Chapter 197: License Fee
The leaders agreed to every one of Xie Changning’s requests.
For any resources Lin Province lacked, they would request transfers from other provinces, striving to give Xie Changning the utmost support.
Once everything was settled, Xie Changning returned to Anong County with Jerry and her two technicians.
Returning to the Anong County Machinery Factory, Xie Changning had the surreal feeling that a lifetime had passed.
Even though she had only been gone for a little over two months, it felt as if she had been away for a very, very long time.
The car pulled up to the entrance of the Anong County Machinery Factory, catching the workers’ attention. As they turned their heads, they saw Xie Changning step out of the vehicle.
Everyone instantly cheered.
"The factory director is back!"
"This is great! Our factory director is finally back!"
A smile spread across Xie Changning’s face at the workers’ cheers. "Yes, I’m back!"
As Xie Changning spoke, Cheng Jinghao and her colleague also stepped out of the car.
Jerry got out of the car with them.
This was Jerry’s first visit to the Anong County Machinery Factory, and his first thought upon arriving was—
’Huh? A factory with such run-down buildings can actually produce such advanced equipment?’
’Are you kidding me?’
Xie Changning saw the shock in Jerry’s eyes but didn’t correct his impression. The factory’s appearance wasn’t important; what mattered was its capability.
’She had the power to make him choose them, and that was the true strength of the Anong County Machinery Factory!’
’No matter how baffled he was, he would just have to deal with it.’
Wang Guofu hurried out. Seeing Xie Changning for the first time in months, he exclaimed happily, "Wonderful, just wonderful! You’re all finally back!"
As Wang Guofu spoke, he suddenly noticed the foreigner standing beside her—Jerry.
Upon seeing Jerry, he instinctively glanced at Xie Changning, his eyes asking, ’You brought him back?’
"Uncle Wang, you don’t remember Jerry?" Xie Changning asked in surprise, seeing Wang Guofu’s blank expression.
Wang Guofu frowned, as if to say, ’Am I supposed to know him?’
People in China generally didn’t have a good impression of foreigners.
Of course, Wang Guofu also had trouble telling foreigners apart; to him, they all looked the same!
"This is Mr. Jerry, our agent in the United States."
Hearing it was Jerry, Wang Guofu’s expression softened. He walked up to Jerry and managed to get out a single word: "Hello."
Hearing the awkwardly spoken English, a friendly smile appeared on Jerry’s face.
He greeted Wang Guofu in return.
The others had never seen a foreigner before. Upon spotting Jerry, they stared as if he were a monkey in a zoo, endlessly sizing him up and discussing his skin tone, hair color, eye color, and so on.
Being surrounded by so many people, Jerry felt a little uncomfortable.
"Xie, aren’t you going to save me?" he pleaded to Xie Changning.
Heeding Jerry’s plea, Xie Changning had no choice but to rescue him from the crowd. She made an introduction. "This is Mr. Jerry, our factory’s agent in the United States. He is here primarily to discuss a partnership."
As soon as they heard he was here to discuss a partnership, everyone’s attitude immediately grew serious.
The workers didn’t dare to keep the expressions they had just been wearing.
They began to feel a pang of regret. ’We shouldn’t have crowded around him like that.’ If they angered Mr. Jerry and it affected the factory’s business, they would be the culprits!
"Don’t be nervous. Jerry isn’t that petty. You can all go take a break now."
Only after hearing Xie Changning say this did they breathe a sigh of relief.
After everyone had left, Xie Changning led Jerry to her office. The two deputy factory directors joined them, and Xie Changning explained her plan to open a joint venture factory with Jerry in the United States.
Shock flashed in the two deputy directors’ eyes.
’What!?’
’Our Anong County Machinery Factory is going to invest abroad!?’
’Are we really that capable, that wealthy!?’
Regardless of their thoughts, Xie Changning’s decision had been made. Of course, even if it hadn’t, they wouldn’t have raised any objections.
They had immense faith in Xie Changning’s judgment.
’If she’s investing, it means this project is guaranteed to be profitable.’
"We have no objections. We will work even harder from now on and make sure we don’t hold the factory director back!"
Xie Changning nodded.
"You’ll certainly have to work hard. There’s going to be a lot more to do." ’Thinking about it,’ Xie Changning mused, ’their lives just got even more miserable.’
’Xie Changning was rarely at the factory to begin with and didn’t handle many of the day-to-day tasks; the two of them managed most of it. Once she started doing business abroad, their workload would become even heavier!’
’Thinking about it, Xie Changning almost felt a little sorry for the men who served as her deputy directors.’
’She really wasn’t a good person, was she? Exploiting her elders every day to work for her~’
’Then again, the thought was also quite delightful!’
After explaining the situation to Wang Guofu and the other deputy director, Xie Changning began discussing the details of the partnership with Jerry in English.
Jerry didn’t hold anything back. He clearly laid out the terms of the partnership he envisioned and even brought his written proposal for Xie Changning to review.
"I spent a whole week slaving over this!" Of course, his initial draft had been shot down by his father; this was the version his father had helped him revise.
Xie Changning opened it, her eyes scanning ten lines at a time.
She could clearly tell this proposal wasn’t his work alone. The various strategies were very well-developed, and Xie Changning had no major objections.
Her focus was on a key point: "The patent licensing fees—what’s your offer?"
This question was the main item on the agenda for today’s negotiations.
When the topic turned to licensing fees, Jerry’s expression grew much more serious. He pulled a set of prepared documents from his bag, all pertaining to the cell phone patents.
"We’re prepared to use a royalty model. For every cell phone sold, the Anong County Machinery Factory will receive a licensing royalty of five percent..."
Jerry laid out his proposal for Xie Changning.
Xie Changning listened quietly to Jerry’s words, having no immediate objection to the rate he proposed. The two of them had worked together many times and understood each other’s temperaments.
Jerry knew that if he didn’t offer a fair price, Xie Changning wouldn’t agree to the partnership.
He had discussed it with his father at length, and they had finally settled on five percent.
This was the absolute highest they could offer, a figure they hoped would satisfy Xie Changning. Any lower, and they figured she would start demanding other concessions.
It wouldn’t be worth the trouble.
"That’s acceptable. Let me see the contract."
As she said this, Xie Changning asked Wang Guofu to fetch their lawyer.
Ever since the business with the patents, Xie Changning had kept this lawyer on retainer at the factory, serving her exclusively.
The lawyer’s office wasn’t far, and before long, Wang Guofu returned with him.
The lawyer entered and came to stand before Xie Changning.
Xie Changning handed the contract to the lawyer, who then opened it and began to review it carefully.
Jerry grew a little nervous. He hadn’t drafted the contract himself, so he wasn’t sure if there were any issues with its contents. He just hoped Xie Changning wouldn’t reject the proposal outright.