tions. If avoiding the accident caused too much of a change in the buffer zone' energy, he could well be struck by lighting.

The people sitting across from Huang Xuan began to discuss in hushed tones. On the other hand, Ford's sales manager, Steven, attempted to cozy up to him. He asked, "Have you applied for a patent yet? Such a perfect design could very well be stolen."

Huang Xuan smiled. Nonchalantly, he replied, "As long as you are willing to pay, you can keep the designs. Then, whatever you want to apply for is up to you."

This surprised him. Kent glanced at Ford and frowned, trying to signal to him with his eyes. These men were used to applying for patents for everything that they did. Huang Xuan's way of doing things confused them. Perhaps they didn't even have to spend money. Apart from Huang Xuan, everyone else was thinking this.

He had thought about this before, but he didn't know what else he could do. Besides his own ident.i.ty being a problem, the speed that the United States Patent and Trademark Office worked was an issue as well. The wait for a patent would give him time to travel back and forth between two planes umpteen times. Moreover, he hadn't expected to gain much money from Ford. This was 1931, a modern society. There were far too many ways to earn money — ways that were more effective and faster than selling patents.

Edsel said nothing for a moment. Then, "Mr. Xuan, maybe we need to discuss..."

"Mr. Ford," Huang Xuan said as he rose to his feet. He had finished his cup of coffee. "Of course you can discuss. But I'll only give you a day. Tomorrow night, I'm flying to New York."

"It's impossible to finish in one day," the sales manager exclaimed. "We have to verify and compare similar designs. Before we looked at your completed diagrams, we didn't know we had to make so many adjustments to our manufacturing line. We also have to a.s.sess how practical your design is. You know that, after all, this is one man's design. A lot more work must be done..."

"That's enough." Huang Xuan was getting slightly impatient. He continued, "Tonight, I'll stay in Elis Hotel, which is nearby. I'll be there until noon tomorrow. If you really want these designs, deliver the cash to me by then. After that, you can do whatever work you need to do. If you're not interested, I can bring the diagrams to other companies. You can bring bodyguards — as many as you want. All I want is to see the cash. Understand?"

Edsel was unsatisfied. He replied, "We can't decide on the design and manufacture of a car that easily..."

"That's your problem." All the time and effort spent on learning English finally paid off. Huang Xuan bit his tongue as he said, "If you want it, bring the cash. I want USD$100,000. That's unbelievably cheap, isn't it?"

USD$100,000 in 1931 was equivalent to about USD$1,000,000 today. The current American President, Hoover, earned USD$75,000 a year. Only 18 years later, after the second world war, would Truman earn USD$100,000. To ordinary Americans, a monthly salary of USD$200 was already considered to be high. That was the amount one earned to support a family of ten. As for the middle-cla.s.s... There was a name for it that the Chinese used — it was a "budding" cla.s.s. It could be said that Ford's T-type car had pushed them out of the budding stage. If this was true, then one of the hallmarks of the budding stage, the T-type car, would only cost USD$260.

However, when approached from another point of view, USD$100,000 was still a huge sum. It was more than what hundreds of people earned in a year combined. Given the state of the US's economy during the Great Depression, where a goat only cost USD$1, it was hardly surprising that USD$100,000 was considered an immense amount.

Of course, such sums were always considered immense when looked at from a poor man's perspective. Ford earned an annual profit of about USD$30 million. When it paused production of the A-type car for half a year during the Great Depression, it incurred losses of more than USD$15 million. The costs of researching and developing the V8 added up to far more than USD$3 million.

USD$100,000 sounded tempting to Edsel Ford.

When Huang Xuan stepped out of the office, they immediately broke into a discussion. Steven, who had ten years of experience in sales, was supportive of buying Huang Xuan's designs. As long as it satisfied more than 80% of the design requirements, he thought it was worth it.

Kentley reb.u.t.ted, "How can we tell, from the diagrams, that the design satisfies 80% of the requirements?"

Steven could not give him an answer. After all, his expertise did not lie in producing cars. Bloom, who was seated next to him, added, "It will be difficult for us to fork out USD$100,000 without prior arrangements being made. Moreover, people who insist on cash payment are always a little suspicious," by this, he meant to imply that Huang Xuan was likely a thief.

By 1931, the Americans' trust in the banks had fallen to zero. In another two years, in 1933, large banks would have caused the dignitaries of Wall Street to go bankrupt. However, wealthy businessmen did not share the same distrust of those banks. Instead, they needed banks more than ordinary people. On the other hand, only poor people were concerned with being paid in cash.

Edsel listened to them in silence. He was planning to consult old Ford that evening. Before that, however, he needed to understand both sides of the argument.

From the bottom of his heart, Edsel knew that he wanted to buy the designs. Despite the fact that they were in the midst of the Great Depression, the A-type cars were still selling well. However, the advantage that technology brought was fading away. The Asian's design matched Ford's manufacturing capabilities, and there weren't many adaptations that had to be made. They would likely be able to begin production immediately. If there was nothing wrong with the design itself, USD$100,000 was nothing.

The discussion died down as Edsel put down the cup of coffee in his hand. He had a stern expression as he said, "Bloom, think of a way to withdraw USD$100,000 in cash. Inform the bank that we need it by 9 am tomorrow."

"Alright."

"Mr. Brown?"

"Yes." Brown was a rugged west-side man. His skin was rough, and his eyes were full of soul.

Edsel moved to adjust his cap. "Inform your men to be on standby."

Brown nodded in response. Edsel turned to Kent and said, "Look for a few professional designers. Perhaps we can a.s.sess this young man's skill on the spot."

"OK."

After giving two more orders, Edsel finally relaxed. He leaned back in his seat and said, "I'll consider this once more. Tomorrow morning, I'll inform you all of my conclusion."

Everybody present knew that the so-called "discussion" was really a consultation with Edsel's wife and father. They were used to this. Only Brown expressed suspicion, "Mr. Ford, maybe they stole these diagrams. We might then find ourselves in a lawsuit."

"Who cares? We bought it with money," Steven replied.