Chapter 41: The One Who Truly Wants to Save the Auto Plant

Zhang Ziqiang said to the engineer, "Then take it apart."

He had gone to such great lengths to bring these people here; why were they so reluctant to even dismantle a machine tool? What was going on?

Zhang Guohua, caught in a dilemma, could only curse Zhang Ziqiang as a "fool" while helplessly waving at the engineer. "Take it apart. Just take it apart."

The engineer looked bewildered, his face twisted into a frown. "Factory Director, this thing costs a fortune. If I break it, I couldn't afford to pay for it even if I sold myself."

Cheng Shi secretly found it amusing: look at them, none of them wanted to take responsibility.

Zhang Guohua felt even more awkward and said through gritted teeth, "I told you to take it apart, so do it. Why so much nonsense? Aren't I here?"

The engineer had no choice but to bite the bullet and open the outer casing of the machine tool.

Cheng Shi instructed him to remove the integrated circuit board and place it on the table. After testing it with the factory’s instruments, Cheng Shi said, "The magnetic core memory is broken."

The engineer thought to himself: I knew that already. The foreigners had already told us.

Zhang Guohua asked, "Can you fix it?"

Cheng Shi replied, "I can do it, but I don't have the materials."

Zhang Ziqiang chimed in, "List the materials, and I'll go buy them."

Cheng Shi said, "Some of the instruments and parts can only be purchased at the research institute in Haicheng."

Zhang Ziqiang said, "That’s fine. Just tell me where they are, and I’ll track them down to the ends of the earth. Haicheng is even easier; isn't it just a two-day train ride?"

Cheng Shi studied Zhang Ziqiang carefully. He hadn't expected that the person most actively trying to save the factory would be the most inconspicuous, most slack-off-looking one of them all. Though you have many flaws, this one virtue alone surpasses countless others. For the sake of your spirit, I will help you fix this.

Cheng Shi nodded slightly. "Alright."

He directed the engineer to put everything back together and gave a list to Zhang Ziqiang. He explained the requirements for each item one by one. Zhang Ziqiang diligently recorded them in a small notebook with his messy, crooked handwriting.

Finally, Cheng Shi said, "Alright, that’s it. If there’s anything you don’t understand, call me. Once you’ve bought the materials, bring them directly to my home, and I’ll start working immediately. This will likely cost over a thousand yuan. Make sure you bring enough money."

Zhang Guohua asked, "How long will it take you to fix it?"

Cheng Shi answered, "One week after I receive all the materials."

***

Boasting without a draft! This thing cost us tens of thousands of US dollars from the foreigners, and you claim you can fix it in a week? Zhang Guohua sneered, though he kept his expression neutral and asked, "And if you can't fix it?"

He hoped to goad Cheng Shi, waiting for him to say in a fit of pride, "Then I'll compensate you with my own machine!"

*Heh*, you think you can trap me with such a petty scheme? It’s laughable.

Cheng Shi glanced at him with a half-smile. "If I can't fix it, then I can't. Why else do you think I had you sign this liability waiver?"

On the way back, as they neared the place where Zhang Ziqiang had picked him up, Cheng Shi asked, "Don't you need to say goodbye to her? You'll be gone for at least a week, maybe two."

"No need," Zhang Ziqiang shook his head. "She doesn't know I like her, and she doesn't know I went to see her."

Cheng Shi sighed. "Tsk, tsk, still a secret crush. You coward, you go to see her every day, yet you don't even have the courage to tell her."

Zhang Ziqiang said, "She is out of my league, and too many people like her. She wouldn't like someone like me."

Cheng Shi replied, "You need to have confidence in yourself. You are, after all, the factory director's son."

Once you develop real feelings, you start viewing the world through a filter, thinking everything about the other person is perfect. No one is exempt from that.

Zhang Ziqiang gave a bitter laugh. "Actually, my dad only has one son in his heart, and that’s my older brother who’s in university. I was sent to my grandmother in the countryside when I was three and only came back in middle school. I’m not very close to my parents."

Oh, so it's the favored eldest son and the neglected second son...

Cheng Shi patted his shoulder. "It's fine. Identity and status are things you earn for yourself. Actually, you'll understand later—in this world, no matter who people are, unless they are trying to kill you, beat you, or imprison you, everything else they do is insignificant. So, you shouldn't take them too seriously."

Zhang Ziqiang’s face crumpled, looking like a bitter melon. "How old are you exactly? Why do you always sound so old and world-weary?"

Cheng Shi got off at the credit union, deposited the money, and walked home slowly. When he reached the bottom of the building, he found a burly man waiting for him. The man was about the same height as him but weighed at least twenty pounds more, with thick brows, a broad forehead, and a strong, square jaw. If he grew a beard, he would look even more like a bandit from a folklore tale.

Cheng Shi knew this man; his name was Yu Dadong. Later, when Yu Dadong couldn't make it in Xiangdong City, he went to Shenzhen and, by a stroke of luck, became a construction contractor. Cheng Shi had met him on the train to Shenzhen when they caught a thief together, and they became best friends because they were both from Xiangdong.

During his down-and-out days, Yu Dadong couldn't even afford a bowl of pig trotter rice without Cheng Shi treating him. In his glory days, he drove luxury cars worth millions and kept several starlets without blinking an eye. Even in his sixties and seventies, he remained hedonistic, ultimately dying of a heart attack in a woman's bed.

Back when Cheng Shi was searching everywhere for revenge against Liu Jie, Yu Dadong had followed him around every day, terrified that something might happen to him. Cheng Shi had planned to look him up once he was free, but he hadn't expected him to show up on his own. The world truly is a small circle.

Behind Yu Dadong were the thin and fat pair of fools whom Cheng Shi had beaten up not long ago. As soon as they saw Cheng Shi, they pointed at him and shouted, "Brother Dong, that's him!"

"Help us teach him a lesson."

Just then, an old man walked past them at an agonizingly slow pace, trembling.

Cheng Shi said, "You two lost even when it was two-on-one, and you still have the nerve to come back for revenge?"

Yu Dadong said, "I'm not here to avenge them. I just heard you're a great fighter and wanted to spar with you. Fight me. If I win, you do one thing for me. If I lose, I will never bother you again."

Cheng Shi said, "Fine. If I win, you must agree to one request of mine."

Yu Dadong was loyal and righteous, and he was much more clever and perceptive than his appearance suggested. Cheng Shi guessed he had other reasons for seeking him out.

Another old man with a cane walked by. It was as if these elderly people had made an appointment to hover around them; three or four of them had passed by in just this short time.

Cheng Shi said, "Fighting causes too much of a scene, and I'm afraid of scaring the seniors. Let's compete in strength instead."

Yu Dadong said, "Alright."

He felt disdain in his heart: *Kid, you don't seem very bright. If it were a fight, you might have an advantage with your agility, but if you're competing on strength, you're doomed. This frame of mine isn't just for show.*

Cheng Shi pointed to a concrete chair where residents sat to cool off. "I won't bully you. You sit down, and I'll pin you down. If you can get up, you win."

The thin man clicked his tongue and shook his head. "You're too arrogant. Even five or six of us couldn't pin Brother Dong down, and you think you can do it by yourself?"

The fat man added, "You might have a chance if you were built like me."