Chapter 49 Teaching Big Brother a Lesson: This is Called a Technology Tax!

"This... this much?" Director Zhou took the contract. Although his English wasn't very good, that long string of "0"s and the "USD" symbol made his eyes sting.

Xue Jianhua panicked too. He leaned over to take a look, his face turning pale instantly: "This... this kid is scamming us, right?"

"How could there be such a huge penalty clause?"

"Whether it's a scam or not, you can call the Ministry of Foreign Trade to verify it." Lin Xi turned around and pointed to the phone in the guard room. "The Pan Am cargo plane is already waiting at Hongqiao Airport."

"The empty cabin fee is two thousand US dollars per hour. Starting now, does this money count towards the First Ministry of Machine Building Industry?"

Director Zhou took a deep breath and glared fiercely at Xue Jianhua. You came here to report market disruption, not to cause a diplomatic incident!

"Let's talk inside." Director Zhou stuffed the unlit cigarette back into Lin Xi's hand, his tone softening a bit. "As long as it's for the sake of the country earning foreign exchange, everything is negotiable."

...

Factory Director's office. A broken wooden table, two cups of plain water. Lin Xi sat in the main seat, Zhao Dagang stood behind him acting as a door god. Opposite them were Director Zhou and the restless Xue Jianhua.

"Manager Lin, I understand the situation." Director Zhou tapped the table. "Earning foreign exchange is a major matter, and special cases require special handling."

"But that doesn't mean you can ignore industry planning."

"Huashang Factory is the state-designated production base for electric fans. You doing things this way leaves the Big Brother with nothing to eat."

Xue Jianhua quickly chimed in: "That's right! We have thousands of workers at Huashang Factory."

"Because of your low-price dumping, now our products are unsellable!"

"Who is responsible for this loss?"

The dagger was revealed. This was their true purpose for coming today—to steal the peaches.

"So what does Director Zhou mean?" Lin Xi asked, knowing the answer.

"Integration." Director Zhou waved his hand. "Incorporate the 'Red Star' project into Huashang Factory."

"Technology, molds, orders, all are to be transferred."

"Hongfeng Factory will act as a partner factory to assist in production."

"As for the profits, we can leave you with twenty percent."

Xue Jianhua straightened his back, a glimmer of greed flashing in his eyes. As long as they got that mirror mold and the formula, Huashang Factory could turn things around!

Zhao Dagang was trembling with rage. This wasn't integration; this was daylight robbery!

This was snatching away the goose that laid the golden eggs—Hongfeng Factory—and kicking the owner while they were at it!

Lin Xi laughed. He laughed loudly, rocking back and forth.

"Director Zhou, you might have misunderstood one thing."

Lin Xi stopped laughing and leaned forward.

"The current situation isn't that Huashang Factory has nothing to eat."

"It's that this meal is too tough; Hongfeng Factory can't eat it all alone, it would choke us to death."

Lin Xi took another piece of paper out of his briefcase—it was the letter of intent Harrison had added last night.

"The Lighthouse Country Meteorological Bureau predicts an epic heatwave in North America this June."

"Harrison added an order for 100,000 units last night."

"The subsequent shortfall is estimated at 500,000 units."

"500,000 units?"

Xue Jianhua was so shocked he stood up directly, not even bothering to pick up the chair that had fallen to the floor. "You... what kind of joke are you making?"

"Our factory's annual output is only that number, and that's already after we significantly expanded our capacity this year!"

"I'm not joking." Lin Xi stared into Xue Jianhua's eyes.

"Hongfeng Factory is working itself to death, producing at most 30,000 units a month."

"The remaining 470,000 units amount to 4.7 million US dollars."

Lin Xi paused, his voice becoming low and seductive:

"This money is just lying on the ground."

"If Huashang Factory doesn't pick it up, I'll go find the Diamond brand in Guangzhou or the Panda brand in Nanjing."

"As for the capacity issue you mentioned, we don't use screws, we use snap-fits, and the blades are molded in one go."

"We have established a standard SOP assembly line at Hongfeng, our capacity is compared to the current Huashang..."

"Over 8 times higher!"

Director Zhou's breathing quickened. 4.7 million US dollars! This was a political achievement that could propel his career to the top!

"Then... then it should be coordinated by Huashang Factory even more!" Xue Jianhua shouted eagerly. "We have high capacity! We have five assembly lines!"

"On what basis?" Lin Xi retorted.

"Because we are the Big Brother! Because we are the regular army of the First Ministry of Machine Building Industry!"

"Regular army?" Lin Xi sneered, tapping his fingers on the table.

"Factory Director Xue, does your regular army have this kind of mold?"

"Do you have this kind of formula? Do you have this kind of patent?"

"Without Red Star's technology, what you produce is just industrial waste."

"Are the people of the Lighthouse Country fools too?"

Xue Jianhua was speechless, his face turning the color of liver.

Director Zhou was, after all, an old hand, and he heard the subtext in Lin Xi's words.

"Manager Lin, do you have a plan?" Director Zhou stared at Lin Xi.

"I do."

Lin Xi took out the third document he had prepared from his bag—'Technology Licensing and Commissioned Production Agreement'.

"I'm not doing mergers, and I'm not doing integration."

"We are doing—licensing."

Lin Xi pushed the agreement in front of Director Zhou.

"Core technology and appearance patents belong to the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building Industry."

"Huashang Factory, as the authorized manufacturer, will use our mold data and material formulas for production."

"All export orders will be uniformly handled by my side."

"As for the profit distribution..." Lin Xi held up two fingers.

"For domestic sales, I take 2 RMB per unit."

"For exports, I take 10 USD per unit."

"What?!" Xue Jianhua screamed like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"10 USD? Why don't you go rob someone?"

"A fan only sells for 30 USD, and you open your mouth to take away one-third?"

"That is a 'technical service fee'." Lin Xi looked at him coldly. "Factory Director Xue, you don't have to pay it."

"Then you can just guard your all-steel fans and watch 4.7 million US dollars slip through your fingers."

"You..." Xue Jianhua pointed at Lin Xi, his hand shaking like he had Parkinson's.

Too ruthless! This was naked bloodsucking!

Huashang Factory provided the personnel, the land, the equipment, and bore the production risks.

And the fattest piece of meat was eaten by this kid just sitting in the office?

"Director Zhou, this is against the rules!" Xue Jianhua sought help from his superior. "This is the loss of state assets!"

"Loss of what?" Lin Xi interrupted him.

"Huashang Factory couldn't sell a single unit abroad to begin with."

"Now, you can earn 10 USD in processing fees per unit and support thousands of workers and idle equipment."

"This is called revitalizing existing assets!"

Lin Xi turned to look at Director Zhou, throwing out his final trump card.

"Director Zhou, this foreign exchange will be settled through the Bank of China, Shanghai Branch."

"Although it is nominally a project of the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building Industry, the output value and export volume, except for the portion given to our Service Center, will all be realistically counted towards the Shanghai industrial system."

"This is the political achievement of the First Ministry of Machine Building Industry, and it is also your achievement."

"You can calculate this account better than I can."

Director Zhou fell silent.

He picked up the agreement, read it over and over, his eyes complex.

Ten minutes of dead silence.

Xue Jianhua was still rambling on the side, but Director Zhou suddenly raised his hand, stopping him.

"Sign."

This one word sounded like it was squeezed out from between his teeth.