Don't Let Accidents Become Regrets

"Still, why call it Huanggua?" The day before the press conference, while eating lunch in the cafeteria, Yan Jian, sporting a pair of panda-like dark circles under his eyes, suddenly asked, "And why Doujiao and Huasheng?" "Huh?" Ji Jue raised his head blankly, rice bowl in hand. "Aren't green beans tasty? Peanuts are great too." With that, he lowered his head, picked up a chopstickful of smashed cucumber from his plate, chewed away, and nodded. "Mm, today's cucumber isn't bad either." For a moment, Yan Jian wanted to say something, but felt whatever he said would be completely pointless. This bastard's method of naming products actually depended on whatever cold dish was served in the cafeteria on the day production was approved... He would never catch up to such a cursed train of thought in his entire life. "Don't you think that's way too casual?!" Yan Jian sighed. "What's the next one going to be called? Tomato? Potato? Or Banana?" "Any of them work. It's not like we can call them Beast of Burden 1, 2, and 3, right?" Ji Jue retorted as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Everyone works just to make a bit of damn money. Toiling away like beasts of burden every day is hard enough—why stab them right in the heart?" "..." In the cafeteria, which had abruptly plunged into silence, every face bearing dark circles looked up, gazing darkly in their direction. *Not stabbing customers in the heart, so now you're stabbing your coworkers instead, huh?* *Are the beasts of burden at an auto factory not beasts of burden too?!* "Why did everyone suddenly stop talking?" Ji Jue looked around in confusion and asked curiously, "Is it because today's work is finished?" In an instant, the dead-silent cafeteria erupted into a deafening clamor! Amid the exaggerated, hollow laughter and chatter, Ji Jue nodded in satisfaction. "It's so wonderful to see everyone full of energy. To think you still have time to chat—your workload must not be quite saturated, huh?" "...Can you at least act like a human being?!" Yan Jian's face fell. "Sooner or later, an employee is going to run you over and kill you!" No matter who you were, after more than a month of working around the clock day and night with non-stop overtime, it was nearly impossible to stay mentally stable. Even though room and board were fully covered, overtime paid double, and holidays paid quadruple—with employee benefits pushed to the absolute max—after spending day after day with welding torches when looking up and lathes when looking down, the wage slaves were assembling parts on the assembly line even in their dreams. Feeling ready to drop dead was practically the baseline; some were already hallucinating. Supposedly, some people would wake up startled in the middle of the night, always hearing someone weeping beneath the floorboards. Others, starving late at night, went to the cafeteria and saw a row of figures stumbling through the darkness from afar like walking corpses, looking just like a ghostly army on the march. Someone else claimed that one day, while looking down at his phone, he got lost in the factory grounds and stumbled across a workshop he had never seen before. Peeking through the gap in the doors, he saw a crowd of disheveled, filthy workers chained up, endlessly assembling suspension systems. If they dared to slow down or whisper to one another, a mechanical arm would drop from above and lash them viciously with a leather whip. Such a horrific scene terrified the lost worker out of his wits. He scrambled and crawled all the way back, running for who knew how long. When recounting his terrifying encounter, his face was deathly pale, swearing on his life that he wasn't lying. He had quite a talent for storytelling, but unfortunately, he took leave to return to his hometown the very next day, leaving everyone wishing they knew how the plot developed. Weeping and wailing in the basement; wandering ghosts and phantom soldiers across the grounds; a slave workshop shrouded in darkness; an armored off-road vehicle that secretly transformed whenever no one was looking; a factory director who scavenged trash in the dead of night with glowing red eyes; bizarre chewing sounds frequently echoing from the assistant's office... In just a few short months, Haian Auto Works had gathered enough material for a brand-new Top Ten Urban Legends. Corporate culture was truly flourishing! Chief Engineer Yan Jian, who only half-understood the truth behind these rumors, could only pretend not to care whenever faced with the workers' tearful complaints, telling them that it was just stress from being unaccustomed to the pace and that they could go to the clinic for some sleeping pills. *Yeah, and grab a bottle for me while you're at it.* Ever since work resumed, his already sparse hair had begun shedding at a visible pace. Insomnia, anxiety, irritability, and rage followed in close succession. There was no helping it; no matter how good your mental fortitude was, dealing with the astonishing "wisdom" of fresh college graduates was enough to make anyone break. Not to mention a high-pressure monster like Ji Jue, who tossed over massive piles of requirements at every turn and asked if you could pull it off. Even as staffing gradually filled out and production found its groove, things didn't improve by much. Over the course of nearly two months, he had lost at least fifteen to twenty jin. Now his face was sickly gray and his eyes ringed with pitch-black circles, looking as if he had crammed all the overtime he had missed over the years into a single stretch. It held a certain aesthetic of someone hovering on the brink of death. In particular, the array of bottles and jars lined up on the table after lunch was an eye-opening sight for Ji Jue. "This one is stomach medicine, here are digestive tablets, this is fish oil, and these are calcium tablets and vitamins..." "Why are you taking so many?" "You think this is a lot? There's more. You're still young, just wait until—" Yan Jian started to shake his head and say, *wait until you're my age*, but then abruptly realized that if his guess was right, someone like Ji Jue would hardly need to rely on supplements in middle age. He let out a helpless sigh and said no more. Only, when taking the pills, his hands trembled slightly, his mind elsewhere. He even spilled some water. Setting down the cup, Yan Jian wiped his mouth and gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Once you get old, you can't do anything smoothly anymore." "Something on your mind?" "Just... nervous." Yan Jian leaned against the table and looked back outside the cafeteria. The workshops had been newly renovated once more, workers were bustling back and forth, and under the brilliant sunlight, the rumbling roar of tamping foundations echoed from the distance as new workshops rose from the ground. Everything he had once thought would wither away into oblivion had returned, turning out even better than he had anticipated. Whenever moments like this arrived, an unrealistic sensation always welled up, dreamlike and surreal. "Being able to build cars again... It's really wonderful." He let out a long breath. All those years of suppressed frustration and regret seemed to have vanished without a trace in just a few short months. Looking at the steadily expanding factory grounds before him, he couldn't help the light gleaming in his eyes. Whenever he thought of the cars he designed returning to the market, his excitement became uncontrollable. "I'll take another walk around the workshop to check quality control." Bracing his hands on his knees, he stood up and looked at Ji Jue. "What about you?" "I'll sit a while longer and head over shortly," Ji Jue replied placidly. He raised his cup and gulped down the water. Soon, scalding steam rose from his body and vanished into thin air. Even across the table, Yan Jian could feel the blast of hot air sweeping toward him. It felt just like sitting before a furnace with its doors wide open. Under the illumination of the blazing sun outside the window, faint hints of dark crimson seemed to swirl within those pitch-black pupils, rising violently as if yearning to ignite everything in sight. Yet in the blink of an eye, every trace of abnormality vanished. As if it had all been a hallucination. "Men have a few days every month where they run a little hot." Ji Jue flashed a grin and waved his hand. "Don't worry about it." "Like hell I believe you." Yan Jian rolled his eyes, turned around, and walked away, too lazy to fuss over nonsense. In the cafeteria, which had fallen silent and empty at some point, only Ji Jue remained, lounging lazily in his chair, basking in the sun as if half-asleep. Those faint specks of light, visible to him alone like an illusion, drifted down from the heavens like sparse snowflakes, converging and sinking into his flesh. With his silent breaths, the Sovereign Virtue essence originating from Embers flowed noiselessly through his body and soul, ultimately merging into his blood. Just like oil poured onto hot coals, or fuel pumped into an engine. Fuel fell into the crucible! The Crucible Blood that had long been brought under control began circulating spontaneously once more. The high temperature he radiated at this moment was merely useless waste heat; the true transformation was manifesting within Ji Jue's body alongside that tiny, delicate, yet unbroken stream of fuel. After continuous infusions over the past days, a faint glimmer of silvery-white luminescence had actually surfaced upon his fingernails. When he flicked a finger against the steel pipe beneath the dining table, it produced a ringing metallic chime, clear, resonant, and distant. The material property interference that previously required painstaking effort and focused control now took nothing more than a single thought! After [Crucible Blood] came [Unquenched Fuel]. With Haian Auto Works' continuous production over the past month and more, Doujiao and Huasheng had been distributed in every direction, and Ji Jue's creations were gradually exerting a growing influence on this world. Even if their alchemical content was negligible—even if they could hardly be called complete creations—as the volume surged, every flaw became inconsequential. Now, on the assembly lines of Haian Auto Works and the other acquired and reorganized tricycle workshops, brand-new tricycles rolled off the floor at virtually every moment, loaded onto large transport trucks, ferried to the wilderness and suburban districts, and delivered into the hands of every user through retail shops or partner sales. They were practically like Ember money-printing presses running twenty-four hours a day. Even if the denomination was tiny—with a dozen vehicles adding up to mere pennies—any unit, no matter how small, would trigger a terrifying qualitative transformation when multiplied by such an immense scale and productive power. After Wan Hua fast-tracked [Crucible Blood], the progress of [Unquenched Fuel] rocketed upward at a speed ordinary craftsmen could hardly imagine. In just over a month, a third of it had already been completed, and it was still climbing steadily! The top donor old man's tips were pouring in like crazy! Whether overloaded with cargo, hauling construction spoil, speeding through the dead of night, operating without a license, or even smuggling and mounting weapons for violent turf wars, the more changes and influence Ji Jue's creations brought to the world, the more bountiful the reward and feedback became! Piles of earth formed mountains; trickles of water gathered into rivers. Through day-by-day accumulation, the progress that should have required slow, grueling grind had now hit full throttle, surging forward as if running on a premium download subscription! Wisps of intangible fuel drifted down with the continuing Revolution, entering Ji Jue's soul and merging into his blood. As fuel was poured into the crucible, creation began once more! Ascension, purification, transmutation, and integration. The core quintessence of alchemy's four foundational branches surged from his blood, as if taking his body and soul as raw materials to transform them into a creation closer to the essence of Sovereign Virtue and more attuned to the divine core of Embers! Observed through a microscope, one would find that with the circulation of Crucible Blood, a pure silver radiance resembling quicksilver had gradually emerged within the most fundamental cellular structures of Ji Jue's internal organs, bones, nerves, lymph, muscle, and skin. Unlike Crucible Blood's instant leap, the "slower" progression of [Unquenched Fuel] allowed Ji Jue to carefully experience the operation of Embers' divine quintessence and the countless subtle shifts it brought about. [Crucible Blood], [Unquenched Fuel], [Heaven-Endowed Spirit]. Life, mind, soul. Using oneself as raw material, the mortal realm as a crucible, and countless creations and transformations as stepping stones to draw closer step by step to the essence of Sovereign Virtue—after three qualitative leaps, the craftsman would become an authentic Celestial Craft without need of any other creation! This was the brutal trial and generous boon unique to Embers! After endless torment lay a dazzling Crown of Glory. When that time came, even if Ji Jue treated the Association as nothing, just as Ye Xian did, no one would dare to utter a word of complaint. Yet such a future was still far too distant. Even a cheat-user like Ji Jue, who had pressed every key from Alt+1 through 0, couldn't guarantee success. Before the present turmoil settled and the winds died down, he had to seize the moment, accomplish everything he could, and milk every advantage dry. Otherwise, once the dust settled, no matter how slowly the Association reacted or how long they bickered, they would never allow him to skirt the rules so brazenly. Until then, Ji Jue was determined to go all out. If you were going to do it, do it thoroughly. If the goal was to disrupt the market, then disrupt the damn market completely first! As for subsequent warnings and fines, Lyu Yingyue, who was steadily tightening her grip on the authority of Warden, would naturally foot the bill... With that, the brief break came to an end. Ji Jue rolled up his sleeves, brimming with drive as he walked toward his loyal assembly line: "Time to clock in at the factory!" * Fifteen hours later, accompanied by a diarrhetic frenzy of shipments, the first passenger car entirely self-developed and self-manufactured since Haian Auto Works resumed operations—the Huanggua—officially hit the market! Updating alongside it on the official website was a promotional video that made viewers' vision go dark. In an era dominated by 1080p, 4K, and 8K ultra-high definition, the entire clip appeared to have been filmed on some obsolete model of phone, with pixels clearly visible. Paired with 8-bit electronic music that transported viewers back decades, along with the crude, exaggerated red-and-green special-effects fonts characteristic of the past, it courteously delivered a thunderbolt of a shock right from the opening. A jubilant female voiceover began reading: [Sixteen years of craftsmanship in the making] [Five thousand eight hundred days of relentless exploration] [Have culminated in this one-of-a-kind classic!] On the screen, a vehicle completely draped under black blackout fabric came into view. Accompanied by a stirring introduction, appallingly dated camera angles moved in for local close-ups. Soon, it settled on a bizarre Huanggua logo, painstakingly drawn by the runner-up of the Yacheng Turtle-Drawing Contest. Then the scene shifted. The driver, Ji Jue, clad in a racing suit, lowered his head to don a helmet, strode proudly toward the camera, and pulled off the blackout cloth, followed by a close-up of the car door opening. Accompanied by various eerie, garish red-and-green font effects, a meticulous presentation of the car's practically nonexistent, pitiful features began, enough to move anyone to tears of pity. As the engine started, the Huanggua slowly rolled out from behind the backdrop, presenting a miniature body shaped like a chopped-chili fish head before everyone's eyes. Immediately after, without the slightest warning... a deafening roar erupted from the screen! The entire car launched into the air! Before the viewers' stunned gazes, it flew! A heavy truck laden with steel coils, having built up momentum long beforehand, charged onto the filming set right before the camera, violently slammed their cinematic creation into the air, and barreled away! Yet for some reason, the employees acting as background props, standing around the set with stiff smiles, suddenly burst into unified cheers and applause, dancing with joy. Pure, heartfelt delight. One could even hear Yan Jian's maniacal laughter from inside the truck as he floored the accelerator. As expected of Assistant Ye—an unbeatable creative genius! In a continuous long shot where plastic fragments and components showered down like rain, the Huanggua, launched into the sky, spun 7,600 degrees in midair before crashing to the ground, tumbling repeatedly, and rolling right back into the center of the frame. The first vehicle in history to be completely totaled in its own promotional video before even leaving the factory made its earth-shattering entrance. And from within the twisted frame, Ji Jue, having unbuckled his seatbelt, strode out with head held high. Completely unharmed! There wasn't even a single crack on his helmet. Behind him, employees who had prepared in advance rushed forward with fire extinguishers, as plumes of white mist and thick smoke billowed into the background. Ji Jue removed his helmet, flashed a smug grin at the camera, and raised his hand in a V-sign. [Safe Driving Is Everyone's Responsibility] [Don't Let Accidents Become Regrets] As the screen gradually faded to black, amid the voiceover's recitation, only a line of text enveloped in a rainbow border emerged from the darkness: —[Haian: Always Protecting Your Safety!] Three hours later, as dawn approached, under the push of various parties, the keywords "Haian Auto Works" and "Huanggua" surged onto the trending searches. Five hours later, as wage slaves yawned their way onto subways and buses for work, this promo—which cost less than three hundred bucks excluding the car—had been reposted across countless independent media outlets, exploding onto every short-video platform and spreading across the entire Federation! And so, after dropping countless jaws and popping countless eyes, Haian Auto Works fired its first shot returning to the industry!