Chen Yuanguang watched Lin Jia sit across from him and launch into an endless stream of business talk. It reminded him of when they had first met, in a public elective course. They had been assigned to the same group, and Lin Jia's expression and demeanor while analyzing things had been exactly the same as they were now.
Chen Yuanguang himself had no interest in this. In his view, how much more money Goose Factory could make off him simply did not matter.
He held a mountain of gold in his hands. Compared with that mountain, whatever advantage Goose Factory took of him did not even amount to a grain of gold dust.
He only put on an attentive expression because Lin Jia was interested in it. "So what do we need to do?"
Lin Jia took a sip of the Pu'er on the table and continued, "There are only a few options: threats, making promises, cooperation, that sort of thing.
"Doesn't Goose Factory want to keep this matter from coming out early? They are obviously planning to reveal it when the movie is close to release. That would give them the best marketing effect.
"So you can threaten them. Reveal it in advance and ruin their plans.
"But there is no real benefit in doing that. It is a tactic that should not be used unless absolutely necessary.
"I think making promises is better. Tell them you will turn Kuala Lumpur Affairs into a series, then sign the IP licensing agreement for the later installments in advance. The condition is that we start receiving profit shares from this first film.
"If they will not give us profit shares, that is fine. We can ask for an investment quota instead. Say the total investment for this movie is fifty million. If they do not hire major stars and instead find a group of capable actors to shoot in Kuala Lumpur, fifty million would be more than enough. We should ask for an investment quota of twenty million.
"Of course, twenty million is the ideal scenario. I estimate Goose Factory will give you, at most, a five-million investment quota. For those five million, I can invest it in you, and then the two of us can split the returns. Or I can charge you interest based on market rates for business loans.
"You could also take the contract directly to a bank for a loan. Commercial banks have been extremely aggressive with their lending policies these past few years. They dare lend money that the Big Four Banks would not, especially commercial banks around the Yangtze River Delta. Their methods are wild.
"You have documentation proving that this contract was signed between Goose Factory and you. Give them the news about your Nature publication, the specific issue, and the award news for Kuala Lumpur Affairs. That would be more than enough for the application materials.
"As for cooperation, that may be difficult to negotiate. At present, you do not have the necessary strength, and the balance of power between you and Goose Factory is too unequal." Lin Jia thoroughly analyzed every possibility for Chen Yuanguang.
Chen Yuanguang asked, "Will Goose Factory agree?"
Lin Jia brushed aside her loose bangs. "That depends on how well you can sell the dream.
"What I mean is, how can you make Goose Factory believe, before the movie has even been released, that this can be developed into a world-class IP?
"One that can be run like Detective Conan or Kindaichi—an enduring IP that people are willing to pay for every year as long as a new installment is made."
Chen Yuanguang shook his head. "Hard. Too hard. The audience for science fiction is too small. For the Kuala Lumpur Affairs series to have a chance, its reputation would need to be on par with Three-Body.
"Compared with Three-Body, Kuala Lumpur Affairs has a limited ceiling to begin with, let alone the fact that my writing is far inferior to Da Liu's."
Lin Jia said, "Once your skill reaches a certain baseline, ability is only a small part of it. Operations are far more important."
Lin Jia knew some of the inside workings of commercial film production. In truth, film studios did not like choosing overly famous IPs, because the price they had to pay for such IPs was enormous. Take The Lord of the Rings, for example—the copyright costs had been astronomical from the first film onward.
They preferred rising properties. The adaptation fee was fixed, the downside was low enough, and even if the price rose later, the overall cost would not be too high.
The Hunger Games and Twilight had been selected based on that logic.
"Forget it, leave it to me. I'll negotiate for you." Seeing how slow Chen Yuanguang was in this regard, Lin Jia waved her little hand. "After that, you will only need to cooperate by accepting a few interviews.
"I am confident I can turn you into a famous scientist and writer with two blossoming careers, just like Teacher Liu."
Lin Jia suddenly turned serious. "Just don't be like those famous writers throughout history, flirting around everywhere. I cannot accept the person I invested in having moral flaws."
Chen Yuanguang felt inexplicably flustered. Being neighbors with a loli in another spacetime should not count, right?
Still, he pretended to be calm. "You know me. I just like staying home to read novels and play games. I have no other hobbies."
When he was with Lin Jia, Chen Yuanguang felt more relaxed than he ever had before. It felt like he had returned to his sophomore year, as though he had never received a time-travel helmet at all.
But happy times were brief. Before long, he officially began school.
"Light, I read the paper you published in Nature. I also had a brief conversation with Levitt about you over the phone. He thinks very highly of you and believes you are quite talented.
"Of course, I think so too. Judging from the paper alone, you have solid foundations in mathematics and programming, as well as good logical reasoning skills. Do you want to continue leveraging those strengths, or would you prefer to shore up some of your weaknesses?
"Let me briefly introduce some of the main projects I am currently working on, as well as some fields I have worked in before. I can provide you with guidance in all of those areas.
"This is what I have in mind. We will use roughly two months as a time frame.
"We will first choose a direction. Then I will find you some papers and books for self-study. If you have any questions, we will discuss them once a week on Thursday afternoons.
"After two months, we will settle on a topic and get to work."
Chen Yuanguang felt that Moungi Bawendi and Michael Levitt had completely different styles. Levitt gave off an elegant and scholarly air, while Bawendi was sharp.
"Alright, I think that works, but two months is a little too long. One month will be enough for me."
Bawendi sensed the confidence in him. "Hahaha, no problem. One month it is. Come find me anytime if you need anything.
"I'll tell you about the fields I have worked in first. Listen and see what you think."
After Bawendi gave him a general introduction, Chen Yuanguang presented the answer he had prepared long ago. "Perovskites."
Perovskites had been a major field of research over the past decade and were also one of Bawendi's primary research directions.
A vast number of research groups had poured manpower and resources into perovskites, conducting all kinds of experiments in an attempt to push their photoelectric conversion efficiency even higher.
The theoretical conversion-efficiency limit of Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells was only 29.4%, while perovskites had a theoretical limit of 50%. With the emergence of new materials and structures, that figure could rise even further.
Although perovskites had already become outdated technology four hundred years later, it was precisely because they were outdated that the technology was more likely to be put into practical use.
With other cutting-edge technologies, even if he brought them to the modern era, he would lack the supporting industrial supply chain. Theory alone would not let him build them.
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