Sail across the sea

Chapter 527 How did you get it?

Yuan Xiaoyan fell silent again. After a long while, she smiled bitterly and said to Gao Fan:
“Gao Fan, what you’re talking about is just too difficult. I can imagine it right now. If we were to run a magazine like this according to your idea, it would definitely be seen as an oddity by its peers and ridiculed by everyone. You think you can change the entire public opinion environment with such a publication? It’s no exaggeration to say that you’re trying to stop a chariot with your bare hands.”

"It's precisely because it's difficult that it's most suitable for you," Gao Fan said with a chuckle.

"why?"

"You don't want to be mediocre, right? Then choose the most difficult job. The whole world is muddy, but Yuan is pure; the whole world is drunk, but Yuan is sober. What an exciting job that is!"

"Putting everything else aside, if I were to publish a magazine like this, my classmates would probably vote to expel me."

"So, you're refusing this job?"

"I mean, why don't we give it a try first?"

"Happy cooperation!"

"Happy cooperation!"

Gao Fan extended his hand to Yuan Xiaoyan, and Yuan Xiaoyan shook his hand without hesitation. This was like a pinky promise between children playing a game, which meant that the matter was settled.

Starting a publication is definitely not a simple matter; applying for an ISSN, registering the entity, and recruiting editors and reporters are all very troublesome processes. However, Yuan Xiaoyan's emotions had been stirred up by Gao Fan, and she felt full of energy, eager to go back to her job immediately to resign and then start her own grand entrepreneurial venture.

After entrusting this matter to Yuan Xiaoyan, Gao Fan no longer concerned himself with it. His main task now was to poach talent from various chemical companies to recruit for Canghai Chemical's research institute.

"If you're trying to poach someone's boyfriend, why are you trying to poach him from me?"

In the office of the National Chemical Industry Association, Zheng Linong fiddled with a set of purple clay teaware, poured a small cup of tea for Gao Fan, and asked with a smile.

Following Yang Kai's advice, Gao Fan went to the Chemical Industry Association to consult Zheng Linong before heading to the Chemical Design Institute to poach talent.

Two years ago, Zheng Linong left his position as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Chemical Industry to become the president of the China Chemical Industry Association. The Chemical Industry Association is an industry coordination department, mainly engaged in industrial policy research and business networking, and has little real power. Zheng Linong's daily work is relatively leisurely, and he rarely has visitors; often, not a single person comes to his office all day.

Zheng Linong was very happy to see Gao Fan's visit. He personally demonstrated the tea ceremony he had just learned to Gao Fan and introduced the stories related to tea with great interest. Gao Fan was a little helpless, but he didn't want to spoil the old man's mood.

After chatting for a while, Gao Fan mentioned his idea of ​​recruiting some chemical technicians to his company. Zheng Linong listened without being impatient or annoyed, and simply asked this question in a calm manner.

"If I want to poach someone, I should at least report it to Minister Zheng. Otherwise, if Minister Zheng says I poached your talent and holds me responsible, I'll be in trouble," Gao Fan replied with a smile.

Zheng Linong shook his head: "I'm just a retired person now. Whether you try to poach my employees or not is none of my business. Why did you come all this way to tell me?"

Gao Fan said, "Minister Zheng, you are mistaken. Even if you were to retire to a lower or third-tier position, your influence within the chemical industry would still be unparalleled. Without your approval, how could I dare to poach your talent?"

"But why should I give my consent? Have you ever heard of someone giving their consent when you try to steal someone's partner?"

"I don't know about others, but Minister Zheng, you'll definitely agree." "What's the reason? Tell me?"

"It's actually very simple. Your foundation has been crumbling for a long time. Whether I dig or not, the foundation that's meant to collapse will collapse. Some people are already tempted. If I poach them, at least the meat will stay in the pot. If I don't dig, that meat will fall into someone else's pot."

"You're exaggerating!"

"I have some statistics here, Minister Zheng, would you like to take a look?"

"Bring it to me and see."

Zheng Linong extended his hand to Gao Fan. Gao Fan took out a stack of materials from his bag and handed them to Zheng Linong.

Zheng Linong took the materials and discovered that they were actually statistics on the loss of technical personnel from various units within the chemical industry system.

The statistics are incomplete; many units are not on the list, and some units have omissions in their statistics. For example, the name of the Chemical Engineering Design Institute is listed in the data, but the number of personnel lost there differs from the information Zheng Linong has.

Clearly, Gao Fan's list was not collected through official channels.

However, even with many omissions, the list of names in the document still shocked Zheng Linong.

Zheng Linong was already aware of the loss of research personnel from various units during his tenure. These past two years, working at the Chemical Industry Association, without having to handle routine systemic affairs, allowed him more time to understand the situation, thus giving him even more comprehensive information.

However, he did not compile a summary of the talent loss situation he had, so he lacked an overall understanding of it.

Now, Gao Fan directly handed him a list, which clearly listed the names, titles, schools they graduated from, and destinations of those who had left. The list was densely packed and quite visually striking, which could not help but shock Zheng Linong.

"How can there be so many!" Zheng Linong asked in disbelief.

Gao Fan said, "All of these can be verified. There are also some units for which I don't have information yet, but I estimate they are in a similar situation. If we include all these units, the list will be even longer."

"How did you get this list?" Zheng Linong asked.

Gao Fan said, "It's very simple. I arranged for people to call each company one by one. Some of the companies I've contacted before, I have acquaintances who can be reached. For other companies, I contacted them through alumni of Peking University. The Department of Chemistry at Peking University has been around for so many years, I wouldn't say that our alumni are all over the world, but they are definitely all over the entire system."

Zheng Linong nodded. Gathering a list wasn't actually difficult; all it took was assigning someone to inquire. If someone in the company changed jobs, their colleagues would definitely know, and there was no need to keep it a secret. If someone asked, they'd just tell them.

For Gao Fan, as the chairman of a company, it was far too easy to arrange for someone to make a few phone calls.

"I can't believe it. In just a few years, so many people have left the system," Zheng Linong said, looking at the list with a heavy heart.

(End of this chapter)