1977: The beginning of the blind date with the daughter of the king

Chapter 659 Kuwait's Profits!

"The matter you're talking about is really hard to define!"

That evening, at Director Lu's home, after listening to Li Changhe's explanation, Director Lu shook his head, unable to give a clear answer.

Unfortunately, this is the reality of this era. Due to reforms, many systems have changed, and consequently, the responsibilities and powers in many matters have also changed.

Take the National Museum of China as an example. Without a doubt, the National Museum of China is under the jurisdiction of the cultural department, so theoretically, this matter is a matter for the cultural department.

However, if the National Museum of China were to cooperate with Li Changhe, it would involve cooperating with Hong Kong businessmen, and the sale of calligraphy and paintings to foreign companies would be subject to profit sharing. This would also be considered foreign trade, which would involve the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, and thus be considered a form of foreign trade.

Director Lu has now stepped down from his position at the National Tourism Administration and is now the Executive Vice Minister and Party Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. This is why Li Changhe sought him out to discuss this matter.

"If you really want to do this, we'll probably have to consult with the Ministry of Culture and come up with a suitable cooperation framework."

Director Lu thought for a moment, then spoke to Li Changhe.

"Yes, Elder Lu, I'll await your news."

Li Changhe didn't say much. The main question was about jurisdiction. He knew many people in the Ministry of Culture, but his current position made it inappropriate for him to ask.

By the time we left Director Lu's house, it was already getting dark outside.

Li Changhe then opened the car door and got in. Luckily, his car had military license plates, which allowed him to enter the yard. If it were the van with the black license plates, it would have been difficult to get in.

Driving along the highway, Li Changhe headed home.

"You little bastard, don't run! Stop right there!"

Just outside the city, not far along, a bicycle suddenly sped out of the alley, causing Li Changhe to instinctively step on the brakes.

Immediately afterwards, seven or eight more bicycles came out in quick succession, all pedaling very fast, chasing after them while shouting.

Watching the group of people walk away, Li Changhe shook his head.

This can be considered a microcosm of this era.

After driving all the way home, Li Changhe opened the gate and drove inside.

In the living room, my father-in-law was sitting there watching a videotape, but he wasn't watching a movie; instead, he was watching an educational videotape, which seemed to be an experimental analysis of some kind of chemical material that he had brought back from school.

"came back?"

"have you eaten?"

"Your mom left some food for you in the kitchen. Go and eat something if you're hungry."

Professor Zhu saw Li Changhe come in and said a few words gently.

Li Changhe replied with a smile, "Dad, I've already eaten out."

Are you busy right now?

"What's wrong? Is something the matter?"

Professor Zhu then turned to look at Li Changhe and asked curiously.

Li Changhe smiled and said, "Dad, I happen to have something I'd like to ask you. Are you busy right now?"

"It's okay, I'll pause for now. I'm reviewing an experiment I did earlier. Just tell me what you need to ask. What do you want to know?"

Professor Zhu asked seriously.

Li Changhe sat down and then said softly, "Dad, I'm in Singapore, working with ExxonMobil, owned by the Rockefeller family, to set up an oil refining company."

"I mainly wanted to consult you about some chemical raw materials."

"To be honest, I don't know much about the raw materials derived from petroleum. Apart from things like gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and asphalt, I don't know much else."

"I know that polyethylene and polypropylene are petroleum derivatives, but I only have a general idea of ​​the terms. Dad, if you know about the specific classifications, could you explain them to me?"

Li Changhe asked seriously.

Upon hearing this, Professor Zhu began to ponder.

"Changhe, that's a very broad question. Let me think about how to answer it. This is a very broad topic."

"Let me give you a brief overview first. Materials refined from petroleum generally fall into several categories, including petroleum fuels, petroleum solvents and chemical raw materials, and lubricants."

Professor Zhu earnestly explained the science to Li Changhe, who listened attentively and asked questions from time to time.

Soon after, Li Changhe pondered and asked the question he wanted to ask.

"Dad, do you know anything about photoresist?"

"Photoresist?"

"You're talking about photoresist, right? You even know about such a niche material?"

Professor Zhu said in surprise.

Li Changhe nodded: "I've learned a bit about it abroad. This thing seems to be a core material for lithography machines. Is it difficult to make?"

"Well, photochemical materials are not my main research area, and I don't know much about them."

"Photoresist, but as far as I know, there are many types of it. For example, from the perspective of imaging, it is divided into positive photoresist and negative photoresist, and there are also classifications based on raw materials."

"The technology isn't that difficult. Back in the 1960s, our Beijing chemical plant developed negative photoresist. I'm not sure about positive photoresist."

"But how should I put it, it is important, it is a very important raw material in the field of photolithography, but its application volume is not large. If your factory makes an investment in this area, it is a bit of a waste of resources."

"As far as I know, the materials in this area are very good in Japan, and the price is not too high. This should be one of the materials we import into China."

Professor Zhu shared some of his knowledge with Li Changhe, who listened thoughtfully.

He now has a conclusion: photoresist, in a sense, is somewhat similar to rare earth elements.

Rare earth elements are of great importance in science and technology, especially in the fields of national defense and aerospace technology. It is no exaggeration to call them a powerful weapon. However, in recent years, we have repeatedly failed to sell them at a high price because the amount used is too small.

Another reason is customer targeting!

To put it bluntly, you control the production of your products, but conversely, you also have a limited number of customers. Both the buyer and seller are quite fixed, which led to the fact that domestic rare earths could not be sold at a good price in the early days.

After all, if you raise the price and people don't buy, you'll still lose money.

It wasn't until later, when the country's national strength increased, that rare earth elements truly became a powerful weapon in the nation's technological development.

As for photoresist, with Professor Zhu's explanation, Li Changhe also learned about its problems.

It is very important, but the amount used is small. The global market is only so big, and the production of a few chemical plants in Japan and the United States is already sufficient. Conversely, there are only a few companies that use photoresist.

Moreover, this thing is not very technically difficult. In Professor Zhu's words, as long as we gather manpower and invest in research and development, we can still make it.

However, Professor Zhu also explained a concept to Li Changhe: chemical materials must follow technical standards.

To put it bluntly, it's not important that you develop the product; what matters is whether the product you develop meets the usage standards. That's the key.

Hearing this, Li Changhe sighed helplessly. It was actually quite difficult to make plans for this kind of materials industry in advance.

Just like now, there are no standards for semiconductor lithography machines, and there are no standards for photoresist either. Investing now is meaningless except for building up technological reserves.

It seems I should start by laying out my plans in the downstream industries and then gradually extend them to the upstream industries.

After they finished talking, Li Changhe told his father-in-law and then went upstairs.

In the bedroom, Zhu Lin was comfortably lying on Li Changhe's bed, reading a pile of manuscripts.

This is Li Changhe's newly written manuscript. When she has free time, she helps him organize and proofread it, mainly checking for typos and such. "I saw you chatting with Dad downstairs just now. What were you talking about?"

After Li Changhe walked in, Zhu Lin put the manuscript aside and asked curiously.

"I'll ask Dad about some chemical materials. You keep an eye on things for now, I'm going to take a shower."

Li Changhe then took a shower and returned to his temporary bedroom.

After chatting with his wife for a while, Zhu Lin reluctantly left.

She was just trying to find some peace and quiet in Li Changhe's room; she still had to go back to the master bedroom to sleep at night.

Li Changhe was also helpless, but he couldn't refuse his mother-in-law's good intentions, so he could only endure it.

Feeling bored, Li Changhe sat down at his desk and wrote a draft for a while until he got sleepy and went to bed.

Summer passed and autumn came, and soon two months had flown by, and it was October.

Zhu Lin is three months pregnant, and the pregnancy has stabilized.

"Alright, your dad and I are going back now. You two be careful at home."

"And Changhe, if you go out, remember to take Linlin home. Don't let her stay here alone."

Before leaving, Liu Shuwan earnestly gave Li Changhe some instructions.

Li Changhe nodded: "Don't worry, Mom, I know."

"And my mom is coming over in a few days."

Upon hearing this, Liu Shuwan nodded immediately: "That's right, Yuxiu's handover of her work is almost complete."

In fact, Liu Shuwan had handed over her work in advance, and Shen Yuxiu had also come up with this idea, after all, her daughter-in-law was pregnant, which was a big deal for their family.

Besides, given Li Changhe's current wealth, her family isn't short of that salary. She might as well give up her job so the school can hire a couple more people. After all, it's a support staff position, not a teaching one.

However, after Shen Yuxiu brought it up with the school, the school allowed her to stay for more than a month longer.

The reason is that in September, the start of the new school year, a large number of new students will be enrolling. The logistics staff will suddenly be replaced by new people, and the school is afraid that they will be too busy to handle everything. So, Shen Yuxiu was asked to train the new staff.

So it wasn't until October, when all the new student enrollment matters were finished, that Shen Yuxiu's work handover was completed.

He took over Liu Shuwan's job and came to the villa to take care of Zhu Lin.

Moreover, this time it was just Shen Yuxiu herself who came, since Li Xiaojun's family was still at home, and Li Lishan wasn't worried about who would cook for them.

Zhu Lin also warmly welcomed her mother-in-law's arrival.

After all, her mother-in-law is coming, so she can't continue sleeping in the same room with her. Therefore, she can continue sleeping in the same room with Li Changhe.

After seeing her parents-in-law off, Li Changhe finally returned to the bedroom she had been longing for.

"Be gentle!"

Zhu Lin whispered a reminder to Li Changhe, and then immersed herself in a sea of ​​tenderness.

After a tender and gentle moment, the two leaned against the bed.

"By the way, didn't you say before that you were going to Hong Kong Island again sometime soon?"

"Yes, an investment team from over there has returned. I need to go back and check on them, and also arrange some work."

"Furthermore, I also need to make an appearance in the United States and Japan, this time for about half a month to a month."

"After that, I can come back and stay until the Chinese New Year."

Li Changhe spoke softly to Zhu Lin.

After all, this was his first child. In the past two months, Li Changhe hadn't gone out much and had mostly stayed in the capital, carefully taking care of Zhu Lin.

However, now that three months have passed and the fetus is growing healthily, it's time for him to take care of his work.

"Alright, then you can leave once Mom arrives and hurry up and get things done."

"Don't worry, I'll be careful here at home."

Zhu Lin spoke softly to Li Changhe.

Two days later, after completing her early retirement, Shen Yuxiu also came to the villa.

With his mother-in-law's care, Li Changhe was able to leave with peace of mind.

The main reason is that the Kuwaiti team from Hong Kong Island has returned, and Li Changhe needs to go back to finish up this matter.

In fact, Li Changhe had asked them to finish up three months ago, but given the large amount of capital and the large number of stocks they held, they couldn't just dump their shares.

In addition, there was the need to make handover with people in Saudi Arabia. It took the team three months to return from Kuwait, bringing back a large amount of funds with them.

Central, Hong Kong Island.

When Li Changhe returned to the office with his men, he was greeted by faces full of excitement.

After all, they have won a great victory this time, which not only represents their performance but also means that they will receive a huge bonus.

"Boss!"

As soon as Li Changhe entered, the three supervisors hurriedly stood up.

"You're welcome, take a seat!"

Li Changhe invited everyone to sit down, and then sat down at his own desk.

"Boss, this is our total profit after deducting the funds from Saudi Arabia. You can take a look."

The person in charge excitedly placed a financial statement in front of Li Changhe.

Li Changhe picked it up and began to read it.

This report is very detailed, recording the monthly income and expenditure details, including which stocks were involved.

Li Changhe didn't read all the content carefully; he only looked at the end.

He initially invested $100 million, just to cooperate with Tarak and his group's intentions. However, the return on this fake stock market in Kuwait exceeded his expectations.

7.38 billion US dollars!
This was their final profit from this operation, a staggering sevenfold increase from one hundred million US dollars.

"I remember when you came back last time, you said the profit was only a little over five times, but now it's so much more?"

Li Changhe asked in surprise at this moment.

"Boss, in the past few months, the funds in Kuwait have become increasingly frenzied. When we made our move, the price skyrocketed, which is why our profits increased significantly."

At that moment, someone immediately provided an answer to Li Changhe.

"What was the final profit for Saudi Arabia?"

"When we handed it over to them, it was $1.18 billion, and we don't know the exact amount that followed."

"Understood!"

Li Changhe nodded, then looked at them and smiled slightly.

"Has the bonus distribution been completed? If so, submit the report, and I can sign it now."

(End of this chapter)