Tech startup: I really do make mobile phones!

Chapter 55 Teacher Lin's Invitation
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University.

The air vents of the central air conditioning in the conference room emitted a slight hum. Director Huang gently pushed the document stamped with a red seal across the table, and the tea rippled in the white porcelain cup.

“Vice Dean Lin! Xiao Chen’s breakthrough in gaseous lithium-ion batteries is of great significance. We hope that you, as his mentor, can talk to him about catalyst formulation and patent acquisition.”

Vice Dean Lin held the thermos cup, a slight smile on his lips: "This child has his own ideas, but I will convey the country's sincerity."

He gazed at the swaying phoenix flowers outside the window and recalled the young figure in the lab who, despite being a part-time worker, always loved to stay up all night.

"But I can only do my best; I can't guarantee that he will agree."

"I understand!" Director Huang nodded. "The country has always respected the choices of researchers."

Before Director Huang could finish speaking, a rapid knocking sounded on the door.

A person wearing a headset quickly stepped forward and whispered a few words in his ear.

Director Huang raised an eyebrow slightly and turned to look at Vice President Lin.

"The situation has changed. In addition to the catalyst formulation for boron nitride polymers, could you please ask Xiao Chen if he would be willing to share the mass production process for lithium nitride metal polymers?"

Vice President Lin unconsciously stroked the edge of the thermos cup with his fingers; the process parameters have always been a core secret of the company.

"Director Huang! This process isn't closely related to battery technology; is it for a special purpose?"

"I cannot disclose the specifics!" Director Huang stood up and grasped Vice President Lin's hand. The sunlight outside the window reflected a sharp light on the smooth solid wood conference table. "But please be sure to convey this message, as it is of paramount importance to national security."

Looking at the other person's serious expression, Vice Dean Lin finally nodded heavily.

The conditions offered by the country were not bad to begin with, and it was hoped that Chen Mo could understand the significance of this technology to the national strategy.

Vice Dean Lin stood alone at the conference room window, while phoenix flowers outside the window fluttered down in a strong wind.

He stroked the rim of the thermos, recalling the young figure in the lab who always loved to nitpick.

Now, Vice Dean Lin suddenly realized that the student who once kept asking him "how battery materials science will change the world" now holds a gaseous lithium-ion battery that may have already transcended the realms of academia and the market.

He made up his mind—this time, even if he had to talk himself hoarse, he would make Chen Mo see clearly that some things are more important than business interests.

Anyway, all of this is because Vice Dean Lin thought that Chen Mo had kept his secrets after developing the gaseous lithium-ion battery, and he imagined him as someone who had endured and kept quiet in order to protect his technology.

Little did they know that the young man in his previous life had no such foresight. Now, Chen Mo, reborn, had only accidentally pushed gaseous lithium batteries into the limelight with the help of the system.

Orange Technology's small workshop.

The moment his phone vibrated, Chen Mo was using the Android SDK native emulator to test the TouchPal input method, which was already adapted to Orange 1.0 OS. The blue light from the screen reflected the dark circles under his eyes.

When he saw that the caller ID read "Teacher Lin," he instinctively sat up straight and wiped the sweat from his palms on his jeans before answering.

"Xiao Chen!" Vice Dean Lin's voice carried an unusual seriousness: "Are you free tonight? I'd like to treat you to dinner at that restaurant on the second floor."

Chen Mo recalled the happy days in the laboratory, there were always a few days like that every month.

After the first round of experiments was over, everyone cleaned and tidied up the lab together in the morning, and then sat in the lab chatting and joking around in the afternoon.

After Vice Dean Lin gets off work, he will personally treat everyone in the lab to a nice meal at the restaurant on the second floor of the West Gate.

At that time, Vice Dean Lin treated Chen Mo, who was an unstaffed worker in the laboratory, the same as everyone else.

No graduate student would complain that Vice Dean Lin's skills were insufficient. At the very least, he wouldn't criticize you for being clumsy and spilling reagent bottles, nor would he mock the failed data you produced after working through the night for three days straight. He certainly wouldn't claim your ideas as his own and give them to his son or daughter. Chen Mo paused, his hand holding the phone still.

Since his rebirth, he had been deliberately keeping his distance from Teacher Lin because he hadn't yet achieved anything of note, but now he couldn't escape his mentor's phone call.

"You're not talking about that place near the west gate of the school, are you?" He tried to sound casual. "I haven't had their roast goose in ages."

A soft sigh came from the other end of the phone, startling the sparrows on the windowsill.

"Xiao Chen! Don't try to fool me!" Vice Dean Lin's voice suddenly came close to the microphone: "I know everything about your gaseous lithium-ion battery!"

Chen Mo was immediately surprised. With a "click," he lost his grip on the phone, but luckily he caught it in time.

He pursed his lips, wanting to explain, but his throat tightened.

"Teacher! Me!"

"Don't rush to explain!" Vice Dean Lin interrupted him, the sound of a thermos lid being unscrewed mixed with the sound of water flowing as he drank. "Xiao Chen! Let's talk in person! There are some things I need to discuss with you in person!"

As he hung up the phone, Chen Mo stared at the blacked-out screen, his reflection looking somewhat mischievous.

Because Teacher Lin took great care of him in his previous life, he was somewhat at a loss when he had to face Teacher Lin again after so long.

In Vice Dean Lin's view, the two had only not seen each other for two months, so he naturally could not understand the almost burning sense of guilt and bitterness that Chen Mo felt when he faced his mentor, whom he had helped openly and secretly many times in his previous life, after more than ten years.

Just as Chen Mo turned his gaze back to the computer screen, Zhao Tiezhu burst in, carrying loose parts that jingled loudly.

"Brother Chen! Let me tell you, Mr. Li from the stall next door is too generous!" He wiped the sweat from his brow and casually placed the loose items he had picked up from the stall on the table: "That kid Xiao Zheng doesn't know anything about these things. He insisted that we 'didn't recognize' those ten scrap batteries and tried to fob off a beggar with three cents a piece!"

"So you went and got into another argument?" Chen Mo turned around, a smile playing on his lips.

He was used to Zhao Tiezhu's tendency to strike up conversations with people whenever he had the chance, but he never expected that this time he would get involved with the stall next door.

You know, these past few days, the stall next door has been keeping to itself and not interfering with their little workshop at all.

"This isn't provoking them!" Zhao Tiezhu slapped his thigh, his work pants kicking up a cloud of fine dust from who-knows-where. "I'm just giving them a free business opportunity!"

He leaned closer to Chen Mo and asked, "Brother Chen! Do you remember those battery scraps you asked me to deal with?"

Chen Mo rested his elbows on the table, on the batteries that had failed testing at the remote battery lab.

"Remember! What's wrong?"

"What a coincidence!" Zhao Tiezhu pulled a crumpled receipt from his pocket: "The scrap metal recycler next door, that little Zheng, has never seen this kind of scrap before and is trying to bargain down the price."

"As a result, Boss Li came over, took a couple of glances, and immediately decided on 80 cents and one yuan!"

He waved eight brand-new one-yuan bills in his hand: "Doing business with Boss Li is fantastic! Fantastic!"

Chen Mo stared at the eight one-yuan bills, then sat back down in his chair, feeling both amused and exasperated.

"So after all that trouble, you only made eight dollars?"

He reopened the TouchPal Keyboard SDK native simulator test interface, and the code scrolled rapidly on the screen: "Next time it's a 'big deal' of no more than 10 yuan, don't tell me, just decide for yourself!"

(End of this chapter)