Li Fanyu completely ignored the journalists buzzing around like flies. He wasn’t at all surprised to hear that Hongqi was in trouble. When he had negotiated the engine deal, he had already known all about Lu Heming’s shady dealings thanks to his mechanical mosquito. It was a bit strange that Lu Heming hadn’t been taken down yet.
As for the rumors about him bribing Lu Heming to secure the Hongqi contract, or that he had a close personal relationship with Lu Heming and used backdoor methods to get the state-owned enterprise's favor, he scoffed at them. His methods were far more straightforward and effective than that.
However, he was too busy working himself to exhaustion in the lab to bother with these trivial matters. Tired of the constant harassment from these busybodies, he simply replied to those media outlets slandering him on Weibo with one succinct yet powerful word: "Pfft!"
These media were getting better at making baseless speculations. Although Li Fanyu didn’t delve deeply into the Hongqi incident, he knew that the more he engaged with the media, the more relentless they would become. He was extremely busy, leading his team to meet tight deadlines, working so hard every day that he felt like a dog. He had no time for these nonsense issues.
Every business deal at Zhengxin was clean. Aside from tax exemptions, every accounting entry was above board, with no under-the-table money or shady deals. Li Fanyu wasn’t afraid of scrutiny, and neither was anyone at Zhengxin.
So when he heard that the reporters were there to interview him, he just told Wang Meimei to have the legal department deal with them and send them away.
With a stern face, Wang Meimei led several company lawyers and legal advisors to the company entrance. She stood still and shouted at the noisy crowd of reporters, "Quiet down! Our President Li has a message for you."
Wang Meimei had no good feelings towards these people. The company was extremely busy with year-end work, and now they had to deal with this swarm of flies. If it weren't for Pan Qiang repeatedly advising her to remain patient and consider all aspects in her work, she would have had security drive them away already.
The reporters, seeing that it wasn’t An Ning, the company’s second-in-command, were dissatisfied.
"What position do you hold at Zhengxin? Can you represent Li Fanyu?"
"Yes, can you take responsibility for what you say?"
"Why doesn't Li Fanyu come out to meet us and instead sends you with a message?"
"For such a big issue, at least your director An should come out and explain. What does it mean to send out just anyone? Are you just brushing us off?"
"What’s your name? What message did Li Fanyu ask you to deliver?"
Wang Meimei waved her hand impatiently and said, "Our President Li said he’s very busy and doesn’t have time to deal with your nonsense. Whether Lu Heming has problems or not, Zhengxin doesn’t know. We only know that we have no issues. Every penny Zhengxin earns is clean."
As soon as she said this, the reporters exploded...
"What kind of attitude is this? Totally disrespecting us!"
"What do you mean by 'nonsense'? We have the right to know, you know, the right to know!"
"Hongqi's Shengshi C-class hasn't even been launched yet, but they’ve already purchased a large batch of engines from you. Who would believe there’s no issue there?"
"Can you guarantee there’s no foul play in this matter? It’s said that the order is worth more than fifty million. How did you secure such a large order?"
"What’s the status of this order now? Is there any follow-up?"
Wang Meimei sneered and waved at the lawyers behind her. Three stern-looking men with glasses stepped forward and spoke coldly, "Sorry, no comment."
"And who do you three think you are?"
"We are from Zhengxin’s legal department."
"Oh, bringing out the lawyers, Li Fanyu? Feeling guilty?"
"Sir, please watch your words."
"We are reporters, are you saying we can’t speak?"
"You can speak, but as media, you should speak with facts, not baseless speculation. We will be monitoring your reports. If we find any baseless accusations or fabrications, our company will reserve the right to sue."
"Don’t listen to their nonsense. Just three of them, challenging us? What, does Zhengxin want to control the news?"
"Comrade from Northern Express, I need to remind you that Zhengxin has signed a cooperation agreement with our Jingcheng Zhixu Law Firm. If necessary, our firm’s 170 lawyers can all take legal action on behalf of Zhengxin."
After a few rounds, the reporters were left speechless by the three lawyers. While the reporters thought they were good with words, they were no match for lawyers who made a living using their legal knowledge and verbal skills. Hearing that these lawyers were from Jingcheng Zhixu, one of the country's top law firms, dampened their spirits significantly.
Realizing they wouldn't get an interview with Li Fanyu today, the reporters reluctantly dispersed. They had no concrete evidence to support the rumors of bribery involving Li Fanyu. If they did, they wouldn't need to come here to dig further; they could just publish it outright.
Wang Meimei watched them drive away in a disorganized manner, clapped her hands, and felt quite satisfied. President Li was right: dealing with such people required professional means.
Unable to get any clues from Li Fanyu, the newspapers could only remain vague about the engine procurement agreement while reporting on the investigation into Hongqi, offering some ambiguous and speculative guesses.
Just as they were struggling to dig up deeper news, the Tianjin Municipal SASAC (State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission) issued a statement: an expert group would be formed immediately to evaluate the progress and completion of the Shengshi C-class development.
This news excited the media. Previously, there were always rumors that the Shengshi C-class was "about to be launched," but it never seemed to enter the testing phase. According to a "mysterious insider," the project had already cost more than 3 billion yuan. Yet, no one knew what the car looked like or its quality.
With this evaluation result, combined with existing clues, it would be easy to determine if there were any real issues with Hongqi’s project. Given the significant state-owned assets involved, the SASAC acted swiftly. A team of over twenty experts was promptly dispatched to the Hongqi R&D center.
After three days of detailed discussions and evaluations, the expert group presented their findings. However, SASAC did not disclose the results publicly, citing national project confidentiality.
Nonetheless, this secrecy couldn’t fool those paying close attention. Following the submission of the evaluation results, Hongqi’s General Manager, Lu Heming, was ordered to step down. This suggested that the project's completion level was... not very high.
This incident sparked a massive uproar, with media outlets across the country expressing their disappointment. Various opinions and critiques flooded the news, all revolving around the same sentiment.
"Over 3 billion yuan, over 3 billion! Such a massive investment resulted in such a mess? With that money, couldn’t we have done something better? We could have built half an aircraft carrier!"
Questions about the supervision and research capabilities of state-owned enterprises emerged, putting Hongqi and SASAC in the spotlight.
It was at this moment that someone who had been lurking in the shadows, biding their time, finally made their move. Xu Guangsheng had taken action.
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