1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 318: Poking the Frog's Nest

“You are welcome.

第23届金马奖颁奖典礼，定于民国75年西元1986年11月29日，将在宝北市立社会教育馆举行。

The Association sincerely invites Mr. Zhai Yuan to serve as the guest presenter of this year's Golden Horse Awards and to go to Taiwan to participate in the Golden Horse Awards ceremony and other activities to commend the outstanding Chinese-language film works and film workers of the year.

The main activities include a red carpet reception in the afternoon, an awards ceremony and a farewell reception in the evening.

Note: Please wear formal attire and enter on time with this invitation.

Please kindly reply.

The Baobei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee and the Baobei City Government jointly invited us. "

Zhai Yuan played with the Golden Horse Awards invitation card in his hand. The card turned smoothly between his fingers a few times and then he threw it on the table.

He looked up at the group of senior executives who were looking at each other in bewilderment in the conference room.

Zhai Yuan smiled and asked, "Everyone, what do you think?"

The invitation letter was passed around among Shi Nansheng and others.

The head of the publicity department pondered, "The Freedom Association personally sent someone to deliver this invitation letter, and also said that they hope everyone can put aside their prejudices and contribute to Chinese-language films together, and also said that art knows no national boundaries... Do they really want to shake hands and make peace?"

"I don't think this is that simple. Maybe it's a trap. Once Mr. Zhai enters the Formosa Immigration Office, he will be arrested by the police."

Zhai Yuan looked up at the mature man who was speaking. It was Ling Siwen, the manager of the lighting machinery department who was poached from Zhao’s.

Manager Ling was once a behind-the-scenes hero in the expansion of the Zhao family. Later, when the Clearwater Bay Studio was established, Uncle Zhao openly sent him to be the general manager of the studio, but he also transferred his third brother's son over to supervise the other party.

At that time, Uncle Zhao Liu looked helpless: There is no way, Siwen, Third Brother insisted on letting his son come to the cinema for approval, and I can't refuse.

Therefore, all the props and equipment funds that Ling Siwen applied for in the future would have to be reviewed and approved by the young master of the third family.

Being suppressed by such a young master for a long time, Ling Siwen felt a little unhappy. One day, he half-jokingly said: Hire a young master. These documents need to be approved layer by layer, and there will be no mistakes. There is no need to go through the trouble of a second approval.

As a result, the third young master said seriously: No, my sixth uncle has told me that he should keep a close eye on you guys like thieves.

Ling Siwen and other people in the studio were almost so angry that they vomited blood.

It was precisely because of this incident that Zou Wenhuai, who was working with Ling Siwen at the time, became furious upon learning about it. On the day of Zhao's Double Tenth celebration party, he directly announced his resignation and founded Jiahe Film Company.

"Master Deng is still far-sighted."

There is really no way to discuss these things in depth. The waters are too deep. Those who understand will understand, and those who don’t understand won’t understand even if I tell you. Don’t ask. The interests involved are too great, and it will do you no good to tell you.

Zhai Yuan didn't want to become the second Lin Boxin, so he grabbed the invitation letter on the table and threw it to Shi Nansheng, saying with a smile, "If you like, you can attend the award ceremony for me this time, but be careful not to get shot to death, like that Liu... Liu what's his name?"

Someone nearby guessed what he was going to say and chimed in, "Liu Jiangnan, Mr. Zhai."

"Oh, yes. Did you know that Liu Jiangnan died after he badmouthed Taiwan overseas?" Zhai Yuan pretended to be intimidating, using his fingers to make gun gestures to scare Shi Nansheng: "On the streets of America, he was shot in the head, bang! Then he was shot twice more, bang bang!"

Shi Nansheng immediately showed a look of disgust.

She slammed the Golden Horse Awards invitation letter into the corner with a gloomy look on her face, and uttered a rare curse: "Monster! Pretend I didn't say that!"

"That's right~ If someone shows kindness to you for no reason, he is either a traitor or a thief~"

Zhai Yuan stood up loudly: "Okay, anyway, let's just pretend that the Golden Horse Awards incident never happened. Thank you for your hard work. I have to rush to the next show and go to Yuen Long Qvod to meet the Dutch guy from Philips."

…………

On the way to Yuen Long.

While sitting in the car, Zhai Yuan was still thinking about the fact that he was invited to the Golden Horse Awards.

"Brother Xing, do you think I'm a fool?"

"Hard to say."

Satellite glanced at him in the rearview mirror and grinned.

Zhai Yuan rolled his eyes in annoyance and muttered, "I think I'm fine, but why does Freedom always treat me like an idiot and want to trick me into going to their territory and being slaughtered like a pig?"

Zhai Yuan felt that he was becoming more and more like a street rat.

First, the gambling king’s right-hand men directly said that if you dare to enter the horse trading business, you will be killed within three days.

Now that the island has stopped pretending, is it holding a Hongmen Banquet and pretending to be Liu Bang? That's too much praise for me.

"You say I'm so hated?"

"Uh-huh!"

This time Satellite nodded without hesitation.

All right... Anyway, as long as I don't leave Hong Kong, there won't be any big problem. I have guns, people and a status as a legislator. At worst, I can retreat to the Luohu Port. What's that?

Zhai Yuan was very cautious.

A typical example of imprudence in this regard is the tycoon Lam Pak-yan who later acquired Asia Television.

Lin Boxin was a billionaire back then. Taiwan was full of smiles and asked Lin to come and talk business. Lin Boxin went, and was arrested upon entry. He was suspected of bribery and money laundering, and the amount was NT$120 million. Lin Boxin was so angry that he said, "Have you ever seen money? I donate 200 million Hong Kong dollars to the mainland, and the money laundering is only this much? Who are you looking down on? But it was useless. Although he was found not guilty after several appeals, he was still officially imprisoned for more than a year. He was still appealing this case before Lin's death.

So in this kind of situation, it doesn’t mean that it will work just because you are right.

I was thinking about all these things all the way.

The car drove into Yuen Long, and the asphalt road leading to Xia Wan Village had been almost completed.

Seeing Zhai Yuan's signature pickup truck approaching, the surrounding villagers saluted.

Zhai Yuan got out of the car, patted Weixing on the shoulder, pointed at the villagers outside the window with flattering smiles on their faces, and said, "What you just said is wrong. I think I am quite popular."

……

Xiawan Village.

Qvod Technology Factory.

Guan Weiming was standing outside the factory, greeting three white guys who had come all the way from the Netherlands.

“Mr. Gerald, I’m afraid it will take some time for Mr. Zhai to come over. Why don’t we go to the office and wait?”

"No need to trouble Manager Guan. We've been sitting on the plane for too long. It would be nice to move around here for a while."

Gerard, manager of Philips' component department, smiled and shook his head, then spoke fluent English and had no difficulty communicating with Guan Weiming and others.

The two foreigners behind him looked at the Qvod factory curiously, and whispered to Gerard from time to time.

At that time, the CD factory was considered a confidential organization. Without Zhai Yuan's order, outsiders were not allowed to visit the factory. Even the workers had to be checked every day to see if they brought any video cameras.

Guan Weiming followed them closely, not giving them any chance to get close to him.

Until Zhai Yuan's figure appeared from a distance.

"boss."

Guan Weiming led Gerald and the other two to meet them, smiling, and said in Cantonese: "These foreign guys claim to be from Philips. They showed me their IDs but I don't know if they are real or not. I'm afraid they are here to steal our technology." "How is it? Did you let them into the factory for a visit?"

"of course not!"

Zhai Yuan smiled and nodded, saying hello to Gerard and the others.

Gerard and his companions were all dumbfounded. They obviously did not expect that the boss of Qvod would be so young.

If you want to talk business, the scene has to be formal.

Zhai Yuan took the initiative to invite the foreigner into the office and asked the people outside to prepare some coffee.

Both parties took their seats.

Gerald spoke a lot of English.

Zhai Yuan could vaguely understand the word "Treasure Island" and wondered how it was related to that place.

He frowned and looked at Guan Weiming standing beside him.

Guan Weiming immediately translated, "The foreigners said they should have come to visit a long time ago, but the previous epidemic delayed their trip, so they stayed in Formosa for a while longer."

Zhai Yuan nodded in understanding and looked at Jerad with a smile: "There's no need to talk so much nonsense with the foreigners, just ask them what they want to do?"

"My boss welcomes you to Hong Kong. I'm sorry for the poor hospitality. I hope you enjoy your time here."

Guan Weiming, Zhai Yuan and Gerrard started a cross-server chat dialogue.

Later on, we found out the purpose of Philips' visit.

In the final analysis, it is similar to Sony and Disney, who all want to obtain Qvod's VCD and optical disc technology.

"I'm sorry Mr. Gerard, Qvod has no intention of selling the patent for the time being."

Guan Weiming glanced at Zhai Yuan and said, "But my boss said that he can give you the agency rights in the Netherlands. The product will be commissioned according to the patent fee, and Qvod will take 28% of the profit from each machine."

Gerard's face changed. If it was just the agency rights in the Netherlands, the commission rate was a bit outrageous.

Philips also makes VCRs and videotapes, and sells them to manufacturers in other regions for which it also receives a fixed percentage of commission. For example, Philips charges $0.3 in patent fees for each videotape sold, but the overall figure is definitely not as exaggerated as 28%.

Without consulting the two foreigners around him, Gerard directly rejected Zhai Yuan.

"Even if we get the patented technology and produce it ourselves, the commission rate is still too high, and it's just agency rights."

Gerard frowned and said to Guan Weiming: "I think we can work together. If the production patent includes the agency right, Philips can accept a 15% share."

The bargaining process is too boring.

Zhai Yuan now has two products. The VCD uses North American decoding technology, and he has to pay more than ten dollars for each unit he sells. However, the optical storage technology of the CD is completely developed by his own research team day and night. No other company can currently produce a storage capacity of 700MB, so there is no need to worry about sales.

It is nothing more than a threat from the United States to draft a new Rainbow Book, but this process can also be delayed for a year or two.

At worst, I can sell it at a lower price when the time comes. There is no rush to lower the price now.

Gerard and his team came this time to obtain the production patent.

The share ratio was negotiated from 15% to 17.5%, but Zhai Yuan still refused to give in.

Gerard thought about it, discussed with the two foreigners around him, and said: "Mr. Zhai may not know that Philips is currently negotiating cooperation with Formosa Industrial Technology Research Institute. The progress is very smooth. If the two parties reach a cooperation this time, Philips will build a factory in Formosa."

"We know that Mr. Zhai is most proud of the Qvod discs. In comparison, Qvod's VCDs do not have much technical content. If you are willing to cooperate with Philips, we can provide technical support and build a factory in Hong Kong like we did in Formosa, to help improve the new generation of VCD circuit board chips."

Guan Weiming has finished translating.

Zhai Yuan still had no interest.

I have a lot of money in my pocket now. At worst, I can use the money to build up technology and hire a few more experts.

Besides, why did you mention Treasure Island again? Isn't that annoying? Did you disturb the frog's nest today?
An unprofessional business negotiation.

With Zhai Yuan insisting on the lowest 22% and refusing to bargain further, the curtain fell.

Gerard's face was full of regret, but he still wanted to try again, so he left a business card for Zhai Yuan.

He said sincerely, "Mr. Zhai, we will be staying in Central, Hong Kong in the next few days. If Kuaibo changes its mind, you can contact us at any time. In addition, I will contact the company when I return to the hotel and relay Mr. Zhai's request. Perhaps we can still have a chance to cooperate."

"OK, bye bye."

Zhai Yuan waved his hand perfunctorily, and Gerard shook his head helplessly with a smile, and had to lead the two foreigners away temporarily.

The three foreigners got in the car and wanted to visit the QVOD factory before leaving.

Zhai Yuan laughed: "I declined~"

Gerard had a bad start and waved goodbye to Zhai Yuan reluctantly. The car slowly drove out of Xiawan Village.

Outside the factory.

Zhai Yuan stood with Guan Weiming.

"What a fool! The price he offered is not even as high as Sony's. I made this trip for nothing."

"But his attitude is quite sincere. At least he is willing to come and talk in person."

"That's useless! Their market is so big, they can make tens of millions of extra profits just by changing the price. If you are willing to give me this money, I will be more sincere and call you godfather!"

Zhai Yuan glanced at Guan Weiming, who smiled apologetically and waved his hands, saying he didn't dare.

In the setting sun, Zhai Yuan stretched lazily.

Thinking of what Gerard had said just now, he asked curiously, "Did the people from Philips just say that Formosa is also doing scientific research?"

"That's right." Guan Weiming nodded and said with a smile, "But what good things can Taiwan make? I heard it's called semiconductors. How big of a market can there be for radios?"

Zhai Yuan nodded, not quite understanding.

Semiconductors! I know, how could I not have heard of Peninsula Iron Box?

Professor Tao Zongyi happened to come out of the factory, heard the conversation between the two, and took off his dust mask.

"Semiconductor? Formosa has to cooperate with Philips to make this kind of thing? Lao Guan, did you hear clearly? Is it semiconductor radio or semiconductor?"

"It seems like there's no radio... Is there any difference?"

Tao Zongyi smiled helplessly and said, "How can there be no difference? In theory, semiconductors are very useful in communication systems, integrated circuits, photovoltaic power generation and other fields. It's just that people don't pay much attention to this technology at present. I heard that the best laboratory is in Japan, but they are all crossing the river by feeling the stones. It is estimated that it will be difficult to have a major breakthrough in the next ten years."

Guan Weiming seemed to be thinking about something, then he laughed and said, "With a project cycle of more than ten years, it sounds like the money earned by radio is not as high as that earned by radio."

Next to my ears, a technical man and a middle-aged man who was obsessed with money were still arguing about the practical uses of semiconductors.

Zhai Yuan's expression gradually became strange.

Semiconductors? A sacred mountain protecting the island? Something from 1986?
"I lost it!"

Zhai Yuan threw the cigarette he had just lit to the ground and quickly chased after the Dutchman who had long disappeared: "Godfather! Wait for me!"

(End of this chapter)