A conversation between father and son had helped Xu Yifan secure an investment of thirty million yuan.
The rest was much simpler.
Two hours later, the funds entry on the system panel had changed dramatically.
[Funds: 33.09 million]
Xu Yifan opened the Battery Research and Development Center subsystem panel and found the option to spend money to accelerate research.
[Spend eight million yuan to accelerate research?] [Yes] [No]
He lightly tapped [Yes], and another dialogue box appeared.
[Confirmed] [Host, please issue an order to the eight researchers at the Battery Research and Development Center to invest eight million yuan in the technical challenge.]
The funds entry did not change immediately, and the money in his bank account had not decreased either.
After studying it carefully, Xu Yifan was at a loss for words. "What kind of lousy system is this? I actually have to go deliver the money myself? Can't it just deduct it with a tap?"
He got up and left the office. Without calling his secretary, he strolled toward the newly established Battery Research and Development Center inside the factory.
It was called newly established, but in reality, it had been converted from an old bungalow on the factory grounds. The building was rather run-down, and the equipment and facilities inside were quite ordinary.
It wasn't dirty or chaotic, but there were very few high-end instruments.
They had invested only a little over a million yuan in total, so the research equipment could only support relatively basic work.
The research had been progressing steadily only thanks to several capable researchers.
"It all comes down to a lack of money. If we had the funds, we could buy those experimental devices that cost several million or even tens of millions each, and hire more and better researchers to handle the smaller projects within the big ones. The research could probably progress a lot faster."
"Or if we had a ten-star researcher, that could speed things up considerably too."
"Too bad we don't."
Xu Yifan shook his head and stepped into the lab converted from the bungalow.
"We still don't have enough money. I wonder when I'll have money to throw around as I please.
"When that day comes, I'll build the best research center in the world and hire the best researchers in the world. With the system's support, we'll take off!"
This wasn't Xu Yifan's first visit to the battery lab.
Whenever he had some free time, he came by to look around and build good relationships with the researchers.
The system made it easier to manage the factory's production and sales, among other things.
But if he could regularly eat and chat with the researchers, sales staff, and production team leaders, it would not only help everyone feel more connected to the factory and improve work efficiency, but also help them get to know him better.
He didn't need to be on friendly terms with every worker, but he should at least maintain good relationships with the people in key positions and the leaders of important departments.
As he entered the research center, he saw the researchers hard at work.
Just as he'd seen on the system panel, the researchers were still frowning in concentration.
Whenever they discussed the problem with one another, their frustration was plain to see.
"Ahem." Xu Yifan gave a light cough, finally drawing the attention of the researchers, who had been completely absorbed in the problem.
Lu Jingping, the battery research project lead and the best researcher there, a Four-star researcher, stood up. "Boss, what brings you here?"
"I came to see how things are going. I heard everyone's been stuck on a problem lately?"
Lu Jingping looked slightly surprised. "How did you know, Boss?"
But he didn't dwell on the question. Instead, he continued, "We haven't made any progress on the new lithium iron phosphate battery for several days.
"With LFP material, it takes considerable force to extract lithium ions from the crystal lattice. You could call it lattice binding force, or impedance. Its electronic conductivity is also poor, which means its power performance and low-temperature performance are lacking.
"We've tried everything we could think of and read relevant papers from both China and abroad, but we still haven't made any progress."
"Do you have a solution in mind?" Xu Yifan asked.
Lu Jingping gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "I wish. We've all hit a wall with this problem. We can't find any promising direction to pursue."
The other researchers, who had been troubled by the problem for a long time, gathered around as well.
"This problem might take three or five months to solve—or maybe three or five years."
"Sorry, Boss. We've let you down. We might not be able to get results from researching the new lithium iron phosphate battery."
"We're just not knowledgeable enough. You don't realize how difficult a project is until you're working on it yourself."
Xu Yifan didn't interrupt. He listened carefully to their complaints, and after a few minutes, when everyone had gradually fallen silent, he finally spoke.
"That's how research goes. Thanks for all your hard work. I'm not a researcher myself, so I can't offer you any particularly useful advice."
He paused, then smiled.
"But I may not be able to offer advice, but I can give you funding!"
"Here's what I'll do. I'll put eight million yuan into the battery research fund shortly.
"If you can crack this problem within a week, the money will all be yours!"
Even these highly educated researchers were taken aback by the news.
"Uh..."
"Eight million?!"
"I've heard that big research projects can easily cost tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions, but this is the first time nearly ten million in research funding has felt so close to me."
"If we solve the problem, the rest is all ours? Eight million! We could each get a million!"
"Let's do it. Starting today, nobody leaves this room until we solve the problem."
Some of the researchers' eyes were bloodshot. They were ready to work themselves to the bone for the money.
But two of them remained relatively calm.
"The money is really tempting, but one week is still a bit too short."
Lu Jingping smiled bitterly. "This isn't about whether we have enough funding. Some things just can't be solved with money."
Xu Yifan smiled. "That's your problem. I'm just in charge of providing the money."
"All right, good luck, everyone. Once you solve the problem, I'll take you all out for a late-night meal!"
With that, he turned and left, leaving the researchers behind, utterly bewildered.
After a while, the researchers gathered together again.
Lu Jingping was the first to speak. "Has everyone calmed down?"
"I've calmed down."
"Money really does move people."
"What do we do? The money is tempting, but this is a tough problem to solve."
"I know what I'm capable of. I can't think of any way to crack this problem in a few days."
"Working ourselves to the bone won't help either."
"Let's try, anyway. Maybe we'll get lucky and find a material that can be combined with LFP to improve its poor conductivity and low-temperature performance..."
"Do you really think that's possible? Finding one through experiments in just a few days would be like winning the lottery."
After hearing everyone's thoughts, Lu Jingping sighed. "Fine. There's one last option, even if it's not much of a solution."
"I'll ask the boss later if we can spend five million on outside help. All the boss asked was for us to solve the problem. He never said we couldn't get outside help!"
The others' eyes lit up at Lu Jingping's suggestion, and they said excitedly,
"Right, right! If we can't do it, there are our senior students at the university. We could even ask the boss to borrow the university's labs. Five million should be enough!"
"Even if we don't get eight million, splitting three million would still be pretty good. Heh heh."
"Then let's get moving and contact our seniors and advisor! Time waits for no one!"
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