Sail across the sea

Chapter 514 How to Slander Someone's Innocence Out of Thin Air
"Yes, yes, we must do both, and we must make both strong."

Fu Yiming quickly changed his tune. He knew that his young boss had a fanatical obsession with expanding into international markets, and always said that making money from foreigners was the right way, while making a name for himself in the domestic market was enough.

Gao Fan smiled, then held up his fourth finger and said, "After separating the active agents from oil extraction, the remaining surfactant products can be treated as a separate business group, which can also be called a surfactant company. The task is to continue developing other surfactants."

"Surfactants have a wide range of applications. If this business group is developed, it will generate at least several hundred million in sales in the future."

Gu Kunquan and Fu Yiming quickly took notes. Their company had been producing surfactants for several years, so they were quite familiar with the product and optimistic about its market prospects.

"The last item is functional polymer materials, which includes a wide variety of products. I've already chosen the first one, an important product that can benefit women and children," Gao Fan said with a smile.

"To benefit women and children?"

Gu and Fu were both a little confused, not quite understanding Gao Fan's meaning.

Gao Fan said, "The product I'm talking about is a starch-grafted superabsorbent resin. The raw materials are very simple: ordinary industrial-grade starch, acrylonitrile, cerium ammonium nitrate, caustic soda, nitrogen, and hydrochloric acid. After gelatinization, graft polymerization, saponification, and finally neutralization and separation, it can be produced. This product has a very high water absorption capacity; each gram of resin can absorb 1000 grams of water."

“I know about this stuff,” Gu Kunquan said. “When General Manager Gao talked about benefiting women and children, didn’t he mean that this material could be used to produce diapers for babies and sanitary napkins for women?”

"So you know about this, Lao Gu," Gao Fan said with a smile.

Fu Yiming said, "Old Gu has a wide range of knowledge; everyone in the company knows that."

Gu Kunquan waved his hand and said, "Well, I still have the same old habit I had when I was in the Science and Technology Commission. I like to look at all sorts of random materials and I can learn a little bit about everything."

Gao Fan asked, "Old Gu, since you know about this stuff, can you analyze the market prospects for this kind of absorbent resin?"

Gu Kunquan answered without hesitation, "Of course, the prospects are bright. Gao Fan, you're not married yet, so you don't know the ins and outs. Right now, disposable diapers and sanitary napkins are the hottest products on the market."

"Back then, everyone was poor and couldn't afford to use disposable hygiene products. Not to mention anything else, when my child was little, I had to wash his diapers every day, which was such a hassle."

"But now it's so much easier. With disposable diapers, the baby's bottom stays dry after urinating. You can just throw them away after changing them without washing them. It's so much easier to take care of the baby."

“I’ve seen it in department stores. A few years ago, there were very few brands of disposable diapers and sanitary napkins, and some stores didn’t even have them at all. But in the last two years, a lot of brands have emerged, which shows how big the market is.”

Gao Fan asked in surprise, "Old Gu, your child should be in high school by now, right? He definitely doesn't need diapers anymore, and he's not old enough to give you a grandson. Why would you care about diapers? Did you commit some moral transgression and have another child outside?" These words made Gu Kunquan's face turn bright red. He glared at Gao Fan and retorted, "You little Gao, how dare you slander me like this? Ask Old Fu, am I the kind of person who would commit such a moral transgression!"

Fu Yiming joined in the jeering, saying with a serious expression, "That's hard to say. I think President Gao's question is valid. Why would you, Lao Gu, care about disposable diapers in a store for no reason?"

"Can't I go and investigate the market?" Gu Kunquan argued, his face flushed. "I've always loved shopping; I'll look at every counter. I came from the Science and Technology Commission, after all. Isn't it reasonable for me to pay attention to the latest technological developments?"

Seeing that Gu Kunquan was getting a little anxious, Gao Fan couldn't joke anymore and quickly nodded, saying, "That makes sense, very much so. What President Gu just said makes perfect sense. After hearing what President Gu said, I have confidence in this product."

Gu Kunquan said angrily, "I've been paying attention to absorbent polymers for a long time. I not only know that they can be used to make diapers and sanitary napkins, but I also know that they have a wide range of applications in agriculture."

"I have seen information that when planting trees in arid regions abroad, a layer of water-absorbing resin gel is first wrapped around the roots of the saplings before planting them in the ground and then watering them. This water-absorbing resin can lock in the water and prevent water evaporation, which can greatly improve the survival rate of the trees."

"Our country is developing the Three-North Shelterbelt Project, which involves many arid regions. If we can develop this water-absorbing resin to support the construction of the Three-North Shelterbelt Project, it would be a great contribution to the country."

Gao Fan and Fu Yiming knew that Gu Kunquan was saying all this to prove that his interest in diapers was purely scientific research and had nothing to do with his lifestyle, so they suppressed their laughter and nodded repeatedly in agreement. However, after Gu Kunquan's explanation, everyone gained confidence in the market prospects of absorbent resin products.

"In terms of functional polymer materials, let's start with absorbent polymers. Once this product becomes profitable, we can use the profits to support subsequent research and development. There's so much to explore in this field; it could keep us busy for decades," Gao Fan said.

"Biochemicals, daily chemicals, oilfield chemicals, surfactants, plus functional polymer materials, that makes a total of five business groups. The management pressure is really not small."

Fu Yiming counted on his fingers, feeling somewhat emotional.

Gao Fan was a hands-off manager, only responsible for coming up with ideas; the actual management fell to Gu Kunquan and Fu Yiming. The company was originally divided into two subsidiaries, and the two had just established the management system. Now, it was suddenly going to be divided into five business groups, or five subsidiaries, and just assigning management personnel to each subsidiary was a huge undertaking.

Fortunately, after so many years of experience, the company's younger generation has grown up, and it's no longer in a situation where there's no one available. Putting these young people in management positions will definitely cause some initial chaos, but they'll get used to it after a while, and Fu Yiming is fully confident about that.

"After all that talk, you've only got five business groups?" Gu Kunquan said, somewhat dissatisfied. "Gao Fan, I remember you used to talk about a lot of product ideas. How come there are only five aspects left now?"

"Old Gu, are you just looking for trouble?" Fu Yiming complained. "You think five business groups aren't enough? Just the venue alone will need to be increased by so much. The task of getting land from the county will fall to you."

(End of this chapter)