When I am reborn, I just want to be a top student

As the founder of Galaxy Technology, I have witnessed the company's development to the point where there are simply too many things to handle.

Even if Wang Donglai wanted to devote himself to scientific research, he couldn't do it.

After all, in the eyes of outsiders, Wang Donglai is the boss of Galaxy Technology, and only his words carry weight. If it were anyone else, whether it was an official or a partner, they wouldn't recognize him.

Especially on some major cooperation matters and business contracts, they strongly demanded that Wang Donglai personally come forward.

Xuanwu Battery is less than three months away from being launched on the market.

The world's attention is focused on this.

BYD leveraged that live-streamed test vehicle demonstration to generate massive traffic for its yet-to-be-released new car.

Any new energy vehicle will inevitably use Xuanwu batteries.

Although it's obvious to everyone that Xuanwu batteries are expensive and their selling price is even higher, if they were actually installed in a car, it would definitely be a high-end model with an extremely high price, which wouldn't be relevant to ordinary people.

However, this cannot overshadow the superior performance of Xuanwu batteries and consumers' fondness for them.

January 10, 2019, the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Wang Donglai had just promoted the establishment of the Qin Province University Alliance when he immediately threw himself into the Xuanwu Battery Global Procurement Negotiation Conference.

Previously, many companies had expressed their desire to cooperate with Galaxy Technology.

However, since the production line for Xuanwu Battery has not yet been established and the finished products will be available on the market in some time, Galaxy Technology has only registered and has not even received any deposit.

Now, the goal is to invite these companies that want to cooperate, announce the price of Xuanwu batteries, and have them pay a deposit to ensure production and supply according to the agreement.

This procurement meeting was held in a five-star hotel in Tangdu City.

Thanks to Galaxy Technology, Tangdu City's related businesses have also seen significant growth.

It's not just these meetings; it's also the many entrepreneurs from all over the country who come to Tangdu City to discuss business.

"Boss, according to the work schedule, you should set off now. The car will arrive downstairs in one minute and thirty-six seconds."

Inside the office, Wa's voice rang out, reminding Wang Donglai of his upcoming schedule and work arrangements.

Wang Donglai stood up and walked outside.

The office glass door opened automatically, and the elevator happened to stop on this floor, with the elevator car door opening as well.

All of this was controlled by Nuwa behind the scenes.

Even the car that carried Wang Donglai was a specially modified driverless vehicle.

Tangdu City, as a pilot city for autonomous driving technology, already has more than a thousand autonomous vehicles on the road.

In the beginning, these vehicles were more prone to collisions due to their unfamiliarity with traffic rules.

However, with the integration of big data, such situations have decreased rapidly.

By now, the people of Tangdu have long been accustomed to having driverless vehicles running on the roads.

Even within Galaxy Technology, there's a growing sentiment that these driverless vehicles could be commercialized, such as through ride-sharing or private car services.

However, Wang Donglai did not give a reply, but was waiting for an opportunity.

I got into the private car, which automatically planned the route and headed towards the hotel.

As the car drove out of Galaxy Technology's headquarters, two other cars escorted it, one in front and one behind, protecting the vehicle with the special license plate.

Within the Tangdu City transportation department, an order had already been issued, though it wasn't documented.

That means requiring all frontline staff to remember this special license and to take care of it.

This was not requested by Wang Donglai, but rather a spontaneous action taken by Tangdu City after Wang Donglai's status and position reached a certain level.

Wang Donglai paid no attention to any of this, sitting in the car listening to Wa continue reporting on the procurement meeting.

"As many as 34 companies participated in this procurement fair, and all of them had their capital verified before they were allowed to enter the venue."

"Mr. Wang from BYD and Mr. Zeng from CATL are waiting for their bosses outside the venue."

Inside the car, Wa's voice came through, reporting the situation at the meeting to Wang Donglai.

If there were no entry requirements, I wonder how many people would want to attend this procurement negotiation meeting.

After all, the performance of the Xuanwu battery is truly outstanding.

Even if the price is higher, it's still worthwhile in a competitive market.

Since the emergence of the Xuanwu Battery, there has been an increase in people like Lei Jun who have the idea of ​​building cars.

With the excellent performance of the Xuanwu battery, it's impossible to say how far it can leave gasoline cars behind. Anyone with a modicum of common sense knows that the spring of new energy vehicles has truly arrived.

In a short time, the emerging forces in new energy vehicle manufacturing attracted the favor of the capital market.

Brands that had already invested in new energy vehicles did nothing, yet their market valuations rose simply by riding this wave.

Meanwhile, car manufacturers with products have seen their market value soar.

BYD, in particular, became an instant success, with its stock price hitting the daily limit for several consecutive days.

This overwhelming demand has further fueled the popularity of Xuanwu batteries, as evidenced by this procurement negotiation meeting.

Setting entry requirements is a last resort.

Two billion is the threshold.

Only by providing proof of funds of two billion can one qualify.

This is just the first step. The organizers will need to review the application before issuing invitations.

In the end, Galaxy Technology only sent out 34 invitations.

"What is the current situation regarding BYD's employee compensation and benefits?"

Wang Donglai asked casually.

Wang Donglai generally approves of BYD, with his only criticism being that BYD is too stingy. However, he argues that this is not a major issue, given that profit margins are already low and the company operates in a traditional industrial sector, making it normal for them to be unable to offer high salaries.

At least, BYD's executives and the boatman did not embezzle company money to satisfy their own desires while the employees worked hard to earn their wages.

Most of the money was used to develop the business, and that was enough.

"According to my understanding, BYD has implemented an employee compensation and benefits upgrade plan, with a 200 yuan increase in basic salary for all employees, and a focus on improving employee benefits in some departments and areas where we have close cooperation."

"According to calculations, this upgrade in employee compensation and benefits will result in BYD spending 400 million more per month on employee salaries than before. Including benefits, the monthly expenditure will be 854.27 million more."

These data should theoretically be BYD's core secrets, and even if they were to be released, they would only be known to the outside world when the financial report is published.

However, for Nuwa, it was as if she were transparent, directly refining the numbers to the tens of thousands.

Wang Donglai nodded slightly. BYD has over 800,000 employees. With such a large scale, even if each employee only gets a raise of 100 yuan, that's still 80 million yuan, not to mention other benefits. As long as BYD really does this, once the profit margin and profitability increase, they will still improve employee benefits, and that's enough.

After all, BYD is BYD, not a subsidiary of Galaxy Technology.

If BYD can encourage its employees to treat their workers better, that would already be a great deed.

"What about CATL?"

After asking about BYD, Wang Donglai then inquired about CATL.

Wa's voice remained cold and calm as she said, "CATL has 25846 employees, with an average salary increase of 1485 yuan per person. All production staff have been provided with commercial insurance, and monthly working hours have been adjusted, with a maximum working time limit of 200 hours. Overtime pay details have also been specified..."

The more Wang Donglai listened, the uglier his expression became.

On the surface, none of these situations seem problematic.

However, Wang Donglai sensed something amiss from these data and directly asked Wa, "Wa, tell me directly whether CATL has stopped recruiting more R&D personnel and its investment in R&D. What is the ratio of management to lower-level employees in the salary increase plan? Have the benefits been fully implemented?"

"Boss, CATL has currently suspended research tasks in 17 project teams and laid off 341 research personnel. In addition, 1843 production personnel have been recruited along with the expansion of the production line."

"The salary increase plan is based on one-tenth of the average wage, and the benefits have been basically implemented..."

After hearing Wa's report, a cold smile slowly crept onto Wang Donglai's lips.

He left sufficient profit margins for CATL and BYD, among other partner companies, so that CATL could improve employee benefits.

Wang Donglai believes that if a company cannot even provide adequate wages and benefits to its employees, the products it produces will inevitably have quality problems sooner or later.

Wang Donglai specifically reserved some manufacturing capacity for BYD and CATL for Xuanwu batteries.

Furthermore, the prices offered are very generous, allowing them to improve employee benefits and still make a profit.

However, it now seems that CATL did not take Wang Donglai's words to heart; they listened, but did not pay enough attention to them.

Wang Donglai could imagine CATL's thoughts: they felt they were interfering too much, and giving employees a raise would be a token gesture, something that would be acceptable.

The rest of the journey was quiet inside the car.

Soon, Wang Donglai arrived at the hotel.

As soon as the car stopped, Zeng Qun and the boatman came up and opened the car door for Wang Donglai, looking extremely respectful and not caring about their own dignity at all.

The two had no choice but to be enthusiastic. The emergence of the Xuanwu battery not only determined the fate of new energy vehicles, but also signaled the life or death of CATL's technological development path.

If the former cannot secure a supply of Xuanwu batteries, the development of new energy vehicles will immediately stagnate, allowing newcomers to overtake them.

The latter, if they cannot change their development path in time, will be eliminated in the foreseeable future.

"Mr. Wang, there's no need to be so polite."

After getting off the bus, Wang Donglai smiled and said to the boatman.

As for Zeng Qun, Wang Dong glanced at him but didn't say anything.

But that one glance sent a chill down Zeng Qun's spine, giving him a sense of foreboding.

From Zeng Qun's perspective, he was unwilling to let Galaxy Technology control his life and death.

The mechanical structure and electrode stacking method of the Xuanwu battery were figured out immediately.

However, CATL did not have access to the core technology of Xuanwu batteries. Although it had established a production line, the relevant confidentiality measures did not give CATL any opportunity.

The commercial espionage case that CATL previously reported was incredibly foolish.

Given the huge market for Xuanwu batteries, it would be a lie to say that Zeng Qun had no ideas.

If Zeng Qun could glimpse the core technology behind it, he would be confident in giving it a makeover, a catchy new name, and launching it back into the market.

Money and the market are what really matter; as for the friendship with Galaxy Technology, it's worthless in the face of these things.

On the one hand, he wanted to maintain a good cooperative relationship with Galaxy Technology, but on the other hand, he was dissatisfied with Galaxy Technology's technological breakthroughs and coveted its technology. Naturally, this made Zeng Qun's feelings towards Wang Donglai very complicated.

As I entered the venue, a bespectacled business elite in a suit squeezed through the crowd with a fawning smile on his face and introduced himself: "Mr. Wang, I am Han Zairong, the head of the purchasing department of Four Star Battery. I look forward to in-depth cooperation with Galaxy Technology on Xuanwu batteries."

Wang Donglai raised his eyelids slightly, glanced at the man, and simply nodded without saying anything more.

Although Samsung phones have been phased out in China, they remain a mainstream mobile phone brand in the international market with huge shipment volumes.

So even though there had been past conflicts, when the Xuanwu Battery was about to be launched, Sixing still sent people to prepare for procurement.

Wang Donglai's arrival was like a drop of water falling into a hot oil pan, instantly making the entire venue boil over.

One after another, representatives from various manufacturers flocked to Wang Donglai, greeting him.

Wa had already taken notes on the situation of these company representatives.

The companies that came mainly focused on new energy vehicles, mobile phones, cameras and other related fields.

The former is currently the most popular industrial product, while mobile phones are the most widespread smart products, which can bring the greatest improvement in consumer experience with the least battery cost.

As for cameras, they are high-end products, and it's acceptable for people who can afford to buy cameras to spend more money on batteries.

Before Wang Donglai could even take the stage to announce the price of the Xuanwu battery, a company representative once again raised the idea of ​​spending $500 million to obtain a patent license.

Unsurprisingly, Wang Donglai rejected the proposal outright.

If the patent is indeed licensed, it probably won't be long before overseas laboratories claim to have made a breakthrough in solid-state battery technology and launched a product similar to the Xuanwu battery.

In reality, it is a completely cloned product of the Xuanwu battery.

Wang Donglai was very familiar with this Western approach and knew how they operated, so how could he not be on guard?

The core technologies of Xuanwu batteries, such as battery separators, microcapsule formulations for self-healing electrolytes, and electrode laser etching methods, are the most important technologies.

Even when BYD and CATL were manufacturing the products, they were not allowed to have any contact with this aspect, let alone patent licensing.

Furthermore, Wang Donglai did not even write any papers on Xuanwu batteries, nor did he allow his engineers and researchers to publish them.

These are not the only security measures; no technology can remain a secret forever.

Moreover, given the importance of this product, Wang Donglai had other preparations in place.

In his design, the Xuanwu Battery is only the first generation product, and there will be second and third generation products in the future.

If a similar product were to appear on the market, Wang Donglai would immediately launch a second-generation product with higher performance to attract consumers, while simultaneously lowering the price of Xuanwu batteries to near the cost line of similar products.

If they follow suit, they will continue to suffer negative returns and lose money; if they don't follow suit, they won't gain much market share.

This is an open strategy, and we're not afraid of it being exposed.

Of course, Wang Donglai couldn't reveal these plans; if anyone harbored any ill intentions, they would naturally face retaliation. (End of Chapter)