Chapter 112: Hearing Is Unreliable, Seeing Is Believing

The speaker was Ji Zhongxuan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a double PhD holder in mechatronics from Peking University, as well as an old friend of Li Kejian. As one of the nation’s foremost experts in mechatronics, Ji had come to the auto expo primarily to understand the latest applications of mechatronics in vehicles by advanced Western countries.

After hearing Mayor Huang and Ji Zhongxuan speak, Li Kejian smiled and said, “Mayor Huang, to be honest, Zhao Guoyang is indeed the main reason for my visit to Songjiang City this time. What Old Ji said is true—this young man truly has many commendable qualities.”

Li Kejian briefly recounted his chance encounter with Zhao Guoyang at the Siyang Group, then reflected with some emotion, “At that time, Zhao even thought I was a dealer for Siyang Group, considering entering the automobile sales business.”

“Because of this, he gave me a concise and insightful analysis of the prospects for cooperation between Yangcheng Automobile Group and France’s Peugeot. Ultimately, his conclusions were completely consistent with the research findings finalized by several ministries just last week. Truly, he has far-sighted vision and remarkable foresight.”

Hearing this, Fang Xuesen nodded in agreement, adding, “What Mr. Li said is absolutely right! Mayor Huang, you must have heard about last week’s joint ministerial meeting of the State Council?”

“That meeting focused on reviewing the country’s ‘three major and three minor’ future development strategies in the automotive industry and formulated a new development plan. In many ways, the deep cooperation between Songjiang City and German Volkswagen stems from this.”

Mayor Huang Zhigang nodded repeatedly in agreement, glancing at the two academicians before sighing, “Director Fang, I’m indeed somewhat familiar with the situation you mentioned.”

“Frankly, I won’t hide it from you all—this cooperation between Songjiang City and Volkswagen has been a source of considerable frustration for us. But what can we do? They hold the advanced technology, so they have the leverage to make exorbitant demands…”

As the supervisory authority over the Songjiang Volkswagen Automobile Factory, Fang Xuesen and Li Kejian were naturally well-informed about the cooperation plan.

Volkswagen insisted on exclusive rights to the technology, refusing to yield, which put the Songjiang municipal government and the Volkswagen factory in a very difficult position.

Originally, both sides were supposed to finalize the cooperation terms before the expo opened, but due to significant disagreements over several details, negotiations dragged on with no resolution yet.

Mentioning this headache-inducing issue, a hush suddenly fell over the VIP room.

After a while, the crisp knocking on the door broke the silence.

Mayor Huang cleared his throat and called out, “Come in,” finally disrupting the quiet atmosphere.

The door opened, and a staff member gestured politely for the visitor to enter, then gently closed the door behind him.

The newcomers were none other than Liang Xiaofeng, Director of the Songjiang Mechanical Engineering Committee, and Wang Ziqing, Director of the Jiangnan Province Mechanical Engineering Committee.

They had not arranged to come together beforehand; in fact, Liang Xiaofeng had not even informed Wang Ziqing that the national Mechanical Engineering Committee leadership would be present at the expo.

When Liang saw Wang Ziqing at the VIP room’s entrance, he had a vague sense of understanding.

Upon entering, the two greeted the leaders respectfully, but before they could sit down, Li Kejian eagerly asked, “Hey, where’s that young Zhao? Hasn’t he come?”

Fang Xuesen chimed in, “Yes, Ziqing, didn’t you say you brought him along?”

Wang Ziqing quickly stood and replied, “Director Fang, Mr. Li, I was just about to report to you. Zhao Guoyang is currently downstairs touring with the inspection team. Shall I call him up immediately?”

Li Kejian responded directly, “Why call him here? Can’t we go to him? It’s a good chance to hear everyone’s genuine feedback about the exhibition.”

“Indeed, seeing is believing. Going to the scene sounds good,” Ji Zhongxuan agreed.

Fang Xuesen also nodded, “Mr. Li is right. Let’s all go have a look.”

With the three distinguished guests reaching consensus, Mayor Huang naturally stood without hesitation and said, “Mr. Li, Director Fang, I’ll accompany you.”

As the leaders prepared to move, Wang Ziqing hurriedly opened the door to lead the way, with Liang Xiaofeng trailing behind.

Having just heard Li Kejian and Fang Xuesen mention Zhao Guoyang, Liang silently wondered: How do Director Fang and Mr. Li also know this Zhao? Could it be that the two big shots requested old Wang to bring young Zhao along?

Of course, Zhao Guoyang was completely unaware of the happenings in the VIP room. At that moment, he had just received a brief text message and was pulling out his pager to return the call.

The message was from Monkey, containing only eight characters: “Urgent matter, call back immediately!”

Monkey had always been reliable in handling affairs, so such an urgent request to return the call meant something serious had occurred.

Zhao Guoyang didn’t dare to delay and quickly dashed out of the exhibition center, intending to find a public phone booth to call back.

Zhao Siyuan had been following close behind and, seeing him run out holding the pager, worried something was wrong and hurried after him.

“Hey, Zhao Guoyang, what’s going on? Why the rush?” she asked breathlessly once outside.

Zhao Guoyang hadn’t noticed her trailing him and felt slightly embarrassed, offering a sheepish smile, “Nothing much. A friend asked me to call back, so I’m just looking for a phone booth to return the call.”

As he spoke, he scanned the surroundings for a phone booth but, looking around, all he saw was parking lots and roads—no booths in sight.

Seeing his brow furrow, Zhao Siyuan scolded him lightly, “Didn’t I tell you? I’m from Songjiang. If you’re unsure about anything, just ask me first! This is the main entrance to the expo center—there’s no way there’s a phone booth here. Come on, follow me!”

Despite her scolding, Zhao Guoyang bore no resentment. After spending a day together, he’d come to understand Zhao Siyuan well.

She was from a big city, had higher standards and spoke bluntly, but had a good heart.

Following her, Zhao Guoyang finally found a phone booth by a side entrance to the exhibition center and returned Monkey’s call.

The line connected quickly, and Monkey’s voice immediately sounded in his ear: “Hello, Guoyang, is that you?”

“This is Guoyang! Monkey, where are you? What happened?” Zhao Guoyang asked in a low tone.