Chapter 113: Thanksgiving (2/4)

He only requested two days off, and on the second day, Sumu boarded the Greyhound bus for the return trip, once again heading back to Menlo Park. His home was in Los Angeles, while his school and business were in Silicon Valley. It was foreseeable that in the coming days, he would frequently endure these back-and-forth six-hour journeys—a truly grueling ordeal.

The first day’s sales figures for Qugo Supermarket had just come in, reaching an astonishing $260,000.

This amount was nearly equivalent to the half-year revenue of Mr. Han’s more than ten small convenience stores combined. The profit margin had yet to be calculated but was expected to remain between six and eight percent—much higher than anticipated.

Had the discount not been so steep, profits might have hovered around ten percent.

Customer numbers dropped sharply on the second day, as many had already purchased what they needed on opening day. Such a decline was perfectly normal, and the future outlook remained uncertain, but the initial results had far exceeded Sumu’s expectations.

On his way back to Los Angeles, he brought along five salespeople who did not return with him.

There was still a vast potential market in Los Angeles. In a single day, they sold over six hundred computers, earning Sumu more than $45,000—a sum he had never imagined making so easily.

Nine salespeople were clearly insufficient. Upon returning to Menlo Park, Penguin Company launched another recruitment drive. Over the course of a week, Sumu expanded his team to forty employees.

Most of them were salespeople, whom he personally trained during his spare evenings. After just four days of training, they were ready to begin work.

Additionally, he hired two technicians skilled in computer repairs and purchased a batch of computers at low prices from distributors’ warehouses. They assembled components tailored to customer needs.

The market was teeming with untapped potential; over ninety-nine percent of American high schools and universities had yet to offer computer training courses.

Those universities were well-funded. One of the first salespeople, Mr. Matthew, successfully secured an order for 300 computers from the University of California, Los Angeles, earning a bonus of $6,000—all within just four days.

More than thirty experienced salespeople gradually spread out across every city in California, discovering that money could be made even more easily than expected.

Unnoticed, the day before Thanksgiving arrived.

Since Penguin Company’s founding, computer sales had exceeded 5,100 units, and both Sumu and Li Ping’an were making a great deal of money.

When he met Michael Dell at the end of October, Sumu was amazed at how much money the latter had earned. Now, running his own company, he realized it was truly easy to make money.

All within less than a month and a half.

The company had already earned over $200,000. Every night, Li Ping’an would report how many computers had been sold that day and how much profit was made.

So much so that when Mr. Han called to say he wanted to open a second branch, Sumu barely paid it any mind.

Since there was no mention of increasing his stake, Mr. Han half-jokingly, half-seriously told him to give himself a raise, and then Sumu dived back into the computer sales business.

At present, computer sales were clearly the key profit driver. Recently, several salespeople had reported the emergence of competitors, who, when visiting certain schools or companies, found that others had already pitched to those clients.

The market was enormous. Li Ping’an worried about this, but Sumu was unfazed. He decisively recruited more staff last week, aiming to expand the business into other states.

California, where Silicon Valley was located, was already such a vast market—other states surely had even greater potential. Having discovered a successful sales model, he quickly began hiring with ambition to conquer markets beyond.

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Busy with business, he still attended classes during the day.

After Daniel left, the students at Menlo Park High School continued to dislike Sumu, viewing him as a “snitch” among them. No one wanted to associate with a student who reported to teachers; in their eyes, enduring bullying in silence was the right way.

Sumu didn’t bother engaging further. They didn’t like him, and he didn’t care to mingle with them. Now that he had money, he felt confident. He focused on preparing for the SAT exams and participated in extracurricular activities to earn credits, planning to leave this school next year. He intended to free up enough time so that once his company was stable in a year or two, he could enroll in college.

On the evening of November 21st, after letting the company’s employees take a holiday, Sumu and Li Ping’an remained in the warehouse. The next two days were public holidays, followed by the weekend—four consecutive days off. Neither school nor company operated, leaving salespeople with nothing to do.

The table before them was cluttered with various invoices. Employees’ accommodation and transportation expenses were reimbursed by the company, with daily lodging capped at sixty dollars—just enough for modest hotels. But with so many people staying at hotels, the total expenses were enormous.

To save on accounting fees, Sumu had learned bookkeeping himself. Penguin Company’s operations were simple enough for him to handle. Turning his chair, he said to Li Ping’an:

“So far this month, we’ve reimbursed a total of $57,466. Make sure to record this amount in the books. We can use it to offset some taxes during filing.”

“OC! That much?!” Li Ping’an cursed in shock. Back in October, he’d thought a thousand dollars was a lot. Now, in less than a month, reimbursements had skyrocketed to over fifty thousand dollars, and he still couldn’t get used to it.

Sumu chuckled, “Aren’t those invoices all processed by you? Don’t frown. Remember, high investment brings high returns. For traders like us, the bigger the market, the better. I don’t worry about them spending money; I worry about not bringing in business.”

After some thought, Li Ping’an agreed and brightened up. Looking at Sumu, he said, “Some sell more, some less. The worst performer hasn’t sold a single computer yet. I suspect he’s slacking off every day, collecting a guaranteed salary, and even submitting fake invoices to scam us.”

“Hm?”

“Didn’t I ask you to tally each person’s sales? Let me see the list. Anyone underperforming gets fired. Strictly speaking, they’re all on probation. We don’t keep dead weight.”

From the desk drawer, Sumu found the sales records and glanced over them, focusing on the bottom performers. The last place had zero sales across the board; the second-to-last had only sold ten units—the company was definitely losing money on them.

He turned back to Li Ping’an and said, “Let’s watch them for these two months. Maybe they’ll surprise us. But if they remain this poor, they can stay in the warehouse doing other work. If that doesn’t work, we’ll let them go.”

Sumu made all the decisions at Penguin. Li Ping’an had little say and mostly acted as a runner, handling shipping and bookkeeping. Now, he even slept at the warehouse.

The warehouse rented last month was quickly cleaned and put to use. Two rooms were converted into an office and a lounge. Li Ping’an stayed there at night. Because purchasing computers consumed too much cash, they mainly sourced products directly from retailers.

“Ping’an, the IBM franchise deal is looking promising. When I went this afternoon, their manager wasn’t around. They asked me to come back in a few days to discuss. Having sold so many computers, it should be no problem.”

Sumu leaned back in his chair, “We can’t just focus on schools and businesses. The retail market for ordinary customers is huge too. Remember Michael Dell I told you about? He sells computers in Houston and makes tens of thousands of dollars a month. It’s more troublesome, but as competition increases, we should develop that side.”

“Sounds good. I already called the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times to ask about advertising rates. Prices vary by ad size and placement. The cheaper spots cost a few hundred dollars, better ones several thousand, and top-tier can go over ten thousand. If we’re ruthless, we could spend tens of thousands and buy half a page to advertise for us!”

“…Tens of thousands?”

Sumu was tempted but didn’t rush to decide. “Let’s try some cheaper ads first. If no one responds, it’d be a huge loss. Houston isn’t like California.”

While speaking, he stared at the map hanging on the wall. Many cities in California were marked with dense red crosses—places salespeople had already visited.

He pointed toward the East Coast. “New York State. I want to find time to check it out. The states on the East Coast are more developed; the market there should be quite large.”

Li Ping’an, who had never been to New York, tentatively suggested, “Since we have a few days off, why don’t we go today or tomorrow? There’s nothing around here. We can’t just stay in this warehouse for four days.”

Sumu, also never having been there, held money in hand and no longer felt timid as before. He asked in return, “So, shall we buy tickets now?”