Even with China Star Auto's massive technological leap—an independently developed, patent-free turbocharged engine—there was one glaring problem:
They had no idea how to support it.
Not the company, not the officials.
When Haifeng filed for those patents in Yanjing, shockwaves were heard from the national tech and industry departments.
China could launch rockets.
China could build high-speed trains.
However, China could not produce its engine.
Foreign patent restrictions had strangled decades of domestic auto development foreign patent restrictions.
To survive, the government had taxed foreign car brands heavily and set up joint ventures to trade market access for tech.
But tech never came.
Even after the government purchased outdated engine blueprints from Mitsubishi to help domestic firms—progress was slow. Everyone assumed China would take years, if not decades, to catch up.
And then, from out of nowhere…
Audi Motors appeared.
With a complete, turbocharged engine built on 100% independent intellectual property.
The departments were stunned.
Then they dug more deeply—and the more they uncovered, the more shocked they became.
Audi wasn't just making engines.
It helped fix the national railway's broken ticketing system
It held two world-class chip patents
It used a top 3 global supercomputer as a cloud server
"Is this guy out of his mind?" one official asked.
"A supercomputer is a strategic asset—and he's using it to host websites!"
They scrambled to provide support.
But… how?
Every department wanted to help. But every single project under Audi's name was already considered a national initiative:
Semiconductor R&D
Mobile chips
AI cloud computing
High-performance engines
Automotive manufacturing
Consumer electronics
Operating systems
"How the hell do we support them?"
"We can't support everything, right?"
Eventually, a consensus was reached.
"Just send someone. Ask what he needs."
And so Wang Cheng from the MIIT and Chang Yaohui from the Piao City government were dispatched to deliver one message:
"President Lu, if you need anything—the country will do its best to support you."
Xu Zhilin, Zhao Jianhua, and Chen Changchun were visibly excited.
But Haifeng?
He paused.
And then—he stood up dramatically, strode over to Director Wang, and grabbed his hand with an emotional tremble in his voice.
"Director Wang… we're suffering. We're barely holding on."
His tone was desperate. His acting? Oscar-worthy.
"To develop this engine… to bring glory to China…
We poured everything into this. Entire subsidiaries of China Star Tech went bankrupt."
The room went silent.
And then the whole sob story began.
"There were times when we couldn't make payroll.
Our whole R&D staff went unpaid for weeks."
"We had to sell personal assets, keeping just one house for my parents."
"I've got an 80-year-old mother at home…
A whole house full of wives and concubines to feed…"
"We've been scraping by, holding on, just for this day!"
Haifeng's melodramatic performance stunned everyone—even his staff.
But he knew what he was doing.
"You only get real policy support," he thought,
"when the country thinks you're struggling.
That's why I registered all engine patents under Audi Motors."
"Let the government support Audi—
and we'll take the money."
Finally, he let go of Wang's hand and added, voice soft and noble:
"If the country is willing to support us—we're honored.
We won't let you down."
"We're not greedy.
Just a few things…"
💸 Haifeng's "Small" Request
"Funding's tight," he said.
"We're trying to launch a national luxury car brand.
We need to buy equipment, build production lines, new factories…"
"If the country can offer a bit of support—maybe ¥10 to ¥20 billion (≈ $1.38–2.76 billion USD in 2025) in funding…"
"And 100 square kilometers of land adjacent to the existing park zone.
We're planning a new R&D base, and that location fits perfectly."
To an outsider, this might seem outrageous.
But the truth?
Haifeng was being modest.
With his company's insane expansion—into mobile phones, auto, chips, cloud, and more—the land he hoarded last year was already too small.
And the semiconductor factory?
Built. But empty. No equipment. No cash left.
The Hongmeng phones had sold over 40 million units, and cash flow was good—but…
R&D, factories, and future product launches ate up almost everything.
He wasn't lying when he said he had "just a little" working capital left.
So when the country came asking what they could support…
Haifeng knew this was his moment.
Never let a good opportunity go to waste.
This version now reflects proper localization—replacing "Daxia" with China where appropriate and consistent with prior chapters.