Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 434 We are all very happy
Inside the welfare home, Director Li Huifen organized the children to distribute various daily necessities. Lu Wei and Lu Siwen stood on either side of her like two guardian generals, except one had a calm expression and the other a warm smile.

"Thank you, sister, you're so beautiful."

Lu Wei simply nodded.

"Sister, you're even prettier than the sister on the right!"

"This won't get you an extra piece of chocolate."

The little boy pouted, stomped his foot, and walked away.

He said the same thing when he received the sorghum candy from Lu Siwen.

Lu Siwen's service attitude was much warmer. After each child received their item, she shook hands with the boys and patted the girls' heads.

Meanwhile, under a big tree on the other side, Tang Xiaokui was wearing a pretty dress. The children she had briefly spent time with before were pulling her along, asking her all sorts of questions.

Is your new house big? Do you have any pets?

"Did your new mom hit you? By the way, did you call her 'Mom'?"

"Your dress is so beautiful, is this the only one you own?"

The children are mostly curious, but don't overestimate their speaking skills; they can be quite sharp-tongued at times.

But Tang Xiao Kui endured it all.

She was already very happy; if she got stabbed twice, she could just hide in her brother's arms and hug him.

A child in an orphanage who gets stabbed may need several years to recover.

On the side of the small second floor, Zhai Da, Lu Zetao, Wu Yue, and Fan Junwei sat together chatting and drinking tea. They were all prominent or famous people, drinking brick tea brewed in disposable paper cups.

Moreover, it's very close to the toilet donated by Wu Yue, but there's nothing we can do about it; the yard is only so big.

"Xiao Zhai, I've read your new book. It's another masterpiece."

"Thank you for your recognition, senior."

"What's even more remarkable is that while exposing social problems, they can also combine action with it. I guess many writers who are just whining without any real cause would feel embarrassed. I saw some people leave comments under the Weibo posts of some directors who are suffering from trauma, asking them, since they care so much about the underprivileged, why do they make a lot of money by filming the scars of the underprivileged but don't donate a single penny?"

Zhai Da scratched his temple: "There's no need to force me to donate; that's not my intention."

But then again.

Those people are really scum.

The atmosphere was very pleasant during the casual conversation. Wu Yue and Fan Junwei would occasionally join in. For example, as gay men, they were very interested in the violent aesthetics of the boxing ring and would ask him all sorts of questions.

"Wouldn't it be more exciting to fight the Japanese?"

"Actually, it's more effective to beat up Black people and Indians."

"What?"

"It has a strong smell, like smelling salt."

As the runner-up of the National Games and the Asian boxing champion (who holds multiple weight classes with rapid turnover), Fan Junwei can now be called a "sports star," although he has not yet reached a level of dominance and his commercialization is not high.

Zhai Da had a feeling that Lu Zetao's appearance today was not entirely coincidental, but rather that he had likely received news from Li Huifen and came on short notice.

But it's not surprising that he wouldn't ask.

He didn't believe that Lu Zetao was completely indifferent to his investment in Dongyang.

In Zhai Da's vision, Lu Zetao was also the third key figure in the return of "Renhe" to Dongyang.

Moreover, the requirements will be quite specific.

He wasn't sure before, nor did he care, but Teacher Shen Rui, who knew Dongyang inside and out, clearly stated that the Lu family was the richest family in Dongyang.

Moreover, if we trace back further back to Lu Siwen's grandfather, who compiled the county annals, because he was once a "cultured person," he could be considered a "minor prominent family" in Dongyang.

However, the new era doesn't care about that. It's not like the "Qian family" who are pillars of the nation who have made great contributions. In the 21st century, whether you look forward to something or not depends entirely on whether you have money. If you have money, you'll prosper.

Lu Zetao happened to be very wealthy, at least the top dog in Dongyang, a small town, and his business was rather unusual.

As mentioned before, Dongyang's only two "advanced industries" are textiles and chemicals and metal smelting, with the Lu family dominating the former.

The story is quite interesting.

The handsome older man and his wife, Qian Yarong, met in high school. The artistic young man captured the heart of the naive young woman. Lu Zetao's family was cultured but not wealthy, while Qian Yarong's family had a little money but lacked culture. Both admired the artistic young man. It was like a plug meeting a socket, sparking countless moments of romance.

Qian Yarong's father ran a small chemical plant, but he passed away before he was fifty. The plant could not be sustained, so Lu Zetao, who was pursuing his artistic dreams in Nanjing, was forced to return. He and his wife started a business together. Both of them were quite capable, and together they managed to save the plant and even expand it.

Of course, neither of them are technical talents. They operate from a business perspective, driven by orders. They take orders when there is demand, and expand production when there are too many orders. They add more flour when there is too much water, and more water when there is too much flour.

Just as the entire bulk textile industry in the north was growing rapidly, the chemical plant changed its focus to "textile chemicals," that is, polyester and the like. Later, it expanded horizontally to include some petroleum refining capacity, relying on the port to sell to various places.

This is the story of how the Lu family rose to wealth, and it is also a replica of the "path to riches" for countless people from scattered provinces.

It started with some opportunities and boldness, caught the wave of the times, mainly focused on industry, but lacked core technology.

Because the factory is located here, the couple has to stay in Dongyang even if they make money. If they want to relocate in this industry, their assets are almost the same as selling scrap metal and buying a new one. Moreover, not every place welcomes the chemical industry.

In addition, Lu Siwen's grandfather insisted that the children should not be raised in other places, which blocked Qian Yarong's plans for "bilingual international schools" and "private schools" until her daughter was in high school.

This led to Xiaolu attending Maofang Middle School.
In terms of "cognition," Qian Yarong is somewhat unsatisfied, but this is not her problem; it is the general social atmosphere, where there are far more successful and more naive people than her.

Do you think only poor people believe that flies in Australia can collect honey, or that school buses in America are more powerful than God?
However, in terms of work ability, Qian Yarong is actually quite strong. She manages most of the company's affairs. After Mr. Lu rescued his father-in-law's factory, he stopped getting involved in specific matters and continued to pursue his literary dream in a half-awake state.
"Uncle Lu, does your factory produce petroleum coke?"

Even though Lu Zetao doesn't usually get involved in these matters, he still knows about them. He nodded thoughtfully and said, "Yes, but not in large quantities. Do you need it? We usually just sell it off directly."

Petrochemicals involve a series of complex chemical reactions, including cracking, reforming, catalysis, and fission.

There are more than 50 main products and thousands of derivative products; even the slag in the furnace has its uses.

If there is something that is produced and demanded in very small quantities but is indispensable, then in order to obtain it, we must start from scratch.

A similar analogy is like raising ducks. You need duck tongues, but you can't just keep "duck tongues" as pets. You have to start by hatching eggs, and then inevitably you'll get duck legs, duck necks, duck heads, and duck gizzards. And then you have to deal with those things too.

A similar analogy can also be used to describe "rare earth elements".

Petroleum coke is an essential raw material for the production of silicon carbide, equivalent to "iron ore" in iron smelting. It is also an inevitable byproduct in petrochemicals, with approximately 3 tons of coke produced from 100 tons of crude oil.

However, the preparation of silicon carbide powder requires petroleum coke with a purity of over 98%, which is not commonly found in conventional refining processes.

This is a necessary duck tongue, or even a custom-made duck tongue.

If we consider the national industrial chain, it is possible to buy such duck tongues, and it is even possible to directly purchase silicon carbide powder. However, Zhai Da needs more than one type of chemical raw material.

In the long run, he needs to obtain it locally.

After all, transportation costs account for a large proportion of the chemical industry; once it's packed into small containers, all the numerical values ​​become strange.

For long-distance transportation, factories also need to have storage capacity, because if there are delays along the way, production cannot be stopped directly, right? There needs to be a storage capacity, but the storage of hazardous chemicals is a huge burden with both risks and costs.

Zhai Da hopes to cooperate with Lu Zetao to address the demand for chemical products, including petroleum coke, to form a supply of raw materials from very close proximity, enabling flexible scheduling and reducing industry costs.

As a man determined to drive down the price of silicon carbide semiconductors by 90%, he had to do these things sooner or later. Major semiconductor manufacturers such as TE Connectivity and Samsung also build factories nearby to meet their chemical needs, forming point-to-point dedicated supply.

"Petroleum coke is one example. The chemical demand in the silicon carbide industry chain is complex and comprehensive, and the research institute may also generate new demands in the future."

"If possible, perhaps we could select some key aspects and have the research institute and your company jointly invest in production to address the needs locally. We can provide technical support, while Uncle Lu's company can provide experience and qualifications in hazardous chemical industrial management. This way, the process can be completed more quickly."

Collaborating with Lu Zetao is not a "must-have" for Zhai Da, but it is an "excellent option." As a local business leader, combining business with the research institute can further promote the integration of the local economy.

He also approves of the older, handsome man's character.

Inside the courtyard, Zhai Da added some brick tea to Lu Zetao's cup.

Lu Zetao pondered very seriously.

He was actually quite tempted. Although as a businessman he shouldn't be hasty, he had great confidence in Zhai Da, after all, he had watched this young man rise to prominence.

Moreover, he could see that this collaboration was not purely for profit, but also a ticket for a local company to board the research institute's large ship.

More importantly, their company has gradually reached its ceiling.

Whether someone is the richest person or not, they only have influence in Dongyang. If they were in Qianshi, the "richest" title would be removed, leaving only "rich".

In comparison, Zhai Da's "Hongtu OS" alone already surpasses that of a medium-sized industry like theirs.

However, since everyone is so familiar with each other, they certainly won't judge each other solely based on "wealth." Lu Zetao is a senior who has helped him many times.

Lu Zetao sighed and said, "Actually, over the years, our company has gradually reached a point where it needs to transform. I studied Chinese literature."

Zhai Da's eyes widened: "Tell me the name of your university, I'll block you."
“Your Aunt Qian accompanied me to Nanjing to study after graduating from high school. Neither of us are technical talents. Over the years, we have relied heavily on the opportunities of the times. However, with the development of society, our scale, technology, and the form of our family business have reached a point where we have no choice but to transform, and it is very difficult.”

"Back then, her mother hoped that Lu Siwen would study abroad and then the whole family would immigrate because she vaguely felt that she had reached a ceiling. She had enough money to live on for a lifetime, but it was difficult to make further progress in her career."

As he spoke, Lu Zetao glanced at Lu Siwen in the distance; his daughter was playing a game of beanbag toss with several children from the orphanage.

Have a great time.

His gaze returned to Zhai Da, filled with mixed emotions. He was undoubtedly proud of Lu Siwen, but the comparison with Zhai Da made all the difference.
They were all born in the same year, but their levels of maturity are completely different.

This was already after he had encouraged Lu Siwen to make friends and Zhai Dayan had taught Lu Siwen a great deal by example.

Is it because we haven't bonded enough?

Lu Zetao said sincerely, "Actually, I came here today on purpose. Many companies in the Dongyang Chamber of Commerce have asked me, an old acquaintance, to help find out what our pride of Dongyang thinks."

Zhai Da asked curiously, "Which aspect of your thinking are you referring to?"

Lu Zetao laughed and said, "It's very vague. Actually, everyone just wants to know what you plan to do, whether there are any opportunities for cooperation, and at worst, they don't want to run into you, otherwise they'll be crushed without even knowing why."

Zhai Da: Am I some kind of lucky truck that just hit the jackpot?

"The main problem is that you rose to prominence too quickly and too fiercely. Of all the business people in Dongyang, only you and I know each other. If you hadn't come back, everyone would have thought of you as a distant sight and cheered for you. But now that you're back, we have to start thinking about where you'll sleep at night, lest you collapse someone's house while you're turning over."

"This metaphor is even more humorous."

When not written down, the handsome old man's Chinese is actually quite good.
Humorous and precise.

He would twitch whenever he tried to write. However, this was not uncommon; for many eloquent people, writing was like torture.

Zhai Da took a sip of brick tea: "We are purely 'technology-driven.' Unless someone in Dongyang has technical capabilities comparable to ours and our fields are in conflict, I can't imagine any situation where someone's house would collapse under our weight."

To put it bluntly, these are the areas that he and the research institute would be interested in.

These businessmen in Dongyang nowadays can't even reach their own heels if they jump.

"On the contrary, the implementation of technology will generate a lot of supply chain demands. If it can be obtained locally, I will not go out of my way to find it. However, I will not lower my standards. If I have already taken advantage of the local area but still cannot keep up with external suppliers, then there is nothing I can say. It is only a matter of time before the company collapses. It has nothing to do with me."

Lu Zetao nodded and smiled, "Actually, that's what I think too, but they won't believe me if I say it myself. They'll only believe it if I repeat what you say."

"What about the joint venture issue we were talking about earlier?"

“I’ll listen to you. It’s worth it even if it’s just to buy a ticket. How about I bring in some small shareholders? One or two percent stake, so everyone can feel involved.”

We had wanted to collaborate before, but unfortunately there was no opportunity in terms of field or space.

I'll accept this opportunity first.

“No problem, but voting rights cannot be counted per person, and I need to hold a controlling stake.”

He will also contribute funds, and in the later stages, the main focus will be on the research institute's technical capabilities, so holding a controlling stake is only reasonable.

Lu Zetao raised his teacup: "Let's set an intention first, and then gradually push it forward. But on behalf of the Dongyang Chamber of Commerce, I'd like to toast our General Manager Zhai."

"Xiao Zhai, welcome back. We are all very happy."

　Speed ​​up the pace and increase the amount of updates; Chapter 2 will be released later.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)