2003: The Opening Sniper Against the Financial Tycoon

"3D printing? An interesting story."

Hearing this outrageous move, Qin Hanyang couldn't help but ask, "Besides the rocket nozzle, are there any other problems that are troubling you?"

"My God, there are too many problems..."

Musk, like a complaining woman, began to ramble on and on about his grievances.

"Qin, we are currently considering replacing the metal fuselage material of the rocket to see if there is a better alternative to aluminum alloy. This stuff is too expensive, and our costs are really difficult to bear. But the problem is that we haven't found a lighter and cheaper aerospace material yet."

"Um?"

Hearing this, Qin Hanyang asked, somewhat puzzled, "Could you tell me why you insist on using aluminum alloy? Can't you use stainless steel? I remember stainless steel should be stronger!"

"Pfft~"

Upon hearing this, the old man Griffin next to him laughed and immediately explained to Qin Hanyang,

"Qin, it's okay that you're a layman and don't understand. As you said, stainless steel is indeed stronger, and even its high-temperature resistance and corrosion resistance are better than aluminum alloy. But I have to tell you, it has a fatal weakness: at the same density, stainless steel is about three times heavier than aluminum alloy, which will make launching it much more difficult. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Griffin explained things very seriously.

His tone was even a bit unpleasant.

In his view, Qin Hanyang's questioning, coming from an outsider, was disrespectful to him and all the researchers on his team.

"No, no, no, Mr. Griffin, please don't get agitated. Of course, I believe you, but what I want to say is, isn't there no gravity in outer space? Why do we care about its weight? Is it even necessary?"

"???"

Upon hearing this, Musk seemed to have a sudden realization.

This young man from the East is absolutely right!

Their team has been focused on the aluminum alloy issue because they want to benchmark NASA's aerospace materials.

But NASA is backed by the entire United States.

What can they compare themselves to?

While trying every possible way to save money, they also wanted to use good materials, but they simply didn't have the funds, so they were stuck in a dead end of various internal conflicts.

Griffin was even more dissatisfied: "Qin, I'll tell you again, stainless steel is too heavy. We can't provide the necessary propulsion, and we can't even reach low Earth orbit (300-400 kilometers). Stainless steel is just too heavy; our rockets can't even reach the weightless region! Understand?"

"Fuck!"

Qin Hanyang was about to say something when Musk suddenly shouted, startling everyone.

He suddenly said excitedly to Qin Hanyang, "Thank you, Qin. You are a genius. Before this, I completely underestimated the wisdom of the Easterners. I must go and see this ancient civilization someday."

After saying that, his expression changed, and he grabbed Griffin's shoulder seriously, saying excitedly:

"Hey, Griffin, listen, I think we're completely on the wrong track!"

Qin inspired me: since we don't have enough power, why not equip ourselves with more engines?

This thing saves a lot of money!

"...Will this work?"

After listening, Griffin felt somewhat uncertain, even though it seemed theoretically feasible, since no one had ever tried it before.

Musk's eyes lit up: "Then why not give it a try?"

"OK, I'll go talk to the R&D engineers about a solution right away."

Griffin respected Musk's opinion and left in a hurry after speaking.

As he reached the door, he suddenly turned back and said to Qin Hanyang,

"Sorry, Qin, I spoke too loudly just now. I hope you don't mind."

"It's alright, Mr. Griffin."

Qin Hanyang shrugged, appearing very magnanimous.

Musk then once again expressed his gratitude to Qin Hanyang:

"Qin, you solved a huge problem for me as soon as you arrived. I really don't know how to thank you enough. But the best thing is that you're our future partner. That's the greatest gift God has ever given me."

"Sorry, Elon, what happened today was a bit funny, but I shouldn't have laughed. There's an old Chinese saying, 'A rabbit will bite when cornered, and a dog will jump over a wall when cornered.' I know that if you weren't so desperate, you wouldn't have thought of 3D printing or looking for alternatives to aluminum alloys. In today's conversation, all I saw was your embarrassment and awkwardness."

"Yes, Qin, as you said, this was originally a sad story."

Musk's initially happy face immediately fell.

This incident doesn't seem to be something for him to be proud of; on the contrary, it exposes that he is now a poor man in dire financial straits.

He suddenly realized that he had been manipulated by Qin Hanyang without even realizing it!

Then, he quickly tried to salvage the situation, adopting an accusing posture:

"But I can't do anything about it, Qin. Don't let my status as a billionaire fool you. I still have $100 million worth of PayPal shares that I haven't been able to get out of the mess yet. Otherwise, the Falcon 1 rocket project wouldn't be progressing so slowly, and SpaceX wouldn't be in such a sorry state in the eyes of Silicon Valley people."

Qin Hanyang found it even funnier after hearing this.

He said Musk didn't have money, and this guy got upset.

They actually started acting like Versailles right in front of him.

"Of course, I understand you, Elon."

Qin Hanyang patted his chest and pointed at Musk, "In my eyes, you have more courage than other genius entrepreneurs, which is why our Delong Group wants to invest in SpaceX. I admire you very much, and I believe that God will favor you, this warrior, at the right time."

Qin Hanyang was telling the truth.

SpaceX is now Musk's third startup.

The first website I created was called "zip2," which was similar to Dianping (a Chinese review platform) in terms of local services. However, it was later shut down by the shareholders.

The second one they created was an online payment platform called "X.com," which later became PayPal, but it was also ousted by shareholders.

Therefore, in order to avoid being ousted by the other co-founders, Musk basically kept all the shares firmly in control of SpaceX in his third venture.

But this also means that he doesn't have enough money to support the company's development!

Besides the manufacturing difficulties, the costs of future launches, operations, and labor are still unknown!

Despite the unknown and high probability of failure, Musk still dared to venture into the aerospace field, and Qin Hanyang had to admire his sheer audacity.

"Thank you, Qin. Your words make me feel much better. I declare you my best Chinese friend."

Perhaps it's because I've experienced too many setbacks recently.

Musk was genuinely moved by Qin Hanyang's encouragement, and he even stood up to give Qin Hanyang another hug.

Qin Hanyang couldn't handle the foreigners' enthusiasm and urged him to let go quickly:

"Hey, listen to Elon, I'm only interested in women."

Upon hearing this, Musk laughed and released him.

"OK, at the banquet the day after tomorrow, I will introduce you to a hundred beautiful women. Whether you prefer dark or white skin, you can tell me in advance. If you even have any requirements regarding your measurements, I can try my best to meet them, Qin."

"My god! Elon, I'm not worthy of this."

Qin Hanyang continued, "Furthermore, I only like beautiful women from China. If possible, could you invite some of our Chinese students studying abroad to attend this banquet on behalf of SpaceX?"

"Of course, that's no problem."

Musk readily agreed, then gave Qin Hanyang a strange look.

"Oh, I see, Qin, you like schoolgirls, right?"

"..."

......