Chapter 738: Procurement Task (Part 2)

The Xia Country hinterland, the Land of Abundance.

Auto parts manufacturer Lu Yi, reeking of alcohol, took a taxi back home.

His wife and children were already asleep; not wanting to disturb them, Lu Yi wiped himself off briefly, poured himself a cup of hot tea, and, feeling no sleepiness, sat in his study and stared blankly.

"Business is getting harder and harder to do!"

In recent years, with the intensification of international conflicts, the European and United States nations, which had single-handedly established globalization after World War II, also began to conduct a strategic review.

When they discovered that the globalization they once led had indeed brought convenience to the development of some countries while they continued to economically colonize others in the new era, a new Cold War consciousness began to revive.

The selfish and arrogant Anglo-Saxon people, from the Age of Discovery to the modern era, successfully leaped from an unremarkable barbarian tribe to the world's most powerful race through a series of colonial expansions and plunder.

They hold power and wealth, stand on the moral high ground, and enjoy priority mating rights; naturally, they are unwilling to let the world privileges established by their ancestors over hundreds of years be taken away.

Consequently, these voices that once strongly pushed for globalization have now instead become its greatest destroyers and gravediggers.

While plotting various disputes and wars, they stand on the moral high ground to point fingers at the internal affairs of other countries, using protectionism and trade barriers as weapons to wantonly attack and destroy globalization.

Affected by this, the international environment has begun to deteriorate day by day in recent years.

The Xia Country, the world's factory and one of the greatest beneficiaries of the era of economic globalization, is also another world aristocrat from before the rise of the Anglo-Saxon people, and it naturally became the primary target of the regime established by the Anglo-Saxon people.

A businessman with a small fortune like Lu Yi can be considered one of the people most sensitive to the economic barometer.

Only thirty-six years old this year, he counts as a second-generation rich.

During the period when his father was starting out in the 1980s, he first worked as a workshop laborer at an auto company after graduating from university.

By the end of the last century, Lu Yi's father set up his own business, utilizing the technology and connections he had mastered during his ten-plus years working at the auto company.

In the blink of an eye, over a decade passed, and by the time Lu Yi took over two years ago, his father, who had passed away from stomach cancer, left him a parts company with total assets of around one billion, possessing four factories, over three thousand workers, and the ability to produce over one hundred and seventy different types of auto parts.

Although his father left rather suddenly, Lu Yi had been brought home and mentored by his father for over ten years after graduating from university.

After his father passed away, Lu Yi very smoothly took over the company's management and the old connections.

But this still could not save the company from its decline over the past two years, because with the frequent appearance of local protectionism in international trade, many products from Xia Country companies exported to Europe and the United States were forcibly levied with high, varying tariffs.

The auto-related industry can be said to be one of the few relatively complete industrial systems still remaining in Europe and the United States, and the old Europe, in particular, is sparing no effort in striking at the auto industries of other countries.

Lu Yi's company specializes in the production of Autobot parts; while not the largest in scale within the Xia Country, it is definitely among the manufacturers that pay the most attention to quality.

In the past, their products were basically not sold domestically, because there were hundreds of peers in the country competing, and fighting for food with them meant having to rack their brains to cut costs, resulting in extremely thin profits.

Lu Yi's father previously looked down on those meager domestic profits, but now, as the tariffs on their products exported overseas continue to rise, there are not many choices left for Lu Yi.

Tonight, he invited a manager from a car company within the province to visit his factory and host them along the way.

However, the other party's attitude made Lu Yi somewhat annoyed; the parts produced by their company are of high quality, and therefore the finished products are also much higher in price than what domestic peers demand.

Because of the differences in production costs between countries, when Lu Yi's company's products were sold overseas in the past, they could earn a decent profit due to the higher costs in the regions where their partner European car companies were located, so naturally, they only needed to ensure quality.

Now, high tariffs have caused European car companies to replace them with other parts manufacturers one after another; if Lu Yi wants to compete with domestic peers for orders from Xia Country car companies, he must find ways to lower costs as well.

In the past, both Lu Yi's father and he had tried hard, and now their company has already lowered costs to the limit achievable at the current quality.

To lower them further, one could only be like some unscrupulous enterprises and play dirty tricks on quality and materials.

But Lu Yi clearly does not want to take this step; his mother passed away in a car accident when he was very young, and the investigation results showed that there was a problem with the car's braking system.

Because of this experience, both his father and Lu Yi have always adhered to the final bottom line while seeking profit, and that is product quality.

Picking up his cup and taking a sip of hot tea, Lu Yi felt the alcohol-induced haze dissipate slightly.

He stared blankly for a while, and soon after, thinking of the company's current situation, he couldn't help but sigh.

"... The domestic auto parts market has almost become a profitless Red Sea; it seems I still have to find a way to export... Before that, I have to find a way to get some more money..."

Although Lu Yi's company has had insufficient production in the last two years, employees' wages still have to be paid, and factory and equipment maintenance also require money.

Manufacturing enterprises are heavy-asset companies, and their cash flow is far less abundant than that of service industries and other light-asset companies.

If Lu Yi hadn't accidentally joined a special chat room in the past six months, the company would have long since been unable to sustain itself.

"Right, it's been a while since I've checked into the chat room; maybe I can still pick up some production Tasks!"

Thinking of this, Lu Yi quickly opened the computer in his study, clicked directly on a chat software on the desktop named Magic House, and skillfully double-clicked on 【China Technology Exchange Room 1】 among the dense list of dozens of chat rooms.

The chat room soon popped up a password input box, requiring an invitation code to enter.

Still somewhat tipsy, Lu Yi recalled carefully before remembering the new invitation code he had just received a few days ago, then typed it into the input box and clicked confirm.

The next moment, the chat room interface popped up.

Even though it was the dead of winter night, the chat room was currently burning hot.

"Hahahaha, thanks to the administrator for the benefits secured for us; there are a lot of supplies to procure for this Task, can make a big profit..."

"I took two Tasks, the deposit of forty-six million has already reached the company account; the efficiency of the administrator is still so high, haha..."

"Five Tasks, this time I'm going to make a big profit!"

"Administrator: Attention everyone, this batch of procurement Tasks is a benefit given by the 'Progressive Chinese Federation' to all members in the Xia Country. All members can claim them, but the administrator will audit member qualifications. After passing, fifty percent of the deposit will be prepaid. Those who blindly take on Tasks without qualifications or provide inferior products will be warned once upon discovery, and kicked out of the chat room the second time."

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