Chapter 35

Now, Dongling High-Tech pays a huge amount each month for R&D on the mouse and digital cordless phone projects, with technical staff salaries alone costing over a hundred thousand yuan per month.

The only project still generating returns for Dongling High-Tech is the satellite dish, but under current conditions, even that project won’t last more than a few months.

But no matter how anxious he was, Li Dongling could only proceed step by step—every journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and no one swallows a fat man in one bite.

This year was Dongling High-Tech’s first year, so holding an annual meeting was still necessary, but Li Dongling had no intention of staging flashy spectacles—no forcing employees to perform on stage, no demanding staff spend energy preparing programs.

He simply invited the company’s current hundred-plus employees and their families to a meal, distributed some prizes and bonuses, and told them: Dongling High-Tech is still alive, and the future might be better—this mattered greatly, because people live on hope, and so do company employees.

As for making employees treat the company like home and work themselves to death—that was nonsense. Unless the company could manage their birth, aging, illness, death, and even their children’s marriages and offspring, giving them only a pittance a month that barely covered meals, and then demanding they treat the company like home? That was pure bullying—no grass, yet expecting the ox to give milk—even Old Zhou the Greedy wasn’t that cruel!

Dongling High-Tech’s annual meeting was held at a restaurant they had rented out; Gao Peng had brought over a full sound system, but the company still wasn’t at the stage where it could afford to hire singers for entertainment.

Chen Tao’s wife, Huang Xiaopei, arrived at the restaurant wearing a brand-new outfit, holding her child—this outfit had been meant for the New Year, but she’d worn it early.

Before coming to Pingyang, Huang Xiaopei had been anxious, but now she had no doubts whatsoever: Chen Tao’s seven-thousand-yuan salary was more than enough for their family of three to live comfortably in Pingyang, far surpassing the meager life they’d endured in the provincial capital.

If Chen Tao now said he wanted to quit and leave Dongling High-Tech, the first person to panic would surely be Huang Xiaopei—she wouldn’t even let him go.

Not just Huang Xiaopei—nearly all the family members of Dongling High-Tech employees present today felt the same. The company now had nearly 150 employees, over a hundred of whom were technical staff; those senior technicians who had come from the provincial capital with Chen Tao earned over three thousand yuan, while other technicians capable of independently operating experiments earned around fifteen hundred yuan.

Even new hires in the technical department still learning the ropes earned over six hundred yuan—a salary level rare even in the provincial capital, let alone in Pingyang.

As Dongling High-Tech employees arrived with their families or romantic partners, the atmosphere grew lively.

Gao Peng, serving as today’s host, cleared his throat and raised the microphone: “Let’s welcome the founder of Dongling High-Tech!”

“I’m glad you’re all here today. I hope to see you all again next year—and every year after that!”

Li Dongling spoke briefly on stage—after all, everyone here today was mainly here to eat, not to listen to long speeches.

“Next year, Dongling High-Tech’s main task will be launching new products and achieving profitability—this is the most important thing for Dongling High-Tech next year!”

“I hope none of you will ever regret joining Dongling High-Tech, and that Dongling High-Tech will never let you down—we will build housing for employees, ensure all staff have new homes; we will provide medical insurance for employees’ parents and children; we will offer scholarships for employees’ children attending university…”

After painting this grand picture, Li Dongling stepped down—but the crowd erupted in applause. Whether or not it could be achieved, the vision was undeniably tempting.

Dishes began arriving: chicken, duck, fish, pork knuckles, braised beef, and other hearty staples—back then, there was no talk of health or diet; a good meal was judged solely by how many substantial dishes it had.

“Ahem, I’ll humbly perform for you—a song called ‘Love Birds’!”

With Gao Peng around, there was no risk of the annual meeting falling flat—someone like him, who thrived on attention, could skip drinking, but never skip performing on a day like this.

He truly did humiliate himself—he wasn’t completely tone-deaf, but he certainly wasn’t pleasant to listen to; yet he sang with total sincerity, utterly ignoring the laughter and jeers from below.

But after Gao Peng’s song, the atmosphere truly warmed up—several others with itchy throats climbed on stage to sing. Back then, many people loved singing, but few places offered the chance; their skills varied, but whoever stepped up, Li Dongling rewarded with red envelopes.

“Li Zong, sing one!”

Someone shouted it out, and suddenly the whole hall erupted in calls. Li Dongling, who had just finished chatting with Hu Zi, laughed at the crowd and walked toward the stage.

Back at Hanxi Jiaoda, Li Dongling had once been in a rock band—though it never made waves, he’d sung in front of hundreds, so how could he possibly back down now?

Gao Peng handed him a guitar; Li Dongling tuned it and began singing “Boundless Ocean, Vast Sky,” performed by Beyond and released by Rock Records this year.

Having played in a band before, his vocal skill wasn’t perfect, but at least he didn’t go off-key—and of course, the same song carried different weight coming from someone of his status.

Like those CEOs from the past—Zhang from Sohu, Ma from Alibaba, Wang from Wanda, Lei from Xiaomi—when they sang, you always felt they were dripping with wealth; you never doubted they were off-key, you just thought maybe the original singer had gotten it wrong.

In any talent show, they’d give you the feeling that after finishing a song, they’d turn to the judges and say, “Tell me your dream—I’ll make it come true!”

Li Dongling wasn’t there yet—but someday, maybe his singing would have that effect too; even if he sang off-key, people might think he’d stumbled upon a gold mine.

After Li Dongling, Yao Luoying, flushed from a few drinks, climbed on stage and sang two songs, including one in English—she sang very well, and the crowd burst into applause.

“Li Zong, one of the two new products must be developed and launched after the New Year—R&D costs are draining us too fast!”

“The satellite dish market now has over fifty to sixty brands; southern markets are also seeing new satellite dish brands. Sales of Guanxing satellite dishes will likely plummet, and Dongling High-Tech’s share will shrink further!”

Hu Zi, who managed Dongling High-Tech’s finances, reminded Li Dongling—he was the most experienced in the company and handled the books; he sensed even the faintest shifts.

“I know.”

Li Dongling took a sip of liquor. “After the New Year, no matter what, we’ll launch our first mouse product and begin promotion and production.”

The developed product still needed a manufacturer to produce it—Dongling High-Tech still had no factory of its own, so other companies had to manufacture components for assembly, and they still needed to register patents, promote, advertise—all of which cost money. They couldn’t pour every penny into R&D; if funds ran dry, the entire company would be in trouble.

Seeing Yao Luoying step down, Hu Zi didn’t press further. After Li Dongling distributed more bonuses, the atmosphere in the hall had become wildly festive.

Feeling stuffy, Li Dongling stepped outside; the cool wind cleared his foggy head.

He pulled out a cigarette, lit his lighter several times—the wind kept blowing it out. On the next attempt, a shadow appeared before him—he looked up to see Yao Luoying opening her coat to shield him from the wind.

Looking at Yao Luoying—lightly made-up, cheeks flushed, eyes smiling—he had already lit the cigarette. He glanced at the smoke in his hand, then at Yao Luoying seated beside him, and finally extinguished it.

Seeing his action, Yao Luoying looked up at the night sky and suddenly asked, “What’s your New Year’s wish?!”

“Mine?!”

Li Dongling paused, saying nothing. Yao Luoying, sensing his skepticism, still said: “Trust me—it’s accurate. Since childhood, every New Year’s wish of mine has come true.”

Looking into her bright eyes, Li Dongling thought for a moment, closed his eyes, then opened them to find Yao Luoying leaning close, eyes full of anticipation, clearly eager to know his wish.

“You’ll find out later.”

Hearing this, Yao Luoying pouted and turned her head away.

“Boom.”

A firework shot into the sky—Dongling High-Tech had prepared many fireworks; Gao Peng was now leading others to light them, and people inside the hall rushed out to watch.

As the fireworks lit up, both Li Dongling and Yao Luoying lifted their faces to the night sky. Yao Luoying turned to Li Dongling and said, “Happy New Year!”

At this time of year, for the people on this land, it was the most festive season, the most potent with New Year spirit—adults could rest and reflect on the year’s harvest, children got tasty snacks and new clothes, and of course, they looked forward to growing up.

For Li Dongling, this New Year, he spent New Year’s Eve and the following days with his family at the Li household. After the holiday, this old house would be torn down to make way for a new one.

After the New Year, when Chen Tao and the other technicians returned to the lab, Li Dongling arrived to oversee operations—once again, Chen Tao and the mouse project team faced the tyrant’s torment: endless revisions of parameters, redesigns, and product rebuilds.

“Use this version of the mouse as the basis for our first-generation product!”

Just as Chen Tao and the mouse team were grinding through endless revisions, nearly driven to despair, they suddenly heard Li Dongling’s words—Chen Tao himself wondered if he’d misheard.