Chapter 29: The First Pot of Gold

Chen Xiao had two questions on his mind at the moment.

Firstly, CNC machine tools with special chips will be eliminated in the next few years, but there is still a wave of profits to be gained. If he can capitalize on this wave, he will have the starting capital to venture into other endeavors in the future.

Secondly, he wondered at what price he should cooperate with Zhou Linghua.

Should it be one hundred thousand? Hundreds of thousands?

In recent years, with the performance of Demag motherboards, he could sell for more than this amount.

Chen Xiao had an idea in his mind and said, "Can I invest in the technology? Of course, in addition to the drawings this time, I will also ensure that ADLINK equipment maintains a leading position in the industry in terms of motherboards and systems for the next few years."

Chen Xiao needed a steady stream of income.

Zhou Linghua looked at Chen Xiao in surprise, taken aback by the proposal.

For a student of Chen Xiao's age, getting tens of thousands of yuan at once would be a joy for several years. But Chen Xiao wasn't interested in money; he wanted shares in new products.

If it were anyone else, Zhou Linghua would have hesitated and refused without a second thought. However, Chen Xiao's assurance that he could guarantee that Linghua's equipment would lead the industry in the next few years was quite intriguing.

Zhou Linghua asked, "Brother Chen, what percentage are you expecting?"

A CNC machine tool had many components, such as chips, motherboards, motors, and equipment bodies.

The motherboard was important but not the sole determining factor.

Chen Xiao didn't want to make unrealistic demands. He said, "I only need 10% profit per machine from this batch of CNC machine tools. If I can't sell any of them, I won't take a cent. If there are equipment updates in the future, we can discuss it later."

Zhou Linghua considered the proposition seriously. 10% of the profit was a bit painful for him.

Lowering the price, he said, "The motherboard technology is valuable, but its update is slow. Let's settle for 5%."

Chen Xiao countered, "8%, let's meet in the middle."

For a CNC machine tool with a profit of 20,000 yuan, an 8% share would mean only a little over 1,000 yuan for Chen Xiao.

Without Chen Xiao's involvement, ADLINK's equipment would soon be drowned in a price war, and Zhou Linghua wouldn't make a single cent.

Zhou Linghua nodded and said, "I trust Director Wang, Delong Electronics, and you, Brother Chen. 8% it is."

"Our accounts will be supervised by all three parties. Delong will keep track of every motherboard produced."

Chen Xiao also nodded and said, "If I find any discrepancies in the accounts, I'll immediately terminate the cooperation. I'm sure there are many equipment factories with a strong interest in imitating Demag."

Chen Xiao turned to Wang Xiang and said, "Brother Wang, my father can be part of the production team. He can be responsible for counting the production quantity of the motherboards. We can calculate the shipment based on the motherboard production quantity, and the maximum pressure should be 10%."

After settling these details, Zhou Linghua couldn't help but realize that he shouldn't underestimate Chen Xiao.

With such a meticulous and business-savvy mind, Chen Xiao didn't seem like a high school student but more like a businessman who had been in the industry for over a decade.

Zhou Linghua smiled and said, "Brother Chen, don't worry. The most important thing in our business is integrity. Only integrity can stand the test of time."

Zhou Linghua quickly asked his secretary to come over and signed the tripartite cooperation agreement in the name of Linghua, Delong, and Chen Xiao.

As per Chen Xiao's request, Linghua would make monthly payments to him.

As part of the agreement, Chen Xiao agreed to transfer the intellectual property rights of the motherboard to ADLINK for ten years.

In this era, the state's attention to intellectual property rights wasn't as strict as in later generations. Xia State hadn't joined the WTO, and the state even encouraged state-owned enterprises to copy excellent overseas products. Therefore, the patents of manufacturers like Demag in Europe were invalid in Xia State. However, after the technology transfer, ADLINK's patent application would be valid.

After the negotiation, they had a pleasant lunch, and Zhou Linghua even left Chen Xiao his business card.

Wang Xiang asked, "Xiaozi, you will take the exam in half a year. Have you considered which university you want to attend?"

Chen Xiao replied, "I'll let fate decide."

Wang Xiang laughed and patted Chen Xiao on the shoulder. "With your talent, it doesn't really matter which university you choose."

Chen Xiao said to Wang Xiang, "Brother Xiang, if President Zou and the others want to produce motherboards, I can provide them with the completed drawings, which should be more refined."

In any case, the drawings were already available. After Chen Xiao and Wang Xiang parted ways, he took the CD and went to a dark net alley not far from the school.

The alley consisted of several bungalows, housing five or six black Internet cafes, PS game halls, and arcade game halls.

The small Internet cafe had only six computers, while the larger ones had more than ten, all of them using dial-up internet access. Most visitors came to play standalone games or LAN games.

Many internet cafes organized online games themselves. For example, eight computers were connected to play Red Alert in 4v4 matches, with the losers paying the other party's internet fee and buying a pack of cigarettes for them.

When Chen Xiao entered, Red Alert Online was in full swing.

Curly's group had a terrible loss, with both of their bases being occupied by the enemy's engineers.

In the end, they surrendered after being flattened by the enemy.

Curly hair was so furious that he took two sips of soda and said, "No, no, no! Let's play again, best two out of three."

"Brother Dao, I'm not playing. I've lost all my pocket money this week." Someone in the group, nicknamed Daozi, accepted the bet and handed five yuan to the other party, deciding not to play.

Chen Xiao sat down and said, "I'll take the spot."

Knife quickly handed Chen Xiao a cigarette, which he politely declined.

An internet cafe was like a small society. People who didn't know each other before could become good friends after playing a game.

Curly hair said to the knife, "Your little brother is gone. Are you still going to play?"

Daozi chimed in, "Didn't I tell you I want more friends? Let's play another round. It's still five yuan per person!"

Curly hair agreed, "Alright, I'll go to the bathroom, smoke a cigarette, and be back in ten minutes."

Ten minutes was enough time.

Chen Xiao took out the CD, copied the modifier (plug-in) he made onto the computer, and started modifying the game.

He simply changed the money, and that was it.

Chen Xiao's modification was quite clever. The money on the surface appeared to change randomly from a few yuan to more than a thousand, based on the actual mining amount. However, in reality, Chen Xiao didn't spend any money on buying anything.

This way, they couldn't detect the cheat.

Soon, the second game began.

The curly hair group got lucky and drew the Allied Forces (the United States and other countries), while Knife was also part of the Allied Forces.

Red Alert 95 originated from the Black Soviet Union, and the equipment and capabilities of the Allied Forces were much inferior.

Chen Xiao chose the Soviet Union and got to work.

The opponents were indeed strong, quickly overwhelming Chen Xiao's teammates. One player even exploded the base car and surrendered in just ten minutes.

Knife's face darkened, and he felt a bit sweaty.

On the other hand, Chen Xiao developed slowly, focusing on setting up numerous machine guns and air defenses, and eventually managed to summon the Apocalypse Tank.

Curly hair became arrogant, no longer holding back his words: "Knife, attack him and destroy his base!"