Chapter 70 of 100

Chapter 70

14 min read3,599 words

"Sorry, I'm late. The cross-sea tunnel was really congested today!" Li Xuan walked into the private room and immediately waved to everyone in apology.

"Xuan, we thought you were going to stand us up today, maybe abducted by a beautiful lady halfway!" Among those present, Du Wenqiang was the closest to Li Xuan and teased him.

"I originally planned to treat everyone to dinner, but considering today is a special day, everyone might be busy in the evening, so I decided to have lunch together!" Li Xuan said as he sat down.

"You're the busy one, aren't you? You're probably running around to different places tonight!" Du Wenqiang's mouth started to get cheeky again.

"You fatso, are you planning to take revenge on society because no one wants you?" Li Xuan laughed and scolded him. "Look how beautifully Sister Ying is dressed today. It's obvious she has plans for the evening!"

"Xuan, are you saying I wasn't pretty before?" Wang Ying, sitting next to Li Xuan, smiled and asked back.

"Ha ha!" Everyone couldn't help but laugh lightly, seeing Li Xuan at a loss for words.

"You were pretty before, and you're even prettier today!" Li Xuan quickly tried to salvage the situation.

"Xuan, your words sound so insincere! Sigh, I'm getting old and faded!" Wang Ying deliberately put on a self-pitying and melancholic expression, fully displaying her mature and charming beauty.

"Sister Ying, I'm wrong, okay!" Li Xuan hurriedly pleaded. "Fatty, go out and order 999 roses for me. I need to apologize to Sister Ying!"

"No way, I'm a vice president now. Find your assistant for such errands in the future, it's embarrassing for me to do it!" Du Wenqiang deliberately turned his head away, ignoring Li Xuan.

Amidst the jokes and teasing, everyone quickly became familiar and friendly. This was the first gathering of several senior executives of Oriental Electronics. There were five people in total: the boss Li Xuan, Executive President Han Peng, Operations Vice President He Guoyuan, Administrative Vice President Wang Ying, and R&D Vice President Du Wenqiang.

Han Peng had been tirelessly searching for suitable talents for the company's management team and finally managed to secure most of the mid-to-high-level positions before the New Year. Wang Ying was poached by Han Peng from Kaida Toy Factory, one of the largest toy manufacturing companies in Hong Kong with over 1,500 employees. Another one, He Guoyuan, who just turned thirty this year, was previously the Manufacturing Director at Philips Hong Kong.

After Li Xuan and Zeng Zhiwei had a meal at Fulinmen, he found the food there quite good and specially chose it as the venue for today's gathering. As the big boss, he hadn't arrived yet, so the others naturally held back from ordering dishes.

It was Li Xuan's first time treating everyone, so he couldn't be stingy. He had already reserved five three-head abalones a few days in advance. He originally wanted to reserve double-head abalones, but Fulinmen didn't have them, so he settled for three-head abalones.

Li Xuan called the waiter to bring the menu. Flipping through Fulinmen's menu, the first few pages were filled with expensive dishes like abalone, shark fin, and sea cucumber. From the third page onwards, the menu was similar to that of a regular teahouse or street stall, with dishes like pineapple sweet and sour pork, pepper salt ribs, and lemon chicken breast, all ordinary Hong Kong-style stir-fries with no pretentious names.

Although the dishes were similar to those in street stalls, the ingredients here were of high quality and the preparation was meticulous, always attracting discerning diners. Li Xuan ordered two more dishes and passed the menu to Wang Ying next to him.

After a round of ordering, each person had chosen two dishes. Including the abalones he had reserved earlier, there were eleven dishes in total. Li Xuan felt it was enough and didn't order more. While waiting for the dishes, everyone casually chatted about their past amusing stories.

"How did you decide to go to Taiwan for university?" Li Xuan asked He Guoyuan curiously.

"The tuition was cheap! After graduating from high school, I wanted to find a job and earn money, but the economic situation in Hong Kong was poor at that time, and it was hard to find a satisfactory job with just a high school diploma. Many of my classmates went to the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, or continued their studies in Europe and America.

My A-level scores weren't good enough for a scholarship at the two universities in Hong Kong, and paying for it myself was too expensive for my family to afford. Fortunately, a relative who returned from Taiwan told me that studying in Taiwan was very cost-effective, with only 100 Hong Kong dollars per month for tuition and living expenses!"

He Guoyuan spoke about his academic journey calmly, but everyone could sense the underlying embarrassment and hardship in his words.

Li Xuan seemed to suddenly remember something, looked up at He Guoyuan sitting opposite him, and his eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. But He Guoyuan was still immersed in his reminiscence and didn't notice. Li Xuan quickly lowered his head to hide his unusual expression.

No wonder Li Xuan felt the name He Guoyuan sounded familiar when they first met a few days ago. At that time, accompanied by Han Peng, Li Xuan had a tea session with He Guoyuan, discussing his past work experience and his views on joining Oriental Electronics.

He Guoyuan had previously held various positions such as production management, material planning and control, and quality control, with a rich resume and a deep understanding of the consumer electronics industry. They had a pleasant conversation, and Li Xuan quickly decided to hire He Guoyuan as the Operations Vice President of Oriental Electronics.

Kwok Yuen Ho, in his previous life, Li Xuan had heard more of his English name. He and Huang Renxun were the founders of ATI and NVIDIA, respectively, which were once the world's largest two graphics card companies.

Unfortunately, in his previous life, ATI was acquired by AMD in 2006, and by the time Li Xuan graduated with his master's degree, the ATI brand had been abandoned by AMD, becoming a thing of the past.

He Guoyuan of ATI, Huang Renxun of NVIDIA, Jerry Yang of Yahoo, Steve Chen of YouTube, Jack Lin of LAM Research, and Ted Huang of Synnex—these were the entrepreneurial heroes revered by countless Chinese engineers in Silicon Valley.

Actually, the company He Guoyuan founded, ATI, couldn't be considered a true Silicon Valley company, as its headquarters was in Ontario, Canada. Most of the Chinese giants in Silicon Valley's IT industry were born in Taiwan, and He Guoyuan was one of the few founders from Hong Kong.

In the early 1980s, as the British and Chinese governments were negotiating the return of Hong Kong, it caused significant social unrest, leading to the first wave of emigration. He Guoyuan immigrated to Canada with friends during this period.

Like other Hong Kong immigrants, He Guoyuan realized upon arriving in Canada that job opportunities were far fewer than in Hong Kong. Finding a high-paying job with an annual salary of 500,000 US dollars, as he had in Hong Kong, was almost impossible. So, He Guoyuan took out one-third of his savings and started a business with a few other Hong Kong immigrants.

While listening to everyone's conversation, Li Xuan occasionally chimed in, but his smile never left his face. He found that his attitude towards meeting these famous people from his previous life was becoming increasingly calm.

Previously, when he went to San Francisco for the Western Electronics Exhibition, he had rushed to the Apple booth like a pilgrim, hoping for an accidental encounter with the two founders. Now, having a future IT industry tycoon as his subordinate, his excitement lasted only a few seconds before he quickly calmed down.

Instead, he felt a sense of pleasure, like collecting stamps. Discovering that one of the stamps he bought was a rare and valuable one with great future appreciation, the joy was like drinking honey, sweet and satisfying.

The entire lunch atmosphere was very relaxed. They didn't talk much about work but chatted about various gossip and amusing stories. After the Spring Festival holiday, Han Peng, He Guoyuan, and Wang Ying would officially join Oriental Electronics. This gathering allowed everyone to get to know each other in advance, laying a good foundation for their future collaboration.

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