The unparalleled talent of the country started from Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 312 Life and death are uncertain
May 18, 1987, Weizigou Campus of Harbin Institute of Technology, Study Villa on the island in the middle of the lake.

On the third basement level, the Dawning supercomputer was humming as it was running.

However, the program required such a large amount of data that it almost couldn't load it during operation.

One of Wang Duoyu's purposes in founding Facebook was to collect more data for the development of artificial intelligence.

As we all know, artificial intelligence programs need more data for training, but currently, the internet in China is practically nonexistent.

Therefore, Facebook is going global to collect this data to train artificial intelligence. Only in this way can Want Want Group and Harbin Institute of Technology be in a leading position in the future era of artificial intelligence.

While the supercomputer was still learning, Wang Duoyu on the first floor was chatting with Liu Deben and the others.

"Old Liu, your observation of all this proves that my previous judgment was correct. However, it's only May, and the US stock market is already booming. I'm afraid that in less than two months, there will be significant fluctuations."

Upon hearing Wang Duoyu's assertion, Liu Deben and Lü Gongliang both frowned, their minds racing.

In fact, international speculative capital is still flowing into the US stock market in large quantities. The rapidly expanding New York Stock Exchange has seen its daily trading volume far exceed the original 18060 million shares, directly breaking through the 20000 million share mark.

It's only May, and the daily trading volume has already exceeded this number. You can imagine how terrifying it is.

It's important to know that in Wang Duoyu's previous life, the New York Stock Exchange only had a daily trading volume of 80000 million shares.

It was only May 1987, and the number had already reached 200 million shares—that was terrifying.

From this perspective, the stock market crash in this timeline of the New York Stock Exchange might occur earlier.

It's also possible that it won't be done ahead of schedule. After all, Want Want Group and Harbin Institute of Technology have only invested a little over 20 billion yuan in total. This amount seems large, but it's actually not that large.

Given the current daily trading volume of over 200 million shares, the stock market volatility will intensify in June, July, August, and even September and October, but it shouldn't be too bad.

All we can say is that we need to closely monitor the movements of the US stock market in case of unforeseen circumstances.

Harbin Institute of Technology only used $2.5 billion to short US stocks, but Want Want Group used $22.5 billion instead of the previous $12 billion.

In fact, logically speaking, Want Want Group shouldn't be able to come up with so much money. After all, of the 19.575 billion US dollars it earned the year before last, 10 billion US dollars were invested in oil, and the rest of the funds were either invested in US stocks or in other projects.

In February and March of this year, 42 companies under Maple Leaf Holdings successively earned US$7.2 billion from the foreign exchange market.

In 1986, Maple Leaf Holdings had 16 financial companies under its umbrella, but now it has expanded to 42, and these 42 financial companies each control multiple financial enterprises, with channels numbering in the hundreds.

This money has already been invested in US stocks.

The remaining $15 billion was borrowed from multiple banks, using oil as collateral, for a year, and $7 billion was obtained.

So, there are still 8 billion US dollars left. Want Want Group's profit last year was 1.6 billion US dollars, and there are 5 billion US dollars in funds obtained by mortgaging assets and shares of Pandora and many other companies.

That leaves $1.4 billion. This money is easy to handle; just borrow it from Harbin Institute of Technology at the normal bank lending rate.

So they managed to scrape together a total of 22.5 billion US dollars, which they all poured into the US stock market.

However, even with such a large sum of money, Wang Duoyu wasn't particularly interested.

Even if he loses the money, he'll only be sad for a few days at most, but what if he makes a profit?

Besides, the false prosperity of the US stock market is proven by data, not something Wang Duoyu just randomly speculated about.

In the original timeline, before the Black Monday crash in the US stock market in 1987, there had already been several periods of volatility in August.

In this current timeline, signs of trouble had already emerged in May, and it's possible that this was caused by the 42 financial companies under Maple Leaf Holdings.

With so much solid evidence and the facts laid bare, Wang Duoyu cannot possibly lose.

He wouldn't have acted so impulsively if he wasn't absolutely certain.

Liu Deben and Lü Gongliang stayed for more than half an hour before leaving.

After the car left the island in the lake, Liu Deben suddenly looked back at the villa and then said to Lü Gongliang:

"Old Lu, do you think Duoyu has invested a lot of money in the US stock market this time?"

"You mean Want Want Group?" Lu Gongliang, who was driving, frowned and asked.

"Yes, didn't he borrow $1.4 billion from Heilongjiang Capital and Lotte Group before? And this money was borrowed without any collateral; it was entirely based on Wang Duoyu's credit."

Lu Gongliang was silent for a moment, then nodded and said:

"I think the probability is very high. Perhaps the amount of money he has invested in the US stock market is far greater than we imagine. It's just that we can't investigate the current short sellers in the market."

The US stock market is currently the largest stock trading market, with a daily trading volume of up to 200 million shares.

It's either short or long.

Being bullish means going long, believing that the stock will definitely rise in the future; being bearish means going short, believing that the stock will definitely fall in the future.

So how is short selling done?
The definition is that when the stock price is high, you borrow the underlying asset, sell it to obtain cash, and then spend cash to buy back the underlying asset to repay the loan when the stock price falls after a period of time. The difference between the borrowed and sold price is the profit.

For example, if Maple Leaf Holdings wants to short Apple's stock price, which is currently at $100, then Maple Leaf Holdings needs to borrow securities from financial institutions such as securities firms and fund companies that hold Apple stock.

At this point, Maple Leaf Holdings needs to deposit sufficient margin as collateral and pay interest to the lending institution.

After a while, when Apple's stock price drops to $90, Maple Leaf Holdings can buy a certain amount of stock on the market, return it to the lending securities firm, and then make a profit of $10.

This involves a massive number of transactions; even Wall Street's financial giants couldn't do it, let alone Liu Deben and his team.

It's too difficult to investigate thoroughly.

"We don't need to investigate thoroughly; we just need to know about this."

After a pause, Liu Deben continued:

"I suspect the higher-ups probably know better than we do, but I wonder if they've taken any action."

Beijing, Wenjin Street compound.

Fang Lihe, Yu Chunshun, Qi Haimin, Lü Yangui, and Fu Dong sat together, with Yu Chunshun presenting the findings of their investigation:
"Based on our investigation, Maple Leaf Holdings, a subsidiary of Want Want Group, should have more than 30 financial companies overseas, including more than five on Wall Street."

"Hera O'Brien, the head of Maple Capital, used to be in the management team at Yuma Apparel Company for more than two years before being recommended by Zheng Baoyin."

Why am I emphasizing Maple Capital?

"Because this financial company keeps a very low profile on Wall Street, but their revenue and profits are staggering. Last year, they reportedly earned at least two billion US dollars, completely surpassing the Yuexiu Company in Hong Kong."

"Before the oil price surge last April, there were buyers purchasing large quantities of oil from the Saudi Empire, but we still haven't been able to determine exactly who those buyers were."

"From the Plaza Accord of 1985 to the Louvre Accord in February of this year, and then to the US stock investment plan mentioned by Professor Wang Duoyu, we can roughly estimate that the financial companies under Maple Leaf Holdings have made at least tens of billions of US dollars in profit, or even 15 billion US dollars."

"This is a general conclusion reached by our foreign exchange department. Whether it is accurate or not still needs to be confirmed with Want Want Group."

Yu Chunshun's words left Fang Li and the other four speechless.

Although it sounds like a far-fetched story, it's very likely to be true.

Last year, Wang Duoyu spent over 3 billion RMB to build a highway from Harbin to Dahonggou Village, which is an unprecedentedly luxurious highway.

In addition, he also took the initiative to propose to Tong Jianwei, the then-top leader of Harbin, to promote the Songliao Canal project, and Want Want Group was also willing to participate in the investment.

Furthermore, Wang Duoyu successively built several large lakes and reservoirs, ostensibly for fish farming, but what he actually did with them remains a mystery.

Building large lakes in places like Want Want Group and Dahonggou Village is barely acceptable, since the investment isn't huge, and if the future output is considerable, it wouldn't be a waste of money.

But building a reservoir is a different story.

The reservoir has a very large capacity, and it also comes with a power plant, so the required funds will increase exponentially.

Given Wang Duoyu's extravagant spending habits, he must have earned a lot of money; otherwise, he certainly wouldn't act this way.

Because these are merely "donations" to the public, they don't bring much benefit to the Want Want Group.

No one would be willing to do something so meaningless unless they are extremely wealthy.

"Over the past year, Want Want Group has imported more than US$800 million, nearly US$1 billion, of crude oil from abroad, all of which has been supplied to the Hongxing Steel Plant."

After Yu Chunshun finished speaking, Fu Dong continued:

"These crude oils are said to be priced below ten dollars a barrel, but we at customs aren't entirely sure if that's true."

"The revenue from refining just this portion of crude oil has already exceeded eight billion RMB, and the asphalt was supplied to that highway project free of charge."

Fang Li and the other five people present all knew that, in common parlance, unprocessed petroleum is called crude oil. After being heated and refined at high temperatures, different products can be extracted depending on the temperature.

The products of crude oil refining include gasoline, diesel, aviation kerosene, paraffin wax, lubricating oil, solvent oil, asphalt, liquefied petroleum gas, and aromatics.

Therefore, petroleum is also known as the lifeblood of industry, playing an irreplaceable role in industrial development.

After all, all the products of petroleum refining play a very important role in industry.

Fu Dong is a leader at the General Administration of Customs, so the information he has is definitely authentic and reliable.

Since there are no mistakes, this is quite interesting.

How much money has Want Want Group actually made overseas?
According to Fu Dong's information, Want Want Group is very likely the major customer who purchased nearly 10 billion US dollars worth of crude oil from Saudi Arabia last year.

However, Want Want Group did not transport all of these crude oils back to China at once.

Of course, this news may not be true, after all, nearly 10 billion US dollars worth of crude oil is definitely not a small amount.

"Based on the information you have, Lao Yu, it's almost certain that Want Want Group earned more than 10 billion US dollars last year; otherwise, Wang Duoyu wouldn't have been so extravagant."

Fang Lihe said in a deep voice:
"At the end of last year and the year before, many international newspapers reported that several mysterious financial institutions had made at least 30 billion US dollars in the foreign exchange market, which prompted many financial giants on Wall Street to conduct investigations."

"It was later suspected that the company was registered in the islands of Great Britain and other countries, but because it was too complicated, it was impossible to investigate the source of funds and the destination of profits, so it had to be shut down."

When these pieces of information are put together, they further confirm that Maple Leaf Holdings has indeed made a lot of profits.

Lü Yangui, Yu Chunshun, and Qi Haimin all nodded, their minds racing as they considered how to proceed.

"So Wang Duoyu's judgment on the US stock market this time was 100% correct. In other words, we were all fooled by him in February of this year."

Upon hearing Fang Lihe's words, Qi Haimin and the others' eyes widened in disbelief. Could people please not be so shameless?
It wasn't that Wang Duoyu deceived them back then, but rather that they were unwilling to take the risk, and the higher-ups also held conservative opinions.

So in the end, Lotte Group only invested $2.5 billion in the US stock market.

Currently, the large amount of data and information gathered, coupled with the volatility in the US stock market and the presence of a large amount of international speculative capital in the US stock market, all corroborate Wang Duoyu's judgment.

When they were unwilling to take risks, Fang Li and his companions were arrogant and proud.

Now that the situation in the US stock market is clear, their fate is uncertain.

Errors and biases at the decision-making level can lead to drastically different outcomes.

If Wang Duoyu's advice to invest eight billion US dollars had been followed, then this wave of short selling in the US stock market would very likely have yielded at least two billion US dollars in profit.

But what if we add more bets now?
It's possible, but there's also a high probability of losing money.

What?

Inside the meeting room, Fang Li and the other five had been silent for about ten minutes.

Although they were silent, their minds did not stop thinking.

Hesitation and indecisiveness are their current state.

If Wang Duoyu knew their current situation, he would definitely burst into laughter.

In his past life, Wang Duoyu encountered a matter related to investment.

Due to the international context at the time, a large amount of capital flowed out to buy gold as a safe haven, causing the price of gold to rise again and again.

Later, due to drastic changes in the international situation, gold prices began to fall.

Many people have lost a lot of money due to the repeated fluctuations in gold prices.

Even though they didn't have much money, they saw others investing and decided to do the same, ultimately suffering heavy losses.

In fact, if you have surplus funds, you can invest in gold, provided that it will not affect your normal life.

It's worth noting that the Guo Jia team at that time purchased gold almost every year, which was one of the reasons for the continuous rise in gold prices.

So just follow the national team, provided that the investment funds don't affect your daily life.

People with unstable mindsets may become obsessed with a particular product they've invested in, spending all their time monitoring it.

Some even continued to invest more funds, and some even borrowed money to invest, only to lose more than they gained.

While Fang Li and the others were still hesitating, Wang Duoyu had already received a phone call from Xu Yimin.

"Are you sure you've already developed the materials we need?"

"Yes, Professor Wang, I wouldn't dare lie to you, even if I were to lie to anyone else. We have already tested this new material, and it is indeed very suitable as a material for components such as engine nozzles."

During the phone call, Xu Yimin described the material's various parameters, including its high temperature resistance, high pressure resistance, and strength.

None of this data could be faked.

The combined cycle engine, equipped with such excellent new materials, has indeed performed exceptionally well in preliminary tests in the wind tunnel laboratory.

Furthermore, this new alloy metal material also exhibits excellent durability.

It can be described as an excellent alloy material with no dead angles in its hexagonal shape.

The engine developed by Wang Duoyu and his team is for Mach 5 fighter jets, meaning it will not break through to the outer edge of the sky, which is 85 kilometers away, within the planet.

Within a planet, there are what are called the sky and outer space.

Taking Earth as an example, the sky is mainly divided into the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere.

The troposphere is 18 kilometers above the ground, and the cruising altitude of modern civil aviation passenger planes is between 18 and 50 kilometers. The mesosphere is between 50 and 85 kilometers.

The thermosphere ranges from 85 to 600 kilometers, while the space station operates at an altitude of about 400 kilometers above the ground.

The starting altitude of outer space is 100 kilometers or more above the ground, because at an altitude of 100 kilometers, the air is too thin to provide effective lift, and aircraft need to rely on centrifugal force or inertia to fly.

A Mach 5 fighter jet cannot fly at an altitude of more than 100 kilometers, because no matter how fast it is, it still needs compressed air to provide oxygen for the engine.

In other words, when Wang Duoyu and his team were developing the materials for this engine, they needed to consider the conditions inside the planet, such as the natural environment with high temperature and high pressure, as well as the temperature that the engine's interior needed to withstand.

Congratulations!

After a pause, Wang Duoyu continued:

"I can't help with materials research, so I'll give you a reward at the end of the year."

"I've been quite busy lately, so I might not be able to go until next month."

"If you have any technical questions about mathematics, feel free to contact me anytime, and I'll try my best to help you when I have time."

Upon hearing this, Xu Yimin's eyes dimmed slightly, but he forced a smile and said that Professor Wang's research was still the most important, and they would continue to work hard.

After offering a few words of encouragement, Wang Duoyu hung up the phone.

He had no choice; this was indeed a critical period for him, and it was inconvenient for him to go to the wind tunnel laboratory.

The functor conjecture is too difficult. Even now, he has only made progress to the halfway point. He has only solved the Satote conjecture, the Ramanujan conjecture, the Artin conjecture, and a few other mathematical problems, but he has not yet solved them.

Just then, his eldest son's voice came from the doorway:

"Dad, dinner's ready! Dad, dinner's ready!"

This little brat, Wang Junhong, now comes over every day to call his father for dinner. Of course, there are exceptions if he misbehaves and gets punished, scolded, or beaten.

There are times when Wang Duoyu is away from the island in the middle of the lake. However, this has been very rare in the past few months.

In other words, since moving to the island in the middle of the lake, Wang Duoyu has rarely left.

"Okay, I'll come right away."

After responding, Wang Duoyu glanced at the math draft paper on the table, made some notes, and then got up and left the study.

The roses in the courtyard are in full bloom and look especially beautiful.

The colors are vibrant and colorful, very beautiful.

These roses were transplanted from the Harbin Institute of Technology plantation. Otherwise, the island in the middle of the lake has only been built for a short time, so it would be impossible for such beautiful and lush roses to grow here.

"Dad (Uncle), hurry up and wash your hands before eating."

Li Rongrong, Lu Yuening, Wang Junan, and a few other kids were lining up at the door to get their little bowls when they saw Wang Duoyu come out, and they called out to him as well.

The children are all three or four years old and can already feed themselves with small spoons.

The two sisters' mothers, Wang Meili and Wang Meihe, had gone to Tokyo, so the two sisters were placed in the care of Wang Duoyu.

Anyway, it's absolutely safe on this island in the middle of the lake.

Moreover, he can keep the two brothers, Wang Junhong and Wang Junkang, company. As for Wang Junkang, the little guy is only a little over one year old, and the two sisters, Li Shumin and Lu Yuexin, are not even two years old.

Since they're close in age and relatives, it's perfect to have them take care of each other.

Wang Duoyu smiled and nodded, patted the heads of Lu Yuening and the other little ones, and sat down to eat with everyone.

Liu Xiaoli looks great, though she's gained a lot of weight compared to before.

She really put in a lot of effort during this pregnancy, working even harder than before.

She even asked Wang Duoyu to take her pulse every day, and every two weeks she would go to the affiliated hospital for some routine check-ups.

Although, strictly speaking, pregnancy checkups don't need to be that frequent, Liu Xiaoli was genuinely terrified.

"Dad, when are you going on your business trip?"

After dinner, Wang Duoyu and Liu Xiaoli took a walk on the island in the middle of the lake. It was a small path that circled the island, and the couple often took walks along it, with the kids like Wang Junhong following along.

Upon hearing the child's question, Wang Duoyu smiled and said that he would not be going on a business trip in the near future.

He didn't even go on a business trip in March, let alone now.

Since the fiber optic cable line from Beijing to Hong Kong Island was completed, Wang Duoyu has been able to connect to the networks of several countries and regions, including Hong Kong, Japan, and the United States, from his island in the lake.

Hong Kong had already established communication connections with Japan, the United States and other places a few years ago. Although the network speed was slow, it was eventually able to connect.

Facebook is part of the Want Want Group, so it's incredibly easy for Wang Duoyu to get information from the outside world.

A lot of data certainly can't be transmitted to the island in the middle of the lake in real time, such as some pictures, videos and other materials.

However, text can be transmitted immediately. As for subsequent important materials such as pictures and videos, they can also be sent to the island in the middle of the lake as quickly as possible through Northern Airlines.

In short, Wang Duoyu has complete real-time control over the situation of Want Want Group, as well as the situation in the United States, Japan, and other countries.

For example, in this investment plan in the US stock market, although Wang Duoyu did not go to the United States, it did not prevent him from having control over the overall situation.

Wang Duoyu knew about the information that Liu Deben and the others had seen even earlier than they did.

Therefore, despite the fact that he has rarely left the island in the middle of the lake over the past few months, and it seems that he has lost contact with the outside world.

Actually, no. He's just staying home, using his carefully built internet network to keep track of the outside world and manage his US stock investment plans.

Therefore, it makes perfect sense that he doesn't need to travel for work.

"Huh?" Wang Junhong's face immediately fell, and he pleaded, "But Dad, it's already May! You haven't gone out at all this year. Last year you were traveling everywhere."

"Last year is last year, and this year is this year; they're not the same!"

Wang Duoyu said:

"By the way, you'll be starting elementary school this September, directly into second grade. You'd better be prepared and not be as naughty as before."

Wang Junhong, born in December 1980, is already over six years old.

I sent him to preschool before, but let's not even talk about the outcome.

Now that so much time has passed, the little guy has grown taller, so it's just right for him to go to second grade.

Anyway, he has already mastered most of the knowledge required for elementary school, so it doesn't really matter which grade he attends. Wang Duoyu just wants the little guy to have a relatively normal growth experience.

You should do the right things at the right age.

"Okay, Dad, I understand."

The little guy clearly wanted to fly, not go to school.

However, the three little ones, Wang Junan, Lu Yuening, and Li Rongrong, were more curious about going to school.

After accompanying Liu Xiaoli and the child for a walk, Wang Duoyu returned to the study in the villa to continue his work.

The next day, at eight o'clock in the morning, Hela O'Brien called Wang Duoyu to report the situation as scheduled.

It's 8 a.m. here in Harbin, which is exactly 8 p.m. in New York.

Although Hela O'Brien should have reported before 5 p.m., there was no need for that.

After all, realistically speaking, it's impossible for Wang Duoyu to get up at four or five in the morning.

His sleep schedule is to go to bed around 10:30 pm and get up around 6:30 am the next morning, which is eight hours of sleep, the most suitable sleep schedule for his age.

Adults typically need about seven or eight hours of sleep. Sleeping too little can affect mental state and trigger cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, while sleeping too much can lead to metabolic disorders and memory loss.

The best time to fall asleep at night is actually between 9 pm and 11 pm.

Working at sunrise and resting at sunset is the natural order.

"Good morning, Professor!"

"Hello, have you had any unusual experiences these past few days?"

Wang Duoyu picked up the cell phone from the cordless phone and said with a smile.

International calls can be made via cable communication.

Hela O'Brien would not call Wang Duoyu unless there were special circumstances. If she did call, it would usually be between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m. Beijing time.

Because after this time, Wang Duoyu will no longer answer the phone.

"Yes, Professor, as you instructed, Maple Capital has completely liquidated its Sony stock. This short selling of our shares has yielded a profit of 280 million US dollars."

"Besides, our brother units."

Hela O'Brien is the head of several financial companies on Wall Street, and she reports to Wang Duoyu.

These detailed reports will be brought to Wang Duoyu by a representative from Want Want Group tomorrow or the day after, and delivered directly to the island in the lake at Harbin Institute of Technology's Weizigou campus in Harbin.

These reports are kept in file folders and transmitted using the most primitive codebooks.

Even if others see these documents, they won't be able to understand them because a codebook is needed for translation.

Want Want Group is a company founded by Wang Duoyu, and it is absolutely number one in the world when it comes to keeping secrets.

According to Hela O'Brien's report, Maple Leaf Holdings' several financial companies on Wall Street earned a total of $430 million in profit.

Including Maple Tree Capital, a total profit of US$710 million was achieved.

Such profits are not exaggerated, but they are still considerable.

In the original timeline, Sony's market capitalization reached over $68 billion in 1989. In that same year, Sony spent billions of dollars to acquire Columbia Pictures.

At that time in 1987, Sony's market value, even if not $50 billion, was certainly over $40 billion.

In the 1986 ranking of Japanese companies by revenue, Toyota ranked first and Sony ranked second.

Due to the appreciation of the yen, Japanese companies such as Sony, Toyota, and Xerox are among the most powerful in the US market.

Last year, IBM topped the list of companies with $73.2 billion in market capitalization in the U.S. stock market, followed by ExxonMobil with over $50 billion and General Electric with over $40 billion.

In terms of market capitalization, Sony is roughly equivalent to the top three in the US stock market, but in terms of actual revenue and profit, Sony has a significant advantage.

After all, the revenue from its CD Walkman was enormous, and before it went public, it hadn't encountered the Plaza Accord, so its costs were much lower than those of American companies.

In other words, Sony's profits are higher than those of American companies such as General Electric.

"Great job, you did a fantastic job!"

Wang Duoyu gave a compliment, then quickly added:
"Of the remaining profits, $50 million will be allocated as rewards, with taxes deducted where applicable, and any 'gifts' paid accordingly. Of the remaining $660 million, $300 million will be used to repay interest on previous loans, and the other $360 million will be reinvested in short selling in the stock market."

There was a lot of profit, but after simple distribution, not much was left.

The interest on three hundred million US dollars is certainly not a small amount.

However, Want Want Group had previously borrowed 12 billion US dollars from so many banks, so the interest was naturally considerable.

"Okay, Professor, I understand. I'll carry it out right away."

Hela O'Brien had no objections. She knew Wang Duoyu was very busy, so after the report, she took the initiative to end the call.

"Professor, if you have no further instructions, I'll hang up now."

"Wait a minute. Tell Bao Yin and the others to come back to Bingcheng at the end of this month. You can come back with them then."

"No problem, I understand. I'll talk to Mr. Zheng and the others about this. Is there anything else you need?"

"That's all. Goodbye."

"Goodbye Professor!"

After hanging up the phone, Wang Duoyu pondered for a moment, then returned to his desk and began his work for the day.

At 10:30 a.m., a sound came from the doorway.

Yuan Zuliang knocked on the door and came in, followed by Fang Lihe and others, which surprised Wang Duoyu.

What do these leaders want from him again?
"Duoyu, long time no see. You've been staying here for the past six months without going out for a stroll. Aren't you being too much of a homebody?"

The term "otaku" was coined by Wang Duoyu himself. Lü Yangui heard it so many times that he was also influenced by it.

"Distinguished leaders, please have a seat. I've always been someone who enjoys staying at home, and the environment here is quite nice. I really like my current life."

Wang Duoyu greeted the leaders with a smile. Although he didn't really want to receive them, they were leaders after all, so he had to give them some face.

When they last met, Fang Li and the news they brought were about splitting up Harbin Institute of Technology. To be honest, Wang Duoyu was very angry.

However, Fang Li and the others explained the situation afterward, and after he strongly opposed it, the matter was dropped.

Otherwise, Wang Duoyu would indeed hold a grudge against Fang Li and his leaders.

"The environment on the island in the middle of the lake is indeed quite nice. It's just a bit of a waste of money."

Yu Chunshun said with a smile, "We're getting a bit too forward."

Although it wasn't his first time meeting Wang Duoyu, it was his first time visiting the island in the middle of the lake, and even his first time visiting Harbin.

"Oh, really?" Wang Duoyu raised an eyebrow, but in his heart he was thinking about the deeper meaning behind the other person's words.

As the old saying goes, one doesn't visit a temple without a reason!

The five leaders before us—Fang Lihe, Qi Haimin, Lü Yangui, Yu Chunshun, and Fu Dong—seemed to have ulterior motives.

Wang Duoyu secretly wondered if it would be the same as the previous splitting up of Harbin Institute of Technology.

Greed is a common characteristic of humankind, as the apex predator in the Earth's food chain.

Leaving aside everyone else, let's just talk about Wang Duoyu himself. He could actually just lie down and give up now.

But he didn't stop there. He not only arranged for Want Want Group to establish Maple Leaf Holdings, but also continued to establish many subsidiaries.

Then they borrowed money to short US stocks, investing a staggering $22.5 billion, which was absolutely insane.

Despite already having won two Fields Medals and being recognized globally as the "Emperor of Mathematics," he continues to delve into mathematical problems and keep moving forward.

It seems like they'll never know contentment; isn't that greed?
Of course, the word "greed" doesn't sound very nice; it would be better to describe it as ambition or having ideals.

Wang Duoyu himself was well aware that he was fundamentally different from others.

Whether it's researching those mathematical problems, steering the development direction of Harbin Institute of Technology enterprises and Want Want Group, or participating in the research and development of Mach 5 fighter jets and Dawn supercomputers, it's all because he's too bored.

Yes, if he is content now and stops striving, he will be very bored.

People will definitely go crazy if they have nothing to do.

You need to have a goal.

So the goals he is pursuing now are not because he is dissatisfied, but because he is very content and has a very peaceful mindset.

Otherwise, Wang Duoyu would have simply given up when Fang Li conveyed the Beijing leaders' intention to split up Harbin Institute of Technology last time.

Because he was not afraid of anything at all, and he even hoped that Harbin Institute of Technology would be split up more than anyone else.

In this way, he would have a 'legitimate' reason to resign, and then stop caring about Harbin Institute of Technology and just do what he wanted to do.

Last year, the reason he took the initiative to study traditional Chinese medicine and even spent time interning at the affiliated hospital was not only because of Liu Xiaoli, but also because he wanted to send a signal to the outside world: he was about to start neglecting his duties.

Furthermore, apart from shorting US stocks, all of Wang Duoyu's goals are about creating rather than seizing.

Moreover, even if he shorted US stocks, it was because such an opportunity existed.

If Heaven gives you something and you don't take it, you'll suffer the consequences!
Even if Wang Duoyu hadn't shorted US stocks, a financial crisis would still have occurred in the US stock market; this was a historical inevitability.

"Of course!"

Yu Chunshun remained silent, but Lü Yangui took over the conversation, suddenly becoming serious:
"Let's not even talk about the flowers and plants you keep changing. Just look at the highway that your Want Want Group is building. The cost has already exceeded 2.5 billion RMB. At this rate of spending, the project will cost at least 5 billion RMB when it's completed, right?"

"But are there more than 200,000 cars in the entire Heilongjiang province? Building such a good highway, what is it if not a waste?"

Wang Duoyu: “.”

After rolling his eyes, Wang Duoyu took a deep breath and then said very rudely:

"Boss, what exactly are you trying to say? I know you're all busy, and I don't have time to beat around the bush. Let's get straight to the point."

He decided that next time, he would tell Yuan Zuliang and the others not to open the door casually.

Oh, by the way, Yuan Zuliang and his team's superior is Yan Daowen, and Yan Daowen's superior is Lü Yangui.

So, regarding this matter, Yuan Zuliang and the others might not listen. However, Wang Duoyu could make it sound more serious, or even use it as an excuse to make Yuan Zuliang and the others realize that disturbing him would have serious consequences.

Only in this way could he avoid being disturbed by Fang Li and other leaders as much as possible.

As for the highway project, is that considered a waste of money?
That's utter nonsense!
Wang Duoyu didn't want to explain anymore, so he just told them to be frank and straightforward, so he wouldn't have to guess.

(End of this chapter)