Chapter 36: Press Conference
Jin Qiaoying left with a puzzled and resentful expression.
No matter how she pressed him, no matter how those long legs swayed, Fan Ren remained as unmoved as a meditating monk and refused to speak.
Over the next two days, Fan Ren unusually gave himself a break and returned to his residence far in the suburbs, returning the house he hadn’t visited in months.
He was alone, packed some personal items and directly stuffed them into the car’s trunk.
He wasn’t thinking about finding a place to stay for now; anyway, he had gotten used to living in the office during this time, so he’d stay there for the moment.
Time quickly arrived at the day of the press conference. Under the strong insistence of his little secretary Li Jia, Fan Ren temporarily changed into a suit.
At the press conference site, unlike the last high-pressure wireless charging pile launch which only had a few scattered self-media outlets.
Today, many mainstream media outlets arrived on site, as well as industry persons related to the battery domain who received invitations.
The venue had no special design. As time reached the appointed moment, Fan Ren walked straight to the center of the not-too-large stage.
After the venue lights briefly turned off, in the darkness, a spotlight came on. Under its illumination, Fan Ren held a silver-white rectangular body flat in his open palm.
At the same time, low murmurs of conversation arose throughout the venue.
Ma Gaosheng, seated in the front row, had a hint of doubt in his gaze, then looked toward Fan Ren.
“Please be quiet, everyone.”
Fan Ren noticed Ma Gaosheng directly in front of him, met his gaze, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.
“First, let me apologize to some friends present. Today is Xinghai Technology’s new product launch. It might differ somewhat from what you imagined. But no matter, I believe this new product from Xinghai will absolutely make the trip worthwhile for everyone here.”
As the words fell, a haze of bewilderment rose uncontrollably in Ma Gaosheng’s heart.
Not the public patent bidding he had imagined!
New product launch?
Ma Gaosheng’s mind raced, full of doubt.
His gaze followed the silver-white rectangular body in Fan Ren’s hand.
“Not long ago, I personally accidentally discovered a special biological bone extract. After multiple tests, I was surprised to find that the ionic conductivity of this biological bone extract was far higher than that of traditional liquid electrolytes.”
Jin Qiaoying was also at the site today. Hearing this, shock gradually appeared in her beautiful eyes.
She knew what ionic conductivity meant, because San Xin Group also had considerable scale in lithium batteries.
“We all know that currently, in various application domains, liquid lithium batteries dominate absolute market share. They perform well in practicality, but undeniably have many drawbacks.”
Fan Ren paused. The next words might offend people, but in a brief moment, he cast aside those concerns.
“For example, safety, lifespan, operating environment, integration management difficulties, etc. These are very significant drawbacks. No need to deny it; I believe on this point, whether related practitioners or consumers hold the same view.
Sorry, thank you all for allowing me to ‘speak boldly’ here. Please look at this rectangular body in my hand.”
He could clearly see that some industry persons in the front row now had obviously unfriendly expressions.
Fan Ren took a deep breath and stopped beating around the bush.
“This is a solid-state battery made by using the biological bone extract I just mentioned, replacing the liquid lithium electrolyte.”
As the words fell, low buzzing conversations uncontrollably arose in the venue.
Solid-state batteries are not some emerging product; for example, number 5 and number 7 batteries belong to this category in a certain sense.
But Fan Ren clearly wouldn’t bring out such a thoroughly researched product at this time just to fool everyone.
“Look at a set of data!”
Fan Ren slightly raised his voice, suppressing the venue’s clamor. Then, the large screen behind him lit up, and sets of data comparisons appeared on the screen.
“After rigorous testing, this solid-state battery incorporating the biological bone extract compares to the current market’s most advanced liquid lithium battery data as follows.”
Energy density 1000wh/kg, 250% higher under the same volume.
Charge-discharge speed improved by 30%.
Battery lifespan estimated to degrade only 5% over 30 years.
Under extreme low-temperature conditions, battery degradation is 0%.
The entire venue was deathly silent.
“Impossible, absolutely impossible!”
Ma Gaosheng shouted shrilly. The composure he had maintained vanished the moment he heard these.
Fan Ren’s gaze swept over, and he smiled faintly: “Manager Ma, do you think Xinghai invited so many media friends, plus many relevant industry persons and bosses from several enterprises, just to fake things in this setting?”
“I…”
“Alright, Manager Ma, please sit down. No need to worry; testing equipment is prepared on site. Speaking of which, I must mention the many conveniences high-pressure wireless charging brings to our current lives.”
As Fan Ren spoke, Zeng Yingying pushed the testing equipment already prepared backstage onto the stage.
He nodded lightly in thanks, turned to the audience below: “Next, I will perform a series of data tests on this solid-state battery. I believe the industry persons present are very familiar with this testing equipment, so I won’t introduce it further.”
With that, Fan Ren placed the solid-state battery that had drawn everyone’s gaze into the testing equipment and lightly pressed the switch button with his finger.
Everyone in the venue fell silent again with his action, all eyes turning to the numbers projected on the large screen.
“So fast!”
“If it’s really the data General Manager Fan mentioned, this charging speed is indeed no issue.”
“Not only that, if the data isn’t faked, this battery’s volume compared to equivalent lithium batteries indeed has over twice the energy density.”
Discussions arose again in the venue. This time Fan Ren didn’t speak to quiet them; he turned his gaze to Ma Gaosheng in the very front.
At this moment, his face was as white as it could be.
‘Old thing.’
Fan Ren muttered, then stopped the testing equipment, pressing his hands slightly downward, and the venue quieted accordingly.
“The data doesn’t lie. Today, we will provide a small-capacity solid-state battery for free to friends present. Here I declare, the battery is only for testing use.”
Pausing, Fan Ren waved toward the back.
“Next, Xinghai Vice President Liu Jun will introduce the selling price of this product and related cooperation methods afterward.”
With that, Liu Jun from backstage walked onto the stage with an excited face, nodding slightly to Fan Ren as they passed shoulder to shoulder.
Fan Ren had made a good start; the rest was up to him.
On some future day, someone’s memoir would read: “At first, when we received the invitation letter, most people went to the event with a mindset of watching a joke. But only afterward did we realize that we ourselves were the joke.”
Fan Ren didn’t go backstage but instead walked to the front row and sat down.
To his left was Ma Gaosheng; this was a seat he had deliberately requested to leave empty.
“General Manager Ma, what do you think? Any comments on our Xinghai product’s? Oh, by the way, the related patents were already applied for earlier. Also, all processes for the battery and other new materials used have been patented by Xinghai in advance.”
Ma Gaosheng’s face had no color, his gaze fixed on Liu Jun on stage, who was animatedly introducing the countless advantages of the solid-state battery.
Fan Ren smacked his lips, thought for a moment, then continued apologetically.
“Oh, really sorry, I forgot that Deli Electric Power’s main business is in lithium batteries. As a latecomer, General Manager Ma, if you have any thoughts, please don’t hesitate to advise.”
“Pfft, General Manager Fan, that’s enough. If you keep going, General Manager Ma… General Manager Ma? General Manager Ma! Oh no, General Manager Ma has fainted! Quick, call an ambulance.”
To Fan Ren’s right, Jin Qiaoying’s face went from scoffing to shocked in the span of one sentence.
