ABT Chapter 0036 A Lucky Encounter

Five young people from China were in a small apartment in Munich, perfectly replicating the Beijing slouch.

Yesterday's preliminaries had drained them of energy, leaving them with nothing but fate to rely on.

The apartment was filled with a near-timeless silence, but this state didn't last long, interrupted by a knock on the door.

No one wanted to move, but eventually, Li Fanyu, closest to the door, reluctantly opened it.

At the door stood a man in a shiny suit, his forehead gleaming. He smiled warmly and said, "Are you students from Tiancheng Industrial University?"

Li Fanyu nodded, puzzled. "And you are?"

The man handed over a business card. "My surname is Zhang, like the 'octopus' Zhang, and my name is Fei, like 'flying'. I'm the manager of the design department at Nanhe Motors. I heard about your victory in the preliminaries yesterday and came to congratulate you."

Li Fanyu glanced at the card, finding it amusingly redundant. "Come in, Mr. Zhang."

"Thank you!"

He handed out slippers and greeted the other four with familiarity.

Li Fanyu poured him a glass of water and asked, "Is there something you need, Mr. Zhang?"

With an oily smile, Zhang, his eyes nearly squinted shut, said, "Haha, I heard you made it to the preliminaries. That's a great honor in the Chinese automotive industry! As a fellow automotive enthusiast, I came to congratulate you! Congratulations!"

The others felt a chill. Another car guy! Is he trying to transform or something? Look at his awkward appearance... Autobot?

Li Fanyu didn't like people like him, humble to the bone, making you feel like no matter what you say or do, he'll praise and worship you. But if you look closely, his eyes gleam with cunning, all his outward demeanor is to probe your weaknesses, to peek into your vital spots.

Dealing with him, you feel like you're being calculated.

Li Fanyu didn't want to be elevated so high, quickly waving his hand. "Thanks for your praise, but just making it to the preliminaries doesn't guarantee a prize. Don't talk about honors."

Zhang was taken aback but not upset. He had already determined that Li Fanyu was the one calling the shots among the five. So he said, "You're modest and not arrogant, truly remarkable! Do you all have plans for today? Let me treat you all to a meal."

Li Fanyu's patience was wearing thin, and the other four also showed signs of impatience.

Cheng Ke hugged a pillow, thinking to himself, "What's with the meal out of nowhere on our first meeting? Can't he see we're exhausted?"

Offering kindness for no reason, either he's up to something or he's a thief.

Liu Qing was straightforward, interjecting, "Brother, we're in Germany now, let's not play the old bureaucratic game from ten years ago. Can't you just say what you need straight up?"

Seeing him speak like this, Zhang Fei wasn't embarrassed. He laughed and said, "Young brother speaks fast and directly. So, here it is: your work made it to the finals, right? Our Nanhe Group is currently looking to develop an electric car, and I think your design is very suitable. We'd like to discuss a partnership with you."

Li Fanyu, sensing the intention, asked, "What kind of partnership?"

"Well, it's like this. We're mainly interested in the appearance of this... your design. Your concept uses a three-cylinder gasoline engine, but as you know, there's no such engine type domestically. So, we don't need the internal layout. I'm wondering if you can transfer the patent for this appearance? Rest assured, we won't lowball you on the price."

Li Fanyu was puzzled. Why would they buy just the appearance? Smart's advantage lies in its small-displacement engine combined with a sense of fashion. If you switch to an electric engine, how is it different from the typical four-wheel electric cars running all over the streets?

What he didn't know was that Nanhe Automobile had calculated things carefully. With the country currently intensively addressing pollution, most environmentally friendly products would receive certain policy subsidies.

So Nanhe wanted to design a car with an electric motor, and the company happened to learn about the news of the five of them coming to Germany for the competition. Hence, they sent Zhang Fei over.

Nanhe's intention was clear: regardless of whether they could win an award or not, they wanted to secure this car model.

There were two reasons: first, student works aren't valued highly; second, the product had a selling point.

Just think about it, once the car is made, Nanhe can more smoothly receive policy subsidies and confidently advertise it.

This is a product participating in the Munich Car Design Competition! Whether it wins an award or not, it will be publicized as highly praised by German XX experts.

With that kind of premium, won't it sell like hotcakes?

Seeing the five remain silent, Zhang Fei pressed on, "What do you say?"

Li Fanyu pondered for a moment and said, "In this competition, works must maintain independent intellectual property rights. We can't sell or transfer them privately until the awards are announced. Otherwise, even if we win, it will be disqualified."

"In competitions of this level, top design schools from around the world participate. I'm not being pessimistic, but our level is still lacking. And Europeans will definitely lean towards Europeans. Will they award us? You might as well seize this opportunity to make some money."

Li Fanyu felt indignant. How did he know we couldn't win an award? He smirked and deliberately tested, "How much are you offering?"

Zhang Fei held up two fingers and waved them in front of him.

Li Fanyu guessed, "Two million?"

Zhang Fei chuckled, "Little brother, you're teasing me, aren't you? Even hiring a foreign designer wouldn't cost two million. Twenty thousand!"

On the sofa, Xu Fufang sneered, "That won't do. What if we win first prize in the competition and get a prize of half a million euros? If we sign a contract with you, we'll lose out."

Zhang Fei felt as if he had been stepped on the tail, "Oh, little brother, you're too much of a gambler! Although I'm here for the company's sake, I really want to work with you guys. The awards for the competition haven't been announced yet, so the company can still negotiate a higher price for acquiring your work. If you don't make it to the finals, the value of your work will drop. I hate to say this, but by then, you'll be begging the company, and the company will have to consider it."

The five were already fed up with him and Cheng Ke was itching to throw a pillow at him.

Forget twenty thousand, even if he offered two million, twenty million, it wouldn't shake their determination to compete for honor!

Li Fanyu stood up, opened the door, and said coldly, "Mr. Zhang, thank you for your interest, but we won't sell this work. Also, we're very confident that we'll win tomorrow's competition! It's been nice meeting you, but we won't see you out."

Zhang Fei wanted to continue persuading, but Zhang Yu, who was already fed up with him, pulled him up and pushed him out of the door.

Outside the window, came a series of curses, "You don't know what's good for you! I bet you won't win tomorrow's award. You'll come begging to me then!"

"But remember, by then, your work won't be worth twenty thousand anymore!"

"A bunch of ignorant kids, still thinking of winning an award? A toad wants to eat swan meat!"

"Take a good look in the mirror, you think you can win? Only if the Rhine flows backward!"

Inside the room, everyone wore a grim expression. They had been trying not to think about tomorrow's events, but after Zhang Fei's outburst, immense pressure weighed on their hearts.


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