Soul Returns to Hong Kong: From Tailor Shop to Richest Woman

"No, you two were talking about poaching people the first time you met?" Liu Yang exclaimed.

Li Xiao also felt a headache coming on: "Comrade Lin Ying, didn't you come here to learn about the technology?"

Lin Ying: "Understanding the technology, and incidentally, understanding people."

Wen Xu wasn't angry. He sat in his chair, twirling a pen in his hand: "You want me to go to your place?"

"It's not a full-time job; is it possible for Engineer Wen to come here occasionally to do some small research? For example, project consulting, technical review, and overseeing the research and development direction; you don't need to be in the office."

Wen Xu laughed: "I'm expensive, and my time is even more expensive; besides, private enterprise projects require a new application, so I can't just go whenever I want."

Liu Yang, listening nearby, felt a toothache: "Engineer Wen, would it kill you to be a little more modest?"

Wen Xu looked at him: "I'm stating the facts."

Liu Yang: "Okay, keep charging higher."

Lin Ying nodded: "I know it's expensive, that's why I wanted to give it a try."

Wen Xu raised an eyebrow: "Reason?"

"With you here, my R&D investments will yield more tangible results; I don't want to spend money in the wrong direction, nor do I want to keep struggling on my own. Building a factory, hiring people, buying equipment, and developing distribution channels are already troublesome enough. Technically, I need someone strong enough to help me make judgments."

"You're quite direct."

"Going around in circles is pointless; everyone's busy."

Wen Xu asked Lin Ying, "Do you have any specific projects in hand? If it's just about making ordinary color televisions, I'm not very interested."

Lin Ying took out a thick notebook from her bag titled "45-inch Color Plasma Television".

Wen Xu saw the cover... This communications genius, is he going to start bragging like this right from the start? He took the notebook away.

The first page is a sketch of the overall structure, with the thickness clearly marked.

7.5 centimeters? Wen Xu looked at it quickly, but when he got to the section on the glass substrate, he went back to look at it again.

Li Xiao stood to the side, not disturbing them.

Lin Ying didn't urge her. She picked up a paper cup from the lab bench, only to find it was half-filled with cold tea. She silently put it back.

Liu Yang also looked at him and asked, "You're not really planning to do this, are you?"

"This is just a technical approach for now."

"You call this 'just'? I feel like my salary isn't enough to even listen in on this now."

Wen Xu turned to the chapter on plasma miniaturization, which described the structure of the discharge unit, the direction of gas ratio, glass sealing issues, and preliminary calculations of phosphor lifetime and luminous efficiency.

Next come the drive circuit, scanning control, heat dissipation structure, housing engineering, and power stabilization solution.

He watched it for almost forty minutes.

People in the lab kept turning to look, but no one came over to ask anything; Wen Xu usually scolded people too often, so everyone knew it was best not to make a sound when he was looking at things.

Finally, he closed the laptop and said to Lin Ying, "You shouldn't have taken this to a small, ordinary private company's R&D lab."

Lin Ying asked, "Why?"

Wen Xu tapped his notebook: "We don't have enough equipment, we don't have enough talent, and we don't have enough basic testing conditions. If you build it from scratch, you'll be overwhelmed just by buying instruments and consumables in the early stages."

Liu Yang whispered, "She's not afraid to spend money."

"Even if you have money, you shouldn't spend it like this."

Wen Xu opened his laptop again and looked at it for a while before sighing, "As expected of you, Li Hua."

Li Xiao: "Warm and cozy!"

Wen Xu quickly changed his address: "Lin Ying".

Lin Ying didn't pick up on that topic, and went straight to Wen Xu, asking, "What do you suggest I do?"

Wen Xu handed the notebook to Lin Ying: "I suggest you report directly to us and initiate the research project here at D3; the patent can be jointly owned by you and the institute, and the technological achievements will be divided according to contributions; the only thing is that you have to be here during the research period, and you can't be absent from the critical route at least."

Lin Ying did not answer immediately.

Her original plan was to buy land, build a factory, hire people, and then launch the television as the first home appliance product.

Wen Xu's words reminded her that while ordinary televisions could be made by poaching people and buying production lines, the plasma televisions she was making were not something that could be casually tested in a small factory.

Li Xiao also became serious: "Lin Ying, you need to think this through; if you initiate the project here, it will definitely take up valuable time. What about your business in Hong Kong and South Bay?"

"I have a manager."

"Managers can handle your accounting, run the paperwork, and look after your factory, but getting a technology project approved is no small matter."

Lin Ying nodded: "I know."

Wen Xu added, "One more thing: if the project is approved, the data management will be much stricter. You can't just show it to others like you would to a regular commercial project."

"I'm familiar with this."

Wen Xu smiled: "That's true, you know it better than I do."

Lin Ying put the notebook into her bag: "I'll think about it."

Wen Xu stood up: "If you've made up your mind, do it as soon as possible; the sooner you start in this direction, the better. If you delay for a few more years, people outside will start watching."

Lin Ying nodded: "I understand."

When they came out of D3, Liu Yang insisted on seeing Lin Ying downstairs: "Lin Ying, how long are you staying this time?"

"uncertain."

"Sun Miaoshu is still in Beijing. I'll tell her you've appeared later."

"Don't say too much."

Liu Yang looked at her: "Keeping it a secret again? You people were abnormal even when you were in school. You're even more abnormal now."

"As long as you're normal, that's fine."

Liu Yang immediately shook his head: "I'm not normal either. I talk to the circuit board every day now; yesterday I even told a resistor, 'You better do your job.'"

Li Xiao was laughing uncontrollably.

Lin Ying didn't return to the hotel in the afternoon; instead, she went to D6 with Li Xiao.

The gatekeeper at D6 was the same as before, except the trees at the entrance had grown taller; when she was registering for temporary access, the gatekeeper recognized her: "Comrade Lin Ying?"

"it's me."

"It's been a long time since I've seen you."

Lin Ying smiled and said, "I came back to visit."

Meng Changming was looking at data in his office when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in," he said.

Lin Ying pushed open the door and entered: "Professor Meng."

Meng Changming stopped writing and looked over in surprise: "Oh, a rare guest! Didn't you go back to Hong Kong to be a rich woman? Why have you come back again?"

Lin Ying put her bag down: "Even rich women have their troubles."

"Sit down, tell me, what's bothering you? Too much money and can't spend it all?"

"almost."

Meng Changming was taken aback: "You actually dare to accept that."

Lin Ying recounted the events at D3 and then showed him the project plan for the 45-inch color plasma TV.

Meng Changming put on his glasses and began to read. Unlike Wen Xu, he didn't read as quickly; instead, he flipped through the pages one by one. When he got to the chapter on heat dissipation structures, he even wrote two questions in the blank space with a pencil.

After more than half an hour, he closed the notebook and said, "You little rascal, you always stir up trouble whenever you have free time."

Lin Ying asked, "Does the professor think it's feasible?"

"If you can do it, you can stay here and conduct research; D3 has equipment for displaying orientation, and D6 can also help you with power supply and material testing. We have the instruments, manpower, and processes, so you don't need to buy a bunch of extra stuff to take back and experiment with slowly."

Lin Ying: "But the patent needs to include D3."

"Fine, let's add it. It's not like this is your first time working with the institute. It's your contribution, and you won't be shortchanged. Besides, Wen Xu even offered to include your patent share. That kid has a strange temper, but he doesn't talk nonsense when it comes to technology."

Lin Ying hesitated for a moment: "I originally wanted to start the home appliance factory first."

"There's no conflict here. The factory can be built first; the regular color TV production line can continue as usual, and the managers can continue to scout land, build factories, and poach talent. You can develop the next generation of display technology here! Once your factory's first-generation products are established, the second-generation technology will be ready to take over."

After listening, Lin Ying thought the arrangement was indeed reasonable; it would take time to buy land and build a factory in Nanwan, and it would take at least a year to build the factory, bring in the equipment, and train the staff.

If she stays in Beijing to work on core technologies during this time, it won't be a problem.

Seeing that she didn't speak, Meng Changming advised her again: "Don't think about keeping everything to yourself; let others spend the money, let others build the factory, and keep an eye on the technology. If you spend all your time looking at cement prices, I'll feel sorry for you."

Lin Ying was half convinced by him.

As for her other half, she knew very well that Wen Xu was a rare talent; he was 22 years old, a graduate of a special program for gifted children, a core member in the field of display technology, quick-witted, and had very accurate technical judgment.

Such people can only be from the government's side.

She returned to her hotel that evening and called Chen Guodong: "We'll still discuss the land in Nanwan, but we'll change the direction."

Chen Guodong immediately picked up a pen: "Ms. Lin, please speak."

"The first phase of the industrial park will be reserved for ordinary color televisions and small home appliances, and the R&D center will be built as planned, but the focus will be on engineering and testing. For more cutting-edge display technologies, I will cooperate with Beijing to initiate projects."

Chen Guodong was silent for a few seconds: "So, you mean the South Bay area isn't doing the core R&D?"

"Not for now."

"Understood. Let's get the factory up and running first, instead of carrying too heavy a technological burden right away."

--------

The next morning, Lin Ying went to D3 again.

Wen Xu seemed to have anticipated her arrival, as a blank application form was already placed on the table.

"Have you thought it through?"

"I've made up my mind."

Lin Ying sat down: "Project approval is fine, but the contract must be clearly written; my technical data, personal contributions, patent share, and commercialization authorization must all be clearly stated."

Wen Xu nodded: "Of course."

Liu Yang happened to be passing by: "You guys are already discussing the contract? Weren't you just thinking about it yesterday?"

Lin Ying looked at him and said, "I've thought it over."

"I spent more time thinking about what to eat for supper last night than you did."

Wen Xu looked at him and said, "So while others are making a fortune, you can only afford to eat midnight snacks."

Liu Yang turned and left in anger: "I'll solder you into a circuit board sooner or later."

The contract process was faster than Lin Ying had imagined.

D3 already had a similar cooperation template, and with Li Xiao helping with coordination, and Meng Changming also making a call from D6, things progressed smoothly.

Two days later, the first draft of the contract was placed on the conference room table.

Lin Ying read through each item one by one.

Project Name: Preliminary Research on Large-Size Color Plasma Display Terminal

Partners: Lin Ying (individual), D3 Display and Imaging Technology Research Institute.

Technical data provided by: Lin Ying.

Project execution location: Institute D3; some tests can be completed in collaboration with Institute D6.

Patent authorship is ordered according to actual contribution, and commercialization requires negotiation between both parties. Lin Ying enjoys priority authorization for industrialization.

Lin Ying was somewhat surprised when she saw this message.

Wen Xu sat opposite him: "I added this one."

Why?

"You come here with the technology and a factory; if you actually develop it and someone else industrializes it, you'll probably be so angry you won't eat for three days, and you'll curse our ancestors for eighteen generations."

Lin Ying said awkwardly, "I'm not that petty."

Wen Xu: "So, are you going to sign or not?"

Lin Ying picked up the pen: "Sign."