The Secret of the Yoga Club: The Women's Identity is Not Simple

After finishing their meal, during a break, Lin Feng, Vice President Zhang, and Zhou Mancang stood in the garden outside the restaurant for a while.

The midday sun was blocked by the awning overhead, and there was a lazy, quiet atmosphere in the air, a stark contrast to the tense pace of the workshop just now.

"How are you feeling?" Lin Feng asked.

Vice President Zhang spoke first, his speech slower than usual, as if he were organizing his thoughts: "The flexibility of the production line is higher than I imagined. The solution we had before was based on a two-platform main plan, with room for expansion to a third platform. But if we can directly use their four-platform hybrid solution, we can skip the intermediate transition phase and get it right in one step."

Zhou Mancang pushed up his glasses and said more directly, "To put it bluntly, our original plan, once completed, would only bring us to the level of the second tier in China. But if we take BYD's approach—the production line design concept, the quality traceability system, and the testing and calibration logic—and introduce these three things as a whole, what we create will definitely put us a step ahead in the domestic commercial vehicle sector."

He paused, then added, "If Tianlong Group were to use these vehicles, the savings in transportation efficiency alone wouldn't be just a matter of saving a few freight charges. The real big picture lies in the fleet's attendance rate, the operating cost per vehicle, and the standardization of maintenance and repairs."

Lin Feng did not immediately express his opinion.

He cast his gaze into the distance, beyond the garden fence, where he could see the other end of the factory area, where several heavy trucks that had just rolled off the production line were slowly driving out of the testing workshop and heading towards the parking lot along the internal road.

The BYD logo on the front of the car reflected the midday sun.

"The products are quite good." After saying that, Lin Feng looked away and looked at the two of them: "If Tianlong's transportation sector is equipped with BYD's technology, vehicle R&D capabilities, and cost advantages in the three-electric system, our fleet can compete head-on with those big logistics companies in terms of operating costs. With controllable procurement costs, standardized maintenance, and maximum energy efficiency, these three factors combined, ranking among the top ten in China is not an exaggeration, but a conservative estimate."

Vice President Zhang was silent for a few seconds, then slowly nodded. Zhou Mancang also nodded without saying a word.

At 1:30 p.m. sharp, Lu Jianguo appeared at the restaurant entrance.

"Let's go, everyone," he said with a calm confidence. "This afternoon, we'll first visit the painting workshop, and then go to the R&D center to see the solid-state battery pilot line. That line isn't usually open to the public, but Mr. Lin, you've given it special permission."

Lin Feng smiled and said, "Then we'll have to take a good look."

The production line tour started at 2 p.m. and lasted until nearly 5 p.m.

Each workstation had a dedicated person explaining everything in detail, from the process flow and equipment parameters to quality control standards and production capacity data. Vice President Zhang occasionally stopped to ask questions about key aspects, and the person answered them all.

It was already 4:30 pm when I came out of the final assembly workshop.

The sunlight outside the factory was beginning to shift westward, casting a soft glow on the silver-gray roof.

Lin Feng stood at the workshop entrance and shook hands with Lu Jianguo. "I've had a very fruitful day. Thank you for the arrangements. Let's continue our discussion tomorrow." Lu Jianguo exchanged a few polite words and said that the data had been compiled and he would send an electronic copy later. The specific technical details could be discussed in more depth tomorrow. He asked if they would like to have dinner together.

He declined Lu Jianguo's invitation to dinner, saying, "I have a few colleagues here, and we've arranged to discuss our ideas for today." Lu Jianguo didn't insist, and escorted them to the office building entrance, watching the van drive out before turning back.

The van drove for twenty minutes before stopping in front of a restaurant located by the canal. The restaurant was a two-story antique-style building with blue bricks and gray tiles, and a few red lanterns hanging under the porch. It wasn't yet formal dinner time, and only two tables of guests were scattered in the courtyard.

Lin Feng had booked a private room on the second floor in advance. When the group went upstairs, the waiter handed them the menu. He ordered seven or eight dishes and a pot of local yellow wine.

As the dishes were served one after another, Lin Feng picked up a piece of fish and put it in his mouth. He put down his chopsticks, picked up his wine glass, and said, "Thank you all for your hard work today. Let's have a drink first." Everyone raised their glasses, clinked them together, and took a sip. The room was filled with the soft sounds of bowls and chopsticks clattering and glasses clinking.

After a few rounds of drinks, the conversation naturally returned to the daytime inspection.

Vice President Zhang picked up a piece of eel paste with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth, chewed it a few times, swallowed it, and then said, "BYD's production line is indeed impeccable. Its level of automation is higher than the several factories we visited before, and its quality control system is also mature. If Tianlong can introduce this technology route in the future, the closed loop of self-production and self-sales can basically be implemented, and it just so happens to coincide with the policy window period in the province."

The technical expert sitting opposite him adjusted his glasses and said, "The production line itself is fine; the process standards and technical parameters are clear. But there's one thing I hadn't considered before—their equipment system is deeply integrated. The PLC control programs and process parameters for key processes are all integrated on the same platform. If we need to independently optimize the process or adjust the production line configuration later, we might not be able to bypass their technical support team. If this isn't properly addressed in the contract, we could easily be held back later."

Lin Feng picked up a piece of candied lotus root, put it in his mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it. He said, "This point is crucial. Tomorrow's negotiations will focus on price and maintenance terms. The equipment purchase price is too high, and there's no clear upper limit on maintenance costs. If we can't bring these two down, the profit margin of this project will be severely diluted, and we'll essentially be working for BYD."

The finance manager nodded, turned off the calculator on his phone, and placed it on the table. He said, "Based on their current quote and estimated output, if we can reduce the equipment purchase price by 10%, and calculate the subsequent maintenance fees at a fixed rate instead of by the hour, the overall project payback period can be shortened by about a year."

Lin Feng picked up his glass and took another sip. "Then let's discuss it in this direction. If we can't lower the price, we'll discuss the payment method; if we can't agree on the maintenance fee, we'll discuss replacing it with an exclusivity clause in the long-term cooperation agreement. There have to be trade-offs, but we can't concede too much."

Zhou Mancang opened his notebook, wrote a few lines on a blank page, and then capped his pen: "I can help you smooth things over on the technical side tomorrow. When I talked to Lu Jianguo today, I noticed a detail: they weren't willing to provide specific figures for the yield of their solid-state battery pilot line, which means that line hasn't reached a stable output stage yet. In other words, BYD itself is also in the ramp-up phase, and they need partners to share the R&D costs. This need can be our bargaining chip to lower the price. We're not begging them to sell us things; both sides need each other."

The finance team pressed a few more keys on the calculator: "I'll make two models tonight. One is based on their current offer, calculating the total cost of ownership over five years; the other is based on our expected negotiation targets. We can access the data from both models at any time during tomorrow's negotiations. With the accounts clear, we'll have more leverage in the negotiations."