One Phone Call Brought a Big Shot Running

Getting the contact details of the founder of ATI, the future graphics card giant, was not particularly difficult.

Although Ho Kwok Yuen's career had not gone very well since he immigrated to Canada, his brilliant past résumé could not be hidden.

All it took was making a few arrangements with a local headhunter to easily obtain the contact details of this big shot currently going through a midlife crisis.

Hearing the flippant greeting on the other end of the phone, Ho Kwok Yuen frowned slightly.

Clearly, this was not a call back from the headhunting firm.

"Hello, what can I do for you?"

His good upbringing kept his emotions steady as he earnestly asked who was calling.

"Mr. Ho, I'm Lin Lixin, chairman of GAMENOVA." Lin Lixin's tone grew more formal as well. "I saw your profile at the headhunting firm."

"GAMENOVA?"

Hearing the unfamiliar name, Ho Kwok Yuen knitted his brows and thought for a moment, but it was bound to be futile.

No such company existed in his memory.

Moreover, this fellow named Lin Lixin sounded rather young.

But since he really did need a respectable job at the moment, Ho Kwok Yuen was in no hurry to hang up.

"Mr. Ho, our graphics chip division is looking for an outstanding architect. Would you be interested?"

Ho Kwok Yuen paused, his gaze unconsciously flicking toward the proposal on his desk.

He did indeed have plans along those lines. If he still could not find a suitable job, he intended to establish a small company called ATI and make some graphics chips to earn a little money.

If possible, he would naturally have preferred to manufacture personal computers.

But the capital requirements for PCs were terrifying. Only a giant like IBM could bear them.

A "pauper" like him, with only a few hundred thousand Canadian dollars to his name, could not possibly make it work.

Although he did have such plans, he did not immediately respond to the olive branch Lin Lixin extended.

Making graphics chips was just a small business with thin profits, so presumably the compensation would not be much good either.

Besides, he had never even heard the name "GAMENOVA." It was some fly-by-night company that had sprung out of who knew where.

Most importantly, Ho Kwok Yuen believed in one principle: the "wet towel" theory.

His first boss had told him about it.

"A company sees every employee as a wet towel. Once it squeezes out your last drop of moisture, it throws you away."

No matter how he enriched his knowledge and made himself irreplaceable, being someone else's "wet towel" never felt very good.

If possible, he would rather establish a company himself.

Ho Kwok Yuen cleared his throat and asked the most crucial question into the receiver. "What's the compensation?"

An obscure little company, one that even seemed to make video games judging by its name, surely could not be anything impressive.

"An annual salary of one hundred thousand US dollars. If you're really as capable as your profile says, Mr. Ho, there will also be a profit-sharing contract with our chip subsidiary, Micro-NOVA (Nova Semiconductor)."

"Hm?"

Ho Kwok Yuen was startled. He had not expected the other party to offer such substantial compensation right off the bat.

After all, the average annual salary of a senior engineer at present was only a few tens of thousands of dollars.

Although this package was still far below his former annual salary of five hundred thousand in HK, it was already quite respectable by North American standards.

Not to mention the pie in the sky of profit sharing.

"Are you serious?"

Ho Kwok Yuen suddenly felt rather annoyed, suspecting that Lin Lixin might just be some brat who enjoyed practical jokes.

"GAMENOVA... this is the first time I've heard the name. Is your company in the video game business?"

"That's right. Our headquarters are in California. If you're interested, Mr. Ho, you can come discuss things in person."

Lin Lixin gave him the address of Gerald's already shuttered VideoSoft rather than his own arcade.

At least that sounded a little more upscale.

"Silicon Valley?" Ho Kwok Yuen wrote down the address, surprise showing in his eyes.

Although Santa Clara was not the heart of Silicon Valley, it was still an important technology hub.

"Gerald Lawson, a former Fairchild Semiconductor engineer and the father of the programmable cartridge, has already joined our Micro-NOVA."

Through Lin Lixin's mixture of coaxing and deception, the image of a rising semiconductor star in the heart of Silicon Valley's technology industry gradually took root in Ho Kwok Yuen's mind.

Finally, several days later, carrying a faint sense of unreal anticipation, he boarded a flight south to California.

Standing beneath the blazing sun, Ho Kwok Yuen faced the precariously hanging [VideoSoft] sign, its corners curled and yellowed, and his mouth twitched.

"F**K!"

Even someone as mild-mannered as him completely lost his composure at that moment and spat out a curse.

He'd been scammed!

He'd been scammed big-time!

What happened to the emerging company with a legendary big shot on board?

What happened to the rising star of Silicon Valley?

What the fuck was this?!

Bang, bang, bang.

Lin Lixin, who was discussing home console specifications with Gerald, heard a series of impatient knocks at the door.

Through the somewhat grimy glass, he saw the square-faced man outside.

Only now, he looked nothing like the refined, courteous figure in Lin Lixin's memory. He stood at the door with a thunderous expression.

Putting on an innocent smile that looked harmless to man and beast alike, Lin Lixin opened the door and stood before this poor fellow who had traveled all the way from Toronto, Canada.

A gleam flashed in his eyes, and Ho Kwok Yuen's panel swiftly appeared before him.

[Ho Kwok Yuen (Kwok Yuen Ho)]

[Overall rating]: S (Seasoned engineer)

[Electrical engineering (semiconductors)]: 162 (Growth rating: S)

[Administration and finance]: 88 (Growth rating: A)

In hardware expertise alone, he was practically on par with Gerald.

Lin Lixin closed the panel, nodded, and greeted him in Chinese. "Mr. Ho~ we finally meet. Shall we talk inside?"

"I don't think there's anything to discuss."

Ho Kwok Yuen answered coldly and turned to leave.

He had already written all of this off as a prank by the frivolous young fellow before him.

"Lin, is this the Mr. Ho you mentioned?"

Hearing another person's voice behind him, Ho Kwok Yuen slowly turned around.

Then he froze.

Naturally, Ho Kwok Yuen had a strong impression of this industry veteran and recognized him at a glance.

The somewhat overweight, middle-aged Black man before him was none other than Gerald Lawson.

"Mr. Ho, we need exactly your kind of talent."

Gerald took off his sunglasses and nodded politely.

"Lin's ideas are so brilliant that the others and I can only do so much to help. Having you join us would be a tremendous help, Mr. Ho."

He had already heard Lin Lixin mention this Chinese engineer whom Lin Lixin had been paying close attention to lately.

Ho Kwok Yuen looked at Lin Lixin, then at Gerald, his face filled with disbelief. "You? Helping him? Are you sure you haven't got that backward?"