Return to Singapore 1995

"Uncle Singh, how about this pair of sunglasses in my hand? Try them!"

In Li Xiaofan's hand is a pair of large-size sunglasses, the style is similar to the sunglasses worn by Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Terminator 2".

In the "Terminator" series of movies, Arnold Schwarzenegger's image of a lone hero wearing a black leather jacket, black sunglasses, holding a gun and riding a heavy motorcycle represented a series of "Bad Guys" created by Hollywood. They are the cowboys of the West, the Iron Warriors from the future, and the hackers in the Matrix.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's image of a tough guy wearing sunglasses became popular all over the world back then!

"Well, the design is pretty good..." Uncle Singh tried it on and found that the frame was quite comfortable and the transmittance was pretty good.

“The quality is better than the one in your store!”

"Well, let's do it..." Uncle Singh said casually after taking off his sunglasses. He felt a little strange. Today, this young man from mainland China brought a pair of sunglasses to show off to him. What did he want to do? Although the style of sunglasses in Li Xiaofan's hand is more fashionable than the ones in his store, the surface of the frames is also smoother and more textured than the ones in his store. But what does it have to do with him? There are many varieties of sunglasses on the market outside. His small shop usually just buys some bargains and sells them. If you want good quality and new models, there are plenty of them on Orchard Road!

"Uncle Singh, how much does your sunglasses cost?"

Hearing this, Uncle Singh became even more strange. What does this young man from the mainland want to do after asking so many questions today?

"Young man, this is a business secret, no comment..." Uncle Singh started Tai Chi.

"Uncle Singh, if I put these sunglasses in your store, how much do you think I can sell them for?"

"It can be a little more expensive than the one currently in my store..."

Seeing that Li Xiaofan was an old customer of his store, Uncle Singh continued to deal with it casually. If it were other strangers, he would probably have kicked him away.

Later, Li Xiaofan took out a box from his backpack and placed it on the counter under Uncle Singh's eyes.

Opening it, there were fifty pairs of packaged large-size sunglasses that Li Xiaofan was holding just now.

"Oh, Li, what do you want to do with so many sunglasses?" Uncle Singh was surprised.

"Uncle Singh, the situation is like this. I am going back to mainland China to visit relatives this time. I have a friend's factory that is producing this kind of sun visor. The transmittance is 18%. It is suitable for outdoor activities such as the beach and mountain climbing. I think it is quite good. , I brought a box here, the price is very cheap, are you interested?”

This box of sunglasses was a sample that Li Xiaofan bought from another local glasses factory that day when he went to Ouhai. The style and quality are similar to the export products of Dongfang Liming Glasses Factory. The local people are very capable of imitating and following trends very quickly. The wholesale price is 5.5 yuan, which is almost one Singapore dollar.

Yesterday, Li Xiaofan's checked luggage when he came back to Singapore, one of the boxes was full of various sunglasses and frames bought in Wenzhou.

"How much did you buy these sunglasses?" Uncle Singh asked.

"Singapore 3 yuan!"

"So cheap?" Uncle Singh finally became interested and opened his eyes wide, "The sunglasses in my store cost only SGD 7!"

"Well, it's only NT$3! Uncle Singh, are you interested in our cooperation?"

"How to cooperate?"

"I will put this box of sunglasses in your store for trial sale first. The selling price is up to you. Anyway, my cost is 3 Singapore dollars. I won't charge any money for now. If this box of sunglasses is sold out, you can sell this box again. Give me the cost of the box of sunglasses. We can try the water first, and then we can talk about the next step of cooperation."

Uncle Singh thought about it for a while and felt that this business could be considered. He can wait until the sunglasses are sold out and then settle with Li Xiaofan without paying any fees. It's a good deal!

"Li, just put this box of sunglasses here first, and I'll sell them first!"

"Great, thank you Uncle Singh!"

…

On the flight back to Singapore, Li Xiaofan had been thinking about how to expand his glasses business.

If you have the resources, it would be ideal to open an optical shop in Tampines or Bedok, a densely populated area. But there are many steps involved. First, you need to rent a suitable store space. The rent for this store along the street in a densely populated area of ​​Tampines or Bedok is not cheap. The second is to purchase equipment such as optometrists and edge grinders. I have no experience in this area, and based on initial inquiries, these machines are currently very expensive. The third most critical thing: what is most lacking in the 21st century is talent! To open a store, you need a master like Pan Zhenming’s father, Lao Pan, to run the store. When registering a company in Singapore, according to Singapore’s registration laws, you need to find a local citizen or permanent resident PR as a partner shareholder to register...

So after comprehensive consideration, especially after visiting Ouhai, Wenzhou, Li Xiaofan felt that sunglasses were a business that could be entered at present, and he could try the water first.

…

After leaving Uncle Singh's grocery store, Li Xiaofan went to the NTUC Club Resort Gym.

This evening, the Muay Thai training class he signed up for officially started. The training class is very flexible, you can study in the morning and evening, and the courses are synchronized.

Muay Thai is a legendary fighting skill, a sport known for its strength and agility. It mainly uses the fists, legs, knees, and elbows of the human body as eight weapons to attack. Punching, kicking, knees and elbows are smooth and smooth, and the power is extremely abundant and the attack is fierce. It is known as the strongest standing fighting skill.

The boxer who teaches the class is from Thailand. His name is Tongcha, which roughly means victory flag in Chinese. It is said that he is a boxer who was once selected for the Royal Guard of Thailand.

In his previous life, Li Xiaofan liked to watch Muay Thai competitions. It is said that Muay Thai is one of the most lethal martial arts in the world.

There are a total of 20 students in the training class that Li Xiaofan signed up for. He is the only one from mainland China. The rest are Singaporeans or Malaysian PRs.

In the first class, Master Tongcha briefly introduced the history of Muay Thai to everyone, and then did warm-up exercises, leading everyone to stretch ligaments, do squats, stretch legs, punch barehanded and jog to open up the stiff body until the whole body is hot and slightly sweaty.

Then he taught everyone some basic movements...

Finally, Tongcha concluded: "If you want to learn Muay Thai well, or hope to become a good boxer, it is best to insist on long-distance running, improve physical fitness, often fight, often massage, and practice more techniques. The most important thing is fighting spirit, to overwhelm the opponent, the kind of invincible spirit of moving forward bravely!"

According to Tongcha himself, when he was young and just learned Muay Thai, he started running at five to six in the morning. After running ten kilometers, he chose a suitable place to practice leg skills and step on tree trunks to increase leg strength. Then he returned to the boxing room to fight with the boxers, and then practiced gymnastics to make the body strong and durable... He practiced from early morning to night, very hard! I have suffered a lot and got hurt a lot. Now I have retired from the martial arts world and no longer participate in competitions. I mainly teach everywhere.

After practicing Muay Thai, Li Xiaofan took a sauna in the club. It was almost ten o'clock in the evening when he returned to the townhouse after taking a shower.

Entering the living room, Guo Hanyue and Liu Mengchen were watching VCD discs.

What made him faint was that the TV screen was playing the movie "Basic Instinct" that he had watched last night. The two of them continued to argue about who the real murderer was while watching it...