Creating a Tech Empire - Chapter 2: Internship

Seeing the product package mentioned on the lottery page, Chen Fan couldn’t help but be puzzled.

Plastic assembly toy?

This kind of thing also be considered as an advanced technology?

(Well), he thought, (let’s see what this Titanic ship assembly toy is all about)

He retrieved the set from the system’s warehouse.

Following that, a box about one meter long and half a meter wide suddenly appeared in front of Chen Fan. It had materialized out of nowhere, leaving no trace.

Then, with a thud, it dropped to the ground.

The outer packaging of the box featured a colorful image of the Titanic cruise ship, assembly instructions, and a black document pouch.

Chen Fan picked up the black document pouch with a bewildered look and found a USB drive and a book inside.

Book title: “Step by Step Guide to 3D Model Assembly.”

It was straightforward…

And a bit of a blow to his pride!

Ding-ling-ling!~ Just then, the Motorola A388 in his pocket rang again.

“Chen Fan, what are you doing?! Hurry up, the bus is about to arrive!”

“Alright! I’m coming down now!”

After hanging up the phone, Chen Fan concentrated his thoughts, and the Titanic ship assembly toy on the ground magically disappeared once again. He opened the system’s warehouse page and found it securely stored inside.

Chen Fan marveled at the convenience and assistance the system’s warehouse could provide. Even just the warehouse alone was incredibly helpful.

He couldn’t help but wonder how much this warehouse could hold.

With that thought in mind, he didn’t waste any time. He spent five minutes freshening up, another five changing clothes, and then threw his luggage, which he had prepared the night before, directly into the system’s warehouse. Afterward, he dashed downstairs in a hurry.

On the first day of reporting to the company as interns, being equipped with extra advantages didn’t mean Chen Fan could just sit back and wait for money to fall from the sky. Being late on the first day wasn’t a good start!

…

At the entrance of Tiannan University, there were a total of ten interns, including Chen Fan, eight males and two females. Each of them was carrying bags of various sizes, waiting for the company bus to arrive.

Naturally, Chen Fan was the last to arrive. He was dressed in gray casual pants, a gray short-sleeved shirt, and summer leather shoes. Compared to the other nine people, he looked a bit out of touch.

Let’s not even mention the guys; the two girls, one in ultra-short overalls and the other in a knee-length dress with a sun hat, looked elegant and beautiful, showcasing their youthful charm. If you didn’t know better, you might think they were going on a vacation.

Chen Fan only recognized one of the two girls, the one in the super-short overalls, Wu Qian. She was from his class and wasn’t particularly good-looking, just an average person. However, she was good at dressing up, and with her well-developed figure, she gained some extra points, enough to pass the “bare minimum” mark.

As for the girl in the dress, she looked quite cute with her chubby face, and her figure was on par with Wu Qian, with well-defined curves. In terms of appearance, she could give the class beauty a run for her money.

“In this scorching heat, why are you wearing long pants?” Li Chenggang came over to Chen Fan and said with some surprise.

“Of course! We’re going to work at the company. If we don’t wear long pants, what should we wear, shorts?” Chen Fan retorted directly.

This remark drew the attention of everyone, and they frowned at Chen Fan, their expressions not particularly friendly.

Except for Chen Fan, the other nine people here, including Li Chenggang, were not wearing long pants. So when Chen Fan said this, it made everyone rethink their attire.

“What’s the matter? Is there a company rule that we can’t wear shorts to work?” A sarcastic voice came from the crowd.

Chen Fan glanced at the person but didn’t say anything. He recognized him too; his name was Lin Zikai, also a major in industrial engineering. They didn’t interact much, but Chen Fan knew that he was quite the show-off.

Words wouldn’t change anything. People who hadn’t worked in a company before often didn’t understand these rules, and many companies had explicit dress code policies regarding work attire.

Men were not allowed to wear shorts, and women were not allowed to wear dresses or shorts that were above knee-length.

A dignified and rigorous image was a form of professionalism in the workplace!

This was just a minor incident, and no one wanted to make a big fuss about it. After waiting for a while, before 10 o’clock, a tourist bus with the Shenglin Technology logo slowly approached from a distance.

The bus stopped not far from the group, and then a middle-aged woman in a gray-white professional suit, holding a handy file folder, walked over. She glanced at the group, her brows slightly furrowed, and calmly said,

“Is everyone here? If there is an intern that is not here yet, tell them to not bother coming. You can get on the bus directly. When you arrive at the company, we’ll arrange for you to stay in the company dormitory. After you drop off your luggage, change into long pants, both men and women.”

Upon hearing this statement, everyone involuntarily looked at Chen Fan, wondering if these two had planned it in advance…

“Why? Does the company also dictate how we dress?” Lin Zikai, who had a habit of showing off, spoke up again.

The representative from Shenglin Technology who came to pick up the interns was Wang Ping, the head of the company’s Human Resources Department. She was mainly responsible for personnel matters.

When she heard Lin Zikai’s question, Wang Ping’s face turned dark, and she looked at him coldly as she said, “Yes, yes it is, when you enter the company, you need to follow the company’s rules. The company not only regulates how you dress but also many other things. I am in charge of educating and training new employees. If you have any questions, you can discuss them with me privately. Don’t argue about it in public. You should learn to respect others.”

Just as Lin Zikai was about to retort again, a classmate next to him gently pulled him, indicating that he should stop talking.

This was just a minor incident, but after this event, whether they knew Chen Fan or not, everyone had a slightly deeper impression of him.

…

Jinzhou Shenglin Technology Co., Ltd. was located in the industrial park of Haigang District in Jinzhou City, in a coastal area. The company’s main products were children’s electronic toys, as well as the production of parts for LG microwaves, washing machines, and modern car DVD components.

It was a company with a thousand employees that integrated industrial processing, injection molding production, painting, and assembly.

In the local tax records of the Haigang District industrial park, it was considered a prominent domestic company, and therefore, it received special attention from the local government.

However, in recent years, with the entry of foreign toy giants into the market, the toy market had gradually been devoured, and domestic toy companies were retreating one by one. They were losing most of the market, relying only on the nostalgia of their old brands to maintain sales.

Most toy companies saw their annual sales declining year after year, and many of them went bankrupt. Those that barely survived, like Shenglin Technology, were producing foreign companies’ products to make up for the losses in the toy market.

Inside Shenglin Technology’s production workshop, dozens of people gathered in front of a 500-ton injection molding machine.

If one had a keen eye, they would be able to tell that these people were all highly-paid and well-benefited employees of Shenglin Technology, also known as technical experts.

“Expert Chen, this product’s surface always has these slight dents. The last batch of over a thousand items we sent out was all returned by LG. If we don’t solve this problem, we can’t produce it. Otherwise, all the products we produce will be defective!”

Among the crowd, a technician in a black-gray work uniform frowned and complained to a middle-aged man in front of him.

“Well, I’ve looked into this issue, and there’s a good chance it’s due to the uneven flow of resin material during the injection molding process, which results in these slight dents in the area.”

Expert Chen, wearing glasses, looked at the exterior panel of the microwave in his hand. The product’s surface was shiny and black, but if you looked closely, you could indeed see a tiny dent in it.

“So, how should I adjust the injection molding parameters? I think it might be a problem with the injection mold. It’s better to take it offline for maintenance. Otherwise, if we keep experimenting like this, the consumption of the resin raw material will not be insignificant.”

“What I mean is…”

Just as Expert Chen was about to speak, a group of young people walked over not far away. They were curious, looked around, and chatted with each other loudly, interrupting his train of thought.

Expert Chen’s brows furrowed even deeper when he heard the noise. He looked at the group of young people and said somewhat displeased, “What are these young people doing? Why are they making so much noise?”

“Expert Chen, these people should be the interns recruited today by Tiannan University,” someone said.

Hearing this, Expert Chen’s frown deepened. He let out a huff of displeasure and said, “Seriously? Why did they hire so many useless interns? It’s one thing for 3 or 4, but hiring more than 10 would just be a waste of money? The fact that they have no prior experience in working inside a company also brings a bad atmosphere to the company! The new general manager really is still too green, this kind of incident kept making her look like she doesn’t understand anything! Other people would say she’s letting outsiders manage the insiders if they know about this!”

He spoke loudly enough for Chen Fan and the others nearby to hear, and they couldn’t help feeling annoyed.