What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 413 I can’t help myself
Carbon Silicon Data Company is secretly preparing to launch a short video project as a trial.

This matter was quickly communicated at a core high-level meeting.

The initial foray into short videos wasn't too unexpected; Mr. Yu clearly has a higher level of interest in them. However, the fact that this foray went overseas was quite surprising. And the fact that Lü Haiying was the leader of the team makes perfect sense.

"The development of content on the latest trending topics is also very important, Mr. Yu. Should we change the person in charge of the overseas content?" Zhai Yifei sometimes spoke in a way that seemed out of place, but it also showed his approval of Lü Haiying's work this year.

Knowing his temperament, Lü Haiying smiled and said, "President Zhai, please don't keep me here. I volunteered for this. If I don't do a good job and come back looking disheveled, President Zhai can help me out then."

Yu Xing nodded: "It's just a change in work focus, not a permanent assignment overseas. As for the technical team... Mr. Ge, would you consider it?"

His gaze fell upon Ge Zhijie, a man who had worked diligently from WeChat to silicon carbon data.

Ge Zhijie didn't hesitate much, treating it as just another "software matrix" project.

The organizational framework was first determined by pairing Lü Haiying and Ge Zhijie, and then they selected suitable candidates. However, the APP would not have a large staff in the early and mid-stages; the initial focus was on APP development and adaptation.

Yu Xing had experience building WeChat from scratch, so he naturally had a general idea of ​​the progress. However, since he was facing overseas markets, if he could achieve good promotional results, he would inevitably need to have an operations, business, and legal team stationed abroad.

Despite their unfamiliarity with overseas markets, everyone seemed to agree on the need to test the waters.

That evening, after Zhong Zhiling returned home, he brought up the thoughts he hadn't mentioned at the meeting during the day.

That's the good thing about them; they have an advantage that other executives can't match: they can analyze things frankly and openly.

“Brother Xing is setting up a subsidiary, and this subsidiary is already confirmed to be accepting financing. He’s also using an offshore company to avoid the attention of domestic competitors. He’s really focused on this direction,” Zhong Zhiling said.

This was something I mentioned briefly during the day, but the details revealed my true thoughts.

Lu Haiying nodded slightly: "I feel the same way. Otherwise, there would be no need to go to the trouble of avoiding the attention of companies like Tencent, Alibaba, or Baidu. Senior brother is indeed famous in this regard, so as to avoid unnecessary entanglement and competition."

They already knew how much their senior valued it, but it was still quite rare to see it to this extent.

After careful consideration, the two felt a similar level of dedication they had when developing apps like WeChat, except that they were now able to mobilize resources and assign tasks more easily, unlike back then when resources were scarce.

“If you go to work in overseas markets, you’ll inevitably be flying around a lot, which is too tiring.” After talking about work, Zhong Zhiling couldn’t help but feel sorry for his wife.

“If the product isn’t good, then there’s not much to fly. If the product is just average, then it won’t fly much either. But if the market feedback is very good…” Lu Haiying paused, then joked, “then I’ll take Zhong’ai with me.”

I have to work hard when it's time to work hard, but I'm a little reluctant to spend time with my daughter. But that's something for later.

Upon hearing this, Lü Haiying couldn't help but go to the bedroom to check on her sleeping daughter.

Once outside, she opened her notebook and began organizing the preparations for the new project. Although the initial focus was on research and development, there was another crucial aspect concerning overseas music copyrights that could not be overlooked and could be prepared for in advance.

……

While Silicon Carbon Data has made some undisclosed new moves, Silicon Carbon Group's research and development on integrated die casting has seen a significant slowdown.

This sluggishness is a multifaceted problem.

LK is a listed company with technological reserves. It was only after the feasibility study was approved that it decided to take over the work from the silicon carbide group. However, various problems arose when the project was actually launched.

Yu Xing had a list in his hand, which was full of the current situation. Even without a detailed explanation of the technical difficulties, the list alone was three pages long.

He frowned and looked at it carefully again and again. After a long while, he asked his secretary a question.

"Lijing has already acquired Idra, so why does it still need to develop this template? Why not just use Idra's directly?"

Zhang Yangxu thought the boss was considering the overall cooperation, but he didn't expect him to point out a seemingly unreasonable technical problem.

He went over to take a look and found that the problem was with the die-casting machine mold and template due to high-temperature deformation.

According to LKK, the die-casting process of the ultra-large die-casting machine has to withstand the high temperature of molten aluminum above 1000 degrees Celsius. The mold and template will undergo significant deformation due to thermal expansion and contraction. The templates under the current domestic technology are prone to defects such as shrinkage cavities and porosity, which will shorten the mold life.

According to LKK's data, the lifespan of domestically produced molds may be less than 500 die-casting cycles, while the international company it is comparing them to is Idra, which it acquired, and whose mold lifespan can reach more than 2000 cycles.

After reading this and thinking about what his boss said, Zhang Yangxu realized that if the domestic ones didn't work, why couldn't they use the Italiana that the boss had bought?

He struggled to answer his boss's question and immediately contacted the internal engineering team that worked with Lijing, but still didn't get a clear answer.

After making these calls for nearly an hour, there was still no reasonable response.

Zhang Yangxu clearly sensed his boss's dissatisfaction. Sweating slightly, he checked again and reluctantly gave his final feedback: "President Yu, it might be due to different processes... uh, and also..."

Yu Xing interrupted, "'Possibly'? Can't we even get a definite answer?"

Zhang Yangxu was speechless. The die-casting machine business was almost entirely handled by Lijin's R&D team, with only a few people from the company responsible for overseeing the progress with relevant professional backgrounds, making it difficult to address each specific issue.

"Forget it, let's rewrite this report to make it easier to understand, and expand the technical department in the president's office." Yu Xing stopped dwelling on minor issues. "I'll just ask General Manager Du of Lijin."

Zhang Yangxu cautiously agreed.

Yu Xing was in a bad mood, not entirely because the internal team hadn't fully grasped the situation, but also because he kept seeing only three words in the three-page report—"More money is needed."

Besides technical issues, the report also devoted considerable space to the increase in budget.

Yu Xing thought about it in his office for a while before calling Du Yaojie, the vice president of LKK, who was in charge of LKK's cooperation with silicon carbide.

He didn't stand on ceremony and quickly brought up the issues that hadn't been resolved internally.

“We did acquire Idra, but we’re currently digesting the technology; we can’t directly use its templates,” Du Yaojie explained earnestly, anticipating Mr. Yu’s concerns. “Those technologies aren’t something you can just transfer easily. They’re distributed across the equipment, production processes, and engineers’ experience in the Italian factory. We can’t completely replicate those production lines in China.” He gave an example: “The heat treatment of Idra templates requires precise temperature control for more than 12 hours in a vacuum furnace, but our production lines in China can’t meet the requirements of this process.”

"And then there are the machine tools. Idra uses a German DMG MORI five-axis CNC machine tool, with a flatness error controlled within ±0.02mm. The Shenyang machine tool we are currently using has an error of ±0.08mm. This difference directly leads to cracking during die casting of the template due to stress concentration."

"Mr. Yu, these kinds of problems are the reason why the acquisition cannot directly solve our current situation. Moreover, the subsequent maintenance of Idra is also a problem. For example, if the wear-resistant coating material is air-freighted from Europe, the delivery cycle will take a month, which will make it impossible to respond quickly to the problems of the silicon carbon group."

“We are currently collaborating with the Institute of Metal Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to develop our own templates. Some aspects are different from the Idra technology system. For example, the salt bath quenching process used in the heat treatment is something they don’t have.”

"In handling the entire project, we digested the technology, introduced some parts, and innovated the whole, so... it did take longer than expected."

Du Yaojie's tone was very sincere. I wonder if President Yu can understand the difficulties that Lijin is currently facing.

It sounds like making excuses, but innovation in different systems will encounter problems in all aspects.

Seeing that Mr. Yu on the other end of the phone was silent, he quickly came up with another example: "Mr. Yu, there is a more critical issue here. Just like how Silicon Carbon Group uses domestic suppliers, if we purchase special hydraulic valve sets from Rexroth in Germany, we must match them with a dedicated servo control system. The cost of this bundled system will exceed 1000 million, while the domestic solution only costs 300 million."

"Most importantly, Rexroth only provides us with black-box products and does not open up the underlying control logic. This makes it impossible for us to optimize the hydraulic response parameters according to the die-casting process. The stability error of the injection speed may increase from ±2% to ±5%. If the equipment performance can reach 8%, it is considered good."

Upon hearing this, Yu Xing basically understood the problems that Lijing Group was currently facing.

However, once this is understood, it seems to cause a headache.

He couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Du, do you think the Silicon Carbon Group can still use your die-casting machines?"

"Yes!" Du Yaojie said firmly, then lowered his voice to add, "It's just hard to say when we can use it."

Yu Xing sighed helplessly, "President Du, you're certainly honest."

“President Yu, let’s get straight to the point, so I can avoid beating around the bush and confusing you.” Du Yaojie took a breath. “Technical issues take time to overcome, and I’m still confident, but judging from the current situation, R&D costs will increase by at least 50%…”

Yu Xing changed his mind and said, "President Du, just say what you have to say."

“Yes, Mr. Yu, if you hadn’t called me today, I probably would have flown to Lingang in the next couple of days.” Du Yaojie said carefully. “R&D costs are going up, and the only potential customer is the Silicon Carbon Group. The future market situation is uncertain, and there are some different opinions within Lijin as well.”

LKK now needs to invest more money in R&D. Although it can pass the cost on to the customer through pricing, this customer is a startup car company, and it's possible that the customer will disappear before the cost is even passed on...

Considering this situation, we shouldn't abandon the development of ultra-large die-casting machines all at once, but rather slow down investment in this area and extend the project timeline.

This viewpoint is not entirely without merit; everyone must respect the market and also take risks seriously.

Yu Xing instantly understood what President Du meant. After a moment of contemplation, he asked, "What are your thoughts, President Du? Do you have a plan that will reassure everyone? I believe that Lijin also needs to conduct research and development and accumulate experience in this direction. In the current situation, you are starting to distrust us, and we also have our doubts."

Lijing claims it can develop the technology, and Silicon Carbon claims it won't go bankrupt. But just making empty promises isn't enough, especially since the research and development has encountered various problems.

Du Yaojie proposed a plan that Silicon Carbon Group had previously put forward: "President Yu, we may still need to discuss the possibility of a joint venture and see how we can form a joint force in R&D."

"I said we should form a joint venture, but you wouldn't agree," Yu Xing said, both sighing and laughing. "I agreed not to form a joint venture, but now you want to, just so you can get the Silicon Carbon Group to foot the bill?"

Du Yaojie silently searched for more acceptable persuasive words, but unexpectedly, he heard President Yu's attitude directly on the phone.

“Then let’s settle this. We’ll pay what we’re owed. Mr. Du, come to Lingang and bring your people over so we can talk face to face.” Yu Xing didn’t hesitate. “I understand the need to pay.”

Du Yaojie thanked President Yu for his understanding, but there was also a question that he didn't say aloud: how could President Yu conveniently provide the funds?

Is it still Bai Xiaosheng's stock?
He guessed what was going on, quickly mustered his men, and flew towards Lingang.

……

In early August, a news item appeared on Tencent's portal website, featuring Xing Hongyu, the head of Weishi, responding to public opinion in a belated manner.

In the interview, he expressed confidence in the success of Weishi, mentioning that the project's mission is to meet the needs of mobile internet users, and specifically criticized Mr. Yu's previous pessimism.

Xing Hongyu was quite helpless. He didn't really want to accept such an interview and make such a statement, but when he was discussing the functions and requirements at the Weishi meeting, he mentioned his communication with President Yu. Then, someone secretly reported him to the president and the head of the company.

President Liu Chiping didn't say anything on the surface, but there seemed to be something in his eyes. Then, his own media came to interview him.

Xing Hongyu was unsure whether this counted as stating a position, but he could only bite the bullet and give a response that was in line with the person in charge of Weishi.

After the report was published that day, he hesitated for a long time before sending a message to President Yu on WeChat after returning home from get off work that evening.

Xing Hongyu: "President Yu, the truth becomes clearer through debate. I didn't mean anything against you personally."

About half an hour later, he saw a reply from President Yu, and his feelings became even more complicated.

Yu Xing: "It's okay, I understand. When you're in the world, you're not in control of your own destiny."

Xing Hongyu was stunned. He hadn't mentioned his experience at the company at all, but the other party seemed to have guessed it, and their attitude was so considerate...

He held his phone, unsure of what else to reply.

Just before going to bed, Xing Hongyu received another message, not via WeChat, but a text message from President Yu.

Yu Xing: "Add me on WeChat."

After hesitating for a few seconds, Xing Hongyu replied, "Okay."

If even President Yu can use WeChat, why can't I use it?

(End of this chapter)