199: Top secret? Power armor? Very serious!

"I've found a reliable company, don't worry about this matter, just keep a close eye on our cultural and creative products," Lu Shenwei instructed.

Zhou Cun nodded silently, but still wanted to ask a few more questions.

But thinking of Lu Shenwei's instructions, he forcibly suppressed the thought.

"I'll go to the Twilight Stationery headquarters tomorrow morning to supervise their production," Zhou Cun said.

Lu Shenwei waved his hand, "No need to be so serious, just go take a look when their first batch of finished products comes out."

"Also, help me send this design draft to Nifeng Express."

Zhou Cun took the powered exoskeleton draft and asked, confused, "What is this?"

"Equipment to assist with delivering express parcels that I promised to manufacture for Nifeng Express. It makes delivering goods less strenuous for the couriers when they wear it."

Listening to Lu Shenwei's explanation, Zhou Cun was puzzled.

"Does Nifeng Express need this?"

"Wang Jiawei has called several times to urge for the Double Bone Dragon Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. If I don't make a powered exoskeleton to divert his attention, he will definitely come to our factory to supervise next week."

"He wouldn't dare, would he?"

"He definitely wouldn't dare, but Long Xia is also at fault, isn't it? Just making a powered exoskeleton to send him away will do."

Hearing his boss explain it this way, Zhou Cun had nothing else to say.

He turned to scan the design draft, "This thing looks pretty impressive. If the military takes a liking to it later, we can make another fortune."

Zhou Cun thought about stamping the words [Top Secret] on the drawing and casually sent it to Assistant Chen of Nifeng Express.

At Nifeng Express headquarters, Wang Jiawei looked at the design draft handed over by his assistant, his mind full of confusion.

This... Did Director Lu send the wrong thing?

A top-secret design draft sent to me?

"Little Chen, are you sure this is what Julong Steel wants us to confirm?"

This question made Assistant Chen lose confidence, "It was sent by Vice Factory Director Zhou, so it shouldn't be wrong."

"The text on the draft does say powered exoskeleton, but why is it so much bigger than Gou Dong Express's? And there seems to be a battery slot at the waist?" Wang Jiawei asked, puzzled.

The assistant scratched his head, "Should I ask again?"

"No, since it's something designed by Julong Steel, it must be what we wanted. Tell Vice Factory Director Zhou to produce it directly. Give us 800 pieces in the first batch, and we'll purchase in bulk once we get used to it," Wang Jiawei pondered.

Later that day, Zhou Cun told Lu Shenwei that Nifeng Express had agreed to the design plan.

"Make it quick this time. The batteries for the powered exoskeleton are ready-made. You just need to manufacture the appropriate steel frame according to the design and plug in the power batteries, and it's done."

Ma Quanlin calculated the production time, "If we're producing a small quantity, there's no need to build a dedicated production line. We can use our old lathes and robotic arms to assemble it, and dismantle them once finished to save space."

"That works, too. After all, the purchase price of the powered exoskeleton batteries is not low, so saving where we can is good," Lu Shenwei said casually.

The steel exoskeleton of the powered exoskeleton doesn't cost much, and our warehouse is full of high-density alloys.

But the high-energy-density batteries for the powered exoskeleton cost over 20,000 each; exchanging too many would easily lead to a loss.

It will take at least a month to master the technology and assemble it, another half month to debug the performance, and another half month to deliver.

Two months later, when the production capacity of the Double Bone Dragon Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is ramped up, there will be no need to drag it out anymore.

"Director, if there's nothing else regarding Nifeng Express, I'll go to Twilight Stationery this afternoon."

"Go ahead, and be sure to ensure the quality of Julong Cultural and Creative Products."

That afternoon, Zhou Cun flew directly to the Twilight Stationery headquarters, where he was warmly received by Nie Erhu.

"This is the sample, Factory Director Zhou, please take a look."

After several contacts, Nie Erhu had already realized that Zhou Cun would surely be a core figure of Julong Steel in the future, and his importance was even above that of Factory Director Ma Quanlin.

As long as he maintained a good relationship with Zhou Cun, wouldn't future orders from Julong Steel come in like snowflakes?

"The workmanship is good. How many does President Nie plan to produce?"

"That depends on your factory's authorization, after all, the raw materials are all from your factory."

"How about producing 2 million for the first batch?"

"Too few. We have nearly 300,000 offline direct-operated stores and franchise stores. The first batch should be at least 10 million pieces."

10 million pieces? That's too many, isn't it?

Zhou Cun asked, confused, "Won't so many cause inventory pile-up?"

"Factory Director Zhou doesn't need to worry about sales and storage. We have a complete three-level distributor network," Nie Erhu said confidently.

He had already thought of a distribution plan, which would be directly allocated by the headquarters. Each provincial distributor would take at least 500,000 pieces. As for how to allocate them to city-level distributors, that wasn't his concern; in any case, Twilight Stationery would not lose money.

"Since President Nie already has a plan, let's do as you say."

Zhou Cun was also being forced into this, knowing little to nothing about cultural and creative products.

However, with Nie Erhu, an expert, guaranteeing it, Zhou Cun couldn't say anything else and could only wait to see the sales after Julong Cultural and Creative Products hit the market.

"There's one more thing that needs Factory Director Zhou to make a decision on. What is the name of Julong Steel's first cultural and creative product?" Nie Erhu asked.

This... What to call it?

This question stumped Zhou Cun. It couldn't just be called Julong Cultural and Creative Products, right?

"Wait a moment, let me ask."

When Lu Shenwei received the call, he was stunned for a moment. Right, how did he forget about naming the cultural and creative products?

"Can't it just be called Julong Cultural and Creative Products?"

"President Nie says the name is too vulgar and fears it won't sell well."

Vulgar? The steel pipes our steel factory produces are called Julong Steel and Julong Gas Tanks; aren't they selling quite well?

After thinking it over, Lu Shenwei had a flash of inspiration, "How about calling it Industrial Pearl?"

"This... it should work, right."

After hearing this name, Nie Erhu was stunned for a long time.

Industrial Pearl? Is this name really good?

He was just about to say it wouldn't work, but then he remembered that the first name Lu Shenwei proposed had been rejected by him, and rejecting it again would be too much of a slap in the face.

"Director Lu chose a good name; let's call it Industrial Pearl."

Zhou Cun didn't think too much, "Director, President Nie also thinks it's good, is that okay?"

"Fine. If there's no problem with the quality of the cultural and creative products, hurry back. Director Gu is calling again to urge the progress of the unmanned boat."

Zhou Cun nodded repeatedly, gave a few instructions to Nie Erhu, and prepared to return to Qinchuan.

"Don't go, Factory Director Zhou. You just arrived, and I haven't properly entertained you yet," Nie Erhu tried to keep him.

Zhou Cun looked helpless, "Let's talk about it next time. There is an important task from above, and I dare not delay."

Hearing this, Nie Erhu didn't insist further.

Two weeks later, Julong Steel Factory's first cultural and creative product—Industrial Pearl—appeared on the display counters of major Twilight Stationery stores across the country.

[Is this fake? The technical difficulty of ballpoint pen beads has been overcome?]

[It's not just ballpoint pen beads; fountain pen nibs and lighter gaskets have also been overcome.]

[Did the national team take action? So fast.]

[It's not the national team, but Qinchuan Julong Steel. I heard they spent 70 million to overcome the technical difficulties.]

[Spent 70 million to research a broken steel bead? Are they crazy?]