ABT ### Chapter 156: The Interview Begins
As early as the thirteenth century, British philosopher Roger Bacon, the first person to discover that the earth is round, wrote in a letter to a friend: "There will come a day when we will endow vehicles with incredible speed without relying on animals."
In the nineteenth century, a European merchant named Ralph, an obscure figure, watched a steam train puffing smoke as it approached from a distance. He scoffed: "I will prove to the world that compared to horse-drawn carriages, this is just a smoke-belching contraption that fills the air with filth."
Thus, a race between a horse-drawn carriage and a train began. With a whistle, Ralph's carriage shot forward like an arrow, covering hundreds of meters in an instant. Meanwhile, the heavy train started slowly amid people's jeers.
But as the train's smoke billowed, its speed increased, while the horse's strength reached its limit.
The race, which had no suspense from the start, ended, ushering in an era of ever-pursuing speed.
Cars were born from humanity's desire to escape animal power and pursue higher speeds. Sports cars, representing speed, are undoubtedly the most eye-catching category.
So, on the seventh day of the auto show, the theme "Unparalleled Speed" attracted far more attention than previous days.
Last night, while taking a shower, Li Fanyu called An Ning to tell her about the interview and the documentary filming.
An Ning had hesitated for days about calling him. Seeing his name every night, she restrained herself. So, when she received his call, they chatted lightly for over an hour.
Their conversation covered various topics, from mutual concern masked in small talk to car show anecdotes and Li Fanyu's gains, and finally, the state of the domestic auto industry.
In short, both wanted to hear each other's voice, reluctant to hang up first.
However, due to Cheng Ke’s urgent knocking on the bathroom door, Li Fanyu had to say goodbye first.
What he didn't know was that hearing Cheng Ke's voice on the phone made An Ning drop her phone. She spent the night sleepless, bitterly crying and drinking herself to oblivion.
Meanwhile, the oblivious Li Fanyu went to bed early, preparing for the next day’s theme show.
The next morning, under the guidance of the exhibition staff, the X-power booth was significantly modified according to their suggestions.
Two of the three cars Li Fanyu brought were dismantled: one displayed the engine and transmission system for visitors, and the other showcased the body structure and interior layout for merchants.
This arrangement was far better than Li Fanyu’s original setup. The booth now looked full, presenting the X-power comprehensively. Combined with newly printed multilingual brochures, the entire display process became clearer, more direct, and impactful.
On the left side of the booth, the quotation booklets Li Fanyu prepared were being quickly taken by vehicle dealers.
After a busy morning, Li Fanyu watched the bustling crowd, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and exhaled.
"Ah, this is the real car show atmosphere. I hope for big sales tomorrow..."
"Brother Fan, look over there, the documentary interview has started." Cheng Ke patted Li Fanyu from behind, pointing.
Li Fanyu focused his gaze and saw an old man with golden hair being interviewed at the Renault booth.
"Hey, it’s true. They even set up two chairs for a seated interview; it looks pretty serious."
Cheng Ke squinted and smiled, "Of course, documentaries need to be formal. So, when’s your turn?"
Li Fanyu stroked his chin, "I’m not sure, maybe soon."
But soon turned out to be not soon at all.
It wasn’t until 4 PM that almost all the booths had been interviewed, except for his.
Seeing the dwindling crowd in the exhibition hall, he became anxious; he still needed to book return tickets. Am I really the last?
He approached the filming crew and asked a lighting technician.
"Excuse me, when will it be my booth’s turn?"
"Just wait, we’ll come to you soon."
Li Fanyu sighed, respecting their schedule, and returned to his now empty booth to wait.
After a day’s work, Cheng Ke had fallen asleep in the passenger seat of a show car. Exhausted, Li Fanyu also climbed in and closed his eyes for a nap.
He was woken by a gentle push to find the hall empty except for the filming crew.
"Kid, thanks for the nap; it gave me precious eating time. But it’s late now, can we start?"
Rubbing his eyes, Li Fanyu saw the golden-haired old man. Nodding, he rubbed his numb legs and got out of the car.
Seeing Cheng Ke still asleep, he took off his suit jacket and gently covered her.
The old man smiled kindly at him.
The crew set up chairs in front of the X-power’s backdrop, and Li Fanyu took his seat.
"Hello, I’m Alexander Maxwell, but you can call me Mike. I apologize for interviewing you last, but I’m very curious about you and the Chinese auto industry; I have many questions."
Rolling up his white shirt sleeves, Li Fanyu spread his hands, "Go ahead, Mike."
Maxwell smiled and began.
"From what we know, your X-power is the first car independently developed by Chinese people. As the main developer, what were your thoughts back then?"
Li Fanyu looked up, thinking he couldn’t just say it was because the Xapp only had this affordable option. He remembered a quote from Ferdinand Porsche in his timeline.
Shrugging, he looked at Maxwell and said, "I couldn’t find the car of my dreams, so I decided to build it myself."
Maxwell’s eyes lit up!
This young man from the East was different from what he imagined. In his impression, Easterners, especially Chinese, were very reserved. Their answers were always ambiguous, either overly hidden or exaggerated.
It was difficult to extract the desired material from them, but this young man was completely different. His intuition told him this was a good chance to understand Chinese automotive workers and even the Chinese automotive industry!
He immediately felt this would be an interesting conversation. He eagerly anticipated how this slightly arrogant young man would answer the following questions.
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