Without Pause

"Little Wang, what's so urgent that you had to call me this late?"

Wu Feng had just returned home from dinner with a client. After drinking a cup of hangover tea, he was lying back on the sofa, spacing out, when Wang Wei's call left him feeling rather helpless.

People thought those in high positions lived carefree lives, doing nothing but moving their mouths and issuing orders, spending their days eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling.

But once one truly reached his level, there was some free time, but very little. More often than not, he had no control over his own schedule. Working 007 was routine, and he had to be ready to deal with problems at any time.

Whether they came from external clients, suppliers, internal subordinates, or other company departments.

Most of his time was spent on the phone, coordinating resources.

To call him so late at night, Wang Wei must have something urgent that needed his help. Put another way, Wu Feng would have to clean up someone else's mess or take responsibility again.

"Sorry, President Wu, for disturbing you so late."

Wang Wei apologized first.

"It's fine. I wasn't going to sleep that soon anyway. Go ahead."

Only then did Wang Wei say, "Here's the situation. I got hold of an optical material with better performance than King Material's overseas products, and it costs only seventy percent as much. It's already entered the R&D prototyping and testing stage, and I'm preparing to recommend it to the Zhongzheng client. Also, I heard the Oupai client has a Dual Punch-Hole Screen project currently being bid on. I suggest we use this material to review the costs. I believe we can definitely win the bid."

Wu Feng was immediately startled. He could not help sitting upright and asked, "Where did this material come from?"

"It's a new product developed by a domestic startup. The sample was tested by R&D today, with Du Yu and Zhai Gong testing it together. They strongly recommend it as well."

"Is that so?"

Wu Feng pondered.

If what Wang Wei had reported was true, it would be an earth-shaking event for the entire optical materials industry. Even the mobile phone and display industries would be shaken to their core.

At the current stage, the changes this material could bring might still be negligible, perhaps even imperceptible. But within a month, companies throughout the display industry would be impacted.

Wang Wei's position was not high enough, and he was only responsible for the Zhongzheng client, so there were many things he did not know. But as Hua Long Technology's project director, Wu Feng knew every move in Hua Long Technology and the entire mobile phone industry, practically even the slightest stir. He had long received word that the Oupai client would be launching a Dual Punch-Hole Screen project, and he was also leading the bid.

However, in his plans, this Oupai client project was not something they had to win. It was positioned in the mid-to-low-end market, offered a relatively low price, and imposed fairly strict requirements, leaving them with little profit margin.

But now that they had a high-performance domestic New Material, it was worth giving it a try.

The only issue was that this was a new material developed by a new company, which would make it harder for the entire project to pass the Oupai client's certification.

"President Wu, this material has such high light utilization, and it costs only seventy percent of King Material's overseas product. We can completely find ways to cut costs on other materials, ensuring high overall device performance while keeping costs low."

Wang Wei continued.

Wu Feng considered it for a while longer before finally replying, "How about this? Bring the test report to me after work tomorrow. I'll call Liu Liangwei over too, and the three of us can discuss it."

What Wang Wei said made sense, and Wu Feng had done some rough calculations himself.

King Material cost five times more than other domestic optical materials on the market, such as those from Hejia and Di Guang. New Material cost seventy percent of King Material, which meant it was still about 3.5 times the price of Hejia and Di Guang's materials. It looked terrifying, and there was no way the cost could be that low.

But in fact, aside from optical films, a phone also needed light-guiding materials, light-concentrating materials, luminescent materials, and so on. The prices of these materials also rose in leaps with quality. Good materials could cost four or five times, even ten or twenty times, as much as inferior ones. The difference was outrageous.

After calculating carefully, if they used New Material to outperform Hejia and Di Guang's materials, they could use slightly inferior materials for everything else, bringing the price down at once.

It was like Tian Ji's horse racing strategy: use a middle-grade horse to beat an inferior horse, and a superior horse to beat a middle-grade horse. With two wins, even if the inferior horse lost to the other side's superior horse in the third race, they would still win overall.

Wang Wei promptly replied, "Alright, President Wu."

Liu Liangwei was another project manager who specifically handled the Oupai client, and Wang Wei had a fairly good relationship with him.

Naturally, Zhou Feiyu knew nothing about Hua Long Technology's moves. After getting up early in the morning, he decided to take the high-speed rail back that afternoon. There was no need to waste any more time here.

Having entered Hua Long Technology's prototyping and certification stage, with an old classmate keeping watch over things, he could finally breathe easier. He now had confidence in winning.

"Sorry, I went to sleep very early last night and didn't see your message."

While eating breakfast, Zhou Feiyu, who was looking at his phone, received a message from Li Shihan.

Zhou Feiyu was delighted and immediately replied, "It's okay. Are you free to come out today?"

Li Shihan replied, "Sure. I happen to be free today."

A smile could not help appearing on Zhou Feiyu's face. He immediately invited her, "Then wait for me a bit. I'll come find you, and we can walk around before going to see a movie."

Li Shihan replied instantly, "Okay."

So Zhou Feiyu wolfed down his breakfast, packed his backpack, checked out of the hotel, and took the subway to find Li Shihan.

Tall and slender, with a round face, thin lips, and a head of glossy black hair, Li Shihan stood gracefully waiting downstairs, becoming a beautiful sight on the street. Zhou Feiyu spotted her at once when he came out of the subway station.

"Have you been waiting long?"

"No, I only came down a little while ago."

"Shall we check out the shopping center nearby?"

"Sure."

After exchanging a few words, they headed down the street toward a large nearby shopping center, with Li Shihan leading the way.

At this time, office workers were hurrying along, while only some elderly people with children were still strolling leisurely down the road. A man and a woman walking against the flow of traffic and wandering down the street looked just like a young couple in love, drawing quite a few looks, especially the sour gazes of single men and women.

When young men and women with mutual affection strolled down the street together, their hearts would inevitably race as the ambiguity steadily heated up.

But Zhou Feiyu and Li Shihan had been introduced on a blind date and had not known each other at all before this. Naturally, there was no such affection between them as they walked, nor could they really cultivate it.

They simply chatted here and there about family, friends, and careers.

Zhou Feiyu did not ask much, nor did he intend to pry deeper. Or rather, he simply did not think that far. Love and women were not things a straight-laced science guy like him was familiar with.

Li Shihan asked more, especially about Zhou Feiyu's career.

"Have you always worked back in your hometown? How much do you make?"

"Yeah. My parents aren't in very good health, so working at home makes it easier to take care of them. I don't make much, only around ten thousand a month."

"Oh, I see. That's already pretty good for back home. Lots of people only make two or three thousand. I teach classes here in Peng City, at four hundred per class. The class fee is high, but I don't teach every day. Generally, I teach two or three days a week. Sometimes I also take on rehearsal work for company groups. Even then, I only make around twenty thousand a month, and I still pay for my own food and lodging."

"That's already really good. You can also take on side gigs, so you make much more than I do."

Zhou Feiyu was secretly astonished and said with a touch of self-mockery.

He had not expected Li Shihan to be so candid, nor had he expected her earning ability to be so impressive. It was truly beyond his expectations. Different professions really were worlds apart. In the past, he would probably have felt somewhat inferior.

Zhou Feiyu asked, "Have you ever thought about going back to your hometown to start a business?"

"I have, but I decided against it. The economy back home isn't great, and people there aren't as willing as people outside to spend money letting their children take interest classes."

Li Shihan shook her head as she spoke, then suddenly asked, "What about you? Have you ever thought about coming to Peng City to work?"

Zhou Feiyu froze. In that instant, inspiration struck, and he understood the hidden meaning behind her words. She was asking whether he would come to Peng City for her.

He smiled and answered, "I did before, but not anymore, because I'm planning to start my own business back home."