When Professor Keriber heard Lu Zhou's sudden proposal, he paused for a second.
"… Deal?"
Lu Zhou: "I heard your WEGA project is closed?"
Keriber: "A long time ago, I think it was 13 years ago."
Lu Zhou: "How is it doing now?"
"Not bad, not bad. Maybe in 20 or 30 years, we'll send it to a museum … Is there a problem?" Keriber frowned. He didn't understand why Lu Zhou suddenly mentioned WEGA.
Lu Zhou: "Can you sell it to me?"
Professor Keriber froze.
After a while, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.
“WEGA？ Are you kidding? "
Lu Zhou shook his head. "I'm not kidding, I'm serious."
Seeing that Lu Zhou didn't seem like he was joking, Professor Keriber smiled and said, "In order to complete the WEGA machine, we spent 800 million Euros, and that was 800 million years ago. How much do you plan on spending?"
Lu Zhou thought for a bit and gave a number.
"Is 500 million enough?"
"Don't even think about it, it's impossible."
Even though Keriber was shocked that Lu Zhou could afford this much money, he was only shocked for a second. He didn't agree because this wasn't just about money.
In the ITER project, countries with superior technology and countries with inferior technology had been competing for technology transfer for a long time. This competition was reflected in the proportion of funding borne by each country, the allocation of projects by each country's research institute, and various external factors.
The most fundamental conflict was the transfer of technology.
This kind of conflict was understandable. After all, since the second half of the last century, the European Union and its predecessor, the European Community, had spent a lot of money on researching this technology.
Simply put, while maintaining the chips in their hands, countries with superior technology hoped that countries with inferior technology would bear more research funds, share the risks and costs, and fight for more funding and projects for their own research institutes.
On the other hand, the disadvantaged countries hoped that the advantageous countries would transfer more technology, and at the same time, they hoped to obtain more projects for their research institutes.
After all, no one wanted to be a follower for the rest of their lives. Everyone wanted to master the core technology of the entire nuclear fusion project. Otherwise, they wouldn't even have the guts to argue with each other, let alone share the cake.
You can do whatever you want with money?
Of course, there were prerequisites.
The WEGA machine was the crystallization of the technology of the Max Planck Institute and the Helmholtz Institute. In order to complete this machine, they had put in a lot of effort. In this case, they obviously didn't want to sell it so cheaply.
Lu Zhou knew what Professor Keriber was thinking, so he said, "Anyway, its final destination is the museum. You guys have learned enough from it. I'm willing to pay 500 million euros to pay for your results, and who knows, I might even be able to make use of it. In addition … "
Professor Keriber frowned and said, "Also?"
Lu Zhou paused for a second before he said, "In addition, if you transfer the WEGA machine to me, I can release the SG-1 material conductor technology. Since we both need more powerful superconducting magnets, we can cooperate on related research. "
Keriber: "Is WEGA a prerequisite for cooperation?"
"Yes." Lu Zhou nodded and said, "If you care about the technology being sold cheaply, we're willing to use our technology to exchange for the technology. If you don't want to, then I'm not obligated to disclose this part of the research. After all, this isn't a research project outsourced by ITER, it's our own. "
All of the theses on the SG-1 material were public information, and even the preparation method of the SG-1 material itself was public information. Lu Zhou only registered a patent for the product, just in case.
However, how to turn the SG-1 material into a wire was related to the specific production process. These things obviously wouldn't be published in a thesis.
Just like the photolithography machine, everyone knew the principle behind it, and the related theses could be downloaded publicly. However, the technical details were all corporate secrets, and they wouldn't be published unless the technology was upgraded.
Professor Keriber stared at the thin wire in the glass cover for a long time. He didn't say anything for a long time, as if he was considering whether or not this proposal was worth it.
On one side was the Helix-7X prototype. Even though it had been eliminated, it still involved a lot of undisclosed technology.
On the other side was the carbon-based superconducting material that could become a key factor in controllable nuclear fusion. However, it was only a possibility, and there were still many uncertainties such as cost and large-scale production.
It was indeed not easy to make a choice between the two.
The silence lasted for about five minutes. Professor Germain's shoulders finally relaxed and he slowly spoke.
"I need to think about it."
Lu Zhou nodded and said, "No problem."
…
Inside the Zhongshan International mansion, the family was happily preparing for Chinese New Year's dinner.
At this time, the doorbell suddenly rang from the entrance.
"Coming."
When Lu Bangguo heard the doorbell, he was overjoyed. He yelled from afar, "Coming!" and quickly walked to the door.
The door opened.
Old Lu, who was standing at the entrance, was about to smile and say hello. However, the smile on his face gradually froze.
Professor Keriber looked at the old man standing at the door and forced a friendly smile on his face. He then greeted him in broken Chinese.
"Mud howl."
"Mud howl, mud howl …"
Old Lu suddenly came back to his senses and immediately looked at Lu Zhou.
"This is a client of our research institute." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "He's also my friend."
Even though his heart was filled with resentment toward his son, he couldn't show it in front of a guest.
Old Lu looked at Professor Keriber and said with a warm smile, "Oh, so you're Lu Zhou's friend, please come in."
Even though Keriber didn't understand what Old Lu was saying, he could feel his enthusiasm.
A smile appeared on Keriber's face as he politely uttered the second sentence he knew in Chinese.
"Yes, yes."
When Xiao Tong saw her dad bring this tall foreign professor into the living room, she sneaked next to Lu Zhou and said, "Brother, you have no idea how excited Dad was this afternoon."
Lu Zhou: "Excited about what?"
Xiao Tong said, "What else could he be excited about? He thought you finally got it and brought a daughter-in-law back. "
As she said that, the little girl rolled her eyes and muttered, "I knew it wouldn't be that simple, but I didn't expect it to still be beyond my expectations. Who would have thought that you would bring a man back?"
Lu Zhou: "…"
Whether it was during Chinese New Year, the Lu family was very hospitable.
However, because of the language barrier, the conversation at the dinner table didn't go smoothly.
Lu Zhou could only act as a translator, switching between English and Chinese.
Occasionally, he had to modify some of the conversation based on the language of both parties.
Keriber, who was usually very serious at work, was full of praise for the taste of the dumplings. It was rare for him to give a thumbs up.
When Lu Zhou translated his words into Chinese for her mother, she was so happy that she couldn't close her mouth.
After cooking for so many years, this was the first time she was recognized by an international friend. For Fang Mei, this was undoubtedly a new and fulfilling thing.
They didn't stay late. After dinner, Keriber saw that it was getting late, so he sat on the sofa and chatted with Lu Zhou for a while. Then, he got up and said goodbye.
Keriber was sent outside the mansion by Lu Zhou. He stood on the side of the road as he spoke.
"The dumplings were delicious, thank you."
Lu Zhou smiled and said, "You're welcome."
Keriber thought for a moment and said, "I can't give you an answer right now. This isn't something I can decide on my own. Also, WEGA isn't just the property of the Max Planck Institute. I hope you can understand."
He paused for a second and said, "But I promise you, I'll try my best."
Lu Zhou smiled and nodded. "Thank you."
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