"Mr. Huang... what do you mean by this?" If outsiders heard Mr. Huang's words, they should have been overjoyed. But this old man was not foolish. His rich life experience in this world told him that there was never a free lunch; everything came at a price.
Huang He had voluntarily set the conditions to this extent. An investment of 10 billion RMB could not possibly be just for the renovation of three airplanes. This was absolutely impossible!
Therefore, Huang He must have had some ulterior motive.
"I mean nothing. Can you allocate about 40% of your aircraft company's shares to me?" Huang He said with a smile. "I won't negotiate; I just want 40%. You can discuss the rest among yourselves!"
"Really!" The elder was even more shocked. It wasn't that the condition was too harsh; on the contrary, it was too generous.
Their Jiujiu Aviation was essentially a shell company. Although they had veterans, engineers, and technical authorization, these things were actually worthless. This was because the entire large aircraft market was dominated by Boeing and Airbus. For other companies to develop large aircraft, it was virtually impossible to surpass the technology of these two giants in a lifetime.
Therefore, even though their company possessed a lot of large aircraft technology, they had no opportunity to make money. After all, it would likely take decades just to build an airplane.
Moreover, the manufacturing of large aircraft was by no means achievable with 10 billion RMB. It might require hundreds of billions of RMB in investment, with no guarantee of success. Therefore, the old man had always understood that no one in China would invest in large aircraft. He couldn't secure legitimate investment, so he intended to take the opportunity to modify airplanes for Mr. Huang to earn some money while slowly working on it himself.
But he never expected that the 10 billion would be directly thrown at them.
Furthermore, the fact that this 10 billion only required 40% of the shares was even more incomprehensible. In the elder's opinion, 10 billion RMB was enough to acquire all the shares of the entire company, with plenty to spare. Who could have imagined that Huang He would only want 40%? It was incomprehensible. Was Huang He truly a heaven-sent benefactor?
So, the elder stared intently at Huang He, trying to discern the true intentions in the heart of this richest man in China.
"Old senior, please don't look at me like that; there's nothing on my face!" Huang He couldn't help but laugh. "I know what you're thinking. 40% is a bit little. But you are building airplanes, and this is by no means something that Jiangnan Group can undertake alone. It requires the help of countless forces. The remaining 60% of the shares are for seeking help from others!"
"Also, if Jiujiu Aviation can truly build our own large aircraft, then this will be a national treasure. It's better to let the country guard it. I won't overstep; I'll be content with earning some dividends and a good reputation from behind the scenes!"
"So that's how it is..." The old man understood Huang He's meaning and couldn't help but sigh. This Boss Huang was truly insightful and saw things clearly.
However, the old man also thought Boss Huang was foolish, so he couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Huang, do you really believe we can build our own large aircraft?"
"Of course, I believe it!" Huang He nodded vigorously. "How can such a vast China not have its own large aircraft? So, in the future, we will definitely have our own large aircraft. This is beyond doubt. The only question is time, perhaps ten years, perhaps twenty years, thirty years, or even fifty years! But we will eventually have it!"
"But all these things must ultimately be accomplished by people. If others are unwilling to do it, then I will!"
"Anyway, I'm already building vacuum trains. This thing is even more difficult than your large aircraft, so I don't mind adding another large aircraft!"
"Yes!" The elder's heart was stirred. Hadn't he also been expecting this? He had never imagined that one day he would have such a meeting of minds with a young man!
The elder even felt as if he were about to faint... and then he truly fainted and was rushed to the hospital.
"I never thought, Boss, that you would actually do such thankless work!" Hu Jing suddenly exclaimed after the old man was sent to the hospital.
"How is it thankless? If this succeeds, then I, Huang He, will also be recorded in history!" Boss Huang said with a smile.
"But one Huang He Award has already made you historically famous," Hu Jing said faintly.
"Can't I just leave behind more names?" Boss Huang grumbled. "Actually, this money isn't spent in vain. I haven't finished spending the 60 billion I borrowed a few years ago. And there are countless eyes watching this money, so I don't dare to use it for normal company operations."
"It's better to allocate some of it to large aircraft, then those eyes will have nothing to say!"
"..." Hu Jing was taken aback, then said, "But Boss, aren't we supposed to repay this 60 billion?"
"We'll do it year by year; no rush!" Huang He grinned.
The rest of the matters are not worth mentioning. Huang He would naturally send people to negotiate with the elder regarding the equity and future development of Jiujiu Aviation. At the same time, this matter also involved many greater aspects, and Huang He had to personally coordinate these matters.
Of course, Boss Huang did not gain nothing. A year later, a calligraphy scroll appeared in Boss Huang's home, hung on the wall of his study. However, no outsider had ever entered this study, and even the cleaning was done by Boss Huang himself.
During the following period, Huang He basically lived a life of retirement in the country. The company's various businesses were all on track. Boss Huang only needed to work for about two to three hours a day at the company, and the days passed leisurely until June, when Boss Huang received a special invitation to attend the Galaxy Award ceremony.
— — —
"Little Chen, have all those big shots agreed to attend our award ceremony?" In an office at "Science Fiction World," which also served as the Galaxy Award committee office, the chairman of the organizing committee, and editor-in-chief of "Science Fiction World," Qin Li, asked.
"Everyone who should have replied has replied. Those who shouldn't have will basically ignore us!" Little Chen said expressionlessly.
"What do you mean by 'shouldn't have'? Anyone we invite should attend!" Qin Li said with dissatisfaction.
"Editor-in-chief, you were parachuted in this year, so you might not be aware of the situation with our Galaxy Award. Our award is basically just an event for insiders to liven things up. People outside the circle generally don't care about us. At most, through the Galaxy Award, they know that China's science fiction scene is not dead!" Little Chen said with a bitter smile.
"Are we that miserable?" Qin Li was startled. "The US science fiction scene has always been very hot; it's the most popular genre in the entire literary world. Why are we just entertaining ourselves here?"
"I don't know about that. Anyway, we're just entertaining ourselves!" Little Chen said irritably.
"Science Fiction World" can be said to be the oldest science fiction magazine in China, and also the only science fiction novel that has survived to this day. The science fiction magazines that were contemporaries of "Science Fiction World" have basically all died out, leaving only "Science Fiction World" as the sole survivor.
The Galaxy Award is also the only science fiction award in China that can be named. The award was originally jointly organized by "Science Fiction World" and "Wisdom Tree." However, later "Wisdom Tree" couldn't sustain itself and ceased publication, so the Galaxy Award became an award organized solely by "Science Fiction World."
This is a rather dire situation in the world, as other foreign science fiction awards are quite popular, such as Japan's Nebula Award and the US's Hugo Award. These are all renowned science fiction awards worldwide, second only to the Nobel Prize in Literature. Writers who receive these two awards can basically become famous abroad and become sought-after, popular writers. At the same time, their works will become widely known and sell out.
In contrast, the domestic Galaxy Award, as Little Chen himself said, is an internal event for the circle. Only people from the circle participate, only people from the circle win, and only people from the circle attend. The final list is not disseminated outside the circle. In other words, only people within the circle care about it; others have no idea that such a thing as the Galaxy Award even exists.
This is not to say that people in China's science fiction circle are insular and cannot tolerate outsiders. On the contrary, the Galaxy Award has made every effort to break out of its niche, but it has been useless. The Chinese public seems to have no interest in science fiction works. The previous editor-in-chief of "Science Fiction World" had decided to spend several million RMB to promote the Galaxy Award and science fiction works to a wider audience. However, due to the lack of results, he was dismissed. Thus, the current editor-in-chief, Qin Li, a prominent figure in the science fiction community who returned from the United States, was appointed.
However, Editor-in-chief Qin Li is not very familiar with the domestic ecosystem. Therefore, upon hearing Little Chen's pessimistic attitude, she immediately said, "No, we can't continue to be so dispirited. Otherwise, China's science fiction culture will be completely extinguished. This time, we must invite some guests who can make headlines. I will also use some connections to let at least some Chinese people know that there is such an award as the Galaxy Award in this world!"
"Yes, but the problem is, if we invite people from outside the circle, they won't come either!!" Little Chen pouted. The "Science Fiction World" magazine office is a public institution, so as long as he doesn't make mistakes, no one can fire him, and he doesn't need to flatter anyone, even the editor-in-chief.
"How do we know if we don't try!" Qin Li said without hesitation. "How about this, let's start by looking among our readers. Do you know anyone famous among our readers? We can directly send them an invitation!"
"I don't know. Who knows who our readers are? Although some celebrities say they are our readers, those are just polite remarks..." Little Chen said.
"We have the voting letters!" Qin Li pondered for a moment, then slapped the table excitedly. "Doesn't the Galaxy Award allow all readers to vote? Readers must write to us to vote. Let's find all the envelopes and see if there are any famous people among these readers!"