Reborn in 2012, building a new energy empire

Chapter 159 In-depth Negotiations

May 31st, the day after the exhibition ended, at 9:00 AM.

On the top floor of a modern office building in Shanghai's JA district, which has an unassuming exterior but a surprisingly spacious interior.

This is not the headquarters of Keelung Corporation, but rather Wang Zhenguo's private club in Shanghai used for important business meetings.

Through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, you can overlook the golden roof of Jing'an Temple and the distant city skyline.

The interior design is minimalist yet expensive, with a huge, solid piece of cliff cypress wood tea table occupying the center, its grain resembling waves frozen in time.

The air was filled with the unique, deep and domineering aroma of aged Pu'er tea after it had been agitated by hot water, mixed with a hint of the cool scent left by a cigar.

Jiang Haoran went to the appointment alone and arrived on time. The elevator doors slid open silently, and a waiter dressed in Chinese clothing led the way, his steps slow and well-trained.

Wang Zhenguo was already seated at the head of the tea table, waiting.

Today he changed into a more comfortable navy blue silk shirt, his face was radiant, but his eyes were less unrestrained and bold than they were on the exhibition stage yesterday, and more like a deep pool of calm.

Sitting beside him was a man, about fifty years old, with a clean face, wearing frameless glasses, and exuding a calm and capable demeanor. He was Wu, the core figure in charge of technology and production at Keelung Corporation.

"Young friend Jiang, you've arrived. Please have a seat." Wang Zhenguo casually gestured to the rosewood chair opposite him, then personally picked up an antique purple clay teapot and poured a bright red, amber-like tea into the aroma cup in front of Jiang Haoran. His movements were fluid and graceful, revealing the familiarity and control of a seasoned tea drinker.

"Try it, this is genuine Lao Ban Zhang ancient tree tea, which I've stored for almost ten years. You can't taste this kind of flavor in the ones on the market."

"Chairman Wang is too kind." Jiang Haoran bowed slightly, picked up the cup, which was no bigger than the palm of his hand, first observed its color, then smelled its aroma, and finally took a small sip.

The tea soup is strong and intense upon entry, with bitterness instantly taking over the taste buds, which then transforms into a rapid and lasting sweetness and throat feel, truly an extraordinary product.

"Rich and robust, with a sweet aftertaste and refreshing sensation, a fine tea," Jiang Haoran exclaimed.

Wang Zhenguo took a sip himself, squinted and savored it for a moment, then put down the cup. A glint of shrewdness flashed in his seemingly easygoing eyes as he cut straight to the point.

His tone, however, remained as gentle as a senior's: "What I said at the exhibition wasn't just a spur-of-the-moment decision. Our two newly planned G12 large-size production lines in Keelung represent a significant bet on our competitiveness over the next three years. Efficiency, cost, and especially the cost of core consumables like cutting materials, cannot be compromised in the slightest."

He leaned forward slightly, exuding a silent, oppressive aura befitting an industry tycoon: "Imported lines? They're usable, but the price, coupled with the frequent delays in delivery and the lackluster technical support, makes us feel like we have a fishbone stuck in our throats—we can't spit it out or swallow it down."

"Expanding production? That would be like having your Achilles' heel held. This is a bitter pill to swallow."

He paused, his gaze like a searchlight fixed on Jiang Haoran's face: "President Jiang, you are aware that I had Lao Wu and the others test your samples privately."

"The data is indeed impressive, even eye-opening. But at best, it only proves that you can generate some brilliant ideas in the lab."

The tone suddenly intensified, becoming scrutinizing and interrogative: "I invited you here for tea today because I wanted to hear you speak from the bottom of your heart: Does your Kirin Technology really have the capability to turn this breakthrough in the laboratory into a mass-produced product? This isn't something that passion and stories alone can accomplish."

The pressure, along with the aroma of tea, weighed heavily down on me.

Jiang Haoran put down his teacup, without rushing to explain or make any promises. Instead, he calmly took out two neatly bound documents with simple covers from his black briefcase and gently pushed them in front of Wang Zhenguo and Chief Engineer Wu.

One document is Kirin Technology's latest summary report on small-batch trial production, and the other is a detailed construction plan and schedule for the first demonstration production line.

"Chairman Wang, Chief Engineer Wu, this is our latest internal progress." His voice was steady. "The report details the entire process quality data of more than 200 rolls of diamond wire from five independent production batches over the past three months."

"Key performance indicators, such as wire diameter consistency, breaking force dispersion, and coating uniformity, have had their intra-batch and inter-batch variances stabilized within acceptable target ranges through process optimization and control. This is our first empirical step in achieving the leap from 'sample' to 'product.'"

Chief Engineer Wu grabbed the document almost the instant it was pushed to him and quickly flipped through it. His gaze was sharp as a knife as he swept over page after page of charts, data tables, process capability index (Cpk) calculations, and control charts—his fingers would occasionally pause at a certain point, nodding slightly or frowning.

He's an expert; he can see the significance behind these data at a glance. This is definitely not something that can be achieved by accidentally producing one or two good samples; rather, it demonstrates the initial establishment of a process control system.

He nodded silently to himself, then subtly exchanged a glance with Wang Zhenguo.

Wang Zhenguo understood and asked, "The data framework looks promising. But reports are static, while production lines are dynamic. To what extent are you planning your mass production lines?"

"The site selection and basic design have been completed, and it will be located in the Suzhou-Hangzhou Industrial Park." Jiang Haoran pointed to the proposal. "The goal is to build a pilot production line with a monthly output of 5,000 kilometers of diamond wire."

"Its core objective is not merely to ship products, but to thoroughly transform the optimal process parameters validated in our laboratories into an engineerable, standardized, and reproducible industrial production process. This is the cornerstone of achieving reliability on the production line."

"The selection of all key equipment, including precision wire drawing machines, electroplating lines, and online testing systems, has been finalized. Installation and commissioning are expected to be completed within two months, and products meeting consistency requirements will be produced in the third month."

"Installation and debugging completed in two months, and qualified products produced in the third month?" Wang Zhenguo picked up his teacup, blew away non-existent foam, raised an eyebrow, and his tone was ambiguous, neither praising nor questioning.

"You're not slow. But, Mr. Jiang, with such a short time and such a heavy investment, your cash flow must be stretched to its limit, right? It's good that young people are energetic, but don't let them take too big a step and hurt their backs."

These words, seemingly out of concern, are actually a probe, directly targeting the most vulnerable point of startups.

Jiang Haoran met his gaze and responded frankly, "The pressure is indeed there. But this speed is a proactive choice we made based on a comprehensive assessment of our own technological maturity and market window."

"In terms of funding, in addition to what's already in place, we're also in contact with some industrial investors who have long-term patience for the hard technology sector. There are no shortcuts in manufacturing; the necessary investments cannot be skimped on."

Wang Zhenguo leaned back in his wide chair, his fingers rhythmically tapping lightly on the smooth mahogany armrest, producing a dull "tap-tap" sound, as if he were weighing something.

After a moment, he slowly spoke, shifting the topic to a deeper level: "A monthly production capacity of 5,000 kilometers—that sounds promising. However, Mr. Jiang, if all of our new production lines in Keelung were converted to your lines, in the initial stage alone, we would consume nearly 1,000 kilometers per month."

"When it's fully rolled out later, the numbers will be even bigger. How stable is your supply chain, especially the core micron powder and special steel wire? What if I just managed to free myself from the clutches of foreign giants, only to find myself stuck with your upstream suppliers again? I don't want to experience that again."

This question sharply pierces the throat of whether industrialization can succeed: the autonomy and security of the supply chain.

Jiang Haoran remained composed, clearly having already devised a plan: "Chairman Wang's concerns are extremely valid. Regarding micron powder, we have a deep collaborative development relationship with 'Jingrui Micromaterials' and 'Superhard Technology,' sharing some key process patents and having signed long-term supply agreements with exclusive clauses guaranteeing quantity and price, thus deeply binding our interests."

"For some types of specialty steel wire, we still need to import them, but through investment and technological upgrading support, we have enabled Jianguo Precision, a core equipment supplier downstream, to acquire a long-established domestic specialty wire company and then upgrade and transform it."

"The goal is to achieve domestic substitution of the main high-precision special steel wire model within the year, and preliminary sample testing is underway."

What we are building is a relatively independent, controllable, and backup-enabled closed-loop supply chain.

"Jianguo Precision?" Wang Zhenguo stopped tapping his fingers on the armrest, a knowing look flashing in his eyes, followed by a meaningful smile.

"Oh—I do know about this. It's the family business that President Jiang inherited, right? The son inherits the family business, using emerging technologies to support traditional manufacturing and connect the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain—this strategy is quite interesting. The vision is not limited to one thing or time."

The way he looked at Jiang Haoran subtly changed, lessening the assessment of him as a mere technology supplier and more of a complex scrutiny of a potential peer or competitor.

This young man seemed to think more deeply and act more steadily than he had anticipated.

"Building a supply chain takes time and effort." Chief Engineer Wu, who had been listening silently, saw that Jiang Haoran was handling things with ease and interjected at the right moment.

"Chairman Wang, if we really want to cooperate with Kirin, for the sake of stability, I suggest a three-step approach: First, on one of our existing, mature production lines, conduct a full-process comparative verification using Kirin's line for no less than a month, cutting no less than 500,000 silicon wafers. We need to comprehensively and objectively evaluate its long-term operational stability, its compatibility with different batches of silicon material, and its true overall operating costs, including line consumption, breakage rate, and impact on yield."

"The second step is to select some machines on the new production line for trial use if the verification data meets or exceeds expectations, and run them in parallel with the imported line for at least one full production cycle for direct comparison. The third step is to make a final decision on whether to expand the scope of use, or even completely replace the import, based on the parallel results."

Wang Zhenguo nodded slightly, clearly agreeing with Chief Engineer Wu's sound and professional plan.