Chapter 91: Has the Chapter of a New Era Begun?

A direct flight from Yanjing to New York takes a little over thirteen hours.

Counting his previous life and this one, this wasn’t his first time on a plane, but it was his first time going abroad.

He looked at the white clouds outside the window, then glanced toward the first-class cabin.

The difference between people becomes strikingly clear when one person doesn’t have to wait in line while another does.

Zhang Yang felt this quite keenly.

Liu Ruohan was sitting in first class.

He had heard that you could lie flat in first class, and that they served cocktails and all sorts of free, exquisite food.

Actually…

He really wanted to sit in first class and experience the pleasures of the wealthy.

However.

After a moment of hesitation, he had ultimately chosen to sit in economy.

In truth, economy class was perfectly fine. Even if it was a bit noisier, he could at least look through the window at the misty white clouds and enjoy the view from above. The most important thing was that it saved money.

Fortunately!

Zhang Yang didn’t have to pay for the first-class ticket; Liu Ruohan had paid for it herself. Otherwise, Zhang Yang’s heart might have actually bled from the cost.

Rich people were truly loathsome!

Even her bodyguard got to sit in first class!

The more Zhang Yang thought about it, the more he felt that hiring Liu Ruohan had been a mistake.

He felt as though his somewhat fragile self-esteem was being slightly provoked.

At the moment, he was still in a relatively poor phase. Furthermore, he would soon have to spend money to have Zhou Yang help him run television advertisements. He really had to spend every cent where it counted most, making his budget tight in every aspect.

Zhou Yang was easy enough to deal with, but placing ads on television required cold, hard cash!

There was no way around it!

The internet era hadn’t arrived yet. Right now, television advertising was in a stage of frantic growth. Even if you knew the future trends, you still had to bow to the reality of the current era.

But…

At least I have a bright future.

Zhang Yang comforted himself.

One day, he would also enjoy the first-class treatment. When that time came, he would take one sip of a cocktail and pour the rest out…

When that time came!

Hehe…

Zhang Yang closed his eyes, feeling more comfortable the more he fantasized. Finally, he let out a yawn and drifted off to sleep.

…

Noon in New York was a busy time.

Andis didn’t head over to Gugou to discuss an acquisition today as he usually did.

At this moment, he was sitting quietly in his office, waiting for the arrival of his distinguished guests from Huaxia.

In fact, he felt that those Huaxia people were truly visionary.

A month ago, two people from Huaxia had paid to secure the usage rights for his Android OS for twenty years, providing an advance payment for the first year.

This was a great sign of trust and a form of recognition for him.

Even though those two Huaxia people seemed a bit bewildered when he talked about topics like the future, their unconditional trust had moved him deeply.

After all…

Artificial intelligence systems would sooner or later become the trend of the industry.

In fact, he wasn’t the only one who thought so.

He believed the people at Gugou thought so as well.

After several meetings, Andis strongly suspected that Gugou wasn’t uninterested in his system. Rather, his system wasn’t yet perfect and hadn’t been applied to reality, so they couldn’t see its true value for the time being…

Another possibility was that they wanted to acquire his company at an extremely low price.

They weren’t in a hurry.

They weren’t in a hurry, but Andis was.

The hundred thousand RMB those two Huaxia people had given him wasn’t nearly enough…

It was a mere drop in the bucket!

His funds were almost exhausted, and he had no way to proceed with the next step of research…

How much money would it take?

High-tech research was a bottomless pit that burned through cash. Even he didn’t know how much more money he would need to perfect the Android OS.

He was naturally unwilling to let Gugou acquire him at a low price now, especially if he couldn’t retain even a ten percent stake.

Even if they promised he would still have control over the company and would send technical personnel to assist with development, he still wasn’t satisfied.

When the acquisition price was far below one’s expectations, who would be happy?

And without a ten percent stake, what did that mean?

Even if they promised he would retain control, what about the future?

In the future, when he was no longer useful, wouldn’t he be kicked out of the company at any time?

In that moment, Andis felt a sense of despair, as if he were being strangled by the neck by capital.

But that phone call from Huaxia yesterday evening had ignited a glimmer of hope in the depths of his desperate heart!

It was twelve o’clock noon.

Just after he had finished lunch, Andis heard a knock at the door.

His assistant came in to tell him that the guests had arrived!

He instinctively stood up and went to greet them personally.

Then…

He saw three people walk in.

One was a girl wearing a mask. Her figure was so stunning that his heart nearly stopped at first sight.

As for the other two, one was a tall, large man who looked like a thug, while the other was a thinner, smaller young man chewing gum with a somewhat pale expression.

Well…

Rather than a young man, he looked more like a college student…

“Hello…”

“Hello, let me introduce myself. My name is Zhang Yang…”

“Ah, hello.”

Andis made an awkward mistake.

He instinctively wanted to shake hands with the girl who had made his heart flutter, but he was coldly blocked by the large man. Meanwhile, the young man on the other side smiled and reached out while speaking Chinese, and the masked girl translated for him.

This combination immediately struck him as very strange.

Was this girl with the beautiful figure just a translator?

Then why did she have a bodyguard?

He had never heard of a bodyguard protecting a translator.

And that young man…

Andis stared at the young man for a long time. The more he looked, the stranger it felt.

Although the young man’s clothes were decent, he really didn’t look like a wealthy person. Even the clothes on the bodyguard were more expensive than the young man’s.

Was this young man really their leader?

He watched the young man offer a smile before sitting down and surveying the surroundings.

“I didn’t expect to find you in a place like this, Mr. Andis…”

“I hope you’ll excuse the state of things… we’re just a young startup…” Andis blushed slightly as he saw Zhang Yang looking around. His company was indeed a bit crude. “However, even though we’re a new company, our product is quite mature. Mr. Tong Wei saw the potential in our work and signed a twenty-year contract with us. Our product is an intelligent system, the core of future robots, like the robotic assistants you see in movies. For now, it can be integrated into mobile phones…”

Andis wasn’t entirely sure who Zhang Yang was, but he was busy introducing his product, trying his best to leave a good impression of his system on this young man from Huaxia.

“Mm…” Zhang Yang watched quietly as the bearded Andis turned on the projector and desperately began explaining his product and future trends.

He could sense the urgency in Andis’s emotions.

He knew Andis was facing financial troubles and was desperately hoping his product would catch Zhang Yang’s attention, thereby securing the investment needed to solve his pressing crisis.

Zhang Yang was in no hurry.

In his original world, the Android system had already been acquired by Google by 2005.

In this world, however, it hadn’t been acquired by Gugou.

This suggested that while the major global trends were the same, there were deviations in the smaller details.

He remained lost in thought.

According to Zhang Yang’s memory, the Android system in his original world didn’t truly mature until 2008. No, strictly speaking, it seemed to be at the end of 2007 when Google united various global mobile phone manufacturers and software/hardware vendors to form an alliance. After that, they officially launched their assault on Novia’s Symbian OS…

That was the opening of a new chapter in history…

But it also laid the groundwork for the sudden technological stranglehold that would come ten years later.

“Mr. Zhang, are you listening?” Andis felt a sudden, baseless pang of anxiety when he saw Zhang Yang’s serious expression, as if the young man wasn’t paying attention.

“I’m listening, Mr. Andis. You’re quite short on cash right now, aren’t you?” Zhang Yang suddenly looked at Andis with a smile.

“Ah… actually, I don’t lack investment for good projects. It’s just, I hope to let everyone recognize our software. Um, are you familiar with iOS? I don’t believe our software’s future will be any less significant than Apple’s system…” Andis was not a qualified businessman, at least not yet. Upon hearing Zhang Yang poke at his true concerns, he instinctively waved his hands in denial before desperately trying to cover it up.

“Mr. Andis, I have no intention of questioning your system. I can invest in your company without interfering with its internal autonomy. I can even provide you with a great deal of financial support so you can continue your research…” Zhang Yang stared at Andis with a smile.

After Liu Ruohan translated Zhang Yang’s words for Andis, she suddenly felt as if Zhang Yang’s entire aura had changed.

She instinctively glanced at him.

She found that Zhang Yang’s gaze was very serious and exceptionally bright.

“How… how much can you provide? We need a lot of funding!”

“Fifty million!”

“What!” Andis was shocked and instinctively stood up.

He stared at Zhang Yang in disbelief.

Liu Ruohan was equally stunned!

Fifty million!

How could Zhang Yang even say that?

If Liu Zhongshan had said those words, there wouldn’t be any issue at all!

But this was Zhang Yang!

Even if Zhang Yang emptied his entire fortune, he wouldn’t have fifty million, would he?

Yet, seeing Zhang Yang’s exceptionally serious expression and the sharp glint deep in his eyes, Liu Ruohan instinctively felt that he wasn’t lying!

“Fifty million!” Zhang Yang repeated calmly, seeing the shocked expressions on everyone’s faces.

“What… what are your requirements!” Andis was intimidated by Zhang Yang’s presence. After a long moment of shock, he finally stammered out the question.

“I personally want a sixty percent stake in the company. At the same time, I want you to move to Huaxia and register the company there…” Zhang Yang looked at Andis.

“…” Andis remained silent for a long time.

A long struggle seemed to play out in his flickering gaze.

He neither agreed nor refused.

After holding it in for a long while, he finally looked at Zhang Yang. “Mr. Zhang, are there any other requirements?”

“None!”

“How do I prove you have the money?”

“I can give you two million upfront… Also, I’ll tell you a secret. I actually read the articles you wrote for the NTS Technology Journal very carefully. That Mr. Tong Wei I mentioned? I was the one who specifically sent him to visit you…” Zhang Yang looked at him with a beaming smile.

“You… it was you all along…” Upon hearing the mention of the NTS Technology Journal, Andis became excited again, staring blankly at Zhang Yang.

“Yes, I admire you very much, Mr. Andis. I feel that Gugou is just a group of capitalists, the kind who only care about money!” Zhang Yang nodded, then instinctively began to drive a wedge between them.

“…”

………………..

“Did you really read the NTS journal?”

“I haven’t…”

“Huh?”

“I just happened to find out he had published articles about robots in NTS when I was looking up his background…”

“Then do you really have fifty million?”

“No!”

“Then you…”

“The contract specifies phased payments, not all at once…”

“…”

On the plane.

Zhang Yang finally gritted his teeth and sat in first class.

In truth, the final contract was signed for three years.

Andis did not agree to turn the Android company into a Huaxia company; that seemed to be his bottom line.

However, he agreed to stay at Zhang Yang’s company in Huaxia for three years to conduct research, until 2008…

At the same time, because it wasn’t a Huaxia company, Zhang Yang couldn’t take full controlling interest in the Android company; he could only secure a 49% stake.

49…

Thinking about the future, Zhang Yang ultimately chose to give up.

However, Zhang Yang did sign Andis himself.

For the next three years!

The rights to use the Android OS belonged entirely to Zhang Yang, and all profits would be his.

In return, Zhang Yang only provided research funding. Naturally, Zhang Yang held the sole right of first refusal for any results from Andis’s research.

This wasn’t exactly a total victory, but Zhang Yang still felt he should reward himself.

Liu Ruohan was shocked!

She had never seen anyone who could boast so grandly.

She suddenly realized that Zhang Yang seemed to be plotting something again.

But…

No matter how hard she racked her brain, she couldn’t understand what Zhang Yang was trying to do.

“Novia rules the world right now. What’s the point of buying this system and bringing it all the way back to Huaxia? Such a massive investment just to make a mobile OS?”

“This will be a bloody revolution in the future. It just hasn’t started yet…” Zhang Yang closed his eyes.

“What does this have to do with your games?”

“It has everything to do with them!”

“…”

Zhang Yang fell silent.

At this moment…

He began planning something else in his mind.

He had originally wanted to acquire Android outright and turn it into a Huaxia company in every sense of the word.

But that was clearly impossible.

He had to settle for the next best thing.

In fact!

The people of Huaxia would eventually need their own operating system.

Using Andis’s Android was a way of learning from the foreigners to eventually compete with them¹.

Of course, even without Android, the Americans would surely have other systems to continue dominating Huaxia in the future…

Currently, Huaxia’s technology tree was still in a very weak stage.

He had to stabilize the landscape of the Huaxia mobile industry now.

He would first make money using the existing Android OS.

Once he had the funds, he would immediately develop his own system to counter the threat of the Americans’ potential stranglehold at any time.

In the future, if Android played ball, they would keep using it. If not, they would kick it to the curb and bring out their backup.

Zhang Yang thought back to the year 2020² in his previous world…

His mood grew heavy.

There was still time!

Yes!

Mm.

Now, he just didn’t know if Apple was already working on mobile games like Temple Run³…

That game was the one that truly kicked off the era of smartphones.

Zhang Yang’s thoughts drifted far away.

…

“What? He’s already signed a contract with someone from Huaxia?”

“For three years?”

“What! He can’t sign a contract with any other company for three years?”

“…”

America.

October 17th.

Edward, a high-level executive at Gugou, was suddenly stunned when he heard the news that Andis was preparing to go to Huaxia.

Then…

He suddenly realized he might have missed out on something!

He was filled with regret!

“No! It’s just an incomplete system. It couldn’t possibly have any impact. Besides, we still have iOS…”

But…

Edward had no idea…

On October 17th, the moment Zhang Yang stepped off the plane!

The Huaxia mobile phone market was about to enter a massive surge…

(End of Chapter)

Translator’s Notes