HLM – Chapter 1017 Buy One, Get One Free

“Can it still use cutting equipment and cranes?” Wang Bo asked. “Isn’t this supposed to be an ambulance? How does it have these features?”

The middle-aged man smiled. “Actually, you could call this a rescue vehicle. Of course, it can be used for on-site first aid, but its main function is disaster relief and road rescue.”

Wang Bo understood. “So in terms of medical use, this vehicle only comes with some basic medical tools and medicines, right?”

“Exactly.”

Looking at it this way, the truck had many functions—medical, rescue, support, and more—but none were specialized. For professional use, it might not be powerful enough. However, Wang Bo felt that for a police station, this truck was quite suitable. Their staff had only basic training, didn’t know professional medical or rescue operations, so this pickup matched their needs.

This pickup’s chassis was raised two inches above a normal truck. The custom fender hid stylish green neon-lit wheels, and it also had LED lights on the roof and a high-power winch. It was equipped with a 2.3-liter twin-turbo diesel engine producing 187 horsepower.

The truck bed had two fiberglass trays. The top tray could hold lighter items like radios or ropes, while the deeper bottom tray could store larger items like oxygen tanks and two life rings.

The cabin had a 360-degree LED lighting system with blue emergency flashers. The front end was designed like a high-performance car. The concept truck also had a two-inch adjustable suspension with nylon bushings.

The most interesting feature was its integration with modern technology: the roof had a drone that could be used to observe rescue sites from above.

After learning all this, Wang Bo asked, “How much is this truck?”

“In the market, it’s $125,000, but today at the exhibition, there’s a special offer: just $120,000 NZD, and we’ll throw in a spare drone,” the middle-aged man said.

Considering the truck’s capabilities and cool features, this was a very reasonable price. Wang Bo thought for a moment and said, “As a Chinese person, I should support our country’s industry. I’ll take one.”

The man’s face lit up. “Please, have a seat inside, Mayor Wang. I’ll prepare the sales invoice right away.”

Wang Bo nodded and sat down to pay. The man typed on the computer for a while, made a phone call, and returned even more excited.

After Wang Bo sat down, he said, “Mayor Wang, here’s the situation: Great Wall Motors is planning to go international, but as you know, our automotive industry can’t compare to the developed countries in Europe and America.”

“Yes, I know.”

“So we changed our approach. Instead of competing on hardware, we focus on software—developing functional pickup trucks. This medical rescue truck is our flagship. We also have promotional and display trucks.”

Wang Bo roughly understood his meaning and felt a little uneasy. “You mean I have to buy one of each?”

The man shook his head. “No, no, not at all. What we mean is, if you buy this rescue truck, we’ll give you a promotional pickup truck for free.”

Wang Bo had expected some moral argument about supporting national industry, but instead they were giving him a truck—he was delighted. “Really? That’s great!”

“We have conditions,” the man said. “Our regional manager just called me. He learned that you’re interested in our trucks and wants to cooperate with you.”

“We’ll give you a promotional truck worth $100,000, but you have to drive it at least once a day on your highway, to promote certain policies. Just keep it moving.”

Wang Bo understood. “So Sunset Town will advertise your truck for you?”

The man laughed. “Exactly. You’ve done a similar cooperation with Horton Motors, and we want to do the same.”

Apparently, there were no secrets in the auto industry. Wang Bo’s cooperation method with Horton Motors was already known to other companies—though, of course, it wasn’t a secret.

He happily agreed, “Fine, I accept this cooperation.”

The promotional truck would actually be very useful to him—after all, the election was in September. Having a promo truck meant better visibility around town.

At the exhibition, there were no promotional trucks, only this rescue pickup. Wang Bo asked why, and the man awkwardly explained: “We didn’t expect to actually get an order today. We were just here to show our face.”

He went on to explain that Great Wall wanted to break into the Oceania market, but it wasn’t easy, especially since their pickups couldn’t compete with Toyota, Ford, or Chevrolet in quality. So, they had to attend exhibitions and promotions everywhere, seizing any opportunity for visibility.

Wang Bo thought their strategy was smart: “Using software to drive hardware is a good idea. The market for specialized pickups is still new; maybe you can find a unique path.”

The man was confident. He showed Wang Bo the promotional truck, which was also very powerful.

Its doors and sides had high-definition LED screens, so when it drove around, it acted as a mobile advertising station. It also had a real radio system, capable of broadcasting over a one-square-kilometer area and automatically sending messages to mobile numbers in range.

Wang Bo had experienced this kind of broadcasting before. When he was in university, some promo trucks drove around their campus every day, bombarding phones with spam messages. In New Zealand, this would be illegal, but he knew how to handle it: only send safe, informational messages—one per day, reminding people to stay cool in summer or warm in winter.

They signed the contract. Wang Bo spent $100,000 NZD for a buy-one-get-one-free deal, getting two specialized pickups.

Later, when buying farm machinery, he wouldn’t need to worry—Brant had already had Tuta prepare a list of valuable machinery from the exhibition, which they had decided on in a prior meeting.

Wang Bo came mainly to gain experience. As a farm owner, he couldn’t afford to be ignorant about agricultural equipment.

But he was lucky—he walked away with two specialized pickups.

After spending half a day in Christchurch, placing the order and paying, they took a helicopter back to Sunset Town that afternoon.

Looking down from the air at his land, Highway 8 was bustling with traffic, the town center filled with people. Night was falling, and the myriad lights created a magnificent scene.

It was completely different from the scenery of the past. Previously, the mountains and rivers were beautiful but lacked human life. Now, Sunset Town was still beautiful; the distant mountains and lakes remained untouched, while the core area had successfully become a thriving town.