classifiedscript Chapter 229 Solving Hardware Problems
Chapter 229 Solving Hardware Problems
Chapter 229 Solving Hardware Problems
"Where are you now?" Ernst's brows furrowed into a deep furrow, as if he wanted to crush the dust in the air in front of him.
"Ah—in—in Asia."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by Craig's signature heavy breathing, as if he had just finished three sets of high-intensity squats at the gym, or had been chased for three blocks. But Ernst knew Craig too well; this fatso, whose weight was consistently over 200 pounds, would never go to the gym.
Unless there's a still-attractive married woman in the gym, inviting him with loving eyes to embark on a different kind of thrill.
"Do you think I don't know you're in Asia?" Ernst's voice was even lower, like clouds brewing a storm.
The fat man was sent to Asia by himself to find hard drive manufacturers.
The Southeast Asian crisis had spread widely, severely damaging the economies of the entire region. Therefore, Ernst sent this fat man to Asia to find a hard drive manufacturer to advance the development of MP3 players.
"I'm asking where you are in Asia."
Two dry chuckles came from the other end of the phone; Craig clearly wanted to set a positive tone for his work first.
"I haven't been slacking off. I've been working non-stop these past few days, trying to find a suitable hard drive manufacturer for you."
"So what?" Ernst raised an eyebrow, his tone almost overflowing with sarcasm. The next second, his voice suddenly rose, like a volcano that had been suppressed for a long time finally erupting. "So you hurt her? I sent you to Asia to inspect hard drive manufacturers, not to have you hook up with someone."
"Did it hurt?" Craig was clearly taken aback, and the bewilderment in his voice could be clearly felt even through the phone.
"What does that mean? I don't understand."
"You didn't even understand what they were saying, and you dared to go ahead with it?" Ernst was so angry he almost slammed his phone on the table. "Aren't you afraid of being set up? What if you end up tied to a hotel bed, crying and begging me to buy your freedom?"
Before Craig could even defend himself, a clear baby's cry suddenly pierced Ernst's ears, followed by a gentle Chinese female voice saying intermittently, "Baby, don't cry, Mommy will breastfeed you—"
Ernst rubbed his forehead, feeling utterly helpless.
Sure enough, when this fat man arrived in Asia, his tastes remained unchanged; he still had a particular fondness for women with children.
But then I thought again, there's no need to worry about him being set up. What kind of honey trap would let their own child be a spectator?
"You mean Miss Lin?" Craig's voice rose eight octaves instantly after he realized what was happening, carrying a hint of protectiveness. "Hey, you can't say that about her. She's the love of my life."
"Fuck you." Ernst couldn't hold back any longer and cursed in front of Paul and several other executives in the office.
Paul and the others looked at each other with surprise in their eyes, wondering who was on the other end of the phone.
"True love?" Ernst sneered, his tone full of disdain. "How many 'true loves' have you had? Was it that Russian woman? Or Maria, the one who gave you a son? Or that divorced Hollywood producer?"
Ernst didn't care how many women Craig slept with.
Firstly, it's Craig's private life, and as long as it doesn't affect his work, he's too lazy to interfere.
Secondly, even if Craig does have some romantic entanglements, he will take the initiative to help the other party resolve them.
But Craig has a fatal flaw: he's too good at pretending, especially in front of women. He always likes to act like he's very rich, as if he wants to show off all his wealth.
Ernst's fear was that one day this fat man would be blinded by love and end up losing both his money and his lover.
"You can't blame me for this," Craig tried to explain, his tone tinged with grievance. "You know how difficult it is for a woman to raise a child alone. I was just feeling sorry for them and wanted to give them someone to rely on."
At this point, he suddenly changed the subject, as if he had thought of a crucial question: "Wait, how do you know Susan?"
I don't recall mentioning her to you. You two wouldn't have...
,.
"Get lost." Ernst knew exactly what Craig was going to say next without even thinking, and his tone was full of disdain. "I don't have your kind of special taste."
"So how exactly did you know Susan?" Craig seemed to have grasped something important and pressed on relentlessly. His insistence on getting to the bottom of things made Ernst want to crawl up the telephone line and punch the fat man.
"Do you think everyone passing by is blind when you're filming outdoors and passionately clapping in your tents?" Ernst said irritably, with a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Even if you stuff your clothes in your mouths to keep quiet, remember to turn off the tent lights next time. With such bright lights, you can see shadows moving inside the tent from three miles away. Do you think everyone else is stupid?"
Ernst didn't know about this at first; it was Robert Iger who told him it as a joke.
"Stop talking nonsense." Ernst rubbed his throbbing forehead, almost forgetting the important matter at hand. "I'm asking you the important question now: where exactly in Asia are you?"
"Uh...in Taiwan."
"Treasure Island?" Ernst's temper flared instantly, and his voice was so loud that Paul and the others in the office instinctively shrank back.
"This is what you mean by not slacking off? Tell me, are there any hard drive manufacturers in Taiwan?"
At present, Taiwan mainly develops memory modules and memory card businesses, and has almost no presence in the field of mechanical hard disks.
Craig going there to find hard drive manufacturers is like looking for the ocean in the Sahara Desert—a complete waste of time.
"Who said there isn't?" Even over the phone, Ernst could picture Craig craning his neck, looking defiant, as if raising his voice loud enough would prove him right.
"Of the hard drive manufacturers you're looking for, only one company in Taiwan meets your criteria. I'm not just making this up."
.
"I've always been based in Japan and South Korea, but the factories there are all large corporations that would never sell. I heard that Taiwan's semiconductor industry has been doing well in recent years, so I thought I'd try my luck here, and I actually found one."
Ernst was slightly surprised upon hearing this. Had he really wronged the fat man?
According to his memory, Taiwan's hard drive industry was not supposed to start until next year, so how come there are already manufacturers now?
He couldn't help but wonder if Craig had been scammed again. "Tell me the specifics."
Ernst's tone softened slightly, but he was still wary. He wanted to see what kind of company this fat man had found.
Craig put away his joking attitude and began to seriously report the information he had learned: "This company is called Zentek Storage Inc., and it is a joint venture between Lisennoco and Huanlong Technology."
"You may not have heard of these two companies, but they are quite well-known in Taiwan's electronics industry, especially in the production of semiconductor components, where they have their own technological expertise."
"More importantly, ZentekStorageInc has received assistance from the Institute of Optoelectronics and Systems, a research institute funded by the Taiwanese government."
Craig's voice carried a hint of excitement: "Their mechanical hard drive technology comes from this research institute."
"It's a bit of a pity, though." Craig's tone shifted, a hint of regret in his voice. "Although they developed the mechanical hard drive, subsequent testing revealed problems with the mechanical components, affecting the product's reliability. Coupled with a subsequent shortage of funds, they couldn't continue investing in research and development and improvements. So, at the beginning of this year, they abandoned the hard drive development project and instead focused on the research and development and production of optical disc drives."
"This company already has the basic capability to produce hard drives; it just needs to solve the mechanical issues and inject capital. If we can acquire this company, obtain their existing technology, invest some more capital, and hire professional engineers to solve the mechanical problems, we can achieve mass production in no time."
Ernst listened quietly, surprised that this fat man hadn't lied to him; in fact, he had done an even better job than Ernst had expected.
Problems with the mechanical components are not a major issue and can be resolved quickly. The fact that this affects product reliability precisely demonstrates that the company has already produced an actual product.
The rest was simple: acquire the company, solve the technical problems, acquire land to build the factory, and set up the production line.
If things proceed step by step, his MP3 player development plan can be smoothly implemented, and the product may even be launched earlier than expected.
Ernst made a decisive move: "Immediately begin negotiations on the acquisition, and at the same time select a suitable piece of land in Taiwan, recruit relevant talent, and prepare to build factories and production lines."
This time, Craig didn't try to bargain, probably because he'd only recently started dating his new love and wanted to spend more time with her.
"Actually, we don't need to find another place to build a factory. ZentekStorageInc has a large plot of land in northern Hsinchu. It was originally prepared for the hard drive project. Some of the factory buildings and infrastructure have already been built there. It's just that because we abandoned the hard drive project, those factory buildings have been in a state of suspension."
"We can buy that land and the existing factory buildings together. Then we just need to improve the idle factory buildings and set up the production lines, and it will be ready to use immediately."
"Hsinchu?" Ernst was taken aback. That's Taiwan's science and technology park, where a large number of electronics companies and research institutions will gather in the future.
I never expected to find such a lucrative opportunity there; it was a truly unexpected delight.
"Very good." Ernst's tone softened considerably. "I will have Wenger send a professional legal team to assist you. This matter needs to be expedited."
"After the acquisition, recruit talent and start developing 1.8-inch hard drives immediately, according to the requirements I provided. Since this company has the technology, it shouldn't be too difficult for them. I hope to see satisfactory results by the end of the year."
After Ernst finished speaking, he found that there was no sound from the phone.
He frowned, held the phone even closer, and faintly heard a soft, panting sound.
It was obvious that the fat man was retaliating for his earlier accusation and was deliberately causing trouble on the other end of the phone.
Ernst narrowed his eyes slightly, a cold smile curving his lips. Without the slightest hesitation, he pressed the hang-up button and dialed Maria's landline.
Ernst used to call this fat woman's landline frequently, so he knew her phone number clearly.
I wonder if we'll end up like Mars colliding with Earth?
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