Tranxending Vision - Chapter 151

Chapter 151

Chapter 151 - Lucky 88,000,000

Three days later .  

Qin Xiang stood before the French window in his office and sipped tea from a fancy teacup as he admired the view outside . It wasn’t actually much of a view - it was Thunder Horse Manufacturing’s premises . His gaze fell upon the single-storey houses by a warehouse . Xia Lei’s personal workshop was in one of them .  

Xia Lei’s workshop door was closed and the windows were covered by thick, opaque curtains . No one on the outside could see in .  

A faint smile appeared in the corners of Qin Xiang’s lips at the thought of Xia Lei . “That guy has been busy these past few days; he didn’t even have time to take care of his hair . I want to cut his hair for him… How do I ask?”

At that moment, a Hongqi limousine suddenly drove through the main gates . It had Jing-Du license plates .  

Qin Xian started, then fished out his mobile phone and called Xia Lei . “Lei, the Jing-Du person is here!” 

“Who?”

“That guy from China Industrial Group - I forgot his name,” said Qin Xiang as he watched the person get out of the car .  

“I got it . ” Xia Lei’s voice came from the phone .  

“Then why haven’t you exited your workshop?” said Qin Xiang anxiously, “If the China Industrial Group people know what you’re building they’ll see red . That won’t be good . ”

“I’m getting out right now . ” Xia Lei hung up and exited the workshop .  

Outside the workshop, Xia Lei spotted the person walking towards the office building - it was China Industrial Group’s head of Procurement, Zhou Wei .  

So China Industrial Group could not wait any longer and sent someone .  

Sending someone now definitely meant that it was related to Josef’s intelligent lathe .  

Zhou Wei saw Xia Lei as well and greeted him from afar . “Heh heh, long time no see, Chairman Xia . Hello, hello!”

“Hello, Big Brother Zhou . ” Xia Lei walked up to him and shook his hand . “Haven’t seen you in a while . I was starting to miss you . ” 

It didn’t matter if he’d really missed him or not but it was still nice to hear such words .  

“Heh heh, let’s not be so formal,” smiled Zhou Wei, “I know you’re busy so I won’t take too much of your time . I’ll cut straight to the chase and tell you that I’ve come to ask for your help . ”

“Let’s talk in my office,” said Xia Lei .  

Zhou Wei looked at Xia Lei . “Let’s talk in your workshop . ”

Xia Lei froze . That sentence told him that Zhou Wei had come prepared - China Industrial Group already knew that he was building the intelligent lathe .  

“Well? Don’t want me to see it?” said Zhou Wei .  

“How can that be? Come, this way . ” Xia Lei brought Zhou Wei to his workshop .  

Zhou Wei spotted the half-built intelligent lathe as soon as he walked into the workshop . It was already about 50% complete and it looked like the base of a fairly large truck instead of a lathe . Zhou Wei was an industry insider, however, and could tell with one glance what it was .  

“I have to tell you, Chairman Xia, that you are the person I most admire . ” Zhou Wei’s face was the picture of surprise and awe . “We are also building it and we are using an elite team in China Industrial Group but I feel like you would be the faster to complete it . ”

“Um… How did you know that I was building the intelligent lathe?” asked Xia Lei probingly .  

Zhou Wei laughed . “You brought back the drawings from Germany and you’ve seen the actual thing with your own eyes . You gave the drawings to the nation but we guessed that you would surely try to build it on your own . You have the ability to do so . ”

That made sense but Xia Lei knew that China Industrial Group was a military-backed giant in the industry and it was as easy as pie for them to send an agent to scout him out . He didn’t point it out however, and pretended to know nothing of it .  

“Say it . What is your aim?” Xia Lei did not want to keep beating about the bush . China Industrial Group already knew and even sent someone here - there must be some sort of aim .

“May I take a few pictures?” said Zhou Wei, “Elder Mu wants to have a look . ”

Xia Lei shrugged . “Sure, why not? I’ve even given you guys the drawings so what are some pictures? Take as many as you want . ”

Zhou Wei took out a digital camera from his briefcase and took pictures from several different angles . He even included the materials and processed parts in the workshop .  

Click click click . Zhou Wei took tens of photographs .  

Xia Lei waited for him to be done before saying, “You’re done taking pictures . Tell me - what is your aim?”

“Let’s talk in your office,” said Zhou Wei .  

“This way, please . ” Xia Lei brought Zhou Wei out of the workshop and to the office building .  

Xia Lei worried over the problem at hand while walking to the office . Zhou Wei’s aim was obvious - he wanted to see the intelligent lathe with his own eyes and take pictures to bring back to China Industrial Group .  

These actions were akin to sending an industry spy but only China Industrial Group would do it so brazenly .

What aim did he have other than this? 

Xia Lei thought and thought but couldn’t come up with anything .  

Liang Si-Yao only knew that Zhou Wei had arrived when he walked into the office . She greeted him politely . “Hello, Mr Zhou . When did you arrive? We would have arranged something in advance if you’d called . ” She paused, then smiled as she said, “Please take a seat . I’ll make you some tea . ” 

Xia Lei didn’t have a secretary so she sometimes filled the role .  

“Thank you, Miss Liang . Sorry to trouble you,” said Zhou Wei politely .  

Liang Si-Yao made him a cup of Iron Goddess of Mercy .  

Zhou Wei got up from the sofa as a gesture of thanks .  

“No need to stand on ceremony, Mr Zhou . ” Liang Si-Yao smiled .  

“Miss Liang, I… I would like to talk privately with Chairman Xia . You know that I am just doing what the higher-ups tell me to do and I’m just following orders . I do beg for forgiveness if I’ve offended you . ” 

“Oh, that’s quite all right; I understand . Have your talk . I was just on my way to take a look around the workshops . ” Liang Si-Yao smiled and left the office .  

Xia Lei’s brows wrinkled . “Big Brother Zhou, Liang Si-Yao is my Senior Disciple . I trust her as much as I trust myself . There was no need to send her away . ” 

Zhou Wei smiled wryly . “I’m just doing what the higher-ups ordered, Chairman Xia . My hands are tied . You should understand too that this matter is a national secret and involves international disputes so we’d prefer if this was kept as private as possible . Knowing about some things can bring her more harm than good . ”

Xia Lei nodded . “Please speak . ” 

“I’ll say it then . ” Zhou Wei hesitated . “We failed . ” 

Xia Lei paused . “Why is it a failure? The things I’ve brought back - the detailed drawings, circuit plans, the CNC - how can China Industrial Group fail with your capabilities?”

Zhou Wei laughed bitterly . “This was why I said you will finish this machine sooner than us . We’ve put our best team on it and processed all the parts, assembled them and installed the CNC program you brought back from Germany . The accuracy, however, was lacking and there were several errors . ”

“That’s impossible . ”

“We have found our reason for failure . ”

“What is it?”

“Parts,” said Zhou Wei, “We are unable to process the parts required in the drawings . Every part was off by just a little bit, and the project failed when all those inaccuracies accumulated . ” 

The difference was minute . Parts which looked exactly the same to the naked eye were off by a tiny bit and those little bits, when added together, resulted in failure to build the intelligent lathe .

Zhou Wei’s second aim was clear at that point in the conversation .  

China Industrial Group had designs on his intelligent lathe .  

“Chairman Xia . ” Zhou Wei smiled . “You are a clever man . You should already know what our aim is . ”

Xia Lei knew what he wanted but he shook his head . “No, I don’t . ”

“We’re going around in circles, Chairman Xia,” said Zhou Wei, “We need a successfully working intelligent lathe to process parts that would pass muster and be used to make machines like this in batches . This is something that would greatly benefit the nation and the people . I believe you will help us . ”

Xia Lei laughed . “Please, don’t put me on a pedestal, Big Brother Zhou . I went through a lot of danger in Germany for this intelligent lathe and was almost killed by gangsters . I got the drawings and CNC program and even handed them in to the nation . You have them in your hands . What more do you want from me? Do you feel like I haven’t contributed enough? You know what I got for my efforts? Free domestic flights and high-speed trains . Haha!”

“Hahaha…” Zhou Wei laughed too .  

Xia Lei watched him laugh and thought to himself, ‘Fuck . I don’t owe you guys anything . You only come to me when you need me and don’t even throw a purchase order my way when you don’t need me . Trying to use nationalism to make me give you the lathe for free? Do you think I’m a fool?’

“Ahem . ” Zhou Wei suddenly stopped laughing and his expression turned serious in an instant . “Name your price . ”

“You really want to buy it?”

“No joke . ” Zhou Wei grew more serious . “You know the nature of this matter . ”

Xia Lei pondered, then said lightly, “I’d like to chat a little before I name a price . ” 

“I’m listening . ” 

“You guys got what you wanted from my trip to Germany - the drawings and the CNC program . You thought you’d be able to make the lathe on your own so you didn’t bother to even give me a call, much less show me some thanks . I don’t actually care about these but you don’t know what I went through in Germany . I could have spent the rest of my life behind bars over there if I was found out . I also stepped on the toes of some gangster while trying to complete the mission and they came after me more than once . If I was just a tad unlucky, I would have died over there . I’ve done so much and not asked for any reward from the nation, and neither have I asked to be an official . The ones who profited the most - you guys - have you not one word of thanks to give?”

Zhou Wei looked ashamed .  

“I don’t actually care about receiving thanks - I can’t eat it or spend it . I know my status . A big corporation like you guys simply look down on a small company like mine and working with me is like a stain on your reputation . This doesn’t matter either . But you know what? When I came back from Germany, I found that my little company was under siege by Ning Yuan-Shan . It was difficult to even survive yet you guys gave me no purchase orders . I had to manufacture my own shopping trolleys and selfie sticks . Isn’t this such cold treatment?”

“Chairman Xia…” Zhou Wei tried to explain but he was too ashamed himself .  

“You guys want to buy my intelligent lathe? I know . This will be the last time we’ll work together . Once you have this intelligent lathe you’ll be able to make all the parts you need and then batch-produce them . You won’t need me anymore . Am I right?” said Xia Lei .

“Ahem…” Zhou Wei spoke awkwardly, “You’re overthinking it, Chairman Xia . We were just too busy and didn’t consider your feelings nor whether you needed help . I can guarantee that there will be plenty of opportunities for us to work together . ”

“I don’t want a guarantee . I know who I’m working with . Now let me ask you something - what if I don’t sell?” Xia Lei stared straight at Zhou Wei .  

Zhou Wei smiled wryly . “You have to sell . You know the nature of this matter . ” After a pause, he added, “So, name a price . ” 

Xia Lei chuckled . “I won’t hold back and I’ll just name my price then . How about this - a lucky 88,000,000 . ”