Chapter 48

Currently, among domestic TV viewers—whether using antennas, cable TV, or satellite dishes that became popular last year—the most-watched channel remains the comprehensive channel.

An Ruxue and several journalists and hosts she knew, who had come to Yanjing for training from other provinces and cities, went together to the restaurant.

This training program lasts six months; the TV station takes it very seriously, even inviting overseas media outlets for exchanges, allowing An Ruxue and other local station journalists to experience international modern media.

Journalists and hosts who participate in this training, upon returning to their local TV stations after completion, will certainly be given important roles—of course, if they weren’t already slated for promotion at their local stations, they wouldn’t have received such an opportunity for advanced training.

“Ruxue, who are you waiting for on the phone? Since we got here, you’ve been staring at that pager—spill the beans, who are you waiting for? What man could make our Ruxue so obsessed?!”

Zhang Xin, sitting beside An Ruxue from Jinling TV, saw An Ruxue take out her pager again, stare at it for a long while, flip through it, then her face fell with disappointment; she couldn’t help asking An Ruxue.

“What nonsense are you talking about? Can’t even eat in peace?!”

An Ruxue’s face flushed slightly as she pretended to tear Zhang Xin’s mouth shut; the two playfully wrestled for a while, when another familiar journalist from a TV station ran over and said to An Ruxue and the others, “Do you know? There’s big news today!”

“What big news?!” Zhang Xin asked curiously.

“Rumor has it the news came from Hong Kong—TV station will broadcast it any minute…”

“Here it comes!”

As they spoke, someone shouted out; everyone dining turned to look at the TV in the restaurant, and An Ruxue lifted her head as well.

The news anchor appeared on screen: “We now report a breaking story: A patent infringement lawsuit over the mouse, concluded today in New York, USA, has resulted in a settlement between China’s Hanxi Dongling High-Tech and American giant Microsoft; Microsoft will pay Dongling High-Tech eighteen million U.S. dollars in settlement compensation!”

The news anchor, seasoned and having delivered countless major stories, still unconsciously raised her tone slightly when mentioning Microsoft paying Dongling High-Tech, revealing her inner excitement.

Since the past few years, Hollywood films and various Western electronic products have flooded into the country; facing Western cultural, economic, and technological impacts, many admired them, dreamed of going abroad to live the modern life shown in the news, sparking a wave of overseas migration and study-abroad fever, with English training centers and overseas migration agencies springing up like snowflakes.

In some industries, fear of Western companies has already taken root—like in technology, domestic firms have abandoned chip development entirely, as the gap is simply too vast; no matter how hard they study, they seem unable to catch up, so why bother?

Other tech products are mostly licensed or copied foreign goods, reinforcing the notion that foreign goods are superior and better than domestic ones—this idea has become deeply ingrained.

Yet at this very moment, the news about Dongling High-Tech emerged, giving those who feared Western companies—or even had already bowed down—the first glimpse that domestic products could actually defeat foreign ones; even if it was just a “small” mouse, it was enough—to prove that Chinese people could win, even surpass, the West in technology.

“The Mechanical Silver Mink mouse was entirely independently developed by Dongling High-Tech; all technology and patents are fully owned by Dongling High-Tech, demonstrating that China’s computer industry has made tremendous progress after years of development…”

The news anchor detailed every aspect of the lawsuit; had time permitted, she could have dug up far more about Dongling High-Tech and Li Dongling—this report would have taken over ten minutes to finish.

Finally, on screen appeared a photo of Li Dongling walking out of the Manhattan courthouse; the anchor continued: “Dongling High-Tech is a high-tech company from Pingyang City, Hanxi Province, founded by Li Dongling, a graduate of Hanxi Jiaotong University, indicating that China’s youth entrepreneurship has entered a new phase…”

“Clatter!”

Upon hearing Li Dongling’s name, An Ruxue’s chopsticks dropped instantly to the floor; she stared blankly at the TV, at Li Dongling’s smiling, triumphant photo as he exited the Manhattan courthouse, and for a moment she felt dazed.

But when she looked again, An Ruxue saw Yao Luoying, tall and slender, almost entirely engulfing Li Dongling in the photo; her heart tightened, and she clenched her fist tightly.

Zhang Xin, watching An Ruxue’s reaction and the TV’s introduction of Li Dongling, realized they were both graduates of Hanxi Jiaotong University; she felt she had just uncovered the truth.

“Do you know him?!” Zhang Xin asked An Ruxue.

An Ruxue said nothing, stood up, and walked away; Zhang Xin hurried after her: “Ruxue, going back now won’t help—he’s still in America, and training ends in over a month; if you leave now, you’ll be punished…”

Zhang Xin finally managed to hold An Ruxue back, pleading and reasoning until she stopped An Ruxue from going to the training department to withdraw.

An Ruxue pressed her lips tightly, clutching her pager, and walked quickly toward the dormitory; Zhang Xin sighed and hurried after her.

At the headquarters of Sitong Group in Beijing’s Zhongguancun, when they saw the news on TV, Duan Yongji, Chu Zhong, Li Yuozhuo, and Li Wenjun fell into long silence.

Just a month ago, they had been on the golf course, laughing and commenting on Dongling High-Tech’s lawsuit against Microsoft as a joke; now, even Duan Yongji was stunned—Dongling High-Tech had truly turned the tide!

As China’s largest tech company, Sitong knew better than anyone how humble and helpless domestic firms were against Western tech giants; not just against American or European companies, but even against Japanese firms, domestic companies were always at a disadvantage, begging for cooperation, accepting harsh terms, paying exorbitant costs just to partner—let alone surpassing them; even a powerhouse like Sitong had never dared to dream of it.

“When Li Dongling returns to China, let’s find a chance to meet him,” Duan Yongji said after a moment, to the others.

Kong Weiming, director of Hanxi Provincial TV, brought two bottles of fine wine to the Hanxi Provincial City government residential compound.

After ringing the doorbell, Du Fengying opened the door for Kong Weiming: “Old Kong, come in—Old An’s been waiting for you!”

“Director An, today I’m imposing on you and Sister Du,” Kong Weiming said as he entered, addressing An Yueguo seated on the sofa.

An Yueguo put down his newspaper, glanced at the wine Kong Weiming brought, waved him to sit: “Nonsense—you’ve eaten at my home before when you were my secretary; no need to be so formal!”

Kong Weiming had once been An Yueguo’s secretary and knew his temperament: “Director An, I brought these two bottles of wine to congratulate you—I heard the provincial government is considering promoting you to…”

“Watch your tongue!”

“Watch your actions!”

“Weiming, the older you get, the less respect you show for rules—whose decisions are you trying to guess?!”

An Yueguo spoke sternly; Kong Weiming immediately stood up to apologize, when Du Fengying stepped in to defuse the tension: “Old An, Weiming came all this way to visit—why scold him? He’s not your secretary anymore, remember?”

“Director An is right—I was impulsive; no matter what, I am still Director An’s secretary—was, and always will be!” Kong Weiming quickly affirmed.

“Let’s eat.”

An Yueguo put away his newspaper to begin eating, when Li Dongling’s name came on TV; he stopped, turned his head toward the screen.

A few minutes later, Kong Weiming clearly sensed the atmosphere had changed; Du Fengying stared at the TV news, hand over her mouth, utterly stunned, as if she couldn’t believe what she saw.

An Yueguo’s breathing shifted several times; Kong Weiming could feel An Yueguo’s emotions shifting rapidly within minutes—from anger, to fury, to helplessness—leaving Kong Weiming deeply alarmed; he had no idea what connection the An family had with Li Dongling to cause such intense emotional swings.

“I’ve lost my appetite—I can’t keep you company today. Let’s meet another time!”

After watching the news, An Yueguo glanced back at Du Fengying, suppressing his inner dissatisfaction and a tinge of regret, swept his sleeve, and walked straight into his study; Kong Weiming knew An Yueguo was now deeply displeased.

Inside the study, An Yueguo could no longer hold back—he slammed his palm onto the table; if Li Dongling were An family’s son-in-law, this news alone would have been enough to propel An Yueguo to the next level!

The domestic political situation was clear: economic development was paramount; if he had a son-in-law who founded a major tech company capable of defeating foreign firms, it would be a tremendous boost to An Yueguo’s career—but now, An Yueguo sighed helplessly: it wasn’t impossible in the future, but the prize that should have been a sure thing for the An family had slipped away—how could he accept it?

Meanwhile, in Pingyang City’s government residential compound, Yao Zhengru called out to Yao Luoying’s mother, Han Liuping: “Go get me that bottle of old wine!”

“We just ate—why drink now?!” she said, but seeing Yao Zhengru’s barely concealed excitement after watching the news, she still stood up to fetch him a bottle of wine and prepared two side dishes.

Yao Zhengru picked up the phone and called his secretary: “Notify Dongling High-Tech—tomorrow, I, along with Mayor Luo and city leaders, will visit and inspect Dongling High-Tech. No, go there yourself.”

Inside Pingyang City Hospital, Xu Yongjin, the former factory director of Xicheng Wireless Factory One, who had been hospitalized since before last New Year’s due to illness, had just finished eating; he felt better and planned to be discharged in a few days to return and clean up the mess.

Xicheng Wireless Factory One had completely shut down, becoming a ruin; creditors swarmed everywhere, no one willing to take responsibility; Xu Yongjin still hoped to give his last effort to revive the factory.

But when Pingyang TV aired news about Li Dongling and Dongling High-Tech, especially highlighting Li Dongling’s former employment at Xicheng Wireless Factory One, Xu Yongjin’s vision went black, his head buzzed, and he lost consciousness.

Xu’s family members in the hospital room, seeing Xu Yongjin collapse after watching one news report, erupted into chaos.