Love in the Courtyard: Starting with Engineers

New York, Motorola headquarters, top-floor conference room.

The atmosphere in the meeting room was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

CEO John Mitchell slammed a report onto the conference table and roared, "Useless! All useless! We spent hundreds of millions of dollars developing mobile communication technology, and what was the result?"

"China's Longteng Electronics not only monopolizes 70% of the global semiconductor and memory market, but it has even produced prototypes of mobile communication equipment! Can anyone tell me how this is possible?!"

The executives were all silent, heads bowed, not daring to utter a sound.

John's anger intensified, and he grabbed the coffee cup from the table and smashed it on the ground, shards flying everywhere.

"Our mobile communication devices are still relying on bulky bodies and high prices to seize the market, while their prototypes are less than the size of a palm and offer three times the call quality. This is threatening our survival!"

Just then, a chief technician wearing gold-rimmed glasses stood up tremblingly.

Clutching a technical analysis report, his voice trembled as he said, "Sir, please calm down... According to the disassembly data we obtained from Longteng, this is not just a mobile communication device; it represents a comprehensive breakthrough in communication coding technology, high-density lithium batteries, highly integrated chips, and large-capacity memory!"

"Their technological path is at least two generations ahead of ours! We simply have no chance of competing!"

"A complete breakthrough?"

He knew what this meant—Motorola's dominant position in the mobile communications field was about to be completely overturned by a company from China.

After a long pause, John, having calmed himself, said, "Send this report to Congress immediately! Tell those members that if they don't take action, the entire Western telecommunications industry will be trampled underfoot by China!"

Washington, D.C., the Capitol Building.

An urgent report from Motorola was placed on the table of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

When the councilors saw Longteng Electronics' technical specifications, the entire conference room fell into a deathly silence, which was then followed by a deafening roar of angry curses.

"What are the intelligence agencies doing?! Why wasn't there any warning about such an important technological breakthrough?!"

The Minister of Defense slammed his fist on the table, angrily declaring, "Behind Longteng Electronics is Li Yu! That madman who created the BeiDou satellite system and drones! Every time he makes a move, he disrupts an entire industry!"

The CIA director was sweating profusely, his head bowed, not daring to defend himself.

Their intelligence network suffered repeated setbacks in Hong Kong and Beijing, and they had almost no information about Longteng Electronics' core technology.

Ultimately, Parliament urgently convened a secret meeting with executives from leading European telecommunications companies, including Ericsson and Nokia.

The meeting had only one theme: to use capital to suppress Longteng Electronics' semiconductor and memory businesses, cut off its cash flow, and force it to hand over its 2G communication technology.

In the conference room, executives from European companies nodded in agreement, their faces beaming with smiles.

But as soon as they stepped out of the Capitol, their expressions changed.

Ericsson's CEO sneered at his deputy: "Capital suppression? Longteng's technology is far ahead. Our production lines can't function without their memory chips. If things really come to a head, we'll be the first to die!"

Nokia's president shrugged: "Just put on a show. Only a fool would completely break with Longteng."

The controversy surrounding DragonTeng quickly reached Hong Kong.

Hong Kong, headquarters of Longteng Electronics.

Foreign capital was the first to strike, with 30% of Longteng Semiconductor and memory orders worldwide being canceled without cause.

Meanwhile, efforts to recruit and poach Longteng's technical personnel are also in full swing.

Every day, headhunters in suits stand guard at the factory gate, offering salaries ten or twenty times higher to lure Longteng's technicians to switch jobs.

"Mr. Lou, Qualcomm in the US offered me a million-dollar annual salary and promised me a green card..."

"Mr. Lou, the labs in Europe said that if I go there, I'll be the principal investigator..."

Many technicians began to waver, and morale in the office gradually waned.

Lou Zhenhua immediately convened a high-level meeting, and everyone unanimously decided to negotiate and voluntarily cede part of the Southeast Asian memory market share in exchange for the neutrality of European companies.

However, at the negotiating table, the representative from Country M made an outrageous demand, slamming his fist on the table and declaring, "Hand over the core patents for 2G communication technology and mobile communication equipment; otherwise, we will unite global capital to completely blockade Longteng!"

Lou Zhenhua's face instantly darkened, and he continued, "Technology is Longteng's lifeblood, don't even think about it! If you want to fight, we'll fight to the end! We hold 70% of the global semiconductor and memory market in our hands. If you don't buy, plenty of others will!"

The negotiations ultimately ended in discord.

In the days that followed, Longteng Electronics faced increasingly difficult circumstances.

Orders plummeted, production dropped sharply, and for the first time, the factory's production lines showed signs of stopping.

Many technicians couldn't resist the lure of high salaries, packed their bags and left Hong Kong, and some even directly joined the US citizenship and turned around to work for Qualcomm and Motorola.

Lou Bancheng looked at the empty R&D workshop and was extremely anxious. He called Li Yu that very night and told him all about Longteng's predicament.

On the other end of the phone, Li Yu's voice was unusually calm: "Don't worry, whether it's capital suppression or high-salary poaching, these are not problems."

"The core principle is simply to maintain technological leadership. If they don't buy our products, it's their loss. Since the Americans don't want them, then we'll support the Russians in the north."

"Russians?" Lou Bancheng was taken aback.

"Yes, Russians."

After hanging up the phone, Bai Ling looked at Li Yu and asked, "What's wrong? Has something happened in Hong Kong?"

"It's nothing, it's just that those big shots in Europe got provoked by Longteng and want to suppress its development."

Bai Ling was immediately enraged. "These shameless guys are as shameless as ever. They either steal or destroy whatever they want."

Li Yu smiled and said, "This is their old tradition. This time, I'm determined to pull their teeth out."

The next morning, Li Yu personally went to the Ministry of Commerce and explained the matter to them. The head of the Ministry of Commerce said that the matter would be handed over to them.

The Ministry of Commerce was extremely efficient; by the afternoon of the following day, they had contacted the Russian Ministry of Industry.

When Russian officials learned that China was willing to provide 2G communication technology and sell communication base stations and equipment, they were immediately excited and expressed their strong support for Chinese industries to be established in Russia.

They are acutely aware of their weaknesses. They are world-leading in military radar and missile technology, but they are nothing in the civilian technology field.

The Russian Minister of Commerce excitedly stated, "We can pay with oil and natural gas! As long as Longteng's base stations can be built here, these are minor issues!"

A technological collaboration spanning Eurasia quietly began, despite the blockade imposed by the United States.