Sail across the sea

Chapter 518: It's just him.
"If your wages are low, go complain to the education commission. What does it have to do with me?"

Gao Fan nonchalantly retorted to Yang Kai's taunts, then said:

"I'm here to bring you benefits, don't be ungrateful. Among your young teachers, there are probably quite a few who can't even find a wife because of their low income, right? Come to us, your income will double, and we'll even help you with housing."

"Cangtang is a place with beautiful mountains and clear waters, and it's known for its beautiful women. If you young teachers go there, you'll definitely be spoiled for choice, and your lifelong happiness will be guaranteed."

Hearing Gao Fan mention this, Yang Kai laughed and said, "If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten. The technical director at your sister's company, I can't remember his name, but it's the one you always call 'Leg Brother'..."

Gao Fan laughed and said, "Ha, isn't that Zhou Dongzhi, the guy who was willing to sell himself for forty-eight legs? Yes, that's exactly his situation. It's like the saying, 'One thought leads to a life of luxury, and suddenly the world opens up.'"

The Zhou Dongzhi they were talking about was originally a talented young teacher in the Physics Department of the University of Science and Technology of China. However, because the teacher's income was too low, this guy couldn't afford the "forty-eight legs" of furniture he needed for his wedding, and he was depressed all the time.

At the time, Gao Fan was looking for someone to help Xinglong Company develop interior wall coatings for home use. He approached Xu Yun, who then recommended this "Leg Brother." The two of them went to work for Xinglong Company together. Afterwards, with labor fees and bonuses, they each earned about ten thousand yuan. The "Leg Brother" thus collected enough legs for furniture, bought a three-wheeled watch and a radio, and accomplished a major life event.

The story didn't end there. Soon after getting married, the man with the "Legs" (a nickname for a man) had a baby, forcing him to work hard again to pay for baby formula. At the same time, he also encountered setbacks in his professional title evaluation. In a fit of anger, he resigned and joined Xinglong Company, becoming its technical director.

Xinglong Company originally relied on Gao Fan for its technology, but with Zhou Dongzhi joining, Gao Fan could finally free himself up. Zhou Dongzhi's arrival was a game-changer in the coatings industry, where the average technical level was equivalent to a bachelor's degree from Maolin University of Technology. He quickly developed several new flagship products for Xinglong Company, and his personal income saw a significant increase.

Gao Fan had met Zhou Dongzhi many times and had witnessed firsthand the transformation of an ivory tower scholar into a gold-chain-wearing gangster. In Zhou Dongzhi's presence, he would naturally address him respectfully as "President Zhou," but back home, he would call him "Brother Leg" without a hint of malice.

That's why, when Yang Kai talks about Zhou Dongzhi, all he can think of is his nickname.

“I don’t like Zhou Dongzhi the way he is now.” Yang Kai laughed, then frowned and said, “I heard from your sister that Zhou Dongzhi is living a very luxurious life now. He’s dressed head to toe in designer brands and wears an expensive watch on his wrist. The company does pay him very well, but he’s a graduate of school. It’s really hard to stand him acting like a nouveau riche.”

“We all have different attitudes toward life,” Gao Fan said. “There aren’t many people like you and my sister who can maintain the spirit of poor scholars even with a net worth of millions.”

"How can there not be much? Wu Zixian also receives patent fees from your company. He lives more frugally than all the teachers in the department. He sends a portion of his patent fees home to support his elderly parents and his younger siblings' education, and uses the rest for experiments. He's the only one in the entire chemistry department who uses his own money for research."

"Isn't there still you?"

“I… well, I guess I could be considered one too, but I’m different from him.”

Gao Fan naturally understood what Yang Kai meant by "different." Yang Kai was Gao Fan's earliest partner; he had helped Gao Fan optimize the formula for chemical cleaning agents and later led the research on the vitamin C process, making many contributions to Canghai Chemical.

Gao Fan was also quite generous to Yang Kai, from initially giving Yang Kai a computer to later paying him service fees and dividends under various pretexts, giving Yang Kai no less than a million yuan in total.

With more money in hand, Yang Kai no longer needed to struggle like other teachers to apply for research grants of 100,000 or 200,000 yuan. If he couldn't get funding for some projects right away, he would pay for them himself. He also paid for the stipends for his graduate students out of his own pocket.

It's a dark joke, really. Because Yang Kai didn't care about money, he started many research projects on a whim, resulting in him producing results faster and more frequently than others. With these results, various funding agencies would come knocking on his door, and often it was even the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) officials begging him to apply, creating a virtuous cycle.

Wu Zixian's situation was quite different from Yang Kai's. Because he helped Gao Fan develop several surfactant formulas, he was able to receive a fixed share of the patent revenue, but the amount was less than Yang Kai's. Apart from sending some money home, Wu Zixian invested the rest of his money in his research projects, purely "powered by love."

Wu Zixian completed his master's and doctoral degrees in the Department of Chemistry and then stayed on as a teaching assistant. Besides fulfilling his departmental duties, he dedicates all his time to researching a topic he decided on over a year ago:

Carbon dioxide is used to synthesize starch.

Gao Fan was well aware of this research topic. First, he knew it was achievable, and after discussing it with Wu Zixian, he was certain Wu Zixian was on the right track. Second, he knew the immense difficulty of the project; even if Wu Zixian started now, it would take at least 20 years to see results. And this was contingent on increased national investment in the future; if Wu Zixian relied solely on his own efforts, he might not succeed even in 200 years.

Before his success, all of Wu Zixian's efforts seemed futile to outsiders. Without producing results, he couldn't secure research grants and had to continuously invest his own money. Furthermore, the lack of results meant Wu Zixian was almost impossible to obtain a senior professional title, a fatal flaw in academia.

In short, Yang Kai funded his research out of his own pocket and ultimately gained both fame and fortune. He has now been promoted to associate professor and is said to be able to be promoted to professor soon.

Wu Zixian, who also funds his own research, will likely lose both fame and fortune for at least 20 years, and may have to use his lecturer title until retirement.

That's why Yang Kai felt he was different from Wu Zixian.

Moreover, Yang Kai genuinely admired Wu Zixian.

These days, the most popular saying is "money is everything." People who can endure loneliness and wholeheartedly pursue their ideals are extremely rare.

(End of this chapter)