"Hah, you know, it actually took me a long time to get the hang of it. When I first arrived, I was just a country boy. I didn't dare raise my voice and I would blush as soon as I opened my mouth. But in such a competitive market, if I don't work hard, and if I don't study hard, I'll be out of the game. Take selling foot spas as an example: you need to understand psychology. First of all, you have to attract the customers' attention. When they hear, 'Only 198 yuan! It's just like hiring your own personal masseuse,' the customers might be curious to find out more. Next, you must make sure to use any trick to get them to have a try. In my experience, if a customer is willing to take off his shoes and try the foot spa, he must be tempted to buy, and you're already half-way there. Of course, in our business you can't get by on empty promises; you also need to have some professional knowledge. Human feet link together twelve meridians in the body and have over sixty acupuncture points in their soles alone. When your feet get warm, blood circulation improves as well as the smooth movement of qi around the body. If a customer tells you he/she has a chronic disease, then you should tell them that foot spas can cure disease: stomachache, back pain and leg pain are generally caused by chills; and so warming up your feet can relieve many symptoms. Foot spas can also be an effective support for the treatment of other diseases like insomnia, neurosis, hypertension and diabetes. I don't feel bad about exaggerating a bit. Foot spas aren't like counterfeit drugs or adulterated wine; they won't do any harm. The worst that can happen is that they end up being useless. Once after buying herself a foot spa, a middle-aged woman began helping me with sales by recommending it to everyone she knew. Later, her family and friends came and bought another fifteen."
Listening to Xiaoqiang's business patter, I thought back to when I had been in Hong'an County twenty years ago. I distinctly remember that the young farmers in Hong'an at that time had had an honest and frank look in their eyes, but at the same time they were wooden, vacant, nervous and cautious. None of these adjectives could be applied to Xiaoqiang, who was smiling naturally. He belongs to the new generation of migrant workers, whose collective experience is already a far cry from that of his father's and grandfather's generations. Faced with the cruel reality of urban life, their metamorphosis is becoming more quick and thorough, and as a result, they are equipped with what the older generations do not have: the ability to survive, a willingness to blend in and an independent spirit. The problems they face are also changing. If we continue to assess their needs based on thirty-year-old assumptions, surely we will never be able to improve their situation.
Xiaoqiang told me that back home he had finished primary and junior secondary school, but that in the eleventh year he had dropped out without a second thought, simply because he was bad at English and physics. Even now, it was something he still regretted. After hanging around at home for a year, Xiaoqiang turned eighteen and thoughts of his future became unavoidable. Shortly after Spring Festival in 2008, he came to Beijing. At that time Xiaoqiang didn't want to settle for a job that would simply pay the bills, he wanted to build a career and make something of his life.
Xiaoqiang's cousin, who had come to Beijing two years before him, helped get him his first job selling sporting goods at a small supermarket. On the second day at work, the manager asked Xiaoqiang, "Are you here to stand guard or are you here to sell things? Who'd buy things from a dummy like you?"
"Do exercise and support our country!" Blushing, Xiaoqiang called out his first promotional slogan.
"Do exercise and embrace the Olympics!" Gradually, he got used to it.
During his six-month probationary period, Xiaoqiang was paid a base salary of 500 yuan per month with added sales commis-sion. After the first month Xiaoqiang took home a wage for the first time in his life—650 yuan. Hardly able to constrain his excitement, Xiaoqiang bought trousers for his mother and father, a pair of sneakers at a discount for himself, and spent the several dozen yuan left to treat his cousin to a meal at KFC.
On the second month he earnt 800 yuan; the third month, 750 yuan; and by the fourth month… Xiaoqiang worked ten hours a day without sitting down. He felt fortunate that he was still young and so didn't get too tired, but Xiaoqiang was not happy.
One afternoon, a young couple with the looks of urban whitecollars came to the supermarket. The young man picked up a badminton racket and began waving it about. Xiaoqiang rushed over to greet them and said, "Do exercise and embrace the Olympics! Why not buy a pair of badminton rackets?"
The young man asked, "Why are all your rackets under 100 yuan? Do you have any better-quality ones?"
Xiaoqiang said, "People tend to go for the cheaper ones when they come here."
The young man waved his hand and interrupted, with a raised voice, "I'm asking you whether or not you have high-quality rackets."
Xiaoqiang started to get frustrated, "High-quality? Doesn't that just mean expensive?"
At that point, the young woman tugged at her companion's sleeve and said, "Forget it. Let's go. What do you even have to say to a country bumpkin like him?"
A country bumpkin?
The woman had spoken in a low voice, but Xiaoqiang had heard her very clearly. Shocked, he stood there stupefied for half a minute. He felt troubled and uncomfortable: He had been in Beijing for nearly half a year and already thought himself familiar with this city; but only today did he realize that in the eyes of the local people he would always be nothing more than a country bumpkin!
