Chapter 191: Shameless United States
’Why did this woman’s expression suddenly change?’
’Just a moment ago she was so cold, and now she’s warmly calling him her friend. She did say before that she considered him a friend, but still—’
Jerry couldn’t help but feel that something was off.
Xie Changning paid no mind to Jerry’s mood, focusing instead on reviewing the contract’s contents.
When she saw a clause about establishing an OEM factory abroad, Xie Changning’s brow furrowed slightly. "My friend, I cannot accept this term."
She pointed to one of the clauses as she spoke to Jerry.
Jerry leaned in to look. When he saw the clause, he frowned as well. He genuinely hadn’t known his father had included this requirement in the contract.
He could understand her position.
China was still in its development phase, and Xie Changning had three factories of her own to keep afloat.
Forcing her to establish an OEM factory abroad was indeed impossible.
She would need to earn enough money first before even considering expanding her front line overseas.
"Go ahead and mark it. Take your time and look through the rest. Note any other parts you’re not satisfied with. Once you’re finished, I’ll take it back to my father."
"Thank you so much, my friend."
For some reason, Jerry felt there was a sarcastic, almost mocking tone to the way Xie Changning said, "my friend."
He wondered if it was just his imagination.
Xie Changning couldn’t care less what Jerry was thinking. Whenever she found a clause she disliked, she told Jerry and then wrote her bottom line directly onto the contract.
Jerry frowned slightly as he looked at Xie Changning’s terms.
’It feels like my father and Xie Changning are using me as a proxy to compete with each other.’
Regardless, his father was still his father, so he tried to defend him a little. "Xie, my father genuinely wants to cooperate. Your bottom line is a bit harsh for us."
A helpless expression appeared on Xie Changning’s face, which then broke into a smile as she spoke to Jerry.
"Well, you see, a large portion of our products requires manual assembly. You know how expensive labor is..."
Xie Changning put on an "I can’t do anything about it" expression.
Jerry: "..."
’Everyone knows that labor in China is the cheapest there is!’
But he didn’t dare say it. He was afraid that if he did, Xie Changning would get angry and refuse to work with them.
Jerry was starting to understand why his father had chosen to work with Xie Changning.
They all knew that it would be very difficult to make Xie Changning and her team stay.
So, they chose a roundabout approach to secure the partnership.
That way, they could use the partnership to get their hands on the core technology for the cellular phones and pagers.
This would benefit their country’s technological development.
Xie Changning was well aware of their intentions. That’s why she also stipulated in the contract that if anyone in the United States was found profiting from her technology, she would demand compensation from Jerry’s father.
Everyone here was a sly old fox; who didn’t know what games the others were playing?
Jerry left the hotel with the contract Xie Changning had amended, heading off to report back to his father.
Meanwhile, Xie Changning went back upstairs to meet with the patent lawyer.
The patent lawyer was waiting for her in the hallway.
"Why didn’t you wait in one of the other technicians’ rooms?"
"No, it’s better that they don’t know about this," the patent lawyer said in a low voice.
The moment he had appeared, Xie Changning saw the look on his face and knew something had gone wrong with the patents.
"Come into my room first."
Xie Changning opened the door and let the patent lawyer in.
After they were both inside, the patent lawyer stated the purpose of his visit. "It’s highly likely our patent applications will be rejected..."
He had been running around dealing with the patent issue for days.
From the other party’s attitude, it seemed they wanted to disassemble the technology and had no intention of approving the patent.
"It’s fine. I’ll go with you tomorrow to meet with them." Xie Changning had anticipated this move, which was why she had paid for print media reports about it in various countries when she first filed the applications.
They were obscure newspapers, but they left a trail.
If the other party went too far, she wouldn’t mind fanning the flames.
Seeing that Xie Changning’s expression wasn’t the least bit panicked, the patent lawyer knew she was prepared for this.
"Since you’re here, let’s go ahead and submit the cellular phone for a patent as well. If they refuse, just mention that this has been reported in every country."
The other party was an official department, and they might be shameless.
But to lose face on an international scale...
They would probably have to think twice.
After the patent lawyer left, Xie Changning contacted her home country to report the situation, hoping to receive national support.
Upon learning that Xie Changning was being given a hard time, the higher-ups immediately told her to leave the matter to them and that they would handle it.
The patent would definitely belong to China!
With this assurance from her leadership, Xie Changning felt relieved.
Hanging up the international call, Xie Changning began to look forward to facing off against the United States team in the upcoming finals.
「The day of the finals arrived quickly amidst the bustle.」
Xie Changning led her team onto the competition grounds once again.
For the finals, their venue was even larger. Three different machines were displayed on the stage.
Among them were her mini-printer, pager, and cellular phone.
The challenge was to double the performance of these three products within three days.
Xie Changning: "..."
When the team members saw their own products sitting there, their expressions soured.
"They’re completely shameless!"
"I knew they wouldn’t let it go! They want to dismantle them and steal our tech right in front of us!"
"Even if we win, this is just disgusting!"
While her team members were fuming, Xie Changning turned her head to look at the contestants from the United States.
Sensing her gaze, the American contestants shot Xie Changning a provocative look, as if to say: ’We’re about to find out your core technology. Scared? Mad? Isn’t it infuriating?’
Xie Changning just snorted, paying no mind to their dirty tricks.
Seeing that Xie Changning wasn’t angry, her team members were confused.
"Mr. Xie, aren’t you angry?"
"Why should I be angry? They’re only doing this to replicate our core technology. From my perspective, it’s just a waste of time." ’They’re wasting precious competition time.’
’With such selfish motives, they’ll definitely prioritize replicating the technology during the competition, making performance enhancement secondary.’
Meanwhile, Xie Changning’s team knew these machines better than anyone.
The moment they took them apart, they would already be looking for ways to improve them.
’This championship is ours.’
Hearing Xie Changning say this, everyone finally came to their senses.
"But I still don’t want them to crack our core technology..." a team member said meekly.
Xie Changning, however, was more philosophical. "Don’t think like that. Technology has no limits. Everyone will gradually improve."