Volume 1: Laying the Foundation Chapter 25: The DuPont Company (Revised)

  One week later, in the morning, Chen Xiaoqi had just finished arranging the accommodation for the technical personnel from Germany and other European countries. He was drawing a chemical mechanical diagram in his own broken laboratory when Stern rushed in hastily, snatched the pen from his hand and threw it on the table. With a tense and excited expression, his eyes shining brightly, he stared at Chen Xiaoqi and said: "Hurry up, hurry up, someone is here to see you!"

  Chen Xiaoqi rubbed his eyebrows while unbuttoning his white work uniform, somewhat reluctantly saying: "What kind of guest is it that makes you so flustered? I still have a lot of work to do today."

  Stern exclaimed: "It's someone from the DuPont family."

  Chen Xiaoqi's eyes lit up, and he excitedly waved his hand: "Yes! I've been waiting for them! Damn it, they're really patient! It's taken them this long to arrive!" In his excitement, he mixed Chinese and English together, leaving Stern bewildered but able to tell that he was extremely pleased with the outcome.

  Stern still said with some trepidation and tension: "Chen, do you know they're coming? What's their purpose? I mean, as a influential financial group across the US, they come here, is it for your invention?"

  Chen Xiaoqi hehe smiled and said: "I don't care why they came, I just know that our chance to get rich has arrived! If I'm not mistaken, they should be bringing us cash, or maybe a huge check? Whatever it is, in short, we'll have money soon!"

  He spoke with such certainty, but Stern had no bottom line in his heart. Everyone knew how powerful the big sharks of DuPont were at this time, except for Roosevelt, almost no one had the courage to confront them, and Rockefeller's dismemberment was a representative event. However, it seemed that the government's constraint on the big financial groups was too weak, so as a small businessman, Stern was uneasy in his heart, not knowing whether it was good or bad luck.

  When the two people arrived at the reception room, they found three people sitting there. The internal staff had already brought coffee, and the three people sat quietly, intentionally or unintentionally paying attention to the passing employees at the door.

  Chen Xiaoqi took a glance at the tall man in his thirties standing in the middle, who had a slender and handsome build, wearing a black long suit with a tie, a pale face, deep and cold eyes, slightly curly black hair combed neatly, a gold watch chain hanging from his chest, holding an exquisite tobacco pipe in his hand, the pipe was lit, and a faint scent of tobacco wafted out.

  I learned from Stern that the man's name was Herd Du Pont, who is now the technical director of DuPont Chemical Plant and a young member of the third generation of the DuPont family. However, because he has always been in charge of technical matters, he is not well known to outsiders. The other two people were one of DuPont's retained lawyers and Herd's assistant.

  When Chen Xiaoqi walked to the door, Hede Dubon's eyes had already followed him in a very timely manner. The sharp gaze emitted from those slightly grayish eyeballs made Chen Xiaoqi's heart tighten - a chilly feeling!

  The two men exchanged brief glances before Chen Xiaoqi's face broke into a smile, and he called out from afar: "A very warm welcome to you, Mr. DuPont!"

  Mr. He De Du stood up, his slender upper body slightly leaning forward in a polite gesture, nodding and replying: "Hello! Mr. Chen, I'm so sorry for not making an appointment before coming here suddenly, hope you don't mind."

  Chen Xiaoqi walked in with a smile, nodded to the three people and asked: "How could I mind? You are a rare guest who can't be invited! I think there is no one in this world who can refuse DuPont's favor, welcome is not enough. Haha, please sit down."

  The host and guests took their seats, Chen Xiaoqi smiled as he looked at the three people, chuckling but not rushing to get to the point. Hurd, however, showed his tough side as a core member of DuPont, saying straightforwardly: "Mr. Chen, I have to say that your age, experience, and achievements are truly astonishing. We can't imagine how a 20-year-old young man could create so many inventions in such a short period of time. This is simply a miracle."

  Heard's hand emerged from his pocket with a brand new Zippo lighter, engraved with the latest batch number. With a "ding" sound, he opened the lid and lit it up, then gently snapped it shut again with his index finger, saying meaningfully: "This thing is very useful. Can you tell me how you created these things?"

  Chen Xiaoqi smiled and shook his head slightly, saying: "Mr. Dupont, thank you for your compliment, but I'm not as good as you think I am. In fact, the lighter was already prototyped when my grandfather was alive, and I just further improved on his invention. As for other chemical products, they are nothing more than small discoveries in daily life, plus being a Chinese person myself, you know that traditional Chinese medicine has a very deep understanding of plants in this world. All these are insignificant."

  Hed's eyes coldly stared at Chen Xiaoqi, saying: "You know I'm not talking about this. What I want to know is about that very peculiar gun of yours and the recently invented explosives. As a university freshman, it's hard to imagine that your understanding of chemistry is more profound than many professors, and you seem to have in-depth research on chemical engineering and technology."

  Chen Xiaoqi was sweating, he felt that he had not expected others to understand his foundation so thoroughly, and could also infer this statement based on his invention. It was very consistent with his actual situation. His chemical knowledge was indeed much higher than many professors now, after all, the nearly century of great development in chemistry was earth-shaking, and he did have a considerable understanding of chemical engineering technology. In Qilu Petrochemical for so long, he had been studying production and equipment!

  However, Chen Xiaoqi's facial thickness and reaction speed are not ordinary. He just stared blankly for a moment, then a lot of thoughts flashed through his mind, and finally said: "Maybe... maybe I really have a talent for chemistry, and you know, my supervisor is Professor Roger Adams, I think in the future For a long time, he will be one of the best chemists in America. As his student, it's understandable to have some achievements. Haha, maybe I'm really a genius. Edison didn't even go to school, but he still came up with so many inventions, which is not surprising."

  Heard's face showed a faintly smiling expression, and he nodded: "Alright, let's not discuss this issue. Mr. Chen, I'd like to know how you plan to handle the patents for these two explosives."

  Chen Xiaoqi secretly wiped a sweat, thought for a moment and said: "To be honest, I really haven't figured out how to do it. You know, I'm just a student, occasionally doing something with friends, I didn't prepare to become a big arms dealer, do you have any good suggestions?"

  He took a puff of tobacco, lightly tapped the table and raised his voice slightly: "Mr. Chen, I think you are a person with great potential, especially in chemical inventions and creations. You may have a talent that is not inferior to Nobel's. The DuPont family welcomes people like you to start a business together. Although you already have some business foundation now, compared to the support of DuPont Company, haha, this is two completely different levels. I think you should be able to judge which choice is better."

  "Your meaning is, I work for DuPont?"

  He nodded: "That's right, you join DuPont Company, and these small industries of yours will be acquired by DuPont Company at twice the price, or DuPont Company will inject funds to expand their scale. In this way, you can also enjoy dividend distribution and work in a more favorable environment with peace of mind."

  Hurd's words were entirely within Chen Xiaoqi's expectations. As a powerful financial group, the DuPont company would definitely make a ruthless and overbearing move. At this point in time, they absolutely would not allow a second chemical giant to emerge in America that could compete with them, especially when it came to military explosives. Chen Xiaoqi's two inventions could get him massive loan support from any large financial group because it was a surefire business. The DuPont company naturally wouldn't allow this situation to arise and at the very least would want to control this new force in their own hands. It wasn't strange for them to propose such conditions.

  However, Chen Xiaoqi was well-prepared for this. He chuckled and said: "Your attention makes me feel honored, it's my honor to be valued by DuPont Company. But, forgive me for being straightforward, I think I'm not a very qualified researcher, my mind is always not on the right track, so I don't think I'm suitable to work at DuPont Company."

  Heerde's face changed slightly, his pipe clenched tightly in his hand, and he said in a lowered voice: "So, Mr. Chen, are you planning to start your own business?"

  Chen Xiaoqi said: "Not entirely, actually, my personality is a bit lazy, I don't even know what I'll do next, so this question can't be answered clearly for the time being. However, there's one thing I think I can decide on now, which is about my invention, these two types of explosives. I haven't planned to set up my own factory to produce them. You know, as a Chinese person, dealing with the government is too troublesome, and since there's no war now, investing heavily in production would also be unprofitable."

  "Then you are going to give up these two invention patents?"

  "Think you're so smart? Don't think I don't know this thing is the most profitable? Are you taking me for a fool?"

  "Of course not," Chen Xiaoqi said with a smile, shaking his head. "I have no intention of selling my patent. In fact, many companies have contacted me over this period of time, saying they want to buy my patent, but I feel that none of them are sincere. So I've never made up my mind."

  He said: "Then can you consider transferring these two patents to DuPont, I believe that at present, there is no company in the world that offers a higher price than DuPont."

  Chen Xiaoqi seemed somewhat moved, and he tentatively asked: "I wonder how much money DuPont would be willing to pay to buy these two patents?"

  Hurd thought he had him, a smile spreading across his face as he straightened up and said casually, "DuPont can pay $10 million to buy out these two patents."

  Although he had mentally prepared himself, Chen Xiaoqi couldn't help but take a deep breath - this guy really dared to spend big! In today's era, $10 million is equivalent to the total GDP of Shandong Province in the 1920s! This amount of money can build several aircraft carriers, and no matter how it's spent, it's enough to last for generations.

  Heerde was very satisfied with Chen Xiaoqi's stunned expression, while Stern on the side only saw golden light spinning in his eyes, obviously already dizzy from this big hand of thunder. After all, people from different classes are not used to seeing so much money without getting dizzy, it's rare.

  Chen Xiaoqi pondered for half a day, and finally seemed to make up his mind, gritting his teeth as he said: "I'm very sorry, Mr. Dupont, I can't agree to your acquisition request, the most I can offer is priority patent use rights."

  He's face fell, he felt insulted. In this era, no one can resist the temptation of such a large sum of money, not even the US presidential election costs that much. Chen Xiaoqi didn't even agree to it, either he's stupid or there's something wrong with his mind, in short, it's impossible for him to have long-term plans, this doesn't match the character and ability of a 20-year-old Chinese youth.

  "Herr Chen, do you know what you're saying? You are missing out on an unimaginable fortune. You will soon become one of the richest people in this world. I think you should consider it seriously or consult with someone."

  "No need to consider it, I think it's better to be stable like this. Such a large sum of money makes me feel very pressured, and I don't think I have the ability to protect such a large amount of property. It's better to take things slowly and steadily, maybe that way we can live more comfortably."

  Hurd shook his head in dismay, coughing once before speaking: "Mr. Chen, I think it's a great pity that you're making this decision. This way, you'll only get a very small amount of money. It's peacetime now, and I don't think there will be many more people coming to buy the production rights for explosives. Don't you want to reconsider carefully?"

  Chen Xiaoqi said: "Never mind, I don't want to make fun of my own heart. I think being able to live in peace is more important than anything else. Why don't we talk about patent licensing instead?"

  Hurd tapped his pipe impatiently on the table, furrowed his brow and took a strong pull, then blew out a long plume of smoke. In a dry voice he said: "Mr. Chen, considering the current situation, we believe that an annual patent usage fee of one million US dollars for both items, unrelated to production volume, paid in one lump sum, is a very fair price."

  Chen Xiaoqi shook his head like a rattle drum: "No, no, no, this price is too low, Mr. DuPont, you're simply robbing us! We all know how much explosives the DuPont company produced during the war."

  "But now that the war is over, you can't expect there will be much demand for military explosives in peacetime. I think we're being generous already."

  Chen Xiaoqi said: "War will always happen, maybe not today, maybe tomorrow, who knows? However, even if my 'Black Gold' doesn't have a large output for the time being, my 'Ammonium Nitrate Explosive' will definitely be in huge demand. The whole world is mining now, the whole world is building roads and docks, this is an immeasurable market demand!"

  "Sure thing," said Hurd. "I'll pay more money, unless you're going to give the patent exclusively to DuPont, I mean, sole license in the whole world!"

  Chen Xiaoqi's eyes widened: "How is this possible? This is simply a joke. I can only grant the entire North American patent usage rights to DuPont, but the price must be one million US dollars per year for each patent!"

  Hurd shook his head: "This is absolutely impossible. I think the patent usage fees that add up to one million are already outrageous, and it's impossible to increase by even a single cent!"

  Two people haggled back and forth for half a day, finally settling on a price. In peacetime, the patent rights for "Black Powder" would cost $500,000 per year, while "Ammonium Nitrate Explosives" would be $1 million. In wartime - defined as a global conflict involving more than three major countries - the licensing fee for "Black Powder" would rise to $1 million per year, with "Ammonium Nitrate Explosives" remaining at $1 million. The contract would be valid for ten years, after which DuPont would have free use of both patents.

  After the two parties reached an agreement, they signed a contract on the same day under the witness of lawyers hired by both sides. DuPont directly handed over a check for $1.5 million and left without even attending the celebratory banquet.

  Stern stared blankly at Chen Xiaoqi and He De, who had been arguing for half a day. It wasn't until everyone else had left that he finally came to his senses. He couldn't control himself as he grabbed Chen Xiaoqi's clothes and shouted: "Ah! Chen! You're crazy! How could you not want that one million dollars? Do you know how much money that is? We can open ten banks with it! We can use this money to become billionaires within three years, and you only want 1.5 million per year!"

  Chen Xiaoqi gently plucked the fluff from his clothes and patted his shoulder, saying: "Hey, hey! Mr. Mate, calm down! Calm down! It's just a small matter, why are you so excited? You must believe in my professional vision and genius wisdom. Haven't you calculated that this way we can get an additional $5 million from DuPont?"

  "Stern shouted: 'But that will take ten years! In ten years' time we can earn ten times five million!'"

  Xiao Qi chuckled and said, "Dear Stern, do you think the money from DuPont is that easy to get? Do you think these big conglomerates would be willing to pay out $10 million to a insignificant foreigner like me? No, no, no, you're thinking too simply. I can tell you for sure, if I really took that $10 million, maybe not long after, I'd end up floating on Lake Michigan!"