Chapter 52: Earning a Hard-Won Fortune

With the successful projects of the 212 Jeep modification and office furniture, Chen Geng was full of confidence.

Liu Qianjin was greatly surprised. No matter how he thought about it, he never expected Chen Geng to be so bold as to claim that he could lead the Third Industry Office to a net profit of 300,000 yuan by the end of the year. There were only four months left until the New Year. Was he really that confident? In the best years, the factory's annual net profit was only around 100,000 to 200,000 yuan.

However, he didn't dare to take Chen Geng's words lightly.

If Chen Geng had said this more than a month ago, Liu Qianjin would have immediately dismissed it as boasting. But he had seen the thriving business of China Resources Industry with his own eyes over the past month. With this example, Liu Qianjin didn't dare to think that way anymore. But the question was... how should he answer?

He couldn't answer!

Song Junwei's eyes, however, lit up.

While Liu Qianjin was still pondering how to respond, Song Junwei, who had no other options, rushed in front of Chen Geng and loudly said, "Manager Chen, as long as you come to our repair factory, the issue of shares can be discussed. We can negotiate. We don't have to wait until we earn 300,000 yuan to give you dividends. We'll divide them as they come..."

The 212 Jeep modification and office furniture were already in the pocket of the Third Military Equipment Repair Factory. When Liu Qianjin considered the problem, he always subconsciously excluded Chen Geng's contributions, thinking that Chen Geng was taking advantage of the factory. But Song Junwei, who was facing a dire situation, didn't see it that way. His perspective was completely different from Liu Qianjin's. As long as Chen Geng was willing to bring the 212 Jeep modification technology to the repair factory, it meant that his factory would no longer have to worry about survival and would have a substantial profit every year. Moreover, the carburetor project might also land in his factory...

Where could he find such a good deal? He had to seize any opportunity, or he would never get a chance to regret it.

Liu Qianjin's face changed several times, and just as he was about to speak, Peng Guangming walked in with a stern look on his face. "Song, Chen Geng is a child who grew up in our factory. Would we let our own child suffer? If you can give shares, can't we?"

Why did the secretary come? Chen Geng was a bit surprised but still quickly greeted him, "Commissar, why are you here?"

"If I didn't come, our precious gem would be poached by others," Peng Guangming laughed heartily. After that, he nodded at Liu Qianjin and then said to Chen Geng, "Comrade Chen Geng, I just reported this matter to the military leaders."

He paused slightly.

Chen Geng raised an eyebrow but didn't speak, waiting for Peng Guangming to continue. He wasn't surprised that Peng Guangming knew about Song Junwei's visit and the offer of shares. Although the factory only had two telephones and no internal lines, they did have a few walkie-talkies.

Peng Guangming's pause was to observe Chen Geng's reaction, which would guide his next words. Whether Chen Geng was happy, excited, or anxious, it would help. But Chen Geng surprised him by saying nothing and showing no significant change in expression. Helpless, Peng Guangming continued, "The leaders' intention is to respect your personal wishes. If you want to invest in the Third Industry Office with your technology, that's fine, but the shareholding ratio must not exceed 50%, meaning you can't have a majority..."

Liu Qianjin was shocked!

He never expected the military leaders to make such a decision. Instinctively, he thought they would give Chen Geng 50% of the shares. Was this a joke?

Even though China Resources Industry Development Co., Ltd. was the Third Industry Office of the Third Military Equipment Repair Factory, a large collective enterprise, allowing Chen Geng to invest with his technology still exceeded Liu Qianjin's imagination. In a panic, he interrupted Peng Guangming, "Old Peng, did the leaders really say that? This is a big deal; you can't joke about it."

Peng Guangming nodded at Liu Qianjin, reassuring him, "The leaders also want to see how capable Comrade Chen Geng is and explore a new path in this military reform. Our factory's labor service company is a test field."

Liu Qianjin's mouth dropped open in surprise: The leaders valued this young man to such an extent?

The leaders' attention to Chen Geng exceeded his wildest imagination.

Song Junwei, looking dejected, was about to leave. Since Chen Geng couldn't be poached, what was the point of staying?

But before he could take a few steps, he heard Chen Geng call out, "Factory Director Song, please wait."

Song Junwei stopped, forcing a smile and asked, "Manager Chen, is there something else?"

"There is something," Chen Geng nodded and said, "Although I can't take over your repair factory, I have a preliminary idea for cooperation between our two factories. I wonder if Factory Director Song is interested in hearing it?"

Is this... mocking me? Song Junwei was confused, but seeing Chen Geng's sincere expression, he didn't think it was a joke. After hesitating, he finally asked, "Of course I'm interested. Manager Chen, please tell me, I'm all ears."

"Here's the thing. I'm currently working on solving the shock absorber supply issue, and there's some progress on the tires. If everything goes well, the supply problems for shock absorbers and tires will be resolved soon..."

Song Junwei didn't react immediately, but Peng Guangming was instantly excited. Before Chen Geng could finish, he grabbed Chen Geng's shoulder and asked excitedly, "Kid, you're not joking? You really solved the shock absorber problem?"

"Only some progress has been made..."

Peng Guangming ignored the "some progress" part and asked eagerly, "Tell me, how did you solve it?"

It wasn't surprising that Peng Guangming was so agitated. The annual quota of 1,000 sets of shock absorbers and tires had everyone on edge. They couldn't take on many modification jobs and were always worried about being constrained by the Germans. Now, with the problem potentially solved, they could finally make a lot of money.

Because this issue was so significant for the Third Military Equipment Repair Factory, Peng Guangming overlooked Chen Geng's original words.

"torsion bar springs," Chen Geng explained, understanding Peng Guangming's reaction. "I got the idea from the suspension system of the Type 63 armored vehicle. If the Type 63 can use torsion bar springs instead of coil springs and leaf springs, why can't our 212 Jeep use torsion bar springs?"

Although Peng Guangming worked in political affairs, he wasn't completely ignorant of technology. Hearing about torsion bar springs, his eyes lit up, and he slapped his thigh, excitedly saying, "Using torsion bar springs instead of coil springs? Yes, why didn't I think of that?!"

Our country has limited experience in producing coil springs for passenger cars but is quite experienced with torsion bar springs. As long as we find a torsion bar spring manufacturer to produce a batch according to our performance specifications, we won't have to worry about being constrained by the Germans.

As the factory manager in charge of production, Liu Qianjin was also excited. If they could really use torsion bar springs instead of coil springs, that would be great, but it couldn't be that simple, right?

Chen Geng explained to Liu Qianjin, "I made some modifications to the original four-link suspension. It's completely fine. Next, I plan to find a reliable coil spring manufacturer to finalize the cooperation. Then we can conduct actual vehicle tests. As for the tires, the Hangzhou City Rubber Factory, which produces the Chao Yang brand, is developing passenger car tires for the localization of the Santana. We can contact them to use their tires."

"Oh, such a big problem solved so easily? Ha ha..." Peng Guangming rubbed his hands in delight. "I was worried about these two issues just a few days ago, but you've solved them. You truly are a top student from Tsinghua University! By the way, how much will the use of torsion bar springs affect the overall performance and comfort of the vehicle?"

The units that came to China Resources Industry for 212 Jeep modifications were attracted by the significant improvement in comfort, making the Jeep as comfortable as a sedan. If the comfort was greatly reduced with the torsion bar springs, it wouldn't be meaningful.

Chen Geng said confidently, "As long as the performance of the torsion bar springs meets my specifications, the difference from using coil springs will be minimal, or even imperceptible."

If he didn't have this confidence, he would have found a job to just get by.

"Ha ha ha... Good! Good!" Peng Guangming laughed even more heartily, increasingly convinced that Chen Geng was his lucky star.

Peng Guangming was laughing, and Liu Qianjin was also overjoyed. As for Song Junwei, he was rubbing his hands, both excited and anxious.

Now he was sure that Chen Geng wasn't playing with him but was seriously discussing the issue.

Chen Geng said, "Factory Director Song, since the supply issues for shock absorbers and tires will be resolved soon, our cooperation will be simple. Your side can't produce the parts needed for the modifications, but that's fine. We can provide these parts and technical support. We'll just earn a bit from the parts. What do you think, Factory Director Song?"

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