My Years as a Copyist in Taiwan

The diva's English proficiency is definitely among the top tier of artists; she could even tell that Zhao Wen's English pronunciation wasn't very good.

"This is a hidden Easter egg, not printed on the cover." Zhao Wen scratched his head. "It was just recorded for fun, to leave a little surprise for people who buy the discs."

Teresa Teng, having laughed enough, had her eyes sparkling as if she had discovered something new and exciting. She said enthusiastically, "No way, how could I miss out on something this fun? Come on, let me chime in."

Weng Qingxi shook her head with a smile, "How old are you? Still fooling around like this." Although she said that, she raised her hand to signal the recording engineer to prepare to re-record—after all, it was just a private Easter egg on the bottom of the disc, not a main product, and Teresa Teng's name was not included, so it was okay to play around with it.

Thus, Teresa Teng's voice was added to this already captivating hidden track.

She didn't shout out loud; she just pinched her throat and, with a mischievous tone, imitated Zhao Wen's fox howl twice. After singing, she burst out laughing. It took several takes to get it right, and the final product still contained a few soft laughs from the two of them, making it lively and fun.

No one would have guessed that deep within this album, which boasts ten iconic hits, lies a private, playful anecdote, revealing a rare, childlike side of this legendary female vocalist in the Chinese music scene.

The entire process of recording the album, including post-production mixing and mastering, takes far more than four or five days.

Zhao Wen spent the first four days at Tony Recording Studio completing the main recording of instrumental music, harmonies, and vocals, including a guest appearance by Teresa Teng singing "I Only Care About You" and an impromptu recording of a bonus track, "How Does a Fox Call?".

Then he temporarily left to rush back to Tainan to comfort his younger sister, Zhao Wenwen.

Zhao Wenwen was crying her eyes out, and eight-year-old Wenwen had to wipe her tears, which made Zhao Wenwen both laugh and cry.

It wasn't until Zhao Wen produced a huge amount of Daheisong nougat candy and canned pineapple in a tin can that Wenwen finally stopped pouting.

However, Zhao Wen only stayed in Tainan for one day, enjoying Aunt Chen's physiotherapy, before rushing to Taipei the next day.

The hidden track "How Does the Fox Call?" has a special technical treatment: after the last track on side B ends, the engineer will leave a silent blank groove of more than ten seconds before recording the song in the extended groove at the end of the disc.

Listeners must listen to all the official tracks in their entirety with the stylus remaining at the end of the record to unexpectedly unlock this secret track. This was a remarkably advanced and ingenious design for vinyl record production in 1982.

1982 was a milestone year for Taiwan's industrialized mass production of integrated circuits and the take-off of semiconductor commercialization.

Zhao Wen asked Lin Xinjun to have a friend act as a go-between, and went to UMC's Taipei office to meet with Cao Xingcheng, who had just taken office as general manager.

Cao Xingcheng didn't take the meeting too seriously at first—in the past two years, many people had come to ask about investment, but few were serious about it. Everyone thought semiconductors were a bottomless pit of money, and they would just ask a few questions and then leave.

He assumed that young people like this, who took the initiative to come to his door, were rich kids who wanted to join the "high-tech investment" craze.

"Mr. Zhao, right? I won't beat around the bush with UMC's situation. The 4-inch wafer line has just started production, and the yield is still ramping up. We don't see any profits in the short term..."

"I have prepared 1000 million New Taiwan Dollars, General Manager Cao." Zhao Wen ignored Cao Xingcheng's advice to resign and stated the key point calmly.

"...If you invest 10 million New Taiwan Dollars, you can get 2% of the common stock at face value. We will send you the annual financial report on time." After all, Cao Xingcheng is a bigwig in the future of UMC. When he heard 10 million, he only paused for a moment before returning to normal.

"I don't want 2%, General Manager Cao, I only want 1% of the shares."

Cao Xingcheng thought he had misheard: "What does Mr. Zhao mean?"

"I only want 1% of the equity for NT$10 million. This is a purely financial investment. I don't want a board seat and I won't interfere with any business decisions. However, before the listing, this 1% share will be subject to full ratchet anti-dilution protection. Any subsequent capital increases below the initial investment price will require me to receive shares free of charge to ensure that my shareholding ratio is never less than 1%. After the listing, the terms will automatically expire and the shares will be converted into common stock."

Cao Xingcheng was startled and quickly began to make plans in his mind.

Based on a face value of NT$10 per share, NT$10 million should have been exchanged for 2% of the shares. Now, the other party is only asking for 1%, which is equivalent to paying a premium of NT$20 per share. This is equivalent to giving UMC an extra NT$5 million in cash flow for nothing.

Not to mention that the other party didn't even ask for the right to operate or the right to know, only mentioning an anti-dilution condition before listing—in his view, this condition was practically nothing.

Nobody in Taiwan is optimistic about the semiconductor industry right now. Industry insiders are criticizing UMC as "a money-burning toy for government officials." Further capital increases will only become more difficult, and it's uncertain whether it can even survive until it goes public. No matter how many people beg for government-backed shares to bail them out, no one is willing to invest.

This young man in front of me is something else. He's offering to pay a premium and isn't even trying to take control. It's like a pie falling from the sky.

But Cao Xingcheng was a little suspicious: This young man looked to be only eighteen or nineteen years old, but he spoke very calmly and didn't seem like an ignorant playboy. Why would he offer such a "disadvantaged" condition?

The thought only crossed his mind briefly before he suppressed it. Regardless of the other party's background, the money was real and could solve UMC's immediate crisis, and the conditions were completely reasonable. He would be willing to agree to anything, even if it included a pro rata pre-IPO subscription right, let alone just pre-IPO anti-dilution measures.

"Mr. Zhao, you have great courage." Cao Xingcheng came back to his senses, a genuine smile appearing on his face. He handed over a cup of tea. "To be honest, UMC is currently short of funds to ramp up its operations, and your money comes at just the right time. I agree to all the conditions. I'll have the legal department draft the agreement, and if you have no problems, the process can be completed within a week."

Zhao Wen picked up his teacup, took a sip, and nodded repeatedly, but he was secretly overjoyed.

He certainly knew that on the surface, he had "lost" half of his principal, but he was even more aware of how terrifying UMC's future size would be.

At its peak, UMC's market value approached NT$300 billion, and that was just the tip of the iceberg. In the 1990s, the "United Family Army" spun off from it became industry leaders, with MediaTek's peak market value exceeding NT$1 trillion! Novatek and PixArt were also companies worth tens of billions of dollars.

These 1% of original shares will continue to expand through stock splits, transfers, and the issuance of new shares. Even if the anti-dilution clauses expire after the listing, the actual corresponding assets will increase several thousand times.

Ten million can be exchanged for a return of tens or even hundreds of billions in the future. This is not a loss at all. It is clearly the bottom of the entire Taiwanese semiconductor industry!

Moreover, he followed up on every round of UMC's capital increase, always insisting on the anti-dilution clauses, gradually securing his shareholding. Without needing to understand technology or management, he could simply reap the benefits of Taiwan's semiconductor industry boom with just this small amount of shares.

"Then I'll trouble you, Mr. Cao." Zhao Wen put down his teacup. "I'll have someone set up the account for the subsequent payments. Just let me know when the agreement is ready."

Back in Tainan, Zhao Wen resumed his hands-off approach, leaving the album release to the professionals. Lin Xinjun handled everything before the release, and then assisted Gao and Lou in distributing the album.

The revenue sharing model is slightly different from that single. Lin Xinjun's share is now 10%, while Editor Gao and Editor Lou share 15% together. As for the Southeast Asian market, a pop diva has found someone to handle it, and Zhao Wen decided to give her 20%.

Although he was a hands-off manager, Zhao Wen still offered a "high-level marketing strategy" for decades to come—