Chapter 76

"Master Niu, your words are like an insult to me. And to all the uncles and aunts here, I should be the one to visit everyone, but now I have to trouble all of you to come in person. I really feel sorry for everyone, and I apologize."

After saying this, Chen Geng bowed deeply to everyone.

Chen Geng's sincere and heartfelt attitude deeply moved the old men. Although the propaganda always says that workers are the main force of the country, in reality, it's not the case. When have they ever seen a leader treat the workers with such courtesy? Everyone's hearts instantly warmed up.

After a round of pleasantries, Chen Geng finally felt relieved when he confirmed that these master craftsmen were willing to join him. He said, "I am extremely grateful that all the uncles and aunts are willing to lend a helping hand at the start of our company. Here, I represent our company and thank everyone!"

After saying this, he stood up and bowed to everyone again, then continued, "I want to say this in front of so many elders: our company may not be able to promise much, but we can afford to build four or five buildings. However, I hope everyone can understand that the location of the houses might be a bit suburban, as it's difficult to get land in the city."

When Chen Geng mentioned that everyone should understand, many people's hearts tightened. But once they realized he was only talking about building houses in the suburbs, their hearts relaxed: who doesn't know that it's hard to get land in the city? The suburbs are the same. Compared to their current houses, having a two-bedroom, one-living room house in the suburbs would make many people in the city cry out in joy... Of course, there would also be countless people who would never agree to the swap, saying they live in the city.

Everyone immediately chimed in, saying it was no problem. Those who were more impatient started urging Chen Geng, asking when they could start work.

Since there were so many people, Chen Geng decided to hire a bus to take these old men to Haizhou to see the situation at Runcha Industry, and then make a decision.

When he said this, even the most cautious people were completely reassured.

Human nature is such that if Chen Geng hadn't said this, the thought of working in Haizhou, which is far away, would have made everyone a bit hesitant. After all, SAIC Group is a key enterprise in Shanghai and has a certain status in the central government, so there's no worry about not getting paid. But with Chen Geng's words, everyone felt much more at ease.

Since the contract samples were not enough, as Zhang Xiangyang was reading the contract content to the master craftsmen, a thunderous voice came from the door: "Quite lively, isn't it?"

As soon as this thunderous voice sounded, the faces of those who were listening to Zhang Xiangyang reading the contract changed instantly, becoming extremely nervous, like cats seeing mice.

What's going on? Chen Geng was taken aback.

"The old factory manager is here," Xia Shifu whispered to Chen Geng, seeing his confusion.

The old factory manager?

Frowning and recalling carefully, Chen Geng finally remembered who the old factory manager was.

The old factory manager, of course, is in contrast to the current factory manager. The current factory manager of SAIC Group's engine factory is surnamed Ge, around 40 years old. The old factory manager is surnamed Xie, 66 years old, and had just retired last year when Chen Geng came for an internship.

Although he had retired, the old man still had a deep passion for the factory, and no one dared to take his words lightly. The current factory manager, deputy factory manager, office director, supply and marketing department, procurement department... all the key department heads in the engine factory were personally promoted by the old factory manager. Even though he had retired, his words were more effective than the factory manager's. The old factory manager's authority was so high that just seeing how these "proud soldiers and brave generals" became so nervous gave you an idea.

The old factory manager coming at this time felt like a bad omen. Chen Geng inwardly groaned but reacted quickly, standing up to greet the old factory manager respectfully.

"It's you, young man," Factory Manager Xie, though 66 years old, was still energetic, with a ruddy complexion and a straight back. He smiled at Chen Geng and said, "I remember you, surnamed Chen, right? You stayed in the factory for a few days last year, didn't you?"

"Yes, you have a great memory, sir," Chen Geng hurriedly replied, "I was a student intern at SAIC last year and stayed in the group for more than a year, returning just before graduation."

"You stayed at SAIC for more than a year?" The old man was somewhat surprised.

"I am from Huqing University's Automotive Engineering Department. After a few days of internship here, I mainly assisted the engineers from Wolfsburg on the Santana project."

"Oh, I see," the old man suddenly realized, "I heard that a student helped the Wolfsburg guys find several hidden problems with the Santana. Could it be you?"

"How did you know?" Chen Geng was surprised.

If a product has hidden problems and they are not discovered by the company's own employees, it is a great shame for Wolfsburg. Chen Geng thought Wolfsburg would never reveal this information. How could the old factory manager know?

"What's the big deal," the old man snorted, looking unconvinced, "Young man, tell me, what are you up to?"

Facing such a highly respected figure, Chen Geng dared not hide anything and obediently explained his plans.

After Chen Geng finished, the old man poked him a couple of times, half-smiling, half-serious, and said, "You, young man, have quite the nerve to poach people from here?"

Chen Geng laughed and said, "I didn't dare to poach people, and it's not really poaching, is it? I just want to invite our retired master craftsmen to guide us. We haven't had any intentions toward the workers still on the job."

The old man, being a traditional leader, didn't bother with reason and glared, saying, "Is it right or wrong for you to decide?"

The master craftsmen were immediately taken aback: What? Does Old Chang disagree?

Surprised, they felt a bit angry: We are already retired and just want to earn some money to buy a bigger house for our children. Are you going to stop us?

The old factory manager's authority was indeed great, but he couldn't stop people from earning money legally. If he tried, even with his authority, people would dare to confront him.

But seeing the looks on his old colleagues' faces, Old Factory Manager Xie's eyes dimmed for a moment, but quickly recovered. He glared at Chen Geng and said, "Young man, are all the things you just said true? Can your company really improve the suspension of the 212 Jeep?"

"It's true," Chen Geng nodded, "If you don't believe me, I plan to hire a bus to take all the uncles back to our company. You can come with me and help the uncles check things out."

"Old Factory Manager, this young man studied automotive engineering at Huqing University and learned from the German engineers for more than a year. He should have learned some skills and is unlikely to lie," Xia Shifu stood up for the two houses.

Master Niu also stood up, "Yes, Old Factory Manager, we've all heard about the 212 Jeep modification project in Haizhou. It can't be fake."

"I also think it's true..."

Chen Geng thought he would have to argue a lot to convince the old man, but to his surprise, the old men started speaking up for him as soon as he began. Seeing this, Chen Geng inwardly smiled: You can't defy the will of the people.

But to Chen Geng's surprise, the old factory manager stroked his iron-gray chin and pondered for a moment, then nodded, "It seems to make sense... Young man, if you agree to one condition of mine, I'll turn a blind eye. If you don't agree, I won't make things difficult for you. After this meal at Xia's house, you can go back where you came from. I still have some influence in the factory."

Chen Geng's heart sank, but at this point, he couldn't back down. He nodded and said solemnly, "What is it?"

"Good young man," seeing that Chen Geng could remain composed under his pressure, the old factory manager was somewhat surprised and praised him, "Young man, you said your company has the qualifications to produce Jeeps, right?"

"Yes," Chen Geng replied, "Last year, our company obtained the relevant blueprints for the 212 Jeep from BAIC."

"Then it's simple. My condition is simple: you need to transplant our Jin Feng engine and transmission to the 212 Jeep."

"Transplant the Jin Feng 680qk inline-six engine from the Shanghai sedan to the 212 Jeep..." Chen Geng's mouth opened wide: He never expected the old factory manager to make such a demand: Even if you're not happy with me poaching people, you don't have to refuse me this way, do you?

The engine compartment of the 212 Jeep is not small; theoretically, any engine with a displacement of up to 5.0 liters, whether V6 or V8, can fit. However, there's a problem: the 212 Jeep's engine compartment is designed for a longitudinally mounted engine, based on the length of a straight-four engine. The Jin Feng 680qk inline-six engine is even longer than a 5.0-liter V8 engine!

This is not the most important issue. The critical problem is that the 212 Jeep's power transmission route is "engine—transmission—transfer case—front/rear drive axles—wheels," while the Shanghai SH760A's power transmission route is "engine—transmission—rear drive axle—wheels," without a transfer case. The 212 Jeep's transfer case cannot be directly installed on the Shanghai sedan's transmission, which means either the transmission or the transfer case needs to be modified, or the transfer case needs to be abandoned. But without the transfer case, the 212 Jeep would lose its four-wheel drive capability, and a non-four-wheel-drive Jeep can't be called a Jeep.

Chen Geng felt that the old man's words were full of malice!