Chapter 97

Before the Peugeot representative came to sign the contract, Lin Qiangsheng arrived at the embassy and found Song Hui. He suggested, "Deputy Governor Song, should we apply for a patent for our car factory's sedans abroad? This is a very important matter! Otherwise, after Peugeot buys our cars, they could easily replicate them!"

Song Hui widened his eyes in surprise and asked, "Is that possible?"

He then turned to look at the embassy's counselor, Liu, and asked, "Counselor Liu, you are in charge of the economy. Would the French replicate our sedans?"

Counselor Liu looked at Lin Qiangsheng and smiled, "Young man, you are overthinking it! The French automotive industry is very advanced. Why would they replicate our cars? Don't worry too much!"

Lin Qiangsheng carefully examined Counselor Liu and shook his head, saying, "I am not making this up. I think our car factory should be cautious! Take our Jetta, for example. The body design is much better than the cars on the market in Western Europe. Some of the designs are quite unique!"

He looked at Deputy Governor Song Hui and his father, Lin Xiangrong, and said, "We should apply for the relevant patents for the Jetta abroad. This way, if the French play any tricks, we can be prepared!"

Song Hui asked Lin Qiangsheng uncertainly, "Are you sure our sedans have advanced features? Do we really need to register any patents? Why would the French do such a despicable thing?"

Lin Xiangrong asked the group, "What exactly is this patent for the car?"

Song Hui waved his hand and said with a smile, "I know a bit about this. It's about the technology in our cars. Do you think our Jetta has anything that foreigners would want to replicate?"

Lin Xiangrong nodded and said, "That's true! We have even replicated foreign cars in our country, and nothing bad happened, right?"

Lin Qiangsheng said, "If the French replicate our Jetta, I think we will only have this batch of 20 cars for export! This will be our first and last batch of exported cars. After the French replicate them, they will no longer import our Jetta!"

Song Hui was surprised and said, "This is indeed a problem! If the French also make the Jetta, will they still need to import our cars?!"

Counselor Liu said with an uncertain expression, "Why would the French do such a thing? Don't make a big fuss over nothing!"

Lin Xiangrong immediately became unhappy and said in a low voice, "Why wouldn't the French replicate them? Can you guarantee they won't?"

Counselor Liu, in a hurry, slapped the table and shouted, "I have been abroad for many years. When have I ever seen foreigners break their word! They all adhere to the principle of contract!"

These diplomatic personnel, caught in the turmoil of the past decade, were afraid to return to China and could not. So they stayed abroad for a long time. The top leaders were still okay, but the middle and lower-level officials were very Westernized. They now looked down on the "country bumpkins" from China!

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and said, "You are right. We should also adhere to the principle of contract with the French. Since we are abroad, we should follow the rules here, don't you think?"

Counselor Liu gave Lin Qiangsheng a fierce look. He could clearly hear the sarcasm in Lin Qiangsheng's words. He couldn't help but think, these country bumpkins, who knows where they came from, making some cars, and treating them like treasures, afraid others might covet them!

Song Hui hesitated and asked Counselor Liu, "This patent registration, is it done abroad? Can't we do it in our country?"

Counselor Liu laughed mockingly and said, "Of course not. There is no place in our country to register patents. You can only register with foreign institutions! Let me tell you, the state will not pay for patent registration fees! There has never been such a precedent!"

This one sentence blocked the three of them. If there has never been such a precedent, it means it can't be done for their car factory now!

Song Hui and Lin Xiangrong looked at each other, and the three of them walked out of the office. Song Hui thought for a moment and said, "This patent issue seems quite important! If we sell the cars and the foreigners play tricks on us, and they replicate our cars, we will become a laughingstock! That would be a huge responsibility, and no one can bear it!"

Lin Xiangrong and Lin Qiangsheng both nodded in agreement.

Lin Xiangrong said, "Why don't you consult the provincial government and see what they think?"

Song Hui nodded and said, "That's the only way!"

Song Hui quickly contacted the domestic authorities. After several communications, Song Hui told Lin Xiangrong, "The provincial government's opinion is that your factory should handle it yourselves. Everyone is in a difficult situation now! The provincial government can't allocate the funds, and the finance bureau won't release the funds without a good reason!"

The Lin family father and son looked at each other and sighed helplessly.

Lin Qiangsheng thought about it and said, "What reason could there be to register a patent abroad? Just because of the Jetta from the car factory? The finance bureau would laugh at us. Get lost!"

The provincial government probably knew but didn't want to say it directly.

After a phone call, the problem was back in front of the Lin family. The two of them looked at each other, and Lin Qiangsheng sighed and said, "Then I will go and register the patent!"

Lin Xiangrong breathed a sigh of relief and patted his son's shoulder, saying, "Thanks, son! The country will see your contribution!"

Song Hui looked at the father and son, not quite understanding their conversation.

Lin Qiangsheng said to Deputy Governor Song Hui, "Please contact the provincial government and have the car factory send the technical data of the Jetta via international flight! The body design, parameters, power system, chassis, and so on. We need to see which parts can be patented!"

Song Hui nodded, understanding that the young Lin definitely had a way to register the patent. He patted Lin Qiangsheng's shoulder and said, "Young man, you are reliable in critical moments! Rest assured, the country will not let you down!"

Lin Qiangsheng chuckled and thought, "Of course there will be a return! The patent will belong to me once I register it! But the patent registration fee is very expensive! It looks like I will have to spend a lot of money again!"

After informing the provincial government to contact the car factory to send the Jetta's blueprints and related data via air freight, the three of them met the Peugeot representative, Leon, and his team at around ten o'clock.

Leon looked to be around 30 years old, with a stubble on his cheeks. He seemed somewhat shrewd and gave off a lazy, casual vibe.

Under the witness of Counselor Liu at the embassy, both parties signed the agreement. Peugeot would purchase 20 Jetta sedans from the H Province car factory.

The signing went very smoothly. Deputy Governor Song Hui, Lin Xiangrong, and Counselor Liu did not expect Peugeot to be so straightforward. They came, exchanged pleasantries, and then presented the prepared agreement, which the Chinese side reviewed and signed.

Lin Qiangsheng even quoted a price of $6,000 per car, and the French representative, Leon, did not haggle at all, agreeing very readily.

As both parties were about to leave the embassy, Leon turned and asked seemingly casually, "Who is the designer of the sedan?"

Counselor Liu relayed Leon's question to the Chinese trio.

Lin Xiangrong and Song Hui both looked at Lin Qiangsheng, and Leon immediately focused on this young man, who he had noticed was quite special.

Lin Qiangsheng said to Leon in English, "I designed the car."

Leon was surprised and smiled, "Really? Young man, you are amazing! I can't believe such a beautiful and simple body design came from your hands!"

Lin Qiangsheng said, "It's nothing."

Counselor Liu then said to Lin Qiangsheng in Chinese, "Don't discuss irrelevant matters with foreign guests!"

Lin Qiangsheng nodded and shook hands with Leon.

Leon, not minding that the Chinese embassy counselor was right there, smiled at Lin Qiangsheng and said, "Let's have a drink sometime!"

After seeing off the Peugeot team, Song Hui and Lin Xiangrong immediately became anxious, unable to believe that the car sale agreement was signed so easily.

Song Hui was silently calculating how much 6,000 dollars was in RMB. Lin Xiangrong kept muttering, "Our car factory can earn foreign exchange! 120,000 dollars!"

Song Hui laughed and said, "I never expected the French to sign the contract so easily! When I heard the price Lin quoted, I almost had a heart attack! I didn't expect the French not to haggle at all! Ha... Lin, did you overthink it? The French are so easy to deal with, how could they copy our cars?!"

Lin Qiangsheng nodded and said, "I hope I overthought it."

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