Chapter Thirteen The First Bucket of Gold

  Wang Gang took a big drag on his cigarette, the one he had pinched between his fingers burning nearly a third of the way down. Ah... If I'm full after eating, another cigarette like this after dinner is worth more than all the gods in heaven! To say nothing of the after-dinner smoke, how long has it been since I've tasted something so delicious?

  "Mr. Wang?" The old Edison opposite him was obviously a bit anxious, Wang Geng squinted his eyes and puffed out smoke, clearly a heavy smoker, Is West Point Military Academy a place to cultivate smokers? This guy wouldn't be here just to freeload, would he?

  Edison was so absorbed in his experiments that he often forgot his own name, and the inventor who hadn't read a newspaper for a week didn't know that the young man in front of him was the hottest news figure in New York for the past two days, the darling of the media. In fact, when Wang Gang hailed a taxi on Fifth Avenue just now, he was recognized by the driver as soon as he got in the car.

  When they arrived at their destination, Wang Gang knew he didn't have any money on him. The driver waved his hand and was about to leave, saying "The hero who saved a life doesn't need to pay the taxi fare, it's free!" It was only when Wang Gang saw that the driver had a bad expression in the cold weather that he insisted on keeping him, saying someone would come to pay the fare for him soon.

  As expected, after two phone calls in the room, the young master of General Electric came down to pay for Wang Gang's taxi fare. When he left, the taxi driver looked at Wang Gang with a different gaze, and indeed, he was a capable and good person!

  "Sorry, Mr. Edison, I'm a bit out of sorts due to my nicotine addiction, please forgive me. This time I came because I heard that General Electric has undertaken the research and development project of the military's torpedo mechanical device, and it just so happens that I have some ideas on this matter, so I wanted to come over and discuss it with you!"

  "Hey kid, how did you know General Electric is developing a torpedo mechanical device?"

  Edison was a little hesitant, actually the military did not have exclusive authorization to General Electric for this project. Not only in the US, but also in major countries such as Britain, France, Japan and Germany, they were all working on this project. In the US alone, there were no less than five or six laboratories and companies working on this project.

  "Before I came, I took a look at the New York newspaper this afternoon. Not only is your General Electric Company doing this project, but also Lockheed Corporation, Raytheon Technologies, TRW Inc., and Litton Industries are all doing this project, aren't they?" Wang Gang said with a smile, thinking that this old man didn't seem to be as urgent as rumored, which was good, let him know that his invention wasn't just limited to being sold to General Electric alone!

  Edison's eyes narrowed as he listened, his mind racing with calculations. This handsome young Chinese man, a West Point cadet, was no ordinary person. He looked to be only in his early twenties, yet spoke English fluently and effortlessly, rattling off the names of several major American military-industrial companies with ease. It seemed that this young man might have some tricks up his sleeve.

  "Young man, what you said is not bad, but the R&D strength of those few companies is still a gap compared to our General Company!" Edison warned himself to calm down and not be led by the nose by this young Chinese with yellow skin.

  "Haha, you're absolutely right! After all, only General Electric has a great inventor like you holding down the fort!" Wang Gang gave a subtle flattery.

  Edison smiled and nodded, puffing on his cigarette as he sized up the young man across from him. Such flattery was nothing new to Edison, who had just passed his 70th birthday; this young fellow might just have something he needed, but he couldn't be too hasty - or the other guy would probably open his mouth wide and start making outrageous demands!

  A knock at the door was heard from outside the conference room, and then Charles walked in with two cups of coffee. Wang Gang said thank you, while Edison waved his hand and said

  "There's nothing for you here, Charles, go back to the lab first, they're short-handed over there!"

  Charles hesitated for a moment and then nodded, taking the door out with him.

  Wang Gang extinguished his cigarette and sat up straight, looking at the old man in front of him, saying seriously.

  "Mr. Edison, I know your time is extremely valuable, although your contributions to the world and humanity have already surpassed those of most inventors, but I believe you will continue to make contributions to humanity in the future. The European battlefield is raging, German submarines are everywhere in the depths of the ocean, for world peace, for your health, I am willing to share my humble experience with torpedoes with you!"

  "Oh? I'd love to hear more!" Edison's eyebrows rose, thinking that this young man was quite eloquent, and wondered if he was planning to give him his own invention for free.

  "Of course, I'm not giving it away to you for free. Although I'm willing to contribute my humble efforts to human peace, you've also been a role model for me in my studies. You've applied for so many patents, surely you wouldn't just give your inventions away to others to register or produce?"

  Wang Gang directly dispelled Edison's last bit of doubt!

  "What you said is right, it's the pursuit of every inventor to make something valuable. But at least I have to know first, young man, whether what you're holding can solve my problem, or else how can we even begin?" Edison said calmly.

  "Of course, I'm familiar with your torpedo project. The goal is to solve the problem of the high dud rate when attacking targets with triggered torpedoes. As far as I know, the highest dud rate has reached 70%!" Wang Gang said.

  "Hmm... You're right, although I don't know if you really learned about this from newspaper news, time is precious and I don't want to beat around the bush either. This difficult problem is a headache for the whole world. If my General Electric can solve this problem first, young man, your efforts will definitely be rewarded!" Edison was actually very surprised in his heart, this young man had clearly come prepared!

  "Mr. Edison, to be honest, I've been in the United States for a long time and will graduate and return home by this summer at the latest. You also know that my poor and troubled motherland is still waiting for kind-hearted and ambitious people like me to return and contribute to its construction."

  "Hmm, I don't know much about China, although I occasionally visit New York's Chinatown, but I really can't understand your Chinese at all. Your English is truly excellent, and it seems to me that your pronunciation is even more standard than Charles', a native-born American kid." Edison said indifferently.

  Nima, what you heard in New York's Chinatown was not Mandarin Chinese, but only Cantonese dialect. It's normal that people who don't speak it would find it hard to understand, Wang Gang said with a smile.

  "Mr. Edison, my invention can solve the problem of the troublesome torpedo mechanical device that has been giving you a headache and also solve the misfire problem of the trigger-type fuse. What price do you think is suitable for such an invention? I hope we can be open and honest with each other!"

  King Kang looked at the time and it wasn't early, his stomach was growling with hunger, so he hastily thought of going to eat a midnight snack, and didn't have the heart to continue beating around the bush, directly saying.

  "Young man, you're really putting an old fellow on the spot. I don't know whether your invention is as wonderful as you say it is, and how can I set a price on it? Or would you care to name a figure?" Edison wasn't one to be trifled with either, and he kicked the ball back.

  "No...No...Mr. Edison, you're an inventor yourself, you know that inventions rely on creativity and that golden idea, like the light bulb, you went through countless experiments to find the right material for the filament, but I woke up one morning and based on my own dream experience, I can tell you directly that after evacuating the bulb, using tungsten filament will make it last the longest!" Wang Gang narrowed his eyes as he looked at Edison, while lighting another cigarette for himself.

  "But how can I judge and make an offer if you don't show me your so-called golden idea?" Edison said with a shrug.

  "Yes, you are a great inventor, your words carry weight and everyone believes them. I am just a Chinese overseas student, a third-year student at West Point Military Academy, and naturally do not have the same influence as you in the field of invention. Let's put it this way, if Lockheed is planning to transfer the patent for this invention to General Electric, how much would you be willing to pay?"

  "I believe you're a gentleman and won't claim someone else's idea as your own after seeing it!" Wang Gang stared at Edison.

  Edison was silent for a moment, now he tended to believe that the young man had really solved the difficult problem of the torpedo mechanical device. In this case, his competitor must not be allowed to get this patent first!

  How many torpedoes need to be produced worldwide, each torpedo is a patent fee of one dollar, and it's also profitable, let alone the competition for reputation and honor, which can't be compared with the patent transfer fee.

  "If that's the case, it seems I've come to the wrong place tonight. Tomorrow, I'll just put an ad in the newspaper and auction off this torpedo mechanical device invention directly. I believe there are more than one or two companies interested, and at worst, I can even give it to President Wilson as a gift, right? I won't bother you anymore."

  Wang Gang stood up and wanted to leave, which made the 70-year-old General Electric Company's boss, Edison, anxious. He squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth:

  " Fifty thousand dollars if your invention really works!"