Chapter 3

The blueprint was taken to the office by the factory manager and the director, and the two of them went to study it.

Lin Qiangsheng had nothing else to do, so he left the workshop.

At noon, Lin Xiangrong and Lin Qiangsheng, father and son, went home together for lunch. Their home was right next to the factory, just a few minutes' walk.

Mother Xu Hongmei had reheated the food at home, and when they arrived, the two of them started eating.

After finishing the meal, Lin Xiangrong asked his son, "Qiangsheng, was the car design you thought of today really the one you came up with?"

Xu Hongmei, puzzled, asked, "What's wrong? Was your first day at work not smooth?"

"No! Mom, I drew a rough sketch for the factory," Lin Qiangsheng said.

He continued, "That car was my idea. What's the matter, Dad?"

Lin Xiangrong smiled and said, "Great, my son has grown up! You can even design cars now!"

Lin Qiangsheng chuckled. He couldn't say that the car model was a famous one from his previous life, a car that had no rivals in the domestic market for 30 years!

Otherwise, how could he explain it?

After Lin Xiangrong finished laughing, he asked his son, "Tell me, how did you design the interior and dashboard? I saw that the dashboard looks quite complex."

Lin Qiangsheng thought for a moment and said, "The dashboard is mainly made through plastic molds and injection molding."

Lin Xiangrong, surprised, said, "Oh? I saw you used a lot of plastic in the interior! And you left many slots, what are they for?"

Lin Qiangsheng nodded and said, "Those slots are for the air conditioning and radio. Our domestic cars rarely have these features now, but future cars will. In the past, dashboards were mostly made of iron. But that's not economical and adds weight to the car. Using plastic instead of steel is the trend."

Lin Qiangsheng wanted to say that fenders and bumpers could also be made of plastic. But if he said that, his father definitely wouldn't accept it. In 1977, such an idea would make people think he was crazy.

Lin Xiangrong laughed and said, "Who told you that's the trend? Plastic is more expensive than steel now. How can cars use plastic?"

Lin Qiangsheng was surprised for a moment, then he nodded. Currently, resources were scarce in the country, and plastic products were not abundant.

At the same time, the domestic synthetic chemical industry was not strong and had not yet reached the same status as the steel industry. With products being scarce, prices were naturally high.

"It will be cheaper in the future!" Lin Qiangsheng had to give a vague answer.

"Alright, take a nap. Go back to work at one o'clock," Lin Xiangrong said, lying down on the bed to rest.

Lin Qiangsheng nodded and silently returned to his small room.

"Son, what's wrong?" Xu Hongmei followed her son and asked softly.

Lin Qiangsheng looked at his concerned mother, seeing her youthful face, and felt a genuine sense of happiness.

Fortunately, in his previous life, his son had already grown up, married, and had children. His parents wouldn't be left without support, and he still had his older brother and sister.

He smiled and said, "Mom, the factory is doing some Daqing-style construction. I just drew a car design for the factory leaders."

"Oh! That's good! I thought something had happened at the factory," Xu Hongmei sighed in relief.

Lin Qiangsheng laughed and said, "No, Mom, don't worry."

Xu Hongmei nodded with a smile, looked at her son, and then turned back to the room.

Lin Qiangsheng closed the door and looked at the few photos hanging on the wall, approaching to examine them closely.

His grandparents had already passed away, and his family had no other relatives.

Lin Qiangsheng had an older brother and an older sister. His brother, Lin Qiangdong, was currently serving in the military in the south. His sister, Lin Xiang, had gone to the countryside as a young worker.

After looking around, Lin Qiangsheng smiled, a happy smile on his face.

"Old Chang, I think the car design drawn by Qiangsheng is quite good. What do you think?" In the afternoon, after work, Zheng Yongmin, holding a teacup, came to Chang Yuanting's office and said.

"Hmm, I also think it's good. Why don't we try to build a car according to this blueprint?" Chang Yuanting nodded and expressed his thoughts.

"Good, when Lin comes, we'll ask him how to build the car. He studied at the Hongqi Factory, so let's follow the example of FAW! We should build our factory into a large factory like SAIC!" Zheng Yongmin said with a smile.

"Alright, from the beginning, I thought we shouldn't copy the Volga. We should build a cheap and easy-to-drive small car! Qiangsheng's design is quite good, it fits my idea perfectly," Chang Yuanting said.

"Right! I think the same. Building a car like the Shanghai brand is good enough. We don't need to think about the Volga. Even high-ranking officials might not have one. We should do what we can!" Zheng Yongmin also nodded.

The two factory leaders reached a consensus. In the afternoon, they found Lin Xiangrong and told him about it.

"What? Really build the car designed by my son?" Lin Xiangrong was momentarily at a loss.

He didn't expect the two leaders to so rashly decide to adopt his son's design, which he considered a mere game!

"Yes, Old Lin! I think our factory should do what we can! We can't build the Volga. Your son's design for a small car is quite good," Zheng Yongmin said.

"But..." Lin Xiangrong was speechless. After all, he had been working on the blueprint for a month, and now it was being discarded, which he found hard to accept.

"Alright, Lin, let's follow the director's suggestion. We should do what we can, not run before we can walk. We can't build such a high-end car now!" Chang Yuanting interjected and said to Lin Xiangrong.

"Alright then," Lin Xiangrong thought for a moment and reluctantly nodded.

"Let's get to work. The country is calling for all industries to learn from Daqing. The Daqing spirit is about rushing, working hard, and working quickly! We should quickly start this car project and build a truly small car, one that is welcomed by all levels of units. We should put this into practice!" Director Zheng said to Lin Xiangrong.

When Lin Xiangrong heard the old leader talk about the spirit, he immediately listened attentively.

Then, Zheng Yongmin smiled and said, "Old Chang, what do you think we should name the new car?"

"Hmm, how about 'Forward Car'? ... But I'm not good at naming things!" Chang Yuanting suggested a name but wasn't satisfied with it himself.

After discussing it among themselves, they couldn't come up with a good name.

"Why don't we call Qiangsheng over? Maybe he can think of a name? After all, he drew the design," Chang Yuanting suggested to Zheng Yongmin.

"Good, Lin, call Qiangsheng over. See if your son has a good name," Zheng Yongmin nodded and said to Lin Xiangrong.

"Alright," Lin Xiangrong sighed inwardly, feeling that his work of over a month had been in vain.

Lin Qiangsheng was joking around with his senior classmates outside, with nothing much to do.

He was called into the factory manager's office by his father. After hearing their questions, he smiled and said, "I actually have a name for this car."

"Oh? Tell us," Chang Yuanting said with interest.

Zheng Yongmin also nodded with a smile.

Lin Qiangsheng looked at the group and said, "I named this car 'Jetta'! 'Jetta' as in 'good news' and 'arrival'."

Zheng Yongmin repeated it a few times and laughed, "Jetta! What a great name! It sounds like it will be successful!"

Chang Yuanting wrote it down a few times and smiled, "Jetta... Alright, the car will be called Jetta! This name is really good! Much better than 'Forward'!" He laughed.

Lin Xiangrong looked at his son, amazed at how smart his son had become!

Lin Qiangsheng smiled, scratched his head, and said, "I think this name is good too, it would be a waste not to use it!"