Eighty-Seven: Yu Youcheng
Having crossed through the waves, Wei Hua had also considered seeking talent within the mainland. But people’s thinking in this era was not that of the twenty-first century; few were willing to abandon the security of a state job and submit to capitalist exploitation. Besides, Hong Kong was still ruled by the British. The Sino-British talks would not begin until next year, and if a large number of mainlanders were to arrive now, the Hong Kong authorities would surely take note and grow suspicious. Wei Hua had no intention of making his political leanings too obvious. So long as he did not clearly tilt toward the mainland, the British-controlled Hong Kong government would not trouble him. After all, Wei Hua was a tycoon worth hundreds of billions; in a lawsuit, the British would not easily come away with the better end of it.
The Extraordinary Private Investment Company once again began recruiting on a global scale. It was looking for design, manufacturing, technical, and managerial personnel in the field of computer microprocessors. Wei Hua found one man: Professor Yu. Among the records stored in the biological computer in his mind, this was the talent he had been searching for. Professor Yu was an expert in semiconductors and transistor production. He had joined Intel in 1972. In 1979, as the mainland had only just begun its reforms and opening up, he felt that opportunity could not be missed and came alone to Beijing and Guangzhou. At the time, he bravely leaped into the sea of agency business, recruited more than two hundred users, and established a training center in Hong Kong to teach them. Later, however, he grew weary of the long flights from America to China, and in March 1981 he returned to Intel. Yet those two years of life in the motherland gave him more than the satisfaction of returning home in glory; more importantly, they gave him the experience of a man who had journeyed from scholar to businessman. He went on working for Intel and eventually became its senior vice president. Professor Yu had always wanted to make chips of China’s own, but no one supported him, and his own financial resources were insufficient. Now Wei Hua was offering him just such an opportunity.
Wei Hua had no choice but to hurry back to the United States and find Professor Yu at his home. By then, the professor was already preparing to return to Intel. In Professor Yu’s study, Wei Hua spoke plainly:
“Mr. Yu! I’m Wei Hua. I’ve come all the way from Hong Kong to see you. I want to produce chips of our own, and in the future, computers of our own as well. These are some of the things I’ve ordered. Please take a look.”
With that, Wei Hua handed over the contracts for the equipment he had ordered in the United States in February. Professor Yu leafed through them and asked, “Mr. Wei, where do you intend to set up the production line? And you should understand that the investment required in this field is enormous. Having a production line does not mean you will necessarily be able to make your own chips. You must be prepared for that.”
“Professor Yu, perhaps my name means nothing to you, but you should know the Extraordinary Private Investment Company. It is my personal investment company, and every asset it manages belongs entirely to me. So you need not worry about funding. I want you to oversee the establishment of the chip fabrication plant and the wafer plant. If you agree, I will carve these two production lines out of Snowfield Electrical Manufacturing Company and set up a new company for them. You will serve as general manager and have full authority over its operations. I will not send anyone to interfere in the company’s management. I only want chips. What do you think?”
“Also, I would like you to take the lead in establishing the Evergreen Technology Hong Kong Laboratory, dedicated to research in computer hardware manufacturing. You are familiar with this area, and you may invite experts to work in the lab. As for compensation, don’t worry: I can pay them thirty percent more than their current salaries. Whatever instruments they need, so long as they can be bought, they will have them. After the lab is established, it will also fall under your management. The industrial land our company bought in Hong Kong is large enough; the laboratory can be built together with the chip plant. As soon as we have the plans, construction can begin. As for your salary, I will pay you five million U.S. dollars a year. Would that be acceptable?”
“It seems Mr. Wei truly intends to make his own chips. There are not many Chinese today with such vision, and even more remarkable is how young you are. In the future, computers will occupy an important place in people’s lives. If we Chinese do not want to be left behind by powers like the United States and the Soviet Union, we must produce our own chips; otherwise, we will be at the mercy of others. Our country has already begun reform and opening up. If we do not produce our own, foreign chips will flood into China, making more money and then funding even better chips, and the gap between us and foreign technology will only grow wider. By then, catching up will be even harder. Very well, I agree! I will work for you and make chips of our own. As for the people the laboratory needs, I can begin inviting them right now!”
Professor Yu did not even mention his own salary; instead, he delivered a long and passionate speech.
“Wonderful! Professor, I’ll return to Hong Kong at once to prepare the new company. Please pack your things and come to Hong Kong as soon as you can. I’ll be waiting for you there!”
The next day, Wei Hua rushed back to Hong Kong, where he found the eminent barrister Liu Weijian. With Liu Weijian’s help, he founded the new Flying Computer Manufacturing Company and the Evergreen Technology Hong Kong Laboratory. By the time Professor Yu arrived in Hong Kong, the paperwork for both the company and the laboratory had already been completed. Wei Hua then handed over all matters to Professor Yu, even drawing several people from the Extraordinary Private Investment Company to assist him, and once again became a hands-off boss.
From the data preserved in the biological computer, he knew that 1981 was a relatively quiet year, with no major upheavals and no especially good opportunities to make money. Of course, what Wei Hua considered a good money-making opportunity was the kind that could make one suddenly rich, the kind where assets could multiply many times over.
Wei Hua’s friend A Liang had been sent to Indonesia five years earlier. During those five years, A Liang managed Wei Hua’s plantation estate in Indonesia exceptionally well. Now Wei Hua had begun to think about how to deal with the Indonesia issue. In his former life, as a hot-blooded young man, Wei Hua had hated the Indonesians and Suharto with a vengeance, no less than he hated the Japanese. In this life, he never wanted to see the anti-Chinese massacres of the 1998 Indonesian riots happen again.
Dear readers, today I did not break my word. The chapter I owed has been made up. Please continue to support me!