Chapter 88

Suddenly, everyone felt a mysterious boost in confidence.

Chen Geng could even invite engineers from the German city of Wolfsburg, what does this mean? It means that Manager Chen has a very deep relationship with the Germans. It also indirectly proves that Chen Geng's ability to obtain the special shock absorbers and tires for the Pusang is not by chance; he really has deep and extensive overseas connections.

Everyone understood this.

There are always well-informed people around, and at this moment, one of them was proudly boasting about his extensive knowledge: "Let me tell you, Manager Chen and the German engineer from Wolfsburg have a great friendship. They ride a motorcycle to the seaside every day, and their friendship is so good that you can't even imagine it..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd immediately exclaimed in surprise: "Manager Chen and the Germans have such a good relationship?"

Everyone felt even more hopeful about the future.

There were also some quick-witted people who, upon hearing this news, not only did not feel happy but were somewhat worried: "Old Song is not a fool, and Old Wang is even less of a fool. With so many people competing with me, I'm a bit unsure... No, I have to go and chat with Chen Hongjun. If I say it, will his son not listen?"

While this person was pondering how to get closer to Chen Hongjun, another well-informed person nearby was not convinced: "Manager Chen almost goes to the seaside with Mr. Jin every day, and everyone in Hai Zhou has seen it. What's so special about that?"

"What I said isn't special, but do you have anything special to say?" Well-informed person A shot back.

"I do know something," Well-informed person B, who dared to challenge, clearly had some inside information. He snorted and said, "When everyone came, they probably all noticed the two Shanghai-brand sedans, right..."

"Really? Those two cars have something to do with Mr. Jin?" The people nearby immediately exclaimed in surprise.

"Of course they do. You didn't know, did you? Those two sedans are specially assigned to the Wolfsburg engineering team by the SAIC Group, but now Mr. Jin has lent them to Manager Chen..." Well-informed person B dropped a major piece of gossip.

This gossip was indeed powerful, and the people around immediately exclaimed in surprise: "Wow, Manager Chen must have a lot of influence to borrow cars from the Germans!"

Borrowing cars isn't unusual, but borrowing cars from foreigners is quite impressive.

Well-informed person B sneered: "You really have a narrow view! Think about it, if Mr. Jin wasn't the head of the engineering team, would he have the authority to lend cars to others? There's a deeper meaning to this, which you haven't thought about."

That's true!

Thanks to Well-informed person B's reminder, everyone felt their thinking broadened: That's right. If Mr. Jin were just an ordinary engineer, he wouldn't have the authority to lend cars to Chen Geng, let alone two cars. The fact that Mr. Jin can do this shows that he not only has significant influence in Wolfsburg but also places a high value on Manager Chen.

Previously, some people had looked down on Chen Geng, but in the face of this explosive news, no one dared to underestimate him. Even Well-informed person A, who had spoken first, was stunned: He really didn't know this.

Well-informed person B was clearly very satisfied with the effect of the information he had revealed. He deliberately looked around, indicating that he had even more explosive news to share, but he needed to lower his voice, and everyone should be more discreet.

Sure enough, everyone became more cautious, all obediently holding their breath and straining their ears, ready to hear Well-informed person B's next big piece of gossip.

Well-informed person B was very pleased with everyone's reaction. He deliberately cleared his throat and lowered his voice, saying, "There's another piece of news that I guarantee you don't know: The production line being tested at the Third Armament Repair Factory is said to have a mysterious connection with Mr. Jin."

"No way?" The crowd immediately gasped, and a smart person quickly asked, "Doesn't that mean it's also related to Manager Chen?"

"Exactly," Well-informed person B nodded approvingly at the smart person and said with a hint of meaning, "So, everyone, keep your eyes open and think long-term. Don't think that Manager Chen is young and easy to bully..."

"Right, right..."

...

So, what was Jin doing at this moment?

When Chen Geng arrived, Jin was wearing a leather apron and mixing paint, with the Changjiang 750 sidecar motorcycle nearby.

Seeing Chen Geng, Jin was overjoyed, put down the paint tray, and said happily, "Chen, come here, help me. I can't mix the color I want. Oh God, can you help me think of a solution?"

As a mechanical engineer, Jin was practically colorblind in the eyes of a color designer, and this task was indeed challenging for him. Fortunately, it wasn't a problem for Chen Geng.

"What color do you want?" Chen Geng looked at the color Jin had already mixed and immediately understood, "You want to mix a gray?"

"Yes," Jin nodded, rubbing his temples in frustration, "I want a color similar to German gray, with a matte, sandblasted texture."

"That's tricky," Chen Geng frowned, "German gray is easy to mix, but if you want a matte, sandblasted German gray, let me think... That would be a type of acrylic polyurethane paint, which we don't seem to have in China. I'm not sure if it's available in Germany, but you won't be able to mix it with the paints you have here."

Matte paint, or sandblasted paint, is widely used in military equipment. Unlike ordinary civilian paints, which are shiny, this paint is designed to minimize reflection and reduce the chances of being detected. Chen Geng wasn't sure if China had started researching acrylic polyurethane paint, but the paint on current military equipment in China was reflective and very noticeable in sunlight... Unfortunately, I don't know much about paint, or I could make a fortune with this matte paint.

"Can you mix German gray?" Jin was overjoyed, handed the paint tray to Chen Geng, and urged, "Quick, help me mix it. It doesn't have to be matte..."

He was eager to see the Changjiang 750 painted in German gray, and whether it was matte or not didn't matter.

Chen Geng understood, "We have something important to do today..."

Important? Jin finally remembered that he had promised to support Chen Geng at the event held by Runhua Industries today.

Although he was reluctant, he had made a promise, so he put down the paint tray reluctantly, "Let's go," and immediately added, "But you have to help me mix the paint after the event."

"Sure," Chen Geng nodded. Mixing paint was simple, but he pointed to the paint spots on Jin's clothes, "Aren't you going to change your clothes?"

Although Jin had worn a leather apron while mixing paint, his sleeves still had a few paint spots. This wasn't very polite, and Chen Geng thought Jin should change his clothes out of politeness.

But Jin didn't think so. He was eager to go around and then come back to have Chen Geng help him mix the paint, so he said impatiently, "No need to change, let's go. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can come back..."

Fine!

Since Jin insisted, Chen Geng couldn't say anything more: If you don't care, what can I say?

...

When Jin entered with Chen Geng, the previously noisy crowd fell silent as if under a magical spell.

Although everyone had already learned that Chen Geng had a good relationship with the German engineer from Wolfsburg, seeing Chen Geng and the German engineer chatting and laughing together made it clear that their relationship was more than just good; they were almost like brothers. When had they ever seen a foreigner and a Chinese person so close?

Of course, the fact that they had rarely seen foreigners in their lives was conveniently forgotten.

Jin, entering the room, nodded politely to everyone, "Ladies and gentlemen, I am Swen-Christian Jin, a mechanical engineer from the Volkswagen Group's SAIC Pusang project, and a friend of Chen. It's a pleasure to meet all of you, and I hope you enjoy today."

Jin's Chinese pronunciation was quite strange, but that wasn't important. What was important was that this blond foreigner could speak Chinese!

Although the reform and opening-up had been going on for a few years, and they had seen a few foreigners, they had never seen a foreigner who could speak Chinese. Just hearing a foreigner say "ni hao" with a barely understandable accent made them feel honored and valued by foreign friends, but Jin had spoken several sentences in Chinese!

Several sentences in Chinese!

People in the 1980s were simple and straightforward. They didn't have the concept of "only the same sex is true love, and the opposite sex is only for reproduction," so they didn't think too much about the relationship between Chen Geng and Jin. However, Jin's ability to speak Chinese still brought a huge shock: This foreigner had learned Chinese just for his friendship with Chen Geng?