Chapter 466
: Are they all under the group's umbrella?
Seaside pier!
"Xinghai Shipyard~ Who came up with this name?" Su Chen asked curiously, looking at the five large characters above the iron gate not far away through the car window.
Xiao Peng followed Su Chen's gaze and explained, "Boss, you mean this? After the park tidied up the dock and shipyard, Old Wu and Old Chen discussed it and came up with this name, intending that the shipyard's future lies in the stars and the sea."
After saying that, he smiled a little embarrassedly. Let alone the stars and the sea, he hadn't even set foot in the Bohai Sea yet.
However, Su Chen nodded with an expression of "I agree" after hearing this, but the expression was so fleeting that Xiao Peng did not notice it.
As soon as the Alphard drove up to the gate, it was stopped by the guards at the gate.
Su Chen glanced at the guards' attire, which was no different from that of the park staff, so he figured they must have been guards arranged by the park.
Logically speaking, these people should know the vehicles in the park, especially the vehicles of the park's senior executives. They should know them very well. So why are they blocking them from entering?
Seemingly noticing the confusion in Su Chen's eyes, Chen Fei quickly explained the situation.
Although the shipyard is well-equipped, it is still an old facility from over a decade ago. It can build ordinary civilian fishing boats without any problem, but if it is to build cargo ships that can operate in coastal waters or even the open ocean, the shipyard's equipment will need to be reconfigured.
To this end, the park invested tens of millions of yuan to replace all the equipment in the shipyard before handing it over to Luo Yufan for management.
Who would have thought that Luo Yufan's first act upon taking office was to seal off the entire industrial park, claiming it was for confidential management? This is why even Xiao Peng, from the park's side, was unaware of the situation inside the shipyard.
"Interesting." Su Chen smiled thoughtfully. It seemed that this Luo Yu Fan was quite an interesting person.
The guards who had previously stopped the car had now moved to the driver's seat, seemingly wanting to inquire about the reason for their visit.
Upon seeing this, Xiao Peng immediately rolled down the car window. The guard, recognizing Xiao Peng, quickly saluted and said, "Good morning, Mr. Xiao!"
Xiao Peng nodded in response, then asked, "Open the door, the boss is here to inspect the work. By the way, do you know where Engineer Luo is?"
Upon hearing that their boss had arrived, the guard was momentarily stunned. He quickly looked down to the other side and, sure enough, saw a young and familiar face. He immediately saluted Su Chen and reported to his superior.
"Boss, Engineer Luo should be at Dock No. 1 right now. He's been there recently, and so have all his technicians. They're busy until 11 or 12 at night every day."
After saying that, he gestured towards the gate, signaling his colleagues at the guard post to open the gate.
Upon hearing this, Su Chen nodded slightly, his curiosity growing even stronger. He couldn't help but wonder what this ship expert was up to.
The car slowly drove into the shipyard and, guided by Xiao Peng, headed directly towards Dock No. 1.
No workers or technicians were seen along the way. The shipyard was unusually quiet, with only the occasional sound of machinery running coming from a distant factory building.
"Strange, where did everyone go? Could they all be at Dock No. 1?" Xiao Peng frowned, his gaze sweeping over the somewhat empty factory area, a hint of something flashing across his face.
It should be noted that, apart from Luo Yufan and his technical staff, there was a group of technical workers who had stayed behind from the original shipyard, totaling less than thirty people. However, each of them had been employees for twenty or thirty years and had not chosen to leave for various reasons.
Although they are getting on in years, in their forties and fifties, their skills are all top-notch.
This is why... after taking over the dock and shipyard in the industrial park and learning the inside story, they did not dismiss these people, but instead kept them all, thinking that they would serve as the cornerstone of the shipyard and properly train the newcomers.
There aren't any projects at the shipyard right now, so the old folks there should be wandering around the factory area. Why haven't I seen a single one?
Before Xiao Peng could figure it out, the car stopped in front of Dock No. 1.
This is a huge enclosed dock, estimated to be at least seventy or eighty meters wide. As for its length... Su Chen looked along the edge into the distance and felt that it seemed to stretch endlessly, at least three or four hundred meters long, extending all the way to the distant sea.
Four or five guards stood in front of the heavy gate. Su Chen recognized the captain in charge; he had joined in the same batch as Wang Gang and the others. If he remembered correctly, his name was Li Yun.
It was obvious that the gatekeeper had informed Li Yun that the boss had arrived at the shipyard; otherwise, he would never have waited here with his guards.
Upon seeing Su Chen get out of the car, Li Yun and his men quickly stepped forward to greet him, saluting and saying, "Welcome, boss, to the shipyard!"
The guards behind him shouted in unison, "Welcome, boss!"
This whole setup was like a leader's inspection tour, which made Su Chen both amused and exasperated. He waved his hand with a smile and said, "Alright, no need for such formality. I just came to see what Engineer Luo is busy with."
“Uh…” Li Yun was stunned for a moment, then stood still without moving.
"What are you still standing there for? Go open the door!" Xiao Peng saw that Li Yun was still standing there, and thought that he hadn't reacted yet, so he quickly reminded him.
Li Yun looked troubled and hesitated for a moment before explaining in a low voice, "Boss, Mr. Xiao, it's not that I don't want to open the door, it's just that Engineer Luo gave an order that no one is allowed to enter Dock No. 1 without his permission!"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Peng was so angry that his head almost spewed steam. He wondered if Li Yun's brain was filled with tofu dregs. How could anyone include the boss in such a thing?
They've only had a few good days, and they've already forgotten who's in charge and can't tell the difference between the important and the trivial? They even blocked the boss from coming in; Li Yun's audacity is extraordinary.
Without considering the occasion, he immediately darkened his face and shouted angrily, "This is utter nonsense! Hurry up and go in to inform Engineer Luo that the boss has arrived."
Li Yun realized that what he had just said was indeed inappropriate. As the boss's most trusted department, in addition to doing a good job of protection, they also had to act as the boss's eyes and ears to help the boss understand the situation.
But he's different... he doesn't even listen to the boss anymore, is he trying to rebel against Heaven?
Upon realizing what was happening, Li Yun immediately felt a chill run down his back, and his clothes were already soaked with cold sweat.
He quickly took over Xiao Peng's words and said, "Yes, I'll go and inform Engineer Luo right away!" After saying that, he turned around and ran towards the dock gate.
The guards who had come with Li Yun earlier were now clenching their toes, keeping their heads down and not daring to look at Su Chen.
Seeing their expressions, Xiao Peng immediately said, "You guys go back to your posts. We don't need you here for now!"
Upon hearing this, the guards breathed a sigh of relief, quickly saluted Su Chen and his group, and immediately returned to their posts.
After everyone had walked away, Xiao Peng lowered his head in shame and said, "Boss, I'm so sorry you had to see this!"
Su Chen's face was calm, like a still lake, revealing no emotion whatsoever.
After what seemed like three to five seconds or even more than ten seconds, Su Chen raised his hand and gently patted Xiao Peng's shoulder, saying, "This incident should serve as a wake-up call for you. You'll need to be more careful about this in the future."
"I remember I asked you to secretly set up an internal review team. Didn't you assign anyone to the shipyard?"
This was a solution Su Chen proposed to him after the previous "mole" incident, aimed at preventing such incidents from happening again and also to keep them constantly mindful of their responsibilities.
"Uh..." Xiao Peng clenched his hands nervously, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, and explained in a low voice, "Boss, the shipyard... really did make a mistake!"
“I thought that since the project hasn’t been approved yet, I haven’t assigned any personnel here! Once I get back, I’ll immediately transfer Li Yun back and reassign personnel.”
"This matter... was due to my oversight, please punish me, boss!" After saying that, Xiao Peng lowered his head again.
"Alright~ Let's leave Li Yun alone for now. Being obedient is a good thing. It's up to you how you use him!" Su Chen smiled faintly, as if he didn't take the matter to heart.
Just then, the dock gate slowly opened, and Li Yun led out a middle-aged man wearing a white hard hat and blue work clothes. The man was of medium build, had dark skin, and wore glasses.
But his eyes were exceptionally bright, giving him a very capable look. The person who came was none other than Luo Yufan, the shipbuilding expert that Old Man Chen had gone to great lengths to bring from the Darian Shipyard.
When Luo Yufan got closer and saw Su Chen's young face, he was stunned for a moment.
Although he had heard Old Man Chen and Professor Wu talk about the boss's youth at least ten times before, even though he was mentally prepared, he still exclaimed "Holy crap!" in his heart at this moment!
"Mr. Su... Mr. Su?!" Although it was their first meeting, Luo Yufan didn't feel too unfamiliar. He wiped his right hand on his clothes before extending his hand. "I'm sorry to have made you laugh, boss. I've been busy inspecting various materials lately and have been a bit overwhelmed. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting outside for so long."
Su Chen smiled and shook hands with him, saying, "You're too kind, Engineer Luo. I came here today to see if there's anything I can help you with, and also to see if there are any surprises."
A glint flashed in Luo Yufan's eyes, and he immediately stepped aside and made a "please" gesture, saying, "Boss, you've come at just the right time. My material inspection is nearing completion, and I was just thinking of finding an opportunity to report it, and then you came in person!"
Su Chen raised an eyebrow, surprised that there really was a surprise. He became even more excited and nodded, saying, "Let's go in and take a look!"
As the group entered the dock, they were greeted by a faint smell of engine oil mixed with the salty, damp scent of the sea breeze. The dock's interior was enormous, with overhead lights illuminating the entire area as if it were daytime.
They saw the technicians and veteran shipyard employees gathered in small groups, seemingly discussing something, and Su Chen and his group's arrival went unnoticed.
Luo Yufan did not lead Su Chen into the crowd, but instead led them to a somewhat old office.
The office is about 30 square meters in size, and the most eye-catching feature is the conference table in the office that can seat about ten people.
This left Su Chen momentarily confused, unsure whether it was an office or a conference room, wondering if it was a combination of both!
The huge conference table was now covered with various reports, and Su Chen walked over and picked one up casually.
"Steel Test Report!" Seeing the large words on the cover, Su Chen felt a surge of curiosity and began to flip through it.
Su Chen didn't know much about steel, but the document in his hand explained everything in great detail, from material selection and experiments to the final comparison. Even a novice like Su Chen could understand about 70-80% of it.
Especially in the final summary section, it is clearly stated that "this steel is comparable to high-strength special alloy steel and can be used to manufacture aircraft carriers."
"Hmm?" Su Chen's eyes widened considerably. The fact that the steel was comparable to the high-strength special alloy steel used in aircraft carriers was enough to demonstrate how good the quality of the steel that Luo Yu Fan and his team had tested was.
After putting down the steel report, Su Chen picked up another document, but this time the cover didn't say "steel," but rather "paint... no, it should be called a car paint inspection report."
This time, Su Chen was smarter and turned directly to the next page. Sure enough, just as he expected, there was a summary at the end, just like in the steel report.
"This car paint can evade radar speed detection, and it is suspected that it could be used as a stealth coating for aircraft. However, further comparative testing is needed to draw a final conclusion!"
Su Chen flipped through several more reports, and without exception, they were all test reports on various materials.
The performance of these materials far surpasses that of similar products currently on the market, and some even exceed military-grade standards.
Luo Yufan stood to the side, his eyes gleaming with excitement. Seeing that Su Chen had already glanced through several reports, he couldn't wait to say, "Boss, these materials were tested from samples sent by the park, and their performance is simply unbelievable."
Upon hearing this, Su Chen waved the report in his hand and said, "You just said these are all samples sent over from the park?"
"Yes, that's right. Since the project hasn't even started yet, I wanted to get the preparatory work done first, so I asked Old Man Chen to send over a batch of supplies to prepare for the subsequent shipbuilding!"
Luo Yufan didn't hide anything and recounted the whole story in detail.
Upon hearing this, Su Chen immediately turned his gaze to Xiao Peng, who was standing to the side. Since the samples were sent from the park, Xiao Peng must know the source of these samples.
"Sent from the park? The park hasn't purchased any of these things recently!" Xiao Peng pondered seriously.
"I remember the only time something was delivered was when Professor Wu contacted President Pei, saying that he had selected some materials that the shipyard could use from one of the group's subsidiaries."
"Could it be..." Xiao Peng, somewhat belatedly realizing the situation, immediately reacted and said with a shocked expression, "These things are the same goods that the group sent over before?"
"Under the group?" Luo Yu Fan, who was standing next to him, also opened his mouth wide.
Based on what Xiao Peng said, he immediately gleaned important information: the samples they were working overtime to test were all products manufactured by their own company.
Su Chen wasn't too surprised after hearing this. If these things all belonged to Yunmengze Group, then there was nothing strange about it. After all, these technologies were from the civilian technology encyclopedia he had previously created, which contained a full hundred categories.
"President Su, we can build ships now! If these materials can be produced in stable quantities, we can even build warships and aircraft carriers, and even the 'civilian version' aircraft carrier that you wanted before can be realized!" Luo Yu Fan's hands trembled with excitement.
"Okay! But we can't do it all at once. We need to practice first and take it one step at a time!" Su Chen understood the principle that haste makes waste.
"Mr. Luo, you can use these materials to build a small boat first and see how it goes. If everything goes well, we can then consider the subsequent shipbuilding plan!"
"No problem!" Luo Yu Fan patted his chest and said loudly.
If it weren't for the fact that Old Chen hasn't yet developed a suitable controlled nuclear fusion device, he would have already taken the plunge and started developing a "civilian version" of an aircraft carrier.
When he left the Darian Shipyard, it was because he accepted the promise made by Old Chen that he would personally lead and successfully build the country's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Otherwise, why would he have left the place where he had devoted more than a decade of his youth to?
Su Chen then chatted with Luo Yufan, mainly about the subsequent ship construction, to see which aspects needed to be addressed.
Less than half an hour after they started talking, a technician came to find Luo Yufan, saying that he had discovered some difficulties in the experiment.
"President Su, I... this..." Luo Yu Fan rubbed his hands, unsure of what to say.
"That's enough for today!" Su Chen's lips curled up slightly. He was quite satisfied with Engineer Luo, at least in terms of his focus and dedication to his work.
"You go ahead and do your work, we can go out by ourselves!"
Luo Yufan smacked his lips, gave Su Chen a slight bow, and then quickly turned and left with the technicians.
"Let's go too!" Watching Luo Yu Fan walk into a research group, Su Chen and the others didn't linger. They closed the office door and left the dock.
After leaving the dock, Su Chen got into the car, while Xiao Peng led Li Yun to the corner of the dock.
A moment later, Xiao Peng's angry roar rang out, but as if afraid Su Chen would hear it, the roar quickly subsided.
This was the first time he had ever heard Xiao Peng get angry. He raised an eyebrow, looked at Chen Fei sitting in the passenger seat, and couldn't help but tease, "I didn't know that Xiao Peng could swear?"
"Hehe~ Sir, don't underestimate Xiao Peng, his voice is incredibly loud!" Chen Fei said with a smile, with a hint of tattling.
"He was one of the instructors at the training camp back then. How could he have kept those troublemakers in check if he didn't have a temper!"
Su Chen nodded thoughtfully. At this moment, Xiao Peng also came back. Li Yun, who was behind him, had his head hanging down, obviously because he had been scolded quite badly by Xiao Peng.
But Su Chen also understood that people like them, who came from the military, had to speak loudly, and lecturing them in a soft voice might not be very effective.
"Think carefully about what I just said to you!" Xiao Peng said before getting into the car and closing the door, not giving Li Yun a chance to speak.
The car slowly started moving and headed towards the gate. (End of Chapter)