43: Chapter 43 Factory Visit!

Yangcheng University.

It didn't take long for Shen Fei to reach the school gate. He didn't encounter any cliché drama like security guards shooing him away. Less than 10 minutes later, he saw Zhang Mingzhu walking out with a small backpack.

For the competition, she wore a black and white women's suit today, and her long hair was tied into a ponytail, making her look a bit more formal than the last time they met.

"Have you been waiting long?" She walked over with a smile, faint beads of sweat visible on her forehead.

"Just arrived." Shen Fei took her backpack naturally. "How was the competition? Are you tired?"

"First prize." Zhang Mingzhu's eyes curved into crescents. "Our team's rural revitalization design proposal received recognition from quite a few judges. They thought it was very practical... and will study it carefully."

"Congratulations! But with such a good proposal, you didn't get the grand prize."

Speaking of which, Zhang Mingzhu pouted slightly: "We made it to the finals, but there were too many masters. We couldn't beat them."

"Did you not tell the judges, my father..."

Haha, hearing this, Zhang Mingzhu covered her small mouth and laughed. It seemed this guy wasn't a blockhead after all.

The two joked around a bit, and Shen Fei led her toward the parking lot. "Are you hungry? Shall we eat first or..."

"Mingzhu."

Shen Fei instinctively looked back. A short-haired girl, also wearing a black and white women's suit, ran over, eyeing him up and down.

Then she teased with a mischievous smile: "Oh, so this is your Shen Fei. He's more handsome than in the photos! No wonder you rushed out the moment the competition ended, leaving all us sisters behind."

Shen Fei glanced at Zhang Mingzhu; her face was slightly flushed. She quickly took the other girl's hand and said: "Don't talk nonsense... Shen Fei, this is my best friend, Lin Wei. We're on the same team."

"Hello, Miss Lin." Shen Fei nodded in greeting.

For a first meeting, he struck the right balance. After glancing at Zhang Mingzhu again, he added: "Miss Lin, we're going to eat. Would you like to join us?"

"Really?" Lin Wei looked at Shen Fei's reaction, then hurriedly waved her hand.

"Alright, I won't disturb your world for two." She kept winking at Zhang Mingzhu, as if whispering something.

"I'll leave Mingzhu to you. Remember to take her back to the hotel tonight."

After saying that, she ran off with her backpack.

In the car, Zhang Mingzhu still felt a bit embarrassed. "Weiwei just loves to joke around..."

"It's fine." Shen Fei started the car. "What do you want to eat? Cantonese food or..."

"I want to see your company." Zhang Mingzhu said suddenly. "Is that okay?"

Seeing her expectant look, Shen Fei was a bit surprised: "The company is in another district. It takes over an hour to get there."

"It doesn't matter." She looked at him earnestly. "I want to understand what you're doing. Hearing what others say and reading media reports isn't as good as seeing it for myself."

This sentence was more lethal than any confession. Shen Fei was silent for a moment, then nodded: "Okay."

The car turned and headed toward the company.

On the way, Zhang Mingzhu took the initiative to talk about the Africa market again: "In our competition this time, there was an Africa student team. They all used Transsion phones. A boy from Kenya said that the first time his hometown had a signal was after buying a Transsion T80."

"Our signal is indeed a bit better." Shen Fei explained simply while driving.

"Their infrastructure is lagging, so I designed phones with high-power signals. They receive signals from further away compared to ordinary phones."

"So, you're not just doing business." Zhang Mingzhu's gaze returned to the road ahead, her voice soft.

"You're also changing many people's lives."

Shen Fei glanced at her without speaking.

Over an hour later, the car drove into the production base.

This Transsion manufacturing base covered over 300 mu. The factory buildings were arranged neatly. Since it was a new site, the infrastructure was quite good.

Shen Fei parked the car outside Factory Building No. 1 and led Zhang Mingzhu into the workshop.

The assembly line was running. The workers were not disorganized like in other small factories. Instead, they were neatly dressed in dust-free suits, skillfully assembling phones.

Robot arms precisely welded chips, laser-marked them, engraved serial numbers, and finally packaged them into boxes.

"This is the T1Pro production line. It's our latest flagship product." Shen Fei pointed at the phones coming off the line. "Daily production capacity is 30,000 units, supplying the entire Africa market."

Walking into the factory, Zhang Mingzhu curiously explored everything: "Those chips... are those the self-developed chips you mentioned?"

"No, those are MediaTek's." Shen Fei took her to the adjacent production line. "Our self-developed chips still need some time, but that day is not far off."

"Mm, I believe in you." Zhang Mingzhu nodded, her eyes full of trust.

After touring the production workshop, Shen Fei took her to see the R&D center.

Through the glass curtain wall of the laboratory, engineers were testing new models.

Without exception, they were all confidential projects, all of them Feature phones for the Africa market.

Some were doing drop tests, others were doing waterproof tests.

That's right, Transsion was attempting to add waterproof functionality to the next generation of Feature phones, though this would definitely be a standard feature for high-end models.

They didn't walk for long before they reached a door marked with "Confidential" and a symbol for the Taishan Project.

"Inside is the Taishan Project software team. They are developing their own operating system."

Shen Fei tried to push the door, then said slowly: "The project timeline is tight. I guess they are 'in seclusion' again today. It seems we can't go in."

"Haha, 'in seclusion,' that's quite fitting."

While speaking, Zhang Mingzhu very consciously took his hand and walked out. She knew there were some things she wasn't quite ready to know yet, so she didn't ask more questions.

Meanwhile, dozens of engineers inside the room were sitting in front of computers, code flickering constantly on the screens.

Some engineers were even frantically scratching their hair in frustration. In the dark ocean of hair, the bald islands were becoming increasingly prominent.

After walking out of the R&D building, Zhang Mingzhu stood at the entrance looking at all this, then suddenly said softly: "I think I understand you."

"Understand what?" Shen Fei also stopped, staring into her eyes with curiosity.

"Understand why you're so busy, understand what that light in your eyes is?" She turned and looked at him affectionately. "You're not just building a company; you're taking on the whole world."

Shen Fei was stunned.

At this moment, his phone vibrated; it was a sudden call from Li Qing.

"General Manager Shen, Bird's project in Africa has collapsed, at least it has collapsed in Tanzania.

Their sales at each store in Africa are now less than 10 units, and total inventory backlog is under 400,000. And this is even with us being banned.

Also, General Manager Li Xiangdong back home is a bit dissatisfied and has already suspended production of the Africa models."

Before Shen Fei's laughter could even reach the other side, Li Qing reported another piece of good news.