Siheyuan, Shazhu: I have both parents in this life

Chapter 314 Former Members of the Peninsula
However, the enthusiastic market response quickly drew the attention of competitors. They were doing just fine, and Huanghe suddenly entered the fray, which naturally made them very uncomfortable. This was because people in Hong Kong who lived in houses developed by Huanghe, drove Huanghe cars, and frequented Huanghe stores every day had a high level of trust in the brand.

Not to mention some companies simply don't renew their contracts when they expire, and then go to the Yellow River to handle their business.

Huanghe is also willing to invest heavily. The operators at the paging station are basically bilingual in Cantonese and English, and some even know less common languages ​​such as Latin and German.

Hong Kong is an international metropolis with businessmen from all over the world, so this kind of service is naturally popular.

The competitors' strategy was simple: first, a price war. Several established paging companies took the lead in announcing a 20% reduction in rates and launching various promotional packages.

Following suit, some local small and medium-sized paging stations also began to lower their prices.

Huanghe Communications' customer growth has slowed significantly, and there has even been a small number of customer losses.

"Mr. Qiao, this is this week's user data." Liu Fangfang, who is in charge of the paging business, placed a report on Xiaoman's desk.

He continued, "Mr. Qiao, the effects of the price reduction are starting to show. Moreover, I've heard rumors that our signal coverage isn't stable enough, and we often can't get a signal in the suburbs and inside some buildings."

Xiaoman took the report and quickly scanned it: "Regarding the price, I had already considered it. Let them lower it. Our rates weren't high to begin with. I want to see how long they can hold out. As for the signal, when will the radio frequency base stations I asked the purchasing department to order arrive?"

Liu Fangfang's face was somewhat grim as she said, "President Qiao, this is the second thing I need to report. We just received a notification from NEC that the batch of RF amplifiers we were scheduled to deliver next week has been delayed due to technical adjustments. Without these amplifiers, the construction progress of our new base stations will be severely affected, and our plan to expand signal coverage will also have to be shelved."

"Have you contacted them about the motorcycle side?"

“We contacted them, but they went even further, demanding that we sell our business to them.”

"That's a good idea. Alright, you can go now. I'll figure out a way to handle the base station issue. We won't lower the fees for now, but we'll upgrade the service to another level."

"clear."

After everyone left, Xiaoman picked up the phone and dialed He Yuzhu's number.

"Brother Zhu, the situation at the telecommunications company isn't looking good."

Xiaoman briefly explained the difficulties she encountered.

On the other end of the phone, He Yuzhu was silent for a few seconds, then said, "Don't be afraid of price wars. We should still follow suit. We can also take the opportunity to acquire those small companies."

"That's one way to solve part of our coverage problem, but what about afterwards?"

"I'll figure out a way to deal with the base station issue. Also, don't be afraid of losing money. It's only a small amount. You've already investigated it. This is the future of development. Of course, it will definitely become obsolete, but have you thought about what will happen in China if it becomes obsolete in Hong Kong?"

“I understand. These things will continue to thrive in underdeveloped areas. I know what to do,” Xiaoman said.

“Okay, urge the lab to speed things up.”

"Yes," Xiaoman replied, and then the other end of the phone hung up.

After hanging up the phone, He Yuzhu dialed Bai Yifeng's number.

"Old Bai."

"Boss, what are your orders?"

"Have someone in Europe investigate and see if there are any poorly managed companies that manufacture radio frequency towers."

"Europe, boss, aren't these things more advanced in North America and in smaller cities?"

"Do you think they'll sell to us?" He Yuzhu asked rhetorically.

"Okay, I'll arrange it right away." Bai Yifeng only thought about the technological advancement, but forgot about the issue of technological barriers.

In the following two weeks, the price war outside intensified, and Huanghe Communications also felt the pressure.

After chairing an emergency meeting, Xiaoman decided to follow up with a moderate price reduction, while also launching more flexible business packages and better customer service, emphasizing the stability and brand reputation of Yellow River Communications.

On the other hand, the investment department of Huanghe Group quickly selected several smaller local paging stations that were teetering on the brink of collapse in the price war.

Xiaoman personally led the team and began secret acquisition negotiations.

The negotiation process was not smooth sailing. Some small business owners raised their prices on the spot, while others were secretly encouraged by their competitors to sabotage the deal.

However, Huanghe Capital is well-funded and offers attractive terms (often cash acquisition plus retention of some employees), which is very tempting for small platform owners who are struggling to survive in the fierce competition.

After several rounds of intense negotiations, Huanghe Communications successfully acquired three small paging stations with a certain user base and key regional base stations.

The integration work began immediately, and the technical team of Yellow River Communications worked day and night to upgrade and connect these networks, and users began to gradually migrate to Yellow River's system.

As a result of these actions, Huanghe Communications' user base increased rather than decreased, and network coverage was significantly improved, allowing it to initially establish a foothold.

The price war lasted for three months, and several weaker paging companies in the market finally couldn't hold on and either withdrew from the market or were acquired by larger companies.

The Hong Kong paging service market underwent a rapid consolidation and reshuffling due to the strong intervention of the Yellow River Group, resulting in a new three-way competition between Yellow River and two other established local companies.

At this point, the three parties tacitly stopped their aggressive price cuts, and the competition shifted to a new phase focused on service, signal quality, and future technological development.

In fact, in late October, Bai Yifeng found a suitable acquisition target – a medium-sized company called "Rhein Electronics" under the Rheinland Group.

The company has many years of experience in manufacturing radio frequency communication equipment and has solid technical skills, but it has been poorly managed in recent years and is facing bankruptcy liquidation.

However, the negotiations did not go very smoothly. The owner of 'Rhein Electronics' obviously wanted to make a fortune and then switch to another business, which Huang He naturally refused to do, so the negotiations went on round after round.

In the end, pressure from banks and creditors forced the boss to compromise, and he sold not only the company but also the patents.

After the acquisition, He Yuzhu did not move the factory's equipment back to Hong Kong. Instead, he sent a management team to continue operating the business, focusing on base stations, including not only paging but also cellular network base stations.

As for the finished products produced earlier, they were originally designed to be compatible with motorcycles, and were directly shipped back to Hong Kong to expand the coverage of Huanghe Paging.

In the past few months, the communications lab has also made some progress. First, all models of Motorola machines have been copied.

Of course, this was limited to the laboratory setting, and then problems arose.

1. Regardless of whether the pager displays English or Chinese characters, its storage capacity is insufficient.

Second, the existing LCD screen was too small and the resolution was insufficient.

Third, the English part was manageable, but the compilation of the Chinese part was beyond the technical scope of these foreign engineers, especially since He Yuzhu also required compatibility with both traditional and simplified characters.

Because of He Yushui's special relationship, and because Xiaoman has been intentionally or unintentionally establishing her position in the team during this period.

So He Yushui was chosen to communicate with the higher-ups, and the first person He Yushui called was Xiaoman.

"Sister-in-law, it's me, Yushui."

"Hmm, I heard you've encountered some difficulties?" Xiaoman asked.

"Yes, there are problems with the font storage and MCU, there are also problems with compilation, and the LCD display is not up to standard." He Yushui succinctly explained the difficulties.

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone before Xiaoman's voice came through again: "Have you communicated with the Singapore side about storage and the MCU?"

"We didn't ask because we were afraid of delaying their research and development progress."

"You know they have a team dedicated to developing graphics-related things, right?"

"I vaguely remember that team was transferred from North America."

"Try to coordinate this yourself first. If you can't reach an agreement, then I'll step in."

"Okay." He Yushui thought her sister-in-law would help her communicate, but in the end, she still had to do the work herself.

"As for the LCD display, I'll ask your brother."

"Great."

"Why don't you just go to your brother?"

“Finding my sister-in-law is more effective than finding my brother,” He Yushui said.

"Don't be too happy yet. You need to solve the coding problem yourself first. Your lab has the right to recruit technical personnel from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China. Of course, you still need professional people to vet those who want to join the lab."

"Can't this company help us solve this?" He Yushui asked.

"If possible, could you ask your team members to recommend someone internally?"

"Ok."

"You seem very reluctant."

“These things are all more troublesome than doing experiments,” He Yushui said.

"Do you really want to spend your whole life in the lab?" Xiaoman asked.

"I'll think about it."

"Then think it over carefully. Whatever choice you make, your brother and I will support you."

"Sister-in-law, you're the best!" He Yushui said with a smile.

"Alright, you finish what you were talking about first, I'm going to go see your brother too."

“Yes, Mrs. He!” He Yushui said playfully.

"I'll take care of you when I go home."

"Hehe, I'm afraid I won't be able to go back anytime soon!" He Yushui laughed.

"toot toot"

He Yushui handled the custom MCU issue directly. There was a group in Singapore doing something similar, but the application was different, so He Yushui and her team made a few samples to facilitate their experiments.

The Singapore lab also took care of the storage aspect; the storage units of the microcomputer could fully cover it, the only issue was size.

The problems with LCD displays are more complicated than expected.

Xiaoman didn't actually contact He Yuzhu first. Instead, she used the name of a small foreign company to test the waters. When they rejected it, she switched to a larger one.

The result was naturally far from ideal. When Xiaoman found He Yuzhu, her face was clearly troubled: "Brother Zhu, the manufacturers at Xiaozhizi are very firm. They want to explain the purpose of the customized display screens first, and they directly refused to transfer the technology, saying it's a 'core area' and they won't transfer it to others." "What about joint venture production?" He Yuzhu asked.

“That won’t work either, they only sell in-stock items,” Xiaoman said.

"These bastards!" He Yuzhu rarely swore.

Previously, he was hampered by bottlenecks in base station equipment, and now his display screen is facing obstacles as well. Xiao Rizhi's attitude, one after another, has gradually built up his anger.

"I've also asked other countries, and their technologies don't meet the standards. What can we do, Brother Zhu?"

"You should first help Yushui and the others solve the problem of technical personnel. Domestically, you can do it through President Liang. I'll think of a way to handle the LCD display issue."

"The experiments in the laboratory?"

"We still have a monitor, right? Let's use that for now and tackle the other technical challenges first."

"Ok."

Over the next period of time, He Yuzhu had Bai Yifeng collect information on all the manufacturers of Xiao Rizi electronic products, and then selected a group of world-leading manufacturers from them.

Then He Yuzhu used the excuse that he needed to go back to China, and used a small passport to take a boat to Xiaorizi.

The following days were quite eventful, as all the companies on He Yuzhu's list suffered terrible misfortune.

Not only were the data lost, but the laboratory was also empty, and even a batch of equipment in the factory was missing.

The police have gone crazy; they've even mobilized the special police force.

As a result, He Yuzhu changed his identity to that of a Korean and went to South Korea.

After going to South Korea, He Yuzhu went to Daegu. When he arrived in Daegu, he went to a hardware store, but the store had been demolished. He then spent a long time asking around for hardware stores, but he still couldn't find one.

He Yuzhu called Bai Yifeng and learned that the hardware store had long since become a hardware import and export company, and that the current company was only a part of the group.

And that group was Taishan. "Boss, why did you go to South Korea?"

"Just passing by to take a look."

"Then I'll contact them first and have them pick you up?" Old Bai said.

"Just give me the phone, I'll go there myself."

"Okay." Lao Bai gave him a phone number, and He Yuzhu hung up and dialed it.

The phone rang for a long time before someone answered. It was a woman. "Annyeonghaseyo, yogi, Taesan hosai eeyo!"

“I’m looking for your chairman!” He Yuzhu said.

"Excuse me, the chairman is in a meeting!"

"Who in charge can answer the phone?"

"Everyone's in a meeting, you can call back later!"

What is your company's address?

After receiving an address, He Yuzhu hung up the phone, left the phone booth, and hailed a taxi.

It took half an hour to reach Taesan Group. Daegu has developed rapidly in recent years. Not only has the city expanded, but there are also many cars on the road.

When He Yuzhu got out of the car, he was amazed to see that these guys were quite capable. They had even set up a standalone office building. Bai Yifeng was in charge of the specific investment here. He had never thought that things would improve much without strong support, but he hadn't expected these guys to be doing so well.

After looking at it, He Yuzhu went straight into the building.

The receptionist was a young woman in professional attire. Upon seeing He Yuzhu, she immediately stood up and bowed in greeting.

He Yuzhu said directly in Korean, "I'm looking for the chairman. I'll tell him that an old friend of mine, surnamed He, is coming to see him."

Upon hearing that the person was looking for the chairman, and seeing He Yuzhu's extraordinary demeanor, the receptionist dared not be negligent and quickly dialed the internal line.

After exchanging a few words in hushed tones, her expression immediately became even more respectful.

"Mr. He, please have a seat for a moment. The chairman and the others will be down shortly."

He Yuzhu had only been sitting on the sofa in the reception area for less than two minutes when he heard a series of hurried and chaotic footsteps coming from the direction of the elevator.

Led by a hyena, five men in their thirties, dressed in sharp suits, practically jogged over.

Their faces were filled with unbelievable excitement and eagerness, completely ignoring the surprised looks from other employees in the company.

The scene left the receptionist and several nearby employees dumbfounded; they had never seen the company's top managers so out of control.

"Boss!" Coyote was the first to rush to He Yuzhu, his voice trembling slightly. He instinctively wanted to stand at attention and salute, but He Yuzhu stopped him halfway. He realized that the occasion was inappropriate and wanted to bow again, but He Yuzhu looked around and waved his hand, saying in a low voice, "Don't give me that. Let's go. This is not the place to talk."

"Yes, boss, please!"

The four men behind him—Grizzly, Hammer, Wild Dog, and Rock—also made the gesture of invitation in unison.

With Chairman Tugou leading the way, all the company employees bowed to show their respect until He Yuzhu and his entourage boarded the elevator.

The people below began to speculate about He Yuzhu's identity.

The group took a private elevator directly to the chairman's office on the top floor. The office was spacious and luxurious. As soon as they entered, Shi Tou rushed to make tea, while the others stood somewhat reservedly, as if they had returned to the days when they were under the command of He Yuzhu.

"Please sit down," He Yuzhu said casually, sitting down on the main sofa and looking them over. "It seems you've been doing quite well these past few years; your business is doing remarkably well."

Coyote quickly replied, "It's all thanks to you, boss, and the support of General Manager Bai. We've been figuring things out step by step, following the instructions from back then."

He Yuzhu nodded and accepted the tea that Shi Tou respectfully handed over: "It's very good. I came here to look for the old hardware store, but it turns out that area has been demolished long ago."

"Hehe, hehe!" The group laughed.

He Yuzhu didn't take it to heart.

"Boss, what instructions do you have for me this time?" the coyote asked after laughing.

"I didn't give any instructions. I just stopped by to see you. After all, I was the one who asked you to stay here. I haven't come to visit you all these years. To be honest, it's my dereliction of duty."

"It's not the boss's fault. You're so busy. We have General Manager Bai to take care of things here," Coyote said.

“He can’t help with the business; you’ll have to rely on yourselves,” He Yuzhu said.

"No, no, no, the company's financial resources and freight support are the main factors; otherwise, we might still be running that small hardware store," Coyote said.

"Tell me what exactly you're doing right now."

The group exchanged bewildered glances. It seemed the boss hadn't come specifically to see them and didn't even know what they were doing. However, they weren't angry about it. Although He Yuzhu hadn't paid attention, he had always given them the green light. In the first few years, all the funding, shipping, supplies, and equipment came from Hong Kong.

So Coyote gave a brief explanation of the situation. They are still doing things like auto parts, ports, and hardware. In addition, real estate development is Huanghe's old business. They specifically asked Lao Bai and A Lang to send people over to help them for a while.

He Yuzhu frowned slightly after listening. These things sounded impressive, but they had nothing to do with the future pillar industries of South Korea.

"Can't you get involved in semiconductors, heavy industry, or automobile manufacturing?" He Yuzhu asked.

“We’re worried about this too,” Grizzly said.

"Tell me more specifically."

“Boss, we’re only doing well on the surface right now. It was really easy to do business a few years ago because the local area was in short supply and we relied on outside companies to fill the market gaps. We had support from Hong Kong and developed very quickly.”

“But in the last year or two, local emerging conglomerates have set their sights on us, from government relations to supply chains to markets, they’ve been trying to trip us up at every turn.”

"why is that?"

"It all started when we wanted to set up an electronics factory. As soon as the factory was built, all sorts of tactics came our way. Now they want to take over our electronics factory at a low price."

"Brother Xiong, you're being too mild. They just want to swallow up the whole of Mount Tai," Stone added, his temper quick.

"Isn't it a lot for an electronics factory?" He Yuzhu asked.

"The electronics factory is just a pretext for them; they've got their eyes on our overseas distribution channels and the land we own," Coyote said.

"Land, in Daegu?"

“Boss, we have projects developed all over the peninsula, and these are actually all part of Huanghe’s industries,” said the coyote.

"The industries along the Yellow River?"

"That's right, boss, you don't know? We're not ungrateful people. Every penny the company gives us is counted as shares. Right now, we're just helping Huanghe manage the Korean company."

"Why didn't anyone tell me about this?" He Yuzhu asked.

"We didn't let Mr. Bai say it, because we were afraid you wouldn't agree!"

"Why didn't you report such a big thing to Lao Bai?"

"We're just thinking of trying to solve this ourselves first! Besides, distant water can't quench a nearby fire," said the hyena.

"Now that I'm here, tell me how you want to resolve this, and how I can help," He Yuzhu said.

The group hesitated for a moment before speaking.

He Yuzhu tapped his fingers lightly on the sofa armrest, making the group feel a sense of pressure, and they then remembered who their boss was.

"Which conglomerate was it? What methods did they use?" He Yuzhu asked before they could even speak.

Coyote took a deep breath and finally spoke: "Boss, Chuanxing Society's methods are very dirty. They're using their influence in official circles to obstruct our factory construction approvals and environmental assessments, dragging things out until we're dead. Several of our main raw material suppliers have either been acquired by them or threatened, and now they're either cutting off supplies or doubling prices. What's even more troublesome is that they're spreading rumors that our Taishan Group is facing a tight cash flow and is about to collapse, trying to undermine our partners and employees."

Grizzly added, "What they're after are the plots of land we've acquired in the core areas of Daegu, Busan, and Seoul, as well as the import and export channels we've built over the years that can bypass their control. Chuanxing Society wants to swallow us whole or force us to sell our assets at a bargain price."

(End of this chapter)