Chapter Ninety-six: Pulling Wind

  The Citroen CX's style in the 1980s is roughly equivalent to that of a Ferrari 20 years later.

  Years ago, China imported 2,500 Citroen CXs, mainly for national institutions and enterprises. It is classified as a mid-to-high-end sedan in Europe, equivalent to the BMW 5 Series. A few Citroen CXs were brought from the oil field, originally intended for the secretary and several deputy secretaries to replace their old cars. However, Bo Rong considered his upcoming retirement, Lin Yonggui considered his upcoming promotion, and voluntarily gave up, while the other deputy secretaries did not dare to use it alone, so the car was left unused.

  Su Cheng chose a black car model and after getting the key, he started it gently, feeling the vehicle slowly rising.

  Look down, the hydraulic chassis lifting system has three gears. When parking, it is 10 cm away from the ground, when driving at high speed, it is 15 cm, and when the road conditions are poor, it can be raised to 20 cm, with a maximum of 30 cm...

  "This car can stand on three wheels. If you need to change a tire, no need for a jack, just raise the car to its highest position, put bricks under the wheel and then lower it, and the wheel will be in the air. Also, you can raise either the front or rear wheels separately."

  This design was extremely unusual in the 1980s. As a passenger, it's an absolutely science fiction-like experience, even 20 years later.

  Guo Da touched the back of his head and sat in the front passenger seat, saying: "I'll also bring a few packs of Zhonghua cigarettes with me from now on."

  Su Cheng filled out the form in the car and then slowly started the engine, laughing: "When you were choosing a car, didn't you have Citroen?"

  "Back then..." Qu Guoda let out a soft "tsk" and leaned back in his chair, shifting comfortably as he chuckled: "We can't just move these few cars around. After all, none of the vice secretaries have changed vehicles, right?"

  One foot was outside the oil field in Suzhou, and naturally didn't care if the leader had a good car or not. After thanking him for a while, he stepped on the accelerator and rushed out.

  Guo Da looked left and right, suddenly realizing he was sitting in Su Cheng's car again, and immediately fastened his seatbelt.

  The Citroen CX shot out of the car park like a racing car, and although it crossed paths with several cars, it narrowly avoided them by a hair's breadth.

  Guo Dacheng's face turned pale with fright, thinking: What am I doing getting on the bus for nothing!

  His thoughts soon solidified.

  Citroen is much faster than Fiat.

  As one of the best models in the 80s, Citroen's handling and driving feel are very good. Su Cheng said: With such a good car, it's really not easy to fool around. However, fuel consumption is indeed a tumor that cannot be solved, and should be controlled and reduced.

  Oil thieves often steal oil through pipelines, one type is the reckless type, driving an oil tanker, drilling into the pipeline and stealing several tons at once. Another type is the small-time type, they dig a hole under the oil pipeline, then drill out a very small hole, slowly collecting crude oil for sale.

  In any case, the oil thieves do not care about the crude oil spill and even less about the damage to the pipeline. The former pollutes the environment, while the latter may generate hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars in repair costs.

  The oil fields paid out far more money than they took in.

  So, rather than saying that the oil thieves are stealing oil, it's better to say they're burning oil. Their behavior is no different from that of power line thieves. The only difference is that the complex relationships formed in the oil fields over the years have made oil theft no longer a simple crime, but more like a manifestation of "relying on the mountain to eat the mountain, relying on the oil to eat the oil".

  In Xinjiang and Daqing oil fields, there is no such phenomenon of stealing oil as in the case of the Victory Oil Field.

  Su Cheng narrowed his eyes and thought: Since we're not planning to make money with temperature sensors, patents don't seem necessary. The oil field is the end-user, and I estimate that Secretary Lin wouldn't be willing to pay patent fees to foreigners either. This way, there's one less step; all we need to do is get our hands on the temperature sensor blueprints, find a contract manufacturer and an installation company, and we're good to go.

  He thought as he drove, Qu Guoda's face had already begun to turn greenish, and finally couldn't help but close his eyes, waiting for fate's arrangement.

  The car stopped.

  Su Cheng got off the bus and said, "I'm going to make two phone calls."

  Guo Guodong rolled out of the Citroen and disappeared into the vast crowd.

  Su Cheng walked into the telecommunications office and requested an international long-distance call. A crowd had already gathered outside.

  In 1988 Shandong, the most common cars people saw were either sturdy and robust Soviet-style cars or angular Japanese-style cars, who would have seen a fashionable and avant-garde French style?

  Oil field leaders are still sitting on the crown, Su City opened is the first Citroen CX, people see its automatic lifting, just like watching a helicopter.

  Su Cheng's overseas call was made to George. This foreigner, who gave him his first pot of gold, was in United Chemicals and should be familiar with the electronics industry.

  He didn't say that it would be widely used, just that the blueprint for a "temperature sensor" was needed. This matchbox-sized thing can't be that complicated.

  George agreed immediately and chatted for a couple more sentences before hanging up the phone.

  A brief phone call of over ten minutes almost spent all the money he carried with him. Su Cheng couldn't help but feel: Having overseas relatives isn't easy either.

  As soon as I slowly walked out of the telecommunications company's gate, someone came up and asked: "Brother, where did you get this car fixed?"

  "Oil field."

  "Which country's?" Kids without search engines can't afford to get hurt, seeing a car logo, there's nowhere to ask.

  "Suzhou replied straightforwardly: 'France'."

  Another burst of amazement around.

  "Can I borrow this car?" The young man who asked the question handed over a cigarette and smiled: "I'm from the Youth League, I'm getting married, isn't this car needed for the wedding? Take a look, can you help me out?"

  This is also because of his young age. If Lin Yonggui or Qu Guoda were driving out, no one would dare to come forward and borrow the car.

  Su Cheng smiled and said, "I might go out tomorrow, let's take a look when I get back, okay?"

  As he spoke, he got into the car.

  The Citroen CX slowly lifted 10 cm with the help of its hydraulic suspension system and glided smoothly.

  Within a few days, George faxed over several temperature sensor specifications that were suitable for oil field environments.

  A few days later, more detailed information arrived by airmail. Of course, the ostensible explanation was that it was for patent inquiries and sales.

  Only Su and George are certain that the patent deal will not go through.

  At this honeymoon period of Sino-US relations, the US government did not need to and was unable to check every technical document. In fact, even if they really checked, the contents in the airmail reports were also in compliance with regulations.

  At the same time, Lin Yonggui's experts from Beijing also arrived at Shengli Oilfield, occupying an entire floor, where they separately revised and drew blueprints and developed software systems.