Chapter 56: Combined Blows

"What are you thinking about, Weidong? Are you worried about Yanhua's and my exam scores?"

Liu Weidong shook his head. "You'll definitely get into university; I'm not worried about that at all. As long as Yanhua performs normally in tomorrow's art exams, she'll be fine. I'm thinking about buying a house."

Lou Yanhua was taken aback. "Didn't you already buy a house? Why are you still thinking about this?"

Unable to explain it to his sister-in-law, Liu Weidong brushed it off by saying someone else wanted to buy property.

"Brother-in-law, my mom has been constantly trying to fix me up with Chen Hao these past two days. He's like a plaster stuck to a sore; he couldn't get with my sister, so now he's latching onto me. It's so annoying." Lou Yanhua wore a troubled expression.

Liu Weidong smiled. "What can your brother-in-law say about this? If you fancy him, date him; if you can't stand him, ignore him. But I seriously detest Chen Hao. I hope I don't end up related to him."

After finishing the meal, Lou Yanhua rode her bicycle home. Liu Weidong told his wife to go on ahead, then hurried off to find Wang Li.

When he laid out his thoughts, Wang Li let out a heavy sigh.

"I just called the Construction Bureau, and I couldn't get any information out of them. Still, it's definitely suspicious that Chen Changshan's son is going everywhere asking about single-story courtyard houses. But I can't just pull out that much cash all at once, can I?"

At this point, Liu Weidong was out of ideas too.

"Forget it, Brother Wang. Let's just liquidate my antiques right away. I already said any profits would be split with you, and at the very least, it'll help you secure a house. But with that jerk Chen Hao stirring the pot like this, housing prices might actually get driven up."

Wang Li was quite helpless as well. After chatting for a little longer, Liu Weidong left.

It was about money again. Liu Weidong stamped his feet in deep regret.

Why the rush to plant Chinese medicinal herbs? Three thousand yuan could have bought two courtyard houses if handled properly. A saintly heart will be the death of you! He had wanted to help the village out of a sense of gratitude to the fellow villagers of the Second Production Team, but look at the attitude of the commune and county leaders. Wasn't it disheartening?

Was he really going to have to sell another patent out of such urgency?

Last time he took a bite out of the oil mill, and this time, should he take a bite out of the machinery plant or the steel mill?

Because he had helped the oil mill manufacture an oil press, Liu Weidong had provided several new technologies free of charge, but he only gave them a general outline and didn't hand over the specific details to the machinery plant or the steel mill.

To win the first wave of the real estate dividend in Binjiang, it seemed he would have to sell his knowledge from his past life once again.

Seeing that it was not yet the end of the workday, Liu Weidong called the machinery plant, and fortunately, Song Yi was there.

"Engineer Song, could you arrange a meeting with the leadership of the machinery plant and the steel mill? I have some technical issues I'd like to discuss with the leaders of both plants. If we can reach an agreement, these two plants will be able to take their technological innovation to a whole new level, just like the oil mill."

Song Yi repeatedly said, "Good, good, good." Liu Weidong hung up the phone and headed home.

As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, Lou Yanru was feeding the chickens, and the clothes she had scalded in the basin were all washed and hung on the wire.

"Yanru, after Yanhua finishes her art exams tomorrow, let's take some time to visit your dad. Make a list of whatever you two are still missing, and I'll get them ready for you."

Lou Yanru nodded. "We definitely need to go see my dad. He was the most worried about our college entrance exams. Buying things isn't necessary, though; I haven't even had the heart to wear the new clothes you bought me. Yanhua has my mom looking after her, so you shouldn't spend any more money."

Liu Weidong remained silent.

Looking after her? Her mother hadn't even shown up at the exam venue for her two daughters' college entrance exams. Was this mother-in-law's mind entirely focused on how to profit from her daughters?

No sooner had Liu Weidong written a chapter of his novel than Song Yi arrived, full of smiles as he invited Liu Weidong to go with him to the machinery plant.

"As soon as I mentioned your idea to Director Lü of the machinery plant, he immediately told me to come find you, saying he would help arrange a meeting with Director Jin of the steel mill.

Actually, when we were working on the machinery, your improvements to the steel raw material proportions and your guidance on forging technology had already drawn the attention of both plants. They were just too embarrassed to ask for too much. Now that you're willing to make the technology public, they couldn't possibly ask for anything better."

As the two of them rode their bicycles toward the machinery plant, Song Yi explained the situation, clearly favoring Liu Weidong.

"What I want to make public is the most advanced metallurgical technology. This technology of mine is not behind internationally either, but technological improvements take time and cost a lot of money.

There is also the steering gear technology, which can fill a gap in the domestic market. I just don't know how much patent royalty these two technologies can fetch me."

Song Yi kept looking at Liu Weidong. "Didn't you just get ten thousand yuan in patent fees? Why are you still so short on money?"

Liu Weidong smiled. "Every family has a scripture that's hard to chant. Everything I ponder burns through cash. Forget ten thousand yuan; even a hundred thousand wouldn't be enough in my hands."

As soon as they rode their bicycles to the entrance of the First Machinery Office building, they saw several cars parked there.

"Well, well, not only has Director Jin arrived, but the leaders of the Machinery Bureau and the Metallurgical Bureau are here too. It looks like the higher-ups take you very seriously!" Song Yi's eyes widened.

Upon entering the director's office, the room was indeed filled with people. Director Lü hurriedly introduced them one by one. Sure enough, there was Yu Miao, the deputy director of the Machinery Bureau, and Duan Yihong, the head of the Metallurgical Bureau.

However, the way the two men looked at Liu Weidong carried more suspicion than affirmation. After all, neither of them had ever dealt with Liu Weidong before, and their presence today was to verify whether Liu Weidong was truly as formidable as the rumors suggested.

Aside from the bureau leaders, the chief engineers of both plants were also present. Liu Weidong asked Director Lü for some drafting paper and a pencil, and with a flurry of writing and drawing, he filled several pages in no time.

"Director Yu should be familiar with steering gears. Currently, all domestic cars use imported ones. The steering gear I designed is tailored for products from the provincial automotive industry, and the technical threshold required for production is not high at all. Our city's industrial level is completely capable of manufacturing it."

"Continuous strip rolling was a problem I discovered when I went to the steel mill. For such a large steel mill, keeping its technological level stuck in the 1950s means it's only normal that output and quality can't catch up. Once converted to continuous strip rolling, output and quality will definitely take a giant leap forward."

Yu Miao snatched the sketch right out of Director Lü's hand, put on his glasses, and examined it closely. Meanwhile, Duan Yihong sat directly beside Liu Weidong, looking at the sketch and clicking his tongue in wonder.

"No wonder Secretary Li holds you in such high regard; you truly are extraordinary. You must know that the technical bottleneck of increasing output has plagued the steel mill for years. If you can really pull off this continuous strip rolling, the government won't just give you patent fees; we'll also award you a giant red flower and hold a commendation meeting!"

Liu Weidong hurriedly waved his hand. "Director Duan, that won't be necessary. I'm a very vulgar person; I sell patents simply to raise research funds to continue my studies. You know very well that failure is the norm in scientific research, and it really burns through money. Otherwise, I would have donated it to the country for free."

"Good, good, good... The technical parameters of this steering gear are almost identical to imported ones. How on earth did a kid like you research this? As long as you produce the blueprints and the feasibility is verified, the Machinery Bureau will buy your patent immediately. I've been fretting over the fact that the Machinery Bureau has no flagship products."

Yu Miao's reaction was even more genuine, practically making the decision on the spot.

The two patents Liu Weidong threw out at this moment were extremely targeted.

There were quite a few plants under the Machinery Bureau, but very few produced true provincial- or ministerial-grade quality products, and most factories faced the dilemma of lagging products and lack of production plans.

As for the Metallurgical Bureau, things were even more difficult. Although the demand for steel far exceeded supply, output could not keep up, and workers working three shifts still couldn't fulfill the quotas.

With this move, Liu Weidong could be said to have placed himself in an unbeatable position right from the start.