The bright midday sun of Suzhou, Jiangsu province glinted off the polished metallic green of a brand-new BYD Seal EV. Inside the showroom of the regional dealership, Xiao Li, a salesperson barely six months into her career, beamed. Her short, neat bob bounced with her enthusiasm.
“Congratulations, Mr. Wang!” she said, handing over the key fob. “You’re not just buying a car; you’re investing in the future. The Blade Battery technology ensures outstanding safety and longevity, and with the DiPilot L2+ advanced driving assistance system, your daily commute is going to be effortless.”
Mr. Wang, a man whose tailored suit spoke of recent prosperity—likely from the booming local manufacturing and tech sectors—nodded, impressed.
“It’s the tech that sold me, Xiao Li. These domestic cars… they’re truly world-class now.”
A few minutes later, the sleek EV hummed quietly out of the lot. Xiao Li stood with Manager Zhao and the senior mechanic, Old Wei, watching it go.
Manager Zhao clapped his hands together, eyes alight. “Another successful sale! And a high-margin one at that. That customer just closed a huge industrial property deal. He invited me for a celebratory baijiu drive later this week. Hehe.”
Old Wei, a perpetually stoic man in oil-stained overalls, sighed, running a hand over his tired face. “We might never see that customer again.”
Xiao Li frowned, her celebratory mood deflating slightly. “Huh? Why, Old Wei? It’s one of the safest cars on the market, especially with the advanced high-strength steel cage construction.”
“I have a feeling he’s going to get into a car accident,” Old Wei mumbled, then quickly added, “Oops, don’t tell anyone I said that. Just a hunch.”
“Have you ever been in a car accident, Old Wei?” she asked, genuinely concerned.
“Never. I don’t drive.”
“Huh? Why don’t you drive? You are one of the best mechanics in the city!”
Old Wei leaned against a hoist, his eyes taking on a distant, haunted look. “It all started a little while ago. A major auto recycling yard over in Wuxi called me up. They knew I specialized in teardowns of high-tech vehicles. They had a wrecked car—a competitor’s high-performance sedan that had hit a barrier at high speed on the G42 highway.”
He paused, gathering his thoughts. “‘This is a bit of a hassle,’ the yard manager said, 'but would you do it? '”
“A troublesome job?” Xiao Li whispered.
“Yeah. I was asked to carefully disassemble the entire crushed cabin and look for… the face.”
“A face?”
“That’s right. When I asked him the details, he said the driver of the wrecked car was doing an estimated 150 km/h—far above the typical limit—when the Electronic Stability Program (ESP) failed to correct a skid, and the car rolled multiple times. His body was crushed to pieces and tragically embedded in the structural foam and crushed composite materials of the chassis.”
Old Wei’s voice grew heavy. “The driver’s widow cried out to the police, ‘We found my husband’s arms and legs, but we can’t find his face. It must be stuck somewhere inside the body of the car. He was wearing his wedding ring, but we need his face for identification and closure. Please find my husband’s face before this car is scrapped.’”
Xiao Li covered her mouth, speechless, imagining the horror of the scene. The image of high-tech, pristine engineering suddenly juxtaposed with unimaginable human tragedy was jarring.
“That’s why I don’t drive,” Old Wei concluded, pushing himself off the hoist. “For all the talk about vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication and redundant safety systems, when metal meets concrete at speed, the human being is still just fragile flesh. The systems promise control, but the road is chaos.”
He looked towards the Manager’s office, where Zhao was already back on the phone, likely arranging the evening’s festivities. “Surprisingly, a lot of people don’t like driving. That includes the manager here. He drives his electric scooter to work, not the company car.”
Xiao Li walked back to her desk, the glow of the showroom a little dimmer. She picked up a brochure for the Geely Galaxy E8, with its massive 45-inch 8K screen dominating the interior. The cars were brilliant, powerful, and intelligent. But as she thought of the missing face—the ultimate human vulnerability—she realized the true appeal of the job: selling not just horsepower or kilowatt-hours, but the promise, however fragile, of safety and control.
All names of people and organizations appearing in this story are pseudonyms
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