Chapter 9

After the shock, Manager Wan was filled with a series of wild joys. There were still two and a half days left, but he had received the finished products in less than half a day, and they were two qualified items. Just see what that little Japanese could say now!

"Go, get to Japan as fast as you can." Old Liu, while using the spinning fitness ball to hide his trembling hands, instructed Manager Wan: "Shove these two crankshafts into that little Japanese's mouth and show him what we Chinese can do!"

"Yes, Old Liu!" Manager Wan was so excited that his whole body was shaking, but his tone was as if he had just won a great victory: "I'll book the earliest flight and get it into their mouths even if I have to do it overnight! Factory Manager Li, can I borrow your phone? I'll get someone to book the tickets right away."

Factory Manager Li pushed the phone on the table over, and he too was trembling all over. Completing a month's work of a sixth-level fitter in less than two hours, that fat guy was definitely a treasure!

No wonder Old Liu had been so confident from the beginning; he must have already discovered the fat guy's superb skills. Old is wise indeed!

Listening to Manager Wan instruct his secretary to book the earliest flight to Japan over the phone, Old Liu waited quietly. After he hung up, he called both of them over. Manager Wan's son was also there, and Old Liu thought for a moment and called him over as well.

"If the Japanese ask how you processed it, what will you say?" Old Liu asked Manager Wan.

"Huh?" Manager Wan was taken aback. What did Old Liu mean by asking this? He quickly reacted and answered: "I'll say that Tsinghua University helped us."

"Precision Instrumentation Department!" Old Liu added: "Tsinghua University's Precision Instrumentation Department helped us. Remember, it was a new precision CNC machine designed by a professor."

"I get it!" Manager Wan, being a smart man, immediately understood Old Liu's intention: "If they ask me, I'll keep it confidential, but let my secretary take some benefits and secretly tell them. The more mysterious we make it, the more suspicious they will be."

"No wonder your business is thriving, you're smart." Old Liu gave Manager Wan a thumbs up: "Introduce the engine technology, but for the precision machining equipment, if they want to sell it, you should stall. Wait until they can't hold out and lower their price before you make a move."

This time, Manager Wan could only nod, giving Old Liu two thumbs up, admiring him greatly.

"Little Li, you too, if anyone asks, push it to Professor Wang of the Precision Instrumentation Department." Old Liu instructed Factory Manager Li: "I'll go and coordinate with Professor Wang. Make sure you don't slip up."

Factory Manager Li nodded. Old Liu's gaze then turned to Manager Wan's son, who was also very smart and quickly said sweetly: "Grandpa Liu, I don't know anything. I'm just a student, I just helped my dad bring it to the Precision Instrumentation Department."

"Good!" Old Liu nodded in satisfaction, stood up, and slowly walked out, spinning the fitness ball. At the door, he remembered something and turned to remind Factory Manager Li: "In the future, when that fat guy comes, let him use my workshop freely, don't stop him."

Factory Manager Li, of course, agreed without hesitation, already determined to find a way to talk to the fat guy and see if he could get him to work part-time at the school factory before he graduated.

Manager Wan was good at socializing. Everyone had been waiting for so long, and they were all starving. Although Old Liu couldn't be invited, Manager Wan insisted on having dinner with Factory Manager Li.

During the meal, Manager Wan mentioned the compensation. Factory Manager Li felt uncomfortable accepting it since he hadn't helped, but he couldn't refuse on behalf of Old Liu and the fat guy.

Manager Wan was generous, directly giving Factory Manager Li 50,000 yuan to thank Old Liu and the fat guy. Factory Manager Li couldn't refuse, so he accepted it on their behalf, promising to transfer it to Old Liu and the fat guy the next day.

It was 1996, and 50,000 yuan was a huge sum. Factory Manager Li was somewhat envious of the fat guy, but he couldn't envy him for his skills.

"Dad, why did Old Liu say that at the end?" Wan Ming, Manager Wan's son, was also a student at Tsinghua University, but in the Economics and Management Department. He didn't understand Old Liu's intention and asked his father when they were alone: "Why push the fat guy's credit to the Precision Instrumentation Department?"

"Ming, that's where Old Liu's brilliance lies." Manager Wan explained patiently: "Although the CoCom embargo has been lifted, the Wassenaar Arrangement was introduced this year. Western countries and Japan won't sell us high-precision CNC machines. Even ordinary CNC machines are sold at exorbitant prices because we don't have them, and we have to accept the loss."

"I get it!" Although Wan Ming didn't understand at first, he immediately grasped it after his father's explanation: "We don't have them, so they charge exorbitant prices. If we say the Precision Instrumentation Department made them, whether or not they can mass-produce them, at least the issue of availability is solved. They will be afraid of our precision CNC development, so they will immediately lower their prices to capture the market and suppress our domestic CNC industry."

"Right! If you don't have it, they will strangle you or sell it to you at exorbitant prices." Manager Wan nodded: "If the Precision Instrumentation Department has it, it means the theory and laboratory products are out. If they don't lower their prices to capture the market and suppress our domestic industry, they will lose the opportunity. This happens in many industries."

Wan Ming understood this and couldn't help but mutter: "So frustrating!"

"Right, Ming, when you're at school, come by here often and get to know that fat guy." Manager Wan felt the same way but didn't say it to his son; he just instructed him: "You should also flatter Old Liu more. We might need such experts one day."

"I understand!" Wan Ming agreed and didn't say anything more.

Neither Guo Tai, the Wan family, nor Factory Manager Li knew that the impact of this event had spread beyond the school. After Old Liu and Professor Wang discussed it, they reported it to the department head, then to the university leadership, and finally to the Ministry of Mechanical Industry and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation.

Wanxin Motorcycles was a small company, but if this opportunity could be used to give Japan and Western countries a false impression that China already had high-precision CNC machines, it might be possible to pry open the Wassenaar Arrangement embargo and loosen the restrictions a bit.

Of course, the higher-ups were happy to play along. If it succeeded, it would greatly benefit the country. If it failed, and they didn't fool the Japanese, it wouldn't be worse than the current situation. Why not do it?

Who would have thought that just one quick manual processing job could lead to such a big mess?

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