Volume One, Chapter 13: What Is the Most Precious Thing in the World?

“It seems you know quite a bit about our line of work. Usually, outsiders don’t even know what a structural engineer does.”

Zhang Weimin took a business card from his jacket pocket and handed it to the lady with both hands.

“I’m Zhang Weimin. Our company is a mechanical parts factory, and we now also produce tapered threaded couplers for rebar used in construction projects. So, I have a bit of knowledge about structural engineering.”

The lady took the card, glanced at it, and clipped it into the book she had just been reading.

“Your factory is quite forward-looking. These tapered threaded couplers will have very extensive applications in the future. Using this method for rebar connections not only speeds up construction but, more importantly, it offers high strength and excellent connection reliability. However, because the parts are currently expensive, only super-tall buildings or key projects consider using them.”

Zhang Weimin quickly responded, “Our factory has just started producing these, and the days of high prices will soon be over! We’re confident we can cut the price by at least half, which will allow this technology to be widely promoted and contribute to the advancement of construction technology in our country.”

The lady smiled, amused.

“Heh, you’re quite interesting. You’ve managed to elevate product promotion to the level of national technological progress.”

Who was Zhang Weimin now? He was like Lin Hao reborn. Recommending projects was his specialty.

Back when Lin Hao was starting in internet e-commerce, with just an idea and his unwavering confidence, he secured two hundred million in angel investment.

Now that he was in manufacturing, with a tangible product in hand, he was even more at ease.

From engineering technology to future economic development, Zhang Weimin spoke with remarkable foresight and strategic depth...

He had turned this lady into his little fan.

After all, Zhang Weimin’s attire, his aura, and his lofty discourse—using 21st-century thinking and insight to converse with someone from the 1990s—was nothing less than a dimensionality reduction strike.

In a relatively confined space and during a long, dull journey, such enlightening exchanges easily shorten the distance between people.

The lady’s gaze towards Zhang Weimin was no longer indifferent as before but filled with admiration.

“Mr. Zhang, I didn’t expect your mechanical parts factory to harbor such hidden talents. A mere salesman with such broad knowledge and refined speech—truly, listening to you is better than reading ten years’ worth of books.”

“Not at all, you flatter me. Actually, I used to be a worker, a lathe operator for thirty years, running machine tools. This is my first time traveling to promote a product,” Zhang Weimin said modestly.

“A worker? Don’t joke with me. With your level, you could easily thrive as a guest lecturer at our school,” the lady said with a smile.

“Oh, you’re overestimating me. Didn’t you say you’re a structural designer? And why did you mention school just now...?” Zhang Weimin inquired.

The lady replied, “Oh, to be precise, I haven’t graduated yet. I’m a doctoral candidate specializing in structural engineering.”

“Wow, a PhD! You keep surprising me. By the way, after all this talk, I don’t even know your name or how to address you.”

“My name is Donna. Nice to meet you!” Donna extended her hand to shake Zhang Weimin’s.

Zhang Weimin gently grasped her slender fingers.

“Dr. Donna, a pleasure to meet you.”

The train began to slow, soon arriving at Shanghai Station.

Donna took out a notebook from her bag, wrote down her university’s address and a pager number, tore off the page, and handed it to Zhang Weimin.

“This is my contact information. You can bring your products and come find me. I’ll introduce you to my advisor—maybe we can help you land some deals.”

Zhang Weimin took the paper gratefully.

“Thank you, thank you. You’re truly a benefactor to me.”

After bidding Donna farewell, Zhang Weimin left the station and wandered aimlessly through the streets of Shanghai.

In this era, many people wore a black box on their belts that beeped; they would take it out, check it, and then look around for a public phone. This was the pager, commonly called a BP machine.

Some even treated the pager as a status symbol, wearing it prominently on their waist.

To Zhang Weimin, this was utterly low-tech. After all, having been reborn from 2024, he naturally looked down on such things.

But having no communication tool was far too inconvenient. He needed to buy a mobile phone!

He headed to Nanjing Road, Shanghai’s busiest street, browsed several department stores, and found the most advanced and compact phone—the Motorola MicroTAC 8900.

Perfect! Holding this in hand while negotiating business was a real show-off device!

Just toss it on the table and the aura instantly surges! That’s a true display of power!

“Alright, this is it,” he thought. The price? 20,000 yuan! Gritting his teeth, he bought it.

But buying the phone wasn’t enough—it had to be activated at the telecom company. The network access fee was 5,000 yuan, plus the first three months’ rent of 300 yuan per month.

That wasn’t all. Local calls charged both ways at 1.5 yuan per minute, long-distance calls at 2.5 yuan per minute, and roaming outside the local area added another 2 yuan per minute.

After completing all this, Zhang Weimin’s head was buzzing.

Although Lin Hao, his former self, had been the owner of a company worth hundreds of billions, in this era Zhang Weimin earned less than 300 yuan a month. Just buying clothes and a communication device cost him three years’ salary!

What’s the most expensive thing in the world? Showing off is the most costly!

But in this era, could you not show off? No, you really couldn’t. Showing off made partners trust you and competitors fear you!

Wearing a tailored suit, slicked-back hair, sunglasses, and holding his new phone, Zhang Weimin walked down Nanjing Road...

With that presence, that style... even Shanghai’s fashionable and wealthy people couldn’t help but glance back at him.

Pulling Donna’s note from his jacket pocket, Zhang Weimin thought that since he had nothing else to do today, why not invite Donna to dinner and gently urge her to introduce him to her advisor?

He dialed the pager number, gave Donna’s pager, and left a message:

“This is Zhang Weimin. Please call me back at 139... if convenient.”

Soon, the phone rang.

“Hello, is this Zhang Weimin?”

“Hi, Donna, it’s me.”

“Your business card didn’t have your mobile number.”

“Heh, I wasn’t coming to Shanghai, but without communication tools, it’s too inconvenient. Pagers require callbacks, which is a hassle. So I just bought a mobile phone.”

“Oh, not bad! So, what’s up? Why are you calling me?”

“I’m unfamiliar with Shanghai and have only you as a friend here. I want to invite you to dinner tonight. I wonder if Dr. Donna would honor me with her company?”

“Hehe, you really know how to talk. I honestly can’t find a reason to refuse.”

“Then you decide the time and place. I’ll come find you.”

“Then come to my university. I’ll meet you at the gate.”

“Alright, see you tonight.”