs one rice cooker.
Even small eateries could use one. It's much more convenient than steamers, though they might need a larger-capacity model."
Liu Huayu added, "Looking at our own data, we used to sell only about 20 rice cookers a day across nine stores. The Glory rice cooker sold five times that yesterday. That's a very strong start."
"It's thanks to focused marketing," Yang Wendong said. "We'll keep some promotional activity going, but don't expect the same boost as yesterday. From now on, sales will reflect the real product quality."
Wang Zhiqun said, "Understood. I'm confident in the quality. Mr. Wei provided us with ample manpower and testing resources. We've conducted more trials than even the Japanese brands."
"Excellent." Yang Wendong nodded. "Contact Zhao Chengguang and distribute through his channels across Hong Kong. Sell as many as possible. Once we're confident in performance after six months, start preparing for export. The Asian market is the real prize."
Just like electric kettles, rice cookers were primarily used in Asia. Western countries had almost no demand.
"Yes, sir," both Wang Zhiqun and Liu Huayu responded in unison.
In reality, the rice cooker wasn't just a profitable product—it was a strategic one. Selling well in Hong Kong was a litmus test for performance and defect rates. Any bugs could be resolved early. Then, when it entered foreign markets, it could be trusted.
And with Hong Kong as a testing lab, Yang Wendong had a controlled environment where feedback was fast, distribution was streamlined, and the customer base was sizable enough to generate actionable data.
Not many companies had that advantage. And few were as cautious yet forward-thinking as Yang Wendong.
This was how Changxing Group turned every product launch into a calculated, risk-mitigated success. The rice cooker was just the next in line. And if it succeeded, Asia was wide open.
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 40 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/johanssen10