Chapter 303: Contending for the Standard

The next day, since everyone had arrived, the review work officially began.

A crowd of technical staff, eager for their factory's design to become the standard, had put in desperate effort, arguing until their faces flushed and ears red, the debate becoming impossible to settle.

For a moment, the meeting hall turned into a chicken coop.

Seeing that this wouldn't work, the people from the First Machinery Department decided to examine each component one by one.

"Stop, stop, stop, everyone don't rush to argue; let's first pick out the uncontested components, and for the contested ones, whoever has objections steps forward to explain their advantages, then let everyone vote; we will decide based on the majority vote and our own research."

They are all counterfeit, but actually there are still many generic components.

Once the generic parts were handled, the remaining task wasn't so big.

With order restored in the hall, the noise diminished greatly.

Yang Qing, however, had gleaming eyes; he pulled Ge Hongtao over and whispered.

"Old Ge, you see these bigwigs arguing until their faces are red and ears hot; our design might find it hard to compete with theirs."

"But we came all this way; we can't come for nothing, right?"

Ge Hongtao had just been startled by a group of bigwigs' quarrel; it was too fierce, almost coming to blows.

He had never encountered such a grand spectacle before.

But now is the time to show his face; letting him come for nothing would be unwilling, yet arguing with those bigwigs, he lacked the courage.

Having no idea what to do, he should just follow the Factory Director's lead.

"Factory Director, you speak."

Yang Qing gave a hehe laugh.

"Have you heard of Tian Ji's horse race?"

Old Ge still didn't understand.

"What does the Factory Director mean?"

Yang Qing gritted his teeth and said fiercely.

"What they don't contend for, we will contend for; what they contend for, we will also contend for."

"Even if we can't outdo them, we still have those bottom-tier items they look down on."

"If we can surpass them, we'll make a big profit."

"With the standard bearing our name, we can directly go head-to-head with those bigwigs."

Ge Hongtao roughly understood Yang Qing's meaning.

"What does 'pk' mean?"

He misspoke.

Yang Qing explained.

"It means competing on the same stage."

"You think, they produce over ten thousand vehicles a year, while we only have a few hundred; aren't you annoyed?"

"With these credentials, can't we vie for more tilted resources?"

"Without further talk, if we could produce a hundred units a month, wouldn't the funds for your small four-wheel research come out?"

"If we could reach a monthly output of two hundred units, we would have the money to build our own sand-casting factory; then, even if you wanted to research engines, there would be no problem."

Ge Hongtao's eyes lit up at the big pie Yang Qing painted for him.

"Factory Director, you better keep your word."

"Don't worry, we've also made many improvements on those inconspicuous parts."

"We have studied other factories' machines; they haven't noticed these details."

Yang Qing excitedly slapped Old Ge on the shoulder.

"Good, Old Ge, our factory still has to rely on you—old but steadfast, a pillar in the midstream."

"I've long seen that many of your designs are no worse than those of the bigwigs."

"But it's just because we are a Jiedao-run enterprise that others don't care about us."

"Faced with such unfair treatment, what should we do?"

"I think we should dare to draw our swords and challenge these authorities."

"Because only when you dare to compete on the same stage with them will they take you seriously."

"Only then can we earn their respect."

"Old Ge, you must prove to them that people coming from our Jiedao enterprise can also become authorities."

Old Ge's passion was burning, the emotions suppressed by those bigwigs erupting.

"Factory Director, I understand your meaning."

"You mean we should strive to manifest our existence."

"We want them to remember us."

"Even if we fail, we still gain."

"Although what you say is correct, it's also overly pessimistic."

"Old Ge, making them remember us is the first step; second, we need them to acknowledge us; third, we produce results so they take us seriously; finally, we must surpass them."

"This boast is a bit overblown, but Old Ge still listened, excited beyond measure."

"Although he clearly knows Yang Qing is just trying to fool him,"

"but one must always have ideals; what if they actually come true?"

"I understand, Factory Director; our Red Star Factory must have a place among these standards."

He spoke very firmly.

Yang Qing believed him.

Whether it succeeds or not is really just that kind of thing.

After all, they themselves have no achievements at all; they're completely single.

But a person's mindset can often change many things.

Then Ge Hongtao, like a squirrel that gathers pine cones, accepts anyone, and for any component they improve even a little, he wants to contest it.

Most people sneer at his junk‑picking style.

It has no technical content, and it's not important anyway—who cares?

But after the universal components were screened, they suddenly sensed something odd.

Damn, the universal components had a tenth of their standard taken by this greenhorn.

Who could have thought this guy actually put effort into a tiny component?

If it works, that's fine; what are you changing anyway?

At this point, we inherit Big Mao's stupid, clumsy notions, so we usually don't pay much attention to details.

And Yang Qing and Ge Hongtao, being broke, handle affairs and calculate meticulously.

Since their components are purchased, doing some structural optimization not only boosts machine efficiency and reliability, but also reduces manufacturing cost through design.

What they save is profit, which becomes our research funding.

Then the component standards became heavily disputed.

The scene instantly heated up.

Ge Hongtao, facing one big boss after another, felt his timidity and fear gradually fade, while his passion surged.

He was like a mad dog; whenever something he dabbled in appeared, he would snatch it.

That excited demeanor left those who had never cared about them staring dumbfounded.

Especially when Ge Hongtao held his own blueprints and gave a passionate speech on stage, even Yang Qing felt a sort of illusion.

Damn, is Ge Hongtao the sulky pipe of our factory who, besides doing research, doesn't want to deal with anything else? He's unreasonable.

Could my hype skill have risen again?

After the successive victories, Ge Hongtao's mindset changed dramatically; he felt that you all were actually no different.

He now feels like he could slay all around.

People from the First Machinery Department also noticed this increasingly brave Ge Hongtao.

"Is the Red Star Agricultural Machinery Factory really that impressive?"

"How come I never heard of it before?"

Someone who understood the matter said.

"The Red Star Agricultural Machinery Factory is a Jiedao office enterprise of the Beijing Red Star Commune."

"What, a Jiedao office enterprise? How is that possible?"

"Who invited them over?"

"Beijing First Machinery Department."

The asker fell silent instantly.

…………

Someone said.

"I originally thought they were just numbers sent from the Jingcheng side, but I didn't expect Ge Hongtao to be so formidable."

"It's literally a tongue‑war against a crowd of scholars."

"The key is that some of their designs are indeed excellent."

"We should focus on this enterprise in particular."

"They really are quite different."

"Look at He Xin from the Xinhui Agricultural Machinery Factory—no response for ages, then compare with them."

Another person said.

"I recall that this Jiedao enterprise is actually quite famous in Jingcheng."

"First it made a big impact in disaster relief, then launched an industry‑agriculture cooperation to build some new rural area."

"It caused quite a stir over in Jingcheng."

"Many people keep their eyes on them."