Restart life

Chapter 538 0526 [Let's Do It!]

After the recording of the program was completed, students swarmed over to the scene.

Many students even brought books like "Those Things About the Ming Dynasty" or the latest version of "Three Kingdoms Kill" cards to ask for autographs.

It was practically turning into a Chen Guiliang fan club, so Sa Beining quickly stepped aside to rest.

After a long and complicated process, Chen Guiliang finally regained his freedom.

After the students had all left, Sabinen came over with a smile and said, "This is the first time I've seen such crazy fans of entrepreneurs."

Chen Guiliang said, "I didn't expect that either."

As they were talking, the director came over to shake hands and chat with Chen Guiliang, and then invited him to have a casual meal nearby.

Sabinen followed along, along with Chen Guiliang's driver, Yang Shuo. The four of them ate a meal together at a small restaurant.

Yang Shuo was in a corner during the recording of the program.

On the drive home, Yang Shuo asked, "Are you really going to invest 5 million yuan in environmental protection?"

"I had forgotten about it if you hadn't mentioned it." Chen Guiliang took out his phone.

Yang Shuo: "..."

Chen Guiliang called Mr. Wang, the head of the environmental protection company with whom he had won an award last year: "Hello Mr. Wang, this is Chen Guiliang... Yes, it's been a long time... Okay, let's have dinner together next time you come to Beijing... Nothing else, I just wanted to ask who are some of the more authoritative experts in China's environmental protection field... Okay, okay, sorry to bother you. Goodbye!"

Chen Guiliang then called Dean Zhu of Peking University:

"Hello Dean Zhu... Hey, what do you mean by 'begging for a free ride'? I'm a rich man, why would I beg for your money? Nothing else, I just want to ask about an expert..."

"Yes, Academician Du from the Chinese Academy of Engineering. His father is a professor at Peking University, and he himself studied at Peking University. The leaders of Peking University should have his contact information... Okay, okay, I'll wait for news."

Chen Guiliang was completely ignorant about the environmental protection field, so he naturally wanted to consult with authoritative figures to understand the situation.

Under the guidance of Mr. Qian Sanqiang, 30 Chinese students went to study in the Soviet Union, and Academician Du was one of them. After returning to China, he participated in the research and development of Q-bullets. After the reform and opening up, he switched to researching high-power laser technology.

In recent years, Academician Du, who is semi-retired, has represented China at international environmental conferences on multiple occasions, participated in the formulation of China's environmental development plan, and participated in the formulation of the "China Energy Medium and Long-Term Development Strategy".

Two years ago, Academician Du stepped down as Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and became Director of the National Climate Change Commission.

Chen Guiliang hung up the phone and sat in the car, closing his eyes to rest.

Yang Shuo didn't ask any more questions, but he found it very strange that he suddenly started investing in environmental protection.
In fact, in Academician Du's words, garbage is a treasure in the wrong place, and the electricity generated by garbage incineration is also a new energy source.

Chen Guiliang invested in CATL some time ago, so investing in waste-to-energy generation now isn't unreasonable.

He expects to invest in new energy vehicles in the future.

"Let's Talk" will not be broadcast for the time being because the old program has not been cancelled yet, and this new program will have to wait for more than a month.

Chen Guiliang went about his business as usual, and two days later, Dean Zhu called him back: "Academician Du went to inspect environmental protection projects. I don't know exactly where, but he should be abroad right now. The school leaders have contacted Academician Du and said he won't be back for another two weeks."

"If you have any questions, just call Academician Du directly. I'll send you his phone number. Don't call now; it's the middle of the night there, so don't disturb the old gentleman's rest. Call again in five hours."

Chen Guiliang said, "Okay, thank you, Dean Zhu."

"Don't forget, you'll be giving a speech as an alumnus at this year's Peking University graduation ceremony," Dean Zhu reminded him.

Chen Guiliang smiled and said, "I won't forget."

Five hours later, Chen Guiliang tried making an overseas call.

The call was quickly connected, and Academician Du's voice came from the other end: "Mr. Chen Guiliang, is that right?"

Chen Guiliang quickly replied, "I dare not accept the title of 'sir'. Just considering our age, you are my grandfather's generation. Academician Du, please just call me Xiao Chen."

"Haha, you're so young and you're still talking about seniority?" Academician Du said with a smile. "Just say what you have to say, I won't hide anything from you."

Chen Guiliang said, "I want to invest in the environmental protection industry and do my part for China's environmental protection cause. But I don't know the specifics."

Academician Du said, "The environmental protection industry has many subcategories, which cannot be explained clearly over the phone in a short time."

"What about the waste-to-energy sector?" Chen Guiliang asked.

Academician Du said, "Waste-to-energy companies are generally state-owned enterprises. The main reason is that they are too capital-intensive, so private owners are unwilling to invest. It is very troublesome to invest in these state-owned enterprises. However, there happens to be a private company that is suitable for you."

"Please speak, Academician Du," Chen Guiliang said.

Academician Du said:

"Shanghai Kangheng Environmental Protection Co., Ltd. is an environmental protection company founded four years ago. It mainly engages in the research, development, production and sales of waste incineration equipment. It also operates some waste incineration plants."

"This company has introduced internationally leading equipment, which has been initially localized, and plans to expand its scale and work hard. However, they are short of funds and have been looking for financing, but they cannot find venture capital institutions."

"The owner of this company is an expert himself. He has strong research capabilities and has even set up an academician station, where many academicians regularly come to provide guidance."

"However, since I've recommended them to you, there are some things I need to clarify. Their revenue figures look impressive, but they've consistently been in a net loss position..."

"First, when selling equipment, they have to compete with foreign companies. Lacking brand recognition, they can only rely on low prices. Sometimes, after accounting for all costs, they sell a waste incineration unit and barely make a profit. Selling to domestic manufacturers avoids that kind of price pressure, but it's difficult to get payments. They have a huge amount of money on their books, all in accounts receivable, with very little actually usable." "Second, their R&D expenditures are enormous; they invest all their profits in research and development. Companies like that won't go public for at least ten years. Investing in them at this stage is unprofitable."

"Think carefully before you blindly invest and then come back to complain to me."

Chen Guiliang asked, "How is their skill level?"

Academician Du said, "We are leading domestically and are catching up with world-class levels."

Ten years later, this company had a market share of over 40% in waste incineration equipment in China!

But currently, no one dares to invest.

They are desperately short of money.

……

Long Jisheng was a government-sponsored PhD student in Japan, and he received a science and technology award in Japan in 1991.

Four years ago, he founded Kangheng Environment.

He is now experiencing mixed feelings of joy and sorrow.

The good news is that the company has achieved a technological breakthrough. By studying imported equipment, they are now able to mass-produce equipment independently, and have sold a considerable amount.

The worry is that the company is suffering serious losses, the profit from selling equipment abroad is meager, and it is difficult to collect payments for equipment sold domestically. In addition, it still has to bear huge R&D expenditures.

His main job now is to raise money; he flies all over the country to persuade investment institutions to invest.

After repeatedly hitting walls, he has given up on purely commercial investment institutions and is now targeting investment funds with state-owned backgrounds.

He has exhausted all his connections, and now two funds are showing some interest: CITIC Private Equity Funds and Shenzhen Capital Group.

However, to persuade these two funds to invest, there is a prerequisite: Kangheng's technology must win a national-level science and technology award.

The reason is simple: investing in your company won't yield profits in the short term. You need to produce something tangible so we can give our superiors an explanation!
It has been nominated for the National Science and Technology Progress Award and the Ministry of Education Science and Technology Progress Award, but it is still uncertain whether it will win. It has only been nominated.

"Hello, Academician Du... Really? Great! I'll contact President Chen right away." Long Jisheng was overjoyed.

After hanging up the phone, Longjisheng's headache started again.

If only Chen Guiliang invests a large sum, it will seriously threaten his control over the company. One or two more companies must be brought in to provide checks and balances.

Long Jisheng tentatively called Chen Guiliang: "Hello, Mr. Chen, this is Long Jisheng from Kangheng."

"Hello, Dr. Long," Chen Guiliang said.

Long Jisheng said, "There aren't many companies in China that support the environmental protection industry right now. I'm very pleased that President Chen is paying attention to this area and has affirmed our company's achievements."

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "Not at all, it's very difficult to make money in environmental protection. I especially admire Dr. Long, a pragmatic environmental entrepreneur."

Long Jisheng didn't mention money, but instead asked, "When is Mr. Chen free to come and inspect Kangheng?"

Chen Guiliang said, "During the summer vacation. I'm going to Shanghai to attend the ChinaJoy expo, and I'll also visit Dr. Long's company while I'm there."

"Yes, I welcome you with open arms. It would be an honor for Kangheng to have Mr. Chen here!" Long Jisheng said happily.

We chatted for a few more minutes, then ended the call.

Long Jisheng immediately called his friends in the venture capital circle to learn more about Chen Guiliang's investments over the past few years. He discovered that they were all remarkably successful.

He collected and organized this information, and then called CITIC Private Equity Funds and Shenzhen Capital Group to tell them about Chen Guiliang's plan to invest.

Before anything was even started, Longjisheng was already speaking with great confidence, and he was praising Chen Guiliang's investment acumen to the skies.

"You may not know this Mr. Chen. He's a consistent investor, never failing... I didn't contact him proactively; he contacted me through Academician Du... I dare not boast about anything else, but in the field of waste incineration, no company in the country can compare to Kangheng..."

"Okay, okay, I'll wait for news... Actually, you could send a team to re-evaluate the situation..."

Long Jisheng hung up the phone, feeling utterly exhausted. Attracting investment was too damn annoying; he'd much rather spend all his time in the lab.

However, Chen Guiliang piqued his interest greatly, as a private entrepreneur was actually willing to invest in a purely loss-making project like waste-to-energy.

Long Jisheng had heard of Chen Guiliang before; the phone he used was HarmonyOS Tian Shu.

As for the rest, Longjisheng knew nothing about it.

I only just looked at the information and found out that Chen Guiliang is actually in the gaming and social networking industry. I always thought Chen Guiliang was a traditional entrepreneur who made mobile phones.

"Only in his early twenties, that's amazing!" Long Jisheng exclaimed, looking at Chen Guiliang's publicly available information online.

Long Jisheng continued reading the information and soon muttered to himself, "Plants vs. Zombies is also from their company? What a coincidence."

This is the only game he has used to relax outside of work in recent years, recommended by a young researcher at the company.

(End of this chapter)