There was only a certain amount of business stuff to talk about.
Later on, the three people began to talk about some interesting things in their life and work.
After Chen Yushan polished off the desserts and her drink, she looked at her watch and saw that it was getting late. She smiled and said, “I have a meeting soon, so I have to go. Oh yeah, Meng Qi, remember to tell your mom I said hi. I’ll visit you guys in a few days.”
Han Mengqi nodded and said, “Ok!”
Lu Zhou looked at the time and also got up from his chair.
“Yeah, I have to go back as well. Your car is still at the campus entrance, right? Let’s go together.”
After he returned to his office, he planned on sending an email to Sarrot.
If Sarrot wanted to come work in China, Lu Zhou would provide him with a laboratory.
If he didn’t want to come, then Lu Zhou would respect his decisions and help him find a new laboratory. Everything would end on good terms. Even though this political situation had affected his research, he didn’t want it to continue affecting his life.
Even though Sarrot had always been a cocky person, he was actually quite academically able.
After working together for so long, Lu Zhou appreciated him.
After they walked to the campus entrance, Chen Yushan waved goodbye to Lu Zhou and her cousin. She then got into a silver sedan.
Lu Zhou smiled and waved goodbye.
Ever since Chen Yushan moved from Beijing to Shanghai, Lu Zhou felt like she had gained a lot more energy.
Lu Zhou felt this indescribable aura coming from her body.
It seemed like she had discovered her life purpose.
She had been searching for this kind of thing for a long time, surely she had found it already.
Han Mengqi walked next to Lu Zhou and glanced at his face.
She hesitated for a bit before saying, “Teacher…”
“What?”
“Um… What do you think about my sister?”
Lu Zhou looked at her strangely.
“What do you mean what do I think?”
Han Mengqi’s cheeks turned red as she said awkwardly, “Like… in terms of feelings…”
Lu Zhou went silent for a while. He seemed to be thinking.
Han Mengqi saw him and felt worried.
Suddenly, she regretted asking this question.
When she was just about to change the conversation, Lu Zhou suddenly spoke.
“She’s one of the few friends I can talk with.”
When Han Mengqi heard this unexpected answer, she paused for a second.
One of the few friends he can talk with?
She didn’t know why, but when she looked at him, she felt heartbroken…
…
Haizhou, demonstration reactor base.
The demonstration reactor project had been completed. After the commendation conference, everyone basically had nothing to do. In some sense, they were being compensated for having no holiday last year.
Other than the busy experts who were responsible for the grid-connected technology of electricity generators, most researchers and engineers were sitting in their offices. They held pointless meetings, filled in documents, and did their own things most of the time.
For example, Su Yiwen from the technical department had recently become fascinated with the futures market. Whenever he was at work, he would look at the market charts and graphs. Other than going to the toilet or eating, he stayed at his desk all day.
Su Yiwen, who was short-selling, looked at the bleak futures market and clicked his mouse. He sighed and spoke emotionally.
“The price of Brent crude oil futures was 60 something just a while ago, but now it’s fallen below 45 barrel. Why aren’t the Chinese oil companies dropping as well?”
Looking at this trend, the price of oil was going to fall below US$40 per barrel.
When that time comes, surely China’s oil production will stop, right?
Zhang Xueqian was reading a newspaper when he looked at his colleague and smiled.
“Forget about it, once Pangu connects to the grid, it would be impossible for the oil price to fall. Forget about the price falling. Once electric vehicle technology has matured and their charging stations are extended to fourth and fifth-tier cities, the tax on oil will increase.”
Su Yiwen paused for a second and asked, “Why is that?”
Old Zhang looked at him and smiled as he said, “Do you know what macroeconomic regulation and control is?”
“I do… but what does this have to do with macroeconomic regulation and control?”
“Think about it, our nation’s energy is heavily dependent on imports and the channel for transporting energy is in other people’s hands. After the fusion reactors are connected to the grid and generate electricity, the cost of electricity will go down. The country will have to adjust our energy structure, like pushing for electric cars. Now, if the oil price goes down, will you switch to an electric car?”
Su Yiwen thought for a bit and felt that it made sense. However, if someone suddenly made him change cars, he would feel a little reluctant.
Seeing how Su Yiwen wasn’t speaking, Zhang Xueqian began to talk about the things he read in the newspapers.
“Now that lithium-sulfur batteries have been invented, the electric car ranges aren’t that much lower than gasoline cars. Charging time might be a problem, but it’s a lot better than a few years ago. I also heard that the Power Industry Association is going to combine a number of car companies and standardize the battery interface. Then no one would have to charge their batteries since they could just switch out the batteries. Of course, no one knows when that technology would come. We’ll have to see what happens next.”
The state had invested trillions of dollars into new energy vehicles. This money had to come from somewhere.
Where did it come from?
It obviously came from those people who were unwilling to keep up with the changing times.
Even though Su Yiwen knew this was a good thing, he couldn’t help but complain, “So they’re forcing us to switch cars?”
Zhang Xueqian said, “You can interpret it that way… But you have to admit, this is the right thing to do in the long term.”
Whether it was for environmental protection or being able to escape from being dependent on energy imports, ever since East Asia Energy was established, gasoline cars were slowly being eliminated.
The government officials were quite smart.
They spent less than 100 billion yuan to build the fusion reactor.
Not only did it save trillions in energy costs, but it also created a trillion-dollar market.
With the advancement of electrical energy, industrial production and social vitality would undoubtedly improve.
What could the future look like?
It seemed like only time could tell.
Suddenly, the office door was pushed open, and Chief Wang from the finance department walked in.
He was holding a list of names and contracts in his hand. He avoided any small talk and went straight to the point.
“East Asia Energy is raising funds from the public, are you guys interested? If not, I’ll ask someone else.”
Su Yiwen was just about to ask some questions. He was surprised to see Old Zhang, who wasn’t interested in stocks, suddenly stood up.
“How much are they raising?”
Chief Wang said, “A total of two billion shares were issued, ten dollars per share.”
Su Yiwen froze.
The f*ck?
They’re raising 20 billion?
However, he was even more surprised by Old Zhang’s words.
“I’ll buy 100,000 shares!”
Su Yiwen: “???”
A hundred thousand!
That’s a million!
This guy always talks about how broke he is, when did he get so rich?
Chief Wang didn’t accept his demands. He shook his head and said, “Every employee can only buy 3,000 shares.”
When Zhang Xueqian heard this number, he felt a bit uneasy.
“Only 3,000?”
“Yes.” Chief Wang was expressionless. He didn’t plan on negotiating at all. He said, “Technical employees are limited to 3,000, administrative employees are limited to 2,000, the rest is at 1,000. Secretary Feng wrote the rules. If you are unhappy, you can go talk to him.”
Seeing how Secretary Feng made the rules, Zhang Xueqian sighed and didn’t say anything else.
3,000 is quite a lot anyway.
Including the army members, as well as the research units around the country, the entire demonstration reactor project team had tens of thousands of people. Only 2 billion shares were issued to the public. 3,000 shares each person was quite good. If the general public wanted to buy the shares, they might even have to go through a lucky draw.
Zhang Xueqian comforted himself in his head and took over the contract from Chief Wang’s hands. He signed his name on the contract and wrote down the number of shares.
“Remember to make the payment before Wednesday. Otherwise, your order will expire.”
Chief Wang then looked at the other person sitting in the office. That person was Su Yiwen, who was sitting in front of a computer.
Before he could open his mouth, Su Yiwen spoke.
“I want in.”
After Su Yiwen signed the order, Chief Wang left the office.
Su Yiwen looked at the contract in his hand and asked emotionally, “Old Zhang, the stock market is risky, did we buy too much?”
Zhang Xueqian immediately rolled his eyes and reached out his hand as he said, “If you don’t want it, give it to me, I’ll take on your risk.”
“I was just saying…”
Su Yiwen smiled and tightly held onto the document in his hand.
He was just joking, he wasn’t dumb.
This type of free money opportunity was once in a lifetime. There was no way he was going to give it away.
While the East Asia Energy shares were issued to the demonstration reactor project team, the online orders had also begun.
However, the people who had heard about this news in advance through various channels, as well as the professional investors, such as the private equity funds and investment companies, who were refreshing the purchase page, were surprised to see that the 20 billion of market cap was gone in an instant.
