Tech startup: I really do make mobile phones!

Chapter 84 Times Have Changed
As the sun began to set, Su Yu walked briskly along the gravel road in the empty factory area, leaving behind a lonely shadow.

"Fool! Fool! You short-sighted frog in a well!"

He couldn't help but stomp his foot. In the pocket of his white coat was a prototype solid-state battery sample—a transit product based on gaseous lithium batteries—that was digging into his thigh and causing him pain.

Today, Su Yu was supposed to personally discuss the feasibility of solid-state nitride batteries with Chen Mo, but the production line manager, that idiot, seems to have angered him and driven him away.

At this moment, this highly feasible plan has become worthless without the other party's nitride patent authorization.

Su Yu had a headache. BTD was also researching power batteries, but hopefully they wouldn't notice the nitride approach too quickly!
Otherwise, Ning Deke would have gotten up very early but arrived late.

Now, Su Yu is eager to find General Manager Zheng. He believes that the CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited) company, which is about to be established, should ideally move beyond the established "semi-liquid and semi-solid" technology route for developing feasible commercial power batteries.

We can start our research directly from this excellent solid-state battery nitride cathode material, which will definitely make the research and development twice as efficient.

Although this approach is somewhat radical, Su Yu felt at least 70% confident that Ningde would achieve a leap forward in solid-state battery technology.

unfortunately
General Manager Zheng rejected the "risky" leapfrog technology route that Su Yu had mentioned, and insisted on playing the "steady" card.

After all, Ningde is now the undisputed leader in the lithium battery industry.

Moreover, BTD, in second place, is keeping a close eye on the competition, preferring not to make any mistakes that could give their opponents a chance to overtake them.

In Mr. Zheng's view, the company is not looking to take technological risks, but rather to move forward steadily.

Like the top helmsman in a sailing race, he would never easily change course to chase the wild wind.

Mr. Zheng has long had the "wind direction theory" of sailing competitions ingrained in his very being.

When the second-place runner tries to catch a wild wind and changes course to raise their sail, the first-place runner simply needs to adjust their direction accordingly.

Even if the wind direction is wrong, everyone retreats at the same time, and the first place remains the first place.

If the wind is blowing in the right direction, everyone will still move forward at the same time, and the first place will still be the first place.

Shenzhen National Key Laboratory of New Energy.

Professor Jiang's office.

The lab is conducting some special experiments today, so the air conditioning is set very low.

Professor Jiang put down the first draft of his paper, "A Cross-Scale Analysis of Ion Transport Mechanisms in Supercritical Fluids: Theoretical Construction and Experimental Verification of the Chen Mo-Schmidt Model".

He rubbed his slightly frozen fingers and added hot water to the Ru porcelain cup, where the Pu'er tea at the bottom had already turned white from steeping.

"Ring ring!" The cell phone on the desk rang.

"Okay! I'll tell him the good news as soon as possible."

The phone call from BTD informing him of an inspection of Yuantu New Energy three days later had just ended when his phone, which he hadn't yet put down, rang again.

Professor Jiang stared at the caller ID "Old Lin" on the screen and suddenly blinked.

That old rascal, I hope he's not just calling to annoy me out of boredom again.

There was nothing I could do! I had mistaken the developer of the gaseous lithium battery for someone else, and I even took Chen Mo's achievement as my own prized student's, showing it off in front of Lao Lin for more than half a month!

The moment the truth was revealed was very awkward.

Professor Jiang has already made an excuse that he is different from "idle" administrative staff like Lao Lin, and that he has research tasks and is very busy.

Then ignore Lao Lin for almost a week, and you won't get angry anymore.

While running away is shameful, it's actually quite effective. Professor Jiang now thinks the other party should have almost forgotten about it.

After hesitating for a while, Professor Jiang finally answered the phone. He hadn't heard Lao Lin's voice for more than half a month, and even the tea tasted bland.

Um... we're saying, is it possible that this is common ear fungus, and it's turned white after soaking, so it must have no taste?

"Old Jiang! This is a matter of life and death!" Vice Dean Lin's voice made Professor Jiang's skin crawl: "That kid Chen Mo wants to acquire Yuantu New Energy. He's going to inspect it in three days. Xu Mingyuan is your student, can you help him make the connection?"

Professor Jiang flicked his right little finger, spilling tea onto the mahogany table. He quickly put down his teacup.

This set of Ru porcelain teacups was a gift from a high-ranking official; if it were to fall apart, he would be heartbroken for half a year.

"Did you two agree to put on a show together today?" He loosened his tie. "BTD just said they'd be going to do an inspection in three days, and you guys are joining in the fun?"

There was a conversation between two people on the other end of the phone; Professor Jiang thought it sounded like Chen Mo's voice.

"What a coincidence! I heard you say the other day that Yuantu sold all his houses at a low price, and if no one buys them, he'll starve. Chen Mo just wanted to help him out!"

Immediately afterwards, Vice President Lin on the other end of the line suddenly softened his tone.

"Old Jiang! Could you help Xu Mingyuan drop the BTD project? You got the wrong developer of gaseous lithium batteries back then, but Chen Mo didn't blame you at all."

Is this moral blackmail? As long as I don't... Professor Jiang really does.

Professor Jiang opened the drawer and looked at the graduation photo of himself and Xu Mingyuan. In the photo, the two were wearing yellow-collared graduation gowns, with their arms around each other's necks, smiling broadly.

As his fingertips traced the edge of the photographic paper, he suddenly recalled the phone call from last week, in which the usually composed young man choked up: "Teacher Jiang's house has already been listed with an agent at a low price. If BTD rejects me again, I'll have no choice but to go back to North America."

With this thought in mind, Professor Jiang suppressed his guilt towards Chen Mo.

If you, Lao Lin, would morally blackmail your students, do you think I would risk harming my own students just to save face?

"Bullshit! Not a penny less!" He stroked the edge of the faded group photo, staring at the yellow tassel on Xu Mingyuan's hat: "You old bastard, stop thinking about getting a bargain. Tell Chen Mo to get the money ready. BTD has plenty of cash on them!"

Chen Mo's resounding voice came through the phone: "Don't worry, Teacher Jiang, I will definitely not mistreat President Xu!"

After hanging up the phone, Professor Jiang sent a message to the contact person at BTD.

"Please arrive on time on the day of the inspection. Another party wishes to join us to discuss cooperation. We hope for fair competition."

The moment he pressed the send button, he glanced back at the setting sun outside the window.

Back then, they were arguing about who should prioritize industry-academia-research collaboration; now, the kids are arguing about whose technology can earn them real money.

There is no right or wrong, it's just that times are changing and our productivity is improving.

This is no longer an era of disputes between industry, academia, and research institutions. Instead, it is a new era in which the state provides a solid technological foundation, and the private sector competes fiercely in the wave of development, with the winner taking all.

On the other side, in Vice Dean Lin's office.

What are you doing, kid?

Vice Dean Lin placed his phone on his desk, his eyes practically brimming with a smile.

"We've only been apart for a few days, and you've gotten quite bold! You even dared to snatch my phone!"

“My nephew used to work in Google’s legal department in North America, so he knows a lot about acquisitions.” He gestured twice with his hand: “Have him work with you, so you don’t get taken advantage of!”

(End of this chapter)