“It’s not that I’m demanding such a tight schedule, nor that we require such high precision—it’s those damn Japanese pushing us around!” Manager Foster was anxious now, cursing outright: “We’re just a small private company. I won’t claim we’re amazing, but we have over a dozen level five or six machinists. If we had enough time, we could grind it out bit by bit. But those bastards are bullying us, only giving us this little time. They look down on us and are deliberately making things difficult!”

Manager Foster is the director of Wanxin Motorcycle Factory. It’s a private enterprise that introduced small-displacement motorcycle production technology, manufactures motorcycles, and has decent sales, living quite comfortably.

Recently, Wanxin Motorcycle wanted to launch a new product—a self-designed large-displacement motorcycle. Everything else was manageable, but they lacked the engine design and production technology. So, Manager Foster personally went to Japan, hoping to acquire a four-cylinder 400cc motorcycle engine, but ended up being given a hard time.

“Did those Japanese say something nasty?” Director Thompson asked.

“They didn’t really say anything nasty.” Manager Foster replied with a bitter smile, “The guy in charge just brought out two crankshafts and a blueprint, and said straight up: these are their rough-processed products. If I can finish-machining them to within half a wire’s precision in four days, they’ll sell me the engine production technology at a high price.”

“A high price?” Old Man Clark, who had been sitting there spinning a hand exercise ball, interjected.

“Old Clark, you didn’t see how arrogant that guy was.” Manager Foster’s eyes reddened as he spoke: “At their reception, every Japanese person seemed polite, but you could feel that deep-seated contempt in their eyes. Even when they bowed to you, you could sense it.”

Although the others in the office hadn’t experienced it themselves, they could see from the reddened eyes of Manager Foster—a man with such a common name—the kind of deep humiliation and scorn that comes from being utterly disregarded. It was unforgettable.

“I don’t even care if we can get the technology now, I just want to prove a point.” Manager Foster said to Old Man Clark indignantly, “I just want the Japanese to know, don’t underestimate us Chinese!”

Chapter 0007: How Could It Be Possible (Part 1)

Although Manager Foster had come into the director’s office with a humble attitude, smiling apologetically and nodding, looking nothing like a successful person and more like a pitiful flatterer, after he finished speaking, none of the other three in the office thought he was lowly. On the contrary, Manager Foster’s image was towering.

“By the way, can’t your local government help out?” Old Man Clark asked with a frown.

“We at Wanxin Motorcycle are just a private company, no connections to aerospace or anything.” Manager Foster seemed to have vented a lot after speaking, and was much calmer now: “We tried to get the city leaders to help make some connections, but as a private company, they’re not really putting in much effort. They said they’d try to find some leads, but there’s been no news so far.”

“There are plenty of precision machining companies that take outside orders. Did you ask them?” Old Man Clark asked again.

“I did.” Manager Foster replied, a bit dejected: “These days, everyone’s equipment is about the same. The imported equipment all goes to the most critical state-owned enterprises first, and their schedules are packed, so there’s no time to spare. The others are about the same level as our factory. All the high-level engines in the country have to be imported because we just can’t make them ourselves.”

“You don’t need to tell me that.” Old Man Clark snorted lightly, a bit displeased, spinning his two exercise balls: “We all know.”

“The key is, the Japanese are just too devious.” Manager Foster immediately changed the subject, no longer talking about domestic production: “The two semi-finished crankshafts they gave us are extremely hard and very difficult to machine. Even our level six machinists have looked at them—if we really want to grind them by hand and guarantee the precision, it would take at least a month.”

“And those Japanese played tricks, leaving at most a one-wire machining allowance.” Manager Foster continued, “The material is so hard, if you don’t use enough force, you can’t grind it. But if you do, you might go over. It’s a real headache.”

“One file, three wires”—meaning that usually, one stroke with a file removes three wires. Everyone here is an expert and understands how tough this is.

“Old Clark, didn’t Professor Professor Miller from the Precision Instrument Department assemble a CNC machine tool recently?” Director Thompson, still indignant at the Japanese contempt, cautiously asked Old Man Clark: “Could we borrow it?”

“No way!” Old Man Clark shook his head immediately: “Professor Professor Miller’s machine is mainly for testing control programs. The stepper motor and lead screw aren’t up to par, the precision is unstable, and the tool head isn’t hard enough. It can’t handle this job.”

When he first heard about the CNC machine from the Precision Instrument Department, Manager Foster’s eyes lit up. But after hearing Old Clark’s words, he was immediately dejected again. The change from hope to disappointment was obvious, and Old Man Clark saw it clearly.

“How much time is left?” Old Man Clark didn’t look like someone who was completely out of ideas, and asked Manager Foster.

“Two and a half days left. I rushed back overnight with the parts, the factory staff studied them for half a day, waited for calls from city leaders and contacted peers for another half day. Today, I couldn’t wait any longer and brought the parts straight here.”