Reborn as Zhao Ruilong of Handong, I will defy fate.

In the warm spring of March, a gentle breeze blows.

Colorful flags flutter at a construction site in Beian District, Jingzhou City.

Excavators and dump trucks, each adorned with red cloth and red flowers, were neatly arranged in rows.

Participants from different organizations sat neatly in their respective formations.

The television station's crane camera was raised high.

On the enormous stage, the large white lettering on a blue background was clearly visible.

Groundbreaking Ceremony for Loongson International's Handong Integrated Circuit R&D Base

Zhao Lichun stood in front of the microphone and delivered a powerful speech.

The homeowner representatives were in the first row below the stage.

Zhao Ruilong listened quietly to his father's speech.

To his left sat Zhang Rujin, who was about to go on stage to speak.

Zhang Rujin was exceptionally excited today.

He was born on this land in 1948 and is a native of Jingzhou.

Later, his parents took him to Longwan, but they never stopped educating him about patriotism.

After growing up in Longwan, he went to the United States for further studies and spent more than 20 years researching semiconductors at Texas Instruments.

Five years ago, after thorough preparation, he planned to return to China to start a business and open a company.

However, due to changes in the political situation, he had no choice but to invest in and open an integrated circuit manufacturing company in Longwan.

This company is developing rapidly and has excellent technology, which has attracted the attention of TSMC, a professional semiconductor foundry.

Despite the lure of a high price, Zhang Rujin remained unmoved. Unfortunately, the shareholders, driven by greed, tried various ways to persuade him.

Even after joining TSMC, Zhang Rujin never forgot his dream of returning to China to start a company and revitalize the semiconductor industry.

When Handong Province became a pilot area for high-quality economic development and reform.

When he heard that Handong Province was going to vigorously develop the electronic information industry.

Without hesitation, he took the initiative to contact the person in charge of investment promotion in Handong Province.

then……

He resigned from his high-paying job at Loncin, sold his shares, and resolutely returned to Jingzhou with his family.

Zhao Lichun, the historian of the Eastern Han Dynasty, who had personally received him more than once, also fulfilled his promise.

He personally took charge and oversaw the project, approving all procedures at the fastest speed and providing strong support in many areas such as land allocation, financing and loans, and talent recruitment.

Besides, what made him ecstatic was that Zhao Lichun's son, Zhao Ruilong, could not only provide him with strong financial support, but also offer powerful technical assistance.

At his invitation, the talented people who gathered from all over the world were treated with great respect by Handong Province.

Now, my long-cherished wish has finally come true.

Zhang Rujin was naturally very excited.

A round of enthusiastic applause erupted, and Zhao Lichun invited Zhang Rujin to the stage.

He could not hide his excitement and choked up a little after going on stage.

"Respected leaders, dear guests, I am Zhang Rujin, General Manager of Loongson International..."

Listening to Zhang Rujin's heartfelt speech, Zhao Ruilong felt immense admiration.

A highly educated, top-tier Chinese-American semiconductor talent, disregarding fame and fortune, returned to his homeland to invest in semiconductors.

You have to understand that in this era, many people are incredibly enamored with the West, and are even willing to go bankrupt and resort to smuggling to get to the United States.

It's like going to the US is like going to paradise, where you can enjoy absolute freedom and live an incredibly comfortable life. There you'll find cutting-edge technology, powerful military, exceptionally high caliber, and a thriving economy...

Therefore, how could Zhang Rujin's pure and innocent heart not be moving?

Before Zhang Rujin on stage had finished speaking, Zhao Xiaohui took out her phone, checked her text messages, and immediately frowned.

After gently nudging his younger brother with his elbow, he handed the phone to Zhao Ruilong.

Zhao Ruilong glanced down quickly and couldn't help but smile coldly.

"It's alright, isn't this what we expected?"

After returning the phone to his second sister, Zhao Ruilong continued listening to Zhang Rujin's speech.

Before the Spring Festival, my third uncle, Zhao Ligen, had given me a heads-up.

The rapid development of the internet cafe industry has brought new problems to society.

Despite its rapid expansion, Huilong Internet Cafe chain has always adhered to legal and compliant operations and has prohibited minors from entering.

However, many people are envious, and many minors want to go online to play games, so more and more illegal internet cafes are appearing near schools.

These illegal internet cafes, where you can play without an ID card, are causing more and more underage students to become addicted to games and neglect their studies.

They should have been in class or sleeping in their dormitories, but instead they went to illegal internet cafes to play games.

Having no source of income and not enough money for living expenses, they resorted to stealing, cheating, and even extorting classmates and robbing passersby...

These underage individuals, who lack ambition and are addicted to games, have finally ignited the anger of their parents and attracted the attention of Beijing's official media.

Meanwhile, a large number of influential state media outlets all reported on the matter.

Behind such a high degree of tacit understanding, it is clear that the Zhong family was secretly pushing things along.

After the storm of public opinion is stirred up, a large-scale investigation and rectification will inevitably follow.

Those who thrive on chaos probably wish the internet cafe industry would be completely destroyed.

Zhao Ruilong was completely unmoved by this; in fact, he even felt a little amused.

Even without the Zhong family's interference, the rampant illegal internet cafes would have eventually attracted nationwide attention.

It's not bad that the public opinion was ignited by the Zhong family in advance, and a strong crackdown is necessary.

Zhao Ruilong clearly remembered that in the world before he transmigrated, the internet cafe industry was severely regulated because of a large-scale fire.

The internet cafe manager was lazy and locked the door to go to sleep in the middle of the night. Little did he know that a fire would break out, and dozens of people who had stayed overnight to use the internet were trapped and burned to death.

Therefore, Zhao Ruilong naturally felt that it was a good thing that the internet cafe industry was being severely regulated before any large-scale casualties had even occurred in the world.

After the crackdown, illegal internet cafes have disappeared, while legitimate internet cafes are able to survive better. As an industry leader, Huilong Chain Internet Cafes will find it easier to grow bigger and stronger.

applause.

Zhang Rujin concluded his speech.

Led by the emcees, the guests arrived at the foundation pit.

Wielding shovels adorned with red cloth and flowers, the guests worked together to shovel soil, symbolizing the official groundbreaking ceremony.

Fireworks went off in unison.

It shot straight into the sky with a whooshing sound, and then roared loudly throughout the area.

Moments later, police cars sirens blared and flashing lights appeared.

One after another, minibuses and buses departed.

Zhao Ruilong and her brother, who wanted to return to Huilong Electronics, did not ride in the same minibus as their father.

After the van drove onto the wide, straight road, Zhao Xiaohui could no longer hold back.

"Many state media outlets got involved. If it weren't for the Zhong family's encouragement, how could there have been such a large-scale operation?"

Zhao Ruilong smiled faintly.

"What are you afraid of? The Zhong family has been holding back for so long, and this is all they've come up with!"

"It seems they've really run out of ideas and can't find a place to target, so they've had to turn to the internet cafe industry."

"Even though I know that regulating the internet cafe industry will only make me feel bad for the time being and earn less money, but will actually benefit my long-term development, I still have to take action."

Zhao Xiaohui asked anxiously, "Aren't you afraid they'll take a blanket approach and ban internet cafes from continuing to exist?"

"how is this possible?"

Zhao Ruilong laughed and said, "If we really want to take a one-size-fits-all approach, not to mention that hundreds of thousands or even millions of people working in related industries would not agree, tens of millions of netizens would also not agree!"

"Why should the entire internet cafe industry be shut down just because some minors go to illegal internet cafes to get addicted to games?"

"If we really do that, cars are more likely to kill people, so does that mean we shouldn't manufacture cars or ban them from the road? Kitchen knives can also be used as weapons, so shouldn't we also completely ban their production and sale?"

"Everyone is willing to allow the industry to be regulated and standardized operations to benefit the industry's long-term development, but it is absolutely unacceptable to be cut off in one fell swoop and not allow the internet cafe industry to continue to exist."

"So there's absolutely no need for us to rush. If they're going to shut down for rectification, then they should. Notify all directly operated stores and franchised stores not to worry. Salaries and bonuses will still be paid. This storm won't last long!"

Zhao Xiaohui hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.

Huilong Internet Cafes have now become the most important cash cow for the Huilong Group, earning more money than selling mobile phones and PHS phones.

Because every store is now packed every day, and it's hard to find a computer, the internet fees plus other business income easily bring in tens of thousands of yuan a day.

With thousands of stores, that's tens of millions in gross revenue a day. If we stop for a month or two, that's hundreds of millions in net profit gone.

Huilong Group is currently investing heavily, spending money like water. Zhao Xiaohui is naturally worried that if the business is shut down for too long, the group's cash flow will break down.

Just like Loongson International, which just started construction today, it's not just the construction site that requires money; recruiting talent, purchasing equipment, organizing research, and many other aspects also require a continuous stream of money.

Zhao Ruilong could see his second sister's worries.

"Don't worry, if money can solve the problem, then it's not a problem."

Zhao Xiaohui said anxiously, "But we're spending money too much these days, we've invested in far too many projects."

"We already earn little and spend a lot, and now Huilong Internet Cafe has been shut down for rectification. Our cash reserves probably won't last long."

"And don't forget, the high-speed rail project is about to start, and our subscribed 5 billion yuan in shares will definitely need to be credited to our account as soon as possible."

Zhao Ruilong smiled faintly.

"No rush. At worst, I'll find those international investors and ask them to invest more in our group."

Zhao Xiaohui said with a wry smile, "Our group has raised tens of billions of US dollars overseas, but we haven't seen any return on investment yet. Who would still be willing to spend large sums of money?"

Zhao Ruilong laughed and said, "Don't worry, those international investors aren't in such a hurry as you think. They're experts at playing the long game and catching big fish. They wouldn't expect to see a return on their investment in less than a year."

"Just like before the bursting of the US internet bubble, many startups didn't even have a profit model, but they raised round after round of funding just by relying on PowerPoint presentations."

“Investors are not looking at short-term gains. They want to burn money to seize the market first, and then make huge profits by achieving a near-monopoly market position, or simply cash out after the IPO.”

Zhao Xiaohui nodded silently.

Her husband works as the commercial attaché in Milley.

She had long heard about how crazy and audacious those Western venture capital firms and large conglomerates were.

It was precisely because of their boundless greed that they quickly created a bubble in the internet industry, turning it into a game of musical chairs, which ultimately burst.

As for the huge sum of money, which amounted to tens of billions of US dollars, where did it come from?

Zhao Ruilong certainly wouldn't tell the truth.

"By the way, the Zhong family has finally made a big move after holding back for so long. Has the Dafeng Factory, which they've been protecting so fiercely, made any moves lately?"

"Yes, I heard they recently won several big procurement projects in Linjiang Province, so they should be able to turn things around this time."

"What? They won several big bids? Their quality is poor, their prices are high, and their delivery time is slow. How did they manage to win the bids? This is probably the Zhong family abusing their power and manipulating things behind the scenes, isn't it?"

"Then what do you mean?"

"It's only polite to retaliate! If they can crack down hard on the internet cafe industry, why can't we relentlessly attack Dafeng Factory?"