Chapter 333 Well-Deserved Recognition Qin Xiangxiang nodded solemnly. ...

Professor Shen recommended three people to Qin Xiangxiang. The first candidate was Jiang Guohua, who was once an associate professor in the Department of Automation at Jiaotong University. Since the early 1980s, after visiting the automated production lines of American automobile factories, he had become fascinated by their "unmanned factories" and believed that the future of factories would be unmanned and fully automated. He also believed that factories in China would also widely adopt automation and unmanned operations in the future.

With a concept in mind, Jiang Guohua resigned and started his own company. He even tried to design an automated peach processing production line for a cannery. However, the machine was ineffective and the maintenance costs were too high (the cost of the machine was enough to hire two hundred female workers for ten years' wages). In the end, the project failed and he was left with a mountain of debt.

Qin Xiangxiang: "...This????"

This is truly a case of "if you don't do stupid things, you won't die; if you do, you'll die." What was the point of a perfectly good professor like him?

If he were a lazy bum like Qin Xiangxiang, he probably wouldn't have failed.

Shen Wenbo: "I heard that Jiang Guohua is not doing very well now. He is repairing machine tools to pay off debts... He doesn't even want to see old friends. Many people who are planning to resign and start their own businesses are taking him as a warning."

"If you invite him to your Flying Swallow factory—he might be willing."

“These technical intellectuals should actually learn from entrepreneurs like you, Factory Director Qin.”

Qin Xiangxiang swallowed hard. Shen Wenbo was unaware that she planned to hire someone to be a "business school teacher." However, even Qin Xiangxiang herself felt that things were starting to develop in a very strange direction.

Qin Xiangxiang noted down Jiang Guohua's contact information and labeled him "Professor of Automation".

The second person Professor Shen introduced was Zhu Chonggui, who was even more impressive. He was a physics and materials expert at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and he also resigned to start his own business.

This Zhu Chonggui is similar to Jiang Guohua. He relied on his knowledge of materials science, and supposedly, he also conducted preliminary market research and felt that the "kitchen knives" on the market were not performing well, and were not sharp or durable enough.

"A kitchen knife is an essential item in every household. The direction I chose has a vast market... Everyone needs a sharp and durable kitchen knife that doesn't require frequent sharpening and makes smashing garlic and cucumbers a breeze."

With such high hopes, Zhu Chonggui developed a high-performance kitchen knife, believing that the knife made by his company was better than any other kitchen knife on the market. However, the price was also "fifty times" that of ordinary kitchen knives.

"Although it's a bit expensive, this knife can last for decades!"

Zhu Chonggui was a rather stubborn man who believed that he had to use "good materials" and achieve "high performance." He thought that since the cost was so high, he couldn't sell it cheaply... In the end, you can probably guess what happened.

"He used to go to the market every day to sell his kitchen knives, talking about their high-tech features... In the end, he was kicked out of the market as a fraudster."

Qin Xiangxiang: "..."

"He even used a blackboard, writing physics formulas all over it, trying to make people around him understand the value of his kitchen knife, but nobody listened to him." At this point, Shen Wenbo couldn't help but chuckle bitterly. He thought to himself that if he hadn't encountered Director Qin's "guidance," he would probably have become an intellectual who was out of touch with the masses.

Qin Xiangxiang said, "I'd like to see for myself what kind of fine knife it is."

In a flurry of activity, experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a "kitchen knife" that costs fifty times more than the market price!

She bought this kitchen knife for her deadbeat husband, hoping it would improve his cooking skills.

The entrepreneurial journeys of these professors, these highly educated intellectuals, are more exciting than reading a novel.

The third person was Meng Lingyun, Shen Wenbo's old classmate. He was a chemical engineering genius who was assigned to a state-owned paint factory after graduation. He was not used to the state-owned system and wanted to innovate and improve materials, but the factory director thought he was too fanciful and reckless.

Shen Wenbo: "He contacted me some time ago, wanting to quit his job and start his own business. His wife and children disagree, feeling that he is too old to bother with anything else. He hasn't made a decision yet."

There are probably only three.

Qin Xiangxiang's voice trembled slightly: "Okay, okay, thank you Professor Shen for introducing such a talented person."

This is more than just "talented person," this is practically a "hidden dragon and a phoenix chick"!

After hanging up the phone, Qin Xiangxiang took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself, and then mustered her courage—it was a last resort, after all, the following three people were involved:

1. Professor of Automation at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

2. Experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

3. A chemical genius from a state-owned factory.

Whichever one of them says it, they are at least "renowned," which is enough to demonstrate their "intelligence" and "education."

Qin Xiangxiang sighed, "I always feel like I'm making a mess of things, just like that deadbeat man."

She is now beginning to open Pandora's box, starting by contacting Jiang Guohua.

"Professor Jiang, your automated production line is excellent, truly excellent. However, given the current environment in China, it seems too advanced, a bit out of touch with reality. Labor costs in our country are currently too low, so fully mechanized production is not applicable for the time being. It's definitely not that your thinking is flawed..."

"Our 'business school' needs a 'forward-thinking' teacher like you to teach students where the 'boundaries of technology' are, so that technology can conform to the characteristics of the times and bend down to do practical work..." Qin Xiangxiang made up a bunch of nonsense, turning into a big conman, and invited Jiang Guohua to join the pot of dark cuisine of the "business school".

Jiang Guohua looked bewildered, his face still greasy. He was constantly listless and unwilling to see his former friends or accept the bleak reality. He kept wondering where he had gone wrong and what he could improve upon...

Now, however, someone is not kicking him when he's down, but rather sincerely inviting him to become a teacher.

And he is a teacher at a "business school".

In fact, Jiang Guohua felt that the person on the other end of the phone had gone mad. If she hadn't said that she was Director Qin, he would have already regarded her as a lunatic.

"Business school? You, sigh, me... I'm an automation engineer, what could I teach at a business school? How to automatically bankrupt a production line?"

Qin Xiangxiang tried to cover her mouth, almost bursting out laughing, thinking to herself that the professor was quite humorous.

I wish I really had that ability.

She has run her textile factory for so many years with her own feet and it hasn't gone bankrupt yet.

Qin Xiangxiang: "Professor Jiang, that's right. Our business school needs top-notch talents like you who understand technology!"

“…Alright then.” Jiang Guohua was still more willing to become a teacher. After all, he had already fallen so low that he was already a target of ridicule for others, so he wasn’t afraid of anything else.

But... is this business school really okay?

Jiang Guohua contacted Shen Wenbo to ask if this Factory Director Qin was the legendary Factory Director Qin.

"Yes, I introduced you to Director Qin. They need talent over there."

Jiang Guohua was dumbfounded: "Old Shen, after all these years, it feels like I'm getting to know you for the first time. It turns out you're the most eccentric one."

Someone else is starting a business school, and you introduce me to it? What kind of grudge do you have?

"What?"

Jiang Guohua: "You're going to recommend me to be a professor at the business school? What were you thinking?"

Shen Wenbo: "?????? What?!"

After contacting the first person, Qin Xiangxiang struck while the iron was hot and contacted the second and third. It was relatively easy to contact Meng Lingyun at the paint factory, as he had long been eager to quit his job and start his own business. As soon as Qin Xiangxiang mentioned the business school, he decided to come and broaden his horizons, especially after hearing about "business and economic talents" like Aunt Shen and Sister Bai.

On the phone, Zhu Chonggui, still displaying the stubbornness of an intellectual, tried to explain the "value" of his kitchen knife to Qin Xiangxiang, arguing that Qin Xiangxiang, being a college student, could understand physics formulas, and that "this knife of mine is absolutely worth the price!"

"Why do they think it's unreasonable? Why do they call me a fraud? I understand real science!"

Qin Xiangxiang: "..."

It's truly astonishing to see a physics and materials expert from the Chinese Academy of Sciences trying to sell himself kitchen knives; he's practically drenched in sweat.

"Professor Zhu, why don't you bring the kitchen knife over so we can take a look? From what you've said, I think this kitchen knife must be a good thing. I guess it's just being sold the wrong way. How about this, why don't you come to our school and teach the students how to 'bring the technology from the heavens down to the earth'? A kitchen knife is so down-to-earth, something that everyone in the world needs."

"You can come over here too, and learn from Aunt Shen at our local market how to talk to ordinary people and sell things in the market."

Zhu Chonggui: "...Studying at the farmers' market...What did you say? You want me to go to business school?"

"Hmm." Qin Xiangxiang nodded with a heavy expression.

She no longer wanted to listen to Zhu Chonggui lecturing on mathematical and physical formulas.

Having found these three brilliant minds, she felt that this "business school" was beyond saving, but at least a makeshift team was put together.

"Oh well."

With the search for people settled, the three highly educated "elite talents" introduced by Professor Shen, plus Aunt Shen and Sister Bai, two "business-savvy" talents, along with the five teachers, are already able to support the family.

Qin Xiangxiang planned to use the factory's foreign exchange reserves to pay wages, attracting some talented young people who were short of money. He managed to gather ten people, and a teaching team was formed.

"The recruitment of faculty for the business school has been successfully completed. We have the academic qualifications—professors from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jiaotong University…and we have the practical experience…"

Deputy group leader Wen Chengkang was too ashamed to even look at the list of teachers... Yes, there were teachers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, but one was a physics and materials science professor, another an automation engineer, and the third a chemical engineer...

Principal, can you please be a little more sensible? What we're trying to establish is a "business school".

Qin Xiangxiang shamelessly said, "Does doing business not require technology? Times have changed; science and technology are the real productive forces."

"It's truly fitting to have someone with technical skills teach business school students."