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Chapter 263 Pressure
When Microsoft officially announced that it would replace its CEO, Bill Gates decided to return to the role of interim chairman of Microsoft, and Google also signed a special employment contract with Qiao Yu.

Most of the content was agreed upon by Qiao Yu and John Martinis before. However, the salary was still increased a bit.

To put it in official language, the importance of this theory and technology has been enhanced after helping the U.S. cryptocurrency trading market to ensure security transactions.

To use the expression that netizens like, if the end result is the same whether you do something or not, then isn't it all in vain?

Qiao Yu would not do useless work. However, the specific content of the contract was not announced to the public. There was not even any publicity.

Of course, Google has not gained nothing.

Google and Beijing Xiyu Technology Development Co., Ltd. also signed an agreement, in which the two parties agreed to jointly establish a quantum security alliance in the future and jointly develop a series of quantum-era network technology standards and financial platform transaction security standards.

The two contracts were signed almost instantly, and Google subsequently announced on its parent company's official website the news of hiring Qiao Yu as the company's special consultant and cooperating with Xiyu Technology.

There was no way. Although it had only been three days since Qiao Yu helped the three major cryptocurrency exchanges test the financial security transactions on their platforms, the entire Nasdaq index had already fallen to a point where it was no longer worth watching.

Microsoft is the first to bear the brunt...

It would have been bad enough if the suddenly released quantum chip had suffered a Waterloo-like failure, but the sudden change of leadership and doubts about the security of the financial markets directly led to a crazy accumulation of uncertainties in the future.

Under such circumstances, it is understandable that Microsoft's stock price fell by one-third in just three days.

There is a saying that if Bill Gates had not come back to serve as interim chairman of the board of directors, Microsoft’s stock price would have fallen even more.

But Microsoft's difficult situation is just a microcosm of the situation. In fact, the entire Nasdaq index has fallen to a point where it is no longer worth looking at.

Google, IBM and other high-end American technology companies have spent years telling investors a grand story of quantum supremacy, but ended up being taught a lesson by China on how to be a good person.

The impact is obviously far-reaching. The biggest blow is probably the lack of trust in the ability of American technology upstarts to realize grand narratives.

To put it simply, the boasts made by these big technology companies in the past are considered to be really impressive, and they do have the ability to achieve them.

But now if these companies make similar boasts again, investors will consider looking at the situation in China first.

Even the companies themselves are starting to get timid about their storytelling.

We must first make sure that we won’t accidentally blow into the strong point of the magical Eastern country opposite Xida.

This is obvious.

For example, the stock price has fallen to a point where it is no longer worth looking at in three days, but no technology company has stepped forward to turn the tide and tell everyone about the next exciting technological development.

Whether it is artificial intelligence, quantum computing, new energy, new materials, or a space project that will be realized in the near future...

It was as if the lighthouse that was supposed to stand on the sea and point the way for ships sailing at night suddenly lost power, as if the whole world had fallen into endless darkness.

The collapse of the entire Nasdaq index caused by technology stocks is just a microcosm. In fact, the entire world financial trading market has been in chaos in the past three days. Except for China, everything is red.

China's financial market has been the only one that has been green. The only pity is that although China's financial market is the opposite of the world's major financial markets, green also means a continuous decline.

Yes, stocks are falling all over the world, and China is no exception. However, the Chinese stock market is naturally not comparable to that of the United States, and the sectors that are falling in China are also different from those in the United States.

Mainly some traditional sectors, such as liquor, textiles, etc. However, some technology sectors are actually rising. For example, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, new energy...

Precious metals, especially physical gold, have seen another surge in global prices.

When the gold price on the New York Mercantile Exchange once again set a new record, reaching a high of $3430 per ounce, the price of physical gold in China officially exceeded RMB per gram. (The above content is for the plot, purely fabricated by the author, and does not constitute any investment advice!!!)

In other words, people do not need to rely on gold to survive. Otherwise, with the crazy rise in gold prices, a lot of people will not be able to afford to eat.

What’s even more frightening is that this was the market’s response after the Federal Reserve suddenly introduced a policy to temporarily ban short selling of banks and high-tech companies until February 2 of the following year.

Under such circumstances, it is understandable how anxious the senior executives and investors of large high-tech companies like Google are.

The good news is that after Google officially announced the two cooperation agreements it had reached with Huaxia, the stock price of Google's parent company finally stabilized and stopped plummeting.

The immediate market response also made Qiao Yu very busy for the next week.

Busy signing various contracts and discussing various cooperation matters. Domestic and foreign...

The era of quantum computing has officially arrived, and everyone wants to get a piece of the pie. Especially the formulation of safety standards has touched the hearts of too many people.

People in technology and finance all hope to join the alliance that Xiyu Technology and Google are organizing and become one of the rule makers in the future era of quantum computing.

Everyone contributed money and effort, not only to make this happen, but also to get a share of the future. This even included Microsoft, which is currently struggling.

Of course, there were many small episodes. For example, many people expressed the idea of ​​excluding Western technology companies, but Qiao Yu, who has a global mindset, rejected it.

Since we need to establish a unified standard system and operating rules, we certainly cannot and will not completely exclude these high-tech companies.

The reason is that there are still countless individual users in China using Microsoft's Windows system, Intel's CPU, Huang's graphics card, not to mention various productivity software...

At least in Qiao Yu's opinion, at least under the current circumstances it is impossible to cut it so completely in one go.

This is the legendary win-win cooperation...

After being busy for a week, when the excitement was over, Qiao Yu finally discovered a very important problem.

"Uncle Zheng, does Xiyu Technology Company need a high-quality manager?"

"It should be more than that, right?"

"Ok?"

“Although I have never started a company, if you need to formalize a company, it needs to have complete departments to run properly.

Administration, business, legal affairs, R&D, finance, operation and maintenance, public relations... A normal technology company is usually like this. A sparrow can be small, but to survive, all the organs must be complete. "

Zheng Xiwen replied.

Qiao Yu nodded. Although Zheng Xiwen was not an expert, the answer was very pertinent.

The purpose of Xiyu Technology's establishment was simply to provide corresponding algorithm support for major research institutes. But now it has become a technology leader in the era of quantum computing.

As the purpose changes, the scale of the company will naturally change accordingly.

In the past, a small computer room with two graduate students to help maintain it was enough. But in the future, Xiyu Technology will have to formulate various technology standards. This involves a wide range of aspects, and it is indeed not something that a professional manager can handle.

However, a reliable professional manager can enrich these departments.

"Well, do you have any good recommendations, Uncle Zheng?"

Qiao Yu certainly knew that Zheng Xiwen couldn't possibly know any great professional managers, and his connections in the business world were even worse than those professors who taught MBI at school.

But Qiao Yu fully believed in the power behind Zheng Xiwen. That was truly China's largest talent pool.

"If you really want my advice, you really shouldn't waste your time running a company. You should just merge into an established business."

Zheng Xiwen answered seriously.

Qiao Yu glanced sideways and asked, "Then..."

“And then get dividends every year.”

Qiao Yu thought about it, then shook his head: "Not good, what if the business doesn't meet expectations?"

"With low risk, high barriers, policy dividends and controlling stakes, the situation you are worried about is unlikely to happen."

Zheng Xiwen said as if he was reciting a book.

"It's still not good. Xiyu Technology is like my first child. Giving it away directly feels like selling a child."

Qiao Yu vetoed again.

Zheng Xiwen smiled bitterly and asked, "Will you feel at ease if I find a professional manager?"

"Of course I trust your recommendation. If it doesn't work well, I can just replace it. What's there to be afraid of? And I'm not that anxious. Besides, I'm not the one who's anxious." Qiao Yu replied.

Zheng Xiwen thought about it, then nodded and took the job.

"Okay then, I'll recommend someone to you later."

"You need to be more capable and stop hiding away all those talented people. You don't want to live like an administrative secretary every day when security is your job, right?"

Qiao Yu said sincerely.

Zheng Xiwen: “…”

"By the way, what else do I need to deal with today? Nothing related to academic research."

"The three major American exchanges that you previously worked with have been urging you to do so."

"Are you asking me to pay you back?"

“They hope to reach a cooperation agreement as soon as possible to upgrade the security system of their trading platform. Of course, it would be even better if their seized cryptocurrencies could be returned in time. The time is indeed almost up, and all kinds of cryptocurrencies have fallen sharply recently.”

Zheng Xiwen said cryptically.

He's under a lot of pressure.

Just as Qiao Yu said, he really didn't want to deal with this mess anymore.

Really, he has complained to his boss three or four times in the past few days, hoping that someone else could take over or rotate his position because the pressure is too great.

Of course, Zheng Xiwen didn't really want to stay with Qiao Yu, he just wanted more authority.

Qiao Yu's negotiations have been going smoothly recently, but his pressure is increasing day by day. Even in China, there are too many eyes on Xiyu Technology.

Even though everyone knew that the valuable thing was not this shabby company with only a small computer room, but the person who controlled the company behind the scenes, there were still people who were jealous, and they were all very powerful.

They were not only targeting the small company Xiyu Technology, but also Qiao Yu's idea. This kind of thing has been unavoidable since ancient times.

Zheng Xiwen's mission is to beat back those who are bold enough not only to think about it but also to actually stretch out their hands.

In fact, Zheng Xiwen was deeply touched by this. He thought that he was not protecting Qiao Yu most of the time, but saving these people from ruining their lives because of their greed. But it was obvious that these people would not be grateful to him for this.

The biggest pressure came from these ungrateful people. Although his leader did not give him more authority, he repeatedly promised that if he held on for another two days, no one would dare to ask for help again, which allowed Zheng Xiwen to persevere.

As for the other part of the pressure, it mainly comes from various miscellaneous things, such as the sequelae left behind before.

Although the value has shrunk a lot, the cryptocurrency is still worth more than 10 billion yuan and has been idle in a wallet account on the Internet. This is enough for people to put pressure on him as a contact through various channels 24 hours a day.

It's not stressful, but it's annoying.

Zheng Xiwen would rather Qiao Yu be more straightforward and directly express his intention to embezzle the money.

He could just hang up the phone with a clear conscience. But this guy insisted on setting up a memorial archway. Everyone should have a bottom line. Since the other party is willing to pay protection fees, the money must be returned to the other party in full...

But returning the money requires a certain method and technique, and the other party must be grateful...

"Haha, I would have almost forgotten if you hadn't mentioned it! The money is almost time to return it to them. The contracts with those foreign companies have almost been signed.

In this case, I won't talk to them directly. You should go and tell them that we can now provide them with quantum transaction security protection.

They will soon be able to use our security logo on their own trading platforms. After the logo is added, the money will be returned to their original wallets.”

Zheng Xiwen sighed deeply in his heart, and Qiao Yu finally gave in. After this matter was settled, he should be able to live a relaxing life for a while.

"Well, how much protection money are you going to charge them?"

"Uncle Zheng, why are you talking so harshly? What do you mean by protection money? And what do you mean by coming to collect it? The Quantum Protection Alliance is here to collect the money. You don't have to worry about these. Let them talk directly to Google, the chairman of the alliance."

Zheng Xiwen was stunned for a moment, then confirmed: "Talk to Google? We won't participate?"

Qiao Yu nodded affirmatively and replied smugly, "Uncle Zheng, didn't you carefully read the contracts I signed with those companies? Of course, they will take over their market.

This money will go directly into the alliance's account. Every quarter, the money will be divided according to the contribution of each member unit. At least in the past one or two years, our contribution will definitely be the largest, and the money will still be deposited into our account when the time comes."

(End of this chapter)