Volume 1: Laying the Foundation Chapter 23: The Arms Company (Revised)

  Seven days later, both parties formally signed a cooperation agreement, Chen Xiaoqi paid $30,000 as the first payment and will pay another $30,000 by the end of this year. Afterwards, he has to pay $20,000 every week. In fact, it doesn't take three years, but only two anniversaries to clear the $100,000 land sale fee. Ms. Lisa won't work here for now, but Stern must start paying her salary from now on.

  These conditions were met by Chen Xiaoqi and his wife, and as soon as the Dawson family left, Chen Xiaoqi eagerly moved a batch of experimental instruments purchased through the school and some equipment he had bought into that old wooden house. The interior layout had been completely disrupted, with the original first-floor living room transformed into a large open laboratory, the adjacent bedroom converted into Chen Xiaoqi's office, the second floor becoming a data room and storage room, and only the third floor being used as a temporary dormitory. The garage outside was turned into a temporary residence for old machine tools and processing equipment. A simple research environment was thus established.

  It wasn't long before the firearms company license that Chen Xiaoqi had applied for was approved, with a relative of Sheriff Kilton listed as the legal representative. The shareholder list, which had been notarized by a lawyer, showed an entity called "MeiHua Laboratory" as the majority shareholder, with Sheriff Kilton's side holding a minority stake. The two parties had jointly established the company, with a share ratio of 9:1, and Sheriff Kilton's side only had dividend rights, without any management rights.

  "Mei Hua Laboratory", is a new economic entity established by Chen Xiaoqi, using this old farmhouse as the main body. This is a pioneering move in American and even world history - a private enterprise establishing a specialized research institution. This honor was originally to be taken by DuPont Company after 1926, but it has been snatched away by Chen Xiaoqi today, although without any reward.

  The licensed "Thunder Weapon Company" is located in Chicago, but the research center and production plant are placed on the farm bought by Chen Xiaoqi. At the first time of obtaining the license, Chen Xiaoqi took out the design drawing of the first product - a pirated "54" pistol.

  Chen Xiaoqi was able to produce 54 handguns, which is absolutely not the credit of Super Invincible Golden Finger. In fact, a long time ago, he had personally made a all-steel handgun piece by piece, and it was the birth of this handgun that led to him being unable to touch any mechanical processing equipment for many years, otherwise he would have been beaten to death by his old man.

  Chen Xiaoqi's father was an engineer at the Shandong Steel Factory Design Institute (can't reveal the real name, infringement), who worked for decades and finally became a deputy director, but couldn't manage anything important. However, his salary was not low, and during the two years when the steel factory's profits were the highest, the annual investment exceeded 10 billion yuan, most of which required the design institute's involvement. As a result, business representatives from various companies would often come to offer gifts, so Chen Xiaoqi's family income, including salary, bonuses, benefits, and gray income, was not less than one million yuan per year, making their life relatively comfortable.

  His mother was also a steel factory worker, and in the early 1990s when the layoffs began, these people who were strong but had no foundation were the first to bear the brunt of the "pain", hundreds of families were cut off at once, many people collapsed at that time, it was embarrassing to be laid off back then, nobody could bring themselves to set up a street stall or sweep streets, so many people were forced to go to the vegetable market in the evening when no one was around to pick up rotten leaves to eat.

  At that time, most of the laid-off people were actually very capable and core forces, but unfortunately, who made them have no connections? These young people in their 20s to 30s were depressed and brushed down. Another batch of workers over 50 years old also retired early, and the compensation was meager. Some people were not reconciled to their own demise, and a few business-minded people still had some money left, so after discussing it, they gritted their teeth, sold their pots and pans, and started a foundry with a group of people, stumbling along as they went.

  Chen Xiaoqi's mother was an accountant, and at that time she was also preparing to take the certified public accountant exam. As a result of this commotion, her mind was confused, and in the end, she also entered the foundry factory with more than a dozen people who started working together. Relying on these capable individuals, plus the steel plant's guilt towards them, they were given some small tasks to do, and within two or three years, they managed to overcome their difficulties and start making money.

  After having money in hand, the decision-makers didn't hesitate and immediately invested in several second-hand Russian machine tools that had been discarded by households. They expanded their business to include instrument valves, steel structural components, and other products. Business was booming, and their income was several times higher than what they earned when working in the factory, making others envy them.

  It's the 21st century now, and the national economy has developed greatly. Real estate and infrastructure construction are booming everywhere, steel mills' profits are soaring, and everyone's treatment is also rising rapidly. A worker with little education who is in charge of pulling electrical switches can earn over 8,000 yuan a month, which is really enviable. The factory where Chen Xiaoqi's mother works is no exception. What was once a small business with just over a dozen people has become a large factory with hundreds of workers and an output value of hundreds of millions of yuan. All the newly purchased equipment are large CNC machine tools, the largest one being from Jinan No. 2 Machine Tool Factory, which is over 20 meters long and worth over 30 million yuan. As a result, those oldest second-hand machine tools have been retired.

  The teachers who returned to their posts couldn't bear to leave these things idle for long, and they were well-maintained, ready to do some small tasks at any time. At this time, Chen Xiaoqi, who was already in high school, had nothing better to do and began to study these things.

  Chen Xiaoqi was really different from other kids. While most junior and senior high school students were busy competing with arcade computer games, he spent his days tinkering with handmade models and later became obsessed with replica guns. With plenty of pocket money, he bought many online and in toy gun stores, taking them apart to study them. As the internet developed, all sorts of things emerged, including structural diagrams of classic firearms. Chen Xiaoqi was overjoyed, downloading them all and then using his replica guns as a reference to draw his own designs.

  Later, he happened to find online that someone had made a DIY laser 3D scanner, which could scan the three-dimensional dimensions of an object at once. He immediately bought the parts and made one himself, then disassembled his replica gun piece by piece for scanning.

  The replica gun is basically an air gun, with very few having a complete feeding structure, but not completely without. The drawings posted online by those people are probably not detailed enough; all he needs to do is measure and draw out the dimensions completely. After half a year of exploration and repeated experimentation, he first made a wooden model, then made a plaster mold, and poured lead water to make a metal model. After trimming and polishing, he made an initial complete component, and then scanned it into the computer again, using CAD software for 3D modeling, carefully carving until all dimensions were completely determined.

  All the parts' dimensions had been determined, Chen Xiaoqi's heart became increasingly restless. He really wanted to turn these drawings into real objects, but it was extremely difficult because he didn't know how to operate CNC machines and there was nowhere that dared to process this for him - it would be a death wish! After some thought, he set his mind on the old machine tools in his mother's factory. From then on, every day after school, he would sneak into the workshop to learn from several master craftsmen with humility, learning these outdated skills that others were unwilling to touch.

  The masters watched him grow up and naturally would not refuse his diligent and serious study. Nowadays, fewer young people are willing to learn a trade with their hearts down, so Chen Xiaoqi's approach made them very happy and very willing to teach. As a result, in the three years that followed, Chen Xiaoqi spent most of his spare time on these old machine tools, learning the skills of several masters.

  Chen Xiaoqi's hands-on ability was not ordinary, and after a year, he could already process simple parts independently. In the second year, what he made could make Teacher Fu nod in approval, whether it was car lathes, milling machines, or other equipment. He only lacked experience in debugging and calibration of machine tools, which were skills that took years to develop through experience and intuition, not something that could be achieved in just three to five years.

  This was enough, Chen Xiaoqi finally had the conditions to do what he wanted. When Master Fu and others basically let him go and allowed him to tinker on his own, Chen Xiaoqi began to process one part at a time, creating his treasured item in his mind. In just one month's time, he completely replicated the 54 pistol, even pulling out the rifling, and after assembly, adding his own carved walnut wood stock, a heavy, cold steel gun was made!

  Chen Xiaoqi didn't stop at just one, and next he managed to get his hands on an AK-47. Now they really had something to play with. The 7.62mm pistol shells were abundant among the people, and some 7.62*25mm pistol shells were also taken apart from handicrafts, metal bullet heads were processed and loaded - but without gunpowder, it wouldn't fire.

  Chen Xiaoqi felt extremely regretful, but he also knew that his own shanzhai version of the dog would not necessarily be worse than those fake guns if it were equipped with real bullets. His gun barrel was made of axle steel, and he didn't know how much effort he had put into polishing this pipe at the beginning. In addition, he did not dare to make it too outrageous, as the law does not tolerate it!

  After finishing the real thing, Chen Xiaoqi had nothing to do all day, so he disassembled and assembled these two guns, and finally became proficient in assembling them with his eyes closed, at a speed comparable to that of Ah Gan, with all parts well-maintained and shiny. It's really a fun thing for boys!

  The good times didn't last long, he couldn't hold back and showed these two things to his classmates, but was discovered by the old man, who was scared half to death at the time. This guy privately manufactured weapons, even if it's just a light sentence, it's 10-8 years, if it's for sale, it could be fatal!

  Without saying another word, Chen Xiaoqi, under the supervision of his father, personally disassembled the two guns and threw them into the furnace to melt into iron water. All his tools for committing crimes were completely destroyed. As for the computer where he stored a large amount of valuable data, his father, who spent all day caressing the computer, didn't give him a chance to regret it. He directly removed the hard drive and placed it on the cement floor, raising an eight-pound hammer "thud" and smashing it into pieces. At that moment, Chen Xiaoqi's heart felt like it had been stabbed with a knife.

  After that, Chen Xiaoqi was not allowed to touch any mechanical equipment, and he couldn't even take the relevant major when applying for university. As a result, he ended up enrolling in the chemistry department of a university in Qingdao. However, Chen Xiaoqi's father forgot one thing - the destructive power of guns is still relatively small, and something even more awesome is explosives! Chen Xiaoqi indeed lived up to expectations and managed to concoct explosives in the school lab! Of course, that's a story for later.

  During the university military training, the time to touch the gun and shoot was very limited, but in this limited time, Chen Xiaoqi's performance shocked the instructors. The 56-style rifles used for shooting were simply toys in Chen Xiaoqi's hands, easily disassembled and reassembled with his eyes closed, much faster than the old soldiers. Even the rare 81-style rifles, Chen Xiaoqi could explain clearly, although his shooting score was just average. However, the old soldiers liked him from the bottom of their hearts, because they had common topics to talk about. Chen Xiaoqi learned an extra set of military boxing and a few moves like "one move to defeat the enemy" and bayonet drills. He indeed lived up to expectations, mastering these skills in no time.

  During his university days, Chen Xiaoqi's mind was not on studying. As long as he could pass and not be caught or fail, it was enough for him. He couldn't make guns anymore, so he downloaded pictures from the internet again, ordered equipment, and made a replica gun by himself. The size was almost identical. When he had nothing to do, he used software to compare more firearm blueprints, such as M1911A1, M92F, Springfield, Mauser 98K, and box cannons. He didn't bother with non-classics. Later, he even tried to make a G36, but unfortunately, the detailed blueprint was not available online at that time. The semi-metal air gun he bought ultimately had a much lower precision.

  With the foundation of those years, Chen Xiaoqi finally realized his dream of manufacturing firearms without breaking the law in the United States in the 1920s. So he immediately patented the Model 54 pistol and bullets, a small step that would be a big step in the future!