Chapter 44: KTJ Chemical Industry

A few hours later, the moment his plane landed, Li Yian placed a direct phone call to Karl from the airport. The instruction was extremely simple: to have the company's employed attorney locate a specific individual at the California Institute of Technology.

Although transportation in this era was far from developed, thanks to America's advanced communication and legal networks, Carl, far away on the East Coast, reached an agreement with a Los Angeles law firm within just a few telegram exchanges.

"What? What did you say?"

Arthur Galston looked at the lawyer before him, asking with a trace of puzzlement.

"It is like this, Mr. Galston. A company on the East Coast is very interested in you and the 'plant growth regulator' you invented. Therefore, they are not only willing to purchase the patent you hold, but also eager to offer you a position to continue your research in this direction. I wonder if you might be interested."

While speaking, Attorney Hudson had already withdrawn a check from his briefcase. It must be said that even after four decades as a lawyer, Hudson had never encountered such a generous employer.

"This is 20,000 dollars, intended to purchase the patent you hold!"

When he received the telegraphic transfer check, Hudson could hardly believe it was real.

Twenty thousand dollars!

Merely to purchase a patent that seemed to have virtually no practical use!

It was simply... beyond comprehension!

"Twenty thousand dollars!"

My God!

Born in Brooklyn, New York, where his father lost his job during the Great Depression and his childhood memories were invariably spent in hunger, Arthur Galston stared at the check with incredulous eyes, fixing on the string of zeros.

This sum of money was equivalent to several years of his salary. With it, not only could his wife move into a new house, but they could also purchase an automobile—if one could be found...

At that moment, countless thoughts raced through his mind.

Naturally, he also thought of the debts his father owed, and how he could help pay off a portion of them.

Yet reason compelled Arthur Galston to ask, "Are you certain, sir? This plant regulator merely accelerates the early flowering and fruiting of soybeans..."

Was this invention truly worth twenty thousand dollars?

Galston himself was far from certain; two thousand dollars would have seemed far more realistic. Even when he invented this plant regulator, he had failed to discover any particularly special utility for it.

After all, its yield-increasing effect was extremely limited; using it during cultivation could almost be considered a losing proposition.

It was essentially an invention devoid of any productive value. Of course, it might prove useful in the future, but right now—twenty thousand dollars.

Someone was actually willing to spend twenty thousand dollars on his invention!

"Mr. Galston, the check speaks for everything. As long as you sign the contract, this money is yours."

Twenty thousand dollars!

Anyone in this world would be tempted by it; Hudson knew this very well, and no one could resist its allure.

In his position, let alone a patent, he would have sold his wife to that fellow without blinking an eye. Throwing in his daughter wouldn't even be out of the question.

This was twenty thousand dollars, after all!

By successfully brokering this transaction, Hudson would spend the remainder of his days boasting about it!

"Mr. Galston, you must realize that in this world, opportunities are fleeting."

"Well..."

Once more carefully scrutinizing the contract before him, and assuring himself that all of this was real, Galston finally affixed his signature, then inquired, "Sir, you mentioned earlier that they are also willing to offer me a position. What is the salary like?"

This company was unquestionably the most generous enterprise Galston had ever witnessed. Because of this, he eagerly desired to work for them. Naturally, it would also allow him to continue pursuing the research he loved while earning a handsome salary.

"We are returning to New York!"

At the railway station, carrying a suitcase, Galston held the hand of his wife, Dale Judith Kuntz, and said with mounting excitement.

"Once we reach New York, I will purchase a house—a home belonging to us, not an apartment, but a house with at least four bedrooms..."

Presently, Galston's mind teemed with infinite imaginations of the future. Although he had already earned his doctorate and naturally deserved a life far happier than his father's, the reality of it all arriving so suddenly left him almost unable to believe it was true.

In truth, Galston was already unemployed. At the moment the lawyer found him, he was actually out of work. For the sake of that previous job, he and his wife had relocated to Pasadena because James Bonner, a plant biologist at the California Institute of Technology, had invited him to participate in a war-related project involving a Mexican shrub known as guayule. Their research aimed to extract rubber from it as a raw material; this project was backed by the military to secure rubber supplies for the armed forces. Just as the project achieved success, with the massive production of synthetic rubber underway, the military no longer required the endeavor.

Deprived of military backing, Galston naturally lost his position. Just as he was contemplating his next employment, the sudden job offer and the check purchasing his patent altered the course of everything.

"Yes, once we arrive in New York, our lives will be entirely different from the way they are now," Dale said, her gaze suddenly drifting toward a passing figure. "Oh? Look, isn't that Sun?"

Sun Tianlei, similarly carrying a suitcase, spotted them as well—they were fellow classmates from Caltech.

"Arthur, Dale, what brings you here..." Sun Tianlei asked. "Are you heading to New York?"

"Yes, and you?"

As if suddenly recalling something, Dale said, "Sun, are you headed to the KTJ Laboratory in New York?"

The KTJ Laboratory was precisely the establishment that had hired Galston and acquired his patent. Dale asked because Sun Tianlei was also a chemist.

"What, could it be that you are too?"

"Yes, Arthur is heading there as well. This is simply wonderful; I never imagined you would be working together."

Amidst her delight, Dale asked with mild curiosity, "Sun, do you happen to know what KTJ stands for?"

"KTJ..." Sun Tianlei simply shrugged. "Who knows? Perhaps it stands for 'Kill the Japs'."

Kill the Japanese devils...

As a Chinese student studying abroad, Sun Tianlei was undoubtedly straightforward.

Well, he had guessed correctly. More often than not, Li Yian was precisely that straightforward. In fact, the very reason he scoured the entire United States for chemists and botanists was precisely to... kill the Japanese devils.

And to do so to the absolute maximum extent possible.