Chapter 535: License (Part 1)

On this day, Sun Cheng, who was in his office using a laptop to simplify the exoskeleton armor he had custom-designed for himself, had his train of thought interrupted by a knock at the door.

He skillfully switched the design software displayed on the computer screen to a document file.

Only then did Sun Cheng speak up, "Come in!"

The door was quickly pushed open, and a sexy professional woman holding a thick stack of documents walked in.

"Boss, General Manager Wang just faxed over a document; Xinhai Technology has been secured!"

"Xinhai Technology has been secured?"

Sun Cheng was taken aback, then nodded with satisfaction, "They certainly negotiated quite quickly!"

It had been nearly a week since he sent Wang Lu and the others to make contact with Xinhai Technology.

Sun Cheng and his team had previously conducted a thorough investigation; domestic storage manufacturers had always been at a disadvantage in competition with the three major international storage giants due to their comprehensive lag in technology and production processes, and they could only barely survive by relying on cheap products and government orders.

After Xinhai Technology was secured, the hard drive production of Cybertron Technology could be handed over to Xinhai Technology in batches.

He would no longer need to sneak off to Base No. 1 in the dark every few days to pick up goods, nor would he have to use limited machines for storage equipment production, which could be considered a liberation of part of the production capacity at Base No. 1.

Taking the document faxed back by Wang Lu from Lin Bing, Sun Cheng buried his head and began to read.

As one of the long-established domestic storage equipment manufacturers, Xinhai Technology might have poor profitability, outdated equipment, and production processes and technology far inferior to the three major international storage giants, but it was not entirely without merit.

Unlike most domestic storage equipment manufacturers that only retained R&D centers and technical teams without their own production factories.

Xinhai Technology owned a total of six of its own production factories in the coastal and riverside regions, with over 14,000 employees, including skilled technicians in the factories and workshops; besides producing its own brand of storage equipment, it could also provide OEM services for other manufacturers every year.

Although the acquisition of Xinhai Technology cost 2.792 billion Xia Yuan, and also required assuming Xinhai Technology's corporate and bank debts of over 700 million, the acquisition cost totaled over 3.5 billion Yuan.

But for Sun Cheng and Cybertron Technology, although this acquisition was not profitable, it was not a loss either.

Not to mention the six factories owned by Xinhai Technology, one only needed to slightly update the equipment and production processes, and the finished product qualification rate and profits would increase accordingly.

Moreover, Xinhai Technology was one of the only three companies in the country qualified to undertake storage equipment orders for national defense, government, and research institutions.

"This acquisition price... is acceptable... Reply to Wang Lu's side and sign the acquisition contract! Tell him not to rush back for now; first, get the management at Xinhai Technology set up. I will have the finance department approve a sum of money to send over, and while you're at it, contact the Precision Instrument Manufacturing Company to purchase a batch of equipment as soon as possible to upgrade the production lines at Xinhai Technology!"

With this statement from Sun Cheng, the acquisition of Xinhai Technology, this long-established domestic storage manufacturer, became a foregone conclusion.

As for the impact at home and abroad, he had never paid attention to it from the very beginning.

For Sun Cheng, the real world had changed from a stable rear area to a backyard that could catch fire at any time ever since he was exposed.

Because he knew that the number of people and forces paying attention to him would only increase, he became even more low-profile instead.

In his daily life, Sun Cheng did nothing but go to work and go home; his life of two points and one line was very low-profile. He pushed all interviews to other management personnel in the company and also controlled the appearance of photos and reports about himself on the internet.

As for company matters, there was naturally a group of people better at management than him to handle them.

On the surface, Sun Cheng only kept a tight grip on finance, personnel appointments, and scientific research, leaving other departments to the group of professional managers recruited.

In secret, the micro-Decepticon Frenzy and hundreds of Ultra-micro Reconnaissance Devices were monitoring everything in the company twenty-four hours a day. Business spies and even those with ulterior motives who had entered the company recently due to new recruitment were all turned over to the National Security Bureau by him directly after their names were discovered.

As for what forces the people involved came from, or whether there were any of the National Security Bureau's own people among them, that was not something he cared about.

Sun Cheng just needed some people to know that the power of the force behind him was enough to deter a group of people with ulterior motives.

Xia Country was very cautious in some aspects, but when there was an opportunity to overtake on a bend, no one would really miss this chance.

About five days after the delivery of the Lithography Machine, a man wearing a Lieutenant Colonel's uniform, led by Captain Sun Long whom Sun Cheng had already met once, arrived low-key at the office building of Cybertron Technology that had not yet been relocated that afternoon.

"Chairman Sun, we meet again!"

"Welcome, welcome, please wait a moment, everyone... Assistant Lin, please brew a few cups of tea for us, thank you!"

After a few polite exchanges, Lin Bing delivered the tea and, without being told, consciously walked out of the meeting room and closed the door behind her.

In an instant, only Sun Cheng, Sun Long, and another man wearing a Lieutenant Colonel's uniform who looked at most thirty-four or thirty-five years old remained in the meeting room.

"Chairman Sun, let me introduce you first. This is Lieutenant Colonel Liu Nianyuan, also from the Equipment Department. He will be fully responsible for all related matters for this visit!"

Sun Cheng nodded and sized up the young Lieutenant Colonel in front of him, his mind filled with a few guesses.

"Sorry to bother you, Chairman Sun!"

Lieutenant Colonel Liu Nianyuan's demeanor was natural and poised; unlike Sun Long, an officer who might have been tempered in the military, he was more like a researcher or scholar who had spent years in research institutions dedicating himself to the cause of national defense.

However, compared to ordinary researchers or scholars, this young Lieutenant Colonel possessed a bit more shrewdness and capability.

Sun Cheng pondered that it was not without reason that he was sent by the Equipment Department to deal with him.

"... The two Lithography Machines from last time have been of great use to our national defense cause. On behalf of the Equipment Department, I would like to thank you, Chairman Sun, and your team for your contributions to our country's national defense... After a period of contact, we have also come to understand each other much better... The state also feels that we can try to communicate and cooperate further in more areas..."

The young Lieutenant Colonel said a few polite official words before having Sun Long hand over a list that had been prepared long ago.

Sun Cheng took it and looked it over, and he knew what was going on.

The first procurement list brought by the Equipment Department did not contain many items, only twenty-some, and all of them were cutting-edge equipment strictly controlled for export to Xia Country by the Wassenaar Arrangement, which was of great use to military production.

After a quick calculation, Sun Cheng nodded and agreed, "I also thank the state for its trust in me. I will submit this list. The old rules apply: pay in Xia Yuan, totaling 2.64 billion Xia Yuan. As for when the equipment will be delivered, I will ask the organization later and notify you by tomorrow at the earliest."

"If it really happens, Chairman Sun, you have truly been a great help!"

"Not at all. Actually, I have some matters here recently as well, and I hope the two of you can help me reflect them to the higher-ups after you return."