Chapter 82: The First Pot of Gold
Following Song Guangyuan's outburst, even those who opposed Liu Shang, however upset they were, dared not meet Song Guangyuan's eyes.
At this, Song Guangyuan took a deep breath and continued, "Since you are all so dissatisfied with and opposed to Liu Shang's project receiving official approval…"
"Then we will simply cancel the approval for this technical project."
"This innovation, Liu Shang has already applied for a patent for, and it is his private property."
"The company plans to customize twenty sets of these devices. We will pay Liu Shang 1,000 yuan for each set, for a total of 20,000 yuan."
"I assume this arrangement is satisfactory to everyone?"
...
Afterward, Zheng Yiqian insisted on booking a large hotel and treated everyone present to a sumptuous banquet.
At the dinner table, amid the chorus of praise for Liu Shang, Zheng Yiqian threw himself into toasting everyone, offering frequent apologies with each glass. By the end of the night, he had drunk himself into a stupor.
However, his antics made for a very lively atmosphere, and the table was filled with continuous laughter.
Seeing Liu Shang laughing along, his off-color jokes always witty and well-timed, the slightly tipsy Song Guangyuan felt increasingly pleased and satisfied the more he watched him.
This young man is truly excellent!
The next day, much to Zheng Yiqian's surprise, Liu Shang took the initiative to visit him at his factory.
After the previous day's heavy drinking, the relationship between Zheng Yiqian and Liu Shang had become warmer and more familiar.
Moreover, seeing how much Song Guangyuan and the others cared for Liu Shang only strengthened Zheng Yiqian's suspicion about Liu Shang's extraordinary family background.
Consequently, Zheng Yiqian enthusiastically invited Liu Shang directly into his office and brewed him a special pot of fine tea.
"Liu Shang, come, try this Tieguanyin I recently acquired."
"It costs tens of thousands of yuan per catty; it's quite good."
"If you like it, I'll pack some up for you to take home and enjoy when you leave."
After the pleasantries, Zheng Yiqian finally asked Liu Shang the purpose of his visit.
Liu Shang took out his patent certificate and handed it to him.
"Boss Zheng, regarding the equipment and tools from yesterday, you've seen how effective they are, right?"
Zheng Yiqian took the patent and replied without hesitation, "Ha, you don't even need to ask. The effect is truly remarkable. I'm incredibly impressed, Engineer Liu."
"I came here this time to sell this patent and this set of tools to your processing factory."
Hearing Liu Shang's words, Zheng Yiqian's eyes widened in surprise.
"You want to sell this patent?"
"How much are you asking?"
"And does Director Song know about this?"
Liu Shang nodded. "I spoke with Director Zhong and Director Song before coming here."
"For a private individual, a patent like this isn't very useful."
"And the tool's structure isn't complicated, so trying to maintain secrecy for an exclusive monopoly is unrealistic."
"As for my asking price…"
"In an oilfield as large as Fengcheng, there must be at least a hundred service companies and a thousand sets of equipment that could use this tool."
"Let's use a conservative estimate of two hundred sets. You can buy the patent outright for 200,000 yuan. From then on, this patent will belong to you, Boss Zheng."
Zheng Yiqian gasped in shock.
"Two hundred thousand?!!"
"Engineer Liu, that is definitely not a small amount!"
"I am truly interested in your toolset, and I do want to buy it, but at that price… it's just..."
"And you said it yourself—the tool's structure isn't complicated. Plenty of small workshops could manufacture it."
"There's no way I could secure that much business!"
Liu Shang had prepared for this question before he came.
So, after taking another sip of tea, he smiled confidently.
"Boss Zheng, in six months, when this toolset has spread throughout the oilfield market, you certainly won't be able to get that much work."
"But right now, your factory is the only one that has manufactured it and verified its effectiveness."
"The market is currently a huge, untapped void."
"Furthermore, while it's true that patent protection in our country is not always strictly enforced, it's not entirely meaningless either."
"But within our oilfield circle, interpersonal relationships are intricate and deeply rooted. Everyone gives each other a certain amount of face."
"With your status in the processing industry, Boss Zheng, as long as you put the word out that you paid a handsome sum for this patent, I doubt many of your colleagues would be so brazen as to immediately try and steal your business, would they?"
"And on the other hand, with your shrewdness, as long as you aren't too greedy, these service companies will need someone's tools. There's no reason for them to abandon your more mature technology here and go out of their way to use someone else's."
"I'll say it again: right now is a golden opportunity to make money."
"Knowing your usual style, Boss Zheng, I don't believe you can bear to let it slip away."
"By the way, don't try to bargain with me or bully a poor student like me."
"If this deal falls through, I can simply go to other processing factories, or even take the blueprints directly to the various service companies myself."
"If I only charge each company 5,000 yuan, it shouldn't be too difficult, right?"
"In that case, at worst, I'll waste some time and effort and earn a little less."
"But for you, Boss Zheng, what you stand to lose is a much bigger deal!"
Liu Shang's words systematically blocked off all of Zheng Yiqian's potential counterarguments and retreats.
Faced with such a clear opportunity for profit, Zheng Yiqian couldn't help but compromise.
An hour later, having signed the patent transfer agreement, Liu Shang left Zheng Yiqian's company with a smile on his face, holding a package of high-quality tea and his first pot of gold: 200,000 yuan.
In the oilfield community, few secrets remained airtight for long.
The news that Liu Shang had sold his patent and managed to extract 200,000 yuan from Zheng Yiqian, a notorious penny-pincher, naturally reached the ears of Song Guangyuan, Director Zhong, and others.
But whether they understood the whole picture or not, everyone just laughed it off and didn't comment on it directly.
Being able to earn that kind of money from Zheng Yiqian was a testament to Liu Shang's own ability, so there was really nothing to say.
...
Time passed, and by early December, the construction of the second batch of wells was complete.
The project entered the subsequent phase of technical organization and summary.
Unsurprisingly, thanks to Liu Shang's meticulous preparations, this round of wells also achieved remarkable results.
With such an outstanding outcome, the entire Oil Production Plant was filled with joy and a renewed fighting spirit.
However, at the critical juncture of the final technical summary and just before the technical report for the entire oilfield was due, Liu Shang was taken from the company to the Oil Production Plant by Pan Qingfeng and Zhang Zhengmao.
He was busy from morning until night, without a moment's rest.
Pan Qingfeng even found Liu Shang a large, well-appointed office suitable for both living and working, meaning he didn't even have to return to the university at night.
As a result, Liu Shang's original plan to go back to school to spend his spare time with his girlfriend, and to build better relationships with the professors who were very dissatisfied with him, completely fell through.
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