Sail across the sea

Chapter 389 You are Gao Fan

"You can find a partner willing to invest 100 million in us?" Pei Hengxue asked, somewhat incredulous.

Kid, do you even know how much a million is? You dare to spout such nonsense with just a flick of your lips?
Gao Fan nodded innocently: "Of course, it's easy."

"What if the in-situ leaching process doesn't work, and the 100 million yuan investment goes down the drain?"

"Then forget it. Consider it venture capital; if it's a bad investment, I'll just have to accept the loss."

"Xiao Gao, you're kidding, right?"

“I can sign a contract with Zeyan Institute and guarantee that this clause will be included.”

"you?"

Seeing everyone looking like they'd seen a ghost, Gao Fan opened his bag, took out a bunch of documents, picked one out, and handed it to Xiao Ping on the table in front of him.

Pei Hengxue and Song Xingkang, abandoning their reserve, both crowded around. Xiao Ping took the certificate and saw the words printed on the cover: Canghua Science and Technology Trade Company, Cangtang County, Maolin Province.

Upon opening the document, Gao Fan's name and photo were indeed present, with a red official seal affixed to the photo, bearing the words "Canghua Science and Trade".

Actually, Gao Fan had always wanted to get a steel seal, but after inquiring, he learned that Canghua Science and Trade Center, a company of that level, couldn't have a steel seal made, so he gave up on the idea.

The job title was clearly written as "General Manager," and the same thought simultaneously crossed the minds of all three:
Damn it, you're a scammer!
Song Xingkang turned his head and stared at the remaining documents in Gao Fan's hand, asking in an unfriendly tone, "Assistant Gao, what are those in your hand?"

"Oh, these are all documents." Gao Fan showed no embarrassment at being caught in his deception. He looked down at them, then took out another document and handed it over, saying, "This document is also mine. Please take a look, Director Song."

Song Xingkang took it and was taken aback; it was actually a Peking University student ID. Opening it, he saw a name and photo inside, and this time, the photo was stamped with Peking University's official seal—something impossible to forge.

Well, at least it's extremely difficult to fake.

"Weren't you the general manager just now? How did you become a student at Peking University?" Pei Hengxue asked subconsciously. Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly pointed at Gao Fan and exclaimed excitedly, "So you're that Gao Fan, the one who made Vitamin C!"

Song Xingkang didn't react for a moment. Xiao Ping, on the other hand, smiled and said slowly, "That's right, I knew your name sounded familiar. That's right, you're Gao Fan from Luping. Only you have such abilities."

"Please excuse my arrogance. I only have a few minor skills; I wouldn't dare to be arrogant in front of seniors like Director Xiao and Director Pei," Gao Fan said modestly.

Xiao Ping chuckled and said, "You don't dare to be arrogant? Wasn't what you just did arrogant?"

"It's mainly because we people from Luping have our own understanding of arrogance," Gao Fan said, starting to act cute as usual.

Pei Hengxue looked at him with a very serious expression and asked, "Manager Gao, I'd like to ask, what is the ex-factory price of the Vitamin C you produce?"

"..." Gao Fan was speechless, stunned for a full five seconds before stammering, "What, Director Pei wants to buy Vitamin C? We only produce the raw materials. If Director Pei is buying it for himself, I can ask our American partners for some; it won't cost any money." "Why would I need Vitamin C!" Pei Hengxue retorted. "I'm asking about the ex-factory price of your Vitamin C raw materials, how much is it per ton?"

"The export price is $8000, but the cost price is about $4000, or around 1 RMB," Gao Fan said.

"It's too expensive, really too expensive." Pei Hengxue said somewhat sullenly.

Gao Fan asked, puzzled, "Why does Director Pei need to buy Vitamin C?"

Pei Hengxue said, "It's used to extract rare earth elements. We've done experiments, and adding ascorbic acid, which is vitamin C, to the magnesium sulfate solution can improve the extraction efficiency and effectively reduce the concentration of magnesium in the residual liquid. However, ascorbic acid is too expensive, so it's not economical to do it this way."

Gao Fan was dumbfounded. This was truly a divine twist. Vitamin C was actually related to rare earth elements. He had never thought of this when he started his vitamin factory.

(Okay, actually, Orange was stunned when she was researching; how come there's information about Vitamin C everywhere?)
"Director Pei, are you saying that the Vitamin C you want is to be used as an additive in the extractant?"

"That's right, we call it an impregnation aid, which is actually equivalent to a catalyst."

"So, there shouldn't be any requirements regarding purity, right?"

"There aren't any special requirements, it's not like it's for eating."

“That makes things easier,” Gao Fan said. “As long as you can afford the shipping costs, I’ll send you a few truckloads. We produce a lot of defective products during the production process, and we currently give them to the local folks to use for raising pigs, but they don’t really want them.”

“We want it!” Pei Hengxue said with a beaming smile. “Manager Gao, it’s settled then. The car isn’t a problem, and we can afford the gas.”

"Ahem! Old Pei, let's talk about this later." Xiao Ping had to remind Pei Hengxue.

Damn it, everyone's talking about serious matters, and this thread has gone completely off-topic.

Someone gives you some waste material from production, and you're overjoyed. You're supposed to be a division-level leader in a public institution, for goodness' sake!
"Right, right, look at my brain!" Pei Hengxue patted his head sheepishly. "Let's get down to business, let's get down to business."

Gao Fan's identity is now clearly beyond doubt. The only point of contention previously was his age. But since he is indeed the prodigy reported in the newspapers and the subject of much gossip, his age is no longer a point of doubt, but rather strong evidence.

Xiao Ping returned both documents to Gao Fan. Watching Gao Fan combine the two documents with six or seven others and stuff them into his bag, Xiao Ping couldn't help but grin. That pile of documents together really made him look like a conman. Just how many identities did this guy have? And what was the origin of his other documents?
These questions, of course, couldn't be asked aloud. Xiao Ping composed himself and asked, "Young Gao, from what you just said, you're saying that your Canghua Science and Trade Company will provide our Zeyan Institute with a loan of 100 million yuan to help us complete the development of the in-situ leaching process, and then we'll use the revenue from this process to repay the loan?"

“It’s not a loan, it’s an investment,” Gao Fan corrected. “An investment means that if we lose money, Zeyan Institute doesn’t need to repay it. On the contrary, if we make money, Zeyan Institute should not only repay the money but also give us some dividends.”

What percentage do you need?

"At least 10%, and it would be even better if it could be more."

(End of this chapter)