The New Factory Director Takes Office

"Old Wang!"

"Dean Wang!"

Wu Chen's voice was soft, but it exploded in Wang Hongfa's mind like a thunderclap.

He felt as though his head was filled with "nuo, nuo, nuo, nuo, nuo~."

Then everything went black before his eyes, and he fainted.

"Teacher Wu, you became famous at school yesterday."

The next morning, Jiang Nan picked Wu Chen up downstairs at the Xiaohe Mountain Apartments, and those were the first words she said.

She was already something of an oddball on campus for paying little attention to social ties.

But Wu Chen had gone a step further. Not bothering to strengthen his connections was one thing, but in a little over a month, he had also struck hard at his superiors twice.

"I didn't expect Wang Hongfa to be so bad at handling pressure, either."

Wu Chen was puzzled.

When Wang Hongfa had suddenly fainted in the conference room yesterday, he had been nervous too.

If the old geezer had kicked the bucket on the spot, not only would it have counted as a workplace fatality, but he would surely have been named a model campus worker or something of the sort.

Wu Chen had even thought up a headline for him.

"Silkworms spin until they die, candles weep until they turn to ash: a record of Dean Wang Hongfa's life of struggle."

If that had been published, not only would the old geezer have become a saint overnight, but Wu Chen would have been cursed to death.

Fortunately, the old geezer had a tough life, and nothing happened to him in the end.

Wu Chen was happy.

He had yet to make Wang Hongfa taste the torment of having his academic career cut off and his personal reputation utterly ruined. How could he let him die so easily?

Seeing that Wu Chen was in pretty good spirits, Jiang Nan felt a little relieved too.

After all, she had bet everything she owned on Wu Chen.

The little red Mercedes sped all the way to Xintang Subdistrict in Xiaoshan.

A large number of small factories were clustered there.

Although the area looked a little run-down, the average resident's assets were worth at least eight figures, and many of the people coming and going were small business owners.

Of course, the limitations were obvious too.

Small family-run workshops like these were very vulnerable to risk.

Never mind the international situation or the direction of government policy.

The camera factory Wu Chen and Jiang Nan had come to visit today, for instance, had gone bankrupt because its owner gambled away his family fortune, breaking its funding chain.

Now, the sign at the entrance had been replaced with one bearing the name Hazelnut Technology.

"This is the factory you asked me to acquire. It used to make camera modules for Newsmy and has existing production lines. A few modifications should make them usable for us."

Jiang Nan's tone was calm.

"Teacher Jiang, thank you for all your work these past few days."

Wu Chen spoke earnestly.

Jiang Nan accepted the thanks without ceremony.

She only had to teach eight classes a week, so she had plenty of free time outside class.

But liquidation, approvals, the transfer and all the other matters had still taken a great deal of effort.

And only a local like her could have found such a high-quality resource so quickly.

Still, she had some doubts.

"Actually, I think we'd be better off finding a contract manufacturer when we're just starting out. Producing them ourselves costs too much."

In Jiang Nan's view, there was no need to set up their own production line to make an industrial inspection camera like Little Jiang No. 2.

Wu Chen explained, "Because once we get established, foreign countries will definitely have us by the throat, so we have to keep the entire process in our own hands."

"Other than our software algorithms, we shouldn't have any sensitive technology, should we? Would we still be targeted?"

Jiang Nan asked.

Wu Chen smiled.

"Not now, but we definitely will in two years."

Producing Little Jiang No. 2 was only the first step for now.

But to create artificial intelligence like ChatGPT or DeepSeek, he would eventually have to be able to produce graphics cards himself.

Computing resources were as important as basic energy resources, and they had to be held firmly in his own hands.

So, as Jiang Nan saw it, this was just a small factory that made cameras.

But in Wu Chen's plans, it was the foundation of his future business empire.

As they entered the factory, Wu Chen could see from a distance that a group of people were already waiting in the parking lot.

The man at their head was a young fellow wearing gold-rimmed glasses. He looked less like a worker than a research scholar.

"Zhao Hengrui, twenty-nine, the factory's technical supervisor. He graduated from the University of Electronic Science and Technology with a degree in mechanical engineering, specializing in mechanical automation."

Jiang Nan slowed the car and quickly explained to Wu Chen.

"Young and promising. How did he end up here?"

Wu Chen glanced at Jiang Nan in mild surprise, seemingly understanding something.

He was most likely one of Jiang Nan's suitors.

But Jiang Nan caught his meaning and shot him a fierce glare.

"It has nothing to do with me. He's the son of the former owner's comrade-in-arms. He came to help out because his father told him to, but then the factory unexpectedly went bankrupt. He hasn't had time to leave yet, though I expect he will soon."

"He can go if he wants, or stay if he wants. It doesn't matter."

Wu Chen spoke.

He was also setting the tone for the work ahead.

After they got out of the car, the others gathered around them.

Apart from Zhao Hengrui, whose expression was relatively calm, the others all wore expressions of enthusiastically performed warmth.

A new factory director meant a new set of beasts of burden.

But these technical staff members were no longer young, and they didn't want to leave the factory they knew so well.

So pleasing their new boss, Wu Chen, was the most important thing.

Jiang Nan was already acquainted with them and introduced them to Wu Chen one by one.

"This is Chen Yongkang, the workshop manager in charge of production. He's worked in electronics assembly for twelve years."

"This is Li Bin, who's in charge of equipment maintenance."

"This is..."

Wu Chen had already looked over their information in advance, but only now could he match each person to their details.

After a quick round of handshakes, he went with them to the production workshop.

The factory covered three mu and had forty-eight employees.

It had three semi-automated production lines, consisting mainly of conveyor belts, several robotic arms, and manual workstations.

At the moment, though, there were no workers in the factory apart from the people present.

Looking at the idle production lines, Chen Yongkang spoke somewhat apprehensively.

"Mr. Wu, although we used to make cameras too, Ms. Jiang said you want to make smart cameras. How are we supposed to modify this production line?"

"I should have had her send the documents over in advance. Did you look at them?"

Wu Chen asked.

Chen Yongkang nodded, but looked troubled. "We did, but... the modifications will be quite difficult."

"What specifically?"

"First, the placement machines aren't precise enough. Our current equipment has a tolerance of fifty microns, but the chip pins in the industrial inspection cameras you want are only thirty microns apart. There's no way to place them accurately. Also, the lenses are installed by hand right now, relying entirely on the workers' feel..."

Chen Yongkang immediately rattled off a long list of difficulties.

In his previous life, Wu Chen had only been down to a workshop a few times while working on research projects, and he had mainly been responsible for the industrial control software.

So when it came to the specifics of modifying a production line, he really wasn't quite sure.

But he had the complete manufacturing process for Little Jiang No. 2, provided by the system!

Referring to the documents, Wu Chen began to speak.

"As for the placement machines lacking precision, we can add a positioning fixture to the conveyor track..."

But he had barely begun when he heard Zhao Hengrui sneer beside him.

It wasn't loud, but it stood out in the quiet factory.

Wu Chen looked over.

"Do you have any better ideas, Supervisor Zhao?"

"Yes."

Zhao Hengrui said lazily, "Adding a positioning fixture can't possibly meet the requirements."