“Can we see the procurement list quickly?” The crowd, unable to contain their excitement, urged.
“Ahem, of course, that will only be given to you after the transaction is finalized!” the representative said with a smile.
“…” The expressions of those present clearly soured. The representative, realizing this was not favorable to his superior, had a thought and continued, “How about this, I can tell you that this procurement list contains a significant portion of Zhū elements!”
“Zhū elements, it’s indeed about the materials!” Hearing this hint, the others remained expressionless. Although they knew what Zhū elements were, they had no idea of their specific function in the chips.
Only the representative from Kingston fell into deep thought.
“Well, is this information valuable?” the HSBC representative asked impatiently.
“Yes!” The Kingston representative hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “To be precise, this element confirms our company’s previous speculation.”
“What speculation?”
“It’s about the storage chip technology. Through certain channels, we obtained over a dozen storage chips from Jiangnan. After unpacking and testing, we discovered that the technology used in these storage chips is the most common one, far inferior to Kingston’s high-end technology.”
“Yet, technology like this has produced storage chips with such astonishing efficiency. Therefore, we believe the secret of this chip lies in the material of the chip itself.”
“So, we took a part of the single crystal silicon wafer and performed mass spectrometry analysis. We found that this silicon wafer contained a certain amount of carbon element, as well as a certain amount of Zhū element. The purity of silicon was less than 96%, completely different from the 99.999% or more purity required for normal single crystal silicon, reaching an opposite extreme!”
“Hence, we speculated that the mystery lies in this material. The Jiangnan Group must have developed a composite material, adding carbon and Zhū elements to the silicon wafer. However, this goes against a lot of common sense, which left our company utterly confused!”
“Later, we tried mixing carbon and Zhū elements in the same proportion, but the resulting single crystal silicon wafers not only did not improve efficiency but were completely unusable, like a piece of scrap glass.”
“Our chief scientist, after a long period of research, concluded that one of the Zhū element and carbon element must be a deceptive material. The true effective element is either the Zhū element or the carbon element, while the other is merely to mislead researchers like us who attempt to replicate the material.”
“Therefore, we are in a state of confusion, unsure whether to focus on the Zhū element or the carbon element, because these two elements have similar chemical properties and isotopic abilities to silicon. Both could potentially be the primary element, making it impossible to know where to start!”
“Now it’s better. If we can obtain that procurement list, we should be able to analyze more data based on the proportions and resolve our doubts!” the Kingston representative said. “But I wonder if this list is genuine or if it’s deliberately meant to deceive us?”
“Impossible! The Jiangnan Group doesn’t know that our true objective is their storage chip technology. They still believe that some influential figure in the country wants to take over their industry, hahahaha!” The representative laughed heartily. “Besides, all the documents we obtained are financial records, and we haven’t accessed any other information, nor have we shown any interest in their technology.”
“Therefore, I believe the Jiangnan Group will not have any reservations. Moreover, these two documents are hidden deep within the Jiangnan Group’s database, containing both textual and digital information, with matching time data between them, so there should be no problem!”
“These are just two very ordinary financial documents. The Jiangnan Group never anticipated the hidden secrets within them, so we’ve profited,” the representative said.
After he finished speaking, the Kingston representative found his words very reasonable. The information could not be fake. He then looked at the chairman’s representative with burning eyes, as if wanting to devour him. The representative felt a slight panic and quickly added, “Actually, this intelligence is not that important. As long as we unite and take over the Jiangnan Group, all their technical data will be publicly accessible to us.”
“At that time, everyone can directly obtain detailed technology. Why bother analyzing vague information from these small documents?”
“Exactly. Now is the time for us all to unite closely. We cannot give the Jiangnan Group more time to breathe. Huang He is a very smart and capable person. He could find a way to raise 1 billion US dollars to tide over the crisis at any moment, so we must act swiftly and give him no chance to react!” The Citibank representative added, and everyone agreed. They then made arrangements.
The chairman’s representative, bearing evidence provided by the two banks, would directly demand that the Jiangnan Group repay the loan. If the Jiangnan Group showed any sign of delay, they would immediately file a lawsuit, freeze all of the Jiangnan Group’s assets, and then swallow this colossal company whole.
The next day, the representative traveled to Wenzhou overnight and handed over the evidence to the investigation team leader. The team leader dared not delay. As soon as work began, he entered the Jiangnan Group again. However, he did not see Huang He, as it was reported that Huang He had not been at the company since the incident, and his whereabouts were unknown.
However, this was normal. Huang He must have been traveling around the country raising funds; he wouldn’t be able to get any money by staying in Wenzhou.
But it didn’t matter. The investigation team leader found Leng Zhiruo and, in her presence, announced that GH had confirmed their illegal use of loans, declared the loan contract invalid, and demanded that the Jiangnan Group immediately repay the 1 billion US dollar loan.
“You have no evidence!” Leng Zhiruo stated forcefully. The investigation team leader, without further ado, threw the collected evidence in front of Leng Zhiruo.
“This evidence is forged, we do not admit it!” Leng Zhiruo’s face turned pale upon seeing the fund flow, but she still denied it very forcefully.
“If that is the case, then we will see you in court, and let the court make the decision!” With that, the investigation team leader left without looking back. Leng Zhiruo finally couldn’t hold back and called out after him, “Director, please give us ten more days. We will gather the money in ten days!”
“What, you can gather it in ten days? Then I definitely cannot delay any longer!” the investigation team leader muttered to himself, and without paying any attention to Leng Zhiruo, he left. Leng Zhiruo slumped into her chair, her face pale, until the investigation team leader’s voice completely faded.
Then, Leng Zhiruo sprang up with renewed vigor and said to a painting on the wall, “How was my acting?”
“Hmm, it’s comparable to Zhiwen’s!” Huang He pushed open a secret door and walked out. It turned out he had been hiding in the shadows the entire time, silently watching the scene.
“Brother-in-law, how exactly do you plan to deal with them? We can’t drag this out any longer. If the banks really freeze our assets, even if the company can continue to operate normally, it will severely affect our company’s business!” Leng Zhiruo said.
“Yes, but we still have at least three days. Even if they have connections everywhere, the court needs three days to sort through all the data and evidence before issuing an asset freeze order. Before that, as long as we produce the 1 billion US dollars, it will be fine!” Huang He said.
“But in three days, what can we do?” Leng Zhiruo asked in confusion.
“There are many things we can do, for example, we can go and borrow money!” Huang He said with a sly smile.
——————————
August 28, 2003. On the first night GH filed a lawsuit with the court, the person in charge of HSBC in Hong Kong suddenly received astonishing news: Huang He had arrived in Hong Kong and had sent letters to all banks in Hong Kong, stating his willingness to mortgage the assets of Jiangnan Group to obtain 1 billion US dollars.
Jiangnan Group stated that they were willing to offer a hefty interest rate of 20% per year, meaning they would repay 1.2 billion US dollars for a loan of 1 billion US dollars. This was essentially usurious interest.
“As expected, Huang He is desperate!” Seeing this news, Smith Yang of HSBC wore a triumphant smile. This was because Huang He had also sent him a letter, stating that he would visit for detailed discussions the following afternoon.
In fact, Huang He had spent the entire day engaging in discussions with other banks.
“How did their negotiations go?” Smith Yang asked his secretary. He was still a little worried that some bank, acting out of foolishness, might decide to lend money to Huang He, which would be a great trouble.
“Huang He returned empty-handed!” the secretary said with a smile. “First, people in the industry know that this is a setup by HSBC, so they dare not confront us. Second, Old Master Li has spoken, so the industry is even more hesitant to lend money to Jiangnan Group!”
“However, I heard that Mr. Xiang Da Wang was somewhat tempted and willing to lend money, but he was greedy and asked for 1.6 billion US dollars to be repaid after one year, which Huang He refused!”
“1.6 billion US dollars? He really dares to ask for that much. I’m almost tempted myself!” Smith Yang licked his lips and had a pleasant evening. However, the next morning, he heard new news from his secretary that Huang He, who was scheduled to visit that afternoon, was impatiently coming to meet HSBC that morning.
“He must have been rejected everywhere and realized that other banks wouldn’t lend him money. Only by dealing with us at HSBC can he borrow money!” Smith Yang understood Huang He’s psychology perfectly.
“So, should we meet this Mr. Huang?” the secretary asked.
“Meet him? Of course, we must meet him. I haven’t met this Mr. Huang yet!” Smith Yang nodded.
Thus, at 11 a.m. that day, the two parties met at the HSBC headquarters building. Huang He’s attitude was urgent. As soon as they met, he directly expressed his desire to borrow money and increased the interest rate to 30%, meaning 1.3 billion US dollars would be repaid after one year.
Frankly speaking, Smith Yang was genuinely tempted. He really wanted to lend him the money!