Sold into a ghost marriage? Four-year-old and his thuggish father go on a killing spree.

The cardboard lay on the rough wooden table, its edges worn and frayed, yet the lead type was clearly printed.

Invitation letter for the review of entry into the Nancheng Agricultural Machinery Industrial Supporting Street.

Below it is the large red seal of the Agricultural Machinery Section of the Nancheng Industrial Bureau, the ink of which has dried completely.

Zhao Qiming leaned closer, his eyes wide open, and his breathing became heavier.

"South City Supporting Street?" Zhao Qiming gripped the edge of the table tightly with his fingers. "That's the largest agricultural machinery distribution center in the province! More than 80% of the province's agricultural machinery parts are transferred through that street. If we can get a foothold there, our orders won't be just a few dozen or a few hundred sets, but by the railcar!"

Old Zhou put on his monocular magnifying glass, but instead of looking at the large print, he shifted his gaze to the appendix and details on the back of the invitation.

He read two lines, and his brows slowly furrowed.

"It's not that simple." Old Zhou looked up, took the magnifying glass off his head, and placed it on the table. "Look at these acceptance standards below."

Gu Niannian reached out and flipped the invitation over.

On the back of the white paper, three lines of bolded review criteria were printed:

Article 1: Participating units must have the capability to independently prototype and mass-produce the entire transmission system. Those who only provide single parts or repair components will not be admitted.

Article 2: The participating products must pass a continuous 72-hour heavy-load durability test at the Nancheng Comprehensive Test Site. The evaluation will be conducted jointly by an expert group and other companies in the same industry.

Article 3: Only two places are available for occupancy in this phase of the supporting street.

Zhao Xiaoyun took a pen and drew a heavy red line under the first line.

"The entire transmission system." Zhao Xiaoyun looked up at Gu Niannian. "They're holding us by the throat. What we're doing in Haifeng is modifying the transmission components of old light cavalry vehicles, which is essentially a repair and upgrade. If we're judged by this standard, we won't even be eligible to apply."

Zhao Qiming was stunned: "Thirty machines in Haifeng are running smoothly, and the leaders of the Provincial Agricultural Machinery Bureau have all given their approval. Why won't Nancheng recognize it?"

"Because Nancheng is not Haifeng."

Gu Niannian put down the invitation and picked up Xu Yang's letter again.

The letter clearly listed the names of three old factories: Nancheng Agricultural Machinery Manufacturing Plant, Hongxing Gear Factory No. 1, and Yuejin Machinery Parts Factory.

These three companies are all long-established factories that have been based in Nancheng for more than 20 years, with formal stamping workshops, casting branches and thousands of full-time employees.

"Haifeng needs components for emergency autumn planting; as long as they can be used in the fields and don't cause blockages, they're good components." Gu Niannian tapped her fingers lightly on the table. "Nancheng wants the same standards as the entire province. Chen Jianhua's efforts to win over these three old factories are to exclude us from the competition by simply following the rules."

Zhao Qiming paced back and forth in the room in a hurry, his old cloth shoes screeching against the floor.

"What can we do then? Although I've drawn a rough sketch of the complete machine, our industrial park currently lacks both large stamping presses and assembly lines. It's simply impossible to build a new car within half a month!"

Shen Cuifen, somewhat worried, rubbed the glue residue off her apron: "Niannian, why don't we put Nancheng on hold for now? Let's finish these thirty orders in Haifeng steadily, so that the No. 2 furnace at the back can be more stable."

"We can't let it go."

Gu Niannian stood up and walked to the specimen rack against the wall in the workshop.

On the specimen shelf is a transparent glass box containing the first set of abandoned oil seals (No. C) worn down by shell sand on the mudflats of Haifeng. Next to it is a five-column registration form filled with measured data.

Gu Niannian picked up the invitation letter from Nancheng and placed it neatly under the glass box.

"Haifeng is the testing ground; Nancheng is the real market." Gu Niannian turned around, her voice not loud, but every word extremely clear. "If we spend our whole lives repairing old machines in the county, as soon as the big factories lower their prices and Huaxing joins forces, we could be squeezed out of our homes in some small ditch at any time."

She looked at Zhao Qiming.

"Qiming, bring out that coastal version of the complete machine drawing you made in Haifeng."

Zhao Qiming was stunned for a moment, then quickly took out the creased drawing from his pocket and carefully flattened it on the table.

The drawing sketches a compact tracked agricultural vehicle in pencil, with the transmission box, sand labyrinth ring, and double sealing lips all marked in key positions.

"We won't manufacture the car's body and seats." Gu Niannian picked up a red and blue pencil and drew a square in the transmission core area of ​​the blueprint.

"The evaluation requirements state 'complete machine transmission solution,' not complete vehicle manufacturing." Gu Niannian wrote three names next to the box: gearbox, axle housing, and sand-resistant wheel system.

"We integrated the A-D combination gears we developed in Haifeng, Shen Cuifen's sand-proof rings, and Lao Zhou's limit tolerance adjustments into a standardized, universal powertrain."

Gu Niannian looked up at Yan Shouyi and Lao Zhou.

"This assembly, when installed in an old car, becomes a modification part; when installed in a new car, it becomes a core power module. Even if those three established manufacturers can build chassis and frames, without our shallow-arc anti-tear tooth root and labyrinth sand-proof structure, their entire machines would break down as soon as they are launched into the water under the salt spray conditions of the beach."

A glint flashed in Yan Shouyi's eyes as he reached up and touched the stiff stubble on his chin.

"This can be done. I'll use those high-strength alloy billets and machine a prototype assembly overnight."

Old Zhou nodded, putting his magnifying glass back on his eye socket: "The soil mix ratio at the Nancheng test site was listed in the agricultural machinery maintenance manual issued by the province last year. They usually mix kaolin and quartz sand with water, which has greater resistance than the shell mud from Haifeng, and the axial clearance needs to be increased by another 0.05 millimeters."

Zhao Xiaoyun quickly placed a string of beads on the abacus: "If we only make a powertrain prototype, 260 yuan should be enough for materials and testing. The No. 2 furnace at the rear doesn't need to be shut down, and orders from the provincial capital can continue as usual."

As Zhao Qiming looked at the drawing on the table that had been filled in with red pencil again, his breathing gradually calmed down, and the tightness in his chest slowly dissipated.

"They're trying to crush us with the prestige of being big companies, so we'll just take the real stuff and smash their doors."

Zhao Qiming rolled up his sleeves, revealing a section of his dark arm.

The sky outside the window gradually darkened.

Gu Niannian reached out and closed the brass clasp on her briefcase with a soft click.

She glanced at the invitation letter under the glass box, then reached out and tucked the pen back into her breast pocket.

"Pack up your toolbox. Take the first long-distance bus to Nancheng tomorrow morning."