Inspection (2)

They reached the spot a few hundred meters away in no time.

The Jiuzhou Mini driven by Mayor Chen Qianjun had not only arrived already, but had even driven around the block and come back to the factory entrance for another loop. Only then did he park it among the rows of Jiuzhou Minis waiting to be handed over to their owners!

After getting out of the car, everyone expressed how pleased they were with it.

Chen Qianjun gazed at the car before him, clearly taken with it. "No wonder it sells so well. I really enjoy driving this car. It even feels better on the road than some sedans!"

"To be honest, I'm a car enthusiast myself, and I've driven plenty of cars. This one may not be among the very best, but it's definitely no slouch!"

The two department directors beside him were just as full of praise.

"It's comfortable enough to sit in, too. The space is a little cramped, but there's no helping that."

"It's great for two or three people, and if you need to in a pinch, you can fit four."

Xu Yifan smiled. "You're too kind!"

Chen Qianjun looked at the nearly hundred cars parked before them and asked curiously, "Are these all being handed over soon?"

Ji Shenghai replied, "Yes. Some were supposed to be handed over a few days ago, but the customers couldn't come to pick them up in time. Others were made today and are about to be handed over."

As he spoke, he pointed to a small building beside the parking area. "By the way, that's our vehicle handover area. We've got customers there now, picking up their cars."

Then he pointed to another section ahead, where small cars were slowly moving about. "And that area over there is where we train drivers. Those people are customers, too."

Chen Qianjun said, "Very good. Let's go take a look together!"

After a moment's thought, he added, "By the way, everyone, try to stand casually when we get there. Just act like ordinary people who've come to look around."

"Sure thing!" everyone replied.

They walked a few dozen meters farther, and a small building that had only recently been built came into view.

The group entered, and the scene inside opened up before them.

It was a very simple office space. Since it had been put together in a hurry and was in constant use, there was no fancy décor—just a few desks and some sofas and chairs for customers to sit and rest.

At that moment, more than ten men and women, all over sixty on average, were sitting on the chairs and sipping tea as they waited for the vehicle handover process.

Behind the desks, the finance staff handling the handovers and employees from the Sales Department were taking care of the customers' paperwork.

Some were checking the car reservation orders; others were issuing value-added tax invoices.

The dozen or so people waiting to pick up their cars were split into four groups, each there to collect one vehicle.

Some of the older men had brought their wives, and some had brought friends along to see what was going on. Others were thinking of buying one themselves and had come to have a look first.

Chen Qianjun went over to one group of older men and women who were chatting.

"Uncle, are you all here to pick up your cars?" Chen Qianjun asked curiously.

One of the older men answered with a beaming smile. "That's right. I ordered mine before the New Year, and only yesterday did they finally tell me I could come pick it up!

"So I brought my wife and two friends along today to collect it and learn how to drive it while we're here!"

"What do you think of the car?" Chen Qianjun asked.

The older man replied cheerfully, "It's great, of course! There's no car more suitable for people like us!"

The other older men and women waiting to pick up their cars joined the conversation.

"A lot of our friends have already picked theirs up. We go out for drives together, and it's wonderful!"

"It's so convenient to have a car. Before, if I wanted to go somewhere in my child's car, I'd worry about troubling them or annoying them. Now that my wife and I have our own car, we can go wherever we like!"

One of the older men asked with some curiosity, "By the way, what do you do?"

Chen Qianjun answered casually, "I'm here to take a look for my dad. He's been saying he wants to buy a Jiuzhou Mini lately, so I secretly brought some friends to check it out today as a surprise. If it's good, we'll place an order!"

As soon as they heard he was looking at the car, the older men got excited and gathered around Chen Qianjun, eager to give him their advice.

"Trust me, just order one! The sooner, the better!"

"The sooner you order, the sooner you get it. I regret not placing my order right away. I had to wait a whole month before it was finally my turn!"

"Exactly! If you order now, you might have to wait even longer than a month!"

"This car is really well made. Let me tell you, there are other unregistered cars like this, but apart from our Jiuzhou Mini, they're all terrible quality!"

"A few friends of mine didn't want to wait, so they went to Chengdu and bought cars similar to the Jiuzhou Mini. Less than half a month after they got back, they started having problems!"

"I know! I've seen them, too. You can't even call those things cars. What a load of junk! The steering wheel is just a piece of plastic. It feels like you could snap it if you used a little too much force!

"The tires, the interior, the workmanship, the quality—everything is so much worse. You can spot the difference at a glance!"

Men loved cars, no matter how old they were.

"This is the real deal, built with proper automobile manufacturing technology. Take my word for it: you can't go wrong with a Jiuzhou Mini!"

"I'd rather pay a few thousand yuan more and buy this Jiuzhou Mini!"

"I looked at cars for ages before finally settling on the Jiuzhou Mini. It has so many advantages."

"I came all the way from ZY City just to buy a Jiuzhou Mini. I've made the trip twice already!"

The moment the conversation turned to the Jiuzhou Mini, the older men became salesmen, singing its praises and rattling off all its merits!

After hearing the dozen or so people take turns listing all the car's advantages, Chen Qianjun and the officials behind him began wondering if they really ought to buy a car for their own elderly fathers.

Forget it. If I'm going to buy one, I'll give the old man the money and let him buy it himself! Chen Qianjun couldn't bring it up himself; it wouldn't look right.

After a while, the older men finally eased off, and Chen Qianjun quickly said, "Thank you, thank you, everyone! Thanks for the advice!

"I'll take a look at the driving practice area. If there are no problems, I'll come back and place an order later!"

Since they were all buying the same car, the older men waved him on. "Go ahead. There are plenty of people practicing over there, too. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask. Everyone's very friendly."

As Chen Qianjun turned and headed for the door, the older men and women continued chatting.

"That young man is so filial. He's much better than my boy."

"Haha, he's still not as good as my son. Mine went ahead and ordered it for me! The only problem is that he ordered a little late, so I had to wait ages to get the car. Let me tell you, my son's quite something..."

Chen Qianjun emerged from the crowd of older men and women, a little flustered. He let out a sigh of relief, but he was also very pleased.

Hearing directly from customers gave them a much better understanding of the Jiuzhou Mini. Their praise filled him with even more confidence in the product.

"All right, next stop: the driving practice area!" Chen Qianjun waved them onward.

Before long, they moved on to a stretch of open ground set aside within the factory grounds.

There were plenty of older men and women practicing there, too. Dozens of cars circled the training area, making for quite a lively scene.

Every now and then, traffic would get backed up, and a chorus of honking would break out.

As the group took in the scene, they chatted among themselves.

"It's so lively! Everyone seems to be having a good time!"

"Yeah. Seeing the happy smiles on everyone's faces suddenly gives me something to look forward to in old age. It wouldn't be bad to buy one of these cars and drive it around."

"Why wait until I'm old? I want one right now!"

"After hearing what all those older men and women said, I'm tempted, too!"

"If I didn't need to drive long distances, maybe this kind of car would suit me better."

"How come it's livelier than the place where we took our driving tests? The older folks seem to get along so well."

"The area is just a little small. It feels crowded with this many cars."

"Having more cars around can help everyone improve their driving skills, too."

The group walked around the area a few times under the curious gazes of the older men and women, then watched as they studied the traffic rules with great care.

In the rest area, a large screen repeatedly played videos of instructors explaining important points, what to watch out for while driving, common road signs, how to stay safe on the road, and defensive driving.

Although they didn't have to take any kind of test, most of the people were still very attentive.

A small number of people might not care about safety, but over ninety percent took their own safety very seriously.

Even the elderly cared about driving safely. They just hadn't had the chance before. Since Jiuzhou Automobile Factory offered lessons, they took them seriously.

A whole group of senior driving students—big brothers and sisters to one another!

Some of them had already learned to drive but still came by regularly. They happily shared their experience with the newer students, their junior brothers and sisters.

It had become something like a recreation center for the elderly!

Many older people had little to do in their everyday lives. It was rare to find a place where they could make friends, meet people their own age, and arrange to go hiking, fishing, or have fun together. It was a real treat!

The harmonious scenes unfolding before them gave everyone food for thought.

"They're not just selling a product. They're selling service and safety, too."

"Look closely at the lessons they teach. They explain things in simple, easy-to-understand terms, showing people how to drive safely without affecting other vehicles."

"They're teaching people how to drive safely from the very start and looking out for their customers' safety. Jiuzhou Automobile is doing a great job in this regard!"

"This is a wonderful thing to do. They could make sales without doing any of this, but Jiuzhou Automobile thought of it and put it into practice. They deserve praise!"

Chen Qianjun was very pleased with everything he had seen that day.

However, after a lengthy inspection, it was already noon.

Seeing how late it had gotten, Xu Yifan invited them, "It's almost lunchtime. Would you all care to join us for a simple meal in the company canteen?"

Chen Qianjun smiled. "Then we'll gladly accept! There's no need to prepare anything special. We'll eat with the regular employees!"

The other officials with him chimed in cheerfully.

"Good thing we came. We got to see Jiangzhou City's carmaker and even get a free meal!"

"I'm hungry. I wonder what they've got to eat."

"Come to think of it, I can smell something delicious!"

Chen Qianjun smiled and made the arrangements. "Let's try the chef's cooking at Jiuzhou Automobile Factory. After lunch, we can talk about some other matters of work!"