Chapter 37 Strengthen Cooperation

  Chen Xiaoqi didn't know that at this time, Dai Chunfeng was in a relatively unlucky and down-and-out period. It can be said that from now until 1926, he was in the low valley of his life, drifting aimlessly and living a miserable and bitter existence. In the original history, after arriving in Shanghai, due to his quick wit and efficiency, he became an apprentice under Huang Jinrong and Du Yuesheng, temporarily serving as a tea boy. In 1922, he met Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Guofu by chance, but later went bankrupt from speculating in stocks and was so destitute that he couldn't even afford to change his clothes. Finally, after failing the entrance exam for the Huangpu Military Academy in 1926, he re-established contact with Chiang and gradually rose through the ranks to become the king of Chinese espionage. In the end, Chiang became afraid of losing control over him and had a bomb planted on his plane, causing this great man to die in an explosion.

  Perhaps it was a deviation in history, or perhaps the indirect influence of the changes in this world caused by his own time-traveling had altered Dai Chunfeng's life course, leading him to take a detour to America and encounter himself. Was such an absurd thing really possible?

  Chen Xiaoqi was so excited that he couldn't control himself for a moment. Two voices were colliding in his heart, one hoping this person was Dai Li, but unsure how to deal with him, the other hoping it wasn't Dai Li, but worried that if it really was, he would miss the opportunity and never get another chance!

  Dai Li is absolutely a personal talent! A spy master of this era, born to do intelligence and secret activities, such a gift was revealed as early as the Whampoa Military Academy period. Chen Xiaoqi wants to achieve great things, he must have someone like that to assist him, and all the ways, including the orthodox way, the heretic way, the royal way, and the hegemonic way, are indispensable. However, he worries whether he can keep such a person, whether he can control such a person.

  Now is the lowest point in Dai Chunfeng's life, with no way out, and when he needs to be recognized by others the most. Moreover, at this critical moment, he has not yet met Jiang Zhongzheng, nor has he met someone who will appreciate him for his entire life. Chen Xiaoqi worries that he doesn't have the prestige or capital to retain such a great talent, he doesn't understand what's going on in this person's mind, and his age, experience, and qualifications are not enough, what can be done?

  Chen Xiaoqi's mind was a mess, and he didn't even hear Zhang Yaolin's greeting. Hu Qian saw that Chen Xiaoqi had been in a daze since reading the note she gave him, lost in thought, which was something she had never seen before. She knew that Boss must have encountered some particularly difficult or important matter, so she quickly interrupted Zhang Yaolin and smiled: "Mr. Zhang may not know, our boss is a scholar, often suddenly remembering something, so it's very normal for him to be distracted. Please don't mind."

  Zhang Xiaolin smiled and said, "I understand, I understand. Brother Chen is a great talent, this extremely intelligent person must have something different from ordinary people, this is easy to understand, haha, so let's keep our voices down, don't disturb Brother Chen's thoughts, what if he's thinking of a good idea that can make us rich overnight? Haha."

  Several people accompanied him in laughter, and Zhou Yunpeng, who was sitting next to Chen Xiaoqi recently, quietly stepped on his toes from under the seat. The force used was a bit too much, causing Chen Xiaoqi's whole body to twitch with pain, immediately waking up from his deep thoughts and confusion. Seeing that everyone was laughing at him, he knew that he had been too absent-minded just now.

  Zhou Yunpeng was very quick-witted and said off the top of his head, "Boss, have you thought of another great invention? Share it with us so we can all help you brainstorm!"

  "Ah, look at me, I'm so rude! I'm so sorry, Mr. Zhang. This is an occupational disease of mine - I often think about a problem and forget to eat. It's happened many times before, but I just can't change it!"

  That Mr. Chunfeng, who was just in time, inserted a sentence: "I remember that there was a famous university scholar in history named Newton. He once thought about the problem too much and put the alarm clock in the pot as an egg to cook it. Its shape is comparable to Mr. Chen's, both are elegant and interesting things that can only be achieved by high-ranking people!"

  This is well said! Without batting an eyelid, he has already flattered Chen Xiaoqi to Newton's level. Who wouldn't feel comfortable hearing this? This person is simply too talented!

  In an instant, Chen Xiaoqi suddenly made a decision: no matter what, he would try every means possible to keep him!

  Chen Xiaoqi smiled and said, "Brother Dai, this is too much praise for me! Newton, that's a world-renowned great scientist, a master of his generation. I'm far from it. By the way, I only know your surname is Dai, but I haven't asked how to address you properly?"

  Xiao Dai smiled slightly proudly and bowed his head, saying: "I don't dare to accept the compliment, Mr. Chen. My humble name is Chunfeng, and my courtesy name is Yunong."

  "Good name! Spring breeze and rain nourish diligent farmers, this is much more thoughtful than my own name. Since we're not far apart in age, I'd rather not address you as Young Dai, how about we call each other by our names? Oh, right, I haven't introduced myself yet, my courtesy name is Xing Han, haha, most people don't know that."

  Dai Chunfeng hastily declined: "I don't dare, I don't dare! Mr. Chen is a renowned figure, and he's on the same level as our Mr. Zhang. As a junior, how could I not know my place?"

  Zhang Xiaolin didn't know why Chen Xiaoqi was suddenly so interested in him, this newcomer who hadn't been around for long. Just like Chen Xiaoqi couldn't understand why Zhang had come all the way to give him a gentle and elegant gift. They both couldn't see through each other's true intentions. At this time, Hou also relaxed his demeanor and chuckled: "Good! We're all young people, so it's better to be natural! Calling each other by name is very common among Westerners. Chen brother was born and raised here, so he's naturally used to it. Let's just follow the local customs, that's great!"

  Dai Chunfeng still smiled awkwardly, but didn't respond. Chen Xiaoqi couldn't press him too much, so he turned to Zhang Xiaolin and laughed: "Just now I was lost in thought and forgot myself, which was impolite. However, during this brief moment, I actually figured out a problem, so let me bring it up for discussion with everyone."

  "Ah? Could it be another way to get rich? Tell me, let's see if I can also benefit from it."

  Chen Xiaoqi said with a hint of embarrassment: "Actually, I don't know if this is a path to wealth, but it's definitely a great thing that benefits the country and its people. From my interactions with fellow brothers and some old friends from my hometown, I suddenly realized that our way of speaking and language expression are too diverse, and in some places within the country, there are even different accents and dialects every ten or hundred miles. When people from all over the country come together, communication is particularly difficult. If we can find a common official language to promote nationwide, wouldn't it be greatly beneficial for my fellow billion citizens?"

  Zhang Xiao Lin listened and thought to himself, "What kind of fortune is this? Promoting Mandarin Chinese? No dynasty has ever done that before! Even the current Republican government has its own dialect of Mandarin, but it's all over the place. People from different regions speak their own version, and it sounds like a bunch of birds chirping at each other. It's hard to understand even when they're speaking quickly." However, he still expressed his approval, saying: "Brother Chen is indeed a great talent! This idea is truly beneficial for the country and its people! But putting it into practice would be quite difficult, even the current Republican government can't do anything about it. Does Brother Chen have some clever plan up his sleeve?"

  Chen Xiaoqi said: "It's not a clever trick either. I happened to think of it, and I don't know if Mr. Zhang has heard of this thing called 'radio'?"

  Zhang Xiaolin furrowed his brow and thought for a moment, nodding slowly: "It seems to ring a bell, but it's not quite clear. Please enlighten me, brother."

  Chen Xiaoqi said: "Actually, this thing is also rare in the United States. It was only officially opened last year. It uses electrical equipment to convert human voice into radio waves and broadcast them into the air, then use a receiver to receive and replay it, so that one person can speak and thousands of people can hear it at the same time."

  Zhang Xiaolin reacted quickly, immediately understanding what this meant. When one person speaks at home, everyone else in the house can hear it simultaneously, which is equivalent to installing a telephone in every household, controlling the right to speak!

  Chen Xiaoqi continued: "I was thinking, can we also set up a radio station in Shanghai and sell radios to the masses? This way, we can make a lot of money. More importantly, we can attract big companies to advertise on our radio station and charge them a fee. We can also use this platform to promote the correct official language standards to the public, killing two birds with one stone, benefiting both parties."

  "Wow! It's really not an exaggeration to call you 'Caishen' (God of Wealth) directly! With just a moment's thought, you've come up with such a huge money-making idea that benefits the masses... I don't even know what to say. In short, it's amazing!"

  Chen Xiaoqi smiled humbly and waved his hand, not daring to accept it.

  Dai Chunfeng also smiled and said, "If Mr. Chen's move is successfully implemented, the number of people who benefit from it will be countless, and those in control of this radio station will have the convenience of having a mouthpiece. As radios become more widespread, it will inevitably become an increasingly important hub."

  Zhang Xiaolin's eyes lit up, and he pointed to the desktop, saying: "If it can really be done, I wonder what kind of plan Brother Chen has for this? Is there a place where my humble brother can be used?"

  Chen Xiaoqi said: "This is not difficult, this kind of equipment can be produced here in a short time, whether it's a radio station or a receiver, the only thing to consider is what kind of voice should be broadcast? This is after all a matter that affects tens of millions of people! It cannot be done hastily, otherwise it will cause endless harm!"

  "This...! This is not easy to do, ah!" Zhang Xiao Lin lightly patted the table and thought, "Nowadays it's a thousand faces, mixed Chinese and foreign, my China has a vast territory of ten thousand miles, many ethnic groups, and it's hard to please everyone. If you ask the officials of the current dynasty, I'm afraid it will take ten or eight years to get a result."

  "Haha, what's the point of being so particular? This radio station was built with our own money anyway. I think your usual tone is pretty good, boss. Why not just use that as the standard? They'll get used to it after a while, and that's fine!"

  Zhang Xiao Lin's eyebrows rose, and he gave a thumbs up in approval: "Oh! Little brother, you're right! Not bad, not bad. If you hadn't said it, I really wouldn't have noticed that Brother Chen's tone of speech is quite unique! It has a special elegance to it, I think it'll do!"

  Chen Xiaoqi smiled and didn't show any modesty. Of course, in this era, if we talk about the standard of Mandarin Chinese, no one in the world can surpass him! Because in the future, only he will be able to speak that kind of Mandarin Chinese! The real official Mandarin Chinese standard has not been established yet! This kind of thing can only be truly achieved after national unification, let alone now, people in the 21st century still have different accents and dialects when speaking.

  Chen Xiaoqi himself did not expect that the excuse he made up would actually lead to a business opportunity, which was an unexpected turn of events. Now it's really a blank period! The United States had just started radio broadcasting, radios were not yet widespread, and electronic tube radios had not yet been invented. It was simply too easy for him to get into this field! In his childhood, he had even worked with semiconductors, let alone now! Recently, the company's vacuum electronic tubes and speakers had almost finished research, so releasing such a product would be a good test of its effectiveness!

  To develop large speakers and new record players, Chen Xiaoqi set up a special experimental group to study the corresponding requirements, such as permanent magnets, which are still ferrite magnets at present. He originally thought he could develop neodymium iron boron magnets, but later found that it was not so simple. Now they are working on aluminum-nickel-cobalt magnets, and this alloy is being explored in a cooperative project with US Steel.

  In addition, the speaker's paper cone is also a problem. According to his idea, it must be used with a conical body, and don't think about using bulletproof cloth. The wool paper cone can be studied, and it should be almost enough! If it's for radio use, then ordinary paper cones can cope with it.

  With a mind made up, Chen Xiaoqi smiled and said: "Look, we've been so busy talking that the food is going to get cold. Come on, everyone, let's eat first. We're able to meet in America, thousands of miles away from home, which is already a rare opportunity. The Buddha says that it takes 500 glances in past lives to be able to brush shoulders with each other in this life. If we can sit together and have a meal, chat and make friends, then that's a connection for a hundred lifetimes! Let's raise our glasses for this!"

  Everyone raised their glasses, but didn't really drink up, instead each took a small sip. This was unavoidable, since the US had been enforcing Prohibition since 1920, and except for some places in the West where no one cared, it was impossible to buy liquor in most areas. It was from this time that American gangsters began killing each other to occupy territory for smuggling bootlegged liquor. The bottle of red wine Chen Xiaoqi had was one of the few remaining bottles hidden away by the original owner in his cellar when he bought this place, and it was quite difficult to bring out to entertain guests.

  Before the meal, I had already told Zhang Xiaolin and others about the problem of drinking, so everyone knew how hard it was to drink this bottle of wine, and they didn't dare to open their mouths wide and pour it down.

  "Ah, it's indeed true that every family has its own unsolvable problems! Who would have thought that those arrogant great powers can't even get a drink at home? If this were to happen domestically, wouldn't there be uprisings everywhere?! This meal may not be eaten, but wine must be drunk! It seems that not everything in life goes as one wishes, and it's not just our family or country that's like this!"

  Chen Xiaoqi said: "Indeed it is. In my opinion, this Prohibition is beneficial to the Americans. Now, with millions of cars produced every year in the US, the roads are already congested. If everyone gets drunk and drives, who knows how many accidents will happen and how many lives will be lost! So, this Prohibition is good, at least everyone on the road is sober. Moreover, if they all spend their money on wine, who will have money to buy our products? We should thank the US government for that, don't you think?"

  Zhang Xiaolin burst out laughing, and the whole table of people chatted and laughed as they finished their meal. Chen Xiaoqi sent them back to the reception area, and took the opportunity to instruct Hu Qian: "Find a chance to communicate with Dai Chunfeng, I want to keep him here! Let him set whatever conditions he wants!"