Chapter 374: All-round Rumors
"Shocked! Xiaguo's technology leads the world in this field."
"A huge earthquake in the floppy disk industry! A young man from Xia Country broke the foreign monopoly!"
Overnight, many domestic media outlets reported that Lu Yiming had invented the USB flash drive and obtained a patent certificate from the United States.
In the 1990s, "breaking foreign monopoly" and "leading the world" were high-frequency keywords. In an era when national self-confidence was seriously lacking and various public intellectuals who had received dog food were taking advantage of the situation to confuse the public, such words seemed very inspiring.
Ours is a very demanding nation. "Being number one" seems to be something engraved in everyone's bones. In any field, it seems that no one will be satisfied unless they strive to be number one, and relevant workers will be criticized and scolded.
Likewise, our nation is very tolerant towards its people and is delighted, gratified and proud of their achievements.
Lu Yiming led the little-known Mingyuan Technology to create such a groundbreaking product. Naturally, the media and the people would not be stingy with their praise, and various titles such as "national entrepreneur" came pouring in.
After the news was published, even the exhibition officials praised Mingyuan Technology, saying that the USB flash drive was the first dark horse of this electronics expo, with a single-day sales volume exceeding 50 million, which surprised many people.
Mingyuan Technology, Chairman’s Office.
Zheng Youyuan had been laughing for two hours with the newspaper in his hand, and the corners of his mouth were almost split.
On the desk in front of him were piled more than twenty newspapers that his secretary had just bought.
He read all the news about Mingyuan Technology and USB flash drives.
At his level, money is no longer his goal. Although it is not enough to secure his position as the richest man, it is enough for him to live a luxurious life for the rest of his life.
To him, fame is naturally more important than money.
Lu Yiming sat on the sofa and drank tea leisurely. Seeing Zheng Youyuan happy like a child, he smiled and asked, "How does it feel to be famous?"
Zheng Youyuan said excitedly: "It's great, it's really great."
He has actually made a lot of money from OEM over the years, but in terms of social status, it is not that high. As for fame, few people outside Baiyun City know him.
But now it is different. As a major shareholder of Mingyuan Technology, relying on its flagship product, the USB flash drive, his name has begun to spread across the country. Even some foreigners are now interested in Mingyuan Technology and want to invest in it.
He had never dared to think of such a thing before.
Lu Yiming said seriously: "Okay, remember this feeling, this is the power of originality, this is the power of scientific research. Mingyuan Technology must take this path, not only to walk through it, but also to walk it well, and to create a broad and wide road to heaven!"
Zheng Youyuan said cheerfully, "Of course."
Although he agreed readily, Lu Yiming also knew that this was because Mingyuan Technology was a big hit and made money from USB flash drives. If he was asked to invest a large amount of money in research and development in the future, he might not be so bold.
Therefore, this is also the reason why Lu Yiming must keep the scientific research power in his own hands.
If Zheng Youyuan is really willing to do scientific research seriously, then everyone will be happy. If Zheng Youyuan wants to go the route of trade, industry and technology, Lu Yiming will not hesitate to take away all the scientific research forces, leaving Mingyuan Technology as an empty shell.
Seeing Zheng Youyuan getting carried away, Lu Yiming had to remind him: "The next year is crucial for the development of Mingyuan Technology. Although the sales of USB flash drives are very hot now, and even triggered a wave that swept the entire electronics market, it will also bring a fatal trouble."
Zheng Youyuan said nonchalantly, "What kind of trouble can this cause? Don't you have the patent for the USB flash drive?"
Lu Yiming sneered and said, "Invention patent? The copycats don't care whether you have a patent or not."
As soon as Lu Yiming said the word "copycat", Zheng Youyuan's face changed immediately.
It is true that he does processing of materials supplied by clients, but who among those who run a factory these days doesn’t do some private work?
The problem of counterfeiting is so common in Xia Country that any company will have a headache if they encounter such a thing.
Even powerful foreign companies can't do anything about Xia's counterfeit products.
Lu Yiming went on to say, "I estimate that after the Chinese New Year, counterfeit products will appear on the market. So before that, we need to speed up production and try to sell more products."
Zheng Youyuan was a little worried and said, "If we blindly expand production capacity, will there be a risk of backlog?"
Although he runs an electronics factory, Zheng Youyuan is essentially a businessman, so he is more concerned about business matters. Since the counterfeit products will appear after the Chinese New Year at the latest, if he expands production capacity now, the goods will be piled up, the funds will not be recovered in time, and the capital chain will be broken. Not only will Mingyuan Technology be in trouble, but his Youyuan Electronics Factory will also be ruined.
Lu Yiming said: "That's why I said we should ship as soon as possible. We should sell as many as we can. Later, we should keep upgrading to maintain Mingyuan Technology's leading position in the industry. While making money, we can also build our brand image in the book and let everyone know that when it comes to USB flash drives, we are the authentic ones."
Zheng Youyuan finally felt relieved, mainly because this business model that relied on creativity and innovation was too unfamiliar to him.
The processing businesses he had previously run were all about finding ways to lower costs, improve efficiency, and then snatch orders by offering lower quotes.
As for customer feedback, product updates, or good after-sales service , he is not good at all.
…
Deng Guoshun arrived at Baiyun Airport by plane. After stepping on the solid land, he was full of energy and confidence.
Because this time, he is not fighting alone, but representing the Amon Company.
Deng Guoshun, who has worked in foreign companies for many years, is well aware of the importance of patents. Therefore, he had already conducted a thorough investigation into the patent registration information for USB flash drives. After learning that Mingyuan Technology had registered more than 200 related patents around the USB flash drive product, he immediately gave up the idea of registering the patent and instead planned to take a roundabout approach.
…
Mingyuan Technology.
Lu Yiming, who had just finished school, hurried over.
In the office, Zheng Youyuan saw Lu Yiming, and pushed a stack of newspapers in front of Lu Yiming, saying to him, "Take a look at this."
"What is it?"
When Lu Yiming took the newspaper, he saw a shocking headline written in thick bold font on the front page.
“Is the birth of the USB flash drive a technological advancement or a shameless plagiarism?”
Although there is a question mark in the title, the article actually lists the OEM companies that Zheng Youyuan founded before. The text misleads readers in various ways, saying that how can a boss who runs an OEM company and has no experience in independent research and development suddenly innovate and come up with a mature electronic product?
Is there something fishy going on here?
After that, the news mentioned the Israeli private company Ammon Systems, saying that Mr. Dov Ammon was the pioneer of flash drive technology and had deep technical background in this field.
The implicit meaning of the words is to question whether Mingyuan Technology has plagiarized Aimon's flash drive technology.
This accusation is quite serious. After all, the reason why Mingyuan Technology is now attracting attention from all parties and has a valuation of up to 10 billion is not only due to the USB flash drive, but also to Mingyuan Technology’s own business philosophy.
The higher you stand, the more painful it will be when you fall.
Zheng Youyuan was very anxious. He had just been happy for two days, how come such a thing happened out of nowhere?
"Here, and here, more than a dozen newspapers and magazines have published this article. Mr. Lu, how do you think we should respond?"
When it comes to media warfare, bickering, and spitting dirt, Lu Yiming has seen too much of it. With Weibo in one hand and Zhihu in the other, he is familiar with all kinds of plots. As soon as he saw this situation, he knew that Mingyuan Technology was most likely being targeted by that wealthy boss or powerful person.
"This is clearly an organized and premeditated plagiarism. I don't know which wealthy boss is so bold as to deal with so many media outlets at once, many of which are even industry authorities."
Zheng Youyuan frowned and said, "Yes, this is putting us on the spotlight. It seems that we have been too prominent these days and some people can't stand it. But we didn't plagiarize, and the patent certificate is still there. Mr. Lu, do you want to publish the patent certificate? If they still dare to question it, they are questioning the professionalism of the patent agency. Then we can sue them."
Lu Yiming sneered, "How boring is that? Let the bullets continue to fly for a while. Ignore these things for now and wait and see for two days."
"All right."
Although he didn't know what Lu Yiming wanted to do, Zheng Youyuan had no better idea and could only agree.
Two days later, Zheng Youyuan suddenly called Lu Yiming.
"Mr. Lu, Turkey TV released an interview video about Mingyuan Technology today. I have recorded it. Do you want to come and take a look?"
After hearing this, Lu Yiming suddenly felt annoyed.
It seems that this opponent will not give up until Mingyuan Technology is destroyed. Not only magazines and newspapers have come forward, but now even talk shows have been used.
"Okay, I'll go check it out after school."
After school at noon, Lu Yiming came to Mingyuan Technology, and Zheng Youyuan played the interview footage in the multimedia conference room.
The program is the famous "Lu Yu Interview", and the guest of the interview program is Deng Guoshun.
On the screen, Deng Guoshun sat in front of the host Lu Yu, talking freely and calmly.
Lu Yu held the microphone and asked him, "You said you were the first person to come up with the idea of the USB flash drive, right?"
Deng Guoshun nodded and said, "Yes, I started to conceive this project a year ago. At that time, I was working in Aztecs, a large multimedia company in Singapore, mainly responsible for product sales and management."
Lu Yu looked surprised and praised, "These days, those who can enter foreign companies and work abroad are all excellent talents."
Deng Guoshun said modestly: "I just worked hard enough and happened to have a little bit of talent."
Lu Yu asked Deng Guoshun: "How did you come up with the idea of making a USB flash drive?"
Deng Guoshun started talking: "The weather in Singapore is similar to that in Guangdong Province, hot and humid. This means that if the floppy disk is not stored properly, it is easy to get damp and short-circuit, making it unusable. In my opinion, the floppy disk is large in size and not very light in weight, so it is not very convenient to hold it. So I was very distressed at the time, thinking that I must improve this situation, and gradually I came up with this idea."
Lu Yu: "I see. It seems that Mr. Deng is not only knowledgeable and talented, but also thoughtful and good at observing small details in life. What happened next? Did you start researching and developing USB flash drives?"
Deng Guoshun: "When I was working at Aztecs, one of my roommates happened to be from the same hometown as me. His name was Cheng Xiaohua. He was older than me. When I was admitted to university, he was already a graduate student at the Xiake Institute. But coincidentally, we participated in the recruitment of Aztecs together and lived in the same dormitory, so naturally became familiar with each other."
Lu Yu: “I see.”
Then, Deng Guoshun's tone became fierce: "At that time, I felt that my own efforts would not be enough, so I told Cheng Xiaohua about the idea of making a USB flash drive and asked him to join the research. But what I didn't expect was that my sincerity was exchanged for shameless betrayal."
Seeing this, everyone in the multimedia conference room turned their eyes to Cheng Xiaohua.
Cheng Xiaohua, who was stunned watching the talk show, was very depressed : "Isn't he talking nonsense? Although I know him, yes, but the problem is that we just met not long ago!"
The interview continues.
Facing the emotional Deng Guoshun, Lu Yu asked, "What happened?"
Deng Guoshun said indignantly: "I had just set up a new company in Singapore and was planning to work with Mr. Aimon to complete the research and development of the USB flash drive, but Cheng Xiaohua stole the research data at a critical moment. After returning to China, he joined a private company called Mingyuan Technology and produced a finished USB flash drive in less than a month. He also registered the patent, which made the efforts of Mr. Aimon and me go to waste."
Lu Yu showed an expression of disbelief: "Really? There is actually such a person! Isn't this too shameless? He is simply the black sheep in the field of scientific research in our Xia country!"
The interview program was still going on, but Cheng Xiaohua couldn't sit still. His face turned red and he yelled, "We only met once! He never told me about the USB flash drive, and I never worked in that company, let alone stealing information."
Lu Yiming comforted him and said, "We all know that this guy is just talking nonsense. Don't get excited. Others don't know how USB flash drives are made, but don't I know it?"
Cheng Xiaohua said indignantly: "This is too shameless, blatantly spreading rumors!"
Zheng Youyuan sighed and said, "Whether or not it's a rumor is not important. What's important is the direction of public opinion. We at Mingyuan Technology are in trouble now."
Although Mingyuan Technology has already applied for a patent, the key is that viewers who have watched the news may not necessarily believe it. The main reason is that Deng Guoshun’s resume is too impressive, and behind him, there are foreign companies such as Aimon Company to support him. Given the current inferiority complex of Chinese people in science and technology, they will naturally tend to believe that USB flash drives were invented by foreigners and Mingyuan Technology is a complete plagiarist.
