My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 633 We Absolutely Cannot Lie Down and Give Up
Wei Dong's mental age meant he wasn't in a hurry at all.

Even when he first discovered he could sell cured meat, he made round trips in an orderly manner.

Once Wei Dong overcomes the immediate hurdle of survival, he will inevitably have to look to the long term.

Luxury cars are quite common on the streets of Beijing, but he took a taxi to the factory and drove a very ordinary, original-colored 212. Mao'er and Ram accompanied him with Xiao Die.

It just so happens that another couple can stay at the factory with the mother and daughter.

Bringing a child to a department like the Economic Commission is a bit outrageous.

Fortunately, Xiaodie's condition has improved a lot after wandering around with her father for the past six months.

Even though they still don't talk much, only using "damn" and "fuck" all the time, they already have daily actions and eye contact.

Lammaoer could play with her, especially when Maoer casually flicked a small bamboo stick between his fingers or mysteriously changed the playing cards, which would attract Xiaodie's attention with various expressions as she sat in the back row of 212.

This made Wei Dong feel much more relaxed, as he really hadn't expected so many people to come.

None of them were from the last economic conference; they were all quite old.

During this time, I saw that Wu Xi was still accompanying someone wearing an old-fashioned military uniform. She nodded to him from afar but did not communicate with him.

The meeting was held around a single sofa covered with white floral patterns, with Wei Dong also having a cup of tea on a small table next to him.

When the old security guard with the missing hand was sitting in front of Lao Shi, he would sometimes feel a bit like that.

So I only sat on half of my buttocks.

"I went to Pengzhen with Professor Fang in early July, and we discussed some issues related to foreign trade in science and technology on the way..."

I'm sure someone will immediately ask what technology foreign trade is.

Then I would have to explain: "For example, if I come up with a software idea, and have software engineers express it—even if it's just a very basic draft—it clearly expresses my ideas. Then, I send it abroad for top software engineers to develop it into an excellent software product for sale. The revenue should be shared with us because it's my idea, and foreigners can no longer copy or hide it. From about June to August, it sold very well in the North American market, and we received about $60 million..."

Wei Dong brought a modified Apple II computer that could accept memory cards and run PowerPoint presentations.

More importantly, we had asked in advance if we could use one of the 34-inch color TVs in the conference room for the presentation.

The Apple II was designed to be able to display content using a standard television video interface.

The PPT text displayed on the screen is still a bit rudimentary, but the "dialog box" format is very clear.

Everyone present frowned. What kind of software could sell for 60 million US dollars?!
Is it really that easy to make money in capitalism?

We keep talking about export earnings, and it's a tough struggle for the whole country to achieve $30 billion a year. That's $70 to $80 million a day. You make it sound so simple, a single idea, and it won't even take a day to equal the whole country's daily earnings.
I'll definitely ask him to explain what this software is again.

It's really difficult to explain this to someone who has never used a computer before.

The result was exactly the same elderly man with the receding hairline who had bought an X-ray computer after attending a computer certification meeting with the Fifth Ministry of Machinery Industry, the Fourth Ministry of Machinery Industry, and other units.

He casually explained, "It's like the PowerPoint presentations we usually use. Creating them involves writing and drawing on transparencies, which is quite troublesome. But with these, the annotations are stored on the computer, making them easy to modify at any time. Plus, anyone can make them, and there's no cost associated with transparencies. They should be very popular in the market. Why didn't they think of that?"

Rang Weidong had already discussed this with Lao Huang and Steve: "The most crucial reason is the upgrade of the computer system. It has switched from the ordinary command-line mode to the graphical mode. The computer has instantly become a graphical and intuitive tool. The era in which ordinary people can use computers extensively has arrived. This kind of electronic presentation software has also ushered in a golden age. This kind of system only started to become popular two years ago. I often think about how to report my work, so I made this. This thing has not yet appeared in the North American market. It has an exclusivity."

"He must have taken that Xerox computer back," the old man, who had played Minesweeper before, nodded in understanding. He turned to help by gesturing: "In North America, several million personal computers are sold every year, and after a few years, that number has reached tens of millions. When good software comes out, it's like every household has a tape recorder and a good song cassette tape; everyone buys it to listen to, which generates huge benefits. Comrade Xiao Rang has a unique insight into computer applications; the feedback from the banking and education systems is the same. In terms of hardware, we are currently twenty years behind the advanced level, but in terms of software, haven't we caught up by several years or even come very close?"

Wei Dong realized that this person was good at explaining complex technical issues to laymen, and everyone believed him.

He was a very helpful straight man in the comedy.

He shook his head: "That was pretty much the case before this incident, but it's been a bit reversed since then. We've been catching up in hardware for about ten years, but I think we're still more than ten years behind in software. But at least we have clear development paths for both now..."

Hearing him say that, whether they understood it or not, they were at least somewhat encouraged.

Let me elaborate.

Let Wei Dong return to the incident itself: "We planned to put these funds in Hong Kong. The main purpose, besides purchasing the US-made central processing unit chips that domestic computers need now, was to seize the opportunity to purchase equipment for producing these semiconductor chips. They are very expensive, often costing hundreds of millions of US dollars. Moreover, they were previously on our embargo list. The Xizhou plant once had the opportunity to import a production line, but because of insufficient foreign exchange, we missed the opportunity and did not buy them. Then, Citibank sent us news that Apple had acquired AMD, the world's second-largest chip manufacturer. They also used a lot of means and funds, including mortgaging the software company I just mentioned. So I am also a minority shareholder."

It sounds a bit like Infernal Affairs.

Just as Lao Fang was adept at discerning this form of struggle, everyone present was noticeably more focused: "How did you gain their trust?"

"It's very simple. I work in sales. Apple computers were already experiencing slow sales, dropping from second to third or fourth place in sales volume. I participated in guiding their sales work last year and this year, using purely commercial methods to help them increase sales. I also received a share of the profits last year, which was used for foreign exchange related to the import letters of credit for Pingqi Automobile. Furthermore, through the joint venture in the Shanghai Electronics Industrial Park, we helped them with OEM production, reducing costs. This further brought us the most advanced picture tube production capabilities, as well as titanium alloy processing that can be used in various aerospace projects, high-definition acrylic needed for aircraft cockpits, and special rubber technology that can be used in many scenarios..."

There was a lot of whispering and murmuring among the people present.

Wei Dong briefly explained the application of these technologies in computers: "The core issue is that I discovered the chips we import are a scaled-down version of Apple computers. They have similar functions and little difference within the same level, but this is actually technology from ten years ago. Apple's biggest competitor has already been quietly making efforts, not only using chips that were mass-produced three years ago, but also quietly trying out the latest processor chips. I immediately reminded Apple that if they don't address this technological gap as soon as possible, they may lose in the upcoming computer war. So they weighed various factors based on my advice and made this acquisition strategy. I also deserve some credit and a reward."

As expected, different people reacted very differently to this. Some nodded, while others asked, "Then why did you get involved with Citibank and help them?"

It had a questioning tone, as if asking why we should help imperialism.

Wei Dong said calmly, "We have a gap in this area, so of course we have to help the weaker one to hold back the leading one. Moreover, this process of helping can also bring us more benefits. For example, AMD started setting up a wafer fab in Penang, Malaysia in 1975 and a packaging plant in Farewell in 1978..."

Following the tables on the PPT, the principles of semiconductor chip production and the significance of wafer fabs and packaging plants were explained simply.

"The total value of the two sides is more than 300 million US dollars in investment. With an additional tens of millions of US dollars invested in improvements later, we will be able to produce mainstream chips based on technology from three years ago. Moreover, we will hardly have to spend any money to build them. Under the guise of relocating from Citibank to a more suitable production site, all I need to do as a shareholder of the foundry is to pay some improvement fees to get two factories to start production in Pengzhen. So I immediately decided to do everything I could to bring the two factories back. The technical experts and key personnel from the Xishan, Xizhou, and Jinling factories will be trained as technical workers to fully master all the relevant technologies and become familiar with the equipment."

Some people were already applauding, but others were still wondering: "Then why not just go for the best chip from the start?"

Before Wei Dong could even explain, several people around him were already chattering: "We need to be able to get our hands on the most advanced technology; the technological blockade is still there!"

"This will require an investment of tens of millions of dollars to improve, and the most advanced ones will probably be even more expensive..."

"That's good. I heard this technology is guaranteed to stay relevant for at least ten years?"

Wei Dong nodded in agreement: "These reasons are all correct. Another reason is that bringing them back is to allow everyone to learn advanced technologies, rather than giving up once we have the most advanced ones. Since we already have them, why bother researching them ourselves? Personally, I believe that imperialism's desire to destroy us will always exist. Temporary friendliness is only because there is profit to be made, and they may turn against us and impose blockades at any time. That's why we can already send people to these two factories in Southeast Asia to learn. I still decided to go through all the trouble of moving them back to Pengzhen. If necessary, this can also be used as leverage. Now we need to take advantage of the fact that they haven't realized the importance of this and try to move the packaging plant here within the year. My reason is that the security environment in Feilubin is too unsafe."

With things said to this extent, Wei Dong was practically bursting with joy, as if the red scarf on his chest was about to flutter in the wind.

But everyone present was too knowledgeable and experienced, so they went straight to the point: "Are you a Hong Kong resident now?"

Wei Dong suddenly realized that he and Yu Songhai were completely different.

(End of this chapter)