Chapter 636 - 454: Your Dad Is Only Worth 1000 Yuan? Deep Blue Global Procurement Conference: With Technology, You Must Play Hardball

Chunshen, National Guest Bookstore.

Lao Chen sat on a small stool, scrolling through the news on his phone. The headlines on the screen were each more exaggerated than the last.

"Forbes Rich List to be Released Soon, Chen Yansen Poised to Become Asia’s Richest Man."

’Good grief,’ he thought. ’They skipped right over Hua Country and expanded the scope to all of Asia.’

"God of Business! The 21-Year-Old Hundred-Billionaire with 270,000 Employees—A Look at Chen Yansen’s Most Profitable Companies!"

When he looked at the comments section, Lao Chen nearly fainted. A horde of netizens was calling Chen Yansen "daddy."

"I’ve just barely gotten a prospective daughter-in-law, and now I have millions of ’grandsons’ out of thin air," Chen Guobin muttered under his breath, a strange look on his face.

"Brother Bin, Xiaosen is in the news again!"

Wang the Bald from the photo studio next door walked in with a handful of sunflower seeds, grinning from ear to ear.

Fortunately, it was summer vacation. Otherwise, the National Guest Bookstore would have been packed to the gills with underclassmen from Chen Yansen’s alma mater.

"Old Wang, whenever I read the news, I get a chill down my spine."

Chen Guobin sighed and said with a self-deprecating smile.

His own son’s net worth had ballooned from over a billion to tens of billions, then to hundreds of billions, and now five hundred billion, all in what seemed like just three years.

Riding on his son’s coattails, he had become the father of the ’God of Wealth’ and ’Asia’s Richest Man.’

Wang the Bald held out his hand, offering Chen Guobin some sunflower seeds to snack on, and teased, "Brother Bin, to be honest, if I didn’t have elders to support and kids to raise, I’d be tempted to kidnap you and ask Xiaosen for a few billion in spending money."

Hearing this, Chen Guobin felt a chill on the back of his neck too.

He glanced at Old Wang’s sweaty palm and wanted to refuse, but he couldn’t bring himself to be rude. So, he took a few sunflower seeds as a token gesture, not daring to put them in his mouth directly. Instead, he shelled them with his fingers and tossed the kernels into his mouth.

"Now that you mention it, I really do feel a chill down my back," Chen Guobin said with a frown.

As he spoke, he looked around, surveying the bookstore he had run for over twenty years.

The thought of actually closing the shop and moving to Xucheng to be with his son filled Lao Chen with resistance.

’I’m still able-bodied, only in my early forties. Am I really supposed to just stay cooped up in a villa and live a retired life?’

After much thought, he sent a text message to Chen Yansen: If someone kidnaps me and asks you for money, don’t pay them a cent. It’ll be a good chance for me to go see your mother.

「Meanwhile.」

Chen Yansen, having received the text, just smiled and shook his head. To put Lao Chen at ease, he immediately replied, "Don’t worry. If they ask for more than 1,000 yuan, I’ll block the kidnapper’s number."

Chen Guobin opened the message, feeling both relieved and a little disappointed. ’This kid... so your old man is only worth 1,000 yuan?’

He knew Chen Yansen was joking and didn’t want to cause his son any trouble, so he sent another message: "If it’s really a problem, should I just move to Xucheng?"

"Don’t! You should stay in Chunshen and keep Mom company," Chen Yansen replied, rejecting the idea.

"..." Chen Guobin put his phone away, deciding he would go to Beishan to complain to Liang Hui Zhen later.

Chen Yansen understood his father’s concerns, and a warmth spread through his heart.

’It seems Dad does care about me,’ he thought. ’Even if he has to leave Chunshen, he doesn’t want to cause me any trouble.’

However, since Lao Chen was unwilling, he wouldn’t force him.

In fact, Chen Yansen had already arranged for two security teams in Chunshen.

As long as his father stayed in his hometown, his safety was still guaranteed.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—!

"Come in!"

Chen Yansen answered.

Meng Yun, dressed in a light gray business suit, pushed open the office door and reminded him softly, "Boss, the conference hall is ready. President Gao is receiving the heads of BYD and Ningde Era."

She paused, then added, "Panasonic, LG, and Mountain Star have also sent representatives."

"Alright, I understand."

Chen Yansen stood up and walked toward the elevator lobby outside the door, with Meng Yun following closely behind.

This procurement meeting for the Deep Blue Battery was initiated by Senlian Capital, with assistance from the Xucheng Central Control Department and the Peace Association. Dozens of buyers had been invited.

Since the launch of the Yaocheng X1 SE, it had sold 172,000 units in just three days. Of those, five or six thousand had made their way through various channels to R&D labs around the world.

Sion Power from the Lighthouse Country put the battery through a CT scanner the very day they got it, getting a crystal-clear picture of the Deep Blue Battery’s mechanical structure and electrode stacking method.

But none of this was of any help to their research!

The core technologies of the Deep Blue Battery were the MOF separator preparation process, the microcapsule formula for the self-healing electrolyte, and the laser-etching method for the 3D electrode.

The key was solving problems like the shuttle effect, lithium dendrite formation, and short cycle life!

Next, they tried to analyze the Deep Blue Battery’s electrolyte formula using a high-precision atomic probe, but it was too complex. Perhaps after several years of trial and error, they could get a rough ratio of the core components, but whether they could obtain a high-purity electrolyte was another matter entirely.

By then, the Deep Blue Battery might have already launched its next-generation process, or even constructed a comprehensive patent defense pool. Anyone who dared to cross the line would have to be prepared for lawsuits and massive compensation payments.

From a technical standpoint, the difficulty of reverse engineering varies greatly depending on the type of technology.

Mechanical structure: one star.

Electronic circuits: two stars.

Material formula: four stars.

Process parameters: five stars.

The battery manufacturers in Europe and America had been scrambling for days, but they were still stuck at the one-star level.

After weighing their options repeatedly, they decided to go to Hua Country in hopes of obtaining a technology license.

But when they expressed their interest in a partnership to Senlian Capital, they were rejected on the spot.

Purchasing was welcome, but a patent license?

They could go to hell!

Chen Yansen had divided the patent protection strategy for the Deep Blue Battery into three phases.

In the initial phase, they would use defensive technical measures to delay the time window for competitors to acquire the technology.

In the medium phase, they would devalue or even nullify any reverse-engineering achievements through iteration and supply chain advantages.

In the long-term phase, they would leverage the power of the Peace Association to take countermeasures against any infringement.

Furthermore, they would upgrade the material and electrolyte formulas every three years to further strengthen their technological lead.

Chen Yansen pondered this as he walked, and before long, he arrived at the door of a conference hall.

This was Orange Technology’s largest conference room, with an area of over four hundred square meters, normally used for departmental meetings.

As soon as he walked in, hundreds of pairs of eyes turned to look at him in unison.

Staff from the Inspection Institute and the Peace Association stood around the room. Every single buyer had undergone rigorous screening from the higher-ups to be qualified to be here.

As soon as Old Gao saw Chen Yansen, he quickly waved him over and approached with two middle-aged men in their forties.

One of them wore a royal blue suit, had a slightly receding hairline, and wore a pair of rimless glasses. He was of medium build with a somewhat dark complexion.

Before Gao Weilin could introduce him, he proactively extended his right hand and greeted with a smile, "President Chen, I’ve heard so much about you! I’m Wang Chuanfu from BYD."

"President Wang, a pleasure to meet you," Chen Yansen replied formally.

’Floor Wang, who doesn’t know him?’

’Before an employee resigns, the company deducts a fee for floor wear and tear, and bed wear and tear.’

’It’s hard *not* to be famous with a reputation like that!’

The other middle-aged man also grinned, shaking Chen Yansen’s hand and saying, "Zeng Yuqun from Ningde Era. I’ve long admired your great name, President Chen."

Both Wang Chuanfu and Zeng Yuqun were university students in the 90s. They came from technical backgrounds and had overcome numerous technical challenges in the battery industry before venturing into business.

They were both entrepreneurs who understood both technology and management.

But in front of Chen Yansen, they both adopted a very humble posture.

They both knew in their hearts that the era of lithium-sulfur batteries was coming!

When you can’t break through patent restrictions, there’s no shame in clinging to a powerful backer.

Surviving is more important than anything else!

"President Chen, I’m Sun Rongzhen, head of Mountain Star’s battery procurement department. I’m very much looking forward to collaborating on the Deep Blue Battery."

Another middle-aged man in a bespoke suit squeezed over, speaking in broken Chinese with a sycophantic smile on his face.

Even though he was the buyer and Chen Yansen was the seller, he looked at him as if he were his own father.

There was nothing to be done about it. Who could blame him? Mountain Star’s subsidiary, SDI, was just not up to snuff!

It was one thing that they couldn’t figure out lithium-sulfur batteries, but they couldn’t even manage to reverse-engineer them.

In 2013, Mountain Star was obsessed with large-screen phones, even phablets. For example, the Mountain Star Galaxy Tab 3 8.0—you can tell from the name that the thing had an 8.0-inch screen.

In other words, it was a tablet that could make phone calls.

When playing video with the screen constantly on, the battery life was eight hours. If running a mobile game, it could only last for six.

The battery life was just too poor!

But large screens were the biggest feature of Mountain Star’s high-end models!

They couldn’t just abandon them, could they?

Therefore, Mountain Star’s desire for the Deep Blue Battery was even stronger than Apple’s.

Before his departure, Sun Rongzhen had been repeatedly instructed by Shin Jong-kyun, the head of Mountain Star’s mobile division, to secure this partnership at all costs and obtain the procurement rights for the Deep Blue Battery.

Korea is a country with a strict corporate hierarchy. Sun Rongzhen didn’t dare to be negligent, and fearing that Chen Yansen would refuse to work with Mountain Star, the smile on his face grew even more fawning.

"President Sun, hello," Chen Yansen said, extending his right hand for a brief pleasantry.

Following him, representatives from Panasonic, LG, Tesla, BMW, Canon, and other manufacturers came forward one by one to greet him.

As industry insiders, they understood the appeal of the Deep Blue Battery far better than consumers did.

You might not use it, but you couldn’t afford not to have it.

Once all your competitors on the market switched to the Deep Blue Battery, anyone who didn’t would become an outlier, and would subsequently be abandoned by consumers.

Chen Yansen did a full round, getting acquainted with all the representatives from buyers both at home and abroad.

They were mainly from mobile phone, camera, and electric car companies, with some electric vehicle manufacturers mixed in, each bringing the production requirements for their products.

BMW made the most generous offer, starting with a base licensing fee of 100 million US Dollars, plus a royalty of 35 US Dollars per kilowatt-hour.

Given BMW’s global business volume, they would be paying Senlian Capital 200 million US Dollars in patent fees per year.

Chen Yansen was unmoved and rejected the offer decisively.

His stance was clear: Deep Blue Battery sells products, not technology.

"President Chen, I know that Deep Blue has built two production bases in Shencheng City, but even if the one million square meters of workshop space were running at full capacity, it still wouldn’t be enough to meet the procurement needs of everyone here," asked Herbert Diess, the representative from BMW.

"Production capacity is indeed an issue. That’s why today, I will only be selecting a group of high-quality companies from among you to partner with."

Chen Yansen said with a wide smile.

And what defined "high-quality"?

A high bid and a large order volume.

Herbert Diess was stunned when he heard this. Wasn’t this just asking them to enter a bidding war?

Sun Rongzhen’s brow furrowed, and his heart skipped a beat.

"Of course, I hope everyone will compete reasonably," Chen Yansen added, leaning back and looking down on the group with a commanding gaze.

He finished speaking, leaving absolutely no room for negotiation.

’When you hold advanced technology in your hands, if you still act timidly, then what was the point of developing the Deep Blue Battery in the first place?’

If Lei Yijun were here right now, he would surely be ecstatic. Two years ago, in order to secure a screen supply order from Samsung, he had endured no small amount of frustration and humiliation.