Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 314 Old Acquaintance Joins
The only benefit of Dr. Luo and his colleagues leaving was a significant reduction in costs. Chen Jian himself was very frugal in his experiments, conducting only about three experiments a month, spending most of his time on calculations. Combined with his low salary, the lab's monthly expenses were less than 10 yuan.

Of course, the "benefits" mentioned here are just Yan Hui's way of finding humor in hardship. As the boss, what he really cares about is not the level of cost; what he wants is output. Without output, even the lowest cost is meaningless.

With air conditioning, the laboratory temperature became more stable, making the summer less unbearable, and Chen Jian's mindset also became more composed. Although high-purity single-component polyurethane was not produced, the entire chemical experiment process was correct.

There was still good news during this year's experiments—Chen Jian's wife's graduation thesis was finally approved.

During that year, Chen Jian's wife traveled between Beijing and Jinan every day, doing experiments with her supervisor and her husband, while also writing her dissertation. After a whole year of this, she finally succeeded in obtaining her doctoral degree.

To celebrate this joyous occasion, Yan Hui gave Chen Jian 10,000 yuan so he could rest for a month and take his wife out for a trip.

At the end of August, Chen Jian took his wife out to rest, while Yan Hui remained very busy.

The construction site is busy this month. Business is good for plywood, steel formwork, and processing plants. Yan Hui sometimes thinks that if he hadn't run the chemical plant, he would be very successful now and could go back to his hometown to build a house.

The steel formwork company's leasing scale has reached 340 million, and it will definitely exceed 400 million by the end of the year, and Yan Hui basically doesn't need to worry about it.

With the price reduction, the plywood business has gained some market share and reached a new balance in terms of scale and profit, with monthly profits remaining at around 20.

The processing plant has acquired new equipment, and everything is going smoothly.

Chemical plant.
Not to mention.

One day in early September, Yan Hui called driver Lao Li and asked him to pick someone up from the station.

Song Zhiyuan has arrived.

Yan Hui had a construction project, and after discussing it, he went to see Song Zhiyuan.

Xiao Song has already graduated from university this year. He doesn't plan to pursue a master's degree; after graduating with his bachelor's degree, he returned home and plans to open a shop there. Yan Hui, upon hearing about this, called Xiao Song over.

Upon seeing Song Zhiyuan, Yan Hui only needed one glance to know that the kid hadn't changed at all; he was still reliable, just like before.

"Why didn't you come to Jinan to see me after you graduated? Did I have to ask someone to contact you? Let me tell you, if it weren't for Chen Jian's wife graduating and reminding me that you also graduated this year, I would have completely forgotten about it!" Yan Hui felt in a good mood when he saw Song Zhiyuan, for some reason.

"I don't know anything about this, and I'm afraid I'll just be a burden to you. Brother Yan, I came here to see you. Brother Song and I did some research in Tiexi, and we're planning to open a timber shop together. I know quite a bit about this." Song Zhiyuan was still quite optimistic. Over the years, he had matured considerably.

"What about Lao Song? He's been the same all these years. Don't hang out with him anymore. Come to Quancheng and work with me. I need people here." Yan Hui didn't stand on ceremony.

Of the buddies from back then, Guo is capable, while Song and Wu are still the same as before, without much change.

Song Zhiyuan was the first "follower" Yan Hui encountered. The two met in the summer of 1995 when Yan Hui was 16 and Song Zhiyuan was 14.

Nine years have passed in the blink of an eye. Yan Hui recalls what happened back then as if it were just yesterday. "Huh?" Song Zhiyuan didn't expect Yan Hui to be so direct.

"In short, I'm short-handed and I need you. Are you willing to come and help me?" Yan Hui said with a smile.

"I'm willing." Although Song Zhiyuan hadn't made any preparations, he didn't need to think too much and simply agreed to Yan Hui's request.

"Okay." Yan Hui patted Song Zhiyuan on the shoulder. "Come with me."

Li Pengfei drove, and Yan Hui took Song Zhiyuan to his laboratory.

Chen Jian and the others were not there, and the laboratory door was locked. Yan Hui opened the door and entered the laboratory.

After Yan Hui entered the room, he turned on the air conditioner: "I've invested over 100 million yuan in this laboratory, and we've been conducting experiments for almost a year now. If all goes well, the product should be available by the end of this year, or even in the first half of next year. Once the product is successfully developed, I'll need to build a factory and start production next year, with the product expected to be on the market before 2007. I need someone who understands chemistry and business, and no matter how I think about it, you're the perfect candidate."

"What kind of products are you making?" Song Zhiyuan looked at the equipment, somewhat shocked.

He studied organic chemistry and conducted many experiments during his undergraduate studies. However, his experiments were all laboratory experiments, involving bottles, jars, and alcohol lamps, which were completely different from the stainless steel equipment in front of him.

"Do you know what single-component polyurethane is?" Yan Hui asked.

"Isn't this what I talked about with senior Chen Jian three years ago? Polyurethane elastomer. Its Young's modulus is between that of rubber and plastic, so it has great application potential!" Song Zhiyuan looked at the equipment carefully and exclaimed in amazement.

“That’s right, it’s Chen Jian. He and his wife have been doing experiments with me for almost a year, and now I’m giving them some time to rest. How about it, are you interested? If you are, you can join in when they come back,” Yan Hui suggested.

"Huh? Can I participate in the experiment too?" Song Zhiyuan's heart raced.

Since he chose chemistry in the first place, he must have had some interest in it, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to have such a pleasant conversation with Chen Jian.

He has not continued his studies, partly because he wants to start earning money as soon as possible, and partly because he is unsure whether chemistry will be of any use to him.

At this very moment, such an opportunity has presented itself to me! It offers the chance to make money, have a future, a promising business outlook, and even conduct chemical research!
"Of course, in my plan, you will be involved in this experiment from beginning to end, helping Chen Jian. After the product is launched, when we go to some car manufacturers to discuss business, you will come with me, and their engineers will need you to help me with the communication." Yan Hui had already considered this matter.

He understands business, and Chen Jian understands chemistry, but it wouldn't be convenient for him to take Chen Jian with him when they went out to do business in the future. He couldn't possibly take his chief engineer with him for everything!
"Brother Yan, I... I'll definitely do my best!"

"Haha, I'm not worried about that at all. However, Chen Jian hasn't been back for a while. If you want to make money, I have some connections in the timber business. You can get involved anytime you want." Yan Hui knew that Song Zhiyuan also knew about timber.

“Okay, I’ll earn some extra commission.” Song Zhiyuan nodded.

(End of this chapter)