Who would still start a business seriously after being reborn?

Chapter 540 An Even Bigger Gift

Cheng Yi looked directly into Yang Yuanqing's somewhat serious eyes and said, "President Yang, the business world is like a battlefield, where the strong prey on the weak, which is only natural. Microsoft is a behemoth that is temporarily unshakeable, so we choose to lie low. If we can't beat them, we can always avoid them, right?"

“But Samsung is different. Since it dares to bare its fangs at us, it should be prepared to have a piece of its flesh torn off by us, skin and bones. Now is the time for us to press our advantage and expand our gains. To negotiate with them at this time would be a stupid idea.”

Cheng Yi's attitude silenced Yang Yuanqing.

The tea in front of him had cooled slightly, and the wisps of steam had dissipated.

His impression of Cheng Yi was still based on what he had seen before.

But Yang Yuanqing could tell from Cheng Yi's attitude.

Cheng Yi no longer takes him seriously.

Perhaps it's more accurate to say that Cheng Yi no longer takes their Lianxiang Group seriously.

What is the origin of that saying?
When you're poor, don't speak; when you're in a lowly position, don't offer advice.

Yang Yuanqing is now starting to sense that something is amiss.

Moreover, starting today, he truly began to clearly perceive how terrifying this young man in front of him was.

This is not just a rising star in the business world with technology, capital, and resources, but also a ruthless tycoon who deeply understands the law of the jungle and shows no mercy to his enemies.

That ruthless and decisive attitude of fighting to the death when you can win made even this seasoned businessman, who had been navigating the business world for nearly ten years, feel a chill run down his spine.

However, Yang Yuanqing still didn't want to give up.

He carefully organized his thoughts, attempting to persuade him with the power of national righteousness: "President Cheng, Samsung certainly has its faults, but it is ultimately an important technological force in Asia. Asian companies should unite to face the challenges from European and American giants. Continuing to fight amongst ourselves will only benefit those European and American capitalists in the end. My mediation is mainly to facilitate deeper cooperation between you and Samsung, such as in hardware supply and technology exchange..."

"President Yang," Cheng Yi interrupted him, his tone carrying a hint of barely perceptible sarcasm, and said with a smile, "I agree with what you say about unity. But the object of unity should be like-minded partners who know how to respect the rules and have respect for their opponents, not a vicious neighbor who habitually bullies the weak and only thinks of making peace when they are hurt. Do you think Samsung is truly willing to negotiate peace?"

"Of course." Yang Yuanqing nodded firmly.

Cheng Yi sneered, "The past is still vivid in my mind, President Yang, how can you still be so naive?"

Upon hearing Cheng Yi call him naive, Yang Yuanqing's face darkened, and he said in a deep voice, "President Cheng, what do you mean by that?"

“I didn’t mean anything by it,” Cheng Yi said. “This kind of thing has happened countless times in modern history.”

"Take the Battle of Shanghai as an example. Every time the Japanese army ran out of ammunition and food, they would ask celebrities to negotiate peace. After their ammunition and food were delivered, they would immediately break the agreement and continue fighting. When they ran out of ammunition and food again, they would ask celebrities to negotiate peace. This went on for seven times, giving them seven chances to catch their breath."

Yang Yuanqing frowned and said, "You're getting more and more outrageous. With me as your guarantor, do you think Samsung would break the agreement?"

Cheng Yi laughed and said, "Integrity is worthless in the face of interests."

“If Mr. Yang doesn’t believe me, then I’ll prove it to you. It will be a way of repaying your kindness.” Cheng Yi stood up, walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, his back to Yang Yuanqing, and gazed at the snow-covered industrial park. He slowly said:

"You tell Lee Jae-yong that you want a ceasefire? Fine, but you have to show sincerity first. I have three demands: First, the Actoz Group must be transferred to us to compensate for our losses. Second, Samsung Group must no longer be involved in the gaming industry. Third, we must sign a ceasefire agreement at a Swiss bank, with Samsung Group paying a $20 billion deposit. If we resume hostilities within three years, this deposit will be automatically transferred to our account."

Yang Yuanqing gasped.

The free transfer of the Actoz Group is fine with me.

Anyway, the Actoz Group isn't worth much money anymore.

There's nothing wrong with not getting involved in the gaming industry, since only Lee Jae-young is interested in it; the other senior executives at Samsung Group aren't particularly keen on such niche areas.

However, this $20 billion deposit...

"President Cheng, this deposit of yours..." Yang Yuanqing raised a question.

Cheng Yi slowly turned around, his face regaining its harmless, gentle smile, and said, "President Yang, since you believe that Samsung is genuinely interested in negotiating with us, you certainly won't care about this $20 billion, right?"

“Alright, I will convey President Cheng’s words to you without missing a single one.” Yang Yuanqing nodded slowly, and said with a hint of meaning in her words, “However, I hope that President Cheng can leave some room for maneuver in his actions and not go too far.”

"Farewell!"

Yang Yuanqing got up and left, even turning down Cheng Yi's dinner invitation.

The aroma of tea still lingered in the reception room, but it had grown cold.

Huang Wenrong appeared silently at the door and whispered, "President Cheng, should we continue shorting Samsung?"

"Of course, you have to finish what you start. If you start something and then fizzle it out, they won't blindly follow you a second time."

"Besides, Samsung's meat... is quite fatty."

“But what if Samsung agrees to the terms of the negotiation? This $20 billion is nothing to Samsung,” Huang Wenrong asked worriedly.

“Samsung will never agree to this,” Cheng Yi sneered. “This is just a delaying tactic for them.”

"If they really agree, then everyone will be happy. When Microsoft goes to war with us next year, they will definitely lend a hand. At that time, we will have an extra $20 billion in cash flow," Cheng Yi laughed.

The next day, Yang Yuanqing called.

His tone was somewhat tired as he said in a low voice, "President Cheng, Lee Jae-young rejected the deposit offer, saying it concerns Samsung's dignity."

"Dignity?" Cheng Yi laughed. "President Yang, do you believe me now?"

Yang Yuanqing said in a low voice, "President Cheng, you're new to the business world. Take my advice: this kind of deadlock will only let IBM and Microsoft reap the benefits! We Asians ourselves..."

"Asians?" Cheng Yi interrupted bluntly, "The premise of being one's own people is that the other party treats you like a human being. From beginning to end, Samsung has only treated us as a bug that can be crushed at will. Now that the bug has bitten it and hurt it, it has thought of hypocritically negotiating peace."

Cheng Yi's tone gradually hardened as he said, "I'm not Duke Xiang of Song, and I don't play those hypocritical games. Since Li Zairong is so tough and chooses to continue fighting, then I'll fight him to the end. This time, if I don't fight him until he submits, no amount of peace talks will help."

Lao Tzu?

Did he just say "I"?
Yang Yuanqing wondered if she was hallucinating.

He knew that his role as peacemaker had come to an end.

Because neither side was willing to give him face.

Seoul, Samsung Electronics headquarters, president's office.

"boom!"

An expensive crystal ashtray slammed onto the thick carpet with a dull thud, sending shards and ash flying everywhere.

Like a thoroughly enraged bull, Lee Jae-yong paced back and forth in his luxurious, spacious office, his face ashen and veins bulging on his neck. "Useless! A bunch of useless trash!" he roared into the phone, spittle flying everywhere. "Another 3.7% drop? Those vampires on Wall Street, all they care about is money!"

He slammed his phone to the ground again and roared at his secretary, who stood silently at the door, "Where's Yang Yuanqing? That bastard surnamed Cheng still won't back down?"

The secretary trembled in fright: "Mr. Yang said that Cheng Yi's attitude was extremely tough. He said that since Samsung has chosen to start a war, it must bear the consequences of the war. He also said..." The secretary swallowed hard, his voice trembling, "...that you should prepare to receive an even bigger surprise."

"A surprise?" Lee Jae-yong was so angry that his vision blurred, and a surge of rage rushed to his head. He was amused by his secretary's words and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Good! Very good indeed. I want to see what other surprises he can give me. Do whatever it takes to bring the stock price back! Notify the technical headquarters to find out the source of the attack!"

His hysterical roar still echoed in the office, but little did he know that Momo Group's real trump card had just been unleashed.

Jingzhou, inside the core technology department office of Momo Group.

Lin Qingyin's slender fingers moved so fast on the virtual keyboard that they were just blurs, and the screen was filled with code that was incomprehensible to ordinary people.

Beside her, the five members of the Dark Lance hacker team were also typing furiously.

In three days, together with technicians from the Gods Network Research Institute, they finally cracked Samsung's seven core data centers worldwide.

"Important: Samsung One-Touch Service Command Center," Lin Qingyin said in a completely flat tone, "paralysis begins."

Almost as soon as she finished speaking, the icons representing Samsung's global network nodes on the monitoring computer turned from green to red instantly, like toppled dominoes, and began to go out in large numbers.

"It's done! We've created a miracle!" Dark Lance hacker team leader Grann roared, barely containing his excitement.

A top-tier hotel conference room in New York City, USA.

The atmosphere was solemn.

Lee Kun-seok, the creator of the Samsung empire, sat upright, engaging in crucial negotiations with several American giants who control the global technological lifeline.

Samsung's OneTouch feature has become the industry benchmark, with even Nokia eager to launch its own OneTouch service in collaboration with them.

The so-called "one-touch" is similar to a network walkie-talkie. As long as the mobile phone has internet access, it can be used to communicate.

Press and hold the button to speak, then release the button to send your message. The recipient will receive your voice message no matter where they are in the world.

Moreover, there is no roaming!
The market for this technology is worth as much as US$700 billion, and it enabled the South Korean mobile phone industry to sell as many as 1.52 million mobile phones in 2004, accounting for 24.2% of the global total.

Having brought this technology to the United States, Li Jianxi was absolutely confident that he could secure this collaboration.

Despite the other party's tough stance, he is gradually breaking the deadlock by leveraging his decades of prestige and Samsung's formidable strength.

Suddenly, the heavy, carved wooden door of the conference room was pushed open.

Li Jianxi's trusted assistant, the middle-aged man who was always known for his composure, was now as pale as a sheet, his forehead covered in cold sweat. He even disregarded etiquette and stumbled to Li Jianxi's side, leaning down to whisper urgently in his ear while shoving a laptop into his hand.

Li Jianxi's usually calm and composed expression froze instantly.

Technological Disaster! Samsung Touch 'n Go Network Out of Control! User Panic!

An indescribable rage mixed with overwhelming fury instantly shattered Li Jianxi's steely will, forged over decades.

"How could this happen? Who did this?" Li Jianxi managed to squeeze out a few words.

"The president said it's Momo Group from China, and some technicians from the Gods Network Research Institute under Enze Capital are also involved," the assistant immediately said. "They only took 79 hours to breach our seven core data centers worldwide, and they found the backend of the One-Click Service Command Center..."

"Excuse me, I have something to take care of here." Li Jianxi suppressed his anger, stood up, and smiled at the representatives of the IT giants. "You can rest for a bit."

Representatives from several IT giants smiled and nodded amicably.

But there was a hint of mockery in their eyes.

They have seen everything Samsung has been going through during this period.

All I can say is that Samsung is incredibly shrewd in its battles.

Having just finished battling IBM, they immediately began fighting Enze Capital.

Ok……

That's quite something, no wonder they're the fighting nation that sent Lieutenant General Walker away.

Li Jianxi returned to the presidential suite, took out his phone, and tried using the one-touch call function.

No response.

"Damn it!" A roar that had been suppressed to the extreme suddenly burst from his throat.

He slammed his expensive cell phone onto the gleaming mahogany conference table!

"Crack!"

The screen of this newly developed 8.9mm ultra-thin phone shattered instantly.

Cell phone fragments and parts were scattered everywhere.

“Li…Zai…Rong…” Li Jianxi squeezed out these three words through gritted teeth, each syllable filled with endless disappointment.

He abruptly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on his equally pale assistant. His voice was hoarse and broken, yet it contained an imperial will as he sternly commanded:
"Get that piece of trash on my phone right now and tell him I'm only giving him 24 hours! 24 hours!!!" His chest heaved violently as he roared out the final order with all his might, yelling, "No matter what method he uses, make him clean up this mess immediately!"

He took a deep breath, as if proclaiming a final judgment: "If he can't do it, then get him out of Samsung! Let Fu-jin take over as president!"

"Yes, I'll inform them immediately." The assistant realized the seriousness of the problem and nodded quickly.

Within the Samsung Group, the power struggle between Lee Geon-seok's eldest son, Lee Jae-young, and his eldest daughter, Lee Boo-jin, has never ceased.

Lee Jae-yong is of average ability, but he is quite obedient.

Lee Boo-jin is exceptionally capable, but has an arrogant personality.

Both have their own subsidiaries under Samsung, and Lee Boo-jin's business acumen is considered by many factions to far surpass that of Lee Jae-young.

Of course, there were also those who deliberately wanted to promote Lee Boo-jin to a higher position.

But now, in his rage, Li Jianxi seems to have actually considered this idea.

(End of this chapter)