1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 453 Wei Yixin Arrives

Upon arriving in South Korea, Zhai Yuancai realized that he had been too socialist in the past.

To paraphrase a quote from the late Zhao Lirong about Taiwan:
Their society is still very much like the old society; even if an actor is rich, he's still considered a low-class person.

Besides, South Korean actors don't have much money.

Three top-tier South Korean actresses: 22-year-old Kang Soo-yeon is unmarried, 25-year-old Hwang Shin-hye is divorced, and 28-year-old Lee Mi-sook recently got married to a plastic surgeon outside the entertainment industry.

Regardless of their past romantic experiences, all three women were adept at playing various musical instruments and singing in bed.
Even the youngest member, Kang Soo-yeon, knows exactly when to change positions.

His enthusiasm was so intense that when Zhai Yuan used the "sex bag" for the first time, and given the language barrier, it became purely a pastime driven by desire.

It's often said that homegrown flowers aren't as fragrant as wildflowers, but if wildflowers are treated like tools to be manipulated at will, it's actually quite boring.

After the first round of battle ended, Zhai Yuan lit a cigarette, glanced at the woman lying at the foot of the bed, engrossed in cleaning, and couldn't even muster the interest for a second round.

"Okay."

He raised his foot and placed it on Li Meishu's shoulder, casually pushing her back. The other two women serving on either side immediately got up from Zhai Yuan, knelt on the bed, and smiled seductively, waiting for his next move.

Zhai Yuan exhaled a puff of smoke, sat up from the bed, casually extinguished his cigarette, ignored the kneeling women, and walked towards the bathhouse on his own.

Lee Mi-sook, Hwang Shin-hye, and Kang Soo-yeon exchanged surprised glances, hurriedly got up and followed. They noticed the lack of interest on Zhai Yuan's face, which suddenly made the three women worry. Even though they weren't in the entertainment industry, they couldn't afford to offend a distinguished guest who even the head of Samsung had to personally receive.

Seeing the three naked women pressing themselves against him again, Zhai Yuan waved his hand to indicate that it should stop.

Ignoring the unease in each other's eyes, Zhai Yuan washed himself up, lay in the warm water, closed his eyes to rest for a while, and stood up, still dripping wet.

Before they could even do anything, Huang Xinhui and the others quickly grabbed bath towels and started drying them off.

Soon, Zhai Yuan put his formal attire back on, barely moving an inch in the process. As soon as he showed any intention of getting dressed, the three naked women took turns doing their jobs, letting Zhai Yuan simply do whatever he wanted. Li Meishu held his calves and helped him put on his shoes and socks, Jiang Shouyan carefully buttoned his coat, and Huang Xinhui brought a cup of hot tea to Zhai Yuan.

If a woman in Hong Kong were to be so humble, Zhai Yuan would most likely feel sorry for her and might even scold her.

But at this moment, he felt nothing. He took a sip of tea, patted Li Meishu's head as she lay at his feet, and said with a smile, "Good dog."

Step out the door,

Zhai Yuan completely disregarded the fact that the women in the room were not yet dressed.

At this moment, Li Meishu and the others finally felt a little shame as 'human beings', and they whispered and wrapped their arms around their chests to avoid revealing their private parts.

Actually, there was no one else outside.
In the empty hall, a female translator who graduated from Hong Kong University sat alone in a beanbag chair, flipping through a copy of "Female Student" magazine.

Hearing the door open, the female translator quickly got up to greet Zhai Yuan with a smile.

“Mr. Zhai, President Jiang just received a call from Chairman Li and had to leave temporarily. He instructed me to ask for your opinion if I saw you.”

The female translator said in Cantonese, "The matter of South Korean communications has made some progress. Mr. Zhai can contact Chairman Li at any time. Of course, if Mr. Zhai feels tired today, we can schedule it for tomorrow."

"Cantonese sounds better." Zhai Yuan smiled and pinched her cheek, then stretched and said, "No need to wait until tomorrow. If Chairman Li is still awake, please contact him for me. Let's get this over with quickly."

The clock on the wall had just passed eight o'clock in the evening.

The female translator nodded with a smile: "Understood, Mr. Zhai, please have a seat and wait a moment."

Zhai Yuan hummed in agreement, but instead of sitting down, he walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked down at most of the south bank of the Han River under the night sky.

Just before the opening of the Olympic Games, Seoul was bustling like never before, thanks to human intervention and arrangements.

Amidst the dazzling lights, the church bells of Seocho-dong shattered the night, and the mascot of Hudori, standing by the river, lit up with colorful lights, reflecting in the water as blurry orange and blue spots. In the distance, neon signs hanging on the Dongjak Bridge could be vaguely seen, flashing slogans such as "Welcome to Seoul," "A Celebration of Peace," and "Harmony and Progress."

The female translator glanced at Zhai Yuan's tall and straight back, took out her phone, dialed a number, and whispered, "President Jiang, Chairman Zhai is out..."

…………

"The semiconductor foundry signed a five-year contract with Samsung to continuously produce integrated circuits worth 3000 billion won over the five years, providing services from manufacturing to packaging, testing and all technical support."

"In addition, Samsung wants to obtain the exclusive agency for Kuaibo VCD and discs in South Korea, with the agency period also being five years. It will allow them to build factories in South Korea, and Kuaibo will need to provide them with technical assistance free of charge during the agency period."

"In return, Samsung Group will provide full support for my telecommunications business in Hong Kong, sharing South Korean telecommunications technology and equipment, and ensuring that the most advanced electronic switching system is brought to Hong Kong..."

Early in the morning,
Wearing a loose bathrobe and slippers, Zhai Yuan dined with Tao Zongyi at the Shilla Hotel restaurant, recounting to Tao the conditions proposed by Lee Kun-hee the previous night.

"How so? Lee Kun-hee's think tank is pretty impressive, isn't it?"

Zhai Yuan took a sip of milk through the straw and smiled at Tao Zongyi: "The Samsung Economic Research Institute, which is known as the most powerful think tank in South Korea, really delivered a solid and ruthless blow. I need to go back and continue recruiting, at least to create a 'September 1st Economic Research Institute'."

"3000 billion won."

Tao Zongyi tugged at his sparse hair, his face troubled: "That comes to about 4 million US dollars. Five years... If we continue like this, our contract manufacturers won't need to take orders from other companies for the next five years."

"That's why they're a professional negotiation team. They ask for the sky's the limit, then negotiate down to the spot, leaving some room for negotiation."

Zhai Yuan took a deep breath and sighed, "Lee Kun-hee suggested that during our stay in South Korea, we could freely visit the operations of South Korean telecommunications companies and telephone companies. In East Asia, South Korea is indeed far ahead in the telecommunications industry, after all, the former president proposed to carry out an information revolution."

Zhai Yuan paused for a moment, then continued, "Why don't you take some people to investigate first, compare it with the US, and point out some flaws? That way, you'll have something to say when you negotiate the price later. 3000 billion won is really an exaggeration. If they've been using our production line for free for five years, wouldn't they be making trillions?"

This year, Samsung launched its first branded mobile phone, the SC-100, which is also the first mobile phone manufactured in South Korea.

The price comes to about HK$25,000. It doesn't offer any innovative features and is just as bulky, but it's more than HK$6,000 more expensive than Motorola's competing model.

Even so, with the slogan of being domestically developed, and despite the significant price premium of the SC-100, it still garnered a large majority of supporters in South Korea. The overwhelming advertising campaign by Cheil Industries also leaned towards the idea of ​​"local identity is the only way to be true to South Korea," giving the impression that "if you don't buy it, you're not a true South Korean." As a result, as soon as Samsung's phone was launched, its sales in the home country directly surpassed those of Motorola.

Even if its own contract manufacturers only produce mobile phone chips for the other party, the shipment volume of 3000 billion won not only alleviates the production pressure on Samsung Electronics, but also allows it to earn double the profit.

"Besides, there are also VCDs and CDs from Kuaibo."

Tao Zongyi cautioned, "Providing five years of free technical assistance, who knows if Samsung will turn the tables and develop even more advanced products after five years?"

"Yes, so I definitely won't agree to this condition."

Zhai Yuan nodded and said, "However, the five-year agency rights are not a problem. The agency in Japan is doing quite well. Now, CDs have surpassed videotapes in market share. If Samsung operates normally, it can also expand the content output of 91 Entertainment. It would be a win-win situation."

……

So, over the next two days, Tao Zongyi led his team of telecommunications engineers to visit and inspect South Korea's telecommunications business.

It encompasses five major categories: mobile phones, landlines, car phones, broadband lines, and media entertainment.

Further subdivision involves aspects such as local and international lines, radio paging, coverage of signal transmission base stations, and laying of submarine optical cables.

This touched upon a blind spot in Zhai Yuan's knowledge. Fortunately, as long as the general direction was set, Zhai Yuan only needed to steer the ship, relying on his experience to ensure the course wouldn't deviate.

Just as at that time, the Eastern Telegraph Company was collaborating with the Hong Kong Telephone Company to massively expand public telephone booths in Hong Kong.

Zhai Yuan has already set his sights on two categories: mobile phones and widescreen cables.

Although he and those around him had been using mobile phones for a long time, over 90% of ordinary citizens in Hong Kong were still using landlines and pagers. The main reason was that mobile phones were expensive; most people couldn't afford Motorola or Samsung phones, not to mention the several thousand dollars for a network access fee, several hundred dollars for a basic monthly service fee, and two dollars per minute for calls.

If Samsung can help with the signal transmission base stations and electronic switching systems, Zhai Yuan can completely steal customers from the Eastern Telegraph Office by lowering network access fees, service fees, and telephone charges. Considering the emergence of affordable mobile phones in the future, even if it means bearing some risk of loss, he must firmly occupy this core market.

The advantage of new businesses is that they can be very proactive, do whatever they want, and set prices however they want.

In contrast, the Eastern Telegraph Company, a publicly listed company, had to consider the opinions of its shareholders in making any decision, and it had no advantage whatsoever in terms of infrastructure or pricing.

Zhai Yuan considered the broadband business, which the Eastern Telegraph Company had not yet started developing, as a top priority. He wanted to be the first in Hong Kong to take the plunge and bring the spark of the Internet to Hong Kong before anyone else.

"Old He, I've already contacted Samsung Group in South Korea, and we're currently in the negotiation stage."

Two days until the Seoul Olympics
In his hotel room, Zhai Yuan used a landline to make an international call to He Zilang, who was in Hong Kong, and asked, "What's the situation with Wei Yixin? When does he plan to issue me the license?"

On the other end of the phone, He Zilang's hesitant voice came through: "Mr. Zhai, I'm afraid this matter won't go so smoothly."

Zhai Yuan raised an eyebrow: "What does that mean?"

“Inspector Wai won’t even see me now.” Ho Chi-long said with a troubled tone, “I went to visit the Governor’s House yesterday, but I couldn’t even get through the gate. I called him but no one answered. I can’t get in touch with him at all.”

"Isn't it?"

Zhai Yuan was taken aback by what he heard.

Did I overestimate Wei Yixin? Was he really so scared that Wei Yixin was just a little bit scared by the Eastern Telegraph Company?

“Yes!” He Zilang sighed dejectedly on the phone, and asked with concern, “What do we do now? If Inspector Wei refuses to issue the license, you won’t get the operating rights. Even if you’ve negotiated all the business deals in South Korea, it’ll be useless.”

"Damn it! He's both a god and a demon!"

Zhai Yuan felt a slight displeasure, and his tone turned cold: "I don't believe that the Eastern Telegraph Company can control everything in Hong Kong. In short, I'm not doing this Hong Kong communications business; if I'm going to do it, I'll see it through to the end. Wei Yixin is going to be a coward, so I'll do it myself! You contact Shen Wei immediately and have him go to Panama. If I can't get the Eastern Telegraph Company to voluntarily relinquish its franchise by the end of the year, I'll change my name to Zhai Yuan!"

……

Ten minutes later, Zhai Yuan hung up the phone with a dark expression.

The original plan was to acquire the operating rights and then, after achieving a phased victory in the business, turn their attention to dealing with the Eastern Telegraph Bureau.

Now it seems that this matter must be put on the agenda.

Zhai Yuan sat on the edge of the bed, lit a cigarette, and mentally reviewed the overall business of the Eastern Telegraph Company. Apart from Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Shenzhen, which had just been connected to the mainland this year, most of the remaining business of the Eastern Telegraph Company was concentrated in Central and South American countries, with Panama as the main player.

What a coincidence! It's not just you foreigners who have influence overseas; the President of Panama and I also have some connections.

In addition, there are Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, which are countries where the Great Eastern Telegraph Company had operations.

You won't let me develop my telecommunications business in Hong Kong? I'll just turn around and bring Samsung over to steal your business!
There are also telecommunications operators in mainland China operated by the Eastern Telegraph Company.

Damn it!

What's your relationship with Grandpa? What's my relationship with Grandpa?
At worst, Samsung will cut my losses twice more. I'll go all in on my entire fortune. I don't want entertainment, semiconductors, Kuaibo, or anything else. I'll put all my eggs in one basket and bet everything on communications!

knock knock --

Just as Zhai Yuan was pondering how to intimidate the Eastern Telegraph Bureau and force them to hand over the franchise,

There was a knock on the door.

Immediately afterwards, Lizhi's voice rang out from behind the door: "Mr. Zhai, there are guests outside who want to see you."

In the heat of the moment, Zhai Yuan got up, opened the door, and asked gruffly, "Who is it!"

Lizhi shuddered in fright, her chest heaving, and said cautiously, "It's an English woman. She said her surname is Li, and that you must know her. She's downstairs right now."

"So it's that foreign witch! I know her?"

Zhai Yuan rolled his eyes and then recalled the ghost woman surnamed Li, but he didn't seem to remember such a person.

"Let's go down and take a look."

Driven by curiosity, Zhai Yuan casually put his arm around Li Zhi's hourglass waist and walked towards the elevator.

The elevator quickly descended to the first floor.

Zhai Yuan walked out with Li Zhi in his arms, teasingly saying, "You seem to have lost weight recently. Is it because the food in South Korea isn't to your liking? Why don't you come to my room tonight, and I'll cook something to help you recover..."

Li Zhi blushed slightly, pressed down on Zhai Yuan's hand that was playing tricks on her waist, and said softly, "Stop fooling around, the person who wants to see you is that lady."

Upon hearing this, Zhai Yuan followed Li Zhi's gaze.

In the hotel lobby, a British woman with fuchsia hair stood there.

The woman was probably over forty years old. Although she looked well-maintained, her deep eye sockets and nasolabial folds were still quite noticeable. She was wearing a Chinese-style cheongsam and had a dignified demeanor. She was smiling at me.

Zhai Yuan was certain that he had never met the other party.

Seeing Zhai Yuan's surprised expression and a hint of mockery in her eyes, the British woman asked in fluent Cantonese, "Mr. Zhai, don't you recognize me?"

Zhai Yuan shook his head and asked curiously, "What should I call you?"

"Then you should know my husband."

The British woman smiled even more broadly, and instead of answering Zhai Yuan's question, she pointed to the rest area on the other side of the hall.

On the sofa in the rest area, a man leaned back, holding a large newspaper in his hands, completely obscuring his face.

The next second, the man put down his newspaper, stood up, and walked towards Zhai Yuan in astonishment.

"They were afraid that if you knew I was in South Korea, I would disappear again, so they had my wife ask you to show up."

The cowardly man He Zilang had been referring to, who couldn't be contacted, was now approaching Zhai Yuan step by step, saying helplessly, "I am the Governor of Hong Kong, and the Seoul Olympics sent me an invitation six months in advance. Why do you think that hiding in South Korea will solve everything? Mr. Zhai, do you also know that you have created a problem for me?"

Zhai Yuan's smile gradually became awkward. He waved and greeted, "...Yo, Officer Wei, long time no see!"

(End of this chapter)