Siheyuan: At the beginning, I can integrate everything!

2 PM, Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.

Inside the Fangfei Garden banquet hall, elegant ladies and swaying hairpins filled the air, and the lights of the banquet shone brightly.

A huge crystal chandelier cast a soft glow, and the air was filled with the aroma of fine wine and cigars.

In Beijing in the early 1980s, being able to hold a banquet in this place was considered to be of the highest standard.

Today's banquet, titled "China-Japan Electronic Technology Exchange," attracted countless Chinese and foreign journalists with their cameras and microphones.

In the very center of the banquet hall.

On a prominently displayed exhibition stand.

Three enormous 21-inch color television sets were placed there, their backs bulging high like water tanks.

This was a Sony Trinitron CRT color TV from Japan, which was popular all over the world at the time and represented the highest level of consumer electronics!

"Cheers, gentlemen!"

Ichiro Sato was wearing a well-tailored, all-black suit.

Her hair was neatly combed, and she held a glass of swirling red wine in her hand.

Standing in front of the three color TVs that were playing images, his smile was arrogant and overbearing.

After more than a decade of lying low, this spy, who was almost exposed at the Red Star Factory, has finally come back to life.

Now he has transformed into the chief representative of the Japan Chamber of Commerce in China.

He's here today to avenge himself.

They came to prove to the top leadership of China that in the field of civilian technology, the Great Japanese Empire was the true hegemon!

"Mr. Sato, your country's cathode ray tube technology is truly breathtaking."

A reporter from a European or American news agency, holding a camera, flattered him with a fawning expression.

"The colors, the clarity—it's absolutely a masterpiece among the world's finest works!"

Sato Ichiro laughed triumphantly.

He slightly raised his chin, his gaze sweeping over the leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and the Ministry of Light Industry of China, who were standing on the other side of the booth with somewhat unpleasant expressions.

"That's natural!"

Sato Ichiro deliberately raised his voice and spoke loudly in fluent but slightly odd-accented Chinese.

"The electronics industry of our Great Japanese Empire not only leads Asia, but also the entire world!"

He walked up to a color TV that was playing a video of snow-capped mountains and patted its heavy casing.

"Take this CRT color TV for example; its internal electron beam deflection technology incorporates hundreds of international patents!"

"IMHO."

Sato Ichiro's lips curled into an undisguised sneer and contempt.

"Given your country's current electronics industry base."

"Don't even mention independent research and development; even if we gave you the blueprints, you wouldn't be able to achieve it within thirty years!"

"And they absolutely could not build a single decent color television set!"

Madness!

Extremely jarring arrogance!

The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere in the banquet hall instantly plummeted to freezing point.

Foreign journalists and executives of foreign companies all wore gloating smiles.

And the leaders and experts of China.

Their faces were ashen, their fists clenched, yet they felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

Although what Ichiro Sato said was harsh, it was a cruel truth.

Although China achieved a leapfrog breakthrough in heavy industry and military industry with the blueprints provided by Zhang Huaimin.

However, it remains a blank slate in the fields of sophisticated civilian semiconductors and home appliances.

In ordinary households, owning a 14-inch black and white television set was considered an enviable status, making them wealthy individuals with tens of thousands of yuan in income.

"Mr. Sato, isn't that a bit too absolute?"

A vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, barely suppressing his anger, retorted in a deep voice.

"Our Chinese researchers are working hard to overcome these challenges, and we will definitely be able to manufacture our own color TVs in less than thirty years!"

"Effort? Hahahaha!"

Sato Ichiro laughed wildly, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.

"Your Excellency, science and technology are built on strength, not on slogans and empty promises!"

He swirled the wine in his glass, his eyes growing even more sinister and greedy.

"However, our Great Japanese Empire has always upheld the principle of 'Sino-Japanese friendship'."

"Since your country cannot manufacture it, we are willing to provide assistance."

Ichiro Sato snapped his fingers.

The attendant behind him immediately handed over a thick, beautifully bound contract document.

"Our chamber of commerce has made a decision!"

Ichiro Sato slammed the document onto the display stand.

"We will use the second-hand production lines for second-generation picture tubes that are currently being phased out in our country."

"We're selling this package to your country for a 'friendly price' of US$50 million, along with 3,000 used Crown sedans!"

"This is a fantastic opportunity for you to experience the world's most advanced technology!"

boom!

Fifty million US dollars?!

Or is it a discarded, secondhand production line?!

This is blatant extortion! It's taking advantage of someone's misfortune!

The vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Trade was so angry that he was trembling all over. He pointed at Ichiro Sato and couldn't say a word for a long time.

"You...you're asking for an outrageous price! This is clearly electronic waste!"

"Rubbish?"

Sato Ichiro's face darkened, and his previous fake smile vanished instantly.

He took a sudden step forward, staring aggressively at the leaders of China.

"Even if it's trash, it's still high technology that your China desperately needs right now!"

He glanced around dismissively, his tone full of condescending mockery.

"You Chinese, all you're good for is relying on a few blueprints you got from who-knows-where and knowing how to forge a few pieces of slightly harder steel!"

"They only know how to forge iron, not how to use it for civilian purposes!"

"In the realm of true high-tech electronics, you'll always be stuck following in the footsteps of our Great Japanese Empire, picking up the scraps we don't want!"

These are extremely insulting words.

It was like a heavy slap in the face to all the Chinese people present.

Humiliation and anger burned fiercely in the chests of every Chinese expert.

But if you are less skilled, you will be vulnerable to attack!

In this banquet hall where they didn't have their own color TV technology, they didn't even have the confidence to refute it!

Foreign journalists frantically pressed their shutters, capturing this extremely humiliating moment for China.

Sato Ichiro was extremely pleased with himself.

He could almost see the Chinese leadership forced to bow their heads and sign that humiliating, exorbitantly priced contract for these few dilapidated production lines.

"What? Haven't you made up your mind yet?"

Ichiro Sato raised his glass, ready to savor the wine of victory.

"Since you're so reluctant to spend money, it seems your people will have to continue watching your broken black and white boxes filled with snowflakes."

Just as Ichiro Sato was getting carried away and preparing to drink the red wine in his glass in one gulp...

In the most inconspicuous corner of the banquet hall.

Beside a round table laden with exquisite desserts.

Suddenly, a very faint yet unusually clear cold laugh rang out.

"hehe."

The cold laugh sounded particularly abrupt in the deathly silence and humiliation.

It's like a stone suddenly being thrown into a calm lake.

Everyone's eyes instinctively followed the sound.

There was a young man wearing a dark suit with a minimalist cut but an exceptionally good fit.

He was leaning lazily back in his chair.

He was holding a brightly colored French macaron in his hand.

He took a small, deliberate bite.

It was Zhang Huaimin, who had just finished the company's ribbon-cutting ceremony and arrived late.

There was no anger or humiliation in his deep black eyes.

There's only a sense of mockery in watching a clown perform energetically on stage.

Zhang Huaimin swallowed the dessert in his mouth and gently wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin.

He raised his head.

His gaze pierced through the crowd and locked onto the arrogant Sato Ichiro atop the high platform.

"Can't they produce a single decent color TV in thirty years?"

Zhang Huaimin's voice wasn't loud, but it possessed a soul-piercing magic, clearly echoing throughout the banquet hall.

He slowly stood up.

At eighteen, his tall and upright figure was like a peerless sword about to be drawn from its sheath, exuding a breathtakingly sharp edge.

"Mr. Sato, you have such a narrow-minded view, treating industrial waste like a treasure."

"This has truly broadened my horizons."

Zhang Huaimin casually tossed the half-eaten macaron onto the plate.

A chilling smile curled at the corners of his lips.

"Since you want to watch TV so much..."

"Then today."

"I'll show you the big one."