The Greatest Advantage

Elder Li was the first to make a move.

"Cheng Wen, you were doing perfectly well in Xue City. What did you come to the provincial capital for?"

"The Li family's auto parts supply business spans the globe. A single car involves more than thirty thousand different supply chains. The Li family handles over three hundred of the most critical sectors among them."

"If you want to manufacture cars in Northern Country, production cannot begin without supplies from Li family companies."

"And that is only one aspect. Factory machine tools, electronic chips, raw materials for small appliances, watches, electronic products..."

Lu Chengwen laughed. "Elder Li, everyone knows how enormous the Li family is. I have read through those three hundred-plus sectors of yours, and you have indeed done quite well. But why do you not have your own automobile factory? The Li family has no automobile brand of its own—only parts brands. That is an indisputable fact."

Elder Li glared. "Do you think making cars is that simple? You need a brand, heritage, technology, research and development, and..."

"To put it bluntly, you are just short on money!"

Lu Chengwen said, "The Li family merely earns petty profits from a few branch assembly lines in the automotive sector. You caught the wave of the automobile industry's boom over the past twenty years, when related parts were in short supply, which let the Li family establish itself firmly in the provincial capital and expand across the country. But!"

Lu Chengwen said, "The tide has changed now, has it not? New-energy vehicles have risen abruptly. Among your three hundred-plus production lines, the key businesses—engine valves, fuel lines, and the like—are not selling as well as before, are they?"

Elder Li's expression turned awkward.

He had never expected Lu Chengwen to understand his