Chapter 500: Pleasant Cooperation (Patreon)

Transformers Begin : Table of Content/Chapter List

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Because he had made a prior phone call, when Sun Cheng arrived at South China University of Technology, President Shen Peiyuan had been waiting in his office for quite some time.

"President, it's been a while!"

Sun Cheng forced a smile onto his face. Perhaps due to spending too much time in the "Transformers Universe," his natural expressions had started to become more mechanical. Lately, he had been smiling less and less, to the point where even Ye Qi began to tease him about his "expressionless" and "emotionless" attributes.

"Well, well, if it isn't little Sun... You're quite a rare guest... Hehe, your company has been making quite a splash recently, haven't you?... Young people with determination..."

Shen Peiyuan invited him into his office with a smile. Though his words were ambiguous, Sun Cheng knew he was referring to Cybertron's acquisition of Panda Weiyun.

They had interacted a few times before and had some rapport.

Shen Peiyuan didn't treat him like an ordinary student. He took out a slightly smaller than adult-sized iron tin from a cabinet on the side of the office. "An old friend gifted this. It might not be as good as the premium stuff, but it's a top-grade pu-erh tea produced by a hundred-year-old tea tree... Wait a moment..."

Sun Cheng didn't understand tea tasting, but he wouldn't decline someone's kindness. He nodded and watched as Shen Peiyuan took a few minutes to boil a small pot of water using an electric kettle, then used a purple clay teapot to brew the tea and poured it into a purple clay cup before placing it in front of him.

"... When it comes to the art of tea in China, it's truly profound... For the majority, it takes a lifetime to truly grasp its essence... I'm just enjoying the trappings of culture..."

Raising the teacup, Shen Peiyuan brought it near his nose to catch a whiff of the tea's aroma. He took a small sip and then set the cup down, chuckling self-mockingly.

Sun Cheng was even less knowledgeable in this area. Having interacted with Shen Peiyuan more often, he knew that compared to this old fox who had been playing politics for half his life, he didn't stand a chance in terms of patience.

He had completely adapted to the Decepticon-style of communication by now, so taking a small sip that didn't reveal any sophistication from the tea, he placed the purple clay cup on the coffee table in front of him and went straight to the point.

"... I came to bother you today for a reason I believe you've already guessed... I previously mentioned the idea of establishing a laboratory affiliated with the school. I'm not sure what the school's stance on this matter is."

A few months ago, shortly after the establishment of Cybertron Technology, Sun Cheng had proposed the idea of establishing a laboratory affiliated with the school.

This kind of commercial laboratory affiliation with a university was a relatively common business model in the industry.

After all, laboratories were generally non-profit or research-oriented institutions, and they demanded high standards for research funds, personnel, and project durations. Except for government institutions and labs established by universities funded by the government, the vast majority of enterprises couldn't meet these three basic criteria.

However, affiliating a laboratory with South China University of Technology didn't mean that the laboratory would be under the university's management.

On the contrary, an affiliated laboratory was usually a cooperative entity. Prior to its establishment, the management, research funding allocation, staff treatment, and arrangements for the laboratory's future were all stipulated in the contract.

For example, Sun Cheng's desire to affiliate the "Intelligent Mechanics Laboratory" with South China University of Technology meant that he planned to cooperate with the university. The research funding, laboratory management, main research projects, and topics would all be overseen by Cybertron Technology.

Regarding staffing, both parties would allocate according to a proportion. Initially, South China University of Technology would provide the majority of the staff, but Cybertron Technology would gradually increase the number of researchers each year until they accounted for sixty percent.

South China University of Technology would assign professors, doctoral students, graduate students, and undergraduates to the laboratory to manage certain projects and topics. They would not only receive research development subsidies but also monthly compensation from the laboratory.

As for research results, South China University of Technology would only have the right to be named, while patents and profits would belong to Cybertron Technology.

Of course, this open intention to utilize South China University of Technology's research capabilities to expedite project and research proposals wasn't an easy matter to gain approval for from the higher-ups at the university.

After all, South China University of Technology was one of China's top engineering universities. It received substantial research funding and education subsidies from the national budget every year. There was no need to put their research capabilities up for sale.

To address this, Sun Cheng had offered two chips that South China University of Technology would find hard to refuse: a production process for large-capacity portable hard drives that he considered outdated, but was still about a generation ahead of most storage companies on the market, and a personal donation of a billion yuan to South China University of Technology.

With these conditions, along with the expanding scale and influence of Cybertron Technology over the past few months, Sun Cheng had no doubt about South China University of Technology's final decision. The only thing he was impatient about was when this cooperation would officially begin.

Sure enough, although Shen Peiyuan hadn't expected Sun Cheng to be so straightforward, bypassing pleasantries and immediately getting to the point, he soon gave an answer that greatly satisfied Sun Cheng: "... In principle, we have discussed your proposal to establish an affiliated laboratory during our meeting. Although there are still some differing opinions, the majority are in favor..."

He had finally given a positive answer, and a rare smile appeared on Sun Cheng's face.

"That's great... I'll arrange for our team to communicate with the university about the specific cooperation plan as soon as possible... Please also arrange for the necessary procedures for the establishment of the laboratory as soon as possible."

Shen Peiyuan was somewhat surprised. "Is it that urgent? I remember your company recently acquired Panda Weiyun. Shouldn't you be focusing more on the company in the near future? You probably won't have much energy to spare for the laboratory."

This was a doubt shared by many of South China University of Technology's upper management. After all, although the development of Cybertron Technology was rapid, it was still a newly established company that hadn't even been around for half a year.

Logically speaking, even if this startup happened to possess Core technology, secured significant venture capital early on, and achieved rapid profitability, reaching its current size and influence was already quite remarkable.

That was why Sun Cheng's persistent interest in leveraging South China University of Technology's research capabilities remained puzzling.

But Sun Cheng had prepared an answer for Shen Peiyuan's doubt long ago.

"... The outside world only sees our temporary success, but as the CEO and Chief Technical Officer of Cybertron Technology, I am more aware than anyone else that our storage technology is only barely a generation ahead of the three major storage giants in the United States... I can't be certain how long the market dividend of this temporary technological advantage will last, so the establishment of the laboratory is imminent..."

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Next Chapter >>Chapter 501: President's Assistant