My autobiography is definitely not a tragedy!-Chapter 771 - 464: What Can This Building Actually Do?

Looking at the somewhat dull young factory director in front of him, whose eyes nevertheless held a glimmer of hope, Hu Yonghua felt an inexplicable sense of fondness.

"Mr. Fang, I really can’t accept this gift; it’s against organizational regulations."

Fang Ming’s face instantly revealed a look of disappointment.

To describe how he was feeling at that moment, it was pretty much like having a severely ill relative at home while the doctor in charge refused to take a red envelope...

It seemed this matter was going to fall through...

But then Hu Yonghua continued.

"However, you just mentioned that you can’t compete with the big state-owned factories in certain respects, but you do have advantages in other areas.

Instead of worrying about being treated unfairly, you might as well go back and take a good look at the bidding documents, and think about how to play to your strengths and avoid your weaknesses..."

Fang Ming wanted to say something more, but Hu Yonghua left after dropping that piece of advice.

Watching Hu Yonghua’s back as he left, Fang Ming fell into deep thought...

"Play to strengths and avoid weaknesses, huh..."

That very night, the light in a single room of a youth hostel stayed on until dawn...

...

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

There were still 24 ships left to order, with dozens of shipyards vying for the contracts.

During this period, it was a free-for-all, with everyone showing their own special talents.

Although Hu Yonghua had given a warning in advance, in both officialdom and the business world, where is there a lack of nepotism?

If direct allocation wasn’t possible, could one not just tinker with the assessment criteria?

If tinkering was not an option, then how about leaking the competition’s floor price?

Some even went directly to the client, hoping to pressure Gao Yuan by bypassing Hu Yonghua, but all these attempts were fended off by the experienced Hu Yonghua...

...

"...The above is the final result of this bidding. Congratulations to all!"

"Applause!"

When Hu Yonghua announced the final bidding results on the spot, naturally, there were mixed reactions.

Those who didn’t win the contract were frustrated and annoyed, while the winners were thrilled and elated.

However, unexpectedly, among the parade of large state-owned shipyards each displaying their prowess, a relatively unknown Hu Jian Private Shipyard unexpectedly became the dark horse of this tendering session...

"That’s great!" Fang Ming, seated towards the back, pumped his fist, his face flush with excitement.

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Play to strengths and avoid weaknesses!

Efficiency and cost were their greatest edges. When it came to technology, how could private enterprises compete with the talent-rich, immensely experienced state-owned giants...

So, that most peculiar, most niche, least technically demanding order... that was their opportunity!

Nobody knew what this so-called "Ecological Cultivation Ship" was for...

Although there was nothing technically challenging about it, the extremely short construction cycle and the cost squeezed to the limit made many competitors back off.

Not to mention the low profits—add to this the low market recognition for this "non-standard" class of vessel and the extremely low 10% prepayment condition...

This meant that if the client canceled the order, they would face the same fate as Bin City Shipyard!

Exactly! Fang Ming was gambling!

Gambling that the client, who threw around 20 billion, wouldn’t ruin their reputation over such a tiny order!

He was also betting that not many shipyards would be interested in this order!

And just as he expected...

Not many shipyards were willing to take the risk of committing to a completely new type of ship that had never before appeared on the market. Even those willing to take the risk were bound to calculate higher costs.

Especially for state-owned shipyards with exceptionally complicated approval processes.

The time it took to submit and receive responses to an application report, the bidding might already be over, and their decision-making efficiency could never match that of the agile private enterprise.

In the end, only three competitors vied for the "Ecological Cultivation Ship" order.

And "Southeast Shipyard" secured the order by virtue of the shortest construction period and lowest costs!

Though they had won the contract for only one ship, for "Southeast Shipyard," which had been experiencing overcapacity and an icy winter in the shipbuilding industry and was already in dire straits, this order was a lifeline ensuring their survival through the darkest hour before dawn.

Fang Ming’s all-or-nothing bet had won a glimmer of hope for the shipyard left by his father.

However, at that time, he did not realize that this seemingly least profitable and most niche item was actually the most valuable one among the batch of orders!

What he had gained was not just a thread of survival...

It was an entire blue ocean...

...

"I announce that the construction of our company’s ’Agriculture and Livestock Integration Three-Dimensional Ecological Breeding’ experimental building is officially topped off!"

Meanwhile, at Mengshan Pasture.

Following Mr. Meng’s announcement, several company executives and town representatives came together for a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and the sound of sporadic applause erupted on the scene.

In this way, the world’s first "Agriculture and Livestock Integration Three-Dimensional Ecological Breeding Building" was topped off amidst a few modest bursts of ceremonial fireworks...

"Manager Meng, the name of your building is somewhat strange, agriculture is agriculture, and livestock is livestock, what does ’Agriculture and Livestock Integration’ mean?

I’ve listened for a while and still can’t figure out what this building is actually for?"

County Magistrate Li, who had come to offer congratulations from the VIP seats, pointed at the 12-story structure, which had barely any window designs in its concrete and steel skeleton, and asked Mr. Meng with a friendly face.

Though there had been some "misunderstandings" before, after some "guidance" from the leaders in Beijing, County Magistrate Li had resolved any past grievances with Mengshan Pasture.

Upon hearing that Mengshan Pasture was a major supplier of live pigs for a national key project, he practically revered Mengshan Pasture like an ancestor.

Now, even if the government office buildings had no water or electricity, Mengshan Pasture would still be operating as usual, completely unaffected, enjoying VIP treatment among local enterprises!

"This... simply put, is raising pigs on the upper floors and growing vegetables on the lower floors, and then the vegetables can be used to feed the pigs. It’s a very environmentally friendly type of high-tech breeding building that basically doesn’t produce any environmental pollution," Mr. Meng tried to explain as simply as he could to address County Magistrate Li’s question.

In fact, he was still catching up with his learning.

The so-called "Agriculture and Livestock Integration Three-Dimensional Ecological Breeding" aims to make maximum use of various by-products from breeding to achieve a recyclable ecological technology.

Although the headquarters had sent technicians to organize training, this unheard-of and rather advanced ecological breeding model still seemed puzzling and impressive to Mr. Meng.

He even doubted whether, with current technology, it was really possible to achieve such a level of breeding.

"Then... how much did this building cost to construct?"

County Magistrate Li wasn’t concerned about the pollution; he was interested in the economic value of the building...

"Hmm... roughly three hundred million."

"What! How... how much?" County Magistrate Li almost spit out the tea he was about to drink.

"Three hundred million," Mr. Meng said with a somewhat strange expression.

Although he knew the Phase II investment would be at least one billion or more, voicing the word "billion" still made Mr. Meng somewhat uncomfortable.

"Just this building? Three hundred million? Manager Meng, you’re not joking, right?"

"Of course not, the building itself of course isn’t worth much, just that the foundation is a bit more solid, the concrete is a bit thicker, the rebar a bit coarser, construction wouldn’t cost over 30 million. The key lies in the various automated equipment inside..."

The "Three-Dimensional Ecological Breeding Building," as well as the "Three-Dimensional Ecological Cultivation Ship," modeled after post-apocalyptic cruise ships, are both Meng Lang’s "logistics bases" for preserving the seeds of human civilization.

This experimental building, along with that "cultivation ship" currently up for bidding, are actually the first batch of "showrooms."

Their purpose is to pave the way, accumulating preliminary experience for future large-scale promotion.

However, the cultivation ship, in addition to the breeding building, features an additional "marine fishery" recycle system.

Both have a closed management system inside, with automatic adjustments for temperature and humidity on each floor.

They also employ composite new energy devices like wind, water, and light, achieving a completely zero-emission, zero-pollution recyclable energy system.

Operations such as upper-level feeding and manure disposal are completed through automated control; each floor constitutes an independent intensive breeding area to prevent cross-flow of personnel, materials, and livestock between floors, thus effectively blocking the spread of diseases.

The manure and waste materials from breeding can serve as nutrients for the cultivation of organic ecological vegetables on the lower levels.

The lower levels utilize an automated three-dimensional drip irrigation soilless cultivation, with yields far exceeding traditional agriculture, and can also grow soybeans and other pig feed, which can, in turn, be used for breeding.

Moreover, it can be adapted according to local conditions and market demand to customize the breeding types for each floor.

It’s easy to say, but the selection of breeding types must form a semi-independent mini ecological system, which is the real technical challenge.

Of course, there are also the most crucial system architecture and internal automated logistics, as well as the deployment of semi-Artificial Intelligence...

It may seem simple, but in reality, the "technological barriers" are quite high-end!

According to the design, this 12-story building can accommodate up to 20,000 live pigs, with an estimated annual turnover of 40,000 pigs. However, it only requires a minimum of 10 workers for management, essentially achieving full automation.

As the saying goes, the poor rely on mutations, the rich rely on technology; naturally, the various high-tech automated equipment needed inside are quite valuable...

"What equipment requires so much money?" County Magistrate Li was somewhat skeptical.

Just a 12-story building, three hundred million? Are your equipment made of gold?

"This includes automatic cleaning, automatic feeding, automatic harvesting, automatic pest control, as well as automatic identification, digitization, intelligent integrated management..."

Mr. Meng, having crammed recently, had actually memorized quite a few technical terms.

Although he might not grasp the technical details, it didn’t prevent him from using them to dazzle amateurs...

"Stop, stop, stop! Manager Meng, just tell me simply, what can this building actually do?" County Magistrate Li was clearly baffled.

"Hmm..." Mr. Meng thought for a moment, recalling one of the most memorable features from the internal training materials...

"County Magistrate Li, you’ve heard of facial recognition, haven’t you?"

"Of course, I’ve heard that you can just use your face to shop in supermarkets in big cities now!"

"Well... this building is capable of ’pig face recognition’..."

"What?"

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