40 partners

  Ford made a concerted effort and finally got Lin Zhenhua to lower the price, keeping the total amount under $500,000. In fact, Lin Zhenhua had no intention of making things too awkward with Spiesheger Company, such as exposing the bugs or selling them to Western companies, it was just his negotiation skills. Lin Zhenhua still has to mix in the mechanical circle in the future and can't make things so absolute.

  The overall price has been roughly settled, and now it's time to discuss the payment details. Lin Zhenhua was confident and eloquent, while Forte held a small notebook, recording Lin Zhenhua's requirements item by item.

  "I want $200,000 in cash, but considering the current situation in China, temporarily help me keep it in a Swiss bank."

  "That's perfectly fine."

  "I need $20,000 worth of small commodities. Please have your Hong Kong office procure them for me in Hong Kong and then help me transport them to the mainland through your channels. I will receive the goods in Guangzhou. The specific details will be notified separately. After the $20,000 is used up, if I still need to trouble your company to continue purchasing goods for me, I will pay the fees as usual."

  "We would be very happy to help with this matter."

  "I am writing to express the hope that our factory, Jiangsu Hanhua Machinery Factory, can obtain an MK800 machine tool. I would like to purchase one from your esteemed company using my own funds and then donate it to our factory in the name of your company. At the time of donation, I hope your company will acknowledge Hanhua Machinery Factory as your partner in China."

  "There is no problem with the donation of machine tools. As for the partner, I need to ask the company headquarters to confirm, but I believe there will be no problem. We are very willing to establish a cooperative relationship with Mr. Lin's enterprise."

  "Also... I hope to get some research equipment and materials from within the United States. I'd like to ask you to procure a batch of Z80 chips for me, as well as two IBM PC computers."

  "The Z80 chip is no problem, but as for the computer... I'm very sorry, Mr. Lin, I didn't know IBM had a PC model..."

  "Huh, a PC is just a personal computer, haven't you ever heard of it?" Lin Zhenhua felt a bit embarrassed, he couldn't remember when IBM released the PC either. Did that mean there were no PCs at this time? What about Microsoft then, hadn't they written the famous DOS yet?

  Lin Zhenhua was momentarily moved, perhaps copying the DOS system and selling it to IBM would also be a good opportunity to make money? Lin Zhenhua clearly remembered that Gates had signed some kind of agreement with IBM back then, stipulating that he would receive one or two dollars in usage fees for each IBM PC machine pre-installed with the DOS system, and as a result, he made a fortune from this alone. Copying the DOS? Lin Zhenhua shook his head vigorously, squeezing out this absurd idea... Could this be done by simply picking up a pencil while sitting in the reception room? This required proficiency in 8088 assembly language, understanding of all interrupts, and genius programming skills, none of which Lin Zhenhua possessed. All Lin Zhenhua needed was just one computer for his own use.

  "Sorry, maybe I'm wrong? What kind of personal computers are there in the US now?" Lin Zhenhua asked.

  "Perhaps I've been out of the country for too long, but as far as I know, the most popular personal computer in the US right now is Apple's APPLE-II. Do you think this model would be suitable?"

  The legendary APPLE-II, the miracle of the IT industry in the 1970s, is even 10 years older than Lin Zhenhua. Lin Zhenhua has only seen her shadow in nostalgic pictures on the internet and truly doesn't know what a real APPLE-II looks like.

  "An Apple II would be fine too, do you know how much this machine costs?" Lin Zhenhua asked.

  "It's about $1,300, and there's also a high-end version that might be over $2,000."

  "I need two of these, this cost..."

  "No problem, our company can take care of everything."

  "Then thank Mr. Wilson for me, I think his kindness will be rewarded."

  "Yes, Mr. Wilson is very much looking forward to forming a long-term cooperation with Mr. Lin."

  "I also need some professional books on mechanics and electronics, as well as the latest monographs related to finite element analysis. Could you please have your technical staff select some for me?"

  "I will keep them continuously providing Mr. Lin with the latest information."

  "Alright... That's all for now, I'm afraid your company may need to spend some more on computers and books."

  "Oh, this is what we should do as friends."

  ……

  The talks ended in a cordial and friendly atmosphere, Ford calculated carefully and found that the total cost was less than $250,000, which was more than half of the bottom line given by Wilson. Wilson had promised that he could take one-tenth of what he reduced as a bonus, which means that Ford earned a commission of $25,000 just for negotiating with Lin Zhenhua.

  Ford knew that the benefits he gained from this incident were far more than just the $25,000 commission. He had obtained a patch program from Lin Zhenhua, which would help the company avoid a potential disaster, and this contribution was unmatched by anyone in the entire company. In fact, during their phone call that morning, Wilson had already hinted to him that he might be promoted to Deputy General Manager of the Asia-Pacific region after completing this task.

  Lin Zhenhua maintained a faint smile throughout his negotiations with Ford, as if the tens of millions of dollars in income were just a gentle breeze to him. But after leaving Ford, Lin Zhenhua couldn't help but want to sing out loud: Brother, I've made it! The $200,000 Swiss bank deposit was equivalent to several years' salary for an ordinary white-collar worker even in 2011, and in 1980, it was almost a mountain of gold. At the black market exchange rate of 1 USD to 10 RMB, this amount was equivalent to 2 million RMB, enough to buy half of the Hanhua Machinery Factory. Little Fang, from now on, our family will have steamed fish every day, two fish at a time, one for humans and one for the cat...

  "The sun shines in the sky,"

  The flower smiled at me.

  Little bird says early early early

  Why are you carrying an explosive backpack?

  I'm going to blow up the school.

  The teacher doesn't know

  At the pull of a string, I'll run.

  "With a loud bang, the school exploded!"

  Lin Zhenhua hummed a little tune as he walked happily along the shaded path, when suddenly he found himself face to face with a young woman who was staring at him in surprise.

  "Hey! Shen Jiaotou, how are you?" Lin Zhenhua waved his hand at the young woman with a pop star-like greeting. He recognized the girl in front of him as Shen Jiale, the welding genius. These days, Lin Zhenhua had been staying in the petrochemical plant and would occasionally run into Shen Jiale on the road, but she always seemed to ignore him. Today, Shen Jiale actually stopped on the road to look at him, which made Lin Zhenhua feel a bit surprised. Taking advantage of his good mood, Lin Zhenhua decided to tease the little girl a bit.

  "Can't you use a different name? 'Girlie' is really hard to listen to." Shen Jiale frowned and asked, "Also, what was that nonsense you were singing earlier? Why did you want to blow up the school?"

  "Haha, you know, I've always hated going to school since I was a kid. So, my biggest dream was to tie an explosive package to the school." Lin Zhenhua said with a grin, "I can tell you, when I grew up, my dream really came true."

  "Did you really blow up a school?"

  "That's right!" Lin Zhenhua said, "During the self-defense counterattack war, a group of Vietnamese devils occupied a school and resisted stubbornly. I was ordered to send an explosive package over, just like the song says, pull the string and I ran, boom! The school exploded!"

  "Really?" Shen Jiale said, with her pure heart, she really couldn't understand Lin Zhenhua's nonsense. She thought for a moment and said: "Isn't reading good? I now regret not reading enough."

  "What's the point of reading so many books?" Lin Zhenhua said, "The more knowledge you have, the more reactionary you become."

  "Didn't the Gang of Four say that? How can you also say that?" Shen Jiale asked in surprise, and when she saw the playful smile on Lin Zhenhua's face, she immediately reacted: "Are you teasing me? You're so annoying!"

  As soon as this annoying remark came out, Lin Zhenhua suddenly felt a sense of closeness to Shen Jiale, this was the true face of a 20-year-old girl, always putting on a gloomy face, how uncomfortable.

  "Shen Aitou, you're standing here, aren't you waiting for me specially?" Lin Zhenhua asked with a smile.

  "I've been waiting for you." Shen Jiale said.

  "What am I waiting for?" Lin Zhenhua hastily looked around, even exaggeratedly squatting down to check if someone was hiding under a parked truck nearby.

  "What are you looking at?" Shen Jiale asked strangely.

  "I'm watching you, did you arrange for someone to be waiting in ambush to give me a good beating?"

  "You... you're really detestable!" Shen Jiale finally burst out, "Lin Zhenhua, can't you be serious for once?!"

  Lin Zhenhua said with a bitter face: "Miss Shen, I really want to be serious, but no matter how hard I think, I just can't figure out why you're waiting specifically for me. The only connection between us is that I once offended you. You say you're here specifically waiting for me, and I shouldn't be on guard? A beautiful girl like you shouldn't have too many young men around her."

  Shen Jiale knew that Lin Zhenhua couldn't spit out ivory from a dog's mouth, so she directly filtered out his nonsense: "Lin Zhenhua, actually, what happened that day was my fault. I shouldn't have looked down on people like that. After going back, my dad even scolded me. I'm waiting here today specifically to apologize to you."

  "I don't dare, I don't dare!" Lin Zhenhua hastily said. Since the other party was being serious in their apology, he couldn't be any less solemn or it would be hard to justify himself. "Miss Shen, actually that day was my fault, I shouldn't have made a bet with you and joked around. But we're all young people, making a joke doesn't hurt anything big, don't take it to heart."

  "Uh, there's one more thing, I was wondering if you could help me out with something?" Shen Jiale lowered her head and started to get flustered.

  Lin Zhenhua felt uneasy, wondering if Shen Jiale had found out that he had made some money and was coming to borrow from him. In his later years, Lin Zhenhua could be considered a seasoned player with women, those post-80s or post-90s girls, hugging and kissing and opening rooms were all calm and composed, only when borrowing money from people would they show a hint of embarrassment.

  "Master Shen, I...I can help you with what? I'm just a porter," Lin Zhenhua said with a dry laugh, immediately changing the way he addressed him to show that there was some distance between them. Please, if you want to borrow a small amount of money, it's fine, but if it's over 5,000, don't even mention it."

  Shen Jiale frowned: "Lin Zhenhua, you've changed so many names, isn't it chaotic? Can't you just call me by my name?"

  "Is it chaotic?" Lin Zhenhua was stunned for a moment, thinking carefully, and indeed it was chaotic enough. He didn't know how to address Shen Jiale properly, with terms like "young lady", "miss", "girl", and "master".

  "Hey, Shen family's daughter, I really don't know what to call you, if I call you Lin Shen..."

  "I killed you!" Shen Jiale completely collapsed.