Tech startup: I really do make mobile phones!

Chapter 5, No. 2 "Elder"

Seeing Zhao Tiezhu willing to sacrifice his buttocks for a salary...

Chen Mo froze on the spot, his face full of question marks.

"Brother Chen!" Zhao Tiezhu emphasized, "Just this once!"

Seeing Zhao Tiezhu's unreliable behavior, Chen Mo was both annoyed and amused, understanding that his joking around was to help him forget the negative emotions brought by Lao Wang.

Chen Mo kicked him hard in the butt without any hesitation.

He snapped at him, "What the hell is going on in your head all day?! I'm asking you, do you know where there's a battery lab around here that we can borrow or rent?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Tiezhu's eyes widened instantly. He let out a long sigh of relief and muttered to himself: It seems Brother Chen has matured; he can regulate his emotions on his own now.

He quickly scrambled to his feet, dusted himself off, and said with a broad smile, "As long as it's not about selling my ass, Brother Chen! I'll find you the stars in the sky if you want to!"

Chen Mo couldn't help but laugh at Zhao Tiezhu's appearance. After calming down, he said seriously, "Okay! Don't assemble the Orange 1st generation yet. I have an idea for a new type of lithium battery. We may install it later. After testing, we will finalize the design and start production."

Okay, I'll give you half a day off. Go find me a battery lab.

Upon hearing about the holiday, Zhao Tiezhu immediately perked up, jumped up like a clown, and shouted, "Half a day off? That's great! As long as Brother Chen doesn't make me sell my ass!"

Chen Mo glared at him with a smile: "You won't get paid during the holidays!"

Zhao Tiezhu, ever the carefree fellow, replied with a grin, "Oh dear! If that's how it is, Brother Chen, then I might not be able to find the battery lab!"

Chen Mo was both annoyed and amused. He kicked the man's butt again, pointed at him, and laughed, "You brat! Consider today your paid leave. Go find the battery lab!"

Zhao Tiezhu immediately imitated the eunuch in the TV series, shouting "Yes, Your Majesty!" in a high-pitched voice, and then skipped and hopped out of the small workshop of Orange Technology.

In the end, Zhao Tiezhu was just the eldest son of an ordinary traditional agricultural family in Northwest China, a kid who had just come to Shenzhen to work as an adult!

If Chen Mo hadn't kindly helped this kid on the train when he returned to school, he would have gone abroad with the two kind "uncles" on the train to work in coal mines, earning the kind of "hard-earned money" that foreigners wouldn't want to earn.

If you're not afraid of hard work, you can make money. That was Zhao Tiezhu's simple idea when he first came to Shenzhen to work.

At one point, Chen Mo was actually a silly boy who thought the same way.

When Chen Mo was in college, he made a living off the land and water, trading in environmentally refurbished electronic products in North China and selling them on Taobao.

When Chen Mo started taking care of the kid and making him run errands for him, the stubborn and unruly boy didn't appreciate it. He thought that Chen Mo was delaying his trip abroad with his two "kind" uncles to earn a lot of hard-earned money.

Chen Mo then threw the newspaper about the two kind "uncles" being arrested in front of Zhao Tiezhu before he could even react.

Chen Mo simply left the kid with a blind well, and only then did the kid belatedly realize what was happening.

When he first came to Shenzhen to work, he was targeted by these two bad guys. Chen Mo saved his life, and then Zhao Tiezhu handed over his less than 100-pound body to Brother Chen.

What followed was that Zhao Tiezhu worked odd jobs in North China and occasionally ran errands for Chen Mo in his spare time, collecting and assembling electronic parts.

Now, as soon as Chen Mo graduated, he founded Orange Technology and immediately recruited Zhao Tiezhu, who had just come of age, to become a founding member of Orange Technology, employee number 2.

As soon as Zhao Tiezhu stepped out of the small workshop rented by Orange Technology, the scorching sun instantly enveloped him. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead and walked towards the small shop on the street.

He bought an ice pop, and as soon as he took a bite, the refreshing coolness instantly dispelled some of the summer heat. He licked the ice pop while muttering to himself.

This time, Brother Chen has finally figured it out!
This is probably what the old folks often say: fortune and misfortune are intertwined.

Old Wang went over and pressured Brother Chen, and he actually did manage to develop something.

I don't know how well this battery performs, but hopefully it's better than the ones on the market and can make me recoup some of the cost!
Zhao Tiezhu finished his popsicle in a few bites, tossed the stick aside, wiped his mouth, and began to ponder where to find the battery lab.

He first thought of Lao Zhang, whom he had met while working odd jobs at stall number 17.

Old Zhang boasted about his extensive network of connections, so maybe he knows where there are battery labs.

So Zhao Tiezhu quickly walked toward Old Zhang's stall number 17.

When Zhao Tiezhu arrived at Old Zhang's tiny stall, he found Old Zhang sitting inside, looking at a disassembled cell phone with a troubled expression. Zhao Tiezhu approached him with a broad smile: "Brother Zhang! Busy with work, huh?"

Old Zhang looked up at him and said irritably, "Hey! Isn't this Tiezhu? What brings you here?"

Why aren't you tinkering with the top tech company in North China, Chen Ge's, making phones here?

When Chen Mo first came to Huabei Qiang, he was arrogant and boasted that he would show his peers, who called reskinned phones "technology," what a real mobile phone should be.

Then most of the strong peers in North China treated Chen Mo, this unrealistic new recruit, as a joke.

Zhao Tiezhu wasn't angry at Lao Zhang's teasing. He just smiled and told Lao Zhang the story again.

Old Zhang didn't make things difficult for him; Zhao Tiezhu's skills in disassembling and assembling machines were quite good.

Once Chen Mo's phone business, which involved selling oranges, watermelons, and pineapples, goes out of business, we'll poach this kid to work for us.

Old Zhang frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "A battery lab? That's not easy to find."

But I heard that there's a small company in the suburbs that does new energy research, and they might have a laboratory there.

However, I don't know if they'd be willing to rent it to you.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Tiezhu's eyes lit up immediately, and he quickly thanked him, "Thank you, Brother Zhang, you've been a great help. I'll treat you to drinks later!" After saying that, he turned around, hailed a 20-yuan electric motorcycle, and headed towards the outskirts of the city.

After a long and tiring journey, Zhao Tiezhu finally arrived at the new energy company that Lao Zhang had mentioned.

"Master! Give me one!" Zhao Tiezhu quickly handed the motorcycle taxi driver a Baisha cigarette: "Wait here for me for ten minutes, I'll be back in a bit!"

At the company entrance, the security guard stopped him with a wary expression.

Zhao Tiezhu quickly explained his purpose. The security guard hesitated for a moment, then told him to wait at the door while he went in to report.

After a while, the security guard came out, followed by a middle-aged man wearing glasses and a white coat.

The man looked Zhao Tiezhu up and down and asked, "You said you want to rent our battery lab? What do you want to do with it?"

Zhao Tiezhu scratched his head and briefly explained the testing process for the new lithium battery that Chen Mo had developed.

After listening, the middle-aged man pondered for a moment and said, "Our laboratory is usually used by ourselves and rarely rented out. Besides, can the batteries made in your small workshop be reliable?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Tiezhu's heart skipped a beat, but he still forced a smile and said, "Brother! Don't underestimate us just because we're a small workshop. Our Brother Chen is incredibly capable. His mentor at Shenzhen University is Professor Lin, who specializes in lithium batteries!"

He expertly offered a cigarette to the middle-aged man in the white coat, but the man clearly didn't smoke, so he waved his hand, though his attitude softened considerably.

Seeing that there was a chance, Zhao Tiezhu immediately pleaded with him.

"Brother! Please do us a favor and rent it to us. The rent is negotiable!"

The middle-aged man, seeing Zhao Tiezhu's sincere expression and knowing that Professor Lin, the lithium battery expert from Shenzhen University, began to waver.

"Okay then, go back and compile a copy of your battery's information for me. I'll take a look at it, and if it's really valuable, I'll consider renting it to you."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Tiezhu felt a glimmer of hope, even though he couldn't rent a laboratory immediately. He quickly nodded his thanks and then turned to walk back.

As he walked, he mentally planned how to tell Chen Mo about this when he got back.

What if Brother Chen is too idealistic and arrogant, and unwilling to share his battery research data with others?

Forget it! I'm just an employee, how can I worry about Brother Chen, the boss?
When you go back, just tell the truth.

In the evening, Zhao Tiezhu finally returned to Huabeiqiang by motorcycle.

If Zhao Tiezhu hadn't kindly given the motorcycle taxi driver a cheap bottle of Baisha cigarettes when he got off the bus, the driver would have dumped him in that godforsaken suburb and come back first.

(End of this chapter)