I bought a prison in the United States.

After each inflow and outflow of funds, Lingo would write down the numbers by hand to help his brain more accurately perceive the flow of money.

The brain regions activated by numbers seen with the eyes are different from those activated by numbers written by hand.

Handwriting forces the brain to process each number more deeply, which makes people more acutely aware of the meaning behind the numbers.

He also owes Ray Carson $54,000, with monthly interest payments of over $1,100.

The $8100 also included the necessary expenses for purchasing raw materials for processing, so the actual amount received was not much.

He needs to earn enough to pay the interest before the end of the month, otherwise a different expression will appear on Ray's perpetually smiling face.

Just as Lin Ge was deep in thought, someone knocked on the office door.

"Come in."

Hamon walked in through the door.

He was holding two cups of coffee, just like always.

He placed one cup in front of Lingo, took the other himself, and then sat down in the chair opposite the desk.

He leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, took a sip of coffee, and then began to get down to business.

"Today was good. The equipment arrived, the order was signed, and the prisoners are behaving themselves."

"I've been here so long, and this is the first time I've felt that this prison is a legitimate business."

Lin Ge picked up his coffee cup and took a sip.

Harmon's coffee was still as bitter as ever, but today he didn't frown.

"People from GE will be coming tomorrow, so we need to make some arrangements for the factory in advance."

"I've already informed Craig, and he'll prepare the technical data."

Hamon paused for a moment.

"There's one more thing. I spoke with Bowers this afternoon."

"He was transferred from Oklahoma City. He had worked at the state prison for five years and had a few acquaintances in the state corrections department. He was in charge of prisoner transfers and bed allocation."

Lin Ge put down his coffee cup.

"Can you get in touch with him?"

"Sure," Harmon said, "but he also said these officials aren't just doing their jobs for nothing."

"They control which prisoners are sent to which prison, when they are sent, and how many are sent; all of this is subject to a certain price."

Ringo understood what Hamon meant.

In the American prison system of the 80s, prisoner transfers were a highly administrative but also highly informal process.

The state corrections department has official allocation standards and procedures based on factors such as the inmate's security level and bed vacancy.

In practice, officials have a great deal of discretion in their deployment.

An allocation officer can decide within a day whether to increase your prison's occupancy rate to 90% or keep it at 40%.

This discretionary power, like any power that is not fully institutionalized, creates a gray market.

In this market, the currency in circulation is not just money.

When relationships, personal connections, and information are combined, a tacit, mutually beneficial arrangement can occur in certain situations.

Lin Ge thought for a moment.

"Then let's try making contact first, no need to rush into any specific requests."

"First, let them know that McLean County Correctional Center now has stable employment opportunities suitable for inmates who need labor reform."

"If they have suitable prisoners to transfer, they can consider us."

Hamon nodded, finished speaking, pushed open the door, and walked out.

Lin Ge looked at the closed door, picked up his coffee cup, and took another sip.

The coffee was still bitter, but this time, he tasted a faint sweetness after the bitterness.

It's probably a delayed effect of taste perception.

Or perhaps he's genuinely in a good mood today.

He put down the cup, turned to a new sheet of paper, and began writing down his plans for tomorrow.

Tomorrow at 10 AM, General Electric.

Carl Morrison, Purchasing Manager.

He needs to prepare some stamping samples and compile detailed drawings and technical parameters for the self-tapping screw design.

Fortunately, the plan was not too complicated, and since Lingo had done some research on it before, it was not difficult to write.

Even if there were things he didn't understand, Craig could explain the technical details, so Ringo only needed to handle the business negotiations.

As he was writing, a question suddenly came to mind.

General Electric is a large company, not on the same level as Mr. Fox's factory.

Large companies have long procurement decision-making chains.

From the moment the purchasing manager expresses interest to the technical team's evaluation, to legal review, and finally to the signature, it usually takes weeks or even months.

But Morrison said on the phone that he would come over tomorrow, just one day later.

This means that GE's need for this solution is very urgent.

"They might value this plan even more than I thought?"

Lin Ge leaned back in his chair, deep in thought about the problem.

In business, once someone else grasps your needs, you will be at a disadvantage in negotiations, and they can use this as a basis to raise their asking price.

The machines in the factory outside the window had stopped, and the prisoners had been taken back to their cells.

A washing machine production line from General Electric.

Morrison mentioned in the phone call that they are working on design modifications for the next generation of products.

Design modifications typically have a time window; all design modifications must be completed before the new product is finalized.

If this window is missed, the modifications will be postponed to the next product cycle, which could be a year or two later.

In other words, if they don't use his plan now, they'll have to wait at least a year before they can use it again.

During this year, their competitors Whirlpool and Maytag may find solutions to similar problems first.

Lin Ge's lips curled up slightly.

Morrison said on the phone:

Our chief engineer said the plan was "elegantly obnoxious."

This statement reveals that they have already had internal discussions.

Saying something is "elegantly annoying" implies that the solution has been recognized as the optimal solution.

The optimal solution indicates that they cannot easily abandon this solution if there is no alternative.

A time window plus the optimal solution equals a negotiating advantage.

The negotiating advantage lies with Lingo.

What he needs most right now is working capital, not just one or two order prepayments, which require a longer period to receive the final payment.

But Ringo had another big operation planned, and he needed to have enough capital; a few thousand dollars was simply not enough.

So he is now thinking about another problem:

How much can I ask for in patent licensing fees?

Day 2, 9:45 AM.

A dark blue Buick Regal became the fourth outsider to visit the prison.

The Buick Regal is a mid-size sedan launched by General Motors in the 80s. It is equipped with a 3.8-liter V6 engine, front-engine and rear-wheel drive, and has a square and tough body line. It was the standard car for middle-class management in the United States at that time.

Its engine displacement and body size are larger than those of comparable European and Japanese cars, and its fuel consumption is also higher.

However, by 1984, gasoline prices in the United States had fallen from $1.2 per gallon in 1979 to $0.9, and no one cared much about fuel consumption.