Chapter 47: Are You Willing to Take a Gamble?

Sharp-tongued and biting.

Lin Xu had actually never participated in any proper, formal business negotiations, so in his imagination, negotiations involving large amounts of capital should be high-end and serious.

They should feature business elites dressed in high-end, perfectly tailored suits and gold-rimmed glasses, sitting on opposite sides of a long negotiating table, engaging in a meticulous verbal duel with rigorous arguments and sharp language.

The tabletop should be piled high with thick documents, and the massive display screen should feature data charts and graphs.

A secretary should stand quietly to the side, ready to take notes on the opponent's missteps and whisper them into the boss's ear. Once the boss seized upon a vulnerability, they would deliver a fatal blow using a sophisticated script brimming with "statutory laws, business customs, and economic principles."

----However, reality turned out completely different from what he had imagined.

From the very beginning, the entire negotiation was filled with colorful language, with a frequency of profanity high enough to make Lin Xu think he was sitting at a late-night street food stall filled with drunken patrons.

Because it had been left untouched for too long, the large display screen had long since entered standby mode, mutely looping a commercial for men's hair-growth products.

The secretary did only two things.
Pouring tea.
And picking up the documents that the furious investor had hurled at Ren Jian's face.

".......You bloody old bastard, Ren!"
"No matter how you slice it, did you discuss this with us before making a decision?"
"We invested in you because we trusted you. Otherwise, why wouldn't we have invested in other peer companies in the domestic market?"
"Damn it, I saw your test boat was running well and thought you'd finally settled down and turned over a new leaf."
"And the moment I turn my head, you pull another stunt like this on me?!"
"Anyway, I'm not wasting any more breath on you today."
"Weren't you going to get into synthetic fibers and advanced materials?"
"Didn't you say you already had the technical documentation and were just waiting to put it into practice?"
"Bring that documentation out right now!"
"If you can't produce it, there's no point in discussing any further investment!"
"We can clearly see the financial state of your entire company right now—you've got less than 70 million in cash on the books. After paying salaries next month, how much will you even have left?"
"Who knows how many years it'll be before you actually turn a profit. If I don't invest, let's see who the hell else dares to invest in you!"

The investor, whose bald crown shone like a Mediterranean sea surrounded by a fringe of hair, fumed and raged, hurling curse words left and right, while Ren Jian remained as steadfast as a mountain.

"It is utterly impossible to produce the documentation. This document is extremely unique and possesses an exceptionally high degree of completeness."
"However, we haven't completed the actual trial production, nor have we applied for patents yet, so it's impossible to make it public in advance."
"So you don't have it?" the Mediterranean investor demanded.
"We have it, but we can't give it to you," Ren Jian replied with serene nonchalance.
"What if I insist on seeing it?"
"Finalize the letter of intent for the investment first."
"And what if I refuse to invest?"
"Then you don't get to see it."
"You damn... old bastard, are you playing the slippery rogue with me?!"

The Mediterranean investor slammed his hand on the table, stood up, pointed at the documents on the desk, and shouted:
"You expect to fob us off with just this little bit of stuff and swindle two hundred million out of us?"
"Do you take me for a child?"
"I am not swindling your capital."

Ren Jian remained unhurried and calm.
"The realization of this investment intent is based on your confidence in Test Number Three, and it has nothing to do with Sky Dome Technology's current acquisition actions."
"If you feel the conditions for investment have changed, then simply withdraw your capital."
"I never said you couldn't withdraw."

As soon as these words dropped, not only the investor opposite him, but even Lin Xu was utterly dumbfounded.

*Holy shit.*
If you talk like this, aren't you deliberately steering the conversation toward a total breakdown?
The investor threatens you, and you turn right around and threaten the investor back?
So this is supposed to be some kind of negotiation strategy?
Except... it didn't seem quite right.
Looking at the expression on Ren Jian's face, he really didn't look like he was faking it.
His gaze was incomparably resolute, and his posture was completely relaxed.
It was as if he genuinely didn't care about the two hundred million yuan investment sitting right in front of him, and didn't even want to fight for it at all.
The moment he sat there, the subtext radiating from him boiled down to a single sentence:
Take it or leave it.

Lin Xu figured that if he were sitting across from him, he probably would have been bluffed into submission.
But that Mediterranean investor refused to fall for it.
"Trying to bluff me, are you? Not investing?"
"Fine, if we don't invest, we don't invest!"
"Right now we only have a letter of intent anyway, and I'm walking away!"
"If you're so damn brilliant, go do it on your own. I'd love to see how long that pitiful bit of cash in your hands can keep you thrashing about!"

With that, the Mediterranean investor rose furiously, making a show of striding toward the door.
Ren Jian coughed lightly and spoke up.
"Wait."
The investor's stride faltered, and he stopped in his tracks. He turned his head and asked:
"Realized your mistake? Still want to talk?"
"If you want to talk, bring out the complete materials and let our experts take a look."
"I'll pretend what just happened never occurred, and I can give you one more chance!"
"No," Ren Jian shook his head. "It's *I* giving *you* one more chance."
"You simply have no idea how massive the profits would be if these two sets of materials could be scaled up to industrial manufacturing."
"If you don't understand, just ask the expert sitting next to you."
"Even if you don't understand, he certainly does."

The investor glanced at the middle-aged man wearing glasses beside him, who nodded slightly, clearly wishing to keep the negotiations alive.
Yet Ren Jian still refused to make any concessions.
"I'll say it again: we've already shown you the preliminary materials, and you should already have a fair estimation of their authenticity."
"If you want to invest and cooperate moving forward, you'll need to make your judgment based on that preliminary material."
"If you feel you're incapable of making that judgment..."
"Then I'll just go find an investor who knows what they're doing."
"......Damn it!"

Leaving behind a final curse, the Mediterranean investor pushed the door open and stormed out.
The expert he had brought along lingered in place looking somewhat helpless, until a moment later, he let out a sigh and hurried away after him.

Lin Xu, who hadn't gotten a single chance to speak from start to finish, finally stepped up to Ren Jian and asked:
"So... did our talks just completely fall apart?"
"That would be the case," Ren Jian nodded slightly.
"However, only the negotiations collapsed; we haven't collapsed."
"Don't worry, classmate Lin Xu."
"Even if you don't come up with a solution, I still have backup plans."
"Isn't it just about capital? Isn't it just about a factory?"
"This process documentation is already quite complete. Can we push through the patent process within a month?"
"If we can... then we won't seek outside investment."
"Bringing in too many investors will only make our equity structure more chaotic, and that's not something you guys... you wanted to see anyway, right?"
"So..."
"We might as well smash the cauldrons, sink the boats, and take a huge gamble!"
"Fifty million. For subsequent production, trial runs, new equipment procurement, and staff salaries, I'll budget another fifty million."
"One hundred million in total."
"I just happen to have an extra apartment I can sell."
"What do you say, classmate Lin Xu, are we doing this or not?"

As his voice trailed off, Lin Xu's brow furrowed.
To do it or not?
In truth, for him personally, acquiring the complete technical documentation posed zero difficulty and carried no risk of failure.
The greatest risks throughout the entire trial-production process lay in two aspects: acquiring the necessary equipment and hands-on execution.
Many of the advanced equipment pieces required in the workflow weren't easy to obtain, and the actual execution also demanded someone experienced and skilled to take the lead.
If these two bottlenecks couldn't be resolved, the progress of the trial production would be severely dragged down.
But...
With Xu Jin's connection, would it really be that difficult?

Lin Xu took a deep breath.
Decision made.
He looked up at Ren Jian and nodded firmly.
"We're doing it!"
"Furthermore, let's not aim for a month."
"Two weeks!"
"One week to secure the equipment and personnel, one week to complete the trial production, and simultaneously apply for the patent!"