Reborn in 2012, building a new energy empire

After Jiang Haoran stayed at home for a week, Chen Jingge sent him news that the equipment supplier he had contacted through his connections had been found.

At five o'clock the next morning, before dawn, Jiang Haoran drove his silver sports car out of the town.

Jiang Jianguo sat in the passenger seat, watching the familiar street scenes rushing past the window, and silently lit a cigarette.

"Dad, the air conditioner is on." Jiang Haoran glanced at it.

"Let's get some fresh air." Jiang Jianguo rolled down the car window a crack, and the morning breeze blew in, carrying the chill of late autumn.

The car remained silent for more than ten minutes. It wasn't until they entered the highway that Jiang Jianguo spoke, his voice a little dry: "Are we really going to Shanghai?"

"The deposit has already been paid." Jiang Haoran gripped the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. "How will we know if it's good or bad if we don't go and see it in person? Don't worry, if it doesn't meet our requirements, we won't buy it."

Jiang Jianguo didn't say anything more, but simply stubbed out his cigarette in the car ashtray and turned his gaze to the window.

The scenery on both sides of the highway was monotonous and repetitive, but he looked at it very carefully, as if he wanted to engrave this unfamiliar road into his mind.

An hour and a half later, Shanghai's skyscrapers appeared on the skyline.

Jiang Jianguo straightened his back unconsciously.

He had visited Shanghai twice, both times when he was younger and had some business there; almost thirty years had passed since then. Back then, the Bund didn't have so many glass buildings, and Lujiazui was still a wasteland.

The car turned into an industrial park in Minhang District and stopped in front of a building with a full glass curtain wall.

The signboard is in German, with a line of smaller print below: General Agent of NXE Precision Machine Tools in China (Switzerland).

Chen Jingge was already waiting at the door and quickly greeted him: "Brother-in-law, Haoran, was your journey safe?"

"Smoothly." Jiang Jianguo got out of the car and looked up at the exhibition hall.

The glass was so clean you could see your reflection, and the neatly arranged machine tools inside gleamed with a cold, hard metallic sheen.

As soon as the three entered, a tall foreigner in a dark gray suit greeted them, speaking in Chinese with a distinct German accent: "Mr. Jiang, welcome. I'm Hans, the person in charge here."

When shaking hands, Jiang Haoran could feel the strength of the other person's palm.

"This is my father," Jiang Haoran introduced.

Hans turned to Jiang Jianguo, his eyes showing more respect: "President Jiang, Mr. Chen has already explained the situation. Your factory has very specific requirements for equipment. He selected the best models from our product line."

The showroom was enormous, easily over a thousand square meters. Three four-axis machining centers were positioned in the center, their silver-gray bodies gleaming with quietly glowing blue indicator lights on the control panels.

The surrounding area is a milling and turning center, a precision grinding machine, a coordinate measuring machine... Every piece of equipment is spotless, and there isn't a trace of oil on the floor.

Jiang Jianguo walked up to the nearest machining center and reached out to touch the worktable.

It was cool to the touch. As smooth as a mirror.

He had worked in machining for thirty years and had handled countless metal parts, but this was the first time he had ever seen such a fine surface finish.

"This is a Decker Machaux DMU80," Hans said calmly, standing beside him. "It has an 800mm diameter worktable, a maximum spindle speed of 18,000 RPM, and a positioning accuracy of ±0.002mm. It can complete the machining of complex curved surfaces such as impellers and molds in one go."

Jiang Jianguo squatted down to look at the nameplate on the equipment base.

It was all in German, but he recognized the numbers: Made in Germany, 2012.

"Can you run a program and see?" he asked.

Hans nodded and waved to the technician not far away.

The technician quickly entered the code on the control panel and pressed the start button.

The spindle slowly rises and then accelerates to the set speed, almost without any noise. The moment the cutting tip contacts the workpiece, silvery chips fall like hair, shimmering under the light.

On the display screen, all parameters such as rotation speed, feed rate, temperature, and vibration value fluctuate in real time.

Jiang Jianguo stared at it for a full three minutes before suddenly speaking, "Stop for a moment."

The technician pressed the emergency stop button. The spindle gradually slowed down.

"Did you increase the Z-axis feed rate by 0.5 just now?" Jiang Jianguo asked.

The technician paused, glanced at the screen recording, and then nodded: "Yes, adjust it from 120 to 120.5 to reduce vibration."

Jiang Jianguo didn't speak, but simply straightened up again. A hint of surprise flashed in Hans's eyes, then his smile deepened: "Mr. Jiang has excellent eyesight. Most people wouldn't notice such a subtle adjustment."

"Those who work in this line of work need to have a sharp eye," Jiang Jianguo said calmly, but his heart was churning.

The response speed and control precision of this equipment are far superior to those old guys in his factory.

In the next demonstration, Hans had a technician machine a small impeller workpiece.

The aluminum alloy blank is fixed on the fixture. After the program is started, the five axes are linked, and the tool tip draws a complex trajectory in three-dimensional space.

Fifteen minutes later, the finished product was removed.

Jiang Jianguo took out his reading glasses from his pocket, put them on, and took the palm-sized impeller.

The surface was nearly mirror-like, the blade outlines were sharp, and there wasn't a single burr on the edges. He took out his digital micrometer from his pocket and selected three key dimensions to measure. All were within the upper-middle tolerance zone; the data was remarkably concentrated.

"The accuracy is acceptable." He handed the impeller back to the technician.

"That's just the basic performance," Hans smiled. "Our equipment prioritizes long-term stability. After 72 hours of continuous processing, the accuracy drift is no more than five-thousandths of a millimeter."

Jiang Jianguo's heart sank. The domestically produced CNC machines in his factory had to be stopped to cool down after four hours of operation, otherwise their precision would drop to the micrometer.

"How much is the price?" he asked.

Hans gave a price. Jiang Jianguo's eyelids twitched. The price of this one machine was enough to buy all the assets in his factory and still have money to spare.

He looked at his son. Jiang Haoran's expression remained calm as he said, "We need three machines. The matching tool magazine, fixtures, tool setter, and CAM software must all be top-of-the-line original equipment. In addition, training must be included in the contract. You need to send engineers to the factory to provide hands-on training until our factory workers can operate them independently."

Hans pondered for a moment: "Stationary period at the factory?"

"One month," Jiang Haoran said. "During this month, if any problems arise, you must respond and resolve them within 24 hours. After one month, we will retain two engineers to work on it for another three months, paying service fees on a daily basis."

The subsequent negotiations lasted for more than an hour.

Jiang Haoran scrutinized every detail, from payment methods and delivery dates to warranty terms and training guidelines.

Jiang Jianguo listened from the side, and the more he listened, the more shocked he became—his son talked about these business terms with such experience that he didn't seem like a student in his early twenties, but rather like a veteran who had been working in the industry for half his life.

It was nearly noon when we left the exhibition hall.

The three of them found a restaurant near their home to eat.

While waiting for the food, Jiang Jianguo finally spoke: "The equipment is good, but it's too expensive. Three machines together will cost well over five million. Add to that the renovation of the factory and the addition of auxiliary equipment, and it'll be well over six million."

"Dad, that's not how you do it," Jiang Haoran poured tea for his father. "How much profit do you make per order your factory is taking on now?"

"Ordinary parts, three to five yuan. More complicated ones, twenty or thirty yuan at most."

"Use the new equipment to make high-precision parts?" Jiang Haoran looked at him. "The price is five hundred per piece, with a profit of two hundred. Moreover, these orders are stable, so we don't have to compete with small workshops for business."

Jiang Jianguo remained silent. He understood the reasoning, but…