A brand-new promotion was announced with zero warning.
Trade-in!
*Through wind and rain, together every step of the way. Thank you for your deep love and support. With you, with me, we have a home.*
Starting today, for the next ten days, every old product previously sold by Haian Auto Works could participate in this event!
A brand-new old-model Huasheng tricycle had sold for a mere thirty-six hundred, but if used to trade in for a Huanggua, verifying the original vehicle identification number entitled the buyer to a direct discount of ten thousand full yuan off the purchase price!
Don't ask why. If you must ask, it was to look after the family in the livestream room. This father was running a charity car factory; he had come here solely to bring fortune and blessing to the people of Haizhou!
If any competitor who had disassembled a Huasheng heard this utter bullshit, they would have rushed forward to spit a mouthful of old blood into Ji Jue's face: *You call that fucking charity?!*
Selling little tricycles at a loss, conning everyone else into doing road tests for you—and now that you've gathered enough data and finished testing, you're treating those tricycles as blood bags to top off your own health, aren't you?
Don't forget, the entire Huanggua was merely a four-wheeled conversion of the Huasheng! The vast majority of its components could be swapped seamlessly without a hitch!
Even the chassis utilized Haian's exclusive fluid-forming steel, backed by a complete set of technologies for full recycling and reuse.
To other manufacturers, that Huasheng garbage wasn't worth a dime. But to Haian, how was that a Huasheng? That was a youth edition Huanggua they had just planted in the ground!
Take it back, disassemble it, modify it, do a quick overhaul, slap on some spare parts, and in a flash, half a Huanggua was assembled!
Swap in another engine, attach a chassis frame, fit some interior trim, and a brand-new Huanggua rolled straight off the assembly line...
As for the Doujiao, that went without saying.
The more that were traded in now, the more violently production capacity for upgraded models would explode down the road.
Pity was, almost nobody brought a Doujiao in for exchange.
Even if someone heard the news and rode over on a Doujiao in high spirits, the moment they saw they were trading it for a "chopped-chili fish head" runabout like the Huanggua, they turned on their heels and walked away without looking back.
One had to realize that the customers buying the Doujiao were poor blokes from out-of-town settlements, the outskirts, and the outer boondocks. How could they possibly trade in a vital hauling tool—in an operating environment filled with ruined roads and mountain climbs—for a baby bus that was completely useless outside the city?
What would they trade for that damned thing for?
Wait for a catastrophe to strike, sit inside, drop a coin in, ride the kiddie rocker, and try to sort out their ancestral lineage before they died?
Besides, so much time had passed that every single Doujiao circulating on the market had been modded beyond recognition. Even if placed right in front of Ji Jue, he might not have recognized it.
Consequently, participants were few and far between for a time.
None of that mattered, though. The Doujiao was mere drizzle; even the tide of returning Huashengs could only be counted as a bonus...
People had to realize that the scope of this trade-in promotion encompassed *every* product ever made by Haian Auto Works.
*Every single product!*
That even included their flagship model and star product before complete production halted sixteen years ago—one that had flooded the entirety of Haizhou and well over half the Federation: the knockoff microvan!
Before Haian suspended production, in a span of just four years, over one hundred twenty thousand units had been sold!
Even now, after so many years had passed, they could still be seen everywhere on the streets of Haizhou. Among them, the vast majority were in conditions that couldn't even pass an annual inspection, with odometers rolled back who knew how many times, yet they remained deeply beloved in logistics transport, illegal passenger services, and countless gray and black industries.
Back when Ji Jue was learning auto repair, the very first vehicle he had ever fixed was one of these.
Even the bastards who had gone to kidnap Mother Lu and Lu Ling had driven a Haian microvan, which showed just how deeply embedded this machine was in people's hearts.
Did they understand the sheer weight of Yacheng's most popular vehicle?
With this promotion, Ji Jue was aiming straight for the massive inventory still circulating on the market!
Even the conditions were absurdly lenient.
As long as it could drive, it was fine.
Regardless of whether the parts were original, so long as the body shell remained the original body shell, and as long as it could still drive—even if it belched smoke and crawled along, or at the absolute worst, even if it had just been dug out of a garbage heap with the stench still clinging to it—it could be redeemed for over ten thousand yuan!
If the vehicle was in good condition with both chassis and engine intact, it could be traded directly for a brand-new Huanggua fresh off the assembly line, complete with a complimentary twelve-piece premium gift package and a brand-new custom car cover.
It was fucking insane.
Sixteen years ago, when folks bought that piece of junk, the price had only been sixty or seventy thousand. Now, after sixteen years of inflation, you're telling me this pile of garbage can be traded in for forty or fifty thousand?!
Are you serious?
Anyone who saw the news suspected Ji Jue had lost his mind. Yet miraculously, this lunatic was truly honoring the exchange!
No conditions, no hurdles. As long as the vehicle registration matched your personal identification, a trade-in was a trade-in. There were no flashy gimmicks, no dizzying rules or convoluted procedures.
One vehicle for one vehicle, simple as that!
Even if what you got in return was a chopped-chili fish head, at the very least it was a qualified, economical, and undeniably high-value chopped-chili fish head!
Look at the Huanggua before you, then look back at the beat-up clunker you'd been driving for sixteen years.
If that knockoff microvan could speak, it would urge you itself: *What are you daydreaming for, bro? Trade it in already!*
Hesitating for a single second was an insult to one's own intelligence. Dawdling for even an instant was failing the deep affection Haian Auto Works held for you!
Tears were shed not out of sorrow, but from the bliss of bathing in paternal love after drifting through half a lifetime. Shaking one's head signaled no refusal, but rather the guilt of being unable to repay the factory director's boundless grace.
From the moment the new keys were in hand, everyone held only two words in their hearts for Director Ji Jue and Haian Auto Works: LOYALTY! DEVOTION!
Even before Haian Auto Works buckled, the first to collapse and grind to a halt overnight were the auto repair shops large and small throughout Yacheng. Countless people dug out heaps of scrap that had sat broken down in their yards for years, taking them in for repairs and tune-ups just to squeeze out a slightly higher trade-in value.
After a single night, the streets and alleys of Yacheng, from parking lots to main avenues, were all fucking chopped-chili fish heads!
Red, green, yellow, black, white, multi-colored—kaleidoscopic chopped-chili fish heads filled every corner of Yacheng, radiating and spreading toward Haizhou and even the southern regions of the Federation at a speed visible to the naked eye, driven by Haian Auto Works' capacity.
It was like a reservoir bursting its dam, a great river surging forth.
So fast that no one had time to react!
Within the city limits, particularly in areas like North Mountain and the South Foothills where narrow streets and cramped alleys abounded, the terrifying convenience of these chopped-chili fish heads was on full display.
Whether running out for groceries, commuting to work, picking up kids from school, operating as illegal taxis, or delivering takeout, it was ridiculously convenient.
*Bro, this thing works way better than a Little Sheep!*
Hot on the heels of the overwhelmed auto repair shops working around the clock, the second entity to collapse was Yacheng's traffic police...
As everyone knew, outside of a scarce few arterial roads, there was no such thing as traffic regulations in Yacheng.
Every day people drove out relying on nothing more than a fearless heart and the fierce grit of "whoever yields first is a grandson."
The first thing people did after buying a car was rip out the turn signals. They were useless anyway; nobody ever used them!
Sometimes, by the time a car was driven into the scrap heap, the turn signal stalk on the steering wheel was still brand-new. Taking it off to sell second-hand on Xianyu was a total loss.
When such universally stellar civic qualities were combined with the Huanggua, renowned for its safety, the resulting traffic conditions could only be described as spectacular.
Especially when the drivers were a mix of veterans who had been running illegal microvan routes sixteen years ago, seventy- and eighty-year-old geezers, and greenhorns who had just gotten their licenses and didn't even know where the gear shift was...
Look upon these hills and plains of chopped-chili fish heads, dear family!
Who needed underhanded business warfare? Real corporate operations were this unpretentious, crude, straightforward, and... cash-burning.
In less than ten days, before the campaign had even concluded, these baby buses—the nightmare of every competitor—were roaming wild across all of Haizhou.
Blockades? Distribution channels? Did any of it work?
If it had been of any use, it wouldn't have been utterly useless.
Under this mutually destructive, bizarre onslaught, even the competitors' rival models, heavily discounted at immense financial pain, saw zero interest.
Online sentiment remained flooded with negative reviews. Yet after venting their rage, people looked at the cost-effectiveness and trade-in value, and their little hands still couldn't stop reaching for their wallets.
While the sanity of rival manufacturers was being put to the test, some individuals had already gone completely mad.
Take Yin Zhaoyang, who had vanished without a trace for days on end, or the workhorses at Haian Auto Works, who worked three shifts around the clock until chopped-chili fish heads gave them psychological trauma.
In a single night, the entire inventory accumulated over recent days was wiped clean. They even owed customers who knew how many vehicles. Even now, crowds were still lined up outside the gates holding queue numbers and trade-in redemption slips, waiting for their cars!
They couldn't build them fast enough. It was simply impossible!
Even though Ji Jue had prepared early, expanding and hiring like a madman beforehand, even with Isis overseeing and controlling the entire operation, and even though manual processing outside automated production was far less than before, they still couldn't keep up with the widening deficit.
Chief Engineer Yan Jian, who had previously merely looked pale, now looked like a ghost, floating when he walked.
The moment he saw Ji Jue, tears welled in his eyes as he asked whether this bullshit event could end before he dropped dead from overwork...
It was as if sixteen years of praying for work to resume had been granted all at once within ten days... Even if one had starved for sixteen years, no one could gorge like this!
Parched to death during a drought, drowned to death during a flood.
How was anyone supposed to live like this?
After holding it in for sixteen years, a man as thirsty as Yan Jian suddenly felt the hollow emptiness of someone sucked dry into medicinal dregs.
He felt fear just looking at the workshop.
"Relax, relax. Starting next week, the tricycle production lines will be gradually transferred to the other acquired factories. The branch plant is already under construction.
"Right now, preliminary processing work has begun outsourcing to other machine shops. Ye Chun has already gone to negotiate. Just hold out a little longer."
Ji Jue offered earnest comfort. "Rest will come, and vacations will come too. Don't always be so pessimistic. Mm, look on the bright side: at least we have an emergency room and an ambulance on standby now!
"Besides, I still need you to keep leading the charge in dedicating yourself to the factory down the road. How could I ever let you die of exhaustion?"
"I'd rather you just let me die!"
Yan Jian's breath was faint, completely devoid of the will to live.
Emotionally, he was still dancing with wild joy over this burst of insane output, yet the rationality of a sigma male was already feeling regret: "Even though this trade-in wave went great, it's probably unrealistic to expect people to buy the Huanggua at full price now."
"Then we just won't sell it. We can sell an upgraded version instead. Why else do you think the first edition was designed so shabbily?"
Ji Jue turned around, flashing a smile identical to a devil's and bearing not a shred of humanity. "Besides, such a massive gap in the market won't just fill itself out of thin air, right?
"With so many commercial haulers gone all at once, we can strike while the iron is hot and roll out light passenger vans and mini-trucks next, can't we?"
"You might as well fucking kill me!"
Hearing that, Yan Jian reached for his belt, resolved to follow the example of the third factory director and perform a hanging from the southeast branch for Ji Jue.
With their pathetic current capacity, they couldn't even keep up with the Huanggua, and you fucking want to expand? Expand with what? Hot blood and the power of friendship?! Are the lives of workhorses not lives?!
Moreover, even skilled laborers needed time to break in and adapt.
Just two days ago, right at this juncture of severe labor shortages, Ji Jue had taken the entire team Yan Jian had painstakingly trained and dispatched them to Quancheng to build another branch plant.
Right now, with over a thousand people in the factory, every single beast of burden was being driven like a nuclear-powered mule. Even with added stipends and overtime bonuses, everyone was teetering on the verge of collapse.
There really wasn't a single drop left.
Yet Ji Jue's plans came one after another. Yan Jian was completely unable to take it anymore, and the workhorses were reaching their limit too. The Federation ultimately respected human rights; why didn't Ji Jue just go catch another batch of Pals to throw into Workshop No. 0?
To this, Ji Jue could only let out a long, helpless sigh.
There was no way around it. The operation had expanded too rapidly, and labor was in severe, critical shortage...
Tricycle production could be dumped onto the newly acquired workshops and plants, but as their primary business at this stage, the Huanggua had to be handled by Haian Auto Works. Aside from that, there was a mountain of troublesome matters to resolve.
That included the tens of thousands of knockoff microvans they had just recovered.
As the saying went: there is no such thing as trash in this world, only scavengers who haven't found the right trash.
And Ji Jue was responsible for sending them to places where they could continue to unleash their value...
Under Isis's supervision, all the reclaimed microvans underwent disassembly, quality inspection, sorting, repairs, salvage, and refurbishment. After being run through Ji Jue's alchemy to ensure their quality, their model and appearance were refreshed, and they were resold as "female-owned, 99% like new" to the folks in various settlement zones.
Buy one vehicle, get half a vehicle's worth of spare parts for free; wholesale came with an additional discount.
Backed by rock-solid quality, the refurbished knockoff microvans once again released their lingering warmth across the wilderness.
The scavengers in the settlements had their own distribution channels and didn't mind acting as middlemen at all. For a time, demand even outstripped supply.
As a result, Chen Yubo, who had originally been lying flat in the Quancheng Ruins, inexplicably struck it rich once again!
*How did a mascot like me, sent by my own brother to Quancheng just to pick up trash, suddenly become the biggest second-hand car dealer in all of Haizhou?!*
Nowadays, Young Master Chen barely had time to bask in the sun on the rooftop. Every day, straddling the pink little tricycle gifted by Ji Jue, he rushed between various settlements hawking the second-hand vehicles Ji Jue dumped on him. He could hardly squeeze out time to deepen his acquaintance with pretty ladies.
Too much money—it was so annoying.
*Damn money, stay away from me!*
At the same time, the Yacheng Wild Gathering under Chen Xingzhou's management followed up aggressively. Capitalizing on this tailwind, the Dragon's tentacles and operations began extending across the wilderness.
For a time, the results were delightful.
Compared to the cities forged by rules and order, this barren and vast expanse of wilderness was the true playground of beasts. Under the struggle of natural selection, everywhere was a hunting ground.
Within the city, alongside the trade-in campaign, City Hall began exerting its influence as well. In accordance with the environmental regulations promoted by Zhongcheng, they issued an initiative notice on energy conservation and emission reduction. After commending Haian Auto Works' new model, the Huanggua, for its contribution to environmental protection, they exempted the relevant models from purchase taxes and associated fees, while granting certain subsidies on fuel supply.
Meanwhile, across the numerous raw material processing plants and enterprises controlled by the Tong family, Ji Jue resolved his supply issues at prices that practically amounted to freeloading. Payment terms were delayed as long as possible, discounts were granted as high as possible; so long as the Tong family's businesses could supply it, there was no nonsense whatsoever—take whatever was needed.
With open and covert support from all sides, Haian Auto Works embarked on a new round of explosive expansion. Simultaneously, chopped-chili fish heads sprouted like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, flooding the streets and alleys and radiating toward the southern reaches of the Federation.
The price was burning money—burning money with absolute madness, burning until money no longer felt like money.
From start to finish, Ji Jue never once looked at the balance of the dedicated fund.
The trade-in promotion alone had nearly burned through that astronomical sum.
Yet it didn't matter...
Whatever was burned was replenished; whatever was spent was reimbursed. Right now, the balance of that dedicated fund was surging frantically every single day.
Even though Haian Auto Works' paper losses grew more severe by the day, taking a broader view across all of Yacheng showed that this venture was an absolute, guaranteed profit.
Manufacturing, trade-in deductions, recycling, reuse—every link was thoroughly absorbed by Yacheng's internal mechanisms.
Today's Haian Auto Works was like a gradually expanding vortex, injecting brand-new momentum into a closed market, pulling and tugging at countless former enterprises and supply chains to set them spinning once more.
At the same time, with this staggering performance, it declared to everyone:
—*Haian Industries has returned!*
***
On December 20, the special anti-smuggling operation in Dongcheng concluded with complete success, capturing over a hundred smugglers across six syndicates and initiating prosecution proceedings.
On December 21, the Qingtian Industrial Group of Yunzhou announced its withdrawal from military manufacturing to focus on civil livelihood and gas supply.
On December 22, during the southeast regional economic development symposium in Midtown, Progressive Party legislator Yu Cheng submitted a proposal and delivered a speech on revitalizing local industry and supporting key manufacturing sectors, winning widespread backing and acclaim.
On December 25, upon the military procurement list released by the Haizhou Garrison Base Command, the long-absent name of Haian Group conspicuously reappeared.
On December 26, the Governor of Chaocheng in Haizhou delivered an address, denouncing Yacheng's increasingly rampant pollutant emissions over recent years and stating that bilateral trade agreements would be reconsidered.
On December 27, a chemical plant explosion occurred in the outskirts of Yacheng, leaving six workers dead on the spot. The resulting chemical contamination affected a vast area, forcing Phase Three of Haian Auto Works' construction into an indefinite halt.
Half an hour later, in the settlement within the Quancheng Ruins, the outpost of Yulou Group was leveled in an explosion. Lu Feng lost contact, his fate unknown.
Chapter 331