96: Chapter 96: Name Your Price!

“Name your conditions!”

Listen to that. Are those the words of a professor? Anyone who didn't know better would think he was a royal traveling on business from some wealthy Middle Eastern country, just short of slapping a check on the table and waving his hand, telling him to fill in any amount!

From these words, Wang Shuo could hear a deep determination, but...

Wang Shuo said somewhat helplessly, “Actually, you don't have to do this.”

Professor Qian Qidong smiled and said, “You don't understand what a new smelting method means to us. As I said, feel free to name your conditions. Only when you bring them up do we have room to negotiate.”

Negotiations? Wang Shuo finally understood why Liu Yemei had wanted him to come to the second floor. It turned out she had treated Professor Qian as a negotiating partner, and her previous actions were meant to constantly apply pressure, trying to create an advantage for him, even though he didn't need it.

What a dutiful and responsible girl. Spending that fifty thousand yuan was definitely worth it.

Wang Shuo sighed inwardly. Looking at the calm Professor Qian Qidong in front of him, he said helplessly, “Professor Qian, you really don't have to do this.”

“Are you afraid that I won't be able to accept the conditions you propose?” Professor Qian Qidong asked in confusion. “If that's the reason, you don't have to worry. Go ahead and name them.”

“That's not it.” Wang Shuo didn't even know how many times he had felt helpless today. “It's just that I came across the Tempering Method by chance from an obscure book. I thought it was interesting at the time, so I memorized it. I didn't expect you to value it so highly.”

“Since it's something from an ancient book that I obtained by chance, I naturally cannot keep it all to myself.”

Professor Qian Qidong suddenly felt a bit stifled. “So...”

Wang Shuo looked at him innocently. “So you really didn't need to do all this. The counselor at school has my phone number. If you had contacted me directly, I would have just given it to you. It wasn't anything too important in the first place.”

“Not anything too important...” Professor Qian Qidong felt like he had suffered internal injuries. He suddenly felt that what Wang Shuo said made a lot of sense. In that case, what was the point of him staying here all night without a wink of sleep? He had thought of all possible scenarios, but he had never expected the one he was facing now.

Although he was so frustrated he wanted to cough up blood, the resilient nerves forged from years of conducting experiments still allowed him to grasp the main point.

“So, Student Wang Shuo, you are willing to guide me on the Tempering Method?”

“I wouldn't dare call it guidance.” Wang Shuo smiled slightly. “Let's just call it an exchange. It just so happens that I also have some matters I'd like to ask you about, Professor Qian.”

The Tempering Method was originally a physical method accidentally discovered by the Humanoid Race during their early stages of development to enhance formed metallic materials. Although it was called their early stage, according to the development cycle of the Humanoid Race, their technological level at that time already far surpassed modern times, at least reaching the stage of leaving their home planet and colonizing star systems.

Specifically, this method used extreme high temperatures and high pressures to break molecular gaps, reconstructing the material at a physical level to improve its fundamental properties.

In Wang Shuo's view, at this stage, if this method were to be implemented, it would face at least two major challenges. First, how to ensure that the formed material maintains its shape without changing when tempered again; second, how to create a high-temperature and high-pressure environment sufficient for re-tempering. Of course, Wang Shuo would definitely provide the specific solutions to Professor Qian Qidong, and the rest would have nothing to do with him.

Professor Qian Qidong listened carefully to the entire process, staring at the dense handwriting in a notebook that had appeared out of nowhere, frowning as he pondered.

Wang Shuo was in no hurry either, quietly sitting on the sofa and thinking about his own affairs.

A lot had happened in the past few days, and he hadn't had time to sort things out properly. He didn't know how the newly hired artist's work was coming along, so he would have to go upstairs and ask later. There was also the perfection of Zero's core code, which was of paramount importance. And then...

“Student Wang Shuo.”

A voice interrupted Wang Shuo's thoughts, and he looked up.

“Are you sure this is a method you saw in an ancient book?”

Professor Qian Qidong looked up. His face showed no expression and his tone was flat, but what was with this subtle sense of authority?

“Yes,” Wang Shuo nodded earnestly.

“This Tempering Method...” Professor Qian Qidong frowned deeply, seemingly wanting to say something, but paused and then relaxed his brow. He stuffed the notebook into his pocket and stood up in a hurry.

Halfway out, he suddenly remembered Wang Shuo beside him and quickly stopped.

“My apologies, Student Wang Shuo, I got too excited upon seeing something so wonderful and couldn't wait. The things you wanted to ask me about...”

Wang Shuo could completely relate to this feeling. He could spend an entire night writing code, and the professor in front of him could spend two nights testing materials. As for why, one only had to look at his level of focus to know.

With just those two pages of paper, he had been completely immersed in them for a full hour and a half without speaking, and the first thing he wanted to do upon snapping out of it was to rush back and test it. This level of dedication made Wang Shuo feel inferior, and he somewhat guiltily took back his previous view about a certain professor exploiting his students.

“No problem, Professor Qian. Since you're at the academy anyway, we can talk whenever you want.”

“That's good.” Professor Qian Qidong was indeed in a hurry, so he didn't care about being impolite. He casually handed Wang Shuo a slip of paper. “This is my contact information, my private one. Reach out to me anytime if you need anything.”

With that, he left in a rush.

Listening to the tapping of footsteps fading down the corridor, Wang Shuo gave a bitter smile. Such a pure person, truly worthy of being a scientific researcher.

“Zero, have Liu Yemei come over.”

There was no voice response, but Wang Shuo knew Zero had heard him. There was no reply simply because there were no speakers on the second floor.

Before long, Liu Yemei arrived at the reception room.

“Mr. Wang, you wanted to see me.”

Wang Shuo looked at Liu Yemei in front of him. She was wearing the same black business suit as when he first met her, with shoulder-length hair as smooth as a waterfall, and a pair of eyes that flashed with light from time to time behind her black frames.

“You knew about Professor Qian all along?”

“Yes.”

“You guessed it?”

“Yes.”

Wang Shuo nodded and stopped dwelling on the matter, turning to ask about other things.

“How are the materials I asked you to prepare coming along?”

“They are all ready.” Liu Yemei glanced at the wall clock. “They have been delivered to the company's external factory area.”

“Very good.” Wang Shuo nodded again. After spending so much time together, Wang Shuo had grown accustomed to Liu Yemei's swift, decisive way of doing things and her uncompromising attitude, so he had no doubt about her words.

Calculating the time, there was still enough time, provided nothing went wrong.

Frowning as he pondered whether he had missed anything else, he noticed that Liu Yemei was still standing beside him with no intention of leaving, so he couldn't help but ask, “Is there something else?”

“Two things.” Liu Yemei reported very professionally. “First, regarding the manufacturers, negotiators from three manufacturers have already arrived in W City. I have arranged their food and lodging, and they are just waiting for your audience, President Wang.”

“Only three have come?” Wang Shuo frowned. Wasn't the system supposed to be very advanced? If it was so advanced, why did only three manufacturers come to negotiate after word was put out?

“That's still too few people. Let's wait a bit longer. As for their food and lodging...” Wang Shuo winced slightly in pain for his wallet. “Let's cover it ourselves. Try to make them feel at home as much as possible.”

Liu Yemei nodded and noted it down seriously.

“The second matter is regarding the Chen Group.” Liu Yemei picked up her tablet, tapped it a few times, and handed it to Wang Shuo.

“This morning, relevant media outlets published interview articles about the Chen Group. The interviews focused heavily on the relationship between the Chen Group and us, though most of it is speculation. However, the news we released yesterday regarding the Chen Group was heavily highlighted by these media outlets.”

Wang Shuo skimmed through it, unable to stop himself from wanting to roll his eyes.

What on earth is this garbage? It's not that these media outlets are unprofessional or write poorly, but these guys are just too good at guessing!

Look at this... 'Shocking: The Untold Past Behind the Chen Group Empire'...

Good grief, if he weren't the person involved and didn't have a clear family background, he would probably start to wonder if he had some shady relationship with the brother-in-law of the nephew of the son-in-law of the third maternal uncle of the Chen Group's helmsman.

And look at this... 'The Pearl of the Chen Group: The Secrets of a Hundred-Billion-Yuan Heiress'...

This one... is somewhat related, at least he still has a tiny bit of connection with Miss Chen.

What about the rest? Is there even a shred of connection between the news he released yesterday and these articles? Or can these guys really guess the entire story based on just a few words he said?

Wang Shuo had truly learned something today. These guys really just write whatever they want, completely disregarding the truth, don't they?

There were indeed some more reputable media outlets that wrote factual reports, but that was about it.

Wang Shuo wasn't surprised by this. Although they had benefited from the Chen Group's fame, these reports were just a drop in the ocean for the entire news industry, quickly buried under other bizarre news snippets. But even so, this wasn't the kind of stir that his tiny company of just a few people could have created on its own.

“What do you think we should do?” Wang Shuo asked with interest.

Liu Yemei paused for a rare moment before saying, “Create a conflict with the Chen Group, the bigger the better. According to the timeline arranged by President Wang, it would be best for this conflict to reach its climax within fifteen days.”

Wang Shuo nodded. This was the plan with the highest success rate calculated by Zero, and it would be a win-win.

“Now that you know, go ahead and arrange it. I have other things to do, so I'll head out first.” Wang Shuo waved his hand, yawned, and walked toward the third floor. He needed to quickly wrap things up here, as he had even more important things to do.

Sure enough, geniuses are always busy.