Chapter 65: The Gears of Fate Begin to Turn

No matter how fine the promises sound, when faced with massive profits, people will inevitably fight tooth and nail.

If Dongling High-Tech were truly acquired or invested in by the Stone Group, it wouldn't be so bad if the company failed to make a profit in the future. However, if it actually started raving in profits, maintaining a polite and harmonious relationship would become highly unlikely. Especially when dealing with Duan Yongji—a man hailed as the godfather of IT and the old fox of Zhongguancun, whose office political skills were maxed out and who excelled at seizing power and profit—heaven only knows how much endless wrangling would ensue.

It is easy to invite a deity in, but notoriously difficult to send them away. Allowing Duan Yongji and the Stone Group into Dongling High-Tech meant that evicting them later on would probably require a battle reminiscent of the Vanke股权 dispute from his past life.

Li Dongling really did not want to engage in backstabbing and power struggles with Duan Yongji over Dongling High-Tech's equity. Refusing them right from the very beginning was by far the better choice!

Sina's predecessor, Stone Ltd., was the prime example. In its early days, Sina secured investment from the Stone Group under terms remarkably similar to those Li Wenjun proposed when meeting Li Dongling: purely financial investment with no interference in Sina's internal management.

And what was the outcome? After Sina went public, the Stone Group, acting as its major shareholder, delivered a vicious stab in the back. Sina's founder, Wang Zhidong—who also hailed from the Stone Group—was swept right out the door. The Stone Group, which had originally promised not to interfere in Sina, ultimately swallowed the company whole!

Amidst swirling external rumors regarding the speculation between Dongling High-Tech and the Stone Group, Li Dongling paid no heed. Instead, he instructed the Dongling High-Tech technology department to step up the research and development of electronic pet devices. Over at the electronic industrial park, thousands of workers were waiting for their paychecks. Dongling High-Tech needed massive cash flow to fund the development of mini radios, car radios, USB flash drives, and other products; getting into a war of words with the Stone Group was completely pointless.

When a specialized transport vehicle dispatched from the joint laboratory arrived at the Dongling High-Tech laboratory building, escorted with a locked briefcase carrying a single "glob-top" microchip for the electronic pet device, the entire enterprise swung into a state of intense, meticulous activity.

With the chip finally in hand, the remaining tasks were assembly and program debugging. The entire technical department of Dongling High-Tech threw themselves into the project. Chen Tao, serving as the technical supervisor, also rushed over to lend a hand.

Ten days later, a digital egg born from black-and-white pixels and computer code made its appearance in the laboratory.

Hu Zixian, Yao Luoying, Gao Peng, Zhang Ao, and the others hurried to the lab, staring intently at the electronic pet device that closely resembled an actual egg, styled in a cute, cartoonish aesthetic.

Viewed through the lens of future generations, this electronic pet egg was exceedingly crude: a simple monochrome screen, three buttons, and a rudimentary pixelated square constituted its entire feature set.

Yet, situated in an era before smartphones, back when even electronic wristwatches were treated as prized possessions, this electronic pet device made a striking first impression that could well be described as exquisite. The older men like Hu Zixian and Zhang Ao maintained a degree of calm, showing only mild curiosity, but Yao Luoying was a different story entirely—her gaze was locked firmly onto the device.

Women are visual creatures. Confronted with a gadget featuring anime and cartoon aesthetics, styled in bright, lovely colors, they felt much like someone looking at a cute kitten; a wave of maternal warmth welled up inside them. While it might not be entirely irresistible, the vast majority of people would instinctively want to reach out and touch it—it was simply a woman's nature.

Much like how men remain boys until the day they die, perpetually fond of eighteen-year-olds—no, wait, how men can never resist a perfectly straight stick. In childhood, a single branch could be wielded like a legendary sword to sweep across the world, cutting down every weed in sight. For a woman, an electronic pet device was the equivalent of seeing a cat, whereas for a man, it was equivalent to stumbling upon a wonderfully straight stick; human beings simply cannot defy their own nature!

Following one final round of testing, amidst Yao Luoying's expectant gaze, Li Dongling placed the world's first electronic pet device right into her hands.

Cradling the electronic pet device, Yao Luoying quickly got the hang of it after a brief explanation. After all, the gadget possessed only a handful of functions; a brief try was all it took to master the operations.

The electronic pet device was small, taking up about half of her palm. Cradling it as a series of beep sounds echoed, Yao Luoying focused intently on the screen. The first step was incubating a pet; users could choose from thirty-five different varieties, including dogs, cats, rabbits, monkeys, chicks, and pandas.

Once familiarized, Yao Luoying used the few control buttons to navigate the electronic pet device, feeding, bathing, playing with, and cleaning up after the virtual creature. Whenever it grew hungry or needed sanitation, it would emit a series of beeping prompts, mirroring the real-life experience of caring for a cat.

The programming was not overly complex: feeding improved the pet's mood, playing enhanced its happiness, and so forth. If hygiene was neglected, the pet would fall ill, run away from home, or ultimately perish, allowing players to experience the entire lifecycle of a pet from birth and growth all the way to its twilight years.

The gameplay was straightforward and the controls were simple, yet Yao Luoying, encountering such a novelty for the first time, found herself completely hooked. It was only when the electronic pet device in her hands grew noticeably warm that she realized a good half-hour had already slipped away!

Glancing down at the electronic pet device with palpable reluctance, she finally handed the gadget over to Hu Zixian, Zhang Ao, Gao Peng, and the others to try out.

Given this rare, unprecedented gadget, the men thoroughly enjoyed experiencing it themselves.

Once all the senior executives of Dongling High-Tech had tested the electronic pet device, they had a pretty clear grasp of its potential. If even they could get absorbed into it and hooked to some extent, one could easily imagine how much young people—especially women—would adore it!

Gathering in the conference room adjacent to the lab, Li Dongling looked at the executives seated before him. "Regarding the electronic pet device project, there are now two vital tasks that must be accomplished.

First, we need to put it into production as quickly as possible. The electronic industrial park must assemble the production lines posthaste. Before the official release, I require a minimum inventory of one million units!"

"One million units?!"

Hearing this, Hu Zixian could not help exclaiming in astonishment. Such a massive stockpile would tie up an enormous amount of cash flow. Should the sales of the electronic pet device fall short of expectations and the units fail to move, the entire cash flow of Dongling High-Tech would likely implode.

Li Dongling understood their concerns. "Currently, there are no products of the same type on the market, nor do we have any competitors. In the early stages, Dongling High-Tech has a tremendous opportunity to capture the market!"

Risks certainly existed, but if the electronic pet device caught on and production failed to keep pace, they would squander the opportunity entirely. The greater the turbulence, the higher the reward; compared to the potential gains, a moderate amount of risk was an absolute bargain.

Gao Peng, who managed logistics and was currently overseeing the electronic industrial park as well, spoke up, "If we are to prepare for production now, we need to place orders with component suppliers."

While Dongling High-Tech could manufacture some parts of the electronic pet device in-house, critical components like chips, screens, and coin cell batteries still required outsourcing or procurement.

Li Dongling nodded, then turned his gaze toward Yao Luoying and Zhang Ao. "Contact overseas advertisers. The marketing for the electronic pet device should primarily target overseas regions such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and America.

We must secure overseas distribution channels and agents as soon as possible!"

Yao Luoying nodded, though both she and Zhang Ao wore troubled expressions. Finding overseas channels was no easy feat; rushing into negotiations blindly would leave them vulnerable to being heavily exploited, stripping away a massive share of their profits and commissions.

Zhang Ao, who headed the sales department at Dongling High-Tech, suddenly recalled a Hong Kong trading company they had recently been in contact with. "There is a trading agency in Hong Kong that our sales department has been communicating with—the Ning's Trading Company of Hong Kong. They are eager to acquire the agency rights for the Silver Mink mouse in Hong Kong, South Korea, Siam, Annam, Singapore, and other regions. This trading company seems to have a solid reputation and capability. Should we reach out to them?"

"Invite them to come to Pingyang. Also," Li Dongling said, looking at Yao Luoying, "have someone in Hong Kong conduct a background check on this company!"

In this day and age, scammers were ubiquitous, especially those posing as foreign investors or peddling cooperative ventures. The fraudsters exposed by the media were invariably practitioners of empty-handed wolf tactics, having already absconded with millions, tens of millions, or even greater fortunes, leaving countless families devastated like harvested leeks. One could never be too cautious.

Li Dongling felt that if the electronic pet device project progressed smoothly, Dongling High-Tech might eventually need to establish a new headquarters in Hong Kong. This would serve as a trade department to facilitate product exports and allow them to purchase R&D equipment from overseas under the name of a Hong Kong enterprise, which would be far more convenient than operating solely out of Pingyang. Naturally, donning the mantle of a Hong Kong-funded enterprise would also make conducting business much smoother!

Inside the first-class cabin of a flight traveling from Guangzhou to the capital city of Hanshi Province, Ning Wanke flipped through a magazine, though her mind failed to absorb a single word. With a sense of vexation, she gazed out the aircraft window.

Ning Wanke had originally had no intention of making this trip. Ning's Trading Company had continued its downward spiral with no signs of recovery, her father Ning Wantian remained incapacitated, and the entire Ning family was bogged down in chaos.

Yet right at that moment, complications arose regarding the Silver Mink mouse agency she had hoped to secure, prompting a summons for her to visit Pingyang personally under the pretext of discussing a crucial partnership.

Ning Wanke had commissioned background checks in Hong Kong; while the Silver Mink mouse enjoyed a modest reputation, it was precisely that—modest. Even after winning its lawsuit against Microsoft, the computer mouse remained a niche accessory with a strictly limited market size. Retail sales could only reach so far, and pursuing the agency rights had been little more than a gamble on her part.

She hadn't wanted to come, but since Ning's Trading Company showed no signs of improvement and staying in Hong Kong offered no solutions, she treated this journey to Hanshi as a forced holiday to clear her mind. At the same time, she could scout for any other domestic brands suitable for representation, though she held out little hope. If nothing turned out, she would simply chalk it up to a vacation.

Upon landing, Ning Wanke did not linger in the provincial capital, heading straight for Pingyang to dispatch the matters concerning Dongling High-Tech before properly commencing her break.