Chapter 713: Come and Don’t Think About Leaving
Outside the Dragon Core Semiconductor factory gates, it was a scene of bustling activity.
Interview vehicles from seven or eight media outlets blocked the entrance, their cameras and microphones all pointed at the tightly shut factory gates.
A few men in suits, looking like officials, were arguing with the security captain.
“Is Dragon Core factory really starting trial production?”
“Is it true that Dragon Core’s goal is to surpass international advanced levels?”
“Dragon Core…”
“I’m from the Lu City District Committee. We want to inspect the project’s progress. Why won’t you let us in?”
“…”
The security captain was a young man in his twenties, wearing the black uniform of a Wanlong Society core member. He stood expressionless before the electronic gate, with more than a dozen young security guards in Dragon Core uniforms behind him.
As soon as news of Dragon Core’s trial production leaked, these reporters and local officials had flocked over like cats that had caught the scent of fish.
However, Liu Yutong had already stated that she didn’t want pointless interviews and inspections wasting Chief Qiu’s time and the energy of the engineers, so she had issued strict orders.
No outsiders permitted, not even Uncle Li could enter without advance notice.
To ensure these requirements were strictly enforced, the security guards recruited were all young military veterans, and the captain was a Wanlong Society core member. Only this way could commands be carried out without exception.
Otherwise, if they were ordinary security guards, they’d probably have lost their nerve the moment they saw local officials arrive.
“I’m sorry, but without an appointment, no one can enter.”
The security captain repeated expressionlessly: “Dragon Core is currently conducting critical technical debugging. All visits and interviews are declined. This is a direct order from our Young Mistress. Please leave.”
“Young Mistress? You’re talking about Director Liu from your Dragon Core, right? What does a little girl like her understand?”
A beer-bellied middle-aged official grew angry: “This is our normal inspection procedure for enterprises in our district. How dare a mere security guard like you stop us?”
The security captain remained unmoved: “I’ll say this one last time: without an appointment, no one enters!”
At that moment, a black Mercedes drove up to the factory entrance.
The window rolled down and Zeng Jin poked his head out. Seeing the scene at the gates, he couldn’t help but exclaim: “Whoa, damn! So many media and officials, what major event is happening at Dragon Core?”
He then greeted Liang Mengsong, got out first to investigate, and learned that Dragon Core was beginning trial production today, which explained the crowd of media and officials.
This was understandable. Chip manufacturing was a key industry domestically, and a new chip factory beginning trial production was significant, so naturally many wanted to witness it.
But what surprised him was that these people, including the officials, couldn’t even get past the front gates.
He didn’t dwell on it further. Walking to the front of the crowd, he handed his business card to the security captain: “Please announce me. Zeng Jin from Taiwan’s Zeng Group, here at Chairman Liu’s invitation.”
The security guard took the card, glanced at it, and his tone became more polite: “Mr. Zeng, please wait. I need to verify this.”
“I understand, I understand,” Zeng Jin nodded with a smile.
Liang Mengsong also didn’t stay in the car for long and soon got out as well.
He was in his early fifties with a full head of black hair, looking quite spirited.
After getting out, he looked around the so-called Dragon Core factory, his eyes filled with curiosity and surprise.
“Chairman Zeng, this factory looks quite large in scale.”
Zeng Jin nodded: “What’s been built so far is probably less than a third of the total plan. That large area over there is still under construction. When it’s all completed, it’ll likely be another internationally ranked super-factory.”
Liang Mengsong was noncommittal about this. Unlike Zeng Jin, an outsider to the industry, he wasn’t so optimistic about Dragon Core.
Not to mention becoming an international giant, whether this newly established Dragon Core could withstand foreign sanctions in the future was already questionable.
But now was too early to say such things.
“Liang, let me give you the inside story,” Zeng Jin said. “The chairman of Dragon Core is no ordinary person. Her influence on the mainland may exceed your imagination. If you work for such a boss, you’re guaranteed not to lose out.”
Although his words contained some deliberate exaggeration to praise Liu Yutong, they were also partly sincere.
“If Liu Yutong was so powerful abroad, she shouldn’t be any weaker domestically, right?”
The reason he had rushed here was to gain a deeper understanding of Wanlong Society’s true strength in advance.
Only after gaining a general understanding could he determine which of the Zeng family’s industries would be most suitable to relocate to the mainland.
Liang Mengsong adjusted his glasses and said nothing.
He had agreed to come to the mainland to take a look for two reasons. First, the conditions Zeng Jin offered were truly generous: triple his salary, unlimited R&D funding, and a promise to help resolve the non-compete agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor.
Second, he had truly been unhappy at Taiwan Semiconductor. Originally, he had planned to try his luck at the neighboring Korean Two-Star Group, but he couldn’t resist Zeng Jin’s repeated invitations. To force him to come to the mainland, this guy had even shamelessly claimed that the Zeng family used to be part of some organization.
He had overtly and covertly implied: either come with me, or I’ll kidnap your entire family.
Truly left with no choice, Liang Mengsong had agreed to come to the mainland. But now that he was actually here, he still had his doubts.
Besides Zhongxin, what other decent chip companies were there on the mainland?
Especially this Dragon Core, he had never even heard of it before.
But since he was already here, he might as well take a casual look, get it over with, and顺便 tell this Dragon Core chairman he had yet to meet to stop Chairman Zeng from harassing him anymore.
Chairman Zeng had told him earlier that Director Liu was a young woman. Most importantly, she had a clean background and her enterprise was completely legitimate.
She would probably be more reasonable than Chairman Zeng, right?
As he was thinking, the sound of footsteps came from inside the factory gates.
Everyone turned to look.
Liu Yutong strode over, flanked by assistants and several Wanlong Society bodyguards.
Today she wasn’t wearing a suit, just a simple white shirt with black trousers, her long hair tied in a high ponytail. She looked less imposing, more fresh and capable.
“Chairman Liu is out! Quick! Get ready to interview!”
“…”
The local officials also put on smiling faces and moved to greet her.
Liang Mengsong also got a clear look at this excessively young chairman, and felt a wave of surprise.
Although he had been mentally prepared, actually seeing a twenty-year-old girl in charge of such a large-scale enterprise was still hard to believe.
What was even more remarkable was that at such a young age, she had chosen to enter the chip industry—one that burned through money like water with long return cycles. This was truly extremely rare among today’s youth.
“Chairman Liu, I’m from the High-Tech Zone Management Committee. Could you spare a few minutes to discuss cooperation?”
“Chairman Liu! We’re from the Science and Technology Bureau, here specifically to inspect…”
“Chairman Liu, I’m from the District Government…”
“…”
Liu Yutong frowned, a flicker of impatience flashing in her eyes.
“Move aside.”
“Information about Dragon Core factory’s trial production will be released through official channels at an appropriate time. We cannot accept interviews now. Please leave immediately and do not disrupt normal factory operations.”
Then she turned to the officials: “We appreciate your goodwill, leaders, but this is a critical stage of trial production. The factory needs a quiet environment. If there are cooperation needs later, we will proactively contact the relevant departments. For now, please return as well.”
The beer-bellied official’s smile froze. He obviously hadn’t expected Liu Yutong to be so disrespectful.
“Chairman Liu, this is non-cooperation with government work!”
Liu Yutong looked at him: “Cooperate with work? May I ask if you have Director Li’s approval from the provincial level? Or an official letter from relevant leadership? If not, then please leave! Dragon Core is a nationally supported key project, not a tourist attraction!”
“You!” The minor official’s face flushed red.
Liu Yutong directly waved at the security captain: “Escort the irrelevant personnel away.”
“Yes, Young Mistress!”
The security captain immediately led the guards in forcefully driving the reporters and local officials away from the main entrance.
Zeng Jin stood to the side, watching dumbfounded.
He had imagined Liu Yutong would be strong-willed, but never thought she would be this strong—daring to directly drive away local officials.
要知道，在台省，商人对领导向来是客客气气，哪敢这样啊！
After handling the trouble outside, Liu Yutong finally walked toward Zeng Jin and his group.
When she saw Liang Mengsong, a smile immediately appeared on her face and she extended her hand: “Engineer Liang, you’ve had a long journey! Please, come in!”
This speed of changing faces left everyone present stunned.
Those officials were even more furious.
“Why were these two outsiders being politely invited in while they, the local officials, were being rudely kept out?”
The more they thought about it, the angrier they became.
“How dare she treat us like this!”
“I’m going back to file a report—environmental assessments, tax inspections on Dragon Core… let’s see how long she can remain defiant!”
A young bespectacled official beside him was also indignant.
“This is outrageous! We’re representing the government to show concern for enterprise development. What kind of attitude is this? This must be dealt with seriously!”
“Right! We must teach her a lesson so she dares not be so arrogant again!”
“…”
A middle-aged official who had remained silent in the back suddenly tugged at the beer-bellied official’s sleeve.
“Lao Liu, calm down. Have you forgotten what background this Chairman Liu has? I heard that Leader Li at the provincial level has such a good relationship with her they’re almost family.”
“Leader Li? Which Leader Li?”
“Which other one? The biggest one here. I heard that when the leader goes to Imperial Capital for meetings, he brings this girl’s file, calling her a model young entrepreneur to be key-supported and looked after.”
Upon hearing this, the beer-bellied official’s anger instantly vanished.
The several officials who had been filled with righteous indignation also instantly fell silent, looking at each other.
“Ahem…” The beer-bellied official coughed a few times, his expression suddenly turning serious: “Actually… I think Chairman Liu’s actions are understandable. The chip industry is high-tech. The trial production stage needs an absolutely quiet environment. It’s really not suitable for too many visitors.”
“Right, right, right! We didn’t think it through, too presumptuous of us. We should have made appointments in advance. That’s basic courtesy!”
“Chairman Liu is so young yet shoulders such heavy responsibility, she must have exceptional qualities. We should support such outstanding entrepreneurs more, how can we cause them trouble?”
“Exactly, exactly. Let’s go, let’s go. Don’t disrupt their work here…”
As they spoke, they ran toward their cars, and in the blink of an eye, they had all slipped away.
Reporters who hadn’t yet dispersed in the distance saw this scene and looked at each other in confusion.
“What’s going on? Why’d they suddenly leave?”
“No idea. They changed faces faster than turning pages in a book.”
A sharp reporter quietly said to his colleague: “I heard this Dragon Core has deep backing, and that Chairman Liu is apparently… forget it, don’t ask about what you shouldn’t. Let’s withdraw, withdraw.”
Inside the factory.
Liang Mengsong noticed Liu Yutong wasn’t taking them to see the production line but heading elsewhere, and asked with some confusion: “Aren’t we going to see the production line first?”
Liu Yutong turned to look at him and smiled slightly: “Engineer Liang, let’s go to the cafeteria for a meal first, rest a bit, then tour the production line. Although Dragon Core has just started, I dare say our employee benefits are no worse than any international giant.”
Liang Mengsong nodded and said nothing more.
Deep down, he wanted to see the production line directly, but as a guest, he would follow the host’s arrangements.
When they walked through the cafeteria doors, they were stunned.
“This… is really a factory cafeteria?”
The cafeteria was decorated like a five-star hotel—crystal chandeliers, marble floors… in short, extremely luxurious, the environment was excellent.
Most shocking was the serving area. On a thirty-meter-long buffet table, a dazzling array of dishes was displayed: lobster, king crab, wagyu beef, foie gras, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, roast duck… Chinese and foreign cuisines were all there, even including the signature dish from Yuyuefang—Fish Pot Stickers.
At that moment, employees carrying trays shuttled about. Some had entire lobsters with ramen on their plates, others were cutting into sizzling steaks, and a group of young people sat around a table with steaming Fish Pot Stickers and various seafood before them.
Honestly, this dining standard was far more luxurious than many well-known major corporations.
Liu Yutong smiled: “Dragon Core’s engineers work very hard, so we can only make it up to them through food. Our cafeteria operates on a full buffet system—take whatever you want. The kitchen has over twenty chefs hired from star-rated hotels who can prepare both Chinese and Western cuisines. If there’s something specific you want to eat, you can tell the cafeteria manager in advance. As long as conditions permit, we’ll do our best to accommodate.”
Liang Mengsong looked at the relaxed engineers eating contentedly and had to admit that the food benefits were indeed far better than what he had experienced at Taiwan Semiconductor.
Watching them made his stomach growl a bit.
“Engineer Liang, Chairman Zeng, please help yourselves. I’ve reserved a private room, but I think eating in the main hall has more atmosphere.” As Liu Yutong spoke, she personally fetched two trays and handed them over.
Liang Mengsong took the tray in a daze and walked to the serving area.
He took two pieces of salmon sushi, a bowl of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, and added a serving of pan-seared foie gras…
By the time he sat down, his tray was full. And of course, before them was also a pot of Fish Pot Stickers.
“Engineer Liang, this Fish Pot Sticker is the signature dish of my restaurant chain. I’m not sure if it suits your taste.”
This was Liang Mengsong’s first time eating this dish. He picked up a small fish and put it in his mouth. The tender fish flesh burst with flavor, surprisingly delicious.
“How is it?” Liu Yutong asked.
“Very good,” Liang Mengsong answered truthfully. He picked up his chopsticks and took another fish and a piece of the crispy bread, eating heartily.
Just as he was eating with gusto, a middle-aged man in work clothes hurried into the cafeteria.
“Chief Qiu!” “Director Qiu!” Some engineers greeted the newcomer.
“Everyone eat and drink well!” Qiu Ciyun also cheerfully greeted everyone.
Then he strode energetically over to Liu Yutong’s table.
“Chairman, why didn’t you inform me that Engineer Liang was here?” He obviously knew Liang Mengsong.
“I thought you had come to the cafeteria first. I was just about to tell you.” Liu Yutong smiled.
Liang Mengsong also stood up and extended his hand: “Chief Qiu, I’ve long admired your work.”
Qiu Ciyun grasped Liang Mengsong’s hand and shook it vigorously: “Engineer Liang, I never imagined Chairman Liu had poached you! Wonderful! Wonderful! With you here, we’ll have hope of rapidly overcoming 65 nanometers next, and then 45 nanometers!”
Liang Mengsong felt uncomfortable with such enthusiasm: “Chief Qiu flatters me, I haven’t decided yet…”
“Decided what decided!”
Qiu Ciyun waved his hand: “You’ve come and can’t leave… er, I mean don’t leave. We have everything here, unlimited R&D funding! Whatever equipment model you want, as long as it’s not embargoed, the chairman can get it!”
“By the way, has your family come? Should we bring them over too? Our chairman’s hometown, Pearl City, has an especially good environment! And it’s extremely safe! Very livable! I guarantee that once you and your family go there, you truly won’t want to leave.”
“I’m right, aren’t I? Chairman?” He said to Liu Yutong again.
Liu Yutong nodded: “What can be satisfied, I will definitely satisfy.”
However, as Liang Mengsong listened to their words, he felt inexplicably uneasy. Why did it sound like he had entered a thieves’ den? And that he couldn’t leave?