2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 208 Andar Automobile

Yicheng.

Mr. and Mrs. Tan Lihua have been busy since morning. They had a quick lunch and spent the whole day preparing this dinner.

Their eldest son is coming home for the Chinese New Year today.

The couple has moved to their new home next to Linghu Park. It has three bedrooms and two living rooms, so even if the in-laws from the countryside come to visit, their son won't have to sleep in the living room anymore.

One-and-a-half-year-old Tan Jinyue is already very cute and can play independently in the living room, requiring only one person to supervise her.

Tan Lihua and his wife had a clear division of labor. During the day, Tan Lihua would go to buy groceries, while Zhang Suzhi would stay home to take care of the children. Once everything was in order, Tan Lihua would take care of the children while Zhang Suzhi cooked the dishes.

This meticulous preparation wasn't solely for the return of their eldest son; it also included the return of Zhang Qingliang and his wife, as well as their younger brother and sister-in-law. They needed to be prepared for all of this, and since it was already late when they returned to their hometown, Zhang Qingliang and his wife would be staying here tonight.

"Why haven't they come back yet? It's already past seven o'clock. Could they have gone to the old house?" Zhang Suzhi asked anxiously.

Tan Lihua was sitting on the sofa eating sunflower seeds when he casually said, "No, I told him we were coming to the new house. I guess he won't dare to drive too fast at night. We should be home soon."

"I wonder what's going on with this guy taking his girlfriend to Yiwu to meet her family."

"What could possibly happen? It's not a formal meeting. Don't worry, this kid meets big bosses all the time. There won't be any problems in this kind of situation."

"How can that be the same? One is about business, and if you can't reach an agreement, that's fine. The other is about a lifelong commitment," Zhang Suzhi said, rolling her eyes.

Tan Lihua said helplessly, "It's a bit early to talk about marriage. The girl is still studying. Even if we're going to get married, we should wait until she graduates. It was just a simple meeting."

This guy isn't even of legal marriage age yet, he's just dating a girlfriend, what's the rush?

Actually, what Tan Lihua was most anxious about was something else entirely. Ever since Flash and Windmill were selling like hotcakes in Yicheng and advertising across the country, rumors had spread online that the owner of Flash Technology was from Yicheng, and finally some people in the city had taken notice.

Recently, quite a few people have come to the factory to inquire about this. Tan Lihua's superiors have even had several talks with him about it, but Tan Lihua can handle these things for the time being, so he hasn't mentioned it to his wife.

The factory leaders, since they can't fire you anyway, can just brush you off with a casual remark like "it's their own company, I can't make the decision." But what if it's someone a level higher up? What will you do then?
Fortunately, it's almost Chinese New Year, so I can talk to Jincheng about these problems and let him handle them himself.

Around eight o'clock, the doorbell rang. Tan Lihua put down the melon seeds in his hand, got up and opened the door.

"Dad, I'm back," Tan Jincheng said with a smile, dragging his suitcase.

The Zhang Qingliang couple, who were following behind him, also called him brother-in-law. Zhang Qingliang was also dragging a suitcase, but most of their luggage was still in the trunk of the Audi.

"Come in quickly, it's cold outside. Come and eat, or the food will get cold," Zhang Suzhi called out from inside the house.

After saying that, she went to the kitchen to get busy. Most of the dishes she made that evening were kept warm, but some of them had indeed cooled down and needed to be reheated.

Seeing this, Wu Lamei quickly followed and went in to help.

"No need for help, it'll be ready in a minute. Just heat up a few dishes. You must be tired after traveling all day, so go and rest in the living room for a while."

"It's okay, I'm not tired. I even rested for a while at noon. There were cars all the way, it was much more comfortable than going home from Northeast China."

Zhang Suzhi smiled upon hearing this. Although she wouldn't call herself a "brother-supporting demon," she still cared a lot about her younger brothers. Of the three brothers, only Zhang Qingliang hadn't built a house yet, making his family the most financially strained.

Now that his son has resolved this worry for him and his wife by finding them stable jobs, he can finally rest easy.

"What are your plans for next year? Do you want to build a house?" The two women chatted as they heated up the dishes.

“We were planning to build it, but Jincheng told us not to rush into it. We could buy a house in Beicang first and bring Wenzuo there to study. The environment there is better.”

"Then you should listen to his opinion. Although he is young, he is quite knowledgeable, and his arrangement must make sense. If you are short of money to buy a house, I have some money that I can lend you."

"Hmm, let's think about it some more. Jincheng has helped us a lot this year, and we don't know how to thank him enough."

“We’re family, no need for thanks. Besides, you were helping him with his work, and Qingliang even got into a car accident because of it. I feel really bad about it.”

"This can't be blamed on Jincheng. It's his own fault for not being careful. Jincheng told him to be careful every day, but he still broke his leg. It can only be said that this was his fate."

"How's the recovery going? Are there any lasting effects?"

"He's recovering well and there are no lasting effects. Jincheng found the best orthopedic doctor in Beicang to treat him, so don't worry, sister."

The two chatted away, and soon the food was ready.

"Dinner's ready, Lao Tan, come help serve the dishes," Zhang Suzhi called out to the living room.

The three people chatting in the living room immediately stopped. Tan Lihua rushed to the kitchen to help, and Zhang Qingliang followed. Only Tan Jincheng was too lazy to move and continued to play with Xiao Jinyue in the living room. Xiao Jinyue was no longer as sleepy as she used to be. Now that there was a lot of noise in the house, she stared wide-eyed at the strangers in the living room.

"Call me brother," Tan Jincheng said, pinching her cheek.

"Don't pinch a child's cheeks like that, they'll drool. Your aunt and uncle are helping out, what are you doing acting like a big shot?" Zhang Suzhi scolded as she came out of the kitchen.

"Okay, okay, I won't pinch you, but I want a hug, haha." Tan Jincheng picked up Xiao Jinyue and laughed heartily.

Whether it was the infectious laughter of Tan Jincheng or the blood relation, Xiao Jinyue was not afraid of the unfamiliar Tan Jincheng. She still stared at the person who picked her up with wide eyes, and her little hands couldn't help but touch Tan Jincheng's clothes.

"Mom, look, Jinyue isn't shy with strangers. She didn't cry even when I hugged her," Tan Jincheng proudly boasted.

"Don't make a fuss. Jin Yue isn't shy at all; anyone can hug her." Zhang Suzhi rolled her eyes at him and then said, "Stop playing around and come eat."

"Okay," Tan Jincheng replied.

Just then, the doorbell rang again. Zhang Suzhi asked in confusion, "Who is it? It's so late. Could it be Pengya?"

"It shouldn't be him, it's probably Lao Lin, he came to deliver the car keys." Tan Jincheng put Xiao Jinyue down and walked towards the door.

When I came back, Lin Yumin came over to familiarize himself with the place, saying he would go home to drop off his things and then come back to return the car. I didn't expect it to be so quick.

"Old Lin?" Zhang Suzhi didn't react for a moment.

"It should be Lin Yumin," Tan Lihua reminded him, and then followed him out.

Upon opening the door, it was indeed Lin Yumin. Tan Lihua invited him to come in and sit down, but Lin Yumin declined, saying, "No, my wife and children are waiting for me at home. I'll come to visit again in a couple of days."

Upon hearing this, Tan Lihua did not insist any further. He simply made an appointment with Lin Yumin to invite Wu Zhenping and Zhang Guolong to get together sometime.

"Here, I'll open it for you temporarily, so you can have a grand New Year." Tan Jincheng handed the BMW car keys to Tan Lihua.

"Why did Lao Lin come over to deliver the car keys? Did you each drive back in a car?" Tan Lihua didn't refuse and took the keys.

“Yes, I bought another A6, and Pengya also bought an A6. Now we’re using this BMW and the old Passat as factory cars. We let them drive them back this time, and we’ll let them drive them back after the New Year.” Tan Jincheng nodded and said.

"Good heavens, one of you drives an A6. I thought you were driving that Passat," Tan Lihua exclaimed in shock.

"Don't make such a fuss. Your son is a billionaire, and driving an A6 is already very low-key."

After the meal, Tan Lihua called Tan Jincheng to his study alone.

"Dad, what's wrong? Is something the matter?"

After hesitating for a moment, Tan Lihua finally asked, "What do you think of cars?"

"A car? What do you mean? Do you want me to buy you a car? No problem, any car you want is fine." Tan Jincheng didn't understand Tan Lihua's meaning for a moment.

"No, there's a non-performing asset in the city. Someone has used connections to get it to our leaders, and they want me to ask you if you're interested."

"About cars? Yicheng has this stuff?" Tan Jincheng immediately understood.

To be honest, apart from petrochemicals, Yicheng's industrial sector is practically nonexistent. Tan Jincheng really didn't expect Yicheng to have any non-performing assets related to automobiles.

"You're still young, you don't know. Yicheng was very ambitious back then. Andar cars produced by Yicheng Automobile sold quite well. However, due to decision-making errors and financial difficulties, it couldn't continue operating around 2000."

Tan Jincheng's eyes flashed: "Oh? Is that so? Dad, tell me about it."

"Around 1991, Yicheng Automobile Factory produced the first car in Anhui Province, the Andar. You should still be able to find them on the streets sometime. I'll take a picture and show it to you sometime. In 93, the city vigorously developed car manufacturing. By 96, they had sold more than 1000 cars, and their production capacity reached 8000 million. It was very popular at the time, and they were the third largest taxpayer in the city."

"Later, for various reasons, things didn't go well after 2000. In June 2003, Yicheng Automobile Factory went bankrupt due to cash flow problems, which was just one month before you and Xiao Zhang ran away on the ship."

"Um, can we not bring this up anymore? Let's talk about cars." Tan Jincheng said somewhat awkwardly.

"Although the company went bankrupt, some people in the city still seemed unwilling to give up and were thinking about whether they could revive it. In 04, a local company took over the Andar brand, and now the Yicheng Automobile Factory is called Yicheng Andar Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd."

"However, after holding on for more than a year, it didn't work out. The company was only so-so. Some people in the city heard about you from somewhere and asked me to take over the business."

Tan Jincheng did not reply immediately, but fell into deep thought. Seeing this, Tan Lihua said, "I have no choice. I can't make the decision, but I will definitely pass on a message to you. If you don't want to accept this kind of scrap collection job, just refuse directly. Don't be ambiguous. Don't worry about me. Your business is not in Yicheng anyway."

"Do they have all the necessary car manufacturing qualifications? How much do they want from me to take over? What are the requirements after I take over?"

(End of this chapter)