Courtyard House: Time Traveler Not Yet a Ghost

Springtime in Hong Kong, 1961. The air still carried a hint of chill, but the wind atop Victoria Peak was already warm, blowing against one's face like a gentle hand.

He Damin's villa sits halfway up the mountain, its white walls and red tiles exuding a sense of calm and grandeur amidst the lush greenery. At this moment, he stands alone before the large floor-to-ceiling window of his study, a cup of Longjing tea in his hand. It's a fine pre-Qingming Longjing, its aroma intoxicating when freshly brewed, but now the tea is long since cooled, a thin layer of tea stains even forming on the cup. He, however, seems oblivious, his gaze fixed on the distance.

Outside the window lies the famous Victoria Harbour. It's morning, the sun is shining brightly, and the water sparkles like scattered gold dust. The harbor is bustling with activity; cargo ships of all sizes come and go, their booms rising and falling, painting Hong Kong's prosperity and vitality onto the sea. As the ships pass, they leave trails of white wakes that linger, like flowing musical notes on the azure waters.

In the distance, the towering AsiaSat transmission tower, reflecting a dazzling silver light in the sunlight, pierces the clouds. He approved its construction two years ago, and it has now become a new landmark in Hong Kong, visible from afar when lit up at night. Many Hong Kong residents feel that with this tower, the sky over Hong Kong seems even higher.

But He Damin's eyes didn't see these things.

His gaze seemed to pierce through the scene before him, across the bustling sea, over the clouds, landing on places he couldn't see now, but knew clearly in his mind—Frankfurt, New York, Tokyo. Three months ago, he quietly bought an inconspicuous building in each of those places. To outsiders, it might just seem like Mr. He was investing in overseas real estate again. Only he knew that those buildings were now crammed with treasures secretly transported from Hong Kong—bundles of fiber optic cables, the kind thinner than a hair yet capable of flying at incredible speeds; square-headed routers flashing indicator lights; and servers with astonishing computing power. These things were now quietly waiting there, powered on, connected to the network, just waiting for his command to create an invisible net connecting all of Europe, America, and Asia.

"Knock knock knock".

A soft knock on the door behind him interrupted He Damin's thoughts.

"Come in." He turned around, his voice calm and devoid of emotion.

The door opened, and John walked in carrying a thick stack of documents. In just two years, this once spirited Harvard PhD had completely integrated into the He family's rhythm, becoming He Damin's most capable right-hand man. His head was covered with more white hair than when he first arrived, as if hastened by the relentless work of recent days, but his eyes remained bright and piercing, revealing the shrewdness of a scholar and the competence of a pragmatist.

"Mr. He, the patent documents are all ready." John gently placed the documents on the large mahogany desk, let out a long breath, and saw fine beads of sweat on his forehead. He wiped his brow and continued, "Europe, the United States, and Japan—three major markets, a total of 327 patents. From the most basic optical modems, routers, switches, and network cards, to fiber optic interface standards… everything you can think of has been registered." There was a hint of barely perceptible pride in his tone; this was a massive undertaking.

He Damin walked over, picked up the top document, and slowly flipped through it. It was filled with densely packed patent numbers, technical specifications, and convoluted legal clauses, making it dizzying to read. An ordinary person would be overwhelmed just looking at it, but He Damin examined it carefully, pausing occasionally to point to a particular clause.

"What about the licensing agreement?" he asked without looking up.

John quickly pulled another document from the pile and handed it over: "Here it is. As you requested, we have set up three levels of licensing." He cleared his throat and explained, "The first level is the most basic production right. Other companies can pay to buy our patent license to produce the equipment, and we charge a patent fee of five percent of the selling price of each piece of equipment."

"The second level is the right to improve. That is to say, companies can make some minor improvements and optimizations based on our existing technology, but there is one condition: the patents for the new technologies they improve still belong to us."

"The third level is sublicensing. This is the most crucial point. Without our company's written permission, no company that obtains a license can sublicense our technology to a third party."

He Damin listened and nodded. This licensing system was something he had spent several nights figuring out. It was designed to ensure that these advanced technologies could be rapidly deployed worldwide and used by everyone, while simultaneously maintaining control over the core technologies. Five percent might not seem like much, but the amount was substantial, and it was a steady, long-term source of income.

"Has the first batch of authorized personnel been finalized?" He Damin put down the agreement and looked at John.

John pulled another printed sheet from the pile of documents, listing a string of company names. "It's settled. In the US, we've initially selected three companies—AT&T, IBM, and Motorola. These three are the leaders in the US telecommunications and electronics industry, with deep roots and extensive distribution channels."

"In Europe, we chose Siemens and Ericsson. One is German and the other is Swedish; both are long-established giants in Europe with strong influence in their respective regions."

"In Japan, we chose NEC and Fujitsu. These two companies are representatives of the Japanese electronics industry, have good technological capabilities, and are backed by the Japanese government."

"As for other parts of Asia, we have also been in contact with Samsung in South Korea and TSMC in Taiwan, and we are still in talks. Their markets are relatively smaller, so we can put them on hold for a while."

He Damin took the list and examined it carefully. Each of these companies was a household name, a giant in their respective countries' electronics industries. AT&T, a behemoth controlling most of the US communications network; IBM, the absolute hegemon in the computer field; Siemens, undisputed leader in the European industrial electronics market; NEC and Fujitsu, "national teams" heavily supported by the Japanese government. Having them manufacture his equipment would be tantamount to holding the world's communication standards in his hands. Thinking of this, a slight smile crept onto his lips, and a barely perceptible glint flashed in his eyes.

"Add another clause to the agreement," He Damin said calmly, putting down the list.

"Please go ahead," John said, taking out a pen and notebook to take notes.

"All companies that obtain authorization must use the chips we specify. We are the exclusive supplier of these chips, and the price is determined by market forces."

John paused, his pen hovering in mid-air. "Mr. He, isn't this... a bit too strict? Some companies, especially large corporations like IBM and Siemens, have their own chip R&D and manufacturing capabilities. They might want to produce their own chips and not be held hostage by us." This is only natural; everyone wants to control core components.

“They can produce it themselves,” He Damin said casually, as if it were a trivial matter. “But then it wouldn’t be a five percent patent fee.” He paused, then held up one finger. “It would be fifteen percent.”

John was taken aback at first, then he understood the crux of the matter and couldn't help but laugh: "I get it. This is tantamount to...forcing them to buy our chips. After all, five percent and fifteen percent are three times the difference; anyone can do the math."

"It's not about forcing them," He Damin corrected him, his tone still calm. "It's about giving them a choice. Smart people will choose the cheaper option."

John nodded repeatedly, quickly jotting down the supplementary clause in his notebook. After finishing, he looked up, another question arising in his mind: "Where will we produce these chips? The production line in the small world probably doesn't have enough capacity, right? I remember the last report said the monthly capacity was only tens of thousands of chips."

He Damin didn't answer directly. Instead, he walked to the window and looked out at the distant sea. The sea breeze ruffled his hair, and his voice carried a hint of melancholy: "Don't worry about production capacity. I have my own arrangements."

What he didn't say was that the chip production lines in his small world had quietly expanded three times in the past six months. Now, the several production lines there are running at full capacity, stably producing 100,000 high-performance processors every month. These processors are unimaginable in this era. They are more than a hundred times faster than the most advanced commercial chips in the world, and consume extremely little power. Routers and switches built with them as the core are so fast that other manufacturers can't even come close. This is his true source of confidence.

"When will the first batch of goods be shipped?" He Damin turned around and asked.

"Next month." John opened another document, which contained a detailed production and logistics plan. "We've already prepared 500,000 chips in advance, enough for the first few licensed companies to use for six months. The equipment is also being produced at the factory in Hong Kong, with staff working overtime to keep up with demand. There won't be any delays."

He Damin nodded in satisfaction: "Then we'll start shipping next month. As for the order, we'll ship to the US first, then Europe, and finally Japan." The US market is the largest and most crucial; we need to secure it first.

"Understood!" John memorized all the instructions, closed his notebook, and said, "I'll go make the arrangements now, Mr. He."

"Go."

John, carrying the documents, tiptoed out, and the study returned to silence.

He Damin stood alone by the window, gazing at the distant sea. His thoughts drifted far away, many years into the future.

When these tiny routers, switches, and optical modems, like capillaries, fill every telecommunications room around the world; when these inconspicuous chips are installed in every computer and every communication device; when the technical standards he established become the only universally applicable standards in the world… then the entire world's internet will be built on the foundation he laid. He is the one who built the house, while others can only rent land in his house to do business.

He recalled the names of those legendary tech giants from his past life—Cisco, Qualcomm, Intel, Microsoft. Those companies, with just a few core patents licensed, amassed enormous fortunes, becoming the world's most valuable corporations and even influencing the economic lifeline of a nation. And now, those patents that should have belonged to them, those keys to the future, were firmly in his hands. Those future giants? They would either obediently pay him patent fees and use his technology, or they would be ruthlessly swept away by the tides of time.

Thinking of this, He Damin couldn't help but smile. In that smile, there was relief, pride, and a hint of composure as if he were in control of everything.

"This is much more interesting than harvesting souls," he murmured, as if talking to himself. Fragments of memories from his past life flashed through his mind, but were quickly replaced by the grand vision before him. This era was his true stage.