"Really? Sending Tang Yino to Chenghua High School?" Jin Meifeng, who had just returned to her office after a meeting, looked at her son in surprise upon hearing Yang Chen's words. After a long pause, she asked, "Son, you're not developing feelings for her, are you?"
"This is a very nice girl, isn't she?" Yang Chen smiled ambiguously, leaning comfortably on the soft sofa. "Moreover, when I was down and out a while back, she helped me without any grudges... I'm determined to help her, no matter what!"
"Ah, do as you wish." Jin Meifeng sighed and said, "Chenghua High School only has a few admission spots that our Hengyang Group can allocate each year. If you're set on helping her, I'll arrange it for you."
"Thanks, Mom..." Yang Chen chuckled, "I knew you wouldn't just stand by and do nothing..."
"However, let's get one thing straight. Although Tang Yino is smart, has a good personality, and looks decent, her overall score is still too low." Jin Meifeng said, "I don't want to meddle in your personal life, but when it comes to marriage, you need to think and weigh your options more carefully. Don't rush into decisions, okay?"
"Understood." Yang Chen nodded obediently.
"By the way, where have you been these past few days?" After discussing Tang Yino, Jin Meifeng changed the topic, "I haven't seen you at home, and you've been exorcising ghosts again, haven't you?"
"Cough, cough, cough..." Yang Chen, who had just taken a sip of tea, almost choked on it at Jin Meifeng's words! What does she mean by 'exorcising ghosts again'? In fact, the frequency of exorcisms in the metaphysical world is quite low.
After all, the probability of ghosts appearing is not high. If they were exorcising ghosts every day, who would have time to practice?
Yang Chen rolled his eyes and put down the teacup, saying, "I've been working on a new project with Yuanbang Steel Group in Wenden District. I've been busy with that these past few days..."
"Wenden District?" Jin Meifeng was taken aback, "Could it be that Meikangda Home Appliances Company was the one you acquired?"
"Indeed, it was me..." Yang Chen was a bit surprised and gave a thumbs up, "You really know everything without leaving your room... You even know about this?"
"An investment project worth hundreds of millions, who doesn't know that Meikangda has been acquired?" Jin Meifeng was both amused and exasperated by Yang Chen's clumsy flattery, "In other words, that suddenly emerging Tongtai Industrial Co., Ltd., is also yours, right?"
"Eighty percent of the project is mine, and the Zhu family has twenty percent." Yang Chen gave a brief introduction and then said, "I came here today for this matter... Currently, all the staff in the company are from the Zhu family. While trust is the most important in business partnerships, it feels uneasy not having a few people I can trust in the company."
"Do you want to transfer some people from Hengyang over?" Jin Meifeng immediately understood what Yang Chen was planning.
"Yes, not many, just a few... one each for the administrative, production, finance, and sales departments should be enough." Yang Chen nodded, "If everything goes smoothly, we can start production in a few days."
"I heard it's about nanoceramics? Tell me, what's the estimated annual revenue?" Jin Meifeng had only learned about this from the news and didn't know the specifics.
Yang Chen scratched his head and thought for a moment, saying, "The current production is not high, but the annual sales should be around 4 billion. The exact figures are still unclear as we are in the trial phase, and we don't know the demand from downstream manufacturers yet."
"Annual sales of 4 billion, and you still call it low production?!" Yang Chen said it casually, but Jin Meifeng laughed and scolded, "Do you know how much our Hengyang Group's peak sales were? You're really getting cocky now!"
"4 billion is just the start." Yang Chen couldn't help but boast, "If everything goes well, we'll definitely break the 100 billion mark next year, and in a few years, reaching several hundred billion is not impossible!"
"You're getting cocky now." Jin Meifeng rolled her eyes and laughed, "A project with several hundred billion in revenue? Can that small piece of land at Meikangda accommodate you? But, what's the profit margin of this project?"
"The key is that there's a large undeveloped area next to Meikangda. A few months after production starts, that area will also be developed." Yang Chen said, "In the end, it will become the world's largest nanoceramic powder production base... As for the profit margin... it should be around a few percent... Is that a bit low?"
"Where did you learn to talk so much?" Jin Meifeng thought Yang Chen was joking or teasing her, so she didn't delve into it, nodding, "Let's do it this way for now. We'll discuss who to send over when your father comes back... This is a big project, and your father needs to make the final decision!"
No wonder Yang Chen felt his mother looked radiant when he saw her. It turned out his father was coming back soon! He chuckled and nodded in agreement, "Right, right, right... Such a big deal, Dad needs to make the final call!"
...
That night, Yang Chen went to the workshop and, with Hou Xunan, locked the doors and spent the whole night tinkering.
By around 4:30 AM, they finally managed to assemble the entire machine.
Looking at the machine, which was covered in runes and resembled a simplified version of a large horizontal drum washing machine, Yang Chen felt a great sense of accomplishment.
"That's it!" He closed the stainless steel door, which was ten centimeters thick and coated with Nine Meteorite Adamantium, and patted his hands, explaining to Hou Xunan like a teacher, "The core component is the 'energy particle emitter' located at the front of the machine. This small, cannon-like device, through the spirit array formed by the particle equations engraved on its surface, can gather a large amount of free-floating energy particles with a small amount of mental energy. Then, through the spirit array engraved inside the cannon barrel, it can fire these particles directly at the impact plate..."
He explained for about ten minutes, starting from the basics and gradually delving deeper.
Hou Xunan, like a diligent student, meticulously recorded everything Yang Chen said.
This would be very useful for developing a more advanced, larger, and more precise energy particle collider in the future. Although this machine was extremely crude, it was the first of its kind, after all.
This was a moment of historical significance! Even though only two people were there to witness its birth...
"Alright, that's about it. You can organize it later. I was a bit disorganized in my explanation," Yang Chen said after spending about ten minutes explaining the design principles and particle equation design of the simplified energy particle collider. He stretched his arms and said, "Next, let's test its effectiveness."
Hou Xunan nodded eagerly. After all this effort, he was eager to see if the machine would work!
In the empty workshop, the machine, which was 13 meters long, 6 meters wide, and 3 meters high, stood alone. Some broken ceramic pieces were already piled in a corner, so there was no shortage of raw materials.
A metal sliding door was left in the middle and rear of the energy particle collider. Holding a pile of ceramic pieces, Hou Xunan walked to the side of the machine, grabbed the door handle, pulled it out, and pushed it back, opening the thick metal sliding door.
Yang Chen personally placed the small pile of about four kilograms of ceramic pieces in a golden metal basket. Next to it was a hand-crank. He gently turned the handle, and when he heard a soft 'click,' the metal basket containing the ceramic pieces smoothly reached the correct center position. At the same time, another metal basket appeared at the door.
Because the internal environment was too complex during the energy release, mechanical or automated devices could not function properly in this machine. Therefore, the only option was to use a fully manual operation mode.
This simple metal basket transmission system cost Yang Chen nearly 100 grams of Nine Meteorite Adamantium, which pained him greatly.
"Clang..."
The thick stainless steel door, lined with Nine Meteorite Adamantium, was closed with a heavy thud.
After securing the safety lock, Yang Chen walked to the front of the machine.
On the front door of the machine, a simple, elliptical particle equation pattern was engraved.
Although he looked calm and confident, Yang Chen's heart was pounding with tension beneath his calm exterior.
He cleared his throat and, under Hou Xunan's expectant gaze, slowly placed his right palm on the elliptical particle equation pattern on the door.
As soon as a faint mental energy entered the elliptical particle equation, or the trigger switch, Yang Chen instantly felt a cool sensation in his palm. Then, the trigger switch on the door exerted a suction force, establishing a tight connection with the energy particle emitter inside the machine.
In the next moment, a vast amount of energy converged from all directions, flowing through the spirit array formed by the particle equations on the external door into the energy particle emitter inside the machine.
At the same time, the large particle equation, composed of many deep and shallow runes, engraved throughout the machine, erupted, forming a powerful binding force that firmly protected the entire machine.
The entire process lasted about six seconds. Yang Chen, Hou Xunan, and even the security guards patrolling the factory grounds, all heard a deafening explosion...
"Boom!!"
The sound was like a cannon firing, deafening!
A flash of light appeared in the workshop, and the sound was incredibly loud.
Hou Xunan was so stunned by the noise that he felt dizzy and had ringing in his ears, and he fell to the ground.
Fortunately, the machine remained in place without moving...
Yang Chen, unaffected, quickly pulled back his hand and rushed to open the rear sliding door. He turned the handle and gears, bringing the small basket containing the ceramic pieces to the front...
"It worked!"
Seeing the pile of white powder at the bottom of the basket, Yang Chen shouted happily, "Old Hou, come and take a look!"
Hou Xunan, still dazed, staggered over, covering his ears and looking down at the powder in the basket. He smiled bitterly and said, "It worked... but can this machine really be used? If it causes workers to suffer from eardrum perforation, that would be a serious problem!"
The biggest flaw was this... the noise during production was extremely loud!
But Yang Chen had no solution for now. He said, "Given the current situation, it's impossible to solve the sound problem... the current soundproofing technology just can't handle it! We can only think of ways to protect the workers..."
"What do you mean?"
"The main operators will be cultivators of the second stage and above, but the process of loading and unloading materials still needs to be done by people." Yang Chen stroked his chin and said, "For the cultivators, it's easy; they can block their hearing during work and won't be affected. For the workers who load and unload materials... we can hire a few deaf-mutes! This can help the government, improve their living conditions, and maintain secrecy, right?"