Chapter 278 How about building a car?
Facing Su Yunwei's warning, Lu Yiming didn't care at all. He directly refused: "No, I will marry her."
Su Yunwei was annoyed when she heard this and warned sternly: "Although Shi Qingxue's last name is not Su, she is very favored in the family. We will never allow anyone to hurt her. If you want to get close to our Su family through Xiaoxue and covet our Su family's wealth, I advise you to give up as soon as possible. You will not succeed."
Because of what happened between Shi Caijiang and Su Yunjin, Su Yunwei is now extremely wary of anyone who approaches Shi Qingxue.
And in her opinion, Lu Yiming's behavior was also malicious.
Su Yunwei originally thought that since she had said it so bluntly, the young man in front of her would probably give up. However, she never expected that Lu Yiming would not even change the smile on his face: "Alright, what about the Su family? You make me look so precious. To tell you the truth, I don't care whether the Su family is rich or not. They will never be as rich as I am anyway."
"In short, I just like Shi Qingxue purely, to the extreme. Whether you believe it or not, I am sincere to Xiaoxue, and time will prove everything."
After Lu Yiming finished speaking, he didn't care that Su Yunwei's face had turned extremely ugly. He stood up and sat down opposite Shi Qingxue.
Shi Qingxue asked nervously, "What did you say?"
Lu Yiming teased, "My aunt said she wants to marry you to me, and we are discussing the gift."
Shi Qingxue curled her lips and said with disgust: "Liar."
Lu Yiming continued to deceive without changing his expression, "Why would I lie to you? We are really discussing the betrothal gift."
Shi Qingxue tilted her head and thought for a while, then pouted and asked, "Then tell me, what is your betrothal gift?"
Lu Yiming laughed and joked: "My betrothal gift is an empire of wealth, an empire of wealth that will shake the entire world's economy if I say a word."
Shi Qingxue: “…”
Su Yunwei walked over and said, "Let's go home and have dinner."
When they got home, the food was already on the table. Lu Ding sat in his seat and drank without saying a word. Lu Yiming asked in surprise, "Dad, what's wrong with you? Are you in a bad mood?"
Facing Lu Yiming, Lu Ding can now talk about anything. He sighed and said in a low voice, "Didn't you lend me money some time ago so that the factory could import a set of high-precision production equipment? I originally won an order for the production of auto parts, and I also spent money to recruit several technical backbones from a foreign company. As a result, my old classmate who was a senior executive in the auto company was directly transferred away, and the order that I had been sure to win was taken away before I even started working on it. All my preparations have gone down the drain."
As the saying goes, it's easier to get things done if you have someone in the court. Lu Ding had the idea of competing for the order before, but it was with the help of this old classmate. With the financial support from Lu Yiming, everything went very smoothly.
He originally thought that Dingyuan Mould Factory could successfully transform itself into a joint venture brand auto parts supplier by taking this opportunity. But when the time came, the key insider was gone.
This kind of order is already very popular, and the competition is extremely fierce. Everyone is competing fiercely for connections, resources, and technology. But now that Lu Ding has lost his connections, it is not surprising that the order was snatched away.
Listening to his father's story, Lu Yiming could empathize with him very well.
Although Dingyuan Mould Factory now has orders to produce computer cases from Jianlai Technology, they can’t make much money from this thing - it’s just a fancy tin box, how much money can they make from it?
Not to mention that the current domestic market atmosphere is so barbaric and disorderly. Pirated products have already started to fly all over the place. Even within three weeks after the chassis models released by Dingyuan Mould Factory were put on sale in the computer market, pirated products were already on sale.
Even though we have the appearance patent, it is completely useless.
As long as they can collect taxes, who the hell cares whether you pirate it or not?
Although the products produced by pirates are fake, the money they pay for taxes is real.
As for damaging the interests of genuine products? Infringing intellectual property rights?
Whocare?
Lu Yiming comforted his father with a relaxed look, saying, "Dad, all roads lead to Rome. If we lose this order, then we lose it. The good thing is that we already have high-precision equipment and experienced technical backbones in the factory. At worst, we can just find some new business. GAC Honda is nothing special. If they don't give us orders, can't we just build the car ourselves?"
Although Lu Yiming spoke passionately, Lu Ding was really hit hard this time. He had no interest in what Lu Yiming said. After all, a good mold factory was now ruined by him. The sense of frustration was extremely strong.
Lu Ding took a sip of wine and said in a muffled voice, "Let's not do it anymore. It's boring. Besides, can you just build a car? Look at those foreign car companies, which one of them is not rich and powerful? What about us? It's hard to even build a wheel!"
Lu Yiming looked disdainful when he heard this: "Why can't we? Isn't a car just a chassis and four wheels? Foreigners can make it, so why can't we? Besides, Dad, you can't be discouraged. I've invested so much money, you can't let my money go to waste, right? Since ancient times, I have heard sons cheating their fathers, but I have never seen a father cheating his son."
Seeing his son so motivated, Lu Ding sighed and said, "Foreign countries started their automobile industry earlier and have more profound technology accumulation. Just an engine is enough to make us sigh in despair. This matter is not as simple as you think."
Although he knew that his son was rich, Lu Ding knew that the automobile industry was a typical capital-intensive industry. Whether it was research and development, manufacturing, procurement or sales , every link had to invest real money in it before it was possible to see a return.
"Your idea is too far-fetched. This level of investment would easily cost tens of billions or even hundreds of billions. Where do you get so much money to build a car?"
Lu Yiming did not answer, but smiled and asked: "Dad, don't worry about other things for now, just tell me the truth, do you really want to build a car?"
Lu Ding raised his glass and drank it all, then said passionately, "Of course I do. Cars are a man's romance. I dream about building cars. But people should be down-to-earth. I am just a mold factory owner. If you ask me to process auto parts, I can barely afford it. But building cars is something that a person like me can do?"
Lu Yiming raised his eyebrows and poured a glass of wine for his father: "Dad, you still have to have dreams, otherwise what's the difference between you and salted fish?"
Lu Ding glared at Lu Yiming and gritted his teeth angrily: "What, you've grown wings and dare to look down on me, your father? You actually said I'm a salted fish?"
Lu Yiming waved his hands quickly, "How can I do that? I just want to sponsor your dream. I think there is a lot of potential in car manufacturing. Our country's economy is booming, and our comprehensive national strength is increasing. When ordinary people have money in their hands, their pockets are bulging, and they can eat and wear warm clothes, they will think about houses and cars, right? You don't want all the cars running on our roads in the future, do you? That would be so depressing."
Although Lu Ding was very tempted, he still shook his head and refused: "Forget it, forget it, I can't do it."
In order to win the order from GAC Honda, he had already swallowed his pride and asked his son to borrow some foreign currency to purchase equipment. But now the order has fallen through, and he is no longer in the mood to continue, so he immediately backs out.
Lu Yiming refused to give up. He still sat next to Lu Ding and persuaded him: "Why can't we do it? Although foreign countries have been working on internal combustion engines for more than a hundred years, we can't catch up now. So why don't we just change the track? Let's just make electric cars and overtake those foreigners who look down on us."
Lu Ding thought he had misheard: "What are you talking about? Electric car?"
Lu Yiming waved his hands excitedly: "Yes, we are now in the era of electrification. Look, Dad, electricity can cook, heat water, and power the TV... Electricity is a kind of energy, and gasoline combustion is also converted into energy to drive the car. Then just turn the engine into a motor and put some batteries in it, isn't that an electric car? How simple. In fact, electric cars are not new at all. The world's first electric car was a three-wheeled car invented by French inventor Gustave Trouvé in 1881. Look, more than a hundred years have passed. We can't be worse than the dead now, right?"
Lu Ding was very moved by what he said.
He was not a person who was content to live with his lot. When he was young, he had excellent academic performance and was well-known as the "King of Inventions" in the area. He was a skilled person who could rub a desk lamp by hand.
At that time, Lu Ding often dismantled and reassembled the electrical appliances at home, and was often beaten by his mother for this. He originally had the hope of going to college, but his family was poor, so in order to survive, he had to come to Baiyun alone to fight.
As a result, relying on his intelligence and ability, he transformed himself from an employee to a boss and founded the Dingyuan Mould Factory.
Over the years, the operation of Dingyuan Mould Factory consumed too much of his energy, so much so that he had put aside this "little hobby" of his youth. Now that Lu Yiming brought it up again, his mind suddenly became active.
Being a boss is just a side job after all, and being a tech geek is the real thing.
"According to what you said, electric cars are possible?"
Seeing that Lu Ding was moved, Lu Yiming was very happy.
As a classic consumable of the 21st century, Lu Yiming still has a sense of national self-esteem. Although he does not have a fanatical patriotic sentiment, he tries to use domestic products as much as possible in daily expenses. Especially when he sees that foreign car brands are not human, selling outdated junk to China and being licked by others, he feels very uncomfortable.
Now that there is such an opportunity to compete with foreign automobile brands, Lu Yiming is of course happy to give it a try.
On the other hand, he didn't want Lu Ding to be depressed by this incident. He knew that making cars was not easy, and things like supply chain management and technical barriers were enough to make people bald.
But for many things, we can't just not do them because they are difficult, because they will become more and more difficult in the future. Now grit your teeth and hold on, maybe there is still a glimmer of possibility to embrace a bright future.
What's more, Lu Yiming felt that being able to help his father find the joy and purpose in life again was more important than anything else.
As for spending money?
As a human being, the most important thing is to be happy. As for making money, all you need is hands, right?
Lu Yiming believed that relying on his knowledge of the world which had been ahead for more than 20 years, it would not be difficult for him to make money to support Lu Ding in making cars.
"Of course you can. Dad, didn't someone say that? Where there is a will, there is a way. Don't be afraid of failure and be afraid to take the first step. In the initial stage, you can use your specialties to buy some old cars, dismantle them, modify them, and verify the technical route. It doesn't cost much."
Now the main business of Dingyuan Mould Factory is to manufacture computer cases for Jianlai Technology. This thing has no technical content at all, and it relies entirely on novel industrial design to open up the market. Therefore, the price is not very high. It can only be said that it can barely make a living by selling at low prices and high volumes. In the future, it will have to face a large number of imitators and copycats, so it is impossible to make it its main business.
Therefore, car manufacturing is the new business direction that Lu Yiming has found for Dingyuan Mould Factory.
The development route proposed by Lu Yiming has also been fully verified in history.
When Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, the founders of Tesla, started to tinker with new energy vehicles, they only had $150,000. Lu Yiming thought that if he took out $1.5 million now, he couldn't be worse than them, right?
"Dad, let's see. I have Future Capital in my hands, right? I will invest in your new company in the name of Future Capital and take a stake in it. Are you relieved now? This is at most a venture capital investment, not the concept of a father spending his son's money."
Since Lu Yiming had said so much, Lu Ding couldn't find any reason to refuse.
Finally, he could only scratch his head and mutter, "Is this a deal? Then I'll start preparing this afternoon. What do you think would be a good name for this new company?"
Lu Yiming thought about it and immediately suggested: "How about an electric car? You are electricity, you are light, you are the only myth..."
Lu Ding said: "Then why not call it Shenhua Automobile?"
Lu Yiming shook his head: "That's too fantasy. It doesn't sound high-tech or trendy enough. My goal is to build a high-tech pure electric supercar that can run at lightning speed, not an antique. Besides, the car we build is powered by electricity, so it's just right to call it an electric car."
"Okay, you pay the money, so you have the final say."
In the end, Lu Ding accepted Electro-Optic Technology as the name of the new company. As Lu Yiming said, this is an innovative company that pursues extreme technology, and the company's mission is to change the world.
