Cutting-edge technology: Starting with individual stealth equipment

In the third week of operation of the pilot production line, Sun Jianming found an opportunity.

That night, only Henghui employees were on duty at the pilot production line. Sun Jianming and his team secretly took 50 milliliters of bacterial solution from the sampling port of the fermenter and divided it into two sterile tubes.

Then, another 200 ml of the special nutrient solution was taken from the drain valve of the nutrient solution storage tank and put into another bottle.

The process went so smoothly that it surprised him, and he began to wonder if DeepBlue Technology was being a little too insensitive to technical secrecy.

In fact, anything that can be brought here for testing is not afraid of being stolen; even if it is stolen, it's useless.

However, Sun Jianming didn't think much of it. After receiving the samples, he immediately went to the laboratory of Henghui Xin'an's business department.

Sun Jianming personally centrifuged the bacterial solution, collected the bacterial cells, resuspended them in fresh basic nutrient solution, and then divided them into five portions, adding different nutrient solution formulas to each portion.

He tried five nutrient solutions prepared by Henghui itself, adjusting the carbon-nitrogen ratio, trace elements, and pH buffering system according to DeepBlue Technology's basic nutrient solution formula.

Each one was repeated three times.

Then put it in the shaker, 37 degrees, 200 revolutions.

The next morning, Sun Jianming went to the laboratory and took out the culture flasks to observe.

The first group had very low turbidity, and the bacterial community hardly multiplied.

The second group had slightly higher turbidity, but the bacterial cells under the microscope showed abnormal morphology, and most of them had already lysed.

The third group remained largely unchanged.

The fourth group was found to be contaminated with other microorganisms.

The fifth group of bacteria died completely.

This result made Sun Jianming frown; DeepBlue Technology had indeed not lied to him.

Without a specially formulated nutrient solution, the bacteria cannot reproduce normally and their survival time is no more than three days.

Then he tried again.

This time, Sun Jianming not only used basic nutrient solution to resuspend the cells, but also conducted a component analysis on the specially made nutrient solution he brought back from DeepBlue Technology.

Henghui's laboratory is equipped with liquid chromatographs and mass spectrometers, which can detect the molecular weight of organic compounds.

Analysis revealed that this secret nutrient solution contained at least seven unknown components whose molecular weights and chromatographic retention times could not be matched with any known compounds in the database.

In other words, these ingredients are likely synthesized by DeepBlue Technology itself and are not available on the market.

Sun Jianming's face looked very grim.

He then conducted another experiment, diluting DeepBlue Technology's special nutrient solution at different concentrations to see at what concentration the bacteria could maintain their activity.

The result completely extinguished his anxiety.

Diluted 10 times: bacterial activity decreased by 30%.

Diluted 50 times: bacterial activity decreased by 80%.

Diluted 100 times: all bacteria die within 24 hours.

This means that DeepBlue Technology's secret nutrient solution is an "absolute necessity" for the survival of the microbial community, and the required concentration is not low.

Without this formula, even if you obtain the bacterial strain, you cannot cultivate it on a large scale.

……

In the blink of an eye, it was the fourth week, and Sun Jianming returned to Henghui headquarters.

Upon arriving at the company, he reported to Zhou Chengyue, who immediately asked, "How did it go? Can you crack it?"

Sun Jianming shook his head helplessly: "I can't handle it."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chengyue frowned.

Sun Jianming recounted the entire experimental process over this period, from sampling to analysis, from nutrient solution composition testing to dilution experiments, without omitting a single detail.

After listening, Zhou Chengyue leaned back in his chair: "So, your conclusion is that these bacteria can't survive without Deep Blue Company's special nutrient solution?"

"They won't survive." Sun Jianming nodded firmly and said, "We've tried many different formulas, but none of them worked. Moreover, their special nutrient solution contains at least seven unknown ingredients, which our analytical capabilities are insufficient to decipher in the short term."

"What about in the long term?"

Sun Jianming thought for a moment and replied, "If we can get enough samples and send them to a professional institution for full component analysis, maybe... maybe we can, maybe we can't. I can't give an absolute guarantee."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chengyue said in a deep voice, "No wonder they are so careless and don't care much about protecting their technology."

Sun Jianming added, "Yes, they are very confident that no one else can come up with that special nutrient solution formula."

During this period, Henghui Group also conducted a lot of background checks on DeepBlue Technology in private, and found that DeepBlue Technology had not applied for patents for the technology related to the "plastic-eating bacteria" project.

Zhou Chengyue suddenly realized what was going on.

At first, I thought Lin Chuan was carefree, but now I realize I was wrong.

If others cannot crack it, it is right not to apply for a patent; applying for a patent is like self-destructing a truck.

However, Henghui Group did not give up immediately and continued to try to crack the code behind the scenes.

Meanwhile, on the pilot production line, the cooperation continues.

The contract has already been signed. If it cannot be circumvented, then we have no choice but to cooperate honestly.

……

In the second week of May, Henghui's 5 billion yuan payment arrived in its account.

In the finance department of DeepBlue Technology, Jiang Miaolan, sitting at her desk, stared at the string of numbers on the company's bank account and counted them three times.

Confirmed, the 10 billion has arrived.

This was the first time she had ever handled such a large sum of money. After deducting all costs and taxes, the net profit of this 10 billion yuan would be more than 7.2 million yuan.

Jiang Miaolan compiled a document and then went to Lin Chuan's office.

"Come in."

Lin Chuan responded to the knock on the door. He was sitting at his desk reading documents, with a technical report spread out in front of him. It was a report on pilot line data, bacterial activity analysis, and other data that Zhao Funing had sent him yesterday.

Hearing the door open, Lin Chuan looked up and saw that the person who came in was Jiang Miaolan.

"Henghui's payment has arrived; 10 billion yuan has been deposited into the account." Jiang Miaolan placed the payment receipt and another document on the table. "In addition, the distribution plan for the 3000 million yuan bonus package has been drafted. Take a look."

Lin Chuan picked up the materials and began to read them.

Jiang Miaolan continued, "According to the principles you set before, the distribution plan for the 3000 million yuan prize package has been calculated. Zhao Funing made the biggest contribution and will receive 159 million yuan, while Cui Zhaohan and other members of the plasminoides project team will receive between 89 and 115 million yuan."

"In addition to equity dividends, each founding team member received an extra 80 from a bonus package."

"Other employees are allocated based on their start date and performance coefficient, with the two newest employees receiving the lowest allocations each receiving 30."

Jiang Miaolan is also one of the 15 founding team members of DeepBlue Technology, holding 1% of the shares. Of the 500 million yuan in dividends, she will receive 5 million yuan before tax, which is her shareholder equity.

All employees will receive a bonus package of 3000 million yuan, and Jiang Miaolan, as a company employee, will receive an additional 80 yuan.

After reading the materials, Lin Chuan turned to the last page and signed his name in the signature column.

Not long after Jiang Miaolan left, Shen Yuxin was called to the office.

Lin Chuan glanced up at her and instructed, "Hold a meeting this afternoon, everyone must attend, in the common office area. Go and arrange a specific time."

DeepBlue Technology currently has fewer than 100 full-time employees, so holding an all-staff meeting wouldn't have much of an impact.

……

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