Chapter 1,460 The Great Wave of the Times

On March 10, 1988, when most Beijing citizens were still looking forward to installing a phone at home in the near future, a not-so-noticeable news on the front page of the Beijing Evening News announced the official opening of the mobile communication era - "Public Mobile Phone Network Trial Operation Starts Today".

From then on, mobile phones officially made their debut in the capital of the Republic.

And the Beijing citizens, who are most talented in language creation, gave it a very impressive name based on the plot in Hong Kong movies - "Big Brother".

Soon, this memorable name spread throughout the streets and alleys of Beijing.

But to be honest, for those who used this communication tool in the early days, the experience was far from being so good.

In terms of the current level of technology, this thing really doesn't deserve such a heroic name.

First of all, such a "big brother" has only one function of making calls, and it doesn't even have a text message function.

But it weighs more than one kilogram, which is very inconvenient to carry.

Therefore, it is also nicknamed "brick" by people.

Secondly, Motorola's "big brick" consumes a lot of power.

Although it is big, it is not durable.

At most, a battery will be exhausted after half an hour of continuous talk.

If you have a lot of business, you have to carry several batteries with you every day for replacement.

In addition, at that time, there were only 5 base stations and 73 channels in the entire capital, which could accommodate up to 2,000 households.

This means that only 73 people can make calls at the same time. If there are too many people, they will compete for channels and "cannot get through".

And because it is an analog signal, the call quality is not good.

It is common for calls to be intermittent, and people often have to stretch their necks out of the building to make calls.

Of course, the most important thing is that the price is too expensive.

In the entire capital, at that time, only the Jingdong Mobile Fuxingmen Business Hall located on the north side of the road west of the downtown entrance and the southeast corner of the long-distance building exclusively sells this thing.

The "big brother" that this business department has just launched on the market is priced at 20,000 yuan per unit.

This does not include the network access fee of 6,000 yuan, and calls are charged in both directions.

There are also communication fees and frequency usage fees every month.

Compared with the average worker's monthly salary of only 100 to 80 yuan, it is a sky-high price.

To be honest, just for this price, before the opening, even the people in this sales department thought that their business would encounter difficulties, and it was estimated that not many people would be willing to buy.

But what was the result?

Even if the product has so many flaws and the price is so high, it still cannot stop people's enthusiasm for black technology. "Big Brother" is still quickly recognized by the market and sought after.

On the opening day, before the opening time, the door of the sales department was crowded with people.

In the business hall converted from a wooden house, many customers came to pay with large and small bags of cash.

After paying the money, fill out an application form, and the "running order" staff will take the application form to the communication room, and it will be opened in two days.

On the first day of opening alone, more than 50 units were sold.

Millions of revenue!

This good start has undoubtedly brought great confidence to Beijing Mobile Company.

But then again, among the guests received by the sales department that day, there were two people who were quite special.

They left a deep impression on almost all the staff of the sales department, and everyone talked about it for a long time after dinner.

The reason why the two people were special was not only because they were the first customers in line, but also because they were the most generous customers that day.

They actually bought twelve mobile phones at the first sight.

Since the "big brother" uses the number starting with "9", these two people directly bought all the numbers from 9000001 to 9000012.

Why did they buy so many?

They claimed that in addition to using them themselves, the other ten were handled by them on behalf of others.

Such a hand is not something that ordinary people can do.

Of course, if they came from some large joint ventures, foreign-funded enterprises, and bought them for the company's senior management, it would not be strange.

But the strange thing is that they did not come from any large enterprises.

Their professional backgrounds are almost all private, and they actually do all kinds of things.

What kind of foreign wine company, clothing company, cultural and entertainment company, gift company, GG company, international trade company, Xinnong Technology Company...

It looks like a shell company that boasts loudly but actually has only one person and a few official seals.

There is even a small boss of a tobacco and alcohol shop and two self-employed people who ride tricycles mixed in.

It has to be said that according to the information of the owner they filled in, it is impossible to find the logical connection.

It is so strange.

If you just look at the identities of these people, it seems that no one has anything to do with anyone.

But they know each other, and they are so familiar that they can help each other.

This is really puzzling, and you can't help but wonder if these people have formed a commercial fraud gang.

And among these numbers, the most eye-catching one is definitely the number 9000001, which ranks first, which makes people pay attention to the identity of the owner.

According to the information filled in by the person who came to handle the procedures, this person is even more special.

Because his employment information is blank, nothing is filled in.

Since this is not a mandatory form, and the agent clearly stated that the owner wanted to keep it confidential, the sales department staff could not ask too many questions.

Therefore, they only remembered the name of this person - Ning Weimin.

If you are a fan of stars, you may think that this name is the same as the name of the lyricist of two songs by Teresa Teng.

But no one can tell whether it is the same person.

Of course, no one among these people knows that the person who is about to have the "first mobile phone number" in Beijing has left the Republic again on this day and flew to Tokyo, Japan.

Even his trip is unprecedentedly ostentatious, and the grand ceremony can surprise passers-by, just like the mobile phone number that others got for him, highlighting his extraordinary identity.

Yes, it was because they knew that Ning Weimin would go back to Tokyo with Matsumoto Keiko that day.

On the morning of March 10, 1988, not only Luo Guangliang and Xiao Tao came to see him off, but also Zou Guodong and Shen Cun, Chen Peisi, Liu Xiaoqing and other friends in the film and television industry came to see him off, and people from the Temple of Heaven Park, the Cultural Relics Bureau, the Film Bureau and the TV Drama Production Center came to see him off.

Those "lively treasures" who had just joined Ning Weimin's camp and resigned from Pierre Caton Company, except for two people who followed Ning Weimin's instructions to buy mobile phones for everyone, all others insisted on seeing him off and all rushed to Yunyuan Hotel to meet up.

Although Ning Weimin had already made it clear that they didn't need to see him off.

But these people were all smart people, and their subordinates' identities changed very smoothly.

Who could really be obedient and stay down-to-earth and miss this opportunity to show loyalty and flatter?

Manager Sha's early arrival had taught these people a lesson that went deep into their bones.

So even if they were criticized and scolded, they had to do what they should do.

So, in the end, a full ten cars were connected in a row, escorting Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko to the Capital Airport.

Because there were too many luxury cars, most of which were Mercedes-Benz and Crown, not only did passers-by look sideways, but even the traffic police were alarmed.

Seeing that the motorcade had no balloons or wedding characters, the traffic police along the way might have thought that it was an important foreign guest or leader traveling.

Therefore, even if there was no relevant notice, they directly turned the lights green all the way.

Speaking of which, this was the first time that Ning Weimin was so ostentatious in his hometown.

Even the motorcade of his wedding cars was not so long.

There was no way, it was hard to refuse such kindness.

Since everyone was here, Ning Weimin couldn't really send everyone back, so he could only passively accept their kindness.

Perhaps this was the inevitable result of his career accumulating strength and going further.

After all, his personal wealth and ability have far exceeded the objective constraints of this era.

As long as the shackles of the times are slightly loosened, even if only the tip of the lotus is exposed, it would be shocking enough.

Arriving at the airport soon, the actual farewell process was not dragged out.

As they were used to frequent visits, this time they were traveling alone, without any chefs or crew members from the Dan Palace accompanying them.

So Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko were both very relaxed and did not have too many emotional fluctuations.

They naturally exchanged polite words with the people they were traveling with, waved goodbye, and went to the VIP area to wait for the flight.

However, when they walked to the security gate, they saw another scene that was very different from the past.

It was at this moment that the latest changes in the airport gave Ning Weimin a sudden sense of spiritual shock, and his heart could not help but beat wildly with the pulse of the times.

For no other reason, it was because the number of international students was too large.

There were so many that a long queue formed in front of the baggage check-in window at the airport.

In the middle of the long queues, there were suitcases and travel bags.

This scene was the most lively scene Ning Weimin had ever seen when he took a plane from the Capital Airport. It felt a bit like the Spring Festival travel rush in the 1990s.

Especially for these self-funded students, many of them were flying for the first time in their lives, so they were so busy.

Some queued up but forgot to pay the consignment fee, and ran back and forth.

Some had overweight luggage but had no money to pay the fee, so they bargained like begging for mercy from the consignor.

Some completed the consignment formalities, but gave the extra RMB to relatives and friends waiting outside the security gate.

Of course, every passenger who wants to take an international flight has passed the "security check" and is equivalent to leaving the country.

Although they are only a few meters away from their relatives and friends, they cannot enter or leave.

Even when handing over RMB, there are customs officers on the side to supervise.

So the strong contrast of separation complements each other.

Those self-funded international students usually stand in the security gate with excitement, without tears, without parting sorrow, full of confidence and pride.

With a "victorious escape" attitude. People who wave goodbye to their relatives and friends.

Outside the security gate, the parents, wives and children of these people were in tears, giving many instructions and warnings, fearing that this farewell would be a farewell forever.

One self-funded student shouted nonchalantly, "Why are you crying? Go back. I'm not going to join the production team to settle down."

Another said disapprovingly, "If I had known you would cry, I wouldn't have let you come."

Another said with a smile, "Goodbye, wait for my good news."

And in response to their smiling faces and bright faces, their relatives sobbed.

This scene made Ning Weimin feel inexplicably anxious.

There is no need to doubt anything anymore, the real "going abroad fever" has arrived.

The biggest positive significance of the emergence of these self-funded students is that for Chinese people, going abroad is no longer a privilege enjoyed by the social elite, and there is no need to look for overseas connections to go abroad.

However, there will also be some side effects.

For example, the loss of talent, the aggravation of cultural inferiority complex, and the further spread of the domestic trend of worshipping foreigners and fawning on foreigners.

Ning Weimin looked at those self-funded students and even thought of Xiao Tao's girlfriend and An Wen, an actor in the crew of "Dream of Red Mansions", who asked him to help them solve the procedures for going abroad during this Spring Festival.

The colorful lights in developed countries shocked every Chinese.

In China today, going abroad is probably regarded as the starting point of all luck, and they believe that going abroad will definitely make a fortune, will definitely be successful, and will definitely be better than their lives in China...

But unfortunately, they have misjudged the superiority of developed countries.

At least they have forgotten that all the prosperity outside is often not for Chinese people who have just arrived in a foreign land, and a happy life will not fall from the sky.

Although most of these students who choose to venture into foreign countries have received a good education and are favored by the heavens in China, after going abroad, they first have to face the anxiety of struggling on the survival line.

These people, holding such beautiful hopes to go abroad, what kind of blows will they have to go through in the future to look at it objectively?

How many people will refresh their cognition and give up their original dreams?

From then on, they will become mercenary, inferior, short-sighted, and even give up their beliefs and change their nationality?

He doesn't know.

How many of these people will stick to their dreams, return to their country after graduation, and serve the motherland?

Or stay abroad to work after graduation, find their own personal value in a foreign country, and choose to contribute their knowledge and wisdom to other countries?

He doesn't know either.

Even how many people will feel cultural loss in a foreign country and regret their choice to go abroad?

Or have they embarked on the road of betraying their motherland and committing crimes?

He doesn't know either.

What he knows is that the country's door is really opening to ordinary people to an increasing extent.

The tide of the times is coming, which is irresistible and irreversible.

This is also a process of great waves washing away the sand.

No matter who stays, who goes out, who comes back, or who doesn't, the heroes will eventually be washed away by the waves, and they will have to bear the corresponding consequences for their own choices...

No one can help them except themselves...

Just like the lines in the TV series "Beijing People in New York" in the 1990s that reflects the lives of people going abroad,

If you love him, send him to New York, because it is heaven.

If you hate him, send him to New York, because it is hell.