Chapter 62: Absorption?

"Brother Li, President Li!"

When he arrived at the office the following day, someone was already waiting there. It was none other than Zhang Xiaocheng, the director of the Shangguan Town Component Factory.

Seeing Zhang Xiaocheng, Li Dongling noticed that after being apart for a while, Zhang Xiaocheng had reverted to the state he was in when they first met—exhausted, with a significant amount of new grey hair on his head.

Pouring a cup of water for Zhang Xiaocheng, Li Dongling looked at him with a smile and said, "Brother Zhang, it seems things haven't been going too well for you lately!"

Zhang Xiaocheng did not deny it, his face filled with sorrow. "You know the situation at the component factory quite well. The satellite dish production has been halted, and the entire factory has no new projects. Yet, there are still two thousand mouths to feed!"

From last year until March of this year, it had been the most lucrative half-year for satellite dishes. The component factory reaped massive profits from the satellite dish project; calling it money-grabbing would not be an exaggeration.

Back then, with such high efficiency, the Shangguan Town Component Factory recruited a large number of employees. Coupled with the Pingyang municipal authorities stuffing their own connections into the factory, a workforce that originally numbered only five or six hundred ballooned to over two thousand people within a few months. Moreover, all these individuals were permanent workers, meaning that regardless of whether the component factory turned a profit or not, these people could not be laid off; they had to be sustained!

Fortunately, the Shangguan Town Component Factory still sat on a large reserve of cash. Even without making a profit, they could temporarily support these two thousand-plus people. However, sitting idly and eating into their savings while seeing only outflows and no income caused the funds in the account to dwindle bit by bit without generating any revenue. This left Zhang Xiaocheng extremely anxious and distressed.

"Here is the brand authorization for the Stargazer satellite dish, along with the final batch of dividends belonging to Dongling High-Tech!"

Taking out two documents and placing them on the desk in front of Li Dongling, Zhang Xiaocheng was here today to return the Stargazer brand. Since the production of Shangguan Town satellite dishes had ceased, the Stargazer brand was no longer needed.

Additionally, this was the final dividend payout after clearing out the inventory. Li Dongling glanced at it; this last dividend amounted to less than 1.5 million, which showed just how bleak the satellite dish project had become by now. Most likely, the remaining goods in the warehouse had been cleared out and dumped at a loss.

Accepting the two documents, Li Dongling looked at Zhang Xiaocheng. He knew that Zhang Xiaocheng had not come today just to deliver two documents—such a task could easily have been handled by a supervisor without him needing to make the trip in person.

"Brother Li, you know the condition of the component factory. If Dongling High-Tech has any good projects, I hope you can give the component factory a hand!"

Zhang Xiaocheng rubbed his large hands, a slightly embarrassed expression on his face as he spoke to Li Dongling. He knew full well that although Dongling High-Tech had also profited handsomely from the satellite dish project, the component factory had certainly taken advantage of the situation, pocketing nearly half of the satellite dish revenues.

Yet Zhang Xiaocheng had no other choice. During this period, he had considered transitioning the Shangguan Town Component Factory into other industries, but all of them seemed too risky. While quite a few companies had successfully transformed, the ones making it into news reports were naturally the successful survivors, while countless others failed and left behind piles of white bones. The Xicheng No. 1 Wireless Factory was the best example of this!

Compared to rashly plunging into other industries, Zhang Xiaocheng still felt that sticking with Li Dongling was more reliable. The satellite dish and Silver Martian mouse projects had already proven Li Dongling's capabilities.

Therefore, Zhang Xiaocheng had run over today, swallowing his pride, to ask Li Dongling to help the component factory out. As for whether it was humiliating—whether pride was more important or the livelihood of over two thousand people—Zhang Xiaocheng distinguished between the two very clearly.

Zhang Xiaocheng's words caused Li Dongling to fall into a brief silence before he shook his head. "Brother Zhang, Dongling High-Tech has major projects to handle right now; we really can't help the component factory at the moment!"

Upon hearing Li Dongling's refusal, Zhang Xiaocheng showed no dissatisfaction whatsoever. Instead, his spirits lifted. Li Dongling had indeed turned him down, but he hadn't said he wouldn't help the component factory at all, nor had he ruled out future project cooperation!

Not giving a flat refusal meant there was still hope. Regardless of what Li Dongling was thinking, Zhang Xiaocheng chose to interpret it this way. Cooperating with Dongling High-Tech was far more reliable than the component factory recklessly charging into unfamiliar industries.

Only after watching Zhang Xiaocheng leave did Li Dongling withdraw his gaze. He understood Zhang Xiaocheng's intentions; Zhang Xiaocheng was the kind of man who genuinely wanted to accomplish something.

What the component factory needed were projects capable of accommodating a massive number of employment positions. Li Dongling knew of a few such projects from his past life, but they were not what he needed to consider right now. At this moment, Dongling High-Tech had even more critical tasks to execute!

"The patterns must be redesigned, the colors must be vibrant, and the graphics must be in that cartoon-style!"

"Our product is meant for young people!"

"We need to design at least ten different patterns, and the packaging must be exquisite!"

As Chen Tao passed by a laboratory in the Dongling High-Tech Technical Department building, he heard a familiar roar echoing from inside and knew that the "technological tyrant" had returned.

Not daring to linger, Chen Tao quickened his pace and hurried away. This time, Chen Tao had not joined the electronic pet project team; instead, he was leading the research and development of digital cordless phones.

Hearing Li Dongling demand a rework, the team of designers for the electronic pet machine could only pull long faces and begin redesigning the product patterns.

At the joint laboratory, responsible for developing the motherboards and chips for the electronic pet, the Dongling High-Tech technical department primarily handled pattern design and product feature development. Driven by a continuous influx of funds, the electronic pet project advanced rapidly.

"Chairman Li, I propose a toast to you!"

"Indeed, Chairman Li, you are a rare guest. No matter what, you must have a proper drink with us today!"

"After this meal, we have entertainment arranged for the evening; Chairman Li simply must honor us with your presence..."

Inside a luxurious villa-style hotel in the capital city of Hanxi province, the dining table was laden with an extravagant spread of mountain delicacies and seafood. This single table alone must have cost well over ten thousand yuan.

The person being toasted by everyone was Li Wenjun, the vice chairman of the Stone Group. He had been dispatched by the Beijing headquarters to audit the business and projects of the Hanxi Stone Group branch.

Over the past few years, the Stone Group had established far too many subsidiary companies, requiring them to send senior executives like board members to various regions for project audits every year; otherwise, those subsidiaries might just vanish!

Vanish in a literal physical sense—for instance, a Stone Group executive armed with Stone's funds to invest in a branch would suddenly declare the branch independent, making the subsidiary entirely their own!

Such occurrences were by no means isolated incidents. Because there were simply too many branches to manage effectively, this was the defining characteristic of that era: wild, untamed growth.

Of course, conversely, if the Stone Group headquarters felt a certain branch had high potential, they would forcefully take it over for direct management.

The diversification strategy pursued by the Stone Group—venturing into real estate, securities, electronics, healthcare, and bond and stock investments—led to the classic "big company disease" typical of Western corporate giants, spawning all sorts of chaotic phenomena.

For instance, the securities department of the Stone Group in Jiangcheng was somehow contracted out to a private individual who secretly forged an official seal. Using Stone Jiangcheng Securities' funds, he made over 200 million in the treasury bond market, only to pocket the money himself. When the scandal broke, the Stone Group not only had to repay those illegal gains, but they also had to wine and dine the forger because they still needed him to explain where the 200 million had actually gone!

Faced with the chorus of people offering toasts, Li Wenjun waved his hand. "Let's hold off on the drinks for today. When I came here, President Duan gave me specific tasks to attend to. Until those matters are settled, I dare not slack off!"

Hearing that this was an assignment given personally by Duan Yongji, the president of the Stone Group, the senior executives of the Hanxi Stone branch did not dare to urge the toasts any further. This President Duan's methods were formidable indeed—not merely in terms of corporate management and profit generation, but his skills in palace intrigue and office politics were maxed out. Everyone knew that Stone's internal management was currently in a mess, yet Duan Yongji's position remained as stable as Mount Tai, his status in the industry continuously rising while those who opposed him had all been driven away.

"I wonder what President Duan wants Chairman Li to accomplish this time?!" someone at the dining table probed for information.

"A trip to Pingyang. President Duan has developed a certain interest in Dongling High-Tech and that fellow Li Dongling, and wants to meet him."

Upon hearing Li Wenjun's words, several people wore expressions of astonishment. "Is Stone going to acquire Dongling High-Tech?"

"I wouldn't quite call it an acquisition," Li Wenjun laughed noncommittally. "President Duan is simply somewhat interested in this young man and Dongling High-Tech; whether an acquisition happens remains to be seen."

Although Li Wenjun put it that way, the executives of the Stone branch still offered their congratulations: "We wish Chairman Li success in absorbing Dongling High-Tech!"

When Li Wenjun arrived in Pingyang, he caused quite a sensation among the local media. After all, this was the Stone Group. While Dongling High-Tech enjoyed a solid reputation nowadays, it was still primarily just a reputation; the Stone Group, on the other hand, was a heavyweight giant in the domestic technology industry, boasting annual revenues exceeding five billion.

Especially when Li Wenjun publicly announced that he was coming to Dongling High-Tech for "exchanges," it sparked wild imaginations among numerous media outlets. Reporters from the provincial capital and even other regions rushed over upon hearing the news.

"President Li, may I ask if your visit today means you are representing Stone to initiate cooperation with Dongling High-Tech?!"

Pingyang Daily, Pingyang City Daily, Pingyang Television, along with newer media outlets established in recent years like Financial Window and Xiqin Observer, all crowded forward to direct questions at Li Wenjun.

"I can only say that anything is possible!" Li Wenjun smiled.

When word reached Li Dongling—who was still hard at work in the technical department laboratory—that Li Wenjun had arrived representing the Stone Group, he was momentarily taken aback by the news brought to him by Yao Luoying.

"People from Stone? What are they here for?"

Puzzled, Li Dongling nevertheless stepped out of the laboratory and prepared to welcome Li Wenjun. Regardless of what the other party's intentions were, when dealing with a domestic corporate giant of this scale, proper etiquette had to be meticulously observed.