Chapter 408: Flannery

Words : 1782 Updated : Oct 13th, 2025

After having a few drinks at noon and taking a two-and-a-half-hour break, Lu Liang set off to visit General Motors in the afternoon. "Old Zhuang, you’ve been in Detroit for a few months now, have you identified any particularly good talent?” As soon as Lu Liang’s words came out, Xu Jiawei knew Boss Lu was preparing to help the company alleviate its burden by scouting fresh graduates. Ota Renjun brought good news – Jin Guangzhi from the Hyundai Group had accepted their invitation. He had decided to move his whole family to Modu, and his twins had been specially admitted to Fudan Middle School to become reserves of Fudan University. He was currently processing his resignation and was in contact with some mid-to-high level engineers at Hyundai, planning on pulling them out along with his departure. In terms of talent poaching, Boss Lu was always fair-minded, whether targeting friendly, cooperative, or adversarial companies. Whenever an opportunity presented itself, he would wield his hoe and dig fiercely. seaʀᴄh thё NôvelFire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. According to Boss Lu’s view, they were newcomers in the industry, and these old companies should ideally support and nurture the next generation, passing the torch. He described wall-poaching as something so noble and pure, that perhaps only a scorpion could spin a tale like that. He’s surely one of a kind. Zhuang Wei was stunned, then understood Lu Liang’s intention: “Mr. Lu, it seems a few engineers from the technical department are showing a keen interest in our culture.” General Motors has been a regular amongst the Fortune 500, ranking in the top thirty for many years. Moreover, the United States’ compensation packages are naturally high. If they wanted to attract high-end talent, they had to start with their hobbies and interests. Luckily, the land of East Country boasts a brilliant civilization spanning five thousand years and was undergoing rapid development over the last decade or so. Western media keep under wraps and often claim they are underdeveloped, but in the households of Europe and America, nearly everything is made in East Country. Last year, General Motors’ total revenue amounted to 377 billion US dollars, with the East Country market comprising 18.2%, and sales exceeding four million joint venture vehicles. Just General Motors’ joint venture vehicles topped sales of four million units, not to mention German and globally best-selling Japanese brands, accumulating to over twenty-two million units in total. A market with yearly automobile sales exceeding twenty-two million units, describing a country with such consuming power as economically backward could probably fool only the children. It’s just that YouTube, the world’s largest video site, constantly restricts and removes videos that portray their domestic achievements positively. The main push of South Asian AK media, a bunch of wild, screechy monkey-like beings, gives the impression to many in the Western world of low intelligence that this is what Asians are like. Where there’s a demand for such content, there’s a need, And where there’s a need, there’s a market. So, online Asians live like primitives, yet the physical world is surrounded by products manufactured in East Country. Gradually, a veil of mystery has been cast over East Country. There are people who adore Japan domestically, and abroad there are those who are fascinated with East Country. Additionally, unlike at home, Western countries have typically experienced nation and race integrations, resulting in a rare sense of homeland and ethnic identity. Therefore, bringing them into the country is relatively easy. "Old Zhuang, I’ll leave this matter to you to handle. Raise the compensation by 70%-100%,” Lu Liang treated all potential recruits equally, whether they were domestic employees changing jobs for a 30-70% increase or foreigners for a 70-100% increase. Though indeed higher for foreigners, it’s justified given they’re moving to a foreign land, without friends or family and with language barriers. Just like a civil engineering buddy back home, whose monthly salary for moving bricks stands only at six to seven thousand, but would easily exceed ten thousand in some small African country. However, the cap is 100%; any more just wouldn’t be worthwhile. Zhuang Wei nodded. They were there to learn and would eventually return to China. If he could take a few high-end talents back with him, it would all be worth the tuition fees Boss Lu helped them pay. They were paying the funds, General Motors provided the technology, and both sides cooperated in building a factory in Detroit, all for an electric vehicle that had yet to be unveiled. This investment was essentially paying tuition fees. You could tell, Lu Liang thought far ahead. Unwilling to use Wan Guozao technology, he initiated the project for Lou Shui New Energy Industrial Park, and now he was partnering with General Motors, sending them over. Ultimately, he hoped that domestically produced new energy vehicles would one day no longer be synonymous with low-end, cheap, and devoid of technological substance. Although often joked about, the so-called new energy vehicle is just a smartphone on four wheels. But it’s still a vehicle that travels on roads – it can be made shoddily or built to excellence. Lu Liang, without a doubt, preferred the latter. "Stop talking, here they come.” Lu Liang whispered a warning, a radiant smile on his face as he embraced a fifty-something-year-old foreigner dressed in a well-tailored suit: “Flannery, long time no see, have you missed me?” John Flannery, the tenth chairman and eleventh CEO of General Motors. The last time they met in Detroit, it was but a brief encounter. "Lu, I’ve missed you terribly,” Flannery said with a full smile, speaking in his imperfect Chinese, which had a bit of the comedian Feng Gong’s flavor. "Is that so? But why don’t I feel the same way?” Lu Liang’s face grew cold as he suddenly took issue with how their young team member had been bullied here. This guy, always grinning like Maitreya Buddha—joyous and approachable—would deceive you if judged merely by his appearance, mistaking him for someone who’s easy to talk to. In the past, Flannery was in charge of General Motors’ financial operations, primarily responsible for corporate restructuring and capital maneuvering. His fame rose with the acquisition of Alstom in ’13, after which he became the CEO and chairman of General Motors. Alstom was known as the ‘BYD of France,’ constructing the world’s fastest running trains and the most powerful fully automated metro trains, and was also a leader in the global power generation and rail transport infrastructure sectors. As the saying goes, a man is not guilty for carrying a gem, but it is his possession of it that’s the crime. Since the downfall of the last ‘Frenchman,’ the once-mighty Gallic rooster withered completely. Not only was it superseded by darker forces, but even its backbone was extracted. Alstom’s executives were put under house arrest for three years; the entire company was dismembered, mirroring the dissection of Neon’s semiconductor industry in the past. While state power was employed, the United States harbors many competing forces, and the fact that General Motors secured the largest piece of the pie points to Flannery’s formidable abilities. Flannery’s expression remained unchanged, his smile intact, “Mr. Lu, are you referring to Meng Yifei? This oversight on our part, and we’ve decided to compensate him with one hundred thousand dollars.” "Mike and George have been penalized by the department, losing their annual bonuses. If you’re still dissatisfied, we can revise their punishments, adjusting them until you’re content.” "My subordinates are like my family, and I absolutely will not tolerate them being bullied here.” Lu Liang squinted, suddenly bursting into laughter, “Flannery, you truly are a good friend.” A scuffle happened, more precisely Meng Yifei was hit by two others. And it was the other party who provoked the incident first, causing trouble while intoxicated, something Lu Liang had only recently become aware of. No results had been reached over the past half month. He had just arrived, and the matter was already settled, clearly, this guy had anticipated that Lu Liang would seize the chance to create trouble, so he handled things preemptively, leaving Lu Liang no reason to lose his temper. "After all, we are good friends.” Flannery still smiled, despite being forced by Old Te to enter into a partnership with Lu Liang, which displeased him greatly. But with the situation a fait accompli, life is like XX; if you can’t fight it, you must learn to enjoy it. A fifty billion dollar investment is no small sum, and while Lu Liang wanted to learn their technology, they were also hoping to kill two birds with one stone. A fight—a foolish thing with no benefits—would only give Lu Liang a chance to cause trouble; it was by no means Flannery’s idea. Leaving Lu Liang empty-handed and turning the theft against him—that was his true intention. As the two men with their own agendas conversed, Flannery brought up the reason for Lu Liang’s visit to the United States: “Are you here to assist with Panda’s roadshow?” Lu Liang was surprised: “General Motors is interested too?” "Not just General Motors, all of America, and even the financial institutions in Europe, are likely to be interested.” Flannery was surprised that Lu Liang wasn’t aware that ‘Panda’ had become a new star in the Western financial world. After all, the name was so aptly chosen—a globally unique Asiatic creature that is black, white, chubby, and herbivorous. Panda diplomacy has existed since the last century, and many who are unaware even think it’s a major corporation. Plus, Lu Liang holds a significant number of shares, not to mention the initial offering price was only 2.2 dollars, and the total market cap was just over four billion dollars. Moreover, the news of the Modu exchange freezing one billion dollars had spread across Wall Street, indicating that institutions in East University are very optimistic. In effect, the company Panda, like the animal, hadn’t even gone public yet and was already stacked with BUFFs. This stock price and market cap, perfect for speculation. The entire financial world was eyeing this piece of cake. Just waiting for it to go public to join the fray. "Maybe they are just looking for an excuse.” Lu Liang was speechless, seeing the essence of the matter in an instant. An excuse is necessary for action, and what the financial market needs most is a gimmick. As for what chaos might ensue after the hype, that was beyond their consideration.

Chapter 408: Flannery

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