ABT ### Chapter 0197: Such High Confidence
At the annual meeting of the Automotive Association, the event still adhered to the usual routines. Li Fanyu was lost in his thoughts until An Ning gently nudged him, making him realize that the leader on stage had finished speaking and the host was leading the applause.
Li Fanyu clapped perfunctorily and then heard the host, with a voice full of Zhu Jun-style sentimentality, begin to speak.
"In the past year, a batch of outstanding elites has emerged in the turbulent automotive industry. Among them, some have made significant achievements in the field of technology through continuous hard work, while others have strived for the glory of domestic automobiles with great effort. Next, we are honored to invite Mr. Ma Yuanshan, Director of the National Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, to reveal this year's top ten influential figures in the automotive industry!"
An Ning gently nudged Li Fanyu's arm and whispered in his ear, "You'll be going on stage soon. Be modest and don't say too much."
Li Fanyu spread his hands with a smile, "I'll grab the certificate and run off without saying a word, how about that?"
An Ning rolled her eyes at him, "Don't joke around. Keep a low profile, got it?"
As they spoke, Ma Yuanshan, with his 3/7 hairstyle, stood up from the guest seats, turned to wave at the audience, and walked onto the stage amid applause.
After shaking hands with the host and taking the microphone and list, Ma Yuanshan looked at the list and didn't forget to set the atmosphere. "Wow, the list used to be full of familiar faces, but this year we have a hundred flowers blooming, with representatives from the old, middle, and young generations."
Hearing this, Li Fanyu instantly felt many gazes focusing on him.
This influential figure list was actually chosen by the association itself, which had a semi-official nature. Therefore, being on this list didn't bring substantial benefits but did enhance one's reputation.
The old generation mentioned by Ma Yuanshan naturally referred to the previous group of senior industrialists who deserved respect. The middle-aged ones were the current heads of several major domestic car companies, who took turns receiving this honor. But the young generation hadn't seen many outstanding figures in recent years. So when the old, middle, and young generations were mentioned, everyone automatically filtered out the first two and focused on Li Fanyu—there was no one else in the young generation but him.
For a moment, various kinds of gazes scrutinized Li Fanyu. Some were envious, some were jealous, and some were reflective of the idea that the new waves of the Yangtze River drive the old waves forward.
Overall, Li Fanyu felt very uncomfortable... Being observed by a group of old men was quite an unnerving experience.
Ma Yuanshan laughed heartily, "Let's not waste time with unnecessary words. Thanks to the association's kindness, I will now reveal this year's top ten influential figures in the automotive industry."
"Old steeds in the stable, pillars of the nation; the founder of the KSH quenching process, academician of the National Academy of Engineering—Wang Qinghe!"
"Seven years of hard work, writing a new chapter for domestic automobiles, Chairman of Guangqi Group, Xue Yaoguo!"
"Old trees blossoming anew, former glory shining again, General Manager of Hongqi Company, Lü Heming!"
"Diligent dedication, backbone of the military industry. General Manager of Beiqi Company, Xu Guangsheng!"
"Industry newcomer, star of hope. President of Zhengxin Audi, Li Fanyu!"
Although An Ning knew Li Fanyu would win an award, she was still exceptionally excited when his name was announced. She clapped vigorously and gave Li Fanyu a push, signaling him to get on stage.
Li Fanyu smiled at the jubilant An Ning, buttoned his suit, waved to the audience, and walked confidently onto the stage. The list was announced simultaneously, so he happened to arrive as Kang Tongcheng was going up to receive an award.
"Hey? Mr. Kang, what is this..." Li Fanyu was puzzled, as he hadn't heard Kang Tongcheng's name mentioned earlier.
"Brother Li, I'm here on someone's behalf. Our Chairman Xue is abroad on a business trip and hasn't returned, so I'm accepting the award on his behalf. Haha... Congratulations, young and promising, you have a bright future ahead."
Li Fanyu smiled and nodded, "Mr. Kang, you flatter me."
The two walked up to the stage one after the other, exchanged thanks and pleasantries with the host and Ma Yuanshan. The speech drafts had been polished by the association, filled with various formalities. Li Fanyu, adhering to An Ning's advice to keep a low profile, casually said a few words and then stepped back behind the host.
The significance of this award lay not in the publicity but in representing government recognition of a particular enterprise. Therefore, there was no need to be overly high-profile, and Li Fanyu understood this perfectly well.
After receiving the award, the opening ceremony of the annual meeting concluded. Following some encouraging words from Director Ma, everyone left their seats and moved to the banquet hall for dinner. Normally, the president of the association would also give a speech during the opening, but since Zhang Yong was imprisoned and the president's position was vacant, this part was omitted.
Despite the association's semi-official nature, its structure and functions mirrored those of government agencies. The seating arrangements for the dinner were based on rank and importance. Since Li Fanyu and An Ning held significant positions, they couldn't sit at the same table.
Officially, the idea was to promote inter-company communication by grouping different levels together. In reality, it still smacked of bureaucratic tendencies.
Li Fanyu’s table was mainly filled with the heads of various car companies. By coincidence, Lü Heming was seated next to him. Looking at Lü Heming, who had been glowing with pride earlier but now couldn’t even make eye contact, Li Fanyu found the situation quite amusing—perhaps his previous actions had scared him too much.
To ease the tension, Li Fanyu leaned over and patted Lü Heming on the shoulder, "Mr. Lü, long time no see!"
Lü Heming, who was sitting just a few centimeters away, tried to dodge like a startled groundhog. Unable to avoid Li Fanyu, he forced a smile and turned around, "Yes... yes... it’s been a while, hasn’t it?"
Li Fanyu shook his head in resignation. The damage caused by the mechanical mosquito was severe, and it seemed that Lü Heming was on the verge of being scared senseless. Clearly, this tactic should be used sparingly in the future.
"Mr. Lü, I heard your Hongqi's Shengshi C-class is about to launch. How's it going? Has it entered the testing phase?"
Lü Heming wiped the sweat from his forehead and cautiously replied, "Not yet, there are still some minor issues..."
As they were talking, someone nearby interjected, "Hey, Old Lü, what's up with Hongqi? You’ve been talking about launching the C-class forever, and now it’s almost the new year with no progress. Are you just shooting blanks?"
The remark was quite harsh. Given that Hongqi was a venerable state-owned enterprise, few at the banquet would dare speak to Lü Heming in such a tone. Curious, Li Fanyu looked to see who it was.
It turned out to be none other than Xu Guangsheng, the general manager of Beiqi, who had also been on stage earlier.
Li Fanyu frowned, finding Xu Guangsheng's rudeness surprising. As expected, Lü Heming wasn’t pleased.
While Lü Heming had no confidence against Li Fanyu, he wasn't intimidated by others. "Old Xu, can you watch your mouth? The Shengshi C-class is in the testing phase. This project was assigned to Hongqi by the state, not something we snatched. You don't need to be so sarcastic."
Xu Guangsheng snorted, "Do your best. But if you fail, Beiqi is ready to take over."
"No need, you've already got a hold on military vehicles. Let Hongqi handle administrative vehicles," Lü Heming retorted, his head held high.
Li Fanyu's ears perked up; administrative vehicles? Could the Shengshi C-class be...
This annual meeting wasn’t a waste of time after all. The amount of information he was gathering was incredible—there was definitely a story here!
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