Age of Legends

Chapter 332 Comfortable
"Give me a hint, is the LCM module factory you mentioned called Honghan Electronics Factory?" Zhang Zhonghua suddenly asked, his tone shifting.

Zhang Chen's heart tightened at his sudden change of topic, but since he had already called out his father's name, he couldn't pretend anymore, so he nodded and said, "It's this factory."

"Is the owner of their factory surnamed Shen?"

Zhang Chen nodded again.

"Is he Shen Nuoyi's father?"

Zhang Chen nodded again, feeling like a chicken pounding rice.

That's not surprising. As a company that benefits from clustering, Nanguang Electronics Factory attracted many supporting and related factories and companies back then, all related to display screens and monitors, doing foreign trade, domestic sales, making monochrome LCD screens, and STN screens. It has experienced the ups and downs of the entire industry chain.

Shen Mingbo was among the first to start his own business, and everyone in the Third Division and Fourth Institute knows this.

In the past, a family like Shen Nuoyi's would have been considered a privileged upbringing for Zhang Chen's family. Her mother was glamorous, her family owned a factory, and they were worth millions. Zhang Chen and his fellow employees from the Nanguang Factory would naturally look up to them.

Isn't she the young lady?

Zhang Chen underestimated his parents' ability to sense the situation in the community. It was obvious that Zhang Chen revealed his knowledge of the module factory, and then communicated with Zhang Zhonghua through his godfather. After Zhang Zhonghua learned a little more, it was clear that he had already figured it out.

It's not that Shen Mingbo and Zhang Zhonghua don't know each other; it's just that Shen Mingbo used to be a big boss, while Zhang Zhonghua only knew him through a few layers of interpersonal connections.

Even with Wang Bowen's connection, it's enough. Otherwise, Zhang Chen and Wang Shuowei would never have been invited to Shen Nuoyi's birthday party. Everyone knows each other, and their parents are relatively familiar with each other.

So it really is true what they say: "Zhang Chen just moved his butt, and Zhang Zhonghua knew whether he wanted to poop or pee," instantly realizing that the other party wanted to play the hero and save the damsel in distress.

But this juncture has given Zhang Zhonghua a real headache.

Isn't this too obvious?!
Now that they've gone to each other's door, what will the two families discuss next?
If Zhang Chen knew what Zhang Zhonghua was thinking, he could only say that his father was overthinking things; he was probably even considering his grandson's name.

However, after receiving Zhang Chen's personal confirmation, Zhang Zhonghua felt relieved, as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. But he also felt like he had to grit his teeth and tackle the technical challenges head-on.

"If it's Shen Nuo's company, then I understand. Here's what I'm thinking: Shen Nuo's father makes LCM modules, which are LCD modules. They assemble LCD panels, backlights, driver circuit boards, and other structural components. The current situation is that they can't get good LCD panels, and their downstream export suppliers don't have good orders either. If we're going to build a small-size LCD production line with this factory, then I'm planning to do this..."

After determining Zhang Chen's goal, Zhang Zhonghua once again employed his meticulous, engineer-like approach.

"First, we need to acquire a backlight production line. Backlight panels are much less technically difficult than LCD panels, but they have very high requirements for optical design and uniformity control, which directly affects the yield rate and production costs. If we want to control the production process, we need to own our own backlight production line. And this is actually not difficult to do. As long as we have a technical team and equipment, we can get it for less than one million."

Secondly, I can use my connections to get some second-tier or obsolete LCD panels from LG and Philips, which will be sufficient for small sizes. After all, we're currently in a honeymoon period of cooperation, so small-batch production shouldn't be a problem.

Third, the driver IC for the LCD panel is the part that we can best control ourselves, so we need to build a driver R&D team to develop our own drivers.

So, the next point is the fourth one: I'll try to promote our color screens to some manufacturers we have good relationships with.

"Do you think it's okay for me to discuss this with them like this?"

Looking at Zhang Zhonghua's list of points one, two, three, and four, Zhang Chen felt somewhat helpless. After all this time, you've already planned everything out, yet you still act like you're weighing the pros and cons.

However, Zhang Chen also knew the reason for his father's hesitation. It was just that the two families were about to meet, and he was also nervous.

……

But in fact, the meeting between the two parties that Zhang Chen was initially worried about turned out to be quite smooth.

When Zhang Chen arrived, he saw Zhang Zhonghua return home, his face flushed from drinking, and he was in high spirits. It didn't seem like they were discussing business; it looked more like they had just set the date for a big day with their in-laws.

He had drunk too much that day, and Zhang Zhonghua fell asleep on the sofa after saying only a few words.

Zhang Chen called Wang Bowen again, but Wang Shuowei answered. He clearly said his father was also very drunk, rambling on and on. The next day, Zhang Zhonghua went to work, while Zhang Chen was at school. During lunch break, Zhang Chen called Wang Bowen, subtly inquiring about his dinner with Shen Mingbo.

Wang Bowen, still drunk, said, "Hey, stop talking. I saw at yesterday's dinner party that your dad and Shen Nuoyi's dad were practically brothers. They acted like long-lost brothers!"

"Here's the situation. I was right there, acting as the introducer. Actually, everyone knows each other, but your dad is different now. Look at his status, how capable he is, a businessman who's been on the news several times, a technical expert who even stunned the Koreans..."

Zhang Chen was both amused and exasperated: "Godfather, you've just been trying to flatter my dad in a social way. I doubt Uncle Shen would be so easily fooled by your words."

That's Wang's problem. He's a natural talker, but sometimes he just can't hold back. He'll shower those he admires with praise, but he won't bother to befriend those he dislikes. This leads to a problem: he offends people. Why should someone treat you to a cup of tea while giving you absolutely no kindness?

That makes sense, though. If Wang Bowen were the kind of person who excelled at specialization, he wouldn't have been ostracized by Liu Bingrong at the municipal radio station. But times change, and Liu Bingrong is now in prison. Life is so unpredictable.

"Anyway, the conversation went quite well, so why not? Your dad told Shen Mingbo about his plan to go into the color screen business, and then shared his ideas and plans. Shen Mingbo was immediately impressed. Both of them are pragmatists, so they can always find common ground. Anyway, the two of them made a plan and set a grand goal to make the domestic color screen industry a big success."

"However, to be honest, with your father's current abilities and reputation, if he dares to say that, who on the other side, whether it's Shen Mingbo or anyone else, would have the slightest doubt? They would even be moved in the end."

On the playground, after hanging up the phone, Zhang Chen looked at Shen Nuoyi beside him: "My godfather, Wang Shuowei's father, as the closest participant, reported yesterday's battle report. Specifically, your father seems to strongly agree with the ideas and suggestions put forward by my father, so there is a high probability that the two sides will cooperate further in the future."

"So I'd like to wish you a pleasant collaboration in advance." Zhang Chen extended his hand.

Shen Nuo reached out and slapped his hand, then quickly withdrew it.

Zhang Chen seized the opportunity and saw Shen Nuoyi's playful hand-behind-the-back pose, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

As Zhang Chen said, she had not brought up the matter with Shen Mingbo, but she had been observing him silently. Yesterday, just like Zhang Chen, Shen Mingbo got drunk after returning home and asked her if she had enough pocket money recently. He even took out several hundred-yuan bills from his wallet and gave them to her.

It's always been like this: Shen Mingbo only gets drunk when he's in a good mood, and when he's drunk, he gives her extra money. So sometimes Shen Nuoyi actually likes it when her dad comes home drunk.

Today, Shen Nuoyi and Zhang Chen were quietly checking the accounts behind the scenes, indicating that the first exchange between the two sets of parents went very smoothly.

The setting sun hangs obliquely.

In fact, after the last time, Pei Yan did come to Yude several times as he had said, but after each visit, he found Shen Nuoyi, Zhang Chen, and Wang Shuowei together and avoided him. In the end, Pei Yan left dejectedly.

But after that, some rumors started to circulate, and even Han Zhouxuan, who hadn't spoken to Shen Nuoyi in a long time, suddenly sent her a message that day.

"Are you really like they say, spending all your time with Zhang Chen and ignoring everything else?"

The information Han Zhouxuan received was that Shen Nuo's factory had run into problems, and Pei Yan took the initiative to seek her help to solve the problem. However, she didn't even care about the fate of her own factory, and was so willful that she might not care about her father's factory if it went bankrupt because of her.

In Han Zhouxuan's view, Shen Nuoyi was as if she were under a spell, stubbornly clinging to her delusions; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe her as self-destructive. Therefore, she desperately wanted to wake her up.

But when Han Zhouxuan thought of how Pei Yan had lowered himself to go to Yude to see Shen Nuoyi many times, only to be avoided by her, leaving him heartbroken and alone, Han Zhouxuan felt a surge of hatred towards Shen Nuoyi.

Meanwhile, under the setting sun, Shen Nuoyi, who was rumored to have fallen from grace, and Zhang Chen, who was also condemned by everyone and in the eye of the storm, faced the setting sun alone on the school playground.

They had watched the sunset here countless times before, but never before had they felt a pang of sadness as they did now, knowing that such days of watching the sunset together were numbered and that their high school years were coming to an end.

Further away, another person was watching the two elongated figures of a man and a woman standing side by side in the crimson light.

Zhuang Yanyue raised her pretty nose slightly. She thought those two people were really silly. The sun was still hot, yet they didn't even try to avoid it. It was nothing like how pleasant it was for her to eat an ice cream cone under the shade of a tree.

My teeth feel eerily cold.

(End of this chapter)