(Thank you for the "law" tip, the recommended votes in the past two days are a bit miserable...... Tomorrow the second volume will be over. ）

The Boeing 787 landed smoothly on the runway, gliding slowly, and looking out through the porthole, it was almost entirely a Boeing factory and surrounding employee quarters, as if it had become a small town. There are many planes of various types parked around the runway, the most common of which are large airliners with white livery and full of industrial aesthetics, neatly parked in the wilderness on both sides of the runway, and then there are endless large factory buildings, all of which have a common mark:

Boeing.

This is Boeing's largest factory, Everett.

The Everett plant is more than just a production site, it's a self-regulating city. There are six independent production and assembly hangars. More than 25,000 workers work here in three shifts every day, and even need special personnel to gradually guide them when they get off work to ensure that the traffic conditions in the town are not congested.

Every day, 10 to 12 aircraft are assembled here at the same time, including all Boeing ace models, including the 747, 767, 777 and 787.

Under the guidance of Carrie Shiu, project manager of the product marketing department of the Civil Aircraft Group, standing in front of this 282-acre single building, which covers an area of 282 acres and is the largest single building in the world, everyone couldn't help but show a uniform look of shock, and at the same time, they also deeply felt their own insignificance.

Except, of course, Li Jie.

Seeing that his expression hadn't changed much, Carrie, the marketing supervisor, couldn't help but ask with a little curiosity, "Has Mr. Li ever been here?" You're the calmest of all the guests visiting Everett. ”

"No, I haven't been here. I am also amazed by this huge building that represents the pinnacle of human industrial civilization, but legends are meant to be transcended, and dwelling on the past will only stop us, and I believe that Boeing will create new peaks sooner or later, right? Li Jie smiled, and in order not to be too different, he explained a little. Of course, he would not tell the other party that the majesty he had seen was far greater than human imagination.

"Mr. Li's words are really full of philosophical meaning, and he really deserves to be an outstanding representative of Chinese Americans." Carrie was stunned for a moment, then smiled and complimented.

"Ms. Shao should be from eastern Guangdong? Or Xiangjiang? ”

Li Jie has long noticed that her surname, which is completely different from the general pinyin method, often comes from eastern Guangdong, Fujian and other places, with a bit of dialect characteristics.

"I am from Xiangjiang, Huaguo, my Chinese name is Shao Liang Huijun, you can call me Huijun." Carrie explained.

"Thank you, Huijun, can you show us around the factory?" Li Jie gestured.

In this airplane manufacturing plant, all kinds of Americans, Asians, and immigrants from all over the world gather around every corner. Whether it's a close-up view of these behemoths from the floor of a factory, or a view of the entire assembly hall from an overhead crane 30 meters above the ground, there is a sense of extreme unreality – the huge measuring scale here makes humans seem small.

After a brief tour, Li Jie met Elizabeth H. Lund on the fourth floor of the factory, the vice president and general manager of the 747 project, who is different from the American women you can see everywhere on the streets of Seattle or New York.

"Welcome, Mr. Lee, I'm glad you chose Boeing." Elizabeth Lund said in a gentle and kind voice. "That's the Boeing 747-8VIP you want to see."

The wall adjacent to the processing room is a whole sheet of glass, so that Elizabeth's office can overlook the whole workshop, and she points down to introduce Li Jie. Everyone looked in the direction of their fingers, and a white fuselage, which was obviously larger than its surrounding kind, was lying quietly prone in the workshop, looking a little inconspicuous, and the back half was even empty, and the skeleton and internal structure of the aircraft could be clearly seen.

"Please don't be fooled by its appearance, this 747-8VIP is not yet assembled, and it is not even bare-metal. and so on

Afterwards, we notify our clients and invite them to consult with dedicated design centers, including BMW's American Design Team Studio (design_works_usa) and renowned Italian design consultancy Gigaro Design (giugiaro_design), to finalize the interior and exterior design of the aircraft. After the installation of the customized VIP equipment, it will be a real dream palace in the sky. Elizabeth Lund explains with a smile.

"The interior of the cabin, the design of the dome, the color, the design of the cabin windows and even the position and height of the seats are all very important parts of the passenger experience, and we have the best design team, including experts in architecture, psychology, physics and other fields, to meet all of Mr. Li's needs." R. Blake Emery, director of cabin interior design, sent the specific information to Li Jie and others in a timely manner, and introduced his core team.

The Boeing 747-8VIP is nearly 77 meters long - several meters longer than the average 747 airliner, and the cabin that could have accommodated more than 500 passengers is now fully equipped for the needs of one person and his entourage, with an interior space of up to 4,700 square feet, bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchens all customized by customers, spiral staircases, vaulted ceilings, wall-mounted TVs, wooden floors, and other pleasant equipment are not a problem, it is simply the ultimate version of the palace in the sky.

And this huge guy can reach a top speed of Mach 0.86 (about 920 km / h) and a range of more than 17,000 km, that is, with it, you can fly almost anywhere on the planet without needing to refuel.

The expensive palace in the sky sells for between $270 million and $280 million, not including exterior paint, interior fixtures or design, which cost around $20 million. In other words, if Li Jie wants to get the final finished version, he needs to pay at least about 300 million US dollars. In addition, the employment of pilots and crew, as well as the management and maintenance of aircraft, have to be considered.

Such a terrifying gold-swallowing beast is probably unimaginable to ordinary people. However, Li Jie did not hesitate, and after listening carefully to the detailed introduction of these professionals, he signed the agreement on the spot and paid a deposit of 10 million US dollars. It is expected that the aircraft will be delivered in a year to a year and a half, and he will need to pay the balance at that time.

Think about the projects in the lab, which will soon translate into a steady stream of income, and there should be no problem with funding.

And Lee's super shopping trip didn't end there, and he flew straight to Fort Lauderdale, a small city known as the "yachting capital of the world" in Broward County, Florida, which is home to Florida's deepest port: Everglades Harbor.

Lee Kit came here with the obvious intention of acquiring a yacht, and the yacht builder BTI has set up a dedicated office here, which is one of Italy's oldest shipyards founded in 1873 and is an unrivalled example of elegance with timeless design, world-class quality and meticulous detailing. It is part of the Italian brand of the Azimut-BTI Group, the largest yacht manufacturing group in the world, along with Azimut Yachts, Azimut Grande and Atlantis.

Benetti Yachts not only designs and manufactures classic yachts, but also offers a fully bespoke service that focuses on the needs of the customer. The former focuses on yachts ranging from 93 feet to 145 feet, while the latter focuses on large yachts with steel and aluminum structures over 47 meters.

After some discussions with the yacht designer, he finally ordered a three-story yacht with a total length of about 90 meters, equipped with a helipad, swimming pool and two dinghies, for $130 million. The new ship will give her life to life at Benetti's shipyard in Livorno, Italy, with a one-year delivery time.

In the end, Li Kit paid a deposit of US$10 million to Airbus through Citi for the purchase of the A380VVIP private business jet. The reason why he did not come to the door was because the company, which is owned by the European Aerospace Defense Group, is headquartered in the space city of Toulouse in the south of France, which is too far away to affect his participation in Sheila Clint's banquet, so he can only pay a deposit after a brief understanding.

This is also because Airbus' new plant in Mobile, Alabama, USA, does not produce the A380, but only the A320 150-seater airliner. The A380, a two-level cabin that can accommodate more than 550 passengers, of course, is customized by Li Jie for 20 people, and the rest of the space will be transformed.

It is worth mentioning that Lee's A380 will feature a private gym, ample bathrooms, spacious bedrooms, the latest interiors, in-flight entertainment and communication technology, and even a sky pool and fireplace, with the final price still at $400 million. Airbus revealed to Li Jie that Prince Al Waleed bin Talal, the first Saudi Arabian prince to customize the A380VVIP private jet, spent nearly $500 million in the end.

Even Li Jie can't imagine how the other party spent so much money, but it seems that normal people can't compare with this kind of Middle Eastern tyrant who is studded with diamonds on Mercedes-Benz cars.

After ending this extravagant money-burning trip, Kit calculated for Li Jie that he would pay more than 800 million bills for these big toys in two years. If it had been before, Flower and the others would definitely have to be frightened and try to dissuade them, but after getting familiar with Li Jie's style, mainly after learning about the progress of the research projects in the major laboratories of the Corona Company, they were no longer worried at all, as if they had seen the wonderful scene of the tide of money rolling in.

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