Chapter 60 of 100

Chapter 60

16 min read4,121 words

Ding Dong!

Not long after Li Xuan pressed the doorbell, a lady in her fifties, slightly plump, came to open the door for him.

"Madam, hello! I'm sorry to disturb you! I'm Li Xuan, and I have an appointment with Principal Ma to have dinner at your place tonight!" Li Xuan said with a smile.

The lady smiled kindly and nodded at him, "Come in, Old Ma is in the study, he just mentioned you!"

Li Xuan pulled his somewhat nervous girlfriend in behind him.

"Madam, I heard that the principal likes to drink tea, and I didn't know what gift to bring, so my girlfriend picked out this set of Yue kiln celadon tea ware for me!"

Li Xuan gently placed the gift on the coffee table.

"Coming for a simple dinner and you still brought such an expensive gift, Old Ma will definitely scold you when he finds out!" The lady shook her head slightly and then looked at Zhong Chuhong, "Xuan's taste is really good, finding such a beautiful and well-mannered girl, what a lucky guy!"

This set of Yue kiln celadon tea ware was just a modern imitation, not very expensive. But Principal Ma's ancestral home was in Ningbo Yinzhou, and this tea ware was produced there, giving it a special significance. Li Xuan and Zhong Chuhong spent the whole afternoon to find this somewhat satisfactory gift.

"Madam, hello, I'm Zhong Chuhong, you can just call me Ah Hong!" Zhong Chuhong's cheeks turned slightly red, but she was not shy and spoke confidently.

"You are Li Xuan from the Electronics Department? Indeed, you are a young talent!"

As they were talking, a lean, spirited, and refined man came out of the study, looked at Li Xuan, and smiled warmly.

"Principal, hello, I'm Li Xuan!" Li Xuan also smiled, neither humble nor arrogant.

"Ah Xuan, this boy is too polite to come empty-handed. Knowing you love tea, he specially brought you a set of Yue kiln celadon!" The lady pointed to the gift on the coffee table.

"Oh?" Ma Lin glanced at the packaging and roughly estimated its value, then smiled, "You are quite thoughtful!"

Since it was a token of the student's heart, and not very expensive, he did not refuse and accepted it readily.

"Don't stand there, take a seat!" Ma Lin waved at Li Xuan and found a chair to sit down himself.

"Professor Zhao Weiming from your Electronics Department said you started a company?" Ma Lin asked with interest.

"Yes! I founded it not long after the start of the school year last year. Hong Kong is known as the Pearl of the Orient, so I named my company Oriental Electronics!"

Li Xuan nodded and then paused for a moment, organizing his thoughts, and briefly introduced his experiences since last summer to the principal.

Ma Lin listened attentively, nodding from time to time, "A gentleman loves wealth, but he must acquire it in a righteous way. Copying others' intellectual property is not a proper path! You have a clear mind, knowing when to stop, and I, as your principal, am very pleased with this!"

Li Xuan smiled awkwardly, not deliberately hiding the matter of the Keji company. Of course, he omitted the part involving the Le Tang incident.

"Young as you are, starting your own company, you are quite ambitious!" The lady brought tea and snacks to everyone and couldn't help but praise, then turned to Zhong Chuhong, "Ah Hong, this boy is great, you should hold on to him!"

"Um!" Zhong Chuhong was a bit embarrassed by the comment, which caused the lady and the principal to chuckle, adding a warm, homely atmosphere.

"Professor Zhao Weiming said you plan to donate ten million to the Chinese University. What's the specific situation?" Ma Lin got to the point and asked directly.

Zhong Chuhong and the lady were both surprised by the ten million figure and focused their attention on Li Xuan.

"To be precise, it is my company, Oriental Electronics, that intends to cooperate with the Chinese University. The ten million Hong Kong dollars is the initial research and development funding that Oriental Electronics plans to invest in our future cooperative projects!" Li Xuan explained calmly.

"Initial?" Ma Lin keenly noticed Li Xuan's choice of words, "Ten million is not a small amount. Are you really willing to invest such a large sum in research and development?"

University-industry collaboration, where universities provide intellectual resources and companies provide funding to jointly develop certain projects, is very common in Europe and America. Only those basic research fields that companies are not interested in require universities to apply for special funds from the government.

However, such industry-university-research collaborations are rare in Hong Kong, determined by its economic structure. Before the 1950s, Hong Kong was primarily a re-export trade port. After the Korean War, under pressure from the U.S. government, the British authorities tightened trade policies with the mainland, leading to a rapid decline in Hong Kong's re-export trade, forcing it to undergo its first economic transformation.

At that time, due to the civil war between the Nationalists and the Communists, a large amount of capital and technology flowed from Shanghai to Hong Kong, rapidly boosting Hong Kong's textile industry. However, including the textile and clothing industries, and the plastic flower and toy industries that flourished in the 1960s, these were all labor-intensive industries with low technological content. Even the electronics industry that emerged in the 1970s, Hong Kong's electronics factories were generally at the bottom of the industrial chain, responsible for low-tech assembly processes.

Therefore, the two universities in Hong Kong, the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University, did not contribute much to the local industry, and naturally, the feedback and support from the business community were limited.

"Our company's two latest electronic game products are already selling well in the North American and Japanese markets, and the company's cash flow is very abundant. Taking out ten million Hong Kong dollars will have a negligible impact on the development of Oriental Electronics!"

Li Xuan said confidently, "In comparison, the lack of high-tech talent is the biggest bottleneck for our company's future development. Therefore, we are willing to invest early, preparing for the future, to lay a solid foundation for the company's development!"

"In which areas do you hope to collaborate with the Chinese University?" Ma Lin asked seriously.

"We hope to collaborate comprehensively with the Electronics Department of the Chinese University in areas such as electronic computer software development, electronic circuit design, semiconductor component development, and integrated circuit design!" Li Xuan said clearly.

"It seems your ambitions are quite large! Working on so many areas at once, aren't you afraid of being overwhelmed? Moreover, ten million is far from enough. As the saying goes, you can't become a big man by eating just one meal. You need to take it step by step, slowly!" Ma Lin smiled, his words carrying a warning tone.

Li Xuan felt a bit bitter inside. He also wanted to proceed steadily, but time did not wait for him. Li Xuan did not want to be limited to just the gaming industry. In less than twenty months, IBM would launch its personal PC, marking a new era in personal computing and the beginning of the semiconductor age in the electronics industry.

"Dinner is ready!"

With the help of the Filipino maid, the lady specially prepared a table of Ningbo dishes, including famous Ningbo dishes like bean curd skin wrapped yellow croaker and roasted chicken.

As the host, Principal Ma specially introduced the origins and stories of a few dishes to Li Xuan. Ma's family had a deep academic background, with his father and four uncles all being professors in the Chinese Department of Peking University during the Republic of China era, known as the "Five Ma of Yinzhou," all specializing in Sinology and the study of Chinese culture.

The dinner was a pleasant affair, and after a brief chat, Li Xuan and his girlfriend bid farewell and left. Ma Lin had invited Li Xuan over just to understand the general situation and to meet this unique student. As for the specific negotiations, a dedicated person would handle them in detail.

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