King of Technology: A Fresh Start in 1983

Zhan Yiling felt the voice sounded familiar, but she wasn't sure, so she asked, "May I ask who you are?"

"It's only been a few days, and you've already forgotten me? I'm Old Yang!"

Zhan Yiling suddenly realized what was happening.

The reason I wasn't sure it was Lao Yang earlier was because the tone of his voice on the phone was different from when we were face to face, but the bigger difference was in his emotions.

Old Yang's cheerful and hearty voice was completely different from before.

Zhan Yiling quickly said, "It really is you, Lao Yang? What a coincidence! I was just about to go to your place and was thinking of calling you first..."

"no!"

Old Yang laughed. "Our place? Where are we?"

"Jiangji Group, where else could it be?"

"That's their place, not ours. Don't confuse me with them."

After correcting himself, Lao Yang added, "At that time, I was in Beijing, back at my department on business."

"Really? That's great! When are you free? Let's meet up. I have something I just wanted to ask you."

"If you need me, I have to be available anytime."

"Your IBM headquarters is in Chaoyang, on the Fourth Ring Road. Why don't you come to the city? I'm in Xicheng, in Sanlihe."

The two agreed to meet at the Yanjing Hotel in Muxidi.

The next afternoon, when Zhan Yiling entered the hotel lobby, she saw Lao Yang get up from the sofa and stride towards her.

The suit was the same old one, outdated in style and not quite the right fit, with a sweater underneath that was already pilling badly.

But she exudes a vibrant and spring-like aura.

After the two shook hands, Old Yang pointed in two directions and said, "It's still early before lunchtime, let's go to the tea room and sit for a while."

"This hotel has a Western restaurant and a Chinese restaurant. Which one would you like to eat at tonight?"

Zhan Yiling laughed and said, "You decide on the location, and I'll pay the bill. It's my treat today."

"How can that be? This area is my territory, of course I'll pay the bill."

"You already treated me to roast chicken and Yanghe liquor last time, so I have to treat you this time. It would be impolite not to reciprocate."

"Can that time also count?"

Zhan Yiling said earnestly, "Of course, that meal consisted of roast chicken and wine, and the more we drank, the better we became. Otherwise, how could we have become friends?"

Old Yang's eyes lit up when he looked at Zhan Yiling.

This surprised Zhan Yiling!

Did I misjudge the nuances of my words just now...?

Old Yang readily agreed, saying, "What you say makes sense. Alright, I'll treat you to tea first, and you can treat me to dinner later."

Old Yang chose a quiet corner in the tea room, ordered a pot of Tieguanyin tea, and some dried fruits and snacks, filling the table with food.

Zhan Yiling laughed: "If we really eat all of this, will we even have room for dinner later?"

"These are all snacks. If you can't finish them, you can take them with you. Girls love these."

Zhan Yiling took a plate of pistachios and started peeling them while asking Lao Yang, "How long have you been back?"

"Less than a week."

"Oh? It's been so many days. Why didn't you call me the past few days?"

"I've been extremely busy since I got back, and things haven't gotten any better than expected, so I'm too embarrassed to see you."

"So how's it going? Is everything going smoothly?"

As she asked, Zhan Yiling grabbed a peeled pistachio and handed it to her.

Old Yang reached out his hand, and Zhan Yiling poured the pistachios into his palm.

Old Yang continued, "As I expected, Jiang Ji's previous wishful thinking has failed."

"Local finances are so tight right now! Even if the money is approved, it doesn't mean it can be disbursed."

"Like a frog at the bottom of a well, self-righteous and ignorant, he didn't even see a trace of money in the end."

"They were all stunned, only then remembering that there was someone like me."

"The boss had no choice but to ask me to go back to the department and help them get projects approved and funding."

"Honestly, I didn't want to get involved in this at first. I left after a few months. What did it have to do with me?"

Old Yang continued, "If it weren't for the fact that you didn't listen to me and insisted on bidding for this project, I would have really given up."

"Then I thought, for your sake, I can't let this project fail, so I went back to Beijing to lobby for funding."

Before she could even express her gratitude, Zhan Yiling eagerly asked, "How's it going? Has the department approved the project?"

"To be honest, it's partly because my sincerity moved even the hardest hearts, and partly because you were lucky."

Old Yang nodded. "The project is now approved, and the funding will be in place soon."

"I won't go into details, as it involves some sensitive internal matters within our organization."

"And another thing, I don't want it to sound like I'm showing off in front of you," Old Yang said casually.

Zhan Yiling immediately said, "Although I can't imagine what difficulties you encountered..."

"But I know that this must have been especially difficult for you."

"It feels like a huge machine that you have to get back in motion all by yourself."

"Just thinking about it makes me feel the difficulty, let alone doing it. Old Yang, you've really worked hard."

"It's alright, just hearing you say that makes it all worthwhile."

Old Yang stared intently at Zhan Yiling and continued, "Do you know what's most appealing about you? It's your understanding and empathy."

"You always try to see things from the other person's perspective."

Zhan Yiling laughed and said, "Really, we were talking about projects, how did we suddenly get involved with me?"

"So what's the next step? The project has been approved and the funding has been provided, so can the Jiangji project officially start now?"

Old Yang curled his lip: "They're dreaming. Any project officially registered with the ministry requires the ministry's involvement in evaluation, approval, and acceptance, not to mention that the ministry pays for it."

"They have to report the evaluation results to the ministry; without the ministry's approval, they can't do anything."

Zhan Yiling suddenly realized: "So, this means that Director Yan and his team have greatly reduced their decision-making power on the project?"

Old Yang sneered: "From now on, Yan will just be a laborer. He might get some benefits along the way, but he won't have any say in decision-making."

"Will you be the project manager?"

Old Yang shook his head: "To be honest, they would love for me to take on this title, but I didn't agree."

Why?

"I'll be leaving soon, and I can't and don't want to worry about what happens next."

"Think about it, if this project runs into problems in the future, who will be responsible? I might as well just be their liaison with the ministry."

"But don't underestimate me as the liaison. Before they can submit the bid evaluation results for approval by the ministry, they must first get past me."

"I told them the ministry wouldn't approve the result, so they'd have to take it back and revise it."

"I'll only submit the result to the ministry when I say the ministry might approve it."