Chapter Six.

...

"Younger Brother Qin, have you arrived in Shenzhou?"

Chen Jiangnan's call came belatedly as the lithium battery industry seminar was about to commence, and he had just found out that Qin Fang had been in Shenzhou for several days already.

In recent days, he had been in Japan, busy contacting several major enterprises, and had achieved certain results. It had not been in vain that he had expended so much effort; the major manufacturers had all expressed interest in this particular technology.

However, these little devils were crafty. Although Qin Fang had given Chen Jiangnan a set of processed materials to show them, these little devils actually wanted to obtain the finished product and more refined research materials.

Qin Fang was no fool; he would never do such a foolish thing.

These little devils' companies had their own research teams, whose capabilities definitely couldn't be considered low, and the conditions for conducting research were certainly much better than in Qin Fang's laboratory. If they were given the materials or finished product, what these little devils would do was not to buy them but to develop and research on their own...

Such a thing was definitely within these little devils' capability, and Qin Fang was almost certain that they had this in mind.

Qin Fang could choose to attend the industry seminar or not. Xiao Nan had gotten him the qualifications to participate, but he wasn't too keen on going, mainly because he found such non-substantive meetings uninteresting.

What surprised Qin Fang, however, was that someone had leaked the news; the fact that he possessed a cutting-edge lithium battery technology had been spread, and before the little devils from Japan took the bait, a domestic lithium battery manufacturer had set its sights on Qin Fang.

"Mr. Qin, hello! My surname is Wei, Wei Minghe!"

The one looking for Qin Fang was a young man around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, who spoke very politely but had a very arrogant demeanor. Even when speaking with Qin Fang, there was a sense of looking down from high above which made Qin Fang feel quite uncomfortable inside.

"I don't think Mr. Wei and I are very familiar. Speak directly, please, I have other matters to attend to!"

Qin Fang didn't like this Wei Minghe, but there was no need to cause a rift, so he simply expressed a degree of distance and dissatisfaction with his tone.

"In that case, I'll get to the point," Wei Minghe could clearly sense Qin Fang's dissatisfaction and obvious sense of distance, so he cut straight to the chase, "I heard that Mr. Qin has a lithium battery improvement plan; is it true?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Fang's brows furrowed lightly. Aside from a few individuals, only a few Japanese manufacturers knew about it, and Qin Fang was somewhat puzzled by what Wei Minghe meant.

"Indeed, that's correct!"

Qin Fang did not hide it. After all, during the seminar period, the Japanese manufacturers knew, and it wasn't very surprising that some domestic producers with substantial capabilities were also aware.

"Does Mr. Qin plan to sell this technology?" Wei Minghe asked directly.

Qin Fang nodded his head.

"Indeed, that is my intention. I've seen part of the technical data, impressive technology and I would like to acquire it," Wei Minghe said with a smile.

"Then, what kind of price does Mr. Wei have in mind? Although I was leaning towards the Japanese manufacturers, I wouldn't mind selling to Mr. Wei if the price is right..."

Qin Fang's words were half true; the first set of technology was entirely meant to trap others, and he was not too keen on tricking his own compatriots.

"Eight million! How does that price sound to you?" Wei Minghe said with a smile, his eyes momentarily fixing on Qin Fang's.

Upon hearing such an offer, Qin Fang's gaze instantly narrowed, and he sighed inwardly, "The visitor surely means no good!"

"Eight million? Heh... it looks like we have nothing to discuss!"

Qin Fang shook his head. Such a price was even worse than robbery; not considering the value of the technology itself, just setting up the laboratory, Chen Jiangnan's expenses, plus Qin Fang's own profit, and so on, eight million would have Qin Fang incurring a huge loss.

"Mr. Qin, I think you should seriously consider it, this price is quite fair! How about this, ten million, that's my best offer, I hope you'll consider it well..."

But it seemed that Wei Minghe had expected this response. He did not show the slightest disappointment; instead, he cheerfully raised the price by another two million, not knowing that Qin Fang would never sell at that price.

"No need to consider it. I may not have much money, but I can still scrounge up several million, so there's no need for Mr. Wei to bother!"

There was no need to think about it; Qin Fang simply waved his hand to show the visitor out.

"What? Ten million to buy our technology? Dream on!"

Chen Jiangnan's first reaction upon hearing the news was that Wei Minghe must be out of his mind. They had already invested more than five million in the initial stages alone, and with such promising prospects, Chen Jiangnan planned to sell this technology for fifty million. A mere ten million was hardly worth his consideration.

"I have a feeling that this Wei Minghe is no simple character, and he also mentioned that he had seen the technical data. There's definitely no problem on the laboratory side, so the issue must have arisen from your end," he said.

Qin Fang shook his head, which was quite normal. Chen Jiangnan had already shared the technical data with several major Japanese manufacturers for review and validation. It was not surprising if it got leaked.

"I suspect that Wei Minghe will have other tricks up his sleeve..."

Wei Minghe didn't come across to Qin Fang as an ordinary businessman, but rather as one with the clear airs of a privileged young master. Qin guessed he was probably one of those types.

Indeed, Qin Fang's speculation was proven correct. Just as he was making final preparations to meet with the manufacturers, Director Xu of a department within the national ministry came looking for him.

This Director Xu was one of the official representatives at the upcoming lithium battery industry seminar.

Qin Fang wasn't fully aware of Director Xu's exact position, only knowing that he came from the Ministry of Science and Technology. People generally addressed him as Director Xu, beyond that, nothing much was known.

As an outsider to the industry, Qin Fang would normally have no reason to have any entanglements with Director Xu. Even though Qin had the credentials to attend the conference, he was actually going in under the guise of a reporter, arranged by Xiao Nan, which meant he wasn't directly under Director Xu's jurisdiction.

Yet, Director Xu had still found Qin Fang, and upon explaining his intentions, Qin's face immediately darkened with a cold smile.

"Comrade Xiao Qin, I hear you've got some technology in your hands and are thinking of selling it to Japanese enterprises? Why not consider our domestic enterprises first?"

Director Xu began on a pretty standard note.

"It's not out of the question, as long as the price for the technology transfer is right, I don't care who I sell it to!"

Seeing Director Xu, Qin Fang immediately thought of the very high-profile Wei Minghe.

"As you know, domestic enterprises aren't as wealthy as those in Japan. Could you maybe lower the selling price a bit? If you could donate it to the country for free, I believe the country would certainly not disappoint you," Xu proposed.

Director Xu was quite ruthless—suggesting a free transfer was something else. Why didn't he just go ahead and rob him?

"Donate it to the country? Why?"

Gazing at the bureaucrat before him, Qin Fang felt extremely displeased. Just because you say so, should I freely give away the fruits of my hard labor? That's not how this works.

"Comrade Xiao Qin, you shouldn't speak like that. You must realize it is the country that raised you, nurtured you, and led you to today. Now, with such a small request from the country, you're being obstructive—that seems quite disheartening..."

Director Xu really had a way of spinning things, trying hard to weave the concept of the nation into this affair and making it seem as if Qin's refusal to hand over the technology was akin to treason.

"Director Xu, you make a very good point!"

Qin Fang, however, just smiled and seemed to agree earnestly.

At this remark, Director Xu was slightly startled, and a smile also appeared on his face—he truly never expected Qin Fang to be swayed by his words.

But before he could revel in his perceived victory, Qin Fang's follow-up comment arrived, "According to Director Xu, if the country needs it, should everyone unhesitatingly offer everything they have?"

"Of course!"

Without any hesitation, Director Xu expressed his agreement. He couldn't well contradict himself.

"So if the country needs you to offer up your wife and daughter, you'd also do that immediately, wouldn't you?" Qin Fang said, his words laced with venom.

Chen Jiangnan burst out laughing. While he expected Qin Fang wouldn't be easily coaxed, he didn't foresee such a fierce counterattack, one that slapped Xu's face resoundingly.

Director Xu's face turned a mix of green and purple. He had seen brazen people before, but never someone with guts this big. Not only did Qin resist giving him face, but he also mocked him to this extent.

"How dare you!"

With a fierce slap on the table, Director Xu was furious. If not for Qin's youth and his own old age—he feared he might not be able to handle him—he might have resorted to a physical altercation.

"Relying on your age to get away with things, what rubbish! Just because you're some director, don't start thinking too highly of yourself! With your aggressive demeanor, you don't represent the country, nor the government..."

Now that the gloves were off, Qin Fang saw no reason to remain courteous anymore.

He had come up with the lithium battery solution. While selling it to other countries seemed quite unscrupulous, Qin was aware that it was merely the first scheme. By the time those little devils started mass production, Qin's second scheme would be ready, allowing him to crush them thoroughly, ensuring those little devils lost everything. (To be continued—for more information, please visit www.qidian.com. More chapters are available, support the author, support genuine reading!)

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