Chapter 83: Making a Decision

March 2, 1995, 7:00 AM.

After Di Ye got up, he looked at the rising sun outside the window, mimicked the way he had wished Kevin Mitnick well half a month ago, made a gesture of counting money, and said softly, "Yahoo! Happy birthday."

This day was the day the Internet 1.0 era superstar Yahoo was officially founded. At this time, the company's valuation was 4 million USD. When it went public in April of next year, its market value would be approximately 850 million USD, and at its peak in 2000, its market value would reach as high as 128 billion USD. With such an exaggerated increase, using a money-counting gesture to wish it well was most appropriate.

After amusing himself, Di Ye ran to the hotel gym to work out. As a result, he only exercised for a dozen minutes and hadn't even really broken a sweat when Xia Jianwu came looking for him, saying he wanted to take him to eat the best soup dumplings in Jinling.

"Looking at your dark-circled eyes, did you overindulge in lust last night?"

"Indulge my foot! I was tossing and turning all night unable to sleep, constantly thinking about whether or not to cooperate with Panda Electronics, and ended up with insomnia."

"So, have you made up your mind?"

"If I had made up my mind, would I have insomnia? Stop working out, walk with me to Gulou Square; walking is exercise too."

Di Ye was staying at the Jinling Hotel in Xinjiekou, about 2 kilometers away from Gulou Square, so it wasn't far to walk. He went back to his room to tidy up, changed his clothes, and then followed Xia Jianwu, chatting while walking north along Zhongshan Road.

"Do you really think there's a possibility of holding a controlling stake in Panda Electronics in the future?"

"I'll tell you a few pieces of data I've collected recently, and you can deduce it yourself based on these figures. After all, I'm not a person from Panda Electronics and don't understand your company's specific situation."

"Go ahead."

"First, in 1994, domestic television production exceeded 32 million units, ranking first in the world; second, there are currently over 60 large and small television manufacturers nationwide; third, in 1994, the urban television penetration rate was 110%, and the rural rate was 90%."

Because there was no internet, Di Ye had developed the habit of reading newspapers after his transmigration. He read over a dozen different types of newspapers every day and had Xiao Honghua record some important information, so he could rattle off various data points. After finishing, he asked, "Second Brother, if you were a leader at Panda Electronics, what kind of decision would you make when seeing this data?"

Xia Jianwu didn't even think about it and immediately said, "Lower prices! Start a price war, kill off those small and medium-sized manufacturers, and seize their market share."

"Smart. Then do you think the current leaders of Panda Electronics will do that?"

Xia Jianwu scoffed and said, "Definitely not. Panda Electronics is poorly managed, television production costs remain high, and there is very little room to lower prices. Moreover, those leaders are busy with the public listing right now, only wanting to maintain the status quo; they have neither the motivation nor the courage to start a price war."

"In Panda Electronics' current revenue, how much is related to televisions?"

"Over 80%."

"In that case, if Changhong, Konka, and TCL start a price war, how long can Panda Electronics hold out?"

Xia Jianwu frowned, muttered to himself while calculating for a while, and then said, "Last time when we were in Yuncheng talking about *Red Sorghum*, we discussed the future of the VCD Player. We agreed at the time that it would be updated and replaced around 1998, right?"

"That's right."

"From '95 to '98, that's 3 years... If Panda's televisions don't lower prices, they can probably only hold out for about 3 years. Do you think I'll be able to earn enough money to acquire Panda Electronics in 3 years?"

Di Ye couldn't help but laugh and said, "With your current hesitant mindset, it'll be a miracle if you aren't bankrupt in 3 years."

Xia Jianwu laughed himself and sighed, "It's mainly because, except for my little sister, everyone in our family has worked at Panda Electronics. We have deep feelings for it and find it hard to let go, so I'm overly concerned about gains and losses."

"Your eldest brother also worked at Panda Electronics?"

"Yeah, he worked as a purchaser at Panda Electronics for a period of time and only went to work as a secretary at the Municipal Government after meeting my sister-in-law. My grandparents also worked at Panda Electronics in the past; they belong to the founding generation."

"Your family is truly loyal through the generations."

After Di Ye teased him, he tightened his clothes and said, "If you have time in the next two days, take me to pay a visit to your eldest brother and sister-in-law."

"How about we have a meal together at noon today? My dad has been wanting to see you for a long time."

"Noon won't work, I still have to go to Jinling University later. Let's do it in the evening."

Xia Jianwu was a bit curious upon hearing this and asked, "You aren't even planning to go to Jinling University for your postgraduate studies, so why are you running over there?"

"I donated 200,000 to Jinling University yesterday. To thank me, they arranged for me to give an academic lecture today, and I'll also take the opportunity to visit the State Key Laboratory of Computer Software New Technology."

"Damn! You've already tricked my sister away, yet you were stingy and unwilling to give money. Jinling University has nothing to do with you, but you give 200,000 just for one visit—is that reasonable?"

Di Ye looked at him sideways, despising him, and said, "I let you take over 700,000 in kickbacks from those CD players Wang sold, and you still have the nerve to cry poverty?"

"I helped you delay the payment for the CD players and Decompression Cards for a month, allowing you to earn six or seven million more on the Treasury Bond Futures. Isn't taking a kickback expected?"

"Speculating on futures is my own ability; what does it have to do with you?"

Di Ye and Xia Jianwu mocked each other as they arrived at Gulou Square. They walked into the Gulou Food Store located in the northwest corner, went to the second floor, and found a restaurant called Jiming Restaurant. Business inside was extremely booming; the area in front of the pickup window was packed with people, a scene not inferior to a train station ticket office during the Spring Festival travel rush.

"Today is Thursday, so there aren't many people. If it were the weekend, I wouldn't dare bring you here."

The two squeezed into the crowd and waited for nearly 10 minutes before getting four baskets of soup dumplings and two bowls of egg silk soup. Under Xia Jianwu's guidance, Di Ye tasted them and felt the skin was delicate enough to break at a touch, the meat filling was firm yet tender and smooth, and the broth was incomparably delicious. It was indeed well-deserved and lived up to the reputation of being the best soup dumplings in Jinling.

After Xia Jianwu ate several dumplings in a row and satisfied his cravings, he suddenly had an epiphany and said with great spirit, "A real man should either eat from the five tripods or be cooked in them! I've decided to take a gamble and cooperate with Panda Electronics. In three to five years, you and I will join forces to acquire it."

"Your appearance of being fierce on the outside but cowardly on the inside shows you're lacking confidence. You're still trying to drag me into the water."

"Who told you to be bolder and better at making money than me."

Xia Jianwu took a sip of egg silk soup to wash away the greasiness from the soup dumplings and continued, "The leaders of Panda Electronics are all trash who seek no merit but only to avoid mistakes. I estimate they will only use the brand and some fixed assets as their stake and won't provide real cash. I'm afraid the capital won't be enough; how about you put up 3 million for a 30% stake?"

"How much of a stake do you intend to give Panda Electronics?"

"No more than 30% at most."

Xia Jianwu had many strengths, such as high emotional intelligence, strong ambition, and a keen business sense, but his weaknesses were also very obvious: he was indecisive and not resolute enough. Therefore, Di Ye didn't believe his bold words just now and said, "You go talk to the leaders of Panda Electronics first; come find me after you've negotiated it."

After finishing the soup dumplings, Di Ye took a taxi to Jinling University. With Professor Xu personally acting as the introducer, he held an academic lecture attended by over 200 people to promote the concept of Open Source.

Because Di Ye was leaving for Pengcheng soon, his schedule was very tight, so this lecture was organized in a rush. There was no manuscript and no slides. Professor Xu and the others originally thought the effect wouldn't be very good and had specifically prepared for a last-minute rescue, but the result left them stunned.

With the assistance of Xiao Honghua, Di Ye spoke entirely without notes, talking eloquently for over two hours. He started from the Unix Operating Systems at Bell Labs in 1970 and spoke all the way until the Computer Systems Research Group at the University of California, Berkeley released the 4.4BSD Operating Systems in 1994. In between, he interspersed major events such as the Free Software Movement, the Unix copyright dispute, and the birth of Linux, using a historical approach to instill the concept of Open Source into the students.

This history could not be called magnificent, but Di Ye told it in a fascinating way. The vocabulary regarding "freedom," "rebellion," "changing the world," and "challenging business giants" made the students listening to the lecture yearn for it and feel extremely excited, producing an excellent promotional effect.

"Di Ye, your memory is too good. You quoted classics in long passages and didn't miss a single word. No wonder you could score over 490 points."

"It's a pity you aren't a teacher with that eloquence. After you finish your doctorate at Yun University, are you interested in teaching at Jinling University?"

"Di Ye, organize the content of this lecture and compile it into a volume with those previous articles; I'll find a publisher to help you publish it."

After the lecture ended, Di Ye chatted with several professors for a while and noticed that Xu Chenye was staying nearby and kept winking at him. He understood immediately and said with a smile, "Senior Brother Xu, you are a local from Pengcheng and have worked before, so you have rich social experience. Are you interested in being a nanny for the Undergraduates for 3 months?"