Sail across the sea

Chapter 417 I Have a Condition

Gao Fan's answer was very assertive, but it left Xu Yun conflicted.

How could he know what price would be more appropriate?

If you set the price too low, not only will you suffer a loss, but Gao Fan will also look down on you.

Setting the price too high might seem like overcharging, and if Gao Fan, concerned about his own reputation, reluctantly agrees, he would feel embarrassed.

After thinking for a moment, Xu Yun decided to take a step back and say, "It wouldn't be appropriate for me to ask for a price for this. I don't know what your company's expectations are, so how would I know how much value my work could have?"

Gao Fan originally just wanted to tease Xu Yun. Based on his experience dealing with scientific and technological personnel from several different units, he knew that if Xu Yun offered his own salary, it would probably be around 50 per month or even less.

This standard isn't low even now; many companies pay their employees around this amount. As a student, Xu Yun would likely be satisfied with a monthly salary of 50 yuan.

But Gao Fan certainly couldn't pay Xu Yun according to that standard. He himself was worth several million, and the technology Xu Yun developed could generate tens or even hundreds of millions in profits for Xinglong Company. If he paid Xu Yun the same as an ordinary employee, they wouldn't be able to remain friends in the future.

Even when profiting from others' success, sustainable development must be considered. Xu Yun's future prospects are limitless; Gao Fan cannot afford to mistreat him.

“From now until the start of the graduate program in September, that’s four and a half months, let’s round it up to five months. At 1000 yuan per month, I’ll give you a total of 5000 yuan, how about that?” Gao Fan said.

"1000 a month? Gao Fan, are you alright?" Xu Yun's eyes widened, clearly shocked by the price Gao Fan had offered.

"You don't think you're worth that price?" Gao Fan retorted.

"That's not it..." Xu Yun replied subconsciously, then hesitated before asking, "Your company can't all have this kind of salary standard, can it?"

"Of course not. If everyone paid this much, capitalists would all become like Yang Bailao (a character from a Chinese folktale who suffers from poverty)." Gao Fan said.

"Well... I'll just stick to the same standards as everyone else."

"Old Xu, I'm asking you to do this not so you can work like an ordinary engineer, but rather you need to utilize your intelligence and talent. I can say this: there isn't a single engineer who graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China in all the paint factories across the country. What do you think?"

I doubt it either.

As Xu Yun spoke, he began to accept the reward offered by Gao Fan.

He hadn't had much contact with Gao Fan. They'd chatted a few times while working at the Fenglin Institute, exchanged a few letters, and then there was the exchange just now. He could sense that Gao Fan was someone with a high level of intelligence, just like him. Such a person would consider all aspects before making any decision.

Xu Yun was shocked by the compensation offered by Gao Fan. He had never thought he could earn 5000 yuan, which was almost two years' salary for a senior engineer.

But he also believed that Gao Fan wouldn't just ask for a price arbitrarily. Since Gao Fan said that, it meant he thought his work was worth that much money, or his labor was worth that much money. The former corresponds to the results of his work, while the latter is purely based on his efforts.

In Gao Fan's mind, hiring a student from the University of Science and Technology of China to do work, regardless of the outcome, should be compensated with 5000 yuan.

Since that's the case, there's no need for me to be coy or pretentious; that's not how smart people interact.

“Gao Fan, I accept the payment. However, I have one condition: I want to bring someone along, and we'll split the payment equally. You need to talk to him about this for me,” Xu Yun said.

"You mean the one with forty-eight legs?" Gao Fan guessed immediately. He did have another guess, which was whether Xu Yun wanted to do it with Huang Chunyan as well. However, Xu Yun's expression just now was very calm, clearly not the kind of expression that comes from being driven by hormones, so Gao Fan dismissed this guess.

Based on Xu Yun's statement that he had a good relationship with the "forty-eight-legged man," Gao Fan believed his guess was correct.

As expected, Xu Yun did not deny it, but corrected Gao Fan's wording: "His name is Zhou Dongzhi, okay?"

Does he know anything about water-based coatings?

"It's not difficult to understand, is it?"

"Okay..." Gao Fan also realized that he had overthought it. A teacher who could make Xu Yun think he was talented must have no doubt about his abilities.

Water-based coatings are not exactly cutting-edge technology. After giving a general research direction, the rest is to conduct a lot of experiments in that direction to find the best material ratio.

Xu Yun and his teachers were both physics majors, but they had also studied basic chemistry, so mastering the knowledge of water-based coatings wasn't difficult for them. In fact, it's perfectly normal for researchers to cross disciplines.

"Are you sure this Mr. Thursday Eighteen is willing to participate in this project?"

Gao Fan asked again.

Xu Yun said he wanted to get Zhou Dongzhi involved in the project, but Gao Fan wasn't going to give them extra money. He knew that if he offered to pay Zhou Dongzhi separately, Xu Yun would feel awkward.

A reward of 5000 yuan is a large sum. Xu Yun would be satisfied with just half of it, and might even feel apprehensive. All Gao Fan needs to do is make Xu Yun remember his favor; any further complications would be unnecessary.

“I would say that I took on this task, but I can’t finish it myself. I also have some experiments for my graduation project to do, so I would ask Professor Zhou for help. He shouldn’t refuse,” Xu Yun said. Then, he remembered something else and asked, “Gao Fan, are you sure your research approach is correct? What if we follow your approach strictly but still don’t get satisfactory results?”

Gao Fan said, "First of all, my approach is absolutely sound. You can go ahead and do it with Brother Forty-Eight. Secondly, the compensation I mentioned earlier is unrelated to the result; it's just wages, which you'll be paid regardless of success or failure."

"Finally, it's about the results. If you can develop a water-based coating that meets my requirements and help Xinglong Coatings Company achieve industrial production, I will have Xinglong Company contribute 1% of the profits it earns from the water-based coating over the next five years as a technology royalty to you."

"That's unnecessary."

"This is very necessary."

"I'd like to ask, how much profit do you expect Xinglong Company to make from this product over the next five years?"

"If the product achieves the expected performance, Xinglong Company can conservatively estimate that it will be able to make a profit of 1000 million yuan in the next five years."

"So, Mr. Zhou and I can get 10 yuan in technical commission?"

Xu Yun calculated a result that startled him once again. After a long pause, he stammered:

"The old saying is absolutely true: those who build missiles are really not as well off as those who sell tea eggs. Hearing you say that makes me want to open a paint factory myself."

(End of this chapter)