Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 958 Patents

Xiao Wei said, "I designed separate models for not only the military and public security, but also for the power industry, urban construction, and government. Each one is different."

The old dean said, "Let me give you another suggestion. You can make the military and public security ones into pentagons, and the government ones into squares. It doesn't have to be like that. This is just a suggestion. Think about it yourself. You also need to think about the outer packaging."

The filling can also be improved. For older people like me, I can't eat anything too sweet. You could try making a savory filling like those from the South, with egg yolk or dried meat. Actually, this doesn't necessarily have to be made only for the Mid-Autumn Festival; you can make it into a dessert at other times too.

Commander Hu said, "Do you also have savory ones? Or meat-filled ones? You can try them if you make them. I don't really like things that are too sweet."

Xiao Wei asked, "Can all of these be registered as patents?"

The old dean said, "Sure, as long as you have something unique that others haven't registered, you can register it. But something too conventional won't work. For example, registering 'rice' is definitely not allowed, just like you can't register 'traditional mooncake.' But if you add something else to rice to create a special flavor or appearance, then you can try registering it."

Xiao Wei clasped his hands in a fist salute: "I've learned a lot. I'll make arrangements as soon as I get back; our group has a full-time lawyer."

There was a knock on the office door, and Commander Hu called out, "Come in."

Commander Hu's communications officer led Chen Hui in: "Commander, this person is looking for you."

Xiao Wei said, "I'm with you, Chen Hui. Xiao Hui, this is Dean Zheng, and this is Commander Hu."

The old dean said to Commander Hu, "That's Chen Jianguo's kid from the power industry."

Chen Hui bowed and greeted the two men: "Hello, Dean Zheng, hello, Commander Hu."

Commander Hu waved his hand and said, "Sit down. We're all family here. I've had a few drinks with your father. He's a slippery fellow; drinking with him is never enjoyable."

Chen Hui said with a smile, "My dad can't drink; he can't even outdrink my mom."

Xiao Wei handed the document that Commander Hu had just signed to Chen Hui and said, "We don't need the money anymore. Commander Hu has given us the land."

Xiao Wei took it, looked at it, and handed it back to Commander Hu, saying, "Thank you, sir."

Commander Hu pointed at Chen Hui and said, "You called me by the wrong name. You'll be punished with a drink later. I'm a year younger than your father. Old Zheng is the elder."

Chen Hui said with a grin, "Okay, I'll take the punishment, Uncle. None of us can drink. Xiao Wei never drinks because he's allergic. You can't treat us like you treat your soldiers. We still have to drive back in a bit."

The old dean said to Commander Hu, "Just have a drink, it's fine. You're not getting any younger, you need to take care of your health."

Commander Hu glanced at his watch, stood up, and said, "Let's go eat. Try our army's big pot dishes."

We went downstairs to the small canteen on the side and entered a private room. Commander Hu said, "Unfortunately, the political commissar isn't home today. I'll introduce you two later when I have the chance. Anyway, you're all family here. The food in our unit isn't fancy, it's just affordable, plentiful, and easy to eat."

Chen Hui said, "Our company has a soup stock factory that specializes in producing soup stock. You can add it to stews and stir-fries as you like. I'll go to the kitchen for the chef. Uncle Hu, you and Grandpa Zheng can try it later. It tastes pretty good, pure bone broth." He got up, picked up his bag, and went to the kitchen.

Commander Hu asked Xiao Wei, "You even opened a factory specifically to sell bone broth?"

Xiao Wei shook his head and said, "No. We have several restaurants that use someone else's century-old secret recipe, which is bone broth. Later, when we wanted to open branches, we were afraid that the secret recipe would be leaked, so we all got together and opened this soup stock factory. We brew the secret bone broth, package it, and then send it to our various branches. The results have been pretty good."

Commander Hu said, "You're not talking about that Anji Restaurant, are you? The one you own?"

Xiao Wei said, "Yes, Anji Restaurant. This secret recipe belongs to the An family of Longcheng. Their family's old signboard is kept at Sanhao Store."

Commander Hu said, "Okay, okay, we'll try it in a bit. If it tastes good, we'll buy a batch. I've been to that restaurant a few times; it's really domineering. The fruit wine is good too. They say it's from France, right? Do you have any left? We'll get some."

Xiao Wei said, "It depends on how much you need, Uncle Hu. Our winery only produces so much each year. Foreigners make wine differently than we Chinese. They generally don't use other people's raw materials. They produce as much wine as the grapes they grow on their own land, and it varies every year. We've brought in a batch of beer equipment, and the brewery is going to be located in Shenshui Bay, behind the stadium. We can supply that to you then."

Commander Hu shook his head and said, "What's the point of beer? Wine tastes good, and I've heard it's good for blood vessels." He pointed south and said, "There's a group of old men living here, and I'm planning to make some fruit wine for them to drink to help them stay healthy."

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, how much do you need? I'll get it for you. If my production capacity is insufficient, I can contact other suppliers. You can rest assured about the quality; it's only better than average. The price is the original price plus shipping. I won't make any profit off you."

Commander Hu said, "Let's get three to five hundred bottles first, and then see if they're willing to drink them. We'll talk about it later."

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, I'll get some low-sugar wine over. I'll have the wine shipped over next month."

Chen Hui walked in and sat down next to Xiao Wei. Xiao Wei said, "Next month, bring 500 bottles of low-sugar liquor to Uncle Hu's place."

Chen Hui paused for a moment and asked, "Is our production capacity sufficient?" Actually, they weren't shipping any wine next month; the hotel's wine was shipped in March each year. In the Champagne region of France, harvesting and winemaking begin every September. After the wine is made, it needs to be stored in barrels to settle, and Champagne undergoes a second fermentation.

Xiao Wei said, "We can buy some low-sugar wines from other wineries."

Commander Hu asked, "What brand is good?"

Chen Hui said, "Foreign wines don't talk about brands, and they don't have brands. The brands we talk about are just the production area or region, or the name of a winery. They only talk about the taste and variety, or differentiate them by the raw materials, and the price is different every year."

Xiao Wei said, "Yes, for example, the champagne we sell is called champagne. All wines produced in that region are called champagne, and the raw materials are the same. They are just different wineries. The price varies from year to year, depending on the quality of the wine. There are professional wine tasters there who evaluate the wine once a year."

Commander Hu said, "Yes, oh my, that wine taster has a lot of power. Whoever he says is valuable is valuable."

Chen Hui said, "It's not just one person, and they couldn't possibly fake it. If he were to do it even once, he would never be able to work in this profession again."

The former dean said, "That's true. In terms of professional ethics, foreigners are more persistent and have higher moral standards than us."

Commander Hu curled his lip: "That depends on who it is; they're all bad news."

(End of this chapter)