King of Technology: A Fresh Start in 1983

Old Yang continued, "First of all, the thirteen years I lived longer than you weren't wasted."

"I'm not some naive young man; I know my own feelings very well!"

"So your first point is not worth refuting."

"As for the second point, since you can't avoid your boss, then I'll avoid you."

"I will not be involved in the subsequent negotiations and signing of the Jiangji project, as I originally wanted to avoid any appearance of impropriety."

"But in doing so, the project's control may return to the hands of the Yan family."

"That guy surnamed Yan is eager to lead the project negotiations, so I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you to deal with him again."

"As for the price, IBM will definitely lower it a bit, but Yan is just bluffing and won't make things too difficult for you."

"Because he knew very well that the money belonged to the ministry, and the money saved was not his personal gain. What was being cut, however, was the benefit he could have received."

"As for your suggestion to give up and let other manufacturers get the benefits..."

"By ruining the project like this, you are not only ruining yourself, but also IBM, and even more so, ruining everything I have put into it. I hope you will never have such thoughts again."

At this moment, Zhan Yiling didn't know what to say!

Old Yang's voice suddenly became hoarse: "Zhan Yiling, I was too abrupt yesterday, and I apologize to you for that."

"What I did willingly for you has unexpectedly become a bargaining chip to pressure you."

"Actually, I do these things for you because I think you deserve it, and I'm willing to do it in my heart. That's enough."

At this moment, Zhan Yiling's eyes were already wet.

She really wanted to ask: Old Yang, I rejected you, so why are you still so nice to me?

But after a struggle, I finally managed to restrain myself.

She worried that Lao Yang, who had finally regained his senses, would succumb to her charms again once he heard her say that.

...

A month later, Zhan Yiling went to Jiangji Group again, completed the final round of business negotiations, and signed the contract.

As soon as I got back to the company, Jason called me into his office.

Jason cut to the chase: "Mr. Wang told me that he helped you a lot with the Jiangji project, and that he handled some of the communications with the Mechanical and Electrical Department..."

He wants you to give him some credit. What's your opinion?

Exhausted from the journey and physically and mentally, Zhan Yiling had no strength left to retaliate.

She gave a cold laugh and retorted, "Jason, based on your understanding of Mr. Wang, do you think he would help me without first agreeing on how to split the revenue with me?"

Jason stared at Zhan Yiling expressionlessly for a long time, then suddenly grinned and said, "I understand. You've worked hard, go home and get some rest."

Zhan Yiling arrived at her workstation, opened the voicemail on her desktop, and had just finished dealing with the backlog of work from her business trip of the past few days…

Seeing Old Wang storming over, she said angrily, "Linda, how could you say such nonsense?"

"Didn't I help you with the Jiangji project? If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even know that the project was changed to be approved by the ministry."

Zhan Yiling raised an eyebrow: "So what? You only let me know the news five minutes earlier. Do you think that's a big contribution?"

"So tell me, how much of this information do you want? Is one percent enough?"

Old Wang glared angrily at Zhan Yiling for a while, speechless for a long time, then turned and left.

Zhan Yiling packed her things and dragged her luggage out. As she passed the door of a conference room, she heard someone calling her from inside. She looked and saw it was Lao Wang again.

He pulled Zhan Yiling inside and closed the door, looking pitiful: "Linda, I hope you can understand, it's not that I'm deliberately trying to compete with you."

"Think about it, can I compare to you?"

"You can keep making money like this for another thirty or forty years, while I can only make it for another two or three years at most."

"I wasn't born into a good era like you, so please understand how difficult it has been for me."

Zhan Yiling had never seen Lao Wang like this before, but she still hardened her heart.

"Mr. Wang, you are more than thirty years older than me. You must understand better than I do that asking and begging are two different things, and sympathy and pity are also two different things."

"If you keep bringing this up, believe me, I'll expose the embarrassing things that happened during my business trip to Shanghai."

"Let everyone in the company know what it means to be disrespectful to one's elders!"

After Zhan Yiling finished speaking, she opened the door and went out.

...

At this moment, Zhang Wei was on his way to Zhou Yuguang's office.

But the scene from the CEO's office meeting two days ago lingered in my mind.

Chen Jianghe and Zhao Xiaobo clashed in public for the first time...

That day, several routine matters had just been discussed…

Zhao Xiaobo stood up impatiently: "President Chen, there are some things I've been holding back for a long time..."

"Mr. Zhao, don't keep things to yourself, just say what you want to say!"

"Alright!"

Zhao Xiaobo continued, "Our Tiangong has been established for almost ten years, and in the end, we're still short of money and living a very frugal life..."

"Over the past decade, we have invested heavily in research and development and production, but the money we have earned from selling our own products is far from enough to cover these investments."

"I think the most urgent task is to find a way to make money quickly."

Chen Jianghe smiled: "President Zhao, tell me, what are some good ways to make money quickly?"

"Become an agent for imported brands!"

Zhao Xiaobo continued, "I believe that with the customer and channel foundation we have built over the years, Tiangong should acquire a general agency for an imported brand as soon as possible."

"Being an agent for foreign brands offers high returns and low risks, and it also saves a significant amount of investment in research and development and production."

Chen Jianghe's face immediately darkened: "If you don't want to build your own brand, all of the above are just excuses."

"If you are determined to build your own brand, you can solve, overcome, and accomplish the above problems one by one."

"Ultimately, it boils down to one question: why undertake such a celestial project?"

"Even if one day we make imported brands number one in the domestic market, they are still other people's brands."

"But once the opportunity is missed, it can never be recovered."

"What if the opportunity has already been missed?"

Zhao Xiaobo continued, "How many years have Great Wall, Lenovo, Inspur, and Founder been doing this? Can Tiangong catch up with them?"

"How many years have they been making motherboards? They've been working on microcomputers since the 286 era. What do we at Tiangong have to compete with them? Where is our opportunity?"

Chen Jianghe couldn't help but stand up and look at Zhao Xiaobo: "Then let me ask you, when Liu Chuanzhi decided to develop Lenovo's microcomputers, how many years had IBM already been working on it?!"

Zhao Xiaobo muttered, "At least ten years."

"That's right! If Liu Chuanzhi had thought like you back then, would Lenovo have the PCs we have today?"

"If Huang Zhaohong, Yuan Zhikun, and Gui Songfei thought like you, would AST exist today?"

Zhao Xiaobo retorted, "I understand these grand principles, but idealism alone is useless. It's better to be realistic when running a company."

...