38: Chapter 38 Zhao Yang: Taking a loss is actually gaining an advantage

Zhao Yang checked the time and estimated that Wu Yuedong shouldn't be asleep yet, so he picked up his phone and dialed his number.

"Old Wu, is everything going smoothly with Construction Group?"

"Very smoothly. Chen Shuting has accepted our proposal, and we will sign the contract tomorrow. It's just... Boss, she keeps saying she wants to meet you."

Zhao Yang smiled: "Tell her to wait until I'm done with this busy period. By the way, how is Gao Qilan learning?"

"Gao Qilan is learning very quickly. In the Late Stage, she is basically the one negotiating with Construction Group."

"Very good." Zhao Yang nodded with satisfaction. Gao Qilan's temperament was almost cultivated; that was something he had been thinking about from the very beginning. He paused and continued, "There is another important task coming up, and you and Gao Qilan will handle it again. Go to Pengcheng for an inspection in the name of Qilan Investment. The target — Tencent."

"Tencent? Boss, I know this company, they are having a hard time right now."

"Hmm, I know, that's why now is a rare opportunity." Zhao Yang said, "Invest 20 to 30 million, and ask for a 10% stake. We don't want any decision-making or management rights, just a pure financial investment. But there is one requirement — in any subsequent financing, Qilan Investment's equity must never be diluted."

"Boss, Tencent's valuation doesn't even reach 200 million, aren't we losing money?"

"Suffering a loss is gaining an advantage. Remember my request, go ahead and do it."

After hanging up the phone, Zhao Yang smiled faintly. Suffering a loss was impossible. Ten years later, a 10% stake would be worth hundreds of billions. This deal was definitely a huge profit.

After arranging the investment in Tencent, on the third day, General Feng invited Zhao Yang again.

This time they didn't go to an official venue; the two met at Zhongshan Park next to the Forbidden City.

The park was filled with many ancient trees, some of the cypress trees having a history of over a thousand years. The trunks were thick and gnarled, the side branches blocking out the sky and sun, and the weight of history was materialized at this moment.

"Comrade Zhao Yang, hello." General Feng walked up to Zhao Yang in casual clothes with a smile on his face.

"General Feng, hello." Zhao Yang scanned his surroundings — at least a dozen plainclothes officers had quietly isolated this area.

General Feng looked kind: "Don't be nervous, they are just doing their job."

Zhao Yang smiled slightly: "Looks like my plan has been approved."

General Feng patted his shoulder: "The leaders at the General Staff Department asked me to pass on a message."

"Ah?" Zhao Yang was stunned, his expression strange — this sounded a bit familiar; which comedy sketch was it from? It was performed by a bald guy.

"They asked if you are interested in going there, taking the special talent channel, starting as a Captain."

Zhao Yang shook his head: "Please thank that leader for me. I think my current position is more suitable for me, and it is also more conducive to contributing to the country."

"Hahaha, I knew you would answer like that!" General Feng laughed, "I guess when you brought out that plan, you already guessed we would accept it. Having a young person like you is truly a blessing for the country. Don't be humble, you deserve it."

Zhao Yang scratched his hair embarrassedly.

"We old guys studied your plan for a whole night and found that we didn't even need to change the punctuation. Let's proceed according to your plan. When you need our cooperation, contact me directly." General Feng handed Zhao Yang a slip of paper, "Call this number."

Zhao Yang glanced at the landline number, knowing it should be a confidential number for some department. His heart stirred, and he asked: "General Feng, is the military doing anything regarding mobile communication encryption?"

The shift in topic stunned General Feng for a moment: "Why do you ask about this?"

"I see that the number you gave me is a landline, it must be because you are afraid of mobile communications being monitored by hostile countries, right?"

"Yes." General Feng smiled bitterly, "We realized this problem, but the technical conditions couldn't solve it, so we can only try to avoid using mobile phones."

"I designed a little gadget when I was in school, specifically for mobile communication encryption. You just need to attach it to the phone. Why don't you let the military's research institute evaluate it? If they think it's suitable, just give me some money as a token."

If someone else said this, General Feng might not take it seriously. But the person in front of him was a "Genius" who obtained a master's degree in a few months. As far as he knew, Zhao Yang's master's thesis directly saved a national project. Was the "little gadget" in his mouth really just a little gadget?

"Comrade Zhao Yang, if your invention can really solve our problem, don't worry, you won't be treated unfairly."

"Then come to my dorm the day after tomorrow to pick it up, I will organize it."

"Okay."

After chatting for a few more sentences, General Feng left in a hurry. He had many things to do every day and couldn't accompany Zhao Yang to stroll in the park.

The next day, Zhao Yang spent the whole day typing out the detailed design and all the code for the communication encryption module. These things were stored in his brain — if he wanted to, he could even draw the design for a quantum computer, but that was too advanced and could not be realized with current technical levels.

Another day passed, and General Feng sent a middle-aged officer to take away the CD containing the encryption module design.

Zhao Yang wasn't worried about being taken advantage of — General Feng was, after all, someone with wheat ears on his shoulders, and this bit of credibility was still guaranteed.

In the evening, Zhao Yang went to the singing room in the 798 Art District.

The equipment inside was already in place, and Ling Hua and Zeng Yi were practicing singing. Wu Yuedong specifically signed an agent named Meimei to be assigned to the two. Meimei was a pure newcomer to the industry, with no connections to speak of, and could only do odd jobs for now.

They all knew that the real boss of Tomorrow Culture was Zhao Yang, and as soon as they saw him arrive, they greeted him respectfully.

Zhao Yang smiled: "Don't be so formal. Meimei, stop staring at me, wipe your drool. Go get some water."

Meimei had a carefree personality, and she chuckled: "Boss Zhao, you are too handsome, I couldn't help it."

Ling Hua and Zeng Yi looked at each other and smiled — they had talked about Zhao Yang's looks in private more than once, so Meimei's reaction was perfectly normal.

After distributing a bottle of mineral water to each person, Zhao Yang asked Ling Hua and Zeng Yi to sing a song they were practicing.

After listening, Zhao Yang looked regretful.

Both of them were a bit nervous, and Zeng Yi asked: "Boss, are you not satisfied?"

"This song of yours doesn't match your voices." Zhao Yang casually took out a few sheets of paper and handed them over, "Try these few."

Although Zhao Yang didn't have musical skills, his intelligence was there, combined with the memories of his past life, he could at least produce the simplified scores for a few songs. Even if there were some flaws, he believed that with Phoenix Legend's ability, they could perfect them.

What he brought out were the lyrics and music for "The Most Dazzling Folk Style", "Lady Shexiang", "Flying Freely", and "It's All Love".

Both of them were experts, and they were attracted just by taking one look.

They could perceive that these songs were tailor-made for them.

"Boss..." Zeng Yi's voice trembled, "This is... written by you?"

Zhao Yang smiled slightly: "As a graduate student at Shuimu University, is it normal for me to write a few songs? But there might be some imperfections in some places, you can modify them yourself according to the actual situation."

The three of them stopped talking. You are a computer science major! How is this supposed to let people in music survive?

Zhao Yang broke the silence, "Give you one week to practice the songs well, and then go on stage."

"Go on stage?" Zeng Yi and Ling Hua's eyes lit up, "Boss, where are you planning to let us perform?"

Zhao Yang smiled mysteriously: "Kyiv, Budapest, Moscow."

Ling Hua: "??"

Zeng Yi: "??"

Meimei: "!!"