Chapter 21

In the early morning, during breakfast time.

Sitting in his usual spot, John ate the white bread as if it were wax, occasionally sipping plain water to wash it down.

Recently, he had been drinking less coffee.

Although old Hunter didn't have this concept, John was well aware that drinking too much coffee at his current "age" wasn't a good thing. However, he couldn't accept drinking tea in the morning, and he was also worried about the quality of milk in New York. In the end, he could only drink plain water.

"Should I tell the chef to cook me a bowl of porridge every day?"

Swallowing a mouthful of food with effort, John's thoughts began to wander as usual: "The old man's teeth don't seem to be very good. What if he also likes porridge? If I try it, maybe I can convince him to hire a Chinese chef to make baozi and youtiao every morning..."

"John."

Just as John was fantasizing about baozi and soy milk while trying to nourish his body, which was in the midst of puberty, old Hunter, after finishing a small pancake, suddenly spoke: "I heard that you and Emma from the Stone family have been exchanging letters frequently lately, is that true?"

"Ah? Oh, yes."

Slightly surprised by old Hunter's question, John hesitated for a moment before nodding in response.

"What do you talk about?"

Tearing off a piece of white bread, old Hunter seemed to ask casually.

"Well..."

John was startled and quickly smiled, saying: "Mainly about Latin and the electric light experiments. Miss Stone seems very interested in both."

"Is that so?"

Repeating the question lightly, old Hunter narrowed his eyes slightly, neither confirming nor denying.

"Yes, that's right."

John's heart pounded a few times, and he nodded calmly: "Miss Stone is very curious, and because my experiments have made some progress recently, she has been very attentive, so the letters have been more frequent."

"What did you just say?"

Sure enough, after John dropped a "bomb," he successfully drew old Hunter's attention. He tilted his head and asked in surprise: "The electric light experiment has made progress?"

As John's sponsor, old Hunter naturally paid attention to the progress of the laboratory from time to time. He had even gone in to take a look when John lit the first electric light. However, due to John's careful design, the first few light bulbs could only last for a few dozen hours, not much different from Edison's invention, so old Hunter basically stopped paying attention. He allowed John to spend money on these things mainly to cultivate him, without much hope of success.

So now, hearing John's words, old Hunter was somewhat surprised.

"The time is about right..."

After a brief calculation in his mind, John smiled and nodded: "There has been significant progress. A week ago, I made a filament from a certain material, and it's still lit."

"What do you mean?"

Hearing this, old Hunter's face showed a slight confusion.

Shaking his head helplessly, John began to explain to his grandfather, who hadn't quite grasped the situation: "Let me put it this way. You know that the biggest obstacle to Mr. Edison's electric light being put into practical use is the short lifespan of the bulb! The price of a single bulb is at least several cents... In fact, based on my understanding over the past period, even with mass production, the manufacturing cost is at least one dollar, and the price will be quite high. However, its lifespan is at most a few dozen hours, and the brightness decreases sharply over time. Do you think such a product has commercial value?"

"Definitely not!"

Without hesitation, old Hunter said firmly.

As a successful businessman, old Hunter understood the market very well and knew that for a non-essential item like an electric light, such a price was absolutely unacceptable to ordinary people. Moreover, in addition to buying the light, one would also need to pay for electricity, which was another expense!

Thinking of this, old Hunter's eyes suddenly lit up. He stared at John intently and asked urgently: "John, the electric light you mentioned... what is its current lifespan?"

"It has been lit for 150 hours!"

Grinning, John could no longer hide the joy he had been harboring for a while, which was clearly visible to old Hunter. He could already see the great inventor Edison standing before him, handing over two thousand green dollars...

That was two thousand dollars!

If Edison was willing to pay him two thousand dollars for this material, he would really be rich. After all, even a hundred years later, two thousand dollars was not a small amount, let alone in an era when a meal cost just a few cents and a house could be bought for a few hundred dollars.

John had been looking forward to his first pot of gold after his rebirth!

"So you succeeded?!"

With a thud, old Hunter stood up from his chair, his eyes wide with disbelief. He knew his grandson was outstanding and understood that John took this matter very seriously and worked very hard, but he never imagined that the boy would actually succeed!

And so quickly!

John nodded and said happily: "Although the test isn't complete, it has been lit for a week, over a hundred hours, and the brightness has only slightly decreased. So, based on my estimation, its lifespan could be over 500 hours..."

"What is the cost per unit?"

Before John could finish, old Hunter interrupted him and asked in a serious tone.

"Four dollars!"

Understanding old Hunter's meaning, John answered without hesitation.

Hearing this astonishing figure, old Hunter didn't panic. He just frowned and began to calculate in his mind. As a seasoned businessman, although he hadn't run a factory, he was familiar with the industry and quickly had a preliminary estimate of the true cost of the light bulb: "Even if produced by Edison's factory, it would be..."

There was no need to hide anything from his grandson, so old Hunter's face showed disappointment.

At such a price, only people of his wealth or luxury hotels and public places could afford it. Even government employees with decent incomes would find it very difficult.

"The cost can be reduced."

Seemingly sensing his grandfather's disappointment, John paused for a moment and then said: "Technological progress comes from human ingenuity, and as long as time and money are invested in research, I believe it won't take long to reduce the cost to a level that ordinary people can afford."

This wasn't just empty talk. Historically, Edison had indeed achieved this quickly, otherwise, the United States wouldn't have entered the electrical age so soon.

Hearing John's words, old Hunter pondered for a moment and then slowly shook his head: "The problem is, even if the cost is halved, it still can't compete with existing lighting methods, let alone when you add the cost of electricity..."

"Like how the carriage drivers mocked the trains back then?"

Raising an eyebrow, John asked lightly.

"Hmm?"

Old Hunter was first taken aback, then laughed.

When trains were first invented, they were very slow and were mocked by many carriage drivers. However, over time, trains became faster and had greater capacity, and their importance far surpassed that of carriages. Even old Hunter, who insisted on taking a carriage to New Jersey, couldn't deny this.

After laughing, old Hunter's gaze towards his grandson became peculiar.

He had to admit that every time he thought he had given John a high evaluation, he found that he had underestimated the boy. Just that one sentence was enough to raise John's status in his eyes.

"After the experiment is completed, what do you plan to do with the patent? Sell it or keep it for yourself?"

After a moment's thought, old Hunter asked his grandson kindly. From the moment he confirmed the success of the experiment, he no longer saw John as a little boy. Any eleven-year-old who created something worth two thousand dollars deserved his respect.

"Of course, I'll sell it!"

John said without hesitation: "Building a factory, reducing costs, and setting up power facilities are things we can't do. If I don't sell it, it will just rot in my hands, and besides..."

He paused but didn't continue.

However, in his heart, he was already grinning like a little fox: "With two thousand dollars, there are far more profitable things to do than building a light bulb factory..."

...

Sorry, my child is sick, so today's update is late.

I will definitely write another chapter tonight, but it might be quite late.

...

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