This article is reproduced from the public account of autocarweekly.
Author: Xue Yafu
“Ten years of sharpening a sword, the frosty blade has never been tested. Today I show it to you, who has any complaints?”
Including this year, which happens to mark the 10th anniversary of the establishment of his own business, after going through multiple crises, the present-day Leopard is no longer the impulsive young driver from years ago. The inspiring poem has long been set as the screensaver on his phone. As a veteran in the Honda car circle, Leopard’s earlier hot temper has transformed into a composed, meticulous personality, which is truly worth learning for younger generations.
On a certain weekend after Chinese New Year, I met with this old friend who I hadn’t seen for a long time. To my surprise, Leopard had not driven his red Civic Type R, but instead had switched to a Honda Insight Hybrid. After exchanging a few pleasantries, I found out that he had just bought a new car. To be honest, I couldn’t help being curious about the experiences of this mature and youthful person, who had moved from a Honda sedan to a Honda MPV.
Leopard said: “My Honda story spans three generations, with the dreams of four generations in it.”
Leopard grew up riding on the back of his father’s Honda motorcycle during his childhood. After he grew up, he began playing with Honda cars, and he bought an Acura when his child was born. Leopard was very excited and had much to say, but didn’t know where to start.
Thinking back to around 2011, those years were a mixture of bitter and sweet youth. Young Leopard worked at a tea restaurant, where although he did not earn much, he was fortunate to have a boss who treated people well. Compared to other employees who just went through the motions, the hardworking Leopard always gained the approval of the boss, and even after work, he was still willing to stay behind to finish things up before going home. Therefore, he occasionally received the boss’s “care,” which brought some surprises to his financially tight life.
After working at the tea restaurant for three years, Leopard saved some money to buy a used Honda Civic by chance. That was his first Honda car. The restless chassis was constantly challenging the driver during each turn. Since then, during his days off, Leopard constantly tinkered with his car, studied tuning parts, and participated in track days during holidays.
As it happened, at a sponsored track event by a certain brand at that time, there was a well-mannered and attractive girl (tentatively called Esha) in charge of registering and distributing materials for drivers. The June heat made the outdoor temperature in Guangdong reach 36 degrees Celsius. Sweat streamed down their backs, and a long line formed in front of the registration table, so Esha randomly picked up a pen and tied up her hair with it. A few casual actions immediately caught Leopard’s attention.The performance of Leopard in that game wasn’t great, but he had the courage to ask for her QQ number after the game. Losing the game, but encountering a beauty, was really worth it.
In the blink of an eye, he is already 35 or 36 years old. The difficult years of working in a tea restaurant, the happy memories of meeting his wife because of Civic, and the hardships of starting a business, seem like only yesterday. To be honest, I never thought that Leopard’s second car would be an Elysion. I thought at most it would be an INSPIRE. This positive and sunny boy, flipped and bought an Elysion, which was indeed surprising. Looking back, Elysion has status, style, and sophistication, which really suit his current identity.
Companionship is Another Starting Point
In casual conversation, Leopard also said that he didn’t expect to buy an Elysion. If it was before, he thought it would be impossible to buy an MPV, but the result turned out to be really good. In the beginning, because of the child, his previous life was greatly affected. Esha strongly supported Leopard to play with cars and modify them. At that time, Leopard didn’t need to consider the passengers’ feelings. Even if the suspension was hard and the racing bucket seat was tight, Esha was already used to it. But when they needed to take the child out, the situation was completely different.
Especially during holidays, when the whole family needed to go back to their hometown together, the elderly sitting in the back seat of the sedan would be very uncomfortable. So they decided to buy a 7-seater car. After browsing through the market, from the 200,000 level to the 300,000 level, and even to the 500,000 to 600,000 level 7-seater cars, the process of selecting a car was always difficult. Finally, they chose the Elysion because among the same price and same level MPV models within 300,000 yuan, they really couldn’t find a model with higher configuration than the Elysion.
Going back to when Leopard was 25 years old, he was being nourished by love and working harder. The happiest thing for Leopard during the sweet love days was to drive with Esha to the beach after the early shift and enjoy the wind.
But no matter how hard he worked, a salary that used to be for one person was now being planned for two people, and the practical problems of life naturally followed. For Leopard, the longer these days continued, the more guilty he felt. For a man, the more he loves the other person, the more he wants to “pull up the skylight”.
After much consideration, Leopard said goodbye to his boss who valued him and embarked on the road of entrepreneurship.
Starting a business is very difficult, and in order to support Bao Bao’s business, Esha not only used her savings, but also borrowed some cash on her credit card. To take care of Bao Bao’s face, Esha also kindly consoled him, “girls don’t spend much money, it’s all saved by themselves.” This is how the couple had their start-up capital.
With only a small budget in hand, they kept looking for shops in various commercial areas, from large shopping malls, to residential areas, to school districts, and even urban villages. In fact, the most difficult part of starting a business is often the first year. Even if money is invested, there may be no return. The biggest worry every day is the fear of running out of funds for future turnover. If losses occur, they will have to start over from scratch.
After laying the foundation in the first year, from the second year, the small tea shop not only had much improved revenue, but also gradually stabilized in terms of capital, customer sources and operations. Everything looked promising for the future.
In fact, this entrepreneurship was very difficult, especially in the past two years. In 2019, an investment institution was interested in Bao Bao’s tea concept – interactive entertainment space tea shop. In the 79 square meter store, Bao Bao’s shop had two foot-kicking table soccer games (as the name suggests, table soccer played by foot), attracting young people to gather and play at night, while more individual customers and takeaways came during the day, so Bao Bao’s business had a good reputation through word-of-mouth.
The investor hoped to invest a considerable amount of money to test the waters. The initial requirements were not high, starting with the expansion of the main shop. If the model worked, replication and expansion would follow. However, due to lack of financing experience at the time, although the contract had been finalized, the expansion plan was carried out in advance without sufficient funds, resulting in a period of financial difficulty. Combined with the impact of the epidemic, any misstep would have instantly taken Bao Bao’s business back to its original state.
Fortunately, the economic recovery was rapid in the second half of last year, and funds were in place, avoiding another close call.
Through this experience, Bao Bao and his wife learned that luxury cars and goods are not necessary, but savings and a house are. Problems that can be solved with money are not problems at all.
Bao Bao and Esha have been resolutely together since they were young, and in a blink of an eye, they have spent 10 years of youth together. It is hard to say who influenced whom. Through all the hardships and vicissitudes, if they had not achieved each other, they would never have come together to where they are today.# A 21-Year-Old Girl and a 25-Year-Old Poor Boy Meet Honda
A 21-year-old girl met a 25-year-old poor boy, and their memories about Honda never fade away. They both agreed that, in the declining consumer market, it’s important to be practical. They chose the new starting point – the Honda Jade RS – to take care of their family.
With the Honda Jade RS, family life became the focus for both of them. The boy said, “Life is already tiring. When I used to play with cars alone, I felt like the world was mine. Now, on weekends, I only want to go out with my family.” Even if it’s a long distance, the first-class seats of the Jade RS’s second row have electrically adjustable backrests, independent shoulder adjustments, and electric leg rests. The elderly can sit and relax. After reaching the beach, they can open the fishing mode of the third row, which is Esha’s favorite feature. She loves to stick with her son to enjoy the scenery with the car. This moment of happiness is difficult for other cars to provide.
Today, when gas prices have risen to 7 yuan per liter, it’s truly a headache for most people. But, the Jade RS owners don’t have to worry about it. The third-generation i-MMD hybrid system has an average fuel consumption of around 6-7 L/100 km. It’s hard to imagine that such a large car can have the same fuel consumption as an entry-level sedan. Therefore, when going far away on weekends, fuel consumption is not a big issue for Jade RS owners.
In the past, the joy of playing with Honda was limited to the driver’s seat only. Now, the happiness of the family of five is multiplied by countless times. During their conversation, the boy’s eyes were shining, and everyone present could feel his happiness. To be honest, it’s really admirable.
Embracing Life with Family
Although the boy’s son is only 5 years old, he also loves this car very much. Because the ground clearance of the vehicle is relatively low, he can jump into the car by himself. The magic sensing door is also one of his favorite functions to play with. He always says to Esha, “Mom, look, I did magic again. The car door closed by itself.”
The 2900 mm wheelbase creates boundless space in the car. After installing the child safety seat for his little cheetah and filling the back seat with his favorite toys, there are still several Hondas in the cheetah family. However, when spending time with family, they mostly choose the Elysion, where the back seat is a little “man’s” world for him and his little cheetah to communicate.
Everyone hopes to share their innermost happiness with the person they are closest to. The cheetah family is fortunate because they all have a common topic–Honda cars. The Honda brand has always revolved around the cheetah family.
The cheetah also said that the time spent sitting in the car with family is very heartwarming and joyful. He has seen his wife’s charming face while she sits in the passenger seat and has also seen the warm scene of his family in the rear-view mirror. With Honda Sensing’s safety ultra-sensing system equipped in the Elysion, he is very assured that his family and car are well guarded. The cheetah can also rest easy and let his wife drive the car.
After chatting, I realized that I had just met a new cheetah. The former racing youngster has stepped down from the stage of life with the passage of time. Over the past decade, it is more appropriate to say that the cheetah and Esha have achieved and depended on each other more.
Along the way, without a little patience and trust, it would be difficult for the two of them to have such a memorable experience together. The car selection process is particularly tricky：from casually browsing to the constantly changing car-buying budget, the variety of car models on the market, and the deceiving sales pitches.
To be honest, selecting a car can be agonizing, but fate can be very strange. Often, in the end, you will find that you simply can’t avoid an Elysion. After all, it fulfills all the fantasies of family use. I think, perhaps all that separates me from happiness is just an Elysion.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.