Rebirth of the Wild Age

Although Rongping City is remote and poor, there is a university here.

In the 1960s, with the move of a state-owned enterprise, an industrial school was set up here inexplicably. At that time, it was just the southwest branch of a well-known university of science and technology.

After the reform and opening up, the school changed its name several times, and it is now called Xikang Institute of Light and Chemical Industry. In another ten years, it will merge several junior colleges and technical secondary schools, and finally name it "Xikang Institute of Technology", becoming a secondary school that is not bad. When Song Weiyang traveled through time, the school was applying to change the "college" to "university", and every year the application was rejected.

The summer vacation is coming to an end, and some freshmen can't wait to report to school.

Song Weiyang took a bottle of Moutai and came to the school's staff building, looking for the house number and knocking on the door.

An old lady opened the door and asked doubtfully, "Who are you looking for?"

Song Weiyang smiled and said, "Hi, I'm looking for Professor Liang."

"You are Lao Liang's student, please come in," the old lady turned around and shouted into the room, "Old Liang, your student is here to see you!"

In the living room, an old man with gray hair was half-squatting and practicing Qigong.

He pressed his hands on the dantian, kneaded it a dozen times, then slowly lifted it deep to his chest, took a deep breath, and then let it out slowly. After practicing this pose, he went to the table again, flipped through the books on the table, went back to continue practicing, and said to Song Weiyang: "Sit down, I have something to say after I finish my work."

Song Weiyang took a closer look, and saw three words written on the cover of the book: Jin Dan Gong!

Qigong is very powerful these days. A master can destroy Patriot missiles and drop American satellites with a single gong. Even the DXAL fire is extinguished with qigong (squinting smile).

After working for a week, Professor Liang finally stopped and asked, "Are you a freshman this year?"

Song Weiyang smiled and said, "Hello, Professor Liang, I am the shareholder of the Municipal Cannery, Song Weiyang."

"Oh, Song Shumin is your father, sit down!" Professor Liang became more enthusiastic.

Xikang Institute of Light and Chemical Engineering has a major called "Industrial Design", and Professor Liang is an experienced person. He used to be a sculptor, but somehow he became an expert in industrial product design. The Song family had two liquor bottles made by this person.

Song Weiyang put Maotai wine on the side of the coffee table, took out 5,000 yuan and a few blueprints and said, "The cannery is going to design a new package. I already have a general plan, but the details still need to be sculpted by Professor Liang."

"Let me take a look first." Professor Liang put the money aside and picked up the drawings directly.

Song Weiyang's painting skills were poor, the bottle was painted crookedly, and there were no specific parameters, so he could only add text descriptions next to it.

While Professor Liang was looking at the drawings, Song Weiyang explained: "Professor Liang, I plan to make three types of cans. The first one is called 'water glass cans'. After eating the cans, you can directly use the bottle as a water glass. Rope handle, this type of bottle should be designed to be easy to grasp by hand, and it should be durable, and it is best to design an anti-scald net cover. The second type is called 'Seven Skills Cup', which is used for gift giving, and the seven cups are One set, it should be small, but not too strong, can be used to hold MSG, salt, chili noodles, etc. after eating, each cup needs to be accompanied by a glass spoon. It can be big or small, but it should be exquisite and fashionable, and young people can use it to store change, put thousands of paper cranes, and put paper stars.”

Professor Liang suddenly turned his head to look at Song Weiyang, and said with a smile, "Everyone in your Song family has good brains. Once these three cans are launched, they will definitely open up the market."

"Professor Liang deserves the award." Song Weiyang said modestly.

Then Professor Liang shook his head again, and complained: "It's just that the drawing is too ugly, just like graffiti in kindergarten."

Song Weiyang said: "That's why we asked Professor Liang to do it."

Professor Liang held his glasses and said, "Come back next week, and I will go to the glass bottle factory with you to make samples."

"Then please leave to Professor Liang, I will leave first." Song Weiyang got up and said.

In 1993, the Chinese canned food market did not completely die.

In the vast villages and small counties, there are still many consumers who use canned food as gifts, but basically only the big festivals such as the Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival sell well, and products such as malted milk will grab the market.

The dilemma for small canning factories is that there are too many competitors, and basically every city has such a canning factory. With the anti-dumping in Europe and the United States, the large cannery factories that originally earned enough foreign exchange have turned their attention to the domestic market, making it difficult for small cannery factories to survive.

In a few years, at least 90% of China's small canneries will be closed. By around 2000, domestic small canning factories were almost extinct, and only a few active and innovative ones survived.

The three cans that Song Weiyang intends to quit are innovative works, and they will be released in batches.

The first canned water glass was launched. People these days like to carry water glasses with them. Make the cans stronger and more beautiful, and then match them with rope handles and anti-scald nets, which are definitely more popular than those that sell water glasses. Moreover, it can also satisfy consumers' greed for small and cheap things. If you buy a water glass and eat it in a can, isn't it more cost-effective than buying a water glass? This canned food is open to the whole market, suitable for all ages, and can be eaten in both urban and rural areas.

The second product is canned paper cranes, the main target market is young urban consumers. The bottle is beautiful and stylish. It can be placed on a writing desk as a pen holder, a small vase, a piggy bank, and can also be used to hold origami cranes and stars.

The last product launched is Tangqiao Cup Can, a large gift package with seven small cans, dedicated to gift giving. In fact, canned food is used as a gift, and many times it is kept and not eaten. You give it to me, I give it to you, and various redistributions. Sometimes it is redistributed for two or three years before opening the can and eating it, which greatly consumes the market demand. However, the bottle of this tangram cup can be used as a container for salt, monosodium glutamate and other condiments, and it is also equipped with a glass spoon and high-quality packaging. This can lead to two results. First, the gift giver feels very face-saving, thus ignoring other gift-giving products; second, the recipient feels that the gift is very useful, and may open the can on the same day.

Song Weiyang's stomach is full of bad water, he specially asked Professor Liang to design the Qiqiao cup not so strong, it is best if it is knocked and broken, we will replace it with a new one, and we will change it every year as a gift.

The water cup series and the Qiqiao cup series do not need much operation, and they can easily become popular models. It's a pity that the business field has followed suit seriously, and it won't be long before similar products will appear on the market.

What Song Weiyang places the most high hopes on is the Thousand Paper Crane series, which can cultivate young consumer groups and start the fashion brand of the cannery—in the food and beverage industry, brand effect is often more important than taste.

But the Thousand Paper Crane series of cans must be hyped and spent on advertising in order to give it labels such as literature and art, love, petty bourgeoisie, and fashion. At that time, what people buy is not canned food, but feelings, and it may be popular for a decade or two.