Sail across the sea

Chapter 584 will make you feel infinitely glorious.
After the meeting, everyone returned to their own offices. Gao Fan invited Yu Guanqing to the office of the director of the computing center, ostensibly to have a casual chat with him.

Lin Ruoyi took several newly recruited computer science graduates from the research institute to maintain the machines. Gao Fan led Yu Guanqing to sit on the large sofa, and skillfully found teacups and tea leaves, made a cup of tea for Yu Guanqing, and placed it in front of him, which caused Yu Guanqing to show a flustered expression.

“Engineer Yu, you don’t need to be so formal here.”

Gao Fan pulled up a chair and sat opposite Yu Guanqing, saying with a smile.

"Yes, yes," Yu Guanqing said with great emotion. "The style of our research institute is really very comfortable. President Gao, you are so approachable, and Dean Zhou is also so approachable. There is none of the aloofness of leaders in other units."

"I initially agreed to come to the research institute because I felt the treatment at the petrochemical design institute was too poor. I wanted to learn from others and go into business to make some money and improve the life of my wife and children. To be honest, Mr. Gao, I was mentally prepared to work like a slave at the research institute."

Gao Fan smiled and added for him, "You think that since we are a private enterprise, capitalists are all profit-driven and will never stop until they squeeze every last drop of blood and sweat from the workers, right?"

Yu Guanqing said, "I didn't think that way. However, some former colleagues did say that private enterprises are not as easy as state-owned enterprises, and you have to pay a price to make money."

Gao Fan said, "That's true. I heard from Dean Zhou that your team has been working overtime almost every day for the past few months, especially you, the project leader. Leaving early and returning late is nothing unusual, and it's common for you to spend the night in the lab. How about it? Your wife must be cursing me a lot at home for being a heartless capitalist, right?"

Yu Guanqing, feigning righteousness, pointed to the sky and said, "That's impossible! As soon as we arrived at the research institute, we were allocated a two-bedroom apartment and a settling-in allowance. I took the allowance home, and that spendthrift woman went and bought a refrigerator, a color TV, and a washing machine. She was so happy."

Gao Fan said, "However, Lao Yu, you still need to balance work and rest. The tasks I've given you aren't actually that demanding. If you really can't handle them, you can apply to the institute for more staff. Our business is going to expand significantly in the future. If I exhaust everyone now, who will I exploit later?"

Yu Guanqing laughed and said, "President Gao is joking. Everyone in our team says that working at the research institute is very comfortable. We do do a little more work than at our previous jobs, but the income is more than three times what we used to do. What is there to complain about? If this is considered exploitation, I don't know how many people would be hoping to be exploited by President Gao."

After finishing these meaningless pleasantries, Gao Fan changed the subject to the fluorochemical project. At this point, Yu Guanqing relaxed and began to introduce the progress of each research topic.

“我们参考了化工部提出的CFCs替代物目录，确定了HFC-152a、134a，HCFC-141b、142b、123、124等六个品种作为主要研究方向，确定原料和工艺路线。

"Our approach is to select domestically produced chemical raw materials with large output as a base, make process adjustments based on existing production equipment as much as possible, and at the same time consider controlling the price of substitutes."

“Thanks to the process ideas you provided, Mr. Gao, especially the idea of ​​using rare earth alloy catalysts, we have now been able to control the production costs of several alternatives to within 150% of the cost of CFCs, demonstrating good economic viability. At the same time, the investment in equipment upgrades and renovations is within the company's budget,” Yu Guanqing said. Gao Fan nodded in approval, then said, “The company's marketing department is currently assessing the market share of various alternatives. The next step is to transfer these technologies to the relevant companies. Each company needs to establish a certain division of labor to avoid excessive self-destruction. Of course, there can't be any competition at all, otherwise there will be no vitality.”

"Mr. Gao, if we work so hard to develop this technology and then just give it to other companies, wouldn't the company be losing money?" Yu Guanqing asked.

He was well aware that the company charged for technology transfer, and the fees were quite high, covering not only the expenses incurred during the research and development process but also providing a considerable profit. The research institute stipulated that after the technology transfer, the technical personnel involved in the research would receive a certain percentage of performance-based bonuses, which was why everyone was willing to work day and night.

Yu Guanqing's question stemmed from the feeling that it would be better to keep these technologies in their own hands. Yanxiu's fluorochemical company already had a plant with an annual production capacity of 4000 tons of F22, and adding other plants wouldn't be difficult. If they produced these products themselves, the profits would definitely be much higher than a few technology transfer fees.

Gao Fan laughed and said, "Staying all to yourself will only make you hated. If we keep the technology for alternatives to ourselves and squeeze out all the companies that produce CFCs, believe me, local governments will sue us at the Ministry of Chemical Industry."

“What can they sue? Isn’t this supposed to be a market economy?” Yu Guanqing said.

“For at least 30 years, China will not have a fully market economy,” Gao Fan said. “Local interests will always exist. Even if they don’t sue us, they can at least demand that their subordinate refrigerator factories, air conditioner factories, and polyurethane factories stop using our alternative products and continue to use their own CFCs. In this way, our products will not sell, and their CFCs will not be phased out quickly, which is a lose-lose situation.”

"That makes sense. Mr. Gao's insight is indeed much sharper than ours, those of us in the tech field." Yu Guanqing was once again resorting to his habitual flattery.

Gao Fan smiled, ignoring Yu Guanqing's flattery, and continued, "The task of regulating the fluorochemical industry was assigned to our group by the State Economic Commission. The Commission's intention is to cultivate our country's fluorochemical industry, rather than allowing our group to stand out alone."

"In this sense, we also have to transfer some of our technology. Next, you will need to send personnel to participate in the technological transformation of various companies, provide them with on-site technical guidance, and ensure that the technology is implemented."

No secrets can be kept in a workplace, and Yu Guanqing certainly knew that Director Xu of the State Economic Commission was Director Lin's mother and General Manager Gao's mother-in-law. He wisely refrained from revealing this, instead confidently replying:

"Understood, Mr. Gao, don't worry, we will definitely figure out every technical detail so that the companies that adopt the technology can smoothly produce the alternatives. This is also a way to share the burden for the country, and we will all feel extremely honored."

(End of this chapter)