Chapter 173: President Jiang, What Do You Mean?

Polymer lithium battery.

This was the first major challenge Jiang Ning had assigned to Lin Ke.

Although, it wasn’t exactly a huge challenge—this kind of tech had already entered the market around the year 2000. The catch was, such technology was typically held tightly by the big manufacturers and not made public.

What Jiang Ning wanted Lin Ke to do was not to reinvent the wheel, but to diversify lithium battery production to better meet market demands.

Compared to traditional lithium batteries, polymer lithium batteries could come in a variety of designs—some as thin as 0.5 mm. Plus, in terms of safety and discharge capacity, they offered considerable advantages.

Most importantly, once polymer lithium batteries entered production, not only could she realize many of her electric bicycle design ideas, but as the business grew, she might even compete for battery orders from mobile phone companies.

It was worth noting that in the early 2000s, manufacturers like Nokia, Ericsson, Samsung, and Motorola were producing phones in staggering volumes.

Even snagging a small leftover battery order from one of them could bring Jiang Ning an absurd amount of profit.

Of course, that was just her ambition for now.

After all, major phone manufacturers typically didn’t work with small battery suppliers—unless there were connections involved.

But according to Jiang Ning’s information, one of the major phone brands would be moving its factory to Jiangzhou in a year or two.

So…

—

June 2nd, Saturday.
Clear weather.

Early in the morning, a red sedan was parked outside the Jixiang Residential Complex.

Moments later, Jiang Ning—wearing a loose shirt on top and tight jeans below—walked up to the car.

She tried to open the door.
Hmm…
Didn’t budge.
Tried again—still nothing.

Puzzled, she pressed her face to the glass.
Well, well.

There was Wang Jianguo, fast asleep on the steering wheel.

Jiang Ning was furious.

She walked over to the driver’s side and knocked hard on the window.

Knock knock knock!
Knock knock knock!

Only after several loud knocks did Wang Jianguo slowly raise her head, dazed, and look toward the source of the noise.

When she saw Jiang Ning outside the door, she wiped her mouth, started the engine, and rolled down the window.

“Morning, boss!”

Two minutes later.

Wang Jianguo was driving with one hand and rubbing her head with the other, looking aggrieved.

“Boss! You have no idea how fun that game console is! Super Mario, Contra, Salamander… so many classics!”

No kidding.

Back in elementary school, Jiang Ning had practically lived on that console—probably why she ended up at No. 3 Middle School.

Of course she knew the joy of those games.

She just hadn’t expected someone like Wang Jianguo, a girl in her mid-twenties, to get hooked on that stuff.

Speechless, Jiang Ning leaned back in her seat, took a few deep breaths, and closed her eyes to calm herself down.

“Boss~”

“Shut up and drive your damn tractor.”

“…Okay.”

After a bumpy ride, they arrived at the factory. Lin Ke was already waiting at the gate.

As soon as Jiang Ning got out, Wang Jianguo leaned over the steering wheel and looked at her with a sweet, syrupy voice:

“Boss~”

“Speak.”

“Can I maybe get a little bit of my salary in advance~?”

“Why?”

“Because she spent all her money on game cartridges,” Lin Ke said, suddenly appearing by the car and opening the door wide.

Jiang Ning stepped out smoothly, thanked him, then turned to Wang Jianguo.

A bit surprised, she asked:

“Didn’t you just get your 3,000 yuan salary on the 20th? It’s only been a couple weeks—you’ve spent it all?”

At that, Wang Jianguo looked full of resentment.

“Boss! You don’t know how expensive game cartridges are! A legit two-in-one cart costs seventy or eighty yuan!”

“Why not just buy pirated ones?” Jiang Ning asked, puzzled. “I remember those had like dozens of games in one.”

“Pirated ones are all fake!” Wang Jianguo said angrily. “Out of a ‘40-in-1’ cart, you’re lucky if one even works! And the graphics are trash!”

Well…

She had a point.

Jiang Ning herself had been scammed back in the day—bought a fancy ‘40-in-1’ game only to find it didn’t even have Super Mario.

Not even real Tetris—it had round blocks.

Still, what did her past misfortune have to do with Wang Jianguo blowing her money?

Jiang Ning waved her hand decisively.

“Salaries will be paid next month as scheduled. If you really can’t wait, you can write me an IOU. I’ll consider it a loan.”

Classic capitalist boss.

She ignored Wang Jianguo’s crestfallen look and followed Lin Ke into the factory.

“Everything running smoothly at the plant?”

“Yes, all normal.”

“What about Yu Lingling’s team?”

That…

Lin Ke paused, looking a bit hesitant.

Jiang Ning sighed.

She already had some idea of how Yu Lingling’s team was doing.

They’d run into setbacks while trying to expand—out-of-town dealers didn’t trust their brand.

For over half a month, barely any electric bikes had been sold.

Wang Jianguo usually kept her updated on these things.

While the girl was unreliable in daily life, she was surprisingly dependable when it came to work and staying informed.

“Any ideas on how to fix it?”

Lin Ke didn’t answer, just kept walking silently.

Jiang Ning hadn’t expected a great idea anyway—after all, everyone had their area of expertise. She was just asking.

But to her surprise, Lin Ke did suggest something.

A method she’d nearly forgotten—
Direct stores.

That is, setting up factory-owned chain stores under their own brand.

The benefit? No middlemen taking a cut, which meant prices could be lower.

The downside? Operations, investment, and management would all fall on them. Staffing would be a hassle.

Still, overall, this model was well-suited to electric bicycle sales.

Just look at how brands like Damai, Yadea, and Luyuan had stores everywhere in later years—it showed the potential of direct sales.

Worth trying.

“Put together a proposal when you have time.”

With that, Jiang Ning headed straight for the workshop.

Lin Ke seemed like he wanted to say something, but after watching her stride away, he only hesitated briefly before following.

A short while later, in the brightly lit warehouse, Jiang Ning saw what she came for.

Inside a square, transparent glass case sat a black object, just slightly larger than her palm.

Several power cables were connected to it, with a voltmeter and ammeter attached at either end.

“How’s the performance?”

“Safe and stable.” Lin Ke pointed at a gauge on the glass casing labeled “675.”

“A typical lithium battery lasts around 300 to 500 charge cycles.”

“And we’ve already achieved 500 cycles under a constant 80% depth of discharge.”

Although Jiang Ning didn’t know much about lithium batteries, she had a general understanding of some figures.

For example, the lead-acid batteries used in Xiaoning electric bicycles only had a lifespan of about 300 charge cycles.

So under the same conditions, the polymer lithium battery’s lifespan was nearly double that of lead-acid batteries.

“What about the cost?”

“Roughly double that of a regular lead-acid battery.”

The cost was still acceptable.

After all, compared to lead-acid batteries, polymer lithium batteries were a whole level higher in both lifespan and safety.

However, at the current cost, they weren’t quite suitable for electric bikes.

In other words, the current electric bike models weren’t really fit for these polymer lithium batteries.

Mainly due to price.

Xiaoning Electric Bicycles were already not cheap—if they used these batteries, the price would become even harder for people to accept.

Looks like a specially designed electric bicycle would be needed.

Afterward, Jiang Ning and Lin Ke had an in-depth discussion about the future potential of this battery.

After finalizing a few plans, they prepared to return to the office to put them into writing.

But just as Jiang Ning pushed open the door to the factory manager’s office, she was surprised to see Yu Lingling was there too.

This…

Jiang Ning glanced back at Lin Ke.

He simply gave a small nod.

Moments later, in the office.

Jiang Ning sat on the sofa, holding a proposal for setting up direct-sale stores.

Lin Ke sat beside her, fiddling with a few small items.

As for the other side of the sofa, Yu Lingling sat there nervously, hardly daring to breathe.

Ever since she found out that the person who summoned her that day was actually the real boss, she’d felt an inexplicable sense of fear toward Jiang Ning.

Even knowing the other party was just a first-year high school student didn’t help.

After a long while, Jiang Ning finished reading the proposal, then turned her gaze to Yu Lingling.

She was silent for two seconds.

Then suddenly, she smiled brightly.

“I think the plan is feasible.”

“But given the market demand, it’s not suitable to launch too many stores at once.”

Perhaps that radiant smile had an infectious effect.

Yu Lingling froze for a moment before timidly asking:

“President Jiang, do you mean…?”

“Let’s start by testing it in the three neighboring cities.”