When Chen Qing pointed out her thoughts and Lin Su felt the calm, ambiguous gaze of a certain man, she became inexplicably flustered and retorted, "I... I didn't."
Aiding and abetting.
That was a serious accusation.
Although he was despicable, he wasn't quite that bad. At most, he just liked to act recklessly in certain areas.
Simon glanced at Lin Su, who seemed distracted, then leaned over and whispered something into Chen Qing's ear. She immediately stood up and, before Lin Su could react, pulled her over and placed her beside Simon.
With others still present, Lin Su hesitated for a moment, wanting to leave but inexplicably decided to stay.
A voice, soft yet tempting, whispered in her ear, "Do you think I'm a good person?"
Lin Su turned her head away in protest.
A bad guy.
Wasn't it obvious?
Yet the man didn't let her go, "Answer me. And if you get it wrong, there will be a punishment. Right here."
Right... here?
Lin Su's gaze quickly swept over the three women sitting on the other couch before she hesitated again, then muttered softly, "You're... okay, I guess."
"Wrong answer."
"?!"
"I'm not a good person. You should know, no one who reaches the top of the social pyramid can be a good person. This world is far more ruthless than you think—100 times more ruthless. So many people are climbing, using any means necessary. Good people are just pushed down and crushed." His tone took on a teasing edge. "So, if you think someone at the top is a good person, there are only two possibilities."
Lin Su was already a bit confused, her mind swirling with thoughts of punishment. She reflexively asked, "What two possibilities?"
"First, you've been deceived."
"Huh?"
She responded instinctively but didn't want to know the second possibility, sensing it wouldn't be good.
However, the voice persisted, "The second is that you've fallen for that bad guy."
"..."
Lin Su kept her head turned, her eyes lifting to glance at the balcony railing not far ahead.
Here.
Jumping down shouldn't be a big deal, right?
Then, that voice, like a devil from hell who could see through her heart, said, "No worries, at most you'll break a leg. Want to give it a try? It might hurt, but it'll definitely be an unforgettable experience."
Oh, God!
Unable to endure it anymore, Lin Su raised her hands to cover her face.
I can't see.
If I can't see, then it's not happening…
Who knows how long passed, but the man didn't press further and allowed her to pretend to be an ostrich.
Night had fallen, and the sky at the edge of Long Island, free from the glow of neon lights, revealed a scattering of stars. Chen Qing's soft singing soon filled the air.
When will the bright moon appear?
Raise a glass to the heavens...
Not knowing what year it is tonight in the celestial palace...
Time seemed to slow down with the song, and deep inside, Lin Su wished it could slow even more—perhaps forever.
Forever.
Until someone came to remind them that dinner was ready, returning them all to the mundane world. In the faint light of dusk, the trees swayed, and the distant sea rippled gently—though no wheat fields were in sight.
But things that needed doing still had to be done.
After dinner, Chen Qing presented Simon with a prototype of a personal computer developed by her company, Excellence Technology. Her boss finally had the time to pay attention to her small venture.
In a study on the second floor of the villa, the prototype, specially brought from China, was already set on the desk.
At first glance, at least by the standards of current PCs, it was aesthetically pleasing.
With a plastic body and a pure white design, it had a CRT monitor with a clean, square 17-inch screen and a resolution of 800x600. The tower was similarly bright and minimalist, equipped with a floppy drive and the increasingly popular CD drive, as well as a front USB port.
The exterior.
This was the only aspect of the computer that Excellence Technology could perfect at the moment. Chen Qing had followed Simon's advice and planned to market it using a concept he had suggested—"The Art of a Steel Plate's Journey."
Simon had initially proposed a metal case design for the tower, but unfortunately, it wasn't feasible at the moment.
It needed to match the monitor.
CRT monitors still dominated the market, and though LCD screens had emerged, they were far from affordable. And CRT monitors couldn't be paired with metal cases since plastic was still the standard.
In the end, it all came down to cost.
To break into the market, Excellence Technology had to keep costs to a minimum.
Inside the study, after explaining the design details, Chen Qing personally pressed the power button. "Boss, I've had several meetings with Intel, but they've only offered us the same pricing as other manufacturers, which won't give us a significant advantage. After consideration, I think the best option is to use AMD processors. Three months ago, AMD released their K5 processor to compete with Intel's Pentium series. We received samples last year. Although there's still a bit of a gap with Intel's Pentium, it's not significant. Most importantly, the K5 is priced at only a third of the cost of a Pentium. I've met with AMD a few times, and after reviewing my business plan, they've even offered additional discounts."
Chen Qing spoke cautiously.
After all, her boss was a major Intel shareholder, and while she had learned that the Westeros system had once invested in AMD, they had later sold all their shares. Even though she judged her boss to be broad-minded by now, there was always a chance.
And if Excellence, backed by AMD, outcompeted Intel in China, it might not sit well.
Excellence's success was inseparable from the backing of the Westeros system.
Chen Qing had mentioned that AMD gave her a discount after reviewing her business plan, but in reality, she had subtly invoked her boss's name, implying that the plan had his guidance. Only then had AMD taken her more seriously.
Excellence Technology's current share structure consisted of a $1 million investment from Westeros, which owned 50% of the company, Chen Qing herself owned 30% after investing $600,000, and the remaining 20% was split between Emmanuel Brandt, Lin Su, and two key technical and marketing executives in China.
These were all decisions initiated by Chen Qing.
With a total of $2 million in startup capital, Chen Qing could have easily funded the entire venture herself, but that wasn't how business worked. Especially after spending time around her boss, Chen Qing had come to understand the concept of "give and take." To gain, one must first be willing to lose something.
Simon leaned back in his leather office chair, watching the Windows 95 startup screen on the monitor. He smiled and said, "Actually, if you had chosen Intel, I would have been disappointed. That would be following the same path as all the other Chinese manufacturers. The PC market in China is still in its early stages, but competition is already fierce—it's a red ocean. To succeed, you have to take a different approach, outmaneuver them."
Even though he was a major shareholder of Intel, at Simon's level, he wouldn't show favoritism.
The market was ruthless.
All businesses had to adapt to that cruelty.
If Intel lost to AMD in China, Simon wouldn't blame Chen Qing; he would commend her instead.
As for Intel, as the loser, they would be the ones to face the wrath of their shareholders.
Hearing this, Chen Qing relaxed, realizing her earlier concerns were unnecessary. She shifted closer to Simon, bent down, and grabbed the mouse to open a document on the desktop, saying, "Boss, here are the specs and cost breakdown of the prototype. Aside from AMD's K5, we've included a dedicated graphics card—not ATI, which is more popular, but the first graphics card from NVIDIA. I checked, and both companies have investments from the Westeros system."
In recent years, Simon had been building his presence in the hardware sector, with graphics cards being a key focus.
In the original timeline, ATI and NVIDIA were fierce rivals, with NVIDIA consistently outperforming ATI.
But now, things were a bit different. Thanks to early investments from Westeros, ATI was already working on its third-generation PC graphics card. NVIDIA, founded in 1993, had just released its first consumer-grade graphics card, with funding support from Westeros.
Simon didn't give any further comments and simply smiled as he reviewed the prototype's specifications. According to the comparison listed, aside from the CPU and GPU, the rest of the computer's specs were impressive, matching those of a Lenovo computer priced at 9,999 yuan.
As for the cost, it totaled around 4,500 yuan.
After reading the document, Simon looked up at Chen Qing, "How much do you plan to price it at?"
Chen Qing had left a prominent question mark at the end of the pricing section. When Simon asked, she smiled and said, "Boss, take a guess."
To achieve a breakthrough, the pricing would need to be very attractive.
After thinking for a moment, Simon typed a number where the question mark was.
4999.
Chen Qing was visibly surprised, "Boss, you're really good."
Although the processor was slightly inferior, the rest of the computer's specs were on par with Lenovo's 9,999 yuan product. Most people would have guessed a price around 7,999 yuan. A 2,000 yuan difference for similar performance would already be enticing to consumers.
But pricing
it at 4,999 yuan was downright aggressive.
A price slasher.
With a 4,500 yuan cost, there would only be a 10% profit margin. Any slip-ups could leave them with no profit at all.
They would also have to adopt a direct sales strategy, like Dell.
However, Simon wasn't making this decision lightly.
Excellence Technology was ostensibly competing with Intel Pentium products, but its real competitor was China's rapidly growing DIY assembly market, where AMD processors were already very popular. Excellence's approach was similar to how Xiaomi later captured market share from cheap, assembled phones.
Simon continued discussing hardware configurations with Chen Qing before asking, "I've already talked to you about controlling costs. Now that you've produced the product, the next step is marketing. Do you have a plan?"
Chen Qing nodded, "Excellence will first focus on the southern China market, centered around Guangdong. We'll cover it extensively through print media, with our core strategy being the 'scarcity marketing' you mentioned before."
Simon nodded slightly, then looked at the comparison chart on the screen. "This comparison is good, but it still requires some hardware knowledge to appreciate. Have you thought about showcasing the performance more directly?"
Chen Qing looked puzzled.
Simon smiled, "Develop a specialized benchmarking software. It could test and score every component—CPUs, GPUs, memory, hard drives, motherboards, even peripherals like keyboards and mice. Then add up the scores to get a total. That way, the results are clear and easy to understand."
With a little guidance, Chen Qing's eyes lit up. She added, "But, Boss, we definitely can't develop this software ourselves."
"Of course not. It has to be done by an 'independent third party.'"
Chen Qing chuckled, mentally adding quotation marks to the phrase "independent third party."
After all, what truly independent third parties exist?
Everyone's got to make a living.
Simon continued, "Also, the first batch of Chinese websites has already emerged. Egret's first data center in Shanghai will be operational mid-year. When that happens, there will likely be a boom in Chinese websites. This benchmarking software can be spread via the internet. And while you're at it, build a website around it to continuously update scores for various PC components."
After Egret's IPO last year, the company had begun constructing a new batch of data centers globally.
The Chinese data center was located in Shanghai, and though its scale was small due to the current size of the Chinese internet market, it was expected to be operational by June, providing AWS-like services to Chinese users. With over 50 million fixed-line telephone users in China, many of them would become the country's first wave of internet users. The biggest problem now was the lack of infrastructure.
Egret's Shanghai data center would help solve one of the biggest obstacles. Much like how Stanford University's campus network incubated legendary websites like Yahoo and Google, Westeros' first major data center in China could play a similar role.
Chen Qing had been keeping an eye on this development as well and said, "Excellence's first product will likely launch in June, but we can start developing the benchmarking software and website earlier."
Simon studied her thoughtful expression and added, "Chen, you need to understand that relying on cost-effectiveness to break into the market is just an initial strategy. For long-term growth, that approach isn't sustainable. A business needs a healthy profit margin to create a virtuous cycle. So, Excellence will have to pivot eventually."
Chen Qing blinked, then smiled knowingly, "Boss, I get it. I don't plan to stay in this business long-term. Once Excellence reaches a certain market share, I'll prepare for an IPO and exit quickly. Just like with Scoper. After all, Excellence doesn't own any of its core components, and most of the profits go to upstream manufacturers. I don't intend to stay stuck in that situation."
Simon smiled, not objecting. "As long as you understand."
Chen Qing, with a playful twinkle in her eye, leaned down to hug Simon around the shoulders, "Boss, when the time comes, I'll make sure Westeros exits first."
"..."
That sounded... familiar.
But.
Hmm, she's catching on fast.
Who wouldn't like a subordinate like this?
_________________________
[Check out my Patreon for +200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! $5 for all!!]
[w w w . p a t r e o n .com / INNIT]
[+50 PowerStones = +1 Chapter] [+5 Reviews = +1 Chapter]