Someone was willing to buy, so Ding Yun naturally wouldn't refuse.
Not long after, she had spent all the money she had saved from the past and the rewards given by the county school to create over a dozen storage orbs.
They were all sold at a price of one hundred thousand each.
The cost of each was less than ten thousand.
It seemed like a substantial profit, but this did not account for research and development costs, labor costs, or the cost of equipment and manufacturing. If all these were factored in, the selling price was a considerable loss.
However, apart from labor costs, all other costs were essentially zero for Ding Yun. Therefore, selling at this price was fine; making some profit was enough.
She was afraid of not being able to sell them if they were too expensive.
The national research institute didn't react until Ding Yun had sold everything. They sent people to verify the authenticity of the storage orbs and invited Ding Yun to join.
Initially, Ding Yun was quite interested.
However, after the conversation, she lost interest.
This was because they required Ding Yun's research achievements to belong to the institute after she joined. She would only have the right to be credited and receive rewards. They even stated that this was the rule in most research institutes, and for a private scientist like Ding Yun, without any high titles or academic qualifications, this was already considered preferential treatment.
If someone with no prior achievements joined the institute and successfully developed something using the institute's equipment and resources, then this requirement would undoubtedly be reasonable, as it would be considered work-related research.
But Ding Yun already had an achievement.
Her achievement could even be considered mature.
For them to still want to do this was clearly taking advantage of Ding Yun's young age, assuming she was naive and wanting to seize her current research achievements at the minimal cost.
Therefore, although Ding Yun did not confront them, she politely and tactfully declined their invitation. She immediately decided not to rely on any research institutes and that it was better to do everything herself. At most, she would accept financing and sponsorship.
But the control must remain in her own hands.
Meanwhile, those who had already purchased the storage orbs began to show them off. After all, such a novel item, purchased at such a high price, would be meaningless to keep and play with alone. Of course, they had to let others see it.
Showing off to others and demonstrating their unique foresight was the most satisfying and joyful thing.
So, those who were shy and embarrassed to reveal themselves.
Mostly just showed them off to their close friends and family.
Those who were more thick-skinned, or were streamers, directly started live broadcasts to attract fans.
And as the live broadcasts proved it,
Most people finally believed it was real. Those who were not short on money continuously messaged Ding Yun, or directly tagged Ding Yun in their posts, asking if there were any more items for sale. Some even went directly to those who had already bought the storage orbs, wanting to purchase them at a higher price, with the highest offer reaching five hundred thousand.
If not for the relatively limited functionality.
The inability to reduce weight, nor to organize, it was estimated that the price could have increased several times over.
Of course, besides private individuals buying out of curiosity, many research institutions and technology companies also wanted to purchase them. Their intentions were not as simple; they most likely wanted to crack the secret, or even to convert the technology for their own use and mass-produce it.
Unfortunately, this item could not be mass-produced. Even with the equipment in the system, it was impossible to achieve assembly-line mechanical production. Some of the processes had to be done manually. After all, if this thing could be mass-produced mechanically, what would be the point of learning?
They could directly put the corresponding program into an intelligent assembly line and have the equipment produce it in bulk!
So even though many people wanted to buy.
Ding Yun could not produce so many goods for the time being.
Therefore, she soon issued a public announcement.
"I can fully understand everyone's curiosity about a new technology, but this technology is inherently imperfect, and there are still many flaws that can be corrected.
I am selling a few experimental products this time.
The main purpose is to raise funds for further research.
So, those who want to buy do not need to rush. You can wait until I release products with better quality, more complete functions, and have eliminated some of the problems that many people currently consider to be trivial.
I believe this day will not be far off!"
Ding Yun's announcement did not make the dozen or so previous buyers feel dissatisfied. Instead, it made them even happier. At the same time, more people were willing to pay high prices, and the offers increased significantly.
Because in their opinion, Ding Yun's announcement clearly indicated that storage orbs would not be sold again in the short term. Therefore, the storage orbs sold now were limited editions, at least for the recent period.
Even if the product had flaws, the initial version was very precious. Not to mention whether there would be subsequent versions in the future, and if storage orbs truly became popular later on, even if the ones they bought now were the worst and most trivial quality, it would not hinder their potential future collector's value or commemorative value.
So, even though some people had offered prices of seven to eight hundred thousand, in the end, no one sold. After all, how could those who were willing to spend a hundred thousand yuan on storage orbs, while in a state of disbelief, be short of money to sell them?
Wouldn't it be better to keep them for collection and appreciation?
However, without the ability to continuously supply goods to maintain the hype, even though the storage orbs were truly magical, the related excitement quickly subsided and was replaced by other events.
Ding Yun also officially chose a university in her home province.
A university with a spatial physics major.
She chose this university not only because it was relatively close but most importantly because the university agreed not to interfere with her daily research, would grant convenience for leave of absence, and even allow her to use laboratories and graduate students at the university. The only requirements were that she include the university's name in her future publications and assist the university's graduate students.
By placing their names as second or third authors.
It would help them find jobs after graduation, etc.
It would also slightly improve the university's success rate.
These were all minor matters, so Ding Yun readily agreed and officially reached an understanding with the university.
Then, she naturally continued her research, continued to look for substitutes for various raw materials, and while researching and searching, she waited for the start of the semester.
To save trouble, Ding Yun did not go to various mines when looking for raw materials. She only went to geological museums, mineral museums, and similar places across the country. This way, although she still had to travel all over the country, at least she did not have to conduct on-site investigations.
So, overall, it saved a lot of time.
Ultimately, Ding Yun was very lucky. She successfully found all the substitute raw materials for the basic spirit balls a week before school started. Now, she only needed to manufacture them.