Inspection

Three black cars soon pulled up in front of Jiuzhou Automobile Factory.

Xu Yifan and his group had already made preparations to receive the visitors.

The three Volkswagen sedans came to a stop, and eight people got out.

At the head of the group, Deputy Secretary Chen, Mayor Chen Qianjun, stood in front of Jiuzhou Automobile Factory's gate, lost in thought.

He could say that he had personally helped several businessmen establish this factory.

When he had first arrived in Jiangzhou to take up his post, he had been determined to improve the lives of the local people. He and several local businessmen had hit it off right away.

They had poured their hearts into the effort and made dozens of trips to the provincial capital over several months before finally securing the permit to manufacture cars.

But the good times hadn't lasted. The factory owners had gone from ambitious to increasingly wary as the cost of building cars kept mounting. In the end, they had come to him in a sorry state, explaining their financial difficulties and hoping to sell the factory.

With his help, they had then found a company from the provincial capital to take over.

Who could have known that things still wouldn't improve in the slightest? Before long, the new owners had even begun to resent him.

Jiuzhou Automobile had changed hands twice, teaching Chen Qianjun that car manufacturing wasn't something a small factory in a small city could manage. He had abandoned the company for good.

Who could have known that the factory he'd thought might disappear at any moment would now have transformed so completely?

In less than half a year, it had already turned a profit. Its workforce had even reached more than five hundred for the first time.

At its peak back then, it had only had a little over two hundred employees!

I'd like to see what kind of person has that much ability!

The thought flashed through his mind. Chen Qianjun took a step toward the factory gate, where more than ten people were already waiting.

The other officials accompanying Chen Qianjun followed him toward the factory.

At the same time, Xu Yifan stepped out from the group and went forward to greet them.

"Welcome, leaders. Thank you for coming to inspect Jiuzhou Automobile Factory. I'm the factory director, Xu Yifan!"

When a handsome young man in his twenties came forward, even Chen Qianjun, who had weathered many storms, couldn't help feeling surprised.

The surprise on Chen Qianjun's face vanished in a flash, and he smiled. "I'd heard that Jiuzhou had been taken over by a very capable young man. I just didn't expect you to be so young—and so handsome!"

"President Xu, you're really impressive. You've accomplished what we tried everything to achieve before!" Chen Qianjun said, giving him a thumbs-up.

Faced with the deputy secretary's praise, Xu Yifan smiled. "We just got a little lucky."

Chen Qianjun shook his head. "No need to be modest. I know how difficult it is. For a while, this factory gave me so much worry I was losing my hair."

Chen Qianjun sighed. "I originally thought that with my help, Jiuzhou Automobile Factory could become one of our city's pillar industries. I put a lot of thought into it.

"We faced all kinds of problems along the way. Some could be overcome; others were extremely difficult to solve. In the end, we had no choice but to give up."

Chen Qianjun looked at the young man in front of him again. "The waves behind push the waves ahead, and each wave grows stronger.

"By contrast, after President Xu took over, he accomplished in less than half a year what we couldn't!"

Hearing Chen Qianjun's generous praise, Xu Yifan and the employees behind him all felt relieved.

It was a good start, at least. They hadn't been given a hard time right off the bat.

Xu Yifan said, "We really did just get a little lucky. We happened to take the path of low-speed electric vehicles. There isn't much competition right now, and the market is still fairly open, which gave us such a great opportunity."

Chen Qianjun gave a slight shake of his head. "Come on, show me around the factory." This young factory director was capable and humble. Not bad at all.

"We'll do whatever the leaders wish," Xu Yifan replied.

Chen Qianjun thought for a moment. "Let's start with the production workshop."

Xu Yifan nodded and gestured to the man beside him. "Allow me to introduce Zhou Fengyan, who oversees all production at our factory. He also serves as our in-house automotive engineer."

A smile appeared on Chen Qianjun's face. "I remember him. This is an old hand, a very diligent and reliable worker. A lot of our production work back then depended on Zhou Fengyan to get done."

Zhou Fengyan looked surprised. "I didn't expect you to remember me, sir!"

"Of course I remember you. You're capable and have a good head for management. You're a rare talent. The old Jiuzhou Automobile Factory wasted your abilities."

Zhou Fengyan gave a slight shake of his head without responding, then changed the subject. "Let's talk as we walk.

"Our factory currently has around four hundred and fifty production workers, divided into three shifts of one hundred and fifty each.

"We operate three shifts. Apart from holiday adjustments, there's no overtime—or rather, even if people wanted to work overtime, there aren't any production lines available for it.

"Our workers' wages are about twenty percent higher than those for similar manufacturing jobs in the city. We also provide social insurance and housing provident fund contributions.

"There are also meal and accommodation subsidies, and so on. In short, we offer excellent benefits, and everyone works very hard!"

Zhou Fengyan gave a brief overview of the production workshop.

The group also entered the only production workshop in Jiuzhou Automobile Factory.

As soon as they stepped inside, they saw workers busy at their tasks.

The workers at each station skillfully carried out their duties.

In the stamping area, sheets of steel were processed by stamping machines into metal panels. Then, in the welding area, the panels were gradually welded together to form a car body.

Chen Qianjun and the others watched closely. They spoke much less and didn't disturb the busy workers.

Starting with the processing of steel components, they followed the parts made from a sheet of steel as they were gradually assembled into a car body, mounted on a chassis, and fitted with all kinds of components.

After walking through the entire U-shaped production line, Chen Qianjun and the others had seen a Jiuzhou Mini go from raw materials to a finished vehicle with their own eyes.

Nearly an hour later, the completed Jiuzhou Mini was sitting right in front of them.

Chen Qianjun, who had watched the whole process, felt a little moved. "I used to imagine a scene like this. The Jiuzhou Automobile Factory of today has done even better than I imagined!"

The other officials beside him also spoke up.

"I've visited many factories, even some bigger ones, but very few have workers with better morale than Jiuzhou's. This isn't just a matter of appearances. You can genuinely feel how wholeheartedly the workers are applying themselves."

"It's completely different from how run-down it was before. It's practically been brought back from the dead."

"Busy workers, good benefits, and a young factory director with real talent!"

Chen Qianjun and the other officials who had come to visit all praised Jiuzhou Automobile highly.

Xu Yifan and the managers were delighted. No matter what, it was always gratifying to have their work recognized.

Chen Qianjun then asked, "How many cars can our factory produce each day?"

Zhou Fengyan answered without hesitation. "For the Jiuzhou Mini, we produced sixty-three yesterday. We've basically stabilized at that number recently."

"Sixty-three a day? That's a production capacity of more than twenty thousand a year. Excellent! You're practically at the maximum capacity this production line was designed for!"

As they spoke, an employee approached the Jiuzhou Mini they had just watched being made. Holding the car keys, he was about to drive it over to the vehicle delivery area.

Chen Qianjun pointed at the car, his eyes filled with anticipation. He turned to Xu Yifan and asked, "Could I give this car a try?

"I watched it being built with my own eyes, and I'd like to see what it feels like to drive. This is a car made right here in our own Jiangzhou City!"

"Of course!" Xu Yifan nodded.

Zhou Fengyan walked over to the employee and spoke to him briefly before taking the car keys. The worker who had been moving the car came along as well.

Zhou Fengyan said, a little apologetically, "Um, sir, President Xu will explain how to operate the car.

"If you're interested, you can also drive it to the area inside Jiuzhou Automobile Factory that we use for vehicle deliveries."

Chen Qianjun was curious about what he meant by vehicle delivery. "Oh, don't you deliver cars at dealerships?"

Ji Shenghai, who was in charge of that area, stepped forward and said, "Customers can pick up their cars at dealerships, too.

"But most customers choose to collect their cars here at the Jiuzhou factory, because we have instructors on-site to teach them how to drive!

"According to policy, you don't need a driver's license to drive this kind of low-speed electric vehicle.

"But it's still a vehicle that travels on the road, after all. Our boss arranged for driving instructors and a training area right here at Jiuzhou Automobile Factory.

"Besides practicing the maneuvers required in a regular driving test, customers are also taught traffic rules and what to watch out for while driving."

Chen Qianjun was intrigued. "Then we'll definitely have to go see it. It was very thoughtful of you to consider that!"

Then he turned to the two officials beside him. "Director Wang, Director Liu, come have a look with me.

"President Xu, you can sit in the front passenger seat. The two of you take the back. Let's all try this car out together!"

The two directors smiled and replied.

"That sounds great!"

"I'm very curious about this car, too!"

All four got into the car, filling the little vehicle to capacity.

With the employee's guidance, Chen Qianjun drove the car forward smoothly.

Xu Yifan and the others headed toward the factory parking area.

A three-thousand-word chapter!

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