Age of Legends

Chapter 245: The fisherman profits?

After reading it, Ding Shenghua became somewhat flustered, asking, "How did he do that?"

This matter is very difficult to accomplish. It is obvious that it was pushed forward by the Provincial Intellectual Property Office. How could Zhang Zhonghua, an ordinary employee on unpaid leave, have issued such a certificate?
Zhou Ping said slowly, "I think... there's more to this than meets the eye."

Ding Shenghua also sensed it; it seemed as if a shadow was looming over them.

……

The news spread throughout Nanguang Company, causing quite a stir in the past few days. Zhang Chen remained inactive, having anticipated the possible reaction from the new management of Nanguang Company. He had advised Zhang Zhonghua to obtain the certificate for the non-job-related invention early on, but as soon as Zhang Zhonghua finished his meeting with the government and the provincial copyright bureau issued the non-job-related invention certification, Huang Huifen immediately instructed Yang Jie and his subordinates to post it on every bulletin board in Nanguang Company.

On the evening of the same day that the government meeting drafted the initial structure of Chenguang Display Company, Zhang Chen returned home from evening self-study and saw that Zhang Zhonghua had bought a bag of barbecue and placed it on the coffee table, waiting for him to come home.

These days, the streets and roadsides of Rongcheng are full of nighttime barbecue stalls, unlike in later years when charcoal grilling is prohibited within the Third Ring Road. Charcoal-grilled barbecue always has a deep, soul-stirring aroma of fruitwood. Squid skewers, various meats and ribs, and plenty of chili powder—Zhang Chen was hungry, so he and his father, Zhang Zhonghua, sat on the sofa and enjoyed the skewers.

"Your dad wants to wait for you to come back before he eats, he's afraid I'll eat it for him," Huang Huifen complained from the side. "Only you two like this kind of low-nutrition barbecue! It's dry and oily!"

But she still sat down next to the two men and joined their late-night conversation.

When Zhang Chen heard the news about Chen Guangxian, his eyes widened: "Your patent is really valued at 120 million? How can it be worth so much money? Doesn't that mean our family is rich?"

Zhang Chen was filled with emotion. He hadn't expected things to turn out this way. He had thought that Zhang Zhonghua would just get the patent out there, sell it for a profit, and be done with it. But the government had taken a big step and valued the patent at over 100 million yuan. With the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission getting involved, Zhang Zhonghua had transformed into a government technology representative, ready to go out and compete with foreign companies.

"Currently, all valuations are only based on expected outputs from past experiences. I've seen too many cases of high valuations ending in disaster. Do you think this 200 million is that simple? Only when the new company makes money can there be corresponding dividends. The value of this technology patent can only be realized if it is actually implemented, products are produced, and the market is opened up as expected. Otherwise, it's just empty talk!"

Huang Huifen looked at the two of them and said, "Ding Shenghua tore down the notices three times today, and Zhou Ping even hinted at investigating your father's expense reports from back then. It was my subordinate Yang Jie who was clever. He and his men printed hundreds of copies of the certification materials. As soon as Ding Shenghua's men tore down the notices, they posted them in other places. Later, Ding Shenghua simply ordered the security team to arrest Yang Jie and his men everywhere."

Zhang Chen found it both funny and absurd. He never expected to see this kind of mutual posting of big-character posters in the Nanguang factory area today; it was Huang Huifen's way of throwing a tantrum in retaliation.

Moreover, Yang Jie, the sales manager at Xuhui, didn't get his job done and was sent by his mother to do this kind of thing. It's kind of ridiculous when you think about it.

Huang Huifen then asked with concern, "Since the shares can't be converted into cash in a short time, are there any other substantial benefits?"

Zhang Zhonghua smiled at Zhang Chen and said, "Look at your mother, she's completely obsessed with money."

Zhang Chen nodded in agreement, but in his heart he wondered, what benefits would there be? "Sorry, Dad, I'm just an ordinary person."

Zhang Zhonghua then said, "If things really go smoothly, the salary plus annual income might not be low."

Zhang Zhonghua couldn't say exactly how much. Perhaps he had an expectation, but it was meaningless for him to make such wishes before things were actually accomplished, so he didn't say any more to Zhang Chen.

However, after finishing the barbecue, when Zhang Chen went to wash up, he saw Zhang Zhonghua sitting by the window, drinking beer glass after glass while looking at the bright moon outside.

This sight suddenly reminded Zhang Chen of Zhang Zhonghua in his later years. Back then, Zhang Zhonghua would often open a bottle of beer when he felt tired at the fruit shop. Because he ate late, he would often finish his work and then have a beer with his food, which he said was to relieve fatigue. The Zhang Zhonghua of that time didn't have the sparkle in his eyes or the high spirits he has now.

Two inexplicable timelines seem to intersect, yet also diverge.

Zhang Chen seemed to be seeing things and rubbed his eyes.

All that has passed is gone forever.

……

Zhou Ping and Ding Shenghua's concerns were justified. Sure enough, not long after, representatives from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) arrived and announced the decision of the Rongcheng SASAC to Nanguang Company.

"In the joint venture between Nam Kwong Company and LG of South Korea, the municipal government, together with the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and the Industrial Development Group, will establish a pilot unit for mixed-ownership reform, Chenguang Display Technology Co., Ltd. Chenguang Display Technology Co., Ltd. will provide the core technology of FD29 and participate in the three-party joint venture!"

Faced with this decision, Zhou Ping repeatedly communicated with his superiors and had to confirm that it was a joint effort spearheaded by Xi Mingrong. Upon seeing Chenguang Display Technology's core technology, FD29, they understood everything.

“Zhang Zhonghua is backed by Xi Mingrong. Xi Mingrong wants to get involved and get a share of the pie!” Ding Shenghua’s expression was somewhat flustered.

Zhou Ping remained silent, smoking one cigarette after another. It wasn't surprising that they only received the news after the government-led establishment of Chenguang Display Technology was confirmed.

Zhou Ping didn't blame his superiors for not informing him, because it was clear that Xi Mingrong was in a power struggle with his background, and was definitely at a disadvantage.

The original plan was for them to form a joint venture with the South Korean side. Now, with the addition of another company, the interests of the existing management of Nam Kwong Group will inevitably be harmed. Although the industries in Fuzhou are a unified whole, Xi Mingrong will definitely try to keep the news under wraps to avoid unnecessary complications and affect the negotiations with the South Korean side.

It's quite obvious that Zhang Zhonghua has now risen to prominence and is no longer the internal employee they used to control. He is about to become a member of the decision-making team of the new joint venture, on equal footing with them, and may even be the one with the most power.

Zhou Ping was so angry that his liver ached. Originally, even if Nanguang Group took a small share in the joint venture with the South Korean side, splitting the profits 40/60, they would still have 40% of the profits.

Now that Zhang Zhonghua's Chenguang Display Technology has joined the company, their share of the profits may suddenly be reduced to 25%! That's hundreds of millions of yuan in profits every year!
But then a piece of news came, which made Zhou Ping and Ding Shenghua overjoyed.

That is, LG heard about Zhang Zhonghua's FD29 technology and was very dissatisfied, and suspected that the Chinese side had falsified the parameters. So they refused to budge an inch on the equity and profit sharing of the joint venture and immediately pushed for a technology verification.

LG will use their mature ion-plated silver core picture tube technology and Zhang Zhonghua's FD29 sample for technical verification to demonstrate whether FD29 is more advanced than LG's technology.

"That's great! South Korea's questions are perfectly normal!" Zhou Ping slapped his forehead. "We almost got caught up in this too. Did we really think Zhang Zhonghua's technology could compare to South Korea's mature technology? Now they're about to conduct technical verification, and if there's any deviation, and Zhang Zhonghua's FD29 isn't as impressive as he claims, failing LG's technical verification, then the consequences will fall entirely on Xi Mingrong behind him. Any mishap could end Xi Mingrong's political career. So this time, it's actually in our favor to regain the initiative!"

Zhou Ping and Ding Shenghua were both slightly excited.

They should have known that the South Korean side would not surrender easily, but would definitely demand technical verification, and would set up many obstacles, even deliberately making things difficult, to find technical loopholes in Zhang Zhonghua's work with high standards!
So whatever the outcome, they can already sit back and wait to reap the benefits after the reshuffling!
(End of this chapter)