Chapter 126: Obstructed Yan Jiuru is nearly 1.9 meters tall, but...
Chapter 126 Obstructed
Yan Jiuru and Chen Yin worked for almost two years on the "Flying Eagle" project, from project establishment to factory construction and implementation of patented technology, through research and development, trial production, testing and official product launch.
Not to mention the effort spent, the investment of time and money alone far exceeded expectations.
The first qualified product finally rolled off the production line. Yan Jiuru also specially invited leaders from the affiliated units, leaders from Yancheng's related directly affiliated units, and reporters from several major newspapers to witness and test drive the car.
A group of leaders from various fields, accompanied by several reporters holding cameras, came to the gate of the Feiying Automobile Manufacturing Plant.
***
Many people saw such a modern factory for the first time:
There is no lime wall with an iron gate, no two doorposts with a white-painted wooden sign hanging on them, and no old style with a semicircular metal frame with the factory name welded on the doorpost.
The first thing that catches your eye is a several dozen meters long sesame-white granite wall. On the left side of the wall is a silver-white double-opening carved gate. Under the autumn sunlight, the large characters "Yancheng Feiying Automobile Manufacturing Plant (107 Research Institute)" on the wall are shining!
Someone immediately noticed the distinctive silver-white factory name: "What is this made of?"
Deng Jiaxi, the factory's publicity officer, immediately stepped forward to explain, "This is a type of steel made with patented technology developed by our factory director. You can call it Yanbai."
Another promoter, Li Hua, immediately added, "This material is strong yet lightweight, has a good glossiness, is very malleable, and most importantly, is resistant to wind and rain erosion.
Look, our factory has been established for two years, and the characters are not rusted at all.”
As soon as the words fell, everyone reacted, "Oh, it seems so."
The flash lights flashed.
I haven't even seen the toy car yet, but I've already got an unexpected gain. If I didn't write about cars, this would be nice to add.
In everyone's opinion, a toy car worth tens of thousands of dollars is still a toy no matter how good it is. Who would you sell it to?
To be frank, most of the people here today are not optimistic about this.
I can come here only for work tasks.
***
"Come in!"
Yan Jiuru had seen a lot of bad things happen to him in the past two years, so he politely and considerately invited everyone to visit the factory.
Two tall men came out of the guardhouse beside the gate. They looked to be in their twenties or thirties. Yan Jiuru nodded to them, and the white steel gate slowly opened.
What a luxury!
Everyone couldn't help but shake their heads, wondering how much they could save if they replaced it with an ordinary door!
Yan Jiuru led the way in front.
A leader in a Mao suit glanced at the two people who opened the door and asked thoughtfully, "Is this a disabled veteran?"
"Yes, we give priority to retired professional soldiers and disabled military and police officers."
The leader nodded. "That's good. We can't leave them without a source of income just because they've been injured while serving the country."
One of the two gatekeepers has a broken finger, and the other obviously has a prosthetic leg.
However, both of them looked in good spirits and did not show any sign of decadence after the injury.
Neither Yan Jiuru nor the Propaganda Department said much about it.
In Yan Jiuru's opinion, there was no need to bring this up, but the people in the Propaganda Department had been criticized before and knew that the factory director was not doing this to sound good.
They at Eagle Productions don't rely on playing the victim.
***
There is a square of about 500 square meters at the entrance. There are basketball hoops, uneven bars and other sports facilities on the square, and flower beds and green trees on both sides.
Across the square, you will see a three-story slightly curved office building and exhibition hall. Behind the office building is a row of simple and neat rectangular light steel factories, which are the production area and various experimental testing factories and laboratories.
Other supporting facilities such as canteens are hidden behind the greenery.
Yan Jiuru first took everyone to visit the factory and the semi-finished products in production, and then everyone came to the finished product display area in the office area.
The first "Freedom 001" to roll off the production line and pass the test was beautifully parked on a 30-centimeter-high, 3-meter-square display stand with a slight slope.
Although they had different opinions on the price, the reporters couldn't help but raise their cameras and take pictures when they saw such a beautiful car.
Reporters from Yancheng Daily took advantage of the time when you were watching the cars to conduct on-site interviews.
Of course, the questions were discussed in advance by both parties, and the answers were prepared in advance. What should be said was said, and what should not be said was omitted.
After seeing the new cars, everyone went to the exhibition area that records the development history of the factory over the past two years.
There are many black and white and color photos posted here, all of which are enlarged versions, and each photo is accompanied by a text description.
Some of the photos are of a wasteland, some are of the beginning of clearing and construction, and the groundbreaking ceremony with relevant leaders participating. There are photos of the factory at different stages of construction, photos of the later topping-out and listing ceremonies, and various R&D and testing work photos.
The most eye-catching thing is a bunch of photos of various wreckages scrapped from collision tests.
"There are 132 scrapped vehicles from these tests."
A reporter asked: "Isn't this a waste?"
Yan Jiuru replied: "Compared to my life, it's not a waste."
"Everyone follow me." He took everyone to the only car collision test site in the country so far.
"Whether it's a standard car or a toy car, safety is paramount, followed by functionality and driving experience."
"No vehicle can guarantee it won't crash. All we manufacturers can do is consider it more carefully during design. As you say, we're wasting a little, but it means our customers will be more secure when using it."
"As far as we know, in the automotive industry, a US automaker established the world's first frontal crash test site in 1924. Currently, no more than three automakers in the world have their own crash test sites. Feiying's crash test site is safe and meets international standards. It is also the only crash test site in my country."
"We spent a huge amount of money to build our own crash test site for the safety of our export products. Although they are low-speed toy cars, our design standards are not low at all. It is also necessary for future development.
Of course, this is also one of the absolute advantages of our export products. After all, foreigners are richer and value life more."
***
Back in the exhibition hall, a reporter pointed to a wall of photos of children and asked, "What's going on?"
The publicity comrade immediately said, "This is what we invited children to do as samples when we were designing it."
"Our products are aimed at children aged 4 to 10 years old from abroad. As we all know, foreign children are bigger than their Chinese counterparts, so we invited hundreds of children of similar height and weight to serve as reference."
When it comes to the launch of the Fred car, the size and design alone were based on Zhuangzhuang and other children.
In order to accumulate data, they even found a hundred or so children of similar height and weight to children of the same age abroad to keep records.
Let them test drive and test ride the sample car, modify the dimensions based on the sample data, etc.
For example, whether the height of the car is difficult to get in and out of, the size and height of the steering wheel and its distance from the seat, whether the legs can be stretched after sitting on the chair, and whether the driver's feet will leave the ground.
There is also the impact of seat height on vision, whether the tightness of the manual pull rod is suitable for children of this age, etc.
Every aspect is very trivial.
***
It's a bit of a tortuous process to find these 'little testers'.
No one expected that in order to match the height and weight of foreign children of the same age as much as possible, they had to find a chubby kid among similar children, but it was not so easy to find a qualified chubby kid.
At first, I looked in Zhuangzhuang Kindergarten, and finally I even looked in the affiliated primary school, but only about 20 people met the requirements.
Yan Jiuru didn't have that much time, so Chen Yin had to take Ruyue and Rushong to several kindergartens and primary schools affiliated with nearby universities, and finally gathered together 120 little fat kids and "tall guys".
Of course, the kids can’t use it for free, they have to pay for it.
Take a seat in the prototype toy car, give it a try, and you can get three dollars!
Not only were the children happy, even the adults who brought their children were surprised.
At that time, the monthly salary of temporary workers was only 18.5 yuan!
If the recruitment notice didn’t have the school’s endorsement and the factory’s seal, many people wouldn’t dare to believe it.
***
The leaders’ time was precious, so they quickly ended the tour and moved on to the test drive session.
Yan Jiuru turned around and waved to Zhuangzhuang, then said to everyone with a smile, "This is my eldest son, Yan Heming, who is five years old this year.
The original intention of developing this product was to make a drivable car toy for children.
After two years, this toy car is finally available.”
He lowered his head and said to Zhuangzhuang, "Dad has done what he promised. Go and try it. Do you like it?"
Even though there are so many people here, Zhuangzhuang is not scared at all.
He walked up the side steps with confidence, opened the car door and got in.
This car uses a mechanical touch switch to control the start and stop of the motor. Pushing the gear lever forward will make it move automatically without the need to step on the pedals to control it.
One reason is that more technology means higher costs, and a child does not need such complicated controls, or it may be too difficult for younger children.
Zhuangzhuang turned on the switch, and the car immediately started singing a cheerful nursery rhyme. Zhuangzhuang swayed slightly to the music, put the car in forward gear, and drove towards the open space outside the factory.
***
The sky is high and the air is fresh, with a cool autumn breeze.
A child in a navy shirt drove a bright red convertible car out of the exhibition hall accompanied by children's songs.
Reporters swarmed over to take photos from every angle, and those following behind curiously asked, "Why is there music?"
Deng Jiaxi said: "Electric cars are too quiet when they are running. Even though they have horns, children may forget to honk when they are nervous to alert others.
Director Yan specially asked a well-known domestic musician to write a children's song to be played on the car.
In this way, music will play as soon as the car starts, which will not only please the children playing with the car, but also serve as a reminder to others.
As various questions were answered, Zhuangzhuang drove the car around the square. The two little ones couldn't wait to call for brother, so they took advantage of the car stop to climb in.
Zhuangzhuang drove his younger brother and sister around the square twice and then returned to the entrance of the exhibition hall.
"How is it?" Yan Jiuru asked his son.
"It's fun, it's fun!" the two kids answered quickly, "We want a car."
"It's ten thousand times more fun than tin toys!"
The three children chattered and rushed to answer their father's questions.
There were several groups of reporters taking pictures along the way, and Chen Yin also grabbed Eric and took a lot of pictures.
***
It is called a toy car, but even thinner adults can barely sit in it.
Yan Jiuru specially opened the car door and invited Chen Yin to test drive.
My wife was busy running around. As soon as the first car came out of the factory, she had to get in and drive it for a while.
Chen Yin was a little embarrassed, but with so many people watching, she sat down confidently.
Zhuangzhuang instructed his mother from the passenger seat: "Twist this to start, push it forward and it will go..."
Everyone found it hilarious. The five-year-old kid was busy explaining things along the way, and he looked even more nervous than if he were driving by himself.
A young and beautiful mother and a cute child were driving a toy car along the way, with the flash lights flashing non-stop.
A few minutes later, Chen Yin drove her car back to the door.
Yan Jiuru smiled and asked, "How do you feel?"
Chen Yin said regretfully, "It would be better if it was bigger so I could drive it to and from get off work."
"Hahaha," a department leader attending the ceremony laughed. "That's a good idea, but the price is really unbearable."
That's right, a car like this, costing tens of thousands of dollars, what family can afford it?
***
Yan Jiuru invited several leaders and reporters to test drive the car.
There is an explanation for placing the leader behind one's family. As a leader, one must always see the real safety, right?
Each person drove for three to five minutes, and anyone with or without a driver's license could drive very well.
After the test drive, those who had been pessimistic about the toy car fell silent.
Light and flexible, it's so easy to drive!
It's much simpler than a jeep or something.
To put it bluntly, if it weren't too small and the price too high, they would have considered buying one.
Of course, some people shook their heads.
"It's just a toy car, why is it necessary to make it so fancy?"
"Foreigners don't just get rich by chance. Only a fool would spend tens of thousands of dollars on a toy!"
"I wonder what to do if we don't get any orders."
***
Similarly, leaders in charge of export trade are also concerned about this issue.
The day after the test drive, all the major newspapers in Yancheng reported the news of the launch of the drivable toy car from Feiying Automobile Manufacturing Factory with photos.
At the same time, it has also aroused various discussions, mixed with many doubts and criticisms.
Fortunately, this factory was funded by Yan Jiuru himself. It is mainly a collective enterprise or a state-owned enterprise. Even if it cannot withstand the pressure of public opinion, the project will have to be cancelled.
Yan Jiuru was also called by the leader of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Yan Jiuru was well prepared.
He went with the deputy factory director, who was a military man, and Assistant Ding.
"The product is out. What are your plans next?" They waited outside Minister Huang's office for more than twenty minutes before it was their turn.
Yan Jiuru handed over several foreign newspapers and materials from Assistant Ding, as well as information about exhibitions and trade fairs in Hong Kong and Macao, and finally the application form for the Canton Fair in October.
In this era, all the leaders in charge of foreign trade and economics are good at foreign languages. After looking through it, Minister Huang looked at the young man in front of him calmly and nodded secretly, thinking that he was a promising young man.
Being able to face so many doubts from all levels without any anxiety and to move forward firmly at his own pace, this kind of mentality alone is something that not many people can compare to.
"I see that most other exhibitions are in January, March, or September or October next year. The only ones I can attend right now are the Canton Fair and the Hong Kong Toys Trade Fair in mid-January."
He tapped the Canton Fair application form in his hand. "It opens on October 15th, and it's already September 20th. Why are you applying so late?"
Most export companies start preparing a year in advance.
Yan Jiuru complained bluntly, "It's not that we just applied, but we haven't been able to get the application form. Minister Huang, we've asked the responsible department for it no less than five times.
First they said we didn’t meet the export requirement of 5 million US dollars and couldn’t participate.
After we explained our situation, we were asked to provide additional information. Even after we had completed all the required information, we were told we still couldn’t participate because we hadn’t launched any products yet and they said our product line was too limited and was a waste of quota.”
In short, once you debunk one excuse, the other party will immediately come up with another one.
***
Yan Jiuru didn't expect that the world is so big and Yancheng is so small!
He happened to meet his "crazy" mother when he was dealing with the Light Industry Import and Export Company!
"Minister Huang, you know, when our factory was established, we applied for import and export rights as a high-tech export-earning product. When we first discussed the project, we stated that we were eligible for individual recommendation to participate in the conference.
We have the meeting minutes. We also showed copies to the relevant leaders, but they just didn't agree, saying that the Foreign Economic and Trade Commission didn't participate in the discussion, so it doesn't count."
As he spoke, he asked his assistant to produce a copy of the meeting minutes of the relevant departments when the project was established.
Secretary Zhang lowered his head slightly, it seemed that someone was about to be in trouble.
As expected, Minister Huang frowned and said, "I remember that Deputy Director Wang of the Municipal Foreign Economic and Trade Commission's Management Office is in charge of this matter?"
Yan Jiuru quickly added, "Call her Wang Lizhen."
Minister Huang looked at him and asked, "Do you know him?"
"I didn't know him originally, but since he's stuck here, how can I not ask him about it?"
Yan Jiuru was nearly 1.9 meters tall, yet he looked extremely aggrieved. "He's really haunting me."
Then, without caring about who was around, he started to talk about how, because of his good looks, he was harassed by some crazy female classmates.
"At the beginning, I thought of leaving a way out so that we could meet again in the future. Otherwise, she would have been sent to a military court for breaking up a military marriage.
Who would have thought that not only would she not be grateful, but she would actually hold a grudge. This is her own mother, and there's really nothing we can do about this form. It was only after our director contacted higher-ups that we got it."
He finally experienced what it means when a higher-ranking official can crush someone to death.
Even though his legs were thin from running too much, the institute had to intervene to resolve the issue.
If this factory is not affiliated with a foreign company, it will be difficult to run it!
Minister Huang nodded at him and said, "Secretary Zhang, you should take Assistant Ding with you, right? Please make sure everything is done as soon as possible. We still have a lot of things to do, and time is very tight."
Assistant Ding hurriedly picked up the information and followed.
Deputy Factory Director Zhu Changbing stood up and said, "Minister, you guys go ahead and do your work. I'll go take a look too."
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