Video Editor

In the president's office of Shanghai International Studies University, President Yang personally poured a cup of pre-Qingming Longjing tea for Su Ning.

"Su Ning! I never imagined you could build Jiuzhoufang to this scale in just two years." Principal Yang adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes gleaming with shrewdness behind the lenses. "The school is preparing to award you a 'Distinguished Alumni' award, what do you think..."

"Principal Yang, let's get straight to the point." Su Ning took the teacup, a hint of red flashing in his left eye in the sunlight. "What does the school want? And what is it willing to give?"

Principal Yang laughed heartily and took out a document from his drawer: "SISU wants to jointly build a 'Cross-border Digital Trade Laboratory' with Jiuzhoufang. We will provide the venue and personnel proficient in less commonly spoken languages ​​such as French and Arabic, while you will provide the technology and funding."

Suning quickly glanced at the documents, a slight smile playing on his lips.

This is exactly what he needs—the endorsement of scientific research from universities and a stable channel for talent recruitment.

“Add one more thing.” He took out his pen and added at the end of the document, “Establish the ‘Kyushu Scholarship’ with 500 million yen per year, but the award-winning students must intern at our company for three months.”

Principal Yang's eyes lit up: "It's settled then! I'll invite the leaders from the Municipal Education Commission to the signing ceremony next week."

"Wait a minute! Principal Yang, that's not fair of you! You haven't even said what you can offer Jiuzhoufang?"

"You're so clever! We have an alumni association at Shanghai International Studies University that can give you early access."

"That's it?"

"Shanghai International Studies University has a seven-story building on the Bund that you can rent at a discounted price. I knew that buildings on the Bund aren't something you can just buy with money."

"Jiuzhoufang is going to invest in buying it."

"What? That's absolutely impossible! The buildings on the Bund all have a history."

“Principal Yang, I believe the school has the capability, and the honor of Jiuzhoufang will belong to Shanghai International Studies University in the future.”

"This is a very important matter! I can't make the decision myself, I can only help you apply to higher authorities."

"Principal Yang, I'll be waiting for your good news."

As we walked out of the administration building, Qi Dongcao hurriedly greeted us: "Su Ning, we've also contacted Fudan University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. They are very interested in our proposed 'Intelligent Translation R&D Center'."

"We've arranged for them to come to the company this Friday for a detailed discussion." Su Ning glanced at her watch. "By the way, has the meeting with Huawei been arranged?"

The Queen caught up from behind, panting, and handed over a document: "Just received it. Huawei has agreed to meet at their Shenzhen headquarters tomorrow! President Ren will personally receive you!"

"President Ren is my idol! I still get excited thinking about it now."

"Is it really necessary? I've never seen you idolize anyone."

"Your Majesty, are you suggesting that I should idolize Zhao Sanjin?"

"Shouldn't it be? Dad really built his business from scratch."

"Your Majesty, you seem to have some misunderstanding about starting from scratch. If he hadn't married into your royal family and relied on the Qi family's resources, could he have gotten to where he is today?"

"This……"

"Queen, Qi Dongcao, I don't care how much you admire Zhao Sanjin, from now on you are both our women, and you must put me first in everything you do."

"..." The Queen and Qi Dongcao exchanged a helpless glance.

……

In the conference room of Jiuzhoufang headquarters, school leaders from seven top universities in the Yangtze River Delta region gathered together.

Of course, the most impressive one is the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei; their research and development capabilities are truly terrifying.

The projection screen displayed the architecture diagram of the "Jiuzhou Industry-University-Research Strategic Alliance".

"...This intelligent translation system will integrate the linguistic strengths of various universities," Su Ning explained, pointing to the screen. "Fudan University is responsible for the algorithm framework, Shanghai Jiao Tong University is working on the neural network, and Shanghai International Studies University is providing a multilingual corpus..."

The dean of the School of Computer Science at Shanghai Jiao Tong University suddenly raised his hand: "President Su, what is the estimated R&D investment? How will the intellectual property rights be allocated?"

“The initial investment is 2 million yuan.” Suning’s words caused a stir. “The intellectual property rights belong to the R&D team, and Jiuzhoufang only needs a five-year exclusive right to use it.”

The meeting room instantly erupted in excitement.

This offer is considered generous in industry-academia-research collaboration, and the deans have already begun to quietly discuss how much research funding they will each receive.

Qi Dongcao handed over the prepared draft contract at the opportune moment.

The Queen was busy demonstrating Kyushufang's latest speech recognition demo to the professors.

"Dear teachers," Su Ning tapped the table, "I have a small request. I hope that each university can recommend five outstanding graduates to join our newly established 'Pineapple Phone' project."

The vice president of Fudan University squinted: "Mobile phones? Isn't Jiuzhoufang an e-commerce company?"

“Precisely because we are an e-commerce company,” Suning said, citing a set of data. “Last year, 70% of the platform’s orders came from mobile devices, but the current mobile experience is too poor.”

He paused for a moment, then said, "That's why we decided to do it ourselves."

"I see! Since your company is so innovative, we naturally give it our full support."

"Thank you very much, teachers."

In the conference room of Huawei's headquarters in Shenzhen, Mr. Ren looked at the young man in front of him, who was only 20 years old, with admiration in his eyes.

"President Su's idea is very bold." President Ren stroked his teacup. "But the mobile phone industry is very complex. There are at least eighty or a hundred brands that have collapsed in Huaqiangbei."

Suning calmly presented a proposal: "That's why I'm approaching Huawei for cooperation. Your company has certain communication patents and hardware experience, while we have user data and a software ecosystem. I believe that cooperation between the two parties can achieve the desired results."

Mr. Ren was flipping through the documents when he suddenly stopped on a certain page: "What is this 'iris algorithm'? Is it a photo optimization technology?"

The conference room suddenly became quiet.

Qi Dongcao's bracelet accidentally bumped into a teacup, making a crisp "ding" sound.

"A new type of image processing technology," Suning said without batting an eye. "It can automatically adjust screen display parameters based on iris characteristics, which can protect eyesight."

"That's right! Back when I was your age, I was still working in the army, quarrying rocks."

"Mr. Ren, you are a senior to us young people. Starting a business in your forties is something not everyone can do."

"Haha, don't flatter me. This collaboration still needs to be evaluated."

"I understand! I await your good news, Mr. Ren."

The meeting lasted until late at night.

Ultimately, Huawei agreed to invest 30% of the shares through patent licensing and technical team support, jointly establishing "Pineapple Mobile Communication Technology Co., Ltd."

On the return flight, the Queen excitedly flipped through the cooperation agreement: "Fantastic! With Huawei's communication patents and experience, our pineapple phone project is sure to be a great success."

“The key point isn’t the patents,” Su Ning interrupted her, his left eye slightly red in the dim cabin light. “It’s their supply chain and operator relationships, and also Huawei’s relationships in certain areas.”

Then he turned to Qi Dongcao and said, "Contact Mr. Zhang of SMIC and tell him that we want to talk about custom chips."

"okay, I get it."

……

Banners for the "Jiuzhoufang Scholarship" can be seen everywhere on the campus of Shanghai International Studies University.

Even more eye-catching is the newly unveiled "Cross-border Digital Trade Laboratory," which displays Jiuzhoufang's latest VR shopping equipment.

"Look here, students!" the lab director enthusiastically introduced. "Through our intelligent translation system, Russian buyers can communicate directly with Chinese sellers in Russian, and the system will translate in real time..."

Amidst the crowd, Shen Jiayi watched all of this with a complex expression.

She hasn't spoken to Su Ning alone for two months since their last argument.

"Senior Shen!" A younger female student suddenly grabbed her. "Don't you know Senior Su? Could you help me submit a resume?"

Before Shen Jiayi could answer, the crowd suddenly stirred.

Su Ning himself appeared at the laboratory entrance, accompanied by Qi Dongcao and the Queen.

Today he was dressed casually, which was unusual for him, and he looked like an ordinary college student.

"Dear junior students," Su Ning said, standing in front of the experience platform, "Pineapple Mobile is recruiting its first batch of experience officers, who can receive our first engineering prototype in cooperation with Huawei for free."

The students instantly erupted in excitement.

The Queen hurriedly handed out registration forms, while Qi Dongcao quietly walked up to Shen Jiayi and said, "Senior, Su Ning said... if you're interested, you can become a consultant for the localization of the French system."

Looking at Su Ning, who was surrounded by his juniors in the distance, Shen Jiayi suddenly realized that he was not a truly heartless man.

"Did he really say that?"

"Of course! Although Su Ning is quite a romantic, he has always treated women very well. If you are willing, he can support you for the rest of your life."

"..." Shen Jiayi naturally understood what Qi Dongcao meant by those words, which was to reassure her to stay by Su Ning's side and be a little woman.

However, the proud Shen Jiayi was unwilling to accept it, but she also knew that this might be her last chance. If she refused this time, then she and Su Ning would never be together again.

"I... I'd like to think about it."

"I hope you can hurry! Suning has never been very patient."

"..."

At this moment, Shen Jiayi undoubtedly felt extremely depressed and aggrieved. Instead of being the empress, she had brought this upon herself by becoming a mistress.

Shen Jiayi couldn't help but feel regretful. If she hadn't listened to her mother's slander, her relationship with Su Ning wouldn't have become so tense.

……

In the conference room on the top floor of Jiuzhoufang, Suning was deep in thought, staring at the blueprints covering the walls.

On the left is the organizational chart of the "Jiuzhou Industry-University-Research Alliance", on the right is the development roadmap of "Pineapple Mobile", and in the middle is the global layout of "UnionPay Jiuzhou Pay".

"President Su, the chip deal is settled." Qi Dongcao pushed open the door and came in. "SMIC has agreed to customize low-power image processing chips for us, but requires a deposit of 3 million yuan in advance."

"Here you go." Su Ning said without turning his head. "Also, notify the Human Resources Department to launch the 'Young Talent Program' and directly recruit 200 recent graduates from partner universities."

"it is good."

Wang came in carrying coffee: "I have some bad news... Taobao just announced that it's going to make its own mobile phones."

Su Ning suddenly laughed, his eyes gleaming with smugness: "Haha, just as I expected." He opened the computer in front of him and pulled up a set of data, "But they forgot one thing—we control 60% of their payment traffic."

"Huh? Su Ning, how did you do that?"

"We must always be on guard against enemies, especially business prodigies like Ma Yun."

Outside the window, the lights of Lujiazui shone like a galaxy.

In the darkness further away, a battle for supremacy in the mobile internet is brewing.

……

The air in the boardroom at the headquarters of Tangshan Jinhai Industrial was so thick it felt like you could wring water out of it.

Zhao Xin stroked the gold watch strap, his gaze sweeping over the twelve directors present.

The words "IPO Feasibility Analysis" on the projection screen stung his eyes.

"Old Huang, what's your opinion?" Zhao Xin lit a cigar, the smoke swirling in the lamplight.

Huang Yuyang cleared his throat: "Going public is digging your own grave! Those investment banking wolves will chew you to pieces..."

He slammed his fist on the table excitedly, "Jinhai's success today is all thanks to President Zhao's decisive and authoritative decision-making!"

“I object.” Vice President of Finance, Fu Yi, pushed up his glasses. “The company needs modern governance, and going public is the only way forward.”

He pulled up a set of data, "Look at Jiuzhoufang, its market value increased eightfold after it went public..."

Upon hearing the words "Jiuzhoufang," Zhao Xin paused slightly on the cigar between his fingers.

The glass windows of the conference room reflected the newly added gray hairs at his temples, creating a stark contrast with the spirited photograph on the wall from twenty years ago.

"Huang Dabiao, what do you think?" Zhao Xin suddenly looked at his brother-in-law Huang Dabiao and asked.

At that moment, Huang Dabiao was slacking off when Zhao Xin called his name, and he was immediately startled.

Everyone looked at this "useless piece of trash" who always followed Zhao Xin's lead.

“I…support going public.” His voice was soft, but clear enough, “but not now. We should resolve the legacy issues first…”

Zhao Xin suddenly burst into laughter, the sound echoing in the conference room: "Good! Very good!"

He stood up abruptly. "That's it for today's meeting. Meeting adjourned!"

The directors exchanged bewildered glances and left, leaving only Huang Yuyang behind: "President Zhao, President Biao, he..."

“It’s not his fault.” Zhao Xin looked out the window. “Even my own son doesn’t recognize me, let alone my brother-in-law?”

"..."

At 2 a.m., the lights were still on in the top-floor office of Jinhai Building.

Zhao Xin stood alone in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, holding a brand-new Pineapple 1 mobile phone in his hands, which he had his secretary secretly buy from the official website.

The screen is currently displaying a press conference announcing the strategic cooperation between Jiuzhoufang and Huawei.

At 20 years old, Suning stood on the stage, speaking eloquently, clearly a rising star in the business world.

“You brat…” Zhao Xin gently stroked his son’s face on the screen with his thumb, “Just as arrogant as your old man was when he was young.”

He clicked on another video, which was a media special report that delved into the entrepreneurial history of Suning.

When the camera cut to the small Jiangxi restaurant, Zhao Xin's pupils suddenly contracted.

Su Daqiang, wearing an apron, was tossing food in the kitchen, with a gentle woman from Jiangxi beside him. The two worked together in perfect harmony, like a duet.

What made Zhao Xin feel most upset was the next scene: Su Ning would return to the restaurant every month, dressed casually to help in the kitchen, and the three of them would sit around a greasy folding table to eat, just like a real family.

At this moment, Zhao Xin couldn't help but feel jealous of Su Daqiang. This happiness and joy should have been his, but unfortunately, it was stolen away by this despicable Su Daqiang.

"Mr. Zhao," the secretary knocked gently on the door, "Vice President Wang Houde sent an email saying..."

"So you're saying he's going to join forces with the other directors to force him out?" Zhao Xin sneered.

"Yes! He still wants to establish a listed company and make Jinhai Group bigger and stronger."

"Let him make a scene."

"Yes, Mr. Zhao."

Then he turned off the computer video and suddenly asked, "Xiao Liu, what would you do if your son didn't acknowledge you?"

Secretary Liu stood there helplessly.

Zhao Xin waved his hand, took a bottle of whiskey from the liquor cabinet, and poured himself a drink.

Outside the window, the lights of Tangshan are not even a tenth as dazzling as those of Shanghai.

In the kitchen of the "Ganweiju" restaurant in Hongkou, Shanghai, the morning sunlight shines through the plastic curtain.

Su Daqiang was deftly chopping ribs, and the scars on his face appeared much softer in the steam.

"Old Su! The water chestnuts are washed!" Chen Meihua came in carrying a bamboo basket, her hair still damp with water droplets.

Although this woman from Jiangxi is nearly forty, her smile still has the radiance of a young girl.

Su Daqiang took the bamboo basket and wiped the sweat from his wife's forehead.

Ten years ago, he could never have imagined that he would live such a life—no hatred, no honor or disgrace in the police force, just the mundane life of daily necessities.

"Is Aning coming back today?" Chen Meihua added firewood to the stove. "I've cured the bacon he likes."

"They said they'd arrive this afternoon." Su Daqiang's lips curled up. "They said they brought a newly developed mobile phone for us to try out."

Chen Meihua suddenly lowered her voice: "That...the Zhao family matter, is he still unwilling to accept it?"

The cleaver paused on the cutting board.

Su Daqiang looked out the window, as if he could see again that rainy night twenty years ago when he pulled the boy with bloodshot eyes out of the reservoir.

“Ah Ning has always been a very opinionated child, and you could say she’s always been in charge. We don’t need to interfere too much.”

"But speaking of which, Ah Ning is really amazing! She's only a junior in college and she's already built such a large business."

"That's right! You don't even know whose son he is, he's been able to make the right decisions since he was little." Su Daqiang continued chopping the ribs, but said it with a smug look on his face.

As evening fell, Suning's brand-new Ducati Superleggera V4 was parked at the back door of the restaurant.

He was wearing a black leather jacket today and looked like an ordinary college student, not at all like a tech tycoon with a net worth of billions.

"Dad, take a look at this." He took two engineering machines out of his bag. "It's a large font mode specially modified for you and Auntie."

Chen Meihua wiped her hands on her apron and leaned closer: "Wow! This screen is so clear!"

Su Daqiang was fiddling with his phone when he suddenly noticed an "iris mode" option in the camera app. Curious, he clicked on it to try it out.

Finally, the three of them set up a small table in the backyard.

Chen Meihua cooked a few of her signature dishes, and Suning opened a bottle of Moutai.

After a few rounds of drinks, Su Daqiang gradually became more talkative.

“Su Ning, a guest from Tangshan came last week,” he said casually. “He implied that he wanted to act as a go-between for you and the Zhao family.”

Su Ning paused, picking up food with his chopsticks. "People sent by Jinhai Industry?"

"Hmm." Su Daqiang took a swig of his drink. "I was saying, my son is doing just fine as his own boss, why is he going to work for someone else?"

Chen Meihua keenly sensed the change in atmosphere and got up to get more rice.

After she walked away, Su Ning suddenly asked, "Dad, do you regret it?"

"What do you regret?"

“If you hadn’t adopted me back then, things might be very different now.”

Su Daqiang laughed heartily, the wrinkles on his face smoothing out: "Now I can beat up whoever I want, it's much more enjoyable than being a cop!"

He raised his glass. "Come on, let's have a drink!"

Two wine glasses clinked in mid-air, reflecting the last rays of the sunset on the horizon.

The sound of a recycling bell rang from the back alley, mingling with the aroma of food wafting from the kitchen—a simple yet heartwarming scene.

As night deepened, Su Ning stood on the roof of the restaurant, gazing at the dazzling lights of Lujiazui in the distance.

My phone vibrated; it was a message from Qi Dongcao: "Dad asked about your schedule again today."

Suning did not respond.

He recalled what Su Daqiang had said that afternoon when he was drunk: "Sometimes you have to learn to forgive... Of course, I'm not in a position to advise you on this."

The sound of dishes clattering came from downstairs; Chen Meihua was cleaning up the mess.

Su Daqiang hummed an off-key revolutionary song as he wiped the table for her, a scene that contrasted sharply with Zhao Xin standing alone in the office.

Two fathers, two different lives.

One lives a solitary life in a business empire, while the other finds solace in a small restaurant.

He himself stood at the boundary between light and darkness, his eyes gleaming with a light that did not belong to humankind.

"Ah Ning!" Su Daqiang called from downstairs, "Come down for a late-night snack!"

“Here I am.” Su Ning blinked.

He glanced one last time at the north, in the direction of Tangshan, then turned and went downstairs, disappearing into the warm lamplight.

...(End of chapter)