6: Chapter 6 Hijacks Coca-Cola!
"Ding... Congratulations on obtaining the complete formula for Coca-Cola!"
What? Coca-Cola?!
Lin Tian, sitting in the office, was so shocked that he stood up immediately.
This was a cash cow that would sell billions of bottles every day in the future!
In the future, this formula would be locked in a bulletproof underground vault, guarded by countless layers of fingerprints, passwords, and steel doors.
It was known as the most heavily guarded trade secret in the world, with the formula alone valued at tens of billions of dollars.
It was 1882, and the doctor who actually invented this beverage hadn't even mixed carbonated water and soda water together yet.
Lin Tian didn't hesitate; he prepared to claim the formula as his own and register the patent.
Intercepting a Westerner's invention, he felt no burden at all.
He immediately ran out to collect materials.
Carbonated water and soda water could be bought at the pharmacy.
For caramel and caffeine, he would extract them himself.
A few days later.
Lin Shi and Old Smith, busy expanding production, walked into the office and were stunned.
The room was filled with a pile of beakers and test tubes.
Lin Tian was wearing a white lab coat, filtering the boiled coffee bean residue, looking exactly like a chemist doing research.
"Son, what are you messing around with now?" Lin Shi couldn't hold back and asked curiously.
Looking at his father and Uncle John, who had confused expressions, Lin Tian smiled and said:
"The current fruit juices and teas are too monotonous. I'm making a new type of beverage that will definitely take the country by storm!"
Hearing such grandiose talk, the two were speechless.
They just thought the kid was bragging.
However, recently, razor blades were in short supply, and the two had mountains of work to deal with, so they had no time to manage him.
The factory had expanded from ten people to over thirty, and the machines were running at full capacity.
In San Francisco alone, they were making a net profit of five hundred dollars every day.
Coupled with the business acumen Lin Tian had previously demonstrated, the two felt very reassured about him and thought there was no need to interfere.
This kid was very shrewd.
Old Smith had just been to Citibank and used his factory shares as collateral to take out a huge loan of twenty thousand dollars.
He was preparing to purchase a large number of new machines to continue growing and strengthening the business.
...
"Dad, Uncle John, we need to quickly expand the production of razor handles and blades. Next, we have to spend money on advertising. The most famous newspaper in California should be the Daily News Chronicle, right!"
"The Daily News Chronicle run by the De Young brothers?"
Old Smith was quite knowledgeable about the celebrities in San Francisco.
In fact, he subscribed to this newspaper every day to read the news.
Although he wasn't sure if this newspaper was the number one in all of California, all the farmers he knew subscribed to it.
Because farmers in the USA relied entirely on growing wheat and corn for a living, and grain prices were directly related to their wallets.
The USA now was not like the future, where one could easily check prices online.
Reading the newspaper was their only way to inquire about market conditions.
This Daily News Chronicle had a high status in California, with a distribution network spread across central and northern California, extending all the way south from Sacramento.
Since 1880, the sales of this newspaper had consistently ranked first in California.
"That's right, we will advertise on it to make the Lin's razor brand famous. As long as everyone in California uses our products, the money we earn will at least increase tenfold."
Hearing Lin Tian calculate it this way, Old Smith nodded vigorously.
"Deal! Tomorrow I will go to the newspaper office to find their editor-in-chief and discuss the advertising space in person."
At this moment, Lin Shi suddenly interjected:
"Son, are you really planning to drop out of St. Martin's Elementary School?"
"Yes, staying in class and just sitting there is a pure waste of time!" Lin Tian answered very decisively.
Old Smith heard this and grinned happily:
"Harvey has been talking about you these past two days, and he even shouted at me saying he doesn't want to study anymore either!"
Lin Tian turned his head and asked curiously:
"Uncle John, how did you answer him?"
"Haha, I told him directly that the path is chosen by himself. If he doesn't want to go to school, he can come and work as your assistant; you will definitely have use for him!"
"Do you want to guess what he will choose in the end?"
"The brat will probably pack up and run off soon."
After hearing Old Smith's words, Lin Tian didn't say anything.
He and Harvey had grown up together since they were kids, and no matter what his brother chose, he would support him 100%.
Two days passed in a flash.
Just as Old Smith guessed, the little fatty Harvey really dropped out of school.
He ran to the factory, his face full of excitement.
As soon as he entered, he saw Lin Tian's table covered with a pile of bottles and jars, and he was stunned.
"Good heavens! Bruce, what exactly are you up to?" Harvey shouted.
"Mixing a beverage. The preliminary preparations are finally done!"
Bruce rubbed his sore eyes.
These past few days, he had been eating and living in the factory with his dad, and the family restaurant was left to Sister Mei to manage.
The formula for Cola seems simple, but many raw materials have to be extracted on-site.
Fortunately, in his previous life, he majored in applied chemistry at university, so his hands-on ability was not bad.
If it were someone else, even with the formula, they wouldn't be able to make the finished product.
In fact, the biggest difference between Coca-Cola and ordinary cola lies in a special flavoring.
Only by adding this thing can it be called real Coca-Cola.
In the future, domestic production relied entirely on importing the raw syrup and then mixing it with water.
This prevented the formula from leaking.
Lin Tian spent several days before he managed to create this flavoring.
Harvey watched as Lin Tian poured several bottles of strangely colored liquids into a round-bottom flask.
Finally, it mixed into a bottle of mysterious brown liquid.
Lin Tian brought the flask under his nose and smelled it; a familiar fragrance entered his nostrils.
His face lit up with joy:
"It's done!"
Harvey also leaned over and took a sniff.
"It's quite sweet. Is this the new beverage you said could surpass tea and coffee?"
"Do you want to try it?"
Lin Tian blinked and looked at him with a half-smile.
Harvey was stunned.
Before he could recover, Lin Tian had already taken two clean small beakers and poured out a little brown liquid.
"Here, have a taste!"
Lin Tian handed him the cup.
The little fatty stared at the bubbling liquid in the cup, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and felt nervous:
"Bruce, will something really happen if I drink this? You know, I'm the only heir to the Smith family!"
"Drink it without worry, it's absolutely non-toxic. Don't you even trust me?" Lin Tian guaranteed.
"Are you sure?"
"At worst, we'll die together!"
Lin Tian picked up the other cup and said loudly:
"Harvey, to celebrate you dropping out of school, and for us to conquer a vast territory in the USA in the future, cheers!"
The two glass cups clinked in the air, and Lin Tian tilted his head and drank it all in one gulp.
Seeing his good brother had finished it, the little fatty, although scared to death, held his nose, closed his eyes tightly, and gulped it down.
He thought it would be as hard to swallow as bitter coffee.
As a result, once it entered his mouth, an indescribable sweetness instantly spread across his tongue.
Harvey opened his eyes suddenly and shouted in surprise:
"Bruce, this taste..."
"How is it, delicious, right!"
Although carbon dioxide hadn't been added yet, the soda water came with its own bubbles.
The taste was almost indistinguishable from the cola of the future.
"It has an indescribable refreshment!"
Harvey quickly poured a little more, gulped it all down, and exclaimed repeatedly.
"By the way, Bruce, what is the name of this thing?!"
"I call it Cola. No special meaning, it's just catchy!"