ABT ### Chapter 192: The Most Painful Thing

A car is a sophisticated machine that tolerates no negligence. Given the current issues with the Hongqi Shengshi C-Class, it is clear that there is still a long way to go before it can be mass-produced. 

Lu Heming listened to his engineers' reports, and a surge of anger flared up. Within half an hour, his tongue was covered in blisters from stress. 

During the development stage, encountering problems is not unusual. However, the smooth progress up until now had given Lu Heming an overblown confidence. He had boasted extensively to the media. 

Now, with various minor issues such as different levels of abnormal noises across the car, unexplained vibrations in the engine compartment, and even sporadic failures of the transmission system—if word got out, it would be a slap in his own face. 

Faced with these problems, the engineers were at a loss. They had no choice but to dismantle the test car completely and meticulously check and correct each issue. 

Lu Heming pulled the project manager, Luan Qingsheng, aside and asked with a pained expression, "Old Luan, based on the current state, how long do you think it will take for the Shengshi to go into production?"

Luan Qingsheng took a deep breath, summarized the current problems, and after careful consideration, hesitantly said, "Mr. Lu, it's hard to say... Issues like the vibrations can be resolved quickly. But the repeated failures of the transmission system suggest a design flaw. If we correct and improve it, it could take six months, or even a year... But if you're in a hurry, there is another way. Mr. Lu, we're using Zhengxin's ZGX888 engine, and their own A4 uses the same engine. The A4's transmission system is also their own design, which should be highly compatible with the engine. If you're in a rush..."

Upon hearing this timeline and then Zhengxin, Lu Heming irritably waved his hand, cutting off the rest of Luan Qingsheng's words. 

Lu Heming lit a cigarette and fell into deep thought as the smoke swirled around him. For Hongqi to make a name for itself and for him to gain recognition from the higher-ups, they needed tangible results. Using Zhengxin's engine was one thing, but using their transmission system too would essentially make the Shengshi C-Class a vehicle boosting Li Fanyu's reputation. 

Moreover, just thinking about that bizarre mosquito made him shudder. To be honest, Lu Heming never wanted to see Li Fanyu again in his life. The young man's calm, meaningful smile still sent chills down his spine. 

Thus, he gritted his teeth and said, "We'll handle it ourselves first and see how the progress goes."

...

It wasn't just Lu Heming who was troubled; Li Fanyu was also in a bind, albeit for a different reason. Li Fanyu's issue was purely due to the overwhelming sales of the A4. 

Although Zhengxin Power's production capacity was decent, the rapid increase in A4 sales meant they couldn't keep up with the orders. 

Now, the daily sales of the A4 had skyrocketed. Not only was Zhengxin Power struggling to keep up, but even the parts suppliers were overwhelmed. 

As the Chinese New Year approached, some workers at these factories had already started to return home. In China, regardless of their financial situation, these workers would return home for the New Year. The massive annual migration and the hordes of motorcycles on certain highways heading home were a testament to this. Nothing could stop people from reuniting with their families. 

Even high wages offered by bosses to retain workers had little effect. Few would sacrifice the once-a-year opportunity to be with their families for a few thousand yuan. 

So, for these parts suppliers, maintaining the supply levels required by Zhengxin Power was already challenging enough. As for increasing production capacity and supply... 

Let's just say, factory owners wept at the supply demands from Pan Qiang. The volume was so high and the potential earnings so great, but they couldn't capitalize on it! 

Faced with this predicament, Zhengxin was helpless too. 

Customers buying cars before the New Year generally aimed to drive their new cars home for the holidays, making it a perfect ending for the year and a great start for the next. If they spent money and couldn't get their cars until after the New Year, they would be dissatisfied. 

Zhengxin recognized this issue and limited the number of orders on their online sales platform to ensure that everyone who placed an order could get their car. 

The maximum production capacity now was a thousand cars per day, allocated to Longsheng's physical stores. 

Thus, at the end of 2016, a phenomenon occurred in the car market that made competitors envious and consumers frantic—A4s were being snapped up like crazy. 

Every morning, customers who missed out the previous day would sit eagerly by their computers. At 6 a.m., when the Zhengxin online sales platform refreshed the A4 sales page, they would rush to place orders and pay deposits. 

The rush was as intense as buying train tickets on 12306. Within two hours, a thousand cars would be sold out to buyers nationwide. 

Some rival car brands accused Zhengxin of hunger marketing. 

Li Fanyu knew this wasn't the case. He was well aware of how many customers they were losing daily. With such a large customer base, there were always unlucky ones who couldn't get a car and complained online. Because of this, Li Fanyu's Weibo was inundated with complaints daily. 

The trouble began when a customer vented on Weibo, tagging Li Fanyu, saying they had failed to get a car for three days straight. On the fourth day, the customer posted before the sale, "If I don't get an Audi A4 today, I'll go to Tiancity and angrily confront Brother Fan." 

Five minutes later, the customer posted a picture showing they had successfully placed an order. 

This sparked a trend, with netizens joking that "angrily confronting Brother Fan" was like a magical phrase, boosting their chances of securing an order by 70%. 

As a result, Li Fanyu received hundreds of "angrily confronting Brother Fan" messages every day before the A4 sales page refreshed. 

This phrase became so popular that it infiltrated various games, especially those involving gacha or prize draws for high-level items. "Angrily confronting XX" became a pre-draw mantra... 

Seeing this situation, Li Fanyu could only break into a cold sweat. Unintentionally, he had become a target for jokes once again, and this time, he couldn't even refute it... 

The A4 had been on the market for too short a time, and its sales had skyrocketed too quickly. Unlike other brands with ample stockpiles, Zhengxin Audi's sales strategy was to produce based on orders. The online sales platform accounted for most of the sales, meaning Zhengxin had no inventory. 

While this approach meant losing some sales, it was unavoidable. 

To Li Fanyu, the most frustrating thing in the world was having no stock to meet the demand during a sales boom...


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