Chapter 51

Zhushì is located in the northwest of Taiwan, but it is southwest of Taipei, making it the seventh largest city on the island, covering an area of nearly 50 square kilometers.

Of course, it wasn't this big in 1980. The science park project started in 1976, but it wasn't officially established until December of this year.

However, this does not mean that some buildings cannot be put into use. Taiwan also intends to turn this place into an Eastern Silicon Valley and has been seeking investment under the direction of the most influential leader, with some success.

In this context, the representative of Intel, accompanied by the responsible person from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, came to inspect, which was of great significance.

"I have only one question, do they have so many skilled industrial workers?" The middle-aged white man, who was about forty to fifty years old, asked Li Xu in a low voice while listening to the explanation from the city government official.

"Of course not, but they can be trained. After all, from transporting equipment to installation and debugging, it might take several months to get it done," Li Xu replied in a similarly low voice.

"Their education is relatively well-spread, if those statistics are not falsified," another middle-aged white man interjected.

"Also, the most critical point, labor," Li Xu continued, "compared to North America, the labor cost here is almost negligible."

Of course, there is a place with even cheaper labor, but it's not quite suitable to go there now.

"Mr. Thomas, Mr. Ormond, isn't your main task here to evaluate this point?" he concluded.

The two middle-aged men shrugged and continued to follow the city government and the Ministry of Economic Affairs officials, touring the park while listening to their detailed introductions.

The day after their arrival, they had a meeting with people from the Executive Yuan, and on the third day, they came south to Zhushì for a tour and inspection, which was very efficient.

Whether it was Thomas or Ormond, both were mid-level managers at Intel who had dealt with Asians and were very efficient.

After all, Intel had long planned to shift its industrial chain outside of North America, so Li Xu didn't talk much about it with his father after his initial demonstration.

In fact, the theme of American society in the 1970s and 1980s was the transfer of the industrial chain, especially the low-end part.

There was no choice, even if the landlord's family had no surplus grain. Although the United States had a clear advantage in the Sino-American rivalry, even with the current strategic contraction, its economic total was still incomparable to the Warsaw Pact.

However, a spindle-shaped society sounds nice, but it stands on the welfare piled up from the bottom.

The United States is not a small country like those in Northern Europe; it has 200 million people living on 9 million square kilometers of land. Just buying off the lower and middle classes is a huge expense, let alone maintaining military pressure.

Capitalists might occasionally have a conscience, but capital is not for charity, so it naturally flows to where profits are higher.

Moreover, after the domestic economy was dominated by the tertiary industry, the power of labor unions was greatly weakened, even though the FBI had already controlled most of them.

A region like Taiwan still had some sensitivity in this regard. Now they still had some elites, unlike decades later when they were just a bunch of clowns.

If it were not mid-level managers from Intel, and only two of them, if it were high-level executives from Northrop and a team, the person who would have come out would definitely be the president of the institute, not the responsible person from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

After a day of inspection, lunch was solved nearby. In the evening, they naturally had a good meal, and using such an opportunity for drinking and eating was a long-standing practice.

After all, Thomas and Ormond were only two people, and with the interpreter, there were only three. Moreover, they could use chopsticks.

Li Xu naturally had to accompany them. For him, Intel's inspection was the important matter, so he tried some baijiu at the table.

In his previous life, he didn't drink much, and in this life, it was the same. Although he had tasted whisky, brandy, and tequila, he had only tried sake in Asia, which had a low alcohol content.

Now, it was a rare visit to Taiwan, and although he might come often in the future, since there was kaoliang on the table, having a couple of glasses was no problem.

So, after the toasts and toasts, when he returned to the hotel in Zhushì, Wang Chuanpu, looking worried, pulled him aside.

"Xu, can you tell me what you're thinking?" he asked, quite depressed.

After all, Wang Chuanpu thought that the invitation to inspect the Zhushì Science Park together was to say something that couldn't be said in Taipei. However, Li Xu never mentioned Northrop from start to finish, and since the other side was pressing, he had to continue probing while Li Xu had a couple of drinks.

Unfortunately, Wang Chuanpu was destined to be disappointed. Although the alcohol content of kaoliang was not low, and five glasses had already made Li Xu's face red, he had been through the strong sake and still maintained his rationality.

"Don't be so anxious, Brother Chuanpu," he chuckled, "haven't the people from General already come? It's a good opportunity for you to compare offers."

Wang Chuanpu's eyes twitched, feeling like he had been kicked by a dog. He was a well-known arms broker in Taiwan, and for so many days, he had to follow behind and endure a young man who was decades younger than him, calling him "Brother Chuanpu."

These were not big issues; as long as the deal could be made. However, he thought that by coming south with Li Xu, there was a chance to break the deadlock, but he was treated like air all day, and when he finally got a chance to ask, he was told not to be anxious, which was frustrating!

Of course, no matter how upset he was, he could only keep it in his heart. Not to mention the background of the young man in front of him, the people from Northrop had already made it clear that any proposal needed his approval.

So, he had to humbly ask again, "Xu, please, just give me a clear answer. What do you need to loosen your lips?"

His tone was almost pleading, but Li Xu just shrugged, "Then let's trade Shuanglin and Zhao for it."

After laughing, he ignored Wang Chuanpu's puzzled face and directly opened the door to his room, as if the pleading tone didn't exist.

Li Xu was very clear about how thick the skin of such people could be. As long as the deal could be made, what was skin? Could it be eaten?

Actually, it wasn't that he was unwilling to loosen his lips, but that he needed to wait a bit more to maximize the benefits, as this was a one-time opportunity.

It wasn't about the problem of an Eastern Hollywood. If Li Xu wanted to play, he could go to Hong Kong directly, where Stanley had an office, and it was British territory.

But the issue was that he still needed to make money. He needed 10 billion in pocket money before 1993, and even if he could make a fortune from the collapse of the Soviet Union, the initial capital didn't fall from the sky.

Naturally, he set his sights on Taiwan's IC industry. After all, although it was in decline 30 years later, the IC industry was still relatively enduring.

Among the Four Asian Tigers, Singapore's reach was too short, and it wasn't an industry Li Xu could handle. However, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea were all opportunities.

So, not using Northrop as a stepping stone to secure enough benefits was not an option.

Thus, after returning to Taipei from Zhushì, Li Xu immediately flew to Japan, leaving Wang Chuanpu in Taipei. The reason, of course, was to prepare a new album for Deng Lijun, although she wanted to release a Cantonese album.

This trip lasted another four days, and there was still no progress on the Northrop side—though it wasn't entirely true, as some agreements had been reached, but they needed his approval.

So, when he returned, Wang Chuanpu almost immediately came to visit and invited him to dinner.

"Come, come, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Ye Minzhi, and this is Mr. Yu Yangzheng." Wang Chuanpu introduced them warmly when they arrived at the reserved private room in the hotel.

Although Li Xu didn't know these people, and Wang Chuanpu didn't introduce their identities, he had collected relevant information and could guess their backgrounds, smiling and shaking hands with each of them, thinking of names like Ye Changtong and Yu Dawei.

Although there were only six people in the private room, they all had backgrounds in Taiwan's upper echelons, and it seemed that Wang Chuanpu wanted to achieve his goal in one go.

Unfortunately, he was still destined to be disappointed. The timing was still a bit off, and Li Xu, who had been in constant contact with the Northrop team and the two mid-level managers from Intel, made this judgment.

As for the team from General, led by a vice president, there was no need to worry.

Do you think, as two American companies, they are more likely to compete and undercut each other in a contract that is not irreplaceable, or to compete on the surface while secretly sharing information and colluding to raise prices?

Or, to put it more bluntly, why did Li Xu know as soon as the team from General arrived?

Moreover, Northrop was there to cover its own project or to minimize losses, so the joint development card was a viable option and the most appealing to Taiwan. A large company like General would never make concessions on this.

This is why, despite being left hanging several times, Wang Chuanpu still smiled and brought so many influential people to accompany him.

"By the way, we have also invited two celebrities to entertain us. I'm sure Xu will like it." After everyone was seated, Wang Chuanpu said, then clapped his hands.

The door to the private room was opened from the outside, and two women in their mid-twenties, lightly made up and dressed casually, walked in.

The one on the left was slightly older, with a calm and obedient demeanor, her eyes unfocused, and her hands resting on her abdomen, looking very compliant. The one on the right was slightly younger, with a pale face, hollow eyes, and a wooden expression, like a puppet.

Li Xu took a deep breath and smiled at Wang Chuanpu, "Brother Chuanpu, what a grand gesture."

Wang Chuanpu smiled without speaking, looking pleased, but in someone's heart—

Damn, you motherfucker, I'll screw your ancestors! Where is your integrity? Where is your integrity? Where is your integrity?!

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