Creating a Tech Empire - Chapter 3: Introverts & Extrovert

“Ah, why do you have to insult people like that?!” That voice naturally belonged to Lin Zikai.

“Yeah! What do you mean by ‘useless interns’? It’s not like you were born knowing everything!” Wu Qian chimed in, getting a bit annoyed as well. She couldn’t help but support Lin Zikai.

“Calm down!” Wang Ping hurriedly stepped forward, trying to stop the interns who were about to speak. Then, she looked at Expert Chen. Her previously serious expression instantly turned into a smile.

“Expert Chen, please continue with your work. Don’t take their comment to heart. They are just kids fresh out of college. It’s natural for them to be a bit arrogant. Don’t lower yourself to their level.”

Wang Ping’s words were like a blow to the interns. They had naively thought that this person would support them, but they received no backing at all, not even a shred of dignity.

“Ah, Wang Ping, your HR department shouldn’t bring interns to the production workshop without any safety measures. If they get injured, the company will have to pay for it!”

Expert Chen was also not in a good mood today. He has been busy, non stop working from morning on fixing this technical problem, and despite his effort, the problem had not improved at all. This had caused a significant decline in his coworker trust and reputation. Additionally, while the noise coming from the interns really were grating his ears and ruining his concretaion, he wouldn’t normally cause such a scene, however, the situation with Chen Fan and the others is also an opportunity for him to regain his authority.

Wang Ping felt unhappy about this but couldn’t do anything. Expert Chen was someone she couldn’t afford to provoke. He was a veteran figure in Shenglin Technology, and it was said that he had a close relationship with the chairman. She didn’t dare to criticize the general manager behind her back.

“Hehe, I apologize for that, but there’s nothing I can do about it. This is Mr. Lin’s requirement, and it’s part of the education and training process for new employees.”

“Even Mr. Lin also agrees with this kind of thing huh? Really, that man does love doing such useless things. I’ll talk to the chairman later. The company’s current atmosphere is wrong. Why would, instead of a real technical worker that can bring help to the company, he would choose to hire a completely inexperienced intern? What’s the use of them?”

After saying so, Expert Chen turned his head away from the group and began to discuss the problem with his coworker.

This was just a minor incident, and everyone continued to follow Wang Ping to tour the company.

For Chen Fan, this kind of thing didn’t matter much. He had encountered many people with outdated mindsets like this, and he couldn’t be bothered to argue with them.

Despite their disdainful words about university interns, deep down, they might secretly envy the youth of this new generation in certain aspects.

“Big Yao, are you okay?” Li Chengang walked up to Chen Fan and asked in a low voice.

Chen Fan’s dorm room, Room 201, housed four people in total. Over the two years of college, their relationships had grown quite close.

Among the four, they considered themselves brothers. Later, they even ranked themselves by height. Li Chengang was the tallest and became the “dorm room big brother,” while Chen Fan was the shortest, earning him the nickname “dorm room youngest” or “Big Yao.”

The nickname “Big Yao” stuck with Chen Fan throughout his college life.

“What?” Chen Fan was momentarily stunned, not immediately grasping the situation.

“Ah, it seems like Chen Nanli’s provocation hit you hard. I don’t know where your confidence comes from. She’s like a campus beauty queen: rich, beautiful, top of the class, and most importantly, she’s 176 centimeters tall!”

“I’m also 178 centimeters tall!” Chen Fan retorted through gritted teeth.

“Sure, if you’re really 178 centimeters tall, then you wouldn’t be called ‘Big Yao’!”

“You don’t understand. At that time, I had held myself back…”

“Heh, did you practice bone shrinking techniques?”

“I can’t be bothered to argue with you. I have a question for you. Do you know the girl in front?” Chen Fan gestured to the girl walking at the front, the cute one who had initially worn the dress.

Of course, she had changed into long pants by now, wearing tight white casual pants that showcased her long, shapely legs. She had attracted numerous gazes throughout the journey.

“Hm? She’s Xiao Lingshan, don’t you know her?” Li Chengang replied in surprise.

“I’m not, why? Is she famous?”

“She’s the beauty of the Economics Department. I heard her family also owns a company. She has admirers from all over the city. Did you see Lin Zikai? He’s been chasing after her since the first semester!”

“So, why did she come here?” Chen Fan asked about Xiao Lingshan, not particularly interested but just making casual conversation.

Talking about attractive girls was a normal pastime for single and lonely guys.

“Who knows? Maybe she came here for some experience…”

A student from the Economics Department interning in an industrial production company was a bit mismatched.

The two of them continued chatting while touring the company. Afterwards, they went to the Human Resources Department and began the long process of pre-employment training.

It wasn’t until around 3:00 in the afternoon that they finished their training. Each person received their department assignment documents and were told they would officially start work the next day.

And so, the first day of their internship orientation ended.

Chen Fan returned to the company dormitory, which was an eight-person room that was reasonably clean. There were four bunk beds, and he and Li Chengang were assigned to the same one, with Li Chengang on the top bunk and Chen Fan on the bottom.

Before Li Chengang entered the room, Chen Fan had already taken out his suitcase from the system’s storage and stuffed it under the bed. He then retrieved the book “Step-by-Step Guide to 3D Design for Model Assembly” and lay on the bed to start reading.

As he delved into the book, Chen Fan was completely absorbed. With twenty years of technical experience from his previous life, reading this book was not a challenge, and he easily understood the main concepts of product design.

The design of a new product was not a matter of daydreaming but was based on market research and analysis from various aspects. Once the initial concept was established, a series of data simulations and experiments would be conducted. After reaching conclusions, the design process would move on to the initial draft in 2D.

The Titanic assembly toy, obtained from the high-tech black market, was made up of a total of 2888 building blocks. The book explained in detail how the product should be assembled, the tolerances and gaps to be considered, techniques for 3D design, and even how to simulate disassembly after the 3D product was completed.

Furthermore, it covered technical challenges, points to note during development, and the design of injection molds, among other things.

In other words, if someone thoroughly understood this book and had enough funding, they could manufacture a product and enter the market in a short period.

Suddenly, as Chen Fan delved deeper into his understanding of assembly toys, he remembered the origin of this product: LEGO!

Chen Fan did have some impression of LEGO because in his previous life, he had bought LEGO assembly toys for his children.

LEGO is a Danish company, and the name LEGO comes from the Danish words “leg godt,” which mean “play well.”

However, Chen Fan only remembered that LEGO assembly toys truly became popular in the Chinese market at a different time, and he knew that before 2004, the LEGO Group was facing a crisis due to diversification of its business.

So at this stage, LEGO assembly toys were likely not on the market yet, and they might still be in the theoretical design stage.

Therefore, if he could manufacture LEGO assembly toys in a short time and launch them in the market, this series of toys could potentially belong to him. If handled correctly, this could be a golden opportunity, not only for the first bucket of gold but also for supporting future high-tech developments.

“Big Yao! You little scoundrel, how did you get here so fast? Why are you on the lower bunk? I reserved this one!” Li Chengang pushed the door open and walked in, looking at Chen Fan lying comfortably on the bed reading a book, and shouted in frustration.

“Hmph, what do you mean, ‘I reserved it’? First come, first served. That’s the rule of life!” Chen Fan retorted without even looking at Li Chengang, flipping through the book.

“Fine! Don’t regret it. I’ll smoke you out with my farts tonight!”

“Rude!”

“By the way, which department were you assigned to?” Li Chengang also stuffed his suitcase under the bed and then lit a cigarette, taking a puff before asking.

“Product development!”

“Sounds pretty high-end. If I had known, I would have gone to study in Jingzhou City. I got assigned to the CNC programming department.”

“Oh,” Chen Fan replied, a bit annoyed because he wanted to read his book.

“Do you know where Xiao Lingshan got assigned to?” Li Chengang was quite talkative, and he didn’t care whether Chen Fan wanted to chat or not.

Silence.

“She got assigned to the assistant of the general manager! Damn, for her to get that kind of position, she must have a strong person backing her up!”

“Lin Zikai, that idiot, got assigned to the production workshop to move iron blocks. Can you believe it? As for Wu Qian, it seems she’s in the same department as you, in design.”

Silence.

“Tomorrow is the first day of work, are you nervous? By the way, how much is your salary? Is it the same for everyone? My internship salary is 650 yuan. When will they pay us?”

Chen Fan was engrossed in his book, while Li Chengang was chatting away, and neither of them minded. They had been friends for several years and were used to each other.

Tomorrow would be their first day on the job, and Chen Fan was feeling a bit excited. He wanted to try his hand at designing assembly toys. As for the production and marketing aspects, he wasn’t thinking about them for now. Every journey begins with a single step, and the first step was to design the product. The rest could be figured out later.