Since we are both reborn, of course I would choose the rich woman!

Chapter 356 Refined Egoism (6k views, please subscribe)

Behind the glamour of the hurricane zone, there was naturally no shortage of marketing support from Lü Yao's online army. In fact, the identities of many investment institution presidents were intentionally or unintentionally leaked by Lü Yao's side.

Amid this trend, the core trio of Hurricane Zone Studio naturally became highly sought-after in many fields.

The way Lü Yao set them up was, in old terms, called a "scheme with a fancy name".

The so-called "fraudulent scheme" involves using flattery, fame, fortune, and external evaluations and behaviors to gradually make the person being targeted conform to the external evaluations given to them, thus willingly walking into the "trap".

Sounds a bit far-fetched, doesn't it?
But this trick is very common in reality and it always works. In reality, this trick also has a name that is easier for older women to understand - "labeling".

For example, if a girl like Huang Yao is labeled and stigmatized, people will gradually start to view her with prejudice. If this kind of thing is not handled well, it is very easy for a girl to be driven to the brink of collapse by it.

This is a practice that uses "labeling" to trigger external changes, thereby "harming" those involved.

This approach is often simple, crude, and easily cracked.

The truly clever way to "label" someone is to make them "fit the description," making the person being manipulated willingly walk into the trap set by the manipulator. The "horoscope" that was popular during this period in 2016 was a similar tactic.

If you look closely at the personality analysis of the twelve zodiac signs, anyone with a modicum of intelligence will find that most of the descriptions are vague and ambiguous, seemingly applicable to anyone.

But when these claims are combined with the concepts of "astrology," "fortune," and "metaphysics," many young men and women will spontaneously immerse themselves in them, and then after studying them—hmm~ that's the flavor!
After many years of development, the personality traits of different zodiac signs have been summarized into distinct labels.

For example, Scorpios hold grudges, Aquarians are prone to erratic behavior, and Libras have difficulty making decisions...

With the increasing influence of collective consciousness, many people even spontaneously "shape" their personalities based on their zodiac sign.

Behind astrology lies a huge potential consumer market, and even more sinisterly, a cultural conflict.

The scheme that Lü Yao is setting up for Xia Siyuan and Jiang Min is similar to the explosive popularity of astrology.

The promise of fame and fortune lured the core trio of Hurricane Zone Studio into Lu Yao's schemes, paving the way for Lu Yao's next move.

What if the enemy in the shadows doesn't fall for it and lets Lü Yao keep the hurricane zone at bay?

That's very simple.

Lu Yao can elevate them, and he can also bring them crashing down.

Both rise and fall can be flexibly chosen according to the needs of the situation.

In late October 2016, the domestic game industry became lively again. The collaboration between Hurricane Zone and Game Science was pushed to the forefront of public opinion. Although Game Science had not yet released any content for its single-player games, the matter had already attracted the keen attention of many investment institutions.

Meanwhile, those also paying attention to this matter include Lu Yaorong and Nianqing, who are outside the circle and have enemies lurking in the shadows, eyeing them covetously, and there are more than one group of them.

……

In the capital city, on North Street, in a courtyard house.

A group of people gathered in the flower hall of the courtyard house to brew wine and tea, eat snacks and listen to music. The leisurely atmosphere made people want to relax and lounging around.

These people gathered in small groups, but they all followed the lead of the person sitting in the main seat of the flower hall. The topics of conversation in the flower hall were basically all about the person in the main seat. This person is now one of the more powerful figures in the Beijing circle.

His surname is Zai, and his family background is quite illustrious.

Mr. Zai was over forty years old, but he was very well-maintained. His hair was black and thick, and his complexion was rosy and full. He also had a very calm and composed demeanor. In the flower hall filled with decadent music, he was like a mountain and a river, standing alone and unmoved by the outside world.

While others were busy enjoying music, Mr. Zai was slowly refreshing online news and updates on his tablet. His demeanor was more like that of someone reviewing memorials in a temple than someone having fun in a flower garden.

Next to Mr. Zai were a man and a woman, who, judging from their seating arrangement, were close relatives of him.

The woman was named Jin Ruier, Mr. Zai's niece. The other woman, who looked older than Jin Ruier but younger than Mr. Zai, was named Qiao Zhiqing, also a relative of Mr. Zai, from his aunt's side of the family.

These two were summoned here by Mr. Zai.

Mr. Zai took screenshots of many pieces of information he had seen, compiled them into a document, and then showed the document to Jin Ruier and Qiao Zhiqing. Mr. Zai then got up, stretched his limbs, and asked with a smile, "What do you two think?"

After Jin Ruier and Qiao Zhiqing finished reading the document compiled by Mr. Zai, Qiao Zhiqing remained silent for a while before saying, "Is this Mr. Lü from Shangnan testing the waters?"

Jin Ruier spent a little longer looking at the tablet than Qiao Zhiqing. After Qiao Zhiqing finished speaking, Jin Ruier put down the tablet and said, "Should we pay attention to them? We've already gathered enough information about Shangnan and related companies in the south."

"The timing is just right."

Mr. Zai was quite pleased to hear the speeches of the two younger members of his family. As for whether or not to confront the South, Mr. Zai was still quite hesitant.

Things are different now. In the past, their family was indeed very prominent, but they later declined. Fortunately, there were more opportunities in the new world. After so many years of hard work, with the money accumulated by their ancestors and the help of relatives overseas, they have gradually built up their current wealth.

But despite his seemingly vast and profound background, he ultimately carried inherently flawed genes. When he clashed head-on with the Rong family and even the He family, Mr. Zai was still insecure.

So Mr. Zai paced back and forth in the flower hall with his hands behind his back.

Mr. Zai's hesitant pacing caused Jin Ruier and Qiao Zhiqing, who were behind him, to have different thoughts.

Qiao Zhiqing is a rather steady and conservative person, so he does things in a similar way to Mr. Zai. He usually plans things out before acting, and he will never take action unless he is absolutely certain of success.

But Jin Ruier was different.

Although she is a woman, she has a much fiery and strong personality. When it comes to things she wants to do or things she desires, she often takes direct action and crushes everything in her path.

Jin Ruier was very annoyed by her uncle's personality, which was completely different from that of Mr. Zai and Qiao Zhiqing. After seeing her uncle pacing around six or seven times without saying a word, she finally said, "Uncle, say something?"

Mr. Zai waved his hand, indicating that there was no rush.

But Jin Ruier was very anxious: "You know how important the things that Shangnan faction holds are. If we can control those things, our position will become more secure. At that time, even those people will have to hold their noses and cooperate with us."

"That's a deadly weapon, Uncle!"

Mr. Zai smiled and said, "Of course I know. It is precisely because this matter is so important that we must be 100% certain before we can take action."

Jin Ruier's fiery temper flared up immediately, but before she could even open her mouth, Mr. Zai cut her off, saying, "I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush."

Mr. Zai arrived at the exquisitely carved mahogany window in the flower hall and said, "Now, there are people who are more anxious than us."

……

Mr. Zai is right.

Although Lü Yao, Jian Xiaojie, and Rong Nianqing did a good job of keeping it a secret, Weiguang International has been under constant scrutiny ever since Rong Nianqing secretly acquired it.

no way.

We are no longer in the era of limited information flow around the turn of the millennium. With the booming development of information technology and the rapid advancement of various technologies in China, it is becoming increasingly rare to see such a situation where someone makes a big move while the situation is still under wraps.

Especially for someone as outstanding as Rong Nianqing with a strong family background, her every move and everything around her is closely watched.

In some think tanks, the relationships and financial networks behind Rong Nianqing, the Rong family, Jian Xiaojie, and even Lü Yao are crystal clear. Even if these funds come from overseas, some think tank members can find out about them in the shortest possible time through their connections.

This is an even more powerful capability than the Economic Crime Investigation Department.

There's a line in the movie "Anti-Corruption Storm" that goes like this: "Money travels from Dubai to Cyprus, through Switzerland, London, New York, New Zealand, the Cayman Islands, and back. Just talking about these places takes half a minute, but the money only needs eight seconds to travel around the world. Eight seconds—you could search for it for ten years and still not find out."

Therefore, in the eyes of truly capable think tanks, the domestic economic crime investigation capabilities are as immature as a green recruit.

However, this is based on the premise of individual conviction, while those think tanks with their own paths do not need to do so many fancy things. What they need to do is analyze and ultimately provide intelligence for the boss to make decisions.

Therefore, any official economic investigation they can conduct is more powerful.

Therefore, after Rong Nianqing acquired Weiguang International through various means, the infiltration of "Weiguang International" began in every possible way.

Although the fact that Mr. Liang Bosong has joined Weiguang International has not yet been confirmed, news of Weiguang International's major breakthrough has still leaked out.

The manufacturing of domestically produced high-end chips has always been a major concern in China. Shortly after the turn of the millennium, this issue led to numerous blunders and farces. However, research and development of high-end chips in China has never stopped, but research and development cannot be accomplished simply by investing money.

Scientific research capabilities, material supply, and industrial integration are all indispensable.

Sometimes a little bit of luck is also needed.

Therefore, in 2016, even the strongest chip group in China only completed the mass production of 28nm chips. Although this level of chip has entered the mainstream international foundry market, it still cannot enter the high-end consumer technology product market.

As TSMC and Samsung Group have successively advanced the mass production process of 14nm chips, these companies have won orders worth tens of billions of dollars in the international market. At the same time, they have also begun to invest heavily in industrial upgrading.

In today's increasingly competitive consumer electronics market, whoever seizes the most advanced manufacturing processes will dominate a global market worth hundreds of billions annually. Currently, the main competitors in this market are only TSMC and Samsung. Others, such as Intel and GlobalFoundries, have chip design philosophies that are inferior to TSMC's, and even less so to Samsung, which has been empowered by Liang Bosong, thus their future competitiveness is already insufficient.

According to information from an international cutting-edge intelligence agency, Intel is no longer able to break through the mass production process of 10nm-class chips.

Even GlobalFoundries, the chip giant of the Land of Light, admitted that 7nm is a difficult hurdle to overcome in the progress of human chip development. This is because the more microscopic the development, the more the chip's circuitry will experience the "tunneling effect." If this problem is not solved, human technology will not be able to continue to improve the computing power of chips.

Although TSMC and Samsung later developed 5nm and even 3nm level chips, that was just a word game in naming. In reality, the world's cutting-edge chips are just adding buffs to the original design concept, improving the chip's performance by increasing the quantity, so that the chip performance can reach the expected "5nm" or "3nm" level.

In other words, a 14nm chip is definitely a high-end product in the field of chip manufacturing.

While further advancements to 10nm or 7nm will improve chip performance, their impact on the nation's future is actually not that significant.

Since 14nm chips are already fully capable of handling applications across all fields, further development is merely a means to seize the consumer market with the improved performance.

This is also the fundamental reason why the northern neighbor will not be subject to chip sanctions by the Land of Light in future economic competition.

The reason why Tokyo University was affected was because Tokyo University became forcibly associated with the Land of Light for one reason or another.

just now.

The more influential members of the group that spurred Tokyo University and the Land of Light to take action were gathered in a mansion in Umi City.

Mr. Zai is right, this group is indeed more anxious than Mr. Zai's side.

If the news coming from within Microlight International is true and completely accurate, it means that a large portion of the domestic chip business will be taken away by Microlight International in the future.

The most critical aspect is that this chip business extends beyond the consumer electronics market; it also involves many government agencies and their subordinate units in China. Many of the products they use will quickly gravitate towards Microlight International, bringing Microlight International considerable profits in a short period of time.

Chip manufacturing is already extremely profitable, and with the strong support of all units at Southeast University, China's high-tech ecosystem will undergo a tremendous transformation.

If all key high-tech fields are domestically produced, how will these people who facilitate international trade transactions position themselves?
So this group of people gathered in Dahai City to discuss countermeasures.

The main leader of this group was a "Mr. Liu".

As if by telepathy, when Mr. Zai gathered his relatives and acquaintances in the capital to discuss matters, Mr. Liu also gathered his own people to discuss countermeasures.

This Mr. Liu was in his forties, with a prominent nose, and looked exceptionally dignified when he had a cold expression.

Among the group of business people dressed in suits and ties, looking very sophisticated, Mr. Liu was dressed in simple clothes, his black and old-fashioned jacket was already deformed in some places from washing.

If not told otherwise, no one would guess that this person is actually the successor of one of the leading companies in the current consumer high-tech electronics industry.

Because the people in the mansion had already finished discussing the issue of Shangnan Lüyao.

So everyone is in silence, deep in thought.

After a long while, among this group of business elites who looked very Westernized, a woman who was almost forty years old, with short curly hair and a mature and composed demeanor, spoke first: "President Liu, Shangnan's recent actions are clearly aimed at undermining us. My suggestion is to ignore them and take direct action against them."

“There are many things in China that we cannot and have no right to decide, but President Rong and President Lü of Shangnan have invested a lot overseas in recent years. We can join forces with international forces to cut off all their overseas businesses and force them to comply.”

The woman confidently stated, "I have received information that many of the upcoming programs implemented abroad will include bone setting services for people in China."

Mr. Liu looked up at the person who had spoken.

This is Chen Yuanbai, one of the key figures in the development of China's automotive industry.

It's a very masculine name, but although Chen Yuanbai is a woman, she lived up to her name. She was decisive and efficient, and her greatest strength was using her power to intimidate others and cutting through the Gordian knot.

Faced with the movements from Shangnan this time, Chen Yuanbai's approach remained the same as before.

Mr. Liu thought for a moment and asked, "The game industry is closely related to high-tech products and countless consumers. Now, Mr. Xiao Lü from Shangnan is going to start making a AAA game that has never been made in China before. This will inevitably arouse great anticipation among young people in China."

As he spoke, Mr. Liu suddenly looked at Chen Yuanbai and asked, "Sister Chen, do you know anything about the domestic game industry?"

Chen Yuanbai shook his head confidently: "I don't know. Do I need to know?"

Mr. Liu smiled and said, "Although games are indeed not something that can be taken seriously, due to their inherent characteristics, they are very popular among ordinary people and young people. They are also an industry sector that is most likely to evoke emotions among young people and ordinary people."

"Then think about it, why would Mr. Lü, a businessman who rose through the ranks by scheming and marketing, plunge headlong into the gaming industry? Do you even know how many users Guang'an Online Games has right now?"

Market dominance is certainly important.

But winning over people's hearts is the key to a company's long-term success.

At this point, Mr. Liu sighed and said, "Our group has a deep understanding of this issue."

The computer company founded by Mr. Liu's father in his early years had an outstanding background and a promising future. Before the millennium, it was almost a representative of high-tech enterprises in China.

However, because their later development path went astray and they lost the support of the people, they, who were originally a high-tech development company that took the path of technological innovation and whose technological capabilities were no less than those of the world's top companies, have gradually faded into obscurity in China and now survive only through capital operations and financial investments.

Looking at the booming market with its market value rising every day, Mr. Liu and his father have some regrets.

But once the choice is made, there's no use in regretting it.

Moreover, when doing business to a certain extent, what you're fighting for is never the market, but people's hearts... It's just that Mr. Liu and his group are fighting for people's hearts outside of China.

But as long as you can stand firm on one side, that's enough.

Mr. Liu stood up, put his hands behind his back, and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window in the lobby of the mansion. He slowly said, "Based on my understanding of Mr. Lü from Shangnan, his actions are definitely not as simple as 'testing the waters.' He will definitely use this information to make a big fuss."

"If we directly rely on overseas forces to launch a comprehensive attack on the Shangnan Group's trade industry, it might give that young CEO Lü from Shangnan an opportunity instead."

Mr. Liu sighed, "Sometimes, the best advertising comes from the enemy's targeting."

And Mr. Lü is such a marketing whiz...

Therefore, Mr. Liu had to be on guard.

Mr. Liu's words made Chen Yuanbai frown. At this moment, Michael, a bigwig in the financial industry who was in the same circle as Mr. Liu, said, "So, Mr. Liu, what do you mean?"

They weren't called here to listen to Mr. Liu's long-winded analysis.

They need concrete solutions.

Whoever proposes this solution must take responsibility.

They are all shrewd people, and of course they don't want to take responsibility for such things. Even if they were to take responsibility, they would only step in later when there is a crisis, so as to minimize the risks on themselves.

This is also a characteristic of their group.

In the next two years, this group of people will be labeled with a very refreshing term – “refined egoists”.

Sounds sophisticated, doesn't it?
In the future, this term may even be whitewashed and become the motto of many micro-business owners, internet celebrities, and gossips. They will frequently post on WeChat Moments, status updates, and Douyin videos with carefully edited, suggestive photos, and then add this sentence to express their "stance".

But in reality, this word clearly represents the dirty, dark rats in the sewers.

Now, Mr. Liu's family business is no longer as successful as it once was. Faced with the emergence of various Internet+ technology companies in China, Mr. Liu's family business has gradually lost its competitiveness.

That's why everyone pushed all the issues and decisions onto Mr. Liu at this gathering at the mansion.

This stands in stark contrast to the situation in the capital.

Mr. Liu was well aware of these people's intentions, but Michael represented the overseas financial industry, and Chen Yuanbai represented the domestic joint venture automobile manufacturing industry. These were forces far more powerful than the Liu family, and Mr. Liu could not afford to offend them.

Therefore, he must take responsibility for this.

So Mr. Liu couldn't help but sigh twice more in his heart. He realized that this group of people really wouldn't amount to anything, but as he said before—

The choice has been made; there's no going back.

After a long pause, Mr. Liu said, "I think the safest approach is to bite the bait that Mr. Lü throws out, and use that bait to engage in a struggle, so that the person who threw the bait understands what he is fighting against, thus making him back down."

"As for how to make Mr. Lü back down, that depends on your skills."

As soon as Mr. Liu said that, many people in the room rolled their eyes inwardly...

This guy doesn't want to suffer any loss, does he? He's just thrown the problem back at us again?

(End of this chapter)