However, Liu Shitang soon thought of a realistic problem: “What if you work so hard to develop it, and people can just copy it once they get their hands on it?”
“If it could be copied, Shi Yiji would have copied it long ago, but no matter how they copy, they can’t solve the strength problem and the contact oil leakage problem. Unless they obtain my experimental data, there’s no way to copy it properly.”
“Oh.” Only then did Liu Shitang feel relieved, but he still added, “Your data is like the formula for Yunnan Baiyao. Later, we’ll get a bank safety deposit box and store the data there.”
Liu Shitang then dragged his son into questioning for at least three hours, until he had completely understood the ins and outs of everything. By this time, his blood was also boiling. Seeing this was a project with extremely high returns, even though the stakes were extremely high, the chances of winning were also very high, so why not place the bet? Liu Shitang had considerable faith in his son, this foreign PhD. He might not trust domestic PhDs, but he trusted foreign PhDs.
Liu Shitang went on his business trip. Because the matters he was investigating were of great importance, he contacted quite a few people, with friends introducing friends, reaching further and further. Fortunately, Qianjin Factory operated routinely according to plan, requiring no concern from Liu Jun. Only after a week, when raw materials ran out, others didn’t dare exceed their authority in operating such large-scale purchasing, so it was left to Liu Jun. Liu Jun asked his father, then went directly to find a merchant his father regularly contacted, who allegedly always provided the lowest prices—a known swindler. Liu Shitang warned Liu Jun to be careful of this swindler, teaching him several tricks over the phone. So Liu Jun closely watched the swindler load the truck, weigh it, and ship the goods, then sat in the front truck to escort the cargo and give directions. Unexpectedly, when they reached a traffic light, their front truck passed through, but the rear truck was stopped by the red light. These cargo trucks couldn’t wait on the road—there were traffic police everywhere ready to issue tickets. Fortunately, when Liu Jun’s truck reached Qianjin Factory, the rear truck found its way there about ten minutes later. When weighed on the truck scale, the weight was slightly less, probably because the truck had consumed some diesel fuel. After weighing, the driver parked the truck in a corner of the yard and went everywhere looking for a toilet. He dawdled before returning to drive into the workshop to unload, then went out to weigh the empty truck. Adding and subtracting everything, it was exactly the original weight, and only then was this job considered complete.
But when Liu Shitang returned from his business trip and looked at the workshop production reports, he immediately spotted the problem. Using the same raw materials, the first batch of products produced from materials he had purchased exceeded the second batch produced from materials Liu Jun had purchased. Liu Shitang added up finished products and waste products for calculation, then frowned as he called his son to recall the circumstances. Thanks to his son’s good memory, Liu Shitang quickly identified the problem based on experience—it was the traffic jam at the red light. In those brief ten-plus minutes, the swindler had gone back to replace part of the cargo with water, which was why, after delivery and weighing, he wasn’t in a hurry to unload but first made excuses to find a toilet, letting the truck sit in the corner to drain all the water. He was purely taking advantage of Liu Jun’s inexperience, knowing he couldn’t see through the scheme. Liu Jun listened in shock, but what shocked him even more was that when he followed his father to confront the swindler, the swindler just smiled with shifty eyes and consciously took out a stack of money to give to father and son, as if he had just been playing a game with Liu Jun.
Even after walking out of the swindler’s door, Liu Jun still felt baffled. For a mere sum of less than ten thousand yuan, the swindler dared to abandon his reputation, discard integrity, and willingly risk being exposed at any time. He never imagined a businessman would engage in such short-term behavior. What was wrong with this society?
But Liu Shitang said this was very normal. Small businessmen had small capital and thin profits, and now, with fierce competition, without resorting to crooked means, they would never have a chance to get ahead. Moreover, Liu Shitang said things were much better now—at least when you came knocking, you could still recover something. In the past, more swindlers would take the money and run to another location.
Liu Jun belatedly realized that if such a small profit could make a merchant who had long-term cooperation with his father resort to such despicable acts, then if he painstakingly developed successful results with profits as attractive as his father’s market research indicated, wouldn’t someone resort to unscrupulous means for that? Without doubt, his father’s answer was just one word: yes.
Liu Jun didn’t dare to be careless. Before starting, he would rather waste more time first carefully studying secrecy methods with his father, using his father’s years of experience in the business world to ensure the absolute security of all R&D materials. Liu Shitang even warned that you couldn’t trust even dead people. Liu Jun thought to himself, how was this survival environment just like a primitive forest?
Through multiple communications between Liu Jun and Yang Li, the busy Yang Xun and Qian Hongming finally found a common free day to dine together at Haoyuan Restaurant. Liu Jun was very grateful that Yang Li respected his friend. Before the banquet, he specially went to pick out a bouquet of lilies. When Qian Hongming saw this, he handed Liu Jun the perfume from his bag, asking Liu Jun to present it as a joint gift. For half a month, Qian Hongming had been either on business trips or at the hospital caring for his sick mother, and his face showed obvious fatigue. But no matter how tired, he wouldn’t give up this opportunity to dine with Yang Xun.
The two naturally arrived a bit early and were escorted by the hostess at the entrance into a private room, said to be Yang Xun’s regular booth. Once the hostess left, Qian Hongming said, “My mother probably won’t make it either. Previously, when feeding her, she could still open her mouth and eyes, but after my father’s death, she has no will to live—she won’t open her mouth and needs nasal feeding. It’s torture. I can’t bear to watch. Sometimes I think euthanasia is very humane.”
“How could one make such a decision?”
“Exactly.” Qian Hongming was silent for a long while. “The night before last, while keeping watch, I kept staring at the IV drip in my mother’s hand. Actually, in just one night, if this lifeline were cut… it would be a great relief…”
But Qian Hongming didn’t continue because the private room door was opened by a shrewd-looking middle-aged woman. The woman entered with a smile: “Little Yang hasn’t arrived yet? Let me introduce myself—my surname is Wei.” As she spoke, she handed over business cards and VIP cards.
Qian Hongming heard the words “Little Yang,” and seeing the credentials on the business card—”Wei Chunhong, General Manager”—immediately switched to a smiling face, realizing this person should be the second wife of Mr. Song’s brother-in-law from Donghai. He enthusiastically shook hands with Wei Chunhong: “Sister Wei, I’ve heard so much about you. I frequently dine here, and today I finally get to meet Sister Wei in person—what an honor.”
“Oh, so you’re an old friend! Look how I’ve neglected you. Welcome, Manager Qian, please patronize us more in the future. If you need anything, just have the girls call me. And this gentleman…”
“I’m Liu Jun. Hello, Sister Wei.”
Wei Chunhong was just thinking that this Liu didn’t look like someone who frequently mingled in social circles when she heard a voice behind her: “Big Sister, what are you feeding us today?”
Wei Chunhong turned around, joked with the Yang siblings for a few words, thoughtfully greeted the two guests, Qian and Liu, then left with a smile.
Yang Xun first approached Liu Jun, who was standing relatively far away, to shake hands, and held on without letting go: “Chief Engineer Wang told me they’ve redesigned the molds according to your suggestions, and indeed eliminated one process. They all said they never thought it could be done that way—originally thought it was too risky and might not achieve the required precision. Chief Engineer Wang keeps telling me he wants to recruit you. Will you come?”
“My company in Germany only gave me a one-year leave, and my girlfriend is also waiting for me in Germany. I’m sorry, Yang Xun.”
“Don’t go back! I stayed in America for just a few days and wanted to go home—I couldn’t get used to American food at all. How do you plan to spend your year back in China?” Yang Xun had Liu Jun sit beside him, turned to greet Qian Hongming: “Xiao Qian, please sit. Don’t be polite. Yang Li, please host.”
Seeing that Liu Jun couldn’t free his hands to present the flowers, Qian Hongming took the opportunity to present them himself. Although Qian Hongming clearly said they were all from Liu Jun, Yang Li focused on thanking Qian Hongming, which left Qian Hongming quite puzzled.
Liu Jun answered every question: “I plan to help my father develop several key products within this year, preferably ones that can make…”
“Oh, what products?”
Liu Jun felt the oppressive nature of Yang Xun’s intense stare, which made him unable not to speak: “It’s something Chief Engineer Wang and his team worked on before—the RF series.”
“That one. At the end of last year, Chief Engineer Wang insisted on working on it. It cost me 500,000 yuan, and they didn’t even get close to the door—left behind a pile of scrap steel, bought at over 10,000 yuan per ton and sold at over 1,000 yuan per ton. I immediately stopped it. It’s not like blind men feeling an elephant—how can you fumble around so blindly? What, have you found the way in?”
“500,000 yuan definitely wouldn’t be enough—even doubling it might not be enough.”
“You mean you’ve already found the approach and estimated how much it will cost?”
“No, my father and I are still discussing it—he can’t make this decision.”
“That’s right, your father should have this attitude. What technical personnel most need to study is how to quickly convert technology into benefits. A company isn’t a university or research institution—it doesn’t have the state funding to support it and can’t afford to waste resources.”
At this point, Yang Xun had already determined that Liu Jun was a bookworm and immediately lost interest, deciding he wasn’t suitable as a brother-in-law candidate, nor was he someone Yang Xun needed. Before long, Yang Xun began talking with Qian Hongming. Qian Hongming was quick-witted and well-informed, very much to Yang Xun’s taste. Yang Li watched from the side, always feeling there was a trace of faint fatigue and a hint of subtle sadness in Qian Hongming’s expression, which made him appear unusually mysterious.