"What?"
In Zhong Wei Technology's team, Project Director Feng Zhongfa and Business Director Li Bo were both stunned when they heard the bidding result, unable to believe their ears.
Just as they had feared, Zhong Wei Technology, ranked second among Oupai's DM factories, had always regarded Hua Long Technology as its greatest competitor, fighting them at every turn.
Just moments ago, they had been talking about how certain they were to win the bid. Now they had been slapped in the face—Hua Long Technology had actually taken it?
Li Bo was rather furious. "President Feng, didn't you say we would definitely win the bid?"
Feng Zhongfa was extremely embarrassed. With a bitter smile, he replied, "I'll ask Director Xiang from Oupai's procurement team about it privately later and see what exactly happened."
"Hmph!"
Li Bo snorted coldly, then swept his sleeves and left.
At this point, the other companies that had failed in the bidding also began to leave one after another. Only Hua Long Technology's team remained, as they still had to coordinate with Oupai's team on project initiation and other preliminary matters.
Feng Zhongfa took a deep breath and arranged for his subordinates to return to the company with Li Bo. He then found an opportunity to quietly speak with Xiang Jinbo, Oupai Company's head of procurement.
"President Feng, this was an accident. I didn't expect Hua Long Technology's quote to be five percentage points lower than yours, and they still had room for profit."
Xiang Jinbo spoke with some apology.
Xiang Jinbo had privately communicated with Feng Zhongfa and intended to give this project to Zhong Wei Technology, but that had not been his decision alone. Every department in the company had felt the same way. Among all of Oupai's DM factories, apart from Hua Long Technology, only Zhong Wei Technology was trustworthy. They were not comfortable choosing anyone else, even though this was merely a low-to-mid-range project.
And for a low-to-mid-range project, price was the top priority. Hua Long Technology was a large company with a heavy cost structure, so it naturally could not compete with Zhong Wei Technology in cost control. Before the bidding, they had all predicted that Zhong Wei Technology would win it.
Yet after the on-site bidding, Hua Long Technology's price had actually come in five percentage points lower than Zhong Wei Technology's. Under those circumstances, they could only choose Hua Long Technology.
There was no other reason. Hua Long Technology was number one in the industry and had the price advantage as well. Not choosing them would have been unreasonable.
Feng Zhongfa was speechless and could not help asking, "How is that possible? How did they calculate their costs? We chose domestic materials wherever possible."
Xiang Jinbo hesitated before saying, "I looked over Hua Long Technology's materials. Most of them are the same as yours, but the optical materials they used are generally much lower-end than yours. I estimate the price difference lies there."
Feng Zhongfa was even more puzzled. "Generally lower-end than ours? Could the optical film they used be King Material from overseas? That makes no sense. Overseas King Material is outrageously expensive. The costs simply wouldn't add up."
Feng Zhongfa had been deeply involved in this industry for many years and knew a thing or two about every material.
He immediately realized that the other party had most likely used overseas King Material for the optical materials, which was why they could use lower-end materials elsewhere. Otherwise, there was no explanation.
But Xiang Jinbo shook his head. "It's not from overseas. It's a domestic product. I've never seen it either. It's called FY-01. I don't know which company makes it."
"FY-01?"
Feng Zhongfa muttered the name twice, but had no clue at all. He could only return in low spirits.
They were not the only ones curious. The R&D staff in Oupai Company's project team were also extremely curious about this brand-new FY-01 material. They had seen plenty and were familiar with nearly all optical materials on the market. Moreover, whenever a material manufacturer launched a new product, it would always inform them in advance.
But this brand-new optical material, FY-01, had never been seen before.
"President Wu, you've dropped a depth charge on us."
Someone joked to Wu Feng, Hua Long Technology's project director.
"President Wu, which company produced this new material? We've never heard of it. How reliable is it?"
Someone else asked with a smile.
"This is a brand-new high-performance product discovered by our company. It is still confidential, so I cannot reveal much more. All I can say is that it is no worse than overseas King Material."
Many people at Oupai Company clicked their tongues in amazement, their curiosity completely stirred up. But since Wu Feng said the material was still confidential, they could not conveniently ask further.
When a weak supplier faced a powerful client, unless its product was irreplaceable, it simply could not refuse a major client's demand for information.
Only a powerful supplier could say the word "confidential," and leave even the largest clients with no choice.
So, sayings like "the customer is king" were just words. They were like "the wind may enter, the rain may enter, but the king may not enter" or "private property is sacred and inviolable." Anyone who took them seriously was an idiot.
Meanwhile, Feng Zhongfa, his face clouded with misfortune, rushed back to Zhong Wei Technology. While still on the road, he sent a message to one of his project managers, telling him to investigate FY-01.
Today's bidding had been utterly terrible.
The moment he arrived at the company, he summoned his subordinate. "How did the investigation go?"
The project manager reported with a miserable expression, "Boss, this material isn't on the market yet. I asked around among industry peers, and no one had heard of it. I also checked with outside material manufacturers, and they all said they had never heard of it."
"Damn it!"
Feng Zhongfa could not help blurting out the curse, but there was nothing he could do. He said resentfully, "Could it be a new material developed by Hua Long Technology itself? But that makes no sense. I've never heard that Hua Long Technology invested in optical materials."
At this point, the project manager cautiously mentioned something. "President Feng, I don't know whether it's true, but I heard Xiao Liu from R&D say that when President Peng from procurement was bidding for optical materials a few days ago, someone came to recommend FY-01. But everyone thought that person was bragging, so they didn't take it seriously. In the end, they chose Hejia over the two material suppliers, Hejia and Di Guang."
Feng Zhongfa was shocked. "What the hell?"
He had never expected to hear such explosive news.
After going in circles, they had thought this new material had appeared out of nowhere. But someone had actually brought it right to their door, and they had not taken it seriously at all. So the material had made one round through Zhong Wei Technology before leaving again.
Thinking further, could it be that after the other party left Zhong Wei Technology, they had gone to Hua Long Technology instead? Was that why Hua Long Technology had acquired this material and come to challenge them before Oupai Company?
The more Feng Zhongfa thought about it, the angrier he became. The angrier he became, the more furious he grew. He sprang up from his chair and rushed out of the office to find Business Director Li Bo.
Li Bo had not looked pleased to see him in the first place, but after Feng Zhongfa explained the news from beginning to end, his expression became even uglier.
"Director Liao, bring that procurement manager under you named Peng Fan to my office immediately."
Li Bo immediately called Liao Yongqing, the head of procurement.
"What's going on? Why is he so fired up?"
After hanging up, Liao Yongqing could not help complaining. Li Bo had left him completely confused.
However, Li Bo had always carried considerable weight at Zhong Wei Technology. His personality was also extremely forceful. Since he had summoned Liao Yongqing so angrily, not going was not an option.
So Liao Yongqing quickly went to find Peng Fan and brought him along.
On the way, he asked Peng Fan, "Did you fail to handle something properly and offend Director Li Bo?"
Peng Fan had already been utterly confused. Hearing that made him feel even more wronged. "I don't know. How would I dare offend Director Li Bo?"
Only after they entered Li Bo's office did Li Bo say, "Oupai's Dual Punch-Hole Screen project is gone. Hua Long Technology won the bid using this new material, FY-01. Director Liao, Manager Peng, shouldn't you give me an explanation?"
While Liao Yongqing was still confused, Peng Fan was instantly stunned, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
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