Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 386 The Pocket Watch Moves Again

(The revisions to the previous chapter mainly focused on the last third.)

The trip to South Korea has come to a successful end. Although there were some minor hiccups, both the filming and the negotiations with Samsung yielded a fairly good result.

The next morning, Zhai Da temporarily separated from the production team to meet with Lee Jae-yong.

After sobering up, Lee Jae-yong didn't feel particularly embarrassed about the previous night. As representatives of high-pressure societies, Japan and South Korea are very tolerant of drunkenness. On the contrary, he felt that he had drunk enough and that their relationship had become even closer.

Yesterday, during the recording of the program, Samsung had already gone through the decision-making process and planned to send a delegation of up to 20 people to Harbin.

However, Zhai Da made it clear beforehand that the research institute was a purely research-oriented institution and didn't have time for hospitality; guests would have to arrange their own travel and accommodation.
As it turned out, Zhai Da underestimated a company like Samsung with a global reach. Even in Harbin, they had offices and branches, so there was no need to worry about them so much.

In a teahouse in Gangnam, Seoul, Lee Jae-yong was skillfully brewing Kung Fu tea, which surprised Zhai Da.

This Samsung heir may only be of average appearance, but his high-pressure upbringing and forty years of global experience have certainly taught him a great deal, including knowledge of the languages ​​and classic cultures of China, the United States, Japan, and South Korea.

The tea itself isn't very good. South Korea doesn't produce much good tea.

"The chairman has approved my application. The first devices to adopt Hongtu OS will be our latest Galaxy series. Due to contract and inventory constraints, Symbian and WinMobile models will continue to be produced, but production will be gradually reduced."

Zhai Da nodded: "When is the planned release date?"

Lee Jae-yong said seriously, "December."

"Next December?"

"This December."

Zhai Da smacked his lips.

Some Samsung employees are going to have to work harder again.
However, it's not a big problem. He vaguely remembered that in his previous life, Samsung decided to increase working hours to 64 hours per week, which is equivalent to 12.8 hours per day if calculated with a two-day weekend, making them nuclear-powered office workers.

Overtime pay? I can work a whole day and still owe the company several hours' worth of wages!
The only minor issue is that it violates South Korean law.

As a result, the South Korean labor department quickly amended the law, declaring this model perfectly legal.

Because he is kind.

The 200,000 local employees didn't utter a single word.

When you feel stressed, think about Koreans, and you'll feel better.

Zhai Da declined to comment on this, but he certainly wouldn't burden his own employees. The Hongtu OS project team only has a few dozen people, and Samsung can fill the gaps in manpower themselves.

The new era has its own line-filling babies.

"Mr. Zhai, could you please return to Seoul on your way back? I'll definitely show you around then, your schedule this time is just too tight."

Zhai Da shook his head: "No, thank you. I've been away for long enough, and I have a lot to do when I get back."

Lee Jae-yong poured a full cup of tea for Zhai Da: "Then let's meet again in China. Actually, I go there for research many times every year."

The two discussed some details, such as Samsung's press conference and the contents of the contract.

Because of the open-source model, Hongtu's legal contracts with mobile phone manufacturers are relatively simplified. After all, the rules that need to be followed are written in the program. Hongtu can protect its rights with the highest authority instead of going to court.

In theory, no contract needs to be signed, and Hongtu allows anyone to use it.

Signing a contract with Samsung is purely to express our regard for them.

After saying goodbye to Lee Jae-yong, Zhai Da met up with the production team at the airport, along with the fourth episode's guests, Liu Yifei and Huang Xiaoming, who had arrived earlier.

These are the two biggest names in the four episodes so far, and they were featured in the final episode.

Of course, an even bigger name was waiting for them at their destination.

Once everyone was accounted for, the group boarded the flight, about to cross the Pacific Ocean to the final stop of their overseas journey:
Los Angeles.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

On the buzzing flight, this thirteen-hour journey had only just begun.

In the double-row business class seats, the complex seats resemble eggshells and can be laid flat for comfortable reclining.

Zhai Da held up a stack of A4 papers, which were printed out in advance. The paper, titled "Application of Non-metallic Ceramics and Silicon Carbide Composite Materials," was from Peking University in China. He didn't always have time to use his computer, so he printed a copy specifically for this purpose.

It must be said that Kyoto University is still very strong in the academic field. Its number of papers published in the international academic community far surpasses that of most schools. Although this paper is not a groundbreaking development, it is still substantial.

To put it bluntly, Harbin Institute of Technology now understands that many things cannot be published in papers.

As a leading institution in aerospace and military industries, many of its achievements have been quietly collected and stored in the national technology reserve.

While their academic papers may not be as impressive, their practical engineering skills surpass those of Tsinghua and Peking Universities.

Time ticked by, and this journey across the Pacific Ocean felt incredibly long; I'd never been on a plane for so long in my two lifetimes.

After Seoul, Zhai Da was actually quite tired.
But since the journey has already begun, we must complete it and gain something from it.

The filming location in Los Angeles was on Hollywood Boulevard, but after scouting the location, Zhai Da felt even more disappointed than with Akihabara.

It's a cement road that's neither bustling nor pretty, with a few round handprints on the ground, nothing more.

The only bright spot is that there are a lot of street performers and quirky people on this road.

The recording went awry one after another, and soon the production team received even worse news.

The fourth guest cannot make it.

Following the 3+1 format, the guest for the fourth episode is somewhat special: Li Lianjie, a former spokesperson for the sponsor "ZTE Mobile". He has been living in the United States for a long time and can be considered a semi-local celebrity.

Absolutely heavyweight.

He was filming near Los Angeles, and to give the sponsors and the domestic team face, he agreed to participate, which would only take about a day.

But upon arrival, the production team was informed that the other person had suffered a recurrence of a back injury sustained while filming "The Expendables" and was unable to participate.
For the production team, this was a bolt from the blue. After all, there were many arrangements in the fourth episode to work with Li Lianjie, and even to revolve around him, given that his status is far beyond what is typical in China.

The emergency meeting lasted all day at the hotel, and the production team was running around frantically. But no matter how uncomfortable you are, you can't just push someone out of the hospital to attend, so many arrangements had to be changed.

In contrast, Zhai Da was less bothered. The identity of the guest had little impact on him. Regardless of who came, his focus was on the final magic trick.

The fourth episode's magic trick is crucial in acquiring the ability to "control objects remotely."

However, due to a last-minute change in plans, the filming was delayed by two days, and Zhai Da finally had some free time to leave the hotel and wander around.

Because everyone warned him not to go out after dark, he only took two hours one morning to wander around.

After all, if nighttime is the peak period for criminal activity, then people still need to sleep, right?

Similarly, it can be proven that morning is the safest time!
Zhai Da had no specific destination; he was simply taking a walk. There was a famous nudist beach behind the hotel, but in the morning only a few elderly white women were sifting through the sand. For the sake of his physical and mental health, Zhai Da chose to go in the opposite direction.

Occasionally, you can see young people jogging in the morning, which makes the scenery much more beautiful.

This was Zhai Da's first time visiting this land in two lifetimes. He looked around curiously, and occasionally, when standing on the hillside, he would gaze into the distance.

As one of the most economically powerful cities in the United States, almost all the high-rise buildings are concentrated in a small area, or even just one or two streets, while the rest are endless rows of low-rise buildings.

Of course, these "houses" are not cheap in terms of lifestyle and asset value, but for Zhai Da, who has a keen eye for infrastructure, the endless wooden houses just don't match the legendary metropolis.

The building is so low, it must be very convenient to put out a fire!
Because of the low building height and low floor area ratio, Zhai Da found that without a car, he couldn't go very far and couldn't see anything.

An hour has passed, and the surrounding area still looks pretty much the same.
I checked my phone and realized the meeting was approaching, so I hailed a taxi to return to the hotel.

Lowering the car window, Zhai Da looked at the palm trees along the roadside and the young women dribbling basketballs and jogging in the morning, thinking to himself that at least it had an exotic feel.
It wasn't a wasted trip.

Marble bases for baseball, soccer, and basketball.
Ball sports are indeed their strength.

Suddenly, while he was in a daze, Zhai Da's entire body, from his toenails to the top of his head, trembled.

This feeling hadn't come over in a long time, so much so that Zhai Da was momentarily stunned before he came to his senses.

He immediately reached into his pocket with his bare hand and took out the Uncertainty Pocket Watch from his "Equipment" menu.

After being silent for more than half a year, the three limp hands of the compass are now pointing in a certain direction.

　(The revisions to the previous chapter mainly focused on the last third.)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)