Chapter 21: Shadows in the Supply Chain (Revised)
Li Wei flipped through a stack of procurement records in silence.
Front forks. Gearbox housings. Brake assemblies. Everything looked normal—on paper. But the last three shipments had been riddled with problems. Misaligned threads. Bent components. Steel that felt thinner than regulation.
He looked up at Xu Lian, their plant's new quality control supervisor.
"These swingarms from Ningyuan Foundry… They passed your inspection?"
"They did," Xu Lian said. "At least, on surface metrics. But something's off. They meet tolerance—barely. My gut says they've changed their alloy mix."
"Trying to save a few yuan by giving us cheap metal," Li Wei muttered.
"And they're not the only ones," she added.
Meanwhile, Chen Rui was finishing a call with a procurement agent from Guangzhou.
"They're offering deferred payments, but I don't trust their logistics," the agent said. "Want me to push for another month of testing?"
Chen Rui's pen tapped the desk.
"No. We don't have a month. Accept the deal—but send a technician down with the next order. Quietly. I want to see what's really coming off their line."
As he hung up, his phone buzzed again. A text from his father, Chen Jianhua:
"Heard a rumor. Someone upstream is dumping substandard parts into our supply chain. Watch your back."
Later that night, Li Wei visited the factory floor under dim emergency lights. A mechanic handed him a broken steering column—snapped during a routine safety test.
"Didn't even survive half the stress cycle," the man said.
Li Wei ran his thumb along the fracture.
Impure weld. Bad steel. Wrong supplier.
And all of it… traced back to a broker Chen Rui had reluctantly approved months ago.
Across town, in a tea house in the industrial district, two men met in hushed tones.
"He's catching on," one said.
The other sipped his tea calmly. "Let him. They won't survive another supplier disruption anyway."