The world is in trouble

Chapter 268 Your Majesty! The Wedding!
Next, witnessed by both parties' legal teams, Lin Xiao, Wu Lingxi, and Sun Zhengyi signed a series of documents.

It was already past 2 a.m.

After signing, Lin Xiao and Wu Lingxi looked at each other, their gazes filled with disbelief and a sense of looking at each other as if they were idiots.

Son Masayoshi's gaze toward Lin Xiao and Wu Lingxi was similar.

Because when Wu Lingxi was at Renren Group, she was extremely calculating and fought tooth and nail for equity and control, refusing to back down even a little, which ultimately led to the collapse of Renren Group.

But when they arrived at the Lightning Group, this was the scene they found.

He had a Chinese allusion in his mind, but he couldn't quite recall it; it was something about oranges and trifoliate oranges.
Masayoshi Son is Korean but grew up in Japan. However, he often claims that his ancestral home is in Fujian, China, and that he is quite familiar with Chinese culture.

In Wu Lingxi's eyes, wasn't Lin Xiao just as much of a fool? She had only vaguely sensed it before, but now she saw it clearly.

“You really don’t seem like a Hong Konger,” Lin Xiao suddenly said.

Wu Lingxi: "If you want to curse, just say so."

“I was born in the United States and have lived in Hong Kong for less than five years in total.”

"Then I'd also like to say that you're not like a country bumpkin at all."

Haha, is this a country folk's lament?
Lin Xiao: "I heard that your father has recently joined forces with these Hong Kong tycoons and is planning to do something big?"

"I don't know, let him do whatever he wants." Wu Lingxi.

Masayoshi Son wasn't sleepy either. He picked up his coffee, hesitated for a moment, and then drank it.

“Mr. Lin, I have met too many great people.” Masayoshi Son said slowly, “There are two kinds of successful people in this world.”

"One type is the adventurer, and the other is the conservative."

"Adventurers, every hair on their bodies is filled with the spirit of adventure, and they are full of the aura of madness. These are the people who are suited to pioneering and changing the world."

"There is another type of person: the steady one. They are good at observing, sensing the general trend, and then riding the wave."

Do you know which type of person is more likely to achieve better results?

Lin Xiao thought for a moment: "The second one."

Masayoshi Son said, "Yes, the second type, and you are the first type."

“Great pioneers, great pioneers.” Masayoshi Son repeated twice: “In an instant, many names flashed through my mind, names that resounded through the heavens.”

"Such people often have overly advanced and idealistic thinking."

"Moreover, because of past successes, they are filled with extraordinary expectations and confidence in their abilities, and then they make earth-shattering moves."

"If what they do aligns with human nature and the general trend, they will often succeed."

"If what they do is just a half-step ahead, or if the potential energy has already accumulated, and they just need to detonate it, then they can often succeed."

"But if you really want to create something from nothing and defy fate, you will often fail."

Lin Xiao picked up his glass of red wine and slowly drank it down.

Masayoshi Son continued, "Actually, not long ago, I hadn't studied you in great detail. Although our cooperation was very close, your business accounted for too small a percentage of my investment. It wasn't until you resigned from all positions at Lightning Group that I truly began to study your past."

"Your first venture was very bold and very ahead of its time, even too far ahead, so it didn't really succeed."

“At that time, China’s mobile SP business was the easiest to make money. There were clearly many businesses that could be developed, but you didn’t do any of them. I even noticed that you have a characteristic: once your business starts to make money, you start to lose interest.”

"You're like a crazy adventurer, always exploring new territories. You're more inclined to build your own blueprint, and you'll do anything to achieve it."

"These kinds of people are terrifying. Although they may achieve great success, they often cause investors to lose everything."

Wu Lingxi: "This world belongs to idealists, but ultimately it belongs to pragmatists."

"Ideals go out to explore the world, pragmatists go out to build the world."

"Xia Xi and I were actually categorized as pragmatists."

Masayoshi Son raised his glass to Lin Xiao and said, "Lin-san, I wish you success in your third venture!"

..........................................

The next few days were filled with incredibly tedious investigations and negotiations.

After a long and complicated process!
The loan agreement was finally placed in front of Lin Xiao.

The total amount is eight hundred million US dollars.

In just two years, the interest costs alone amounted to more than $100 million.

If he cannot repay this money by then, all of his core overseas assets will belong to Masayoshi Son.

Moreover, these core assets may appreciate many times over in the future.

Lin Xiao let out a soft breath and signed his name on the contract.

So...

With interest, he was burdened with a debt of over 900 million US dollars.

Even someone as strong as Lin Xiao couldn't help but feel a little dazed. When Meilin's boss gently patted his shoulder, his smile even became somewhat formulaic.

After everything was over, he strolled quietly to the X Research Institute.

There are nearly two hundred people here now, and the annual salary cost alone reaches tens of millions of US dollars.

Lin Xiao arrived at Wu Di's office.

"It's not bad, your hands aren't shaking too badly," Lin Xiao said.

Wu Di's handsome face twitched instantly.

He only had one feeling about Lin Xiao: he was a good person, but unfortunately, he had a big mouth.

“My mother told me that you took out an $8 million loan?” Wu Di asked.

Lin Xiao: "Yes, your mother said that she could actually sell more assets to invest, but I don't think I can take advantage of your family."

Wu Di: "Did you know that Google's research team on mobile operating systems is now far smaller than ours? They only have half the number of people as we do."

Lin Xiao: "Because they are not as anxious as we are."

Wu Di: "I found that, technically speaking, this thing is not very difficult."

Wow, you're a genius!

You think nothing is difficult.

Simply building a system may not be very difficult, but making choices and trade-offs is very difficult.

Knowing when to add and when to subtract is very difficult.

Early domestic mobile phone manufacturers, including Samsung, tried to add features to their mobile phone systems, making them as flashy and boastful as possible.

After working on it for several years, I started to simplify things.

Even the simple app icons initially had a purely 3D design, but gradually transitioned to a flat design.

Early versions of Google's stock Android were very smooth, but they were often considered unusable and very rough, requiring individual phone manufacturers to further refine them.

Lin Xiao has used many mobile phone operating systems, including HTC, Xiaomi, Meizu, Huawei, OnePlus, Samsung, VIVO, and so on.

What he found most unbearably difficult to use were the early Lenovo mobile phones.

That's really... hard to explain in a few words.

Actually, the first domestic smartphone brand to gain momentum wasn't Xiaomi or Huawei; it was Lenovo's LePhone, which had a really hot advertising campaign.

Because Meizu was too small, Lenovo's LePhone represented the hope of domestic smartphones at the time.

When the results came out, the system was... really difficult to use.

Xiaomi initially broke through the competition by relying on Mi UI, and when the Xiaomi 1 came out, it did give many people a huge surprise.

In Lin Xiao's plan, the operating system will be simplified earlier than Xiaomi's.

However, it adds a little more features compared to the later addition.

And because it was born early, it really has a significant advantage.

Because everyone was still using feature phones, it was already considered very impressive when a smartphone came out, so people didn't have such high requirements for the ecosystem.

Moreover, Lightning Group undoubtedly possesses the strongest software ecosystem in China.

Currently, a large number of people in the Lightning Games community are already developing games for this phone that hasn't even been produced yet.

It's fair to say that when Lin Xiao's phone hits the market, in terms of software ecosystem alone, it will definitely surpass Apple in the domestic market.

Because Apple won't develop a lot of apps specifically for your market, let alone create games specifically for you.

“When the time is right, I want to go into chip design,” Wu Di said.

Lin Xiao: "Chip design is still nowhere in sight."

Wu Di: "Don't you have money now? Why don't you go and talk to them?"

"Also, to avoid wasting time, when are you leaving?"

Damn, you're the boss, and I'm the boss?

..........................................

Next, Lin Xiao held another meeting with people from ARM and Texas Instruments.

The X Research Institute, ARM, and Texas Instruments formed a team to design a chip specifically for this future phone.

We'll do it according to Lin Xiao's requirements: 45-nanometer process. Although he doesn't understand it, he remembers the relevant parameters of Qualcomm's first-generation Snapdragon chip, the QSD8250.

I don't care how you do it, you just have to surpass it!

If we design it a few years in advance, can't we do it?

Just go straight for TSMC's most advanced future manufacturing process; I know they'll have that process eventually.

Follow the clues.

Meanwhile, the other team began to criticize Lin Xiao for being an amateur.

"Mr. Lin, do you know how high the cost of a single chip would be in this way?"

"If the cost of a single chip reaches $50 by then, can you afford it?"

Don't be fooled by the fact that a Qualcomm flagship chip sells for 1700 RMB more than a decade later; its price was actually much lower back then.

A cost of $50 sounds horrifying.

Because even when Qualcomm sells to mobile phone manufacturers, they can't get that price.

Lin Xiao: "Let's design it first, and then we'll talk about the cost later."

The development cost of Apple's A4 chip reached $10 billion, which Lin Xiao really couldn't afford, and he didn't need to be that impressive.

“Mr. Lin, I must tell you that once we start, it means burning through money like crazy. We don’t even know how much money we will burn.”

"Moreover, according to our agreement, you will have to pay 55% of the R&D costs."

"According to the current plan, you have prepared around $200 million for the design and research of this chip. However, if there are any delays, this amount may continue to increase."

"Are you sure you can handle this? Once the contract is signed, it can't be changed, and you can't back out halfway!"

..........................................

Lin Xiao returned to the X Research Institute and held another meeting.

His chip team is really small, only a few dozen people, and they are all very young.

However, they have one skill: summoning magic.

These people are all PhDs from top universities, and their teachers are also world-renowned experts whose names are widely known.

Lin Xiao flew to Taiwan this time to pay a visit to Boss Liang.

The other party stared at Lin Xiao in astonishment once again. Are young people on the mainland really this awesome now?
He had previously attended the ceremony of the X Research Institute and was already quite surprised to learn that the institute's mission was to develop mobile phone operating systems.

Unexpectedly, the specifications of the chip he initially wanted to develop were so frighteningly high.

Is it saying you're an amateur, or that you're just a fearless newcomer?
"Is it outrageous?" Lin Xiao couldn't help but ask.

Boss Liang: "You don't understand chips?"

Lin Xiao: "I don't understand."

Boss Liang: "So how did you manage to reach the limit for the next two or three years?"

Then, the expert stopped there.

Besides, it's a trade secret.

But his meaning was clear: Lin Xiao's requirement was the limit of TSMC's large-scale processing capacity within the next two to three years.

How did you know?

There are practically no people in the world who understand this thing.

“I was actually quite surprised that you came to me,” said Boss Liang. “Because this involves your company’s critical secrets. How can you guarantee that I won’t go to your competitor’s company in the future? You actually consulted me on such a crucial decision and even paid such a generous consulting fee? You should know that sometimes confidentiality agreements are not necessarily effective.”

Lin Xiao was taken aback: "I guess ignorance is bliss."

He was indeed somewhat prejudiced, because Liang is one of the biggest contributors to the future of China's chip industry.

"First of all, designing this chip is extremely difficult, even though the main research teams are ARM and Texas Instruments. Secondly, even if you manage to develop and design it, the biggest beneficiary will not be you, but Texas Instruments. However, you will have to spend more on research and development costs, which doesn't seem like a worthwhile business."

"To put it another way, if it's just 500 million chips, the R&D cost alone would exceed $2 million. Not counting the manufacturing fee, the R&D and design cost alone would reach $40 per chip, while in reality, a finished SOC wouldn't even sell for that price."

"If it's just about doing business, I've never seen this kind of business before."

"Texas Instruments, once the sales ban expires, can sell this chip in large quantities and spread the costs. But your sales target is only five million, and that's for the entire cycle."

"Based on your approach, I don't know how much your phone will ultimately cost, or how much it should be sold for."

"Moreover, I heard that you have very high requirements not only for chips, but also for screens, and even for camera modules, CMOS sensors, and so on. You need to negotiate with Sharp and Sony specifically for these."

"You're a liberal arts student, right? You're full of romanticism."

"Working in the technology industry requires not only taking risks and being romantic, but also being down-to-earth."

Lin Xiao: "Dr. Liang, are you advising me not to do this?"

"No, I'm just saying what I think, but... some people are just born to be disciplined." Boss Liang laughed. "If you want to create the ultimate product, then you're not being delusional. If you want to do business and make money, then I really don't know what the outcome will be." "But if you're determined to do it, then I only have two words: I admire you!" Boss Liang continued, "In comparison, Hongda seems mediocre."

Lin Xiao gave a bitter smile.

He didn't expect it to be so difficult or risky when he was doing it.

Even if he could foresee the future several years from now, the risks involved would still be enormous.

HTC, formerly known as HTC, was once a very successful company, ranking among the top in the world, but it declined rapidly in a very short period of time.

Of course, after the mobile phone industry declined, Cher Wang was unwilling to settle for mediocrity and led HTC to bravely transform, almost going all-in on virtual reality. As a result, by 2025, they were still stuck in the mire and had not yet climbed out.

Of course, a few years later, Zuckerberg of Facebook also made an all-in move.

“If you really want to do it, then I’d be happy to be your friend,” Boss Liang laughed. “After all, this world is a paradise for madmen.”

..........................................

Flying back to the United States once again!
Lin Xiao held another meeting with the team from Texas Instruments and ARM.

I don't know how many times I've opened it.

The support team behind him is becoming increasingly professional and sophisticated.

Because he really doesn't understand it, he needs help with many details.

Finally, Boss Liang flew in again.

Meanwhile, the top mentors of the PhD students at the X Research Institute were also summoned to conduct the most professional negotiations with Texas Instruments and ARM.

Even though Lin Xiao paid a considerable consultation fee for each of these individuals.

But the people who come are basically not there for the money.

As I said before, there is a small group of people in this world who live in a paradise for madmen.

Sober-minded people build the world.

Crazy people design the world.

As a result, in the later negotiations, Lin Xiao, the key decision-maker, became a mere listener.

Then, inexplicably, the mentors of these PhDs at the X Research Institute formed an oversight committee to monitor the progress of the three-way team's work.

finally……

After more than twenty rounds of back-and-forth negotiations.

Several top academic figures turned to Lin Xiao and said, "Mr. Lin, you can sign the contract and then make the payment."

Then, Lin Xiao transformed into a ruthless signing machine.

Signing document after document.

Once the agreement was signed, it meant that two hundred million US dollars were gone.

However, these agreements stipulate that if the research and development is not successful after these funds are spent, Texas Instruments will have to pay more for the remaining research and development, but the share of intellectual property rights for the chip will remain unchanged.

For this chip, Lin Xiao will have to spend at least $200 million on research and development, while Texas Instruments will spend $180 million.

This is a huge gamble for Texas Instruments.

So Richard couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he signed the contract.

After signing, no one applauded; there was only exhaustion and a slight sense of bewilderment.

However, after the initial confusion came a strange sense of exhilaration and excitement.

....................................

Regardless, the development of the SOC, the core component of mobile phones, has at least begun to get on the right track.

Next, we need to tackle the screen, camera module, CMOS sensor, and so on.

At that moment, Lucas made a phone call.

"Boss."

Hearing this address, Lin Xiao felt a little strange.

You're dating my own sister, and you call me "boss"?

“There’s something going on. There are two groups of investors who want to invest in our East Asian Facebook.” Lucas’s voice was a little cautious.

Lin Xiao: "Has it gotten to the point where you can't make the decisions anymore?"

Lucas: "Yes."

Lin Xiao: "Those two?"

Lucas: "One is the Sinava Group, and the other is the Royal Foundation."

Depend on!
No wonder!
Awesome!
The two super bosses of Tyrannosaurus.

Lin Xiao: "How much?"

Lucas: "It's not a lot of money, just around $6000 million, and the asking price isn't particularly high, but it's still a bit lower than the prices offered by other investment banks."

Lin Xiao: "I agree!"

“Okay!” Lucas: “You should still attend this signing ceremony.”

Lin Xiao: "I have already resigned from all positions at Lightning Group. Xia Xi can sign with you."

Lucas: "You'd better show up."

Lin Xiao: "Okay!"

………………

Next, before flying to Japan, Lin Xiao flew to Bangkok.

Then, he went through a ceremony of the highest caliber.

Although he didn't need to sign, it was as if the signing was secondary, and being received was the main thing.

At this point, Lin Xiao has unlocked an achievement!
The King granted an audience!

Following that, the Lightning Group was also given a request by the other government.

In the future, we would very much welcome Flash Entertainment to film movies in Thailand, but if possible, please try to show the positive aspects of this country and its beautiful customs and culture.

Immediately, the people from Lightning Group felt a little embarrassed, especially Gao Changhe from Lightning Entertainment.

The 2005 Lunar New Year film season has ended.

Flash Entertainment doesn't have any big productions this year; their Lunar New Year release is "SPL: Sha Po Lang".

Despite its name, the plot is based on "SPL 2: A Time for Consequences," set in the country of Thailand, and revolves around the illegal trade in organs, which is quite frightening.

After watching this movie, people from China were too scared to come to Thailand.

In 2005, a super heavyweight film was released and was even recorded in film history: The Promise.

This movie was released on December 15th at the same time as Flash Entertainment's "SPL: Sha Po Lang".

That was truly an unprecedented spectacle.

In terms of production costs and cast, it's far superior to last year's "The Last Days".

The domestic box office of "The End of the World" was 4.1 million yuan, so the producers of "The Promise" set an even higher goal: to break the box office record again.

The final box office reached 1.8 million!
The final box office of "SPL" was 2.5 million yuan, while the historical "SPL 2" grossed 5.6 million yuan, but that was several years later.

The box office of 2.5 million yuan has already made Zhen Zhidan overjoyed.

He was the first Hong Kong filmmaker to join the Lightning Brotherhood; if he didn't perform well, he would be disliked by both sides.

This result proves everything.

"Breakup Buddies" grossed 2.8 million yuan.

Therefore, in 2005, the top two box office earners in China were still Flash Entertainment.

But this year's results are not encouraging.

The phenomenal success of "The Last Days" last year truly gave people a sense of a new ceiling and new hope for Chinese films.

I had a feeling that the market ceiling would rise rapidly and the film industry would flourish, but this year it has been brought back to square one.

"Oh, by the way, there's something I need to tell you," Lucas suddenly said.

Lin Xiao: "What's up?"

Lucas: "I'm marrying your sister."

"Huh?!" Lin Xiao: "When?"

Lucas: "I'm too busy with work, so I'm only planning to have one banquet, in your hometown, on March 9th!"

Damn, there are only a few days left.

Why are you only informing me now?
Lin Xiao: "Isn't it being done in Hong Kong?"

Lucas: "I don't have any relatives or friends there, so why would I hold a banquet?"

His mother immigrated there illegally and had no relatives or friends. Later, she became the mistress of a British man. So, although he was born and raised in Hong Kong, he had no relatives or friends at all.

In recent years, his mother has made quite a few mahjong partners.

So in a sense, Lucas really was a man with no relatives or friends.

Lin Xiao patted him on the shoulder, but didn't say anything like "we'll be family to you from now on."

He is both her brother-in-law and one of her top generals.

They're not family, but they're closer than family.

........................

3 Month 5 Day!
A message has surfaced on the Chinese internet.

The leader of the Er Gou cult owes a staggering $10 billion in debt in the United States!
This news has once again caused a huge uproar.

It has been almost nine months since Er Gou, the leader of the cult, resigned from all his positions and disappeared from everyone's sight.

There have been various news stories along the way, but this time it's truly big news.

This immediately sparked heated discussions.

Immediately afterwards, many reporters crowded the entrance of the Lightning Group, and Xia Xi was even interviewed by reporters while attending an event.

"President Xia, I heard that Master Er Gou owes a huge debt of one billion US dollars in the United States. Is that true?"

"Will such a huge debt completely bankrupt the Lightning Group?"

"Why did he incur such a huge debt? Was it due to failed investments in the United States? Was it from speculating in futures or stocks?"

"President Xia, the total value of all of Er Gou's shares in Lightning Group is less than one billion US dollars, right? Does this mean he's completely bankrupt?"

Faced with these questions, Xia Xi coldly replied, "Completely unfounded."

"President Xia, why is Master Er Gou going to the United States? Has he become an American citizen? Does that mean he is no longer Chinese from now on?"

"Did he go to the United States to escape condemnation from domestic public opinion?"

Xia Xi was extremely annoyed.

Meilin Liu Feifei specifically called Lin Xiao to apologize.

"Mr. Lin, I'm so sorry."

"We are already tracing the source to see which party leaked this information."

"We will definitely give you an explanation."

There are no secrets in the world, and this time, a total of three banks provided the loans.

Moreover, Lin Xiao has so many rivals that if they even catch a whiff of something, they'll dig it up.

What's disgusting is that the person who leaked this information clearly knew what Lin Xiao was planning, but deliberately spread rumors that the investment had failed and even tried to steer the conversation toward bankruptcy.

Liu Feifei: "Some people do hope that you can't repay this money and then go bankrupt."

Meanwhile, countless fans of Er Gou Jiaozhu (a popular online figure) emerged once again on Facebook.

“Master, you’ve been missing for almost nine months.”

"You'd better come out and clarify the facts, otherwise the rumors will become facts, and over time, in many people's eyes you will really be bankrupt."

Some people mocked below: "Clarify? Clarify my ass."

"Don't you know? What is called a rumor is actually the truth."

"Back then, when Er Gou was two-timing, everyone thought it was just a rumor, right? The two women even tried to clear his name, but what happened? He was still proven guilty. Didn't Er Gou lose his reputation and flee to the United States because of this?"

Immediately, Er Gou's fans argued below: "The leader is responsible, that's why he came out to admit it. What do you mean by 'ruined reputation'? Who told you he was ruined reputation? Who told you he fled to America?"

Immediately afterwards, someone posted a photo.

It was probably a candid photo; Lin Xiao walked into an American hotel.

"Still not admitting it? Isn't this America? Isn't this Er Gou? He just ran away!"

"A bunch of people still regarded him as a patriot and an idol, but after the incident, he was the first to defect to the United States. What a bunch of idiots!"

"They're just trying to take advantage of you, and you're treating them like heroes? You bunch of idiots, you have no ability to think independently."

It has to be said that after Er Gou left, the domestic public opinion environment continued to deteriorate.

A large number of reflective articles and a large number of public intellectuals are stirring up trouble.

Meanwhile, Lin Xiao, who was in the eye of the storm, finally returned to his hometown to attend the wedding of his older sister Lin Yao and Lucas (Wu Laicai).

...............................

Note: I can't think of a way to ask for monthly votes, and I'm a little anxious, so I'll just kowtow to my benefactors and beg for your help!

(End of this chapter)