Chapter 19 Setting up a stall at the entrance of a bathhouse—that's called scene marketing!

Wang Dapao's voice was as low as muffled thunder.

That large hand pressed directly onto the office desk.

"Creak—"

The glass plate on the desktop let out a tooth-aching groan.

It looked as if it would shatter in the next second.

Manager Sun was dazed with fear.

He watched helplessly as that fist swayed right under his nose.

That kind of "physical suppression" coming from a bottom-tier heavy manual laborer...

...instantly made him recall the fear of being dominated by a sledgehammer back in the workshop years ago.

"You... what do you want to do?"

"This is a state-owned unit!"

"Are you trying to start a rebellion?"

Manager Sun's hand trembled.

That half-pot of scalding hot tea, as bad luck would have it...

...splashed directly onto his crotch.

"Ouch! Hot, hot, hot!"

The fat man screamed and jumped up.

Clutching his soaking wet crotch...

...he looked as pathetic as a drowned rat.

The livestream audience instantly went crazy with laughter:

[Hahahaha! This move, this move is called "physical castration"!]

[Big Cannon is mighty! Don't argue if you can use your hands; this sense of oppression is absolutely top-tier!]

[So satisfying! Although he didn't actually hit him, the tea splash was extremely stress-relieving. I suggest increasing the intensity!]

[Manager Sun: I was extremely scared at the time, I even wanted to pee my pants (though they were already wet).]

"Big Cannon, stop."

Lin Xi's voice sounded calmly, without a hint of a ripple.

He reached out and gently patted Wang Dapao's tensed forearm.

That brute force about to explode miraculously dissipated under Lin Xi's calm gaze.

Wang Dapao snorted and withdrew his hand.

"We're here to do business, not to be bandits."

Lin Xi stepped forward, calmly pulled out the plug, and wound the power cord loop by loop.

Picking up the heater, Lin Xi turned and walked to the door, paused his steps, and tilted his head.

In the backlight, his eyes were as sharp as knives.

"Manager Sun, you will regret this. And it will be very soon."

After saying that, Lin Xi walked out of the office without looking back, leaving Manager Sun behind still clutching his crotch and wailing in pain.

...

Exiting the Department Store Building, the cold wind blew, and the three of them instantly felt a chill.

Liu Guihua had a worried face: "Manager Lin, it's over now. Having offended Manager Sun, how are we going to sell this stuff in the base?"

Wang Dapao was even more like a child who had done something wrong, lowering his head: "Brother Lin, did I cause trouble again? I couldn't hold back just now..."

Lin Xi laughed instead, a light and breezy laugh.

He stood on the steps, looking at the large chimney emitting white smoke in the distance—that was the base's large bathhouse, and also the place with the highest foot traffic in the entire residential area.

"Big Cannon, you're not wrong. That kind of person deserves to be intimidated."

Lin Xi took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it, took a deep drag, and exhaled a cloud of white mist.

"Who says selling things must be done in a shopping mall?"

Lin Xi pointed to the large bathhouse in the distance, his eyes flashing with light.

"In this freezing weather, besides being under the covers, where are there the most people?"

"The bathhouse!" Liu Guihua blurted out the answer.

"And where are people most afraid of the cold?"

"That would definitely be right when they've finished bathing and come out!"

Wang Dapao also realized it and slapped his thigh.

"This is called—Scenarized Pain-point Marketing."

Lin Xi snuffed out the cigarette butt and flicked it into the trash can.

"Big Cannon, go back to the workshop right now and have Erga and Wang Yu pull all the remaining stock over."

"Also, go to the cafeteria to borrow two tables, and bring that large power strip we use for electricity in the workshop."

"We're not taking the regular army route anymore."

Lin Xi narrowed his eyes, the corners of his mouth turning up:

"Tonight, we're setting up a stall right at the bathhouse entrance."

"I want everyone in the base to know what 'a fire in winter' means!"

In the livestream, the direction of the comments instantly reversed.

[Selling electric heaters at the bathhouse entrance? This scenarized marketing is brilliant!]

[When you've just finished bathing and you're all warm, your pores are all open; a little breeze can freeze you to the bone!]

[Manager Sun is finished. This kind of guerrilla tactic is something a state-owned mall simply can't defend against!]

[Waiting to count money until my hands cramp tonight! Sunflower seeds and stools are ready!]

...

At six in the evening, as dusk turned to dark, at the bathhouse entrance.

Every time the heavy cotton door curtain was lifted, the surging white steam didn't even have time to dissipate before being torn to shreds by the cold wind.

The workers who had just finished bathing wrapped their cotton coats tightly, each shrinking their necks and cursing as they rushed out.

Their hair wasn't even dry yet before a layer of white frost formed.

It was so damn cold!

In the midst of this desolate shivering, a sharp and high-pitched loudspeaker forcibly pierced through the wind and snow.

"Take a look, come and have a look!"

"Base-produced, aerospace technology!"

"Red Star little sun, a fire in winter!"

Liu Guihua stood at the windbreak opposite the bathhouse, holding a large loudspeaker made of rolled tin. Although her face was frozen red, her voice was full of energy as she shouted.

Behind her, in the dark corner of the snow, several halos of orange-red light suddenly lit up.

That light was too warm, too eye-catching.

Lin Xi sat on a folding stool, with ten neatly arranged "Red Star · warm sun" units in front of him.

"Hum—"

Beside him, an old-fashioned diesel generator borrowed from the Logistics Department roared.

Ten machines were turned on simultaneously.

Ten orange-red parabolic surfaces, like ten burning eyes, reflected the surrounding snow within three meters into a bright red.

Even the snowflakes drifting into the circle turned into steam before they could hit the ground.

"What is this thing? So bright?"

"Is that... for heating? Made by that crappy Service Center?"

A crowd began to gather.

Humanity's phototaxis and desire for warmth made them gather around involuntarily.

But most people stood two meters away, their eyes showing the wariness and scrutiny unique to those years.

In this era of material scarcity, any new thing meant "risk" and "waste."

Sun Erga, wearing that ill-fitting coat, was jumping around there, spittle flying:

"Everyone come closer! Don't be afraid! It won't burn you!"

"This is high-tech that just came off the line from our Fifth Workshop! It's so warm it'll make you want to cry!"

"Forget it, Erga," someone in the crowd heckled, their tone carrying mockery,

"Your crappy Service Center only patches pot bottoms and repairs tires."

"You can build appliances too? Don't let it be a showpiece that breaks two days after buying it."

"Exactly, it looks weird, like a giant flashlight."

Cold sarcasm and ridicule surged like a tide.

Sun Erga's face froze, his earlier excitement dampened to the core by these buckets of cold water.

He shrunk his neck and leaned in toward Lin Xi, his voice weak:

"Brother Lin, the wind direction isn't right. These people are too hard to please. How about we withdraw?"

In the livestream, the comments were also full of anxiety.

[This generation of the masses is hard to lead! Their concepts are too outdated!]

[Streamer, don't panic! Use your art of persuasion!]

[It's minus thirty degrees; if we don't start selling soon, we'll really freeze to death on the street.]