I chose one of four options at the start, and I chose the number one clan in Lingnan.

Lin Ting walked into the conference room, his leather shoes making a dull sound on the carpet, followed by Lin Fu carrying the stainless steel black box.

Qian Jin slammed his teacup heavily on the table, spilling tea and staining the red velvet tablecloth.

"This is the bidding venue for provincial heavy industry companies. Who let you in? Get out!" Qian Jin pointed towards the gate and shouted.

Third Master Qiao sat in a chair, twirling two lion's head walnuts in his hands.

"Uncle Lin doesn't collect fruit in Tazhai; he's come to the city to steal jobs."

"Your three imported machine tools at Hongtu Factory have burned to ashes. How are you going to accept a 500 million yuan order? With your mouth?" Third Master Qiao said.

The dozen or so machine shop owners on both sides burst into laughter.

"President Qiao is right. They don't even have any machines, yet they come here pretending to be something they're not."

"You country bumpkins, what do you know about government work? Go back to farming. Heavy industry isn't something you can handle."

"Old Wei is getting senile. He followed an amateur and messed things up, and even lost the factory."

Lin Ting walked to the conference table, pulled out an empty chair, and sat down.

"This order of 500 million was issued by the province, not by your Sanyi Association."

"Even if the machine tool burns out, the Lin family can still ship goods." Lin Ting looked at Sun Jianguo across from him.

Qian Jin stood up and pointed to the security guard outside the door.

"Get them out of here! They're not even qualified to attend. They're disrupting the bidding process. Call the police immediately!" Qian Jin shouted, waving for help.

The two security guards outside peeked out but didn't dare to move.

Lin Fu, standing behind Lin Ting, gave them a cold glance, and the security guards quickly shrank back.

Sun Jianguo raised his hand to block Qian Jin.

"According to the provincial rules, anyone can bid as long as they have a sample. Mr. Lin, do you really have the goods?" Sun Jianguo asked.

Uncle Qiao stopped fiddling with the walnuts and slapped them onto the table.

"Mr. Sun, you're willing to overturn the city's table for a factory that's about to go bankrupt. Even if the Lin family brings out a flower today, it's a defective one."

"Give him the list. Tomorrow, in this prefecture-level city's steel market, the Lin family won't be able to buy an inch of sheet metal, not even a single screw." Third Master Qiao pressured them.

Beside Sun Jianguo, an elderly man wearing a faded Zhongshan suit stood up.

He is the chief engineer of Jiangnan Heavy Industry, responsible for the technical oversight of this tender.

"Stop talking nonsense. When it comes to engineering, look at the data, not whoever makes the loudest noise. Let's take a look." The chief engineer stared at the black box in Lin Fu's hand.

Lin Ting tilted his head slightly.

Lin Fu placed the stainless steel black box on the table and unlocked it.

Click.

Open the lid.

Inside the black velvet lining lay a cylindrical special bearing with a diameter of ten centimeters.

The incandescent light from the ceiling of the conference room shone on the bearing surface, with no diffuse reflection, making the smooth metal surface look like a mirror.

Qian Jin glanced at it and chuckled.

"I thought it was some kind of high-tech stuff. They dare to use something handcrafted to fool the experts in the province."

The chamfering, the faceting—they didn't even bother with a bit of industrial paint. Do you think this is a blacksmith shop?

"You can buy a pound of this kind of scrap metal for five yuan at a hardware store on the roadside," Qian Jin scoffed.

Third Master Qiao picked up his teacup and took a sip.

"Grandpa Lin, those old bones of Old Wei spent ten days sanding with sandpaper and this is what they came up with."

If this thing spins at a thousand revolutions per minute, it will explode on the spot.

"You're playing with the lives of your workers? Does your Lin family have the right to take responsibility for that?" Uncle Qiao chimed in.

The chief engineer ignored the two men's taunts, quickly walked around the conference table, and went to the black box.

The old man took out his reading glasses from his chest pocket, put them on, and picked up the bearing with both hands.

The chief engineer stopped moving the moment he touched it.

He held the bearing up to his eyes, turning it repeatedly in front of the light, his breathing becoming heavy.

"Old Zhang, bring over the high-precision testing equipment you brought, and start testing right away," the chief engineer shouted to his assistant in the corner of the conference room.

An assistant pushed forward a testing instrument equipped with a robotic arm and an electronic screen. This is a portable coordinate measuring machine (CMM) specifically designed for Jiangnan Heavy Industry.

The chief engineer secured the bearing to the test bench and started the instrument.

The probe slowly descended and attached itself to the inner ring and outer diameter of the bearing, with red laser scanning lines sweeping back and forth across the metal surface.

The data on the electronic screen began to jump wildly.

The conference room fell silent, with only the beeping of the instruments.

"Mr. Sun, don't waste your energy. This kind of crude steelmaking method is a waste of everyone's time."

"Get the paperwork done quickly, so everyone can eat. Don't let one inexperience delay the province's construction schedule."

Qian Jin stepped forward, intending to turn off the equipment.

The chief engineer shoved Qian Jin's hand away with great force, and Qian Jin staggered back two steps, bumping into a chair.

"You don't know anything, get out of here!" the chief engineer cursed.

Qian Jin's face flushed red as he pointed at the chief engineer.

"You old fool, don't push your luck. I'm a judge from the Municipal Construction Committee, how dare you push me?" Qian Jin cursed angrily.

"drop."

The instrument emitted a long beep, signaling the end of the test.

The final data report pops up on the screen.

The chief engineer braced his hands on the testing platform, his face almost touching the screen.

"Tolerance of 0.002 mm, Rockwell hardness of 72, and estimated fatigue life of over 150,000 hours."

That's impossible; this is two levels higher than the original German import.

"This level of smoothness is amazing, it hasn't even been polished twice." The chief engineer's voice was hoarse as he turned to look at Lin Ting.

Sun Jianguo rushed to the screen, staring blankly at the rows of green compliance data.

The owners of the machining factories on both sides all stood up and craned their necks to look at the screen.

"A tolerance of 0.002? That's something that can be achieved by hand. What level of five-axis machine tool would be needed to cut this?" a boss exclaimed.

"A hardness of 72! What kind of magical formula is this special steel? No steel mill in China can produce it." Another boss exclaimed.

The walnut in Uncle Qiao's hand fell to the ground and rolled under the table.

He suddenly stood up and stared at the data on the screen.

"The instrument is broken; this is definitely cheating. The Lin family doesn't even have the blueprints; how could they possibly build something with this level of precision?"

"Sun Jianguo, you people from Jiangnan Heavy Industry colluded with outsiders to set a trap and cheat our city's businesses!" Uncle Qiao shouted.

The chief engineer grabbed the defective bearing that the Sanyi Society had sent and slammed it onto the table in front of Master Qiao.

"Cheating? Try cheating with your piece of junk. This is real physical cutting; the marks left by the blade don't lie."

"Mr. Sun, this is it. Once these bearings are installed, our cranes can last for twenty years without any problems." The chief engineer grabbed Sun Jianguo's arm.

Sun Jianguo gasped for breath and turned to look at Lin Ting.

"Boss Lin, can you mass-produce this?" Sun Jianguo asked.

"The first batch of 5,000 units will be delivered within ten days. Within three months, we'll take on the entire 500 million order." Lin Ting remained seated, without even changing his posture.

Lin Fu took out two draft contracts from his briefcase and pushed them in front of Sun Jianguo.

Qian Jin rushed forward and picked up the bidding process documents on the table.

"Sun Jianguo, you dare to sign this? The city won't approve it, and this order can't go through the process. This is a violation of regulations."

"I will report you to the provincial authorities for colluding with the Lin family to embezzle special funds." Qian Jin gritted his teeth and slammed the document onto the contract.

Sun Jianguo grabbed the document, tore it in half in front of Qian Jin, and threw it on the ground.

"This special fund is directly allocated by the province and does not need to go through the municipal construction commission's account."

Qian Jin, save your local protectionist tricks for when you're explaining them to the provincial inspection team.

"Do you really think no one is investigating your taking bribes from the Sanyi Association?" Sun Jianguo signed his name on the contract and stamped it with the official seal of Jiangnan Heavy Industry.

Lin Ting took the contract and signed his name.

A 500 million yuan order changed hands on the spot.

Master Qiao stared intently at the contract, veins throbbing on his forehead, his face turning purplish-red.

He had been a powerful figure in the old industrial area for thirty years, but today a village chief from the countryside cut off his biggest source of income in front of all his peers.

The two bodyguards behind Master Qiao reached for their waists, preparing to make their move.

Master Qiao raised his hand to stop his men. This was a bidding conference for a provincial enterprise; to make a move would be suicide.

"Lin Ting, do you really think everything will be fine once you sign the document?" Third Master Qiao placed his hands on the table, glaring fiercely at Lin Ting.

Lin Ting put away the contract and handed it to Lin Fu.

"President Qiao, do you have any further guidance?" Lin Ting asked.

Third Master Qiao gritted his teeth: "Don't be so smug after getting the order. Even if you manage to manufacture gold nuggets, if you can't get them out of this city, you'll still have to pay an exorbitant penalty for breach of contract!"