Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 438 Cities, Changing Lives!
"With the Shanghai World Expo about to open, the city's residents are fully prepared to strive for a high-quality and impressive event, showcasing Chinese culture and the future..."

The old television, with its slightly distorted sound and affected tone, broadcast the biggest news in the country.

The small shop in the alley was run by a man wearing a vest and fanning himself. There was also a poster of the World Expo mascot "Haibao" on the door with the words: "City, Change Life".

A young man, seemingly dazed from the sun, sought refuge in the shade.

"Boss, a bottle of Gatorade, please."

Six pieces!

"What? It's only six yuan! Every brand of Pulse sells it for four yuan!"

The shop owner raised his eyes and said, "This is Sanghai. You can also buy bottled water here."

The young man grimaced, but still bought bottled water in the end.

"Four dollars."

A young man pointed at a Wahaha drink printed with a group photo of athletes as its brand ambassadors, and poked his finger into the nostril of the sign that read "Asian Boxing Champion: Fan Junwei":
"It says the suggested retail price is one dollar and fifty cents!"

The boss said dismissively, "I don't know him well, and I won't accept his advice."

The tall young man didn't say anything more, and took out his wallet as if he had resigned himself to his fate.

After paying and receiving the change, his expression changed, and he pulled out a small notebook from his pocket: "Come, come, I'm from the Market Supervision Bureau's Price Supervision Team. Sir, do you have a business license? Show it to me so I can copy the rectification order."

Convenience store owner: (_)?!

The tall young man, while copying down the order slip, said, "The World Expo is about to open. If you do this, everyone will lose face. Mineral water is four yuan? Why don't you sell it for ten yuan?"

The shop owner thought to himself that ten yuan was a price for foreigners.
"Don't tear down the rectification notice posted on the door. We will conduct random follow-up checks from time to time. Don't worry, you won't recognize them. They are all young people who speak excellent Mandarin. If there is a second problem, it won't be just a matter of posting a notice. Understand?"

As they were talking, a group of people came into the alley. The two leading men were dressed casually, one in a polo shirt and the other in a white T-shirt, but they were followed by seven or eight men in suits.

Although the weather in May wasn't exactly hot, the combination of such attire and such a large number of people still made them stand out.

As the group passed by, they saw the cold drinks in the refrigerator filled with condensation. The middle-aged man in the polo shirt stopped for a moment, and someone behind him immediately understood and went up to ask if he was thirsty.

The young man in the T-shirt took out two bottles of Wahaha: "Drink this, I know their spokesperson."

Or rather, one of the spokespeople.

The two men, each with a bottle, continued on their way, with someone else staying behind to pay.

After everyone had gone far away, the shop owner said, "Aren't you going to do anything about this? They're obviously gangsters! Thugs! They just know how to bully us ordinary folks."

The tall young man clicked his tongue twice: "What gangsters? Don't you recognize that guy in the white shirt? He's Zhai Da, the writer and scientist! And the one next to him looks like the boss of a big company."

"Let me tell you, recently many political figures from various countries, CEOs of international companies, and major media outlets around the world in Shanghai have been asking us not to bring negative news to our World Expo."

The boss waved his hand: "I know, I know."

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 other side, a group of seven or eight men in suits continued to stroll around.

Zhai Da took a sip of Wahaha: "I thought someone like you wouldn't drink street beverages when you go out, like carrying a case of Perrier with you."

Lee Jae-yong laughed and said, "It's only when you go to remote places, like Africa or India, that it's so troublesome. Besides, I have actually visited the Perrier water base."

"Oh? Is there anything special about it?"

"It's just water; the water source and the factory are both operating normally."

"Got it. Just like the sweet air, it becomes awesome once you add a place to it."

Time has flown by to May, the cusp of spring and summer in 2010. The biggest national event certainly isn't "the core mechanical research has partially commenced at the semiconductor factory in Dongyang," nor is it "mathematical genius Lu Wei announces another major breakthrough: 'entropy optimization'."

It's certainly not something like "the film adaptation of 'The Long Road to Lu' has wrapped up filming" or "'The Broken Finger' has secured its place as the best-selling novel of the year, helping more than 11 children return home and providing clues to hundreds of parents who have lost their children."

Instead, it is the upcoming grand opening of the "2010 Shanghai World Expo".

As the second major global event hosted by China since the 08 Olympics, the World Expo is slightly inferior to the Olympics in terms of historical continuity and comprehensive influence. However, China's main principle in hosting events is "either don't hold them, or hold them to be the best in history."

The city of Shanghai has been preparing for this for many years.

Blue mascots known as "Haibao" were plastered all over the streets and alleys, and the whole city was on high alert, recruiting students from almost every university to volunteer.

Government officials and representatives of large corporations from various countries were invited, as national pavilions also need the participation of businesses to showcase their latest technologies and business logos.

That's how Lee Jae-yong got his position; after all, besides kimchi and K-pop, Samsung is an unavoidable presence in the Korean pavilion.

In a sense, this is also how Zhai Da got here, because their silicon carbide power devices and "Electric Engine-15000", as well as a "new energy concept car" handcrafted by the research institute, will all be displayed in the third exhibition area of ​​the China Pavilion: the "low carbon" themed area.

Around March, he received an invitation to place his products in the third exhibition area of ​​the China Pavilion. The Expo Committee also planned to reserve a small area in the park specifically for showcasing the booming "smartphone revolution" initiated by China, which is the country's way of demonstrating the achievements of industrial upgrading.

By the way, that concept car wasn't anything special. The Expo Committee felt that "power devices" and "motors" were too technical and not intuitive enough, so it was better to just put a car next to it.

So the research institute "made" one by hand.

Concept cars, you know! All you need is a cool exterior. Many international car manufacturers do it this way: flamboyant and eye-catching.

You asked me if it can be mass-produced?

I might not even be able to drive it well!

The concept car from the research institute is actually quite decent; at least it's drivable. The exterior was designed by Wang Qianyu, a member of π known as "Little Pencil." She doesn't really understand aerodynamics, but she just wants it to look cool.

In addition, the research institute obtained some tickets, including advance tour tickets exclusively for VIPs, and tickets for the opening ceremony.

At the time, Zhai Da was in Harbin, preparing for his first relocation. After a slight hesitation, he decided to come to Shanghai to take a look.

I missed it in 08, so I'll join in the fun in 10.

We got tickets this time!

Zhai Da won't stay in Shanghai for long. He'll visit the World Expo Park tomorrow to see the exhibitions, and then leave after watching the opening ceremony the day after tomorrow.

Zhai Da didn't come alone, but he wasn't used to being surrounded by a group of people when traveling, and it wasn't like he was abroad and had to be wary of American-style iaido.

Even American-style iaido might not be able to hurt him.
Lee Jae-yong, on the other hand, was clearly different; he wasn't used to not having several burly men behind him.

That's why we have the impressive entourage of suit-clad attendants we see today.

We wandered through alleys until we reached Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street, where we ate some mediocre snacks. Someone recognized Zhai Da and snapped photos from afar; of course, it's also possible that they recognized Li Zairong.

Zhai Da gave Lee Jaeyong a piece of mung bean cake, and Lee Jaeyong ate it while nodding, revealing an exaggerated expression like a Korean CEO eating ramen.

After the other party swallowed, Zhai Dacai said, "Suing Apple is meaningless to me. Although it is compliant for an open-source system to do such a thing, it will raise everyone's vigilance. Besides, we don't have the energy to fight a legal war across more than a dozen countries. Perhaps Mr. Li can think of other ways."

Lee Jae-yong swallowed the mung bean cake and advised, "There's no need for President Zhai to prepare the judicial resources of various countries."

Zhai Da glanced at the other person: "To put it bluntly, it won't benefit me, so why should I do it?"

Li Zairong pleaded, "I heard that President Zhai's factory plans to start production this year. I wonder if there are any equipment needs? Although we are not involved in silicon carbide, many technologies in silicon-based semiconductors are interoperable. If President Zhai needs them, perhaps we can provide equipment or share some patents?"

Zhai Da turned his head and looked Li Zairong up and down, seemingly surprised by his persistence and his courage.

But after a moment, he shook his head and said, "Sorry, I don't need that."

(End of this chapter)