After hanging up the phone, Chen Ze closed his eyes to rest.
After a long and winding journey of half an hour, Zhao Youde's convoy finally arrived at Xiangya Battery Company.
Li Weihai's secretary happened to see Chen Ze get out of the car, and she hurriedly ran into the office to tell her boss.
Not long after, Li Weihai walked out with a beer belly.
Upon seeing Chen Ze, he smiled and said, "Mr. Chen, it seems like you haven't been to our company in a long time. Xiangya Battery is practically your child, you should visit more often."
The two shook hands briefly before parting ways.
"Mr. Li, how many months pregnant are you?" Chen Ze joked.
Li Weihai rolled his eyes at him and said irritably, "President Chen, don't laugh at me. In two years, your belly will definitely be as big as mine."
Upon hearing this
Chen Ze unconsciously touched his stomach, and it seemed to be true; it appeared he hadn't been exercising lately, and his stomach was starting to bulge slightly.
"Mr. Chen, please come in." Li Weihai bowed slightly and gestured for him to come in.
The two walked into the company side by side.
As they walked, Chen Ze asked, "Mr. Li, has Xiangya Battery made any new technological breakthroughs recently?"
“President Chen, since I took your advice last time, apart from employee salaries and my family's daily expenses, all the 3 billion yuan the company has earned in the past two years has been invested in battery research and development. Of course, this is also inseparable from the support of your wife, President Wang, so Grey Wolf Investment has not asked me for dividends.” Li Weihai said gratefully.
Chen Ze smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "President Li, we will fully support you in anything that is beneficial to the company's future development. If Xiangya Battery is short of funds, you can tell me at any time."
Li Weihai answered.
"We are currently financially self-sufficient. By the way, Mr. Chen, let me take you to see the battery lab."
Chen Ze nodded.
The two then headed straight for the laboratory.
A short while later, they arrived at the laboratory.
There were more than a dozen graduate students in the lab working on their tasks, some of them testing the core materials of the battery.
Li Weihai approached a bespectacled man from behind and asked in a low voice, "Engineer Zhang, have you had any new technological breakthroughs?"
"A little bit, Mr. Li. Why do you keep coming to the lab? It's affecting my work," Engineer Zhang said bluntly.
He did not lower himself to Li Weihai just because Li Weihai was the boss.
However, Li Weihai knew the importance of talent. This engineer surnamed Zhang was a treasure of Xiangya Battery. In two years, he led the R&D team to overcome many battery technology hurdles.
Therefore, Li Weihai cherished him like a treasure.
He smiled and said to Engineer Zhang, "Come on, Engineer Zhang, let me introduce you to someone you know."
Only when Zhang heard that his boss was going to introduce him to someone did he take his eyes off the microscope and put down his tools.
Li Weihai pointed to Chen Ze and introduced him: "This is our company's second largest shareholder, 'President Chen,' who is also the chairman of Panda Mobile Technology."
Engineer Zhang adjusted his glasses, looked Chen Ze up and down, and said casually, "I've heard so much about you, Mr. Chen. But I don't care much about these titles; I'm only interested in battery technology."
Chen Ze didn't mind his attitude and said with a smile, "Engineer Zhang, I only care about the technology. I heard you've made a small breakthrough here, can you tell me about it?"
Mr. Zhang became interested, picked up a battery model, and began to explain: "Mr. Chen, the cathode material we are currently using for Panda mobile phones is this lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) cathode material. It has high energy density, but the cost is also relatively high, and the thermal stability is poor. The capacity is 2600A."
Chen Ze asked, "How much more expensive are the batteries compared to last year?"
Without hesitation, Engineer Zhang replied, "It's 5% higher than last year."
"Isn't there any other material to replace it?" Chen Ze pressed.
"Yes, our team is currently experimenting with a ternary material (NCM/NCA) such as lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide (LiNiCoMnO) or lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide (LiNiCoAlO). This material balances energy density and safety, but it is still in the experimental stage. We have already sent three samples to Panda Mobile for testing," Zhang said enthusiastically.
Prior to this, Chen Ze actually knew a little about the first type of material mentioned by Engineer Zhang.
He recalled that Samsung had used this type of battery before, but it had many drawbacks.
Not only does it easily overheat, but its heat dissipation speed is also abnormally slow, especially when the phone is charging. It's practically a "mini furnace," so hot that it's unbearable.
Even more seriously, these batteries can explode if they are charged for too long and left unattended! This undoubtedly poses a great threat to the safety of users.
Moreover, even when playing games while charging, it may suddenly explode or even spontaneously combust.
Faced with so many problems, Chen Ze was well aware of the dangers of this type of battery.
Therefore, he gave Zhang and his team great encouragement:
"You all must study this very hard! If you can successfully solve the problem of overheating mobile phone batteries, even if President Li doesn't give you a reward, I will personally distribute the bonuses to you. Moreover, I guarantee that each of you will receive a bonus of no less than 200,000 yuan per year!"
Chen Ze firmly believed that a generous reward would surely inspire brave men, and that as long as Zhang Gong and his team were given sufficient incentives, they would definitely be able to overcome this challenge.
The other dozen or so people immediately smiled when they heard about the huge prize money.
Engineer Zhang, on the other hand, appeared very confident. He straightened his back and said confidently, "President Chen, as long as there is sufficient R&D funding, I believe we will definitely be able to break through the technological barriers this year. Achieving a breakthrough is only a matter of time."
Seeing Zhang's confidence, Chen Ze nodded in satisfaction and encouraged him, "Yes, do a good job. I have confidence in you. If you need anything, just let me know."
After saying that, Chen Ze and Li Weihai turned around and slowly walked out of the laboratory.
Just as Chen Ze stepped out of the lab, his phone suddenly rang loudly.
He quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket, glanced at the caller ID, and pressed the answer button.
An Yumo's clear voice came from the other end of the phone: "Chairman, I've reached an agreement with Mr. Lei. We valued Xiaomi at $4 billion, and he's willing to give up 10% of the shares. So, we need to pay Xiaomi $400 million. Since the amount is quite large, I need your authorization and signature."
After a moment's thought, Chen Ze replied, "Where are you negotiating now? I'll see if I can get there in time to sign the papers."
After he finished speaking, he raised his wrist to check the time and found that it was already past ten o'clock in the morning.
An Yumo's voice came through the phone again.
"Boss, it's still early here in Beijing. Hurry up and take a plane over. I've already promised Mr. Lei that I'll transfer the money to him this afternoon."
...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
