Chapter 358: Cooperation with The Chinese University of Hong Kong
"Alright." Wang Zhiqun paused for a moment, then asked, "Yang Sheng, motors and eventually compressors are mainly for white goods. But what about CRT technology for TVs? The RCA CRT production line is arriving soon—should we start doing R&D based on that?"
"Developing new CRTs?" Yang Wendong chuckled. "You know how difficult that is, right?"
Among black and white goods, although white goods like washing machines and refrigerators were highly competitive in terms of optimizing price-performance—such as being quieter, more energy-efficient, lighter, and cheaper—making a working model wasn't too technically demanding. That made it more suitable for mid-sized companies.
But black goods—primarily televisions—were difficult from the get-go. Globally, only a handful of companies even had the capacity to engage in CRT research.
Wang Zhiqun nodded. "Yes, it's extremely difficult. But if we don't develop our own, we'll always be just an assembler, earning only minimal profits."
"Then let's just earn those minimal profits for now," Yang Wendong shook his head. "In the short term, we simply don't have the ability. Even setting up a research center in the U.S. won't help. Once we have enough capital, we can revisit the idea."
There were some industries where having money wasn't enough to make breakthroughs. A perfect example was gasoline engine technology. In his past life, the mainland had tried for years to catch up, yet always remained behind international giants—until they leapfrogged with electric vehicles.
CRT technology was similar. It had extremely high integration and complexity. Sure, Yang Wendong could invest millions of U.S. dollars, but he'd still need massive teams of highly skilled engineers. That's where the problem lay. Hong Kong could maybe build a radio, but developing a CRT from scratch? Nearly impossible.
Even American color TV giants were about to be overtaken and crushed by the Japanese. So building a CRT R&D lab in the U.S. would be like throwing money into a black hole.
What made it more frustrating was that it would be another 30 to 40 years before LCD technology matured. So if he wanted to make a real go at TVs, he'd eventually have to invest. Maybe one day, when he had enough capital, he could integrate top Chinese engineers from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia into a proper R&D team in Hong Kong.
The real issue wasn't money—it was a shortage of top-tier talent.
Wang Zhiqun agreed, "Understood. Then we'll stick to our current plan: purchase the technology and focus on assembly in Hong Kong."
He was an engineer himself, and he understood the challenges. But as a professional, he still had to bring it up to the boss.
"Mm. Hong Kong is too small. We can't do everything," Yang Wendong said. "Even in the home appliance industry, we won't be number one in every category. Having a few core technologies and average performance in the rest is already fine."
Even in the mainland during his past life, companies like Haier, Midea, and Gree each had their own strengths. No one led in everything.
Having ambition was good, but one had to face reality—especially in a place like Hong Kong, which lacked a deep technical base.
Within a month, Glory Electronics had launched three products. Combined with the group's media push, the "Glory" brand was slowly gaining recognition in Hong Kong society. It now had a foundation for future product launches.
That brand recognition would make it much easier to promote new items moving forward.
September 28 – Teachers' Day in Hong Kong, and also Confucius's birthday.
Yang Wendong brought his entire family to visit the newly established Chinese University of Hong Kong.
"This looks so much better than Hong Kong University," Bai Yushan said while pushing a double stroller.
The twin babies were wide-eyed, curiously watching the greenery and bustling people around them.
Yang Wendong held his older son, Yang Zhiwen, in his arms. He was getting so big that carrying him would soon be impossible.
Su Yiyi chuckled. "Of course it looks better—HKU is ancient. This place is brand new."
Yang Wendong nodded. "True, though the land area is a bit small. It's nothing like universities in other countries."
Hong Kong had very little flat land to begin with. Building a university wasn't easy—unless it was located way out in the New Territories, which wasn't realistic.
"Look, Yujie's over there," Bai Yushan pointed ahead.
Yang Wendong spotted another "Bai Yushan" up ahead—her twin sister, Bai Yujie.
Soon, the older set of twins met the younger set. With one adult holding each baby, the little ones calmed down. They probably couldn't tell the two sisters apart. Since Bai Yujie often helped out with the babies, they felt safe with her too.
Twins always attracted attention, and many students looked on with curiosity. But the Yang family was surrounded by bodyguards, so most people couldn't get close. Despite Yang Wendong's fame, he had always tightly controlled the release of his photos. So even though he was well-known throughout Hong Kong and Kowloon, few people recognized him by face.
After chatting for a while, Bai Yujie said, "It's almost lunchtime. Let's go eat at the cafeteria—it's my treat."
"That was our plan anyway," Yang Wendong laughed. "Time to mooch a meal from the school."
Bai Yujie smiled. "You folks eat delicacies every day—it's about time you had something basic."
Soon, under Bai Yujie's guidance, they reached the canteen. There were quite a few students, and they had to wait in line for a while before getting their food.
"Not bad," Yang Wendong said as he looked at the food. "This is about the same as what we serve in the Changxing Industrial factory."
Bai Yujie was surprised. "Your factory food is this good?"
"Yeah," Yang Wendong nodded.
Back when he first started his business, Changxing Industrial already offered better meals than the industry average. As the company grew and gained financial strength, everything improved—including the cafeteria, which now served meals comparable to standard factory fare in his past life: one meat, two vegetables, and a soup.
Today, with Hong Kong's rapidly developing economy, even average people lived better than they did when Yang Wendong first arrived in this timeline. At Changxing Industrial, wages were also quite high. They'd even stopped offering the once-standard free buns. Many families didn't need them anymore. Instead, they switched to long-lasting biscuits in various flavors.
Bai Yujie said, "I've visited some factories. Their meals were… let's just say, not great."
"That'll change as the economy improves," Yang Wendong said with a smile. "Only when the whole economy is strong can everyone enjoy a better life."
Every society has inequality, exploitation, and uneven distribution. Solving those issues completely is nearly impossible. Human history has been cycling through those contradictions for thousands of years.
But if productivity is high enough, even the exploited masses can live well.
"Yujie, you've never really entered the working world. You don't know how brutal it can be," Bai Yushan said with a smile. "Dong-ge is one of the few who treats workers decently. Most bosses? Forget it."
Bai Yujie nodded. She already knew that Yang Wendong's good reputation wasn't just hype created by the media—he had truly done a lot for the people of Hong Kong.
For example, he had helped create jobs while treating employees exceptionally well, provided large quantities of medicine and food to the refugees in Shui Wutong Mountain last year, and invested significantly in water transportation efforts both last year and this year.
Yang Wendong said, "That's only possible because I have enough capital. Otherwise, if an ordinary person wants to help but can't even feed themselves, what can they do?"
Bai Yujie said, "But having a kind heart is still good, right? Even helping an old person cross the street is something."
"Helping the elderly..." Yang Wendong almost said, Wait until you try that in the mainland a few decades from now, but instead he replied, "Sure, that counts. But if you want to do more and help more people, you still need capital."
"Absolutely," Su Yiyi agreed.
Yang Wendong turned to Bai Yujie and asked, "Yujie, do you remember what I told you before? About helping monitor things at the university for me?"
"Of course I remember. I've already started doing it," Bai Yujie said. "But there are a lot of students, so I'll need a bit more time to sort through everything."
"Okay, no rush. Just focus on the science students first. The liberal arts side isn't important," Yang Wendong said. "But you can pay some attention to the medical students too. Hong Kong needs more doctors."
Even though his core industries didn't involve medicine, the quality of Hong Kong's medical services affected him and his family. So it made sense to offer support where possible.
"Got it," Bai Yujie smiled. "Once I have everything sorted, I'll send it over to you."
"Great," Yang Wendong nodded. "Let's eat. This stir-fried loofah with eggs is pretty good."
After lunch, Yang Wendong headed to the university's administrative building.
He had informed the university in advance that he and his family would be visiting with their children, and received official permission.
"Good to see you, Yang Sheng," said Li Zhuoming, president of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, as he shook hands with him.
"Hello, President Li," Yang Wendong replied, returning the handshake politely.
"Please, have a seat," Li Zhuoming said warmly. An assistant came by to serve them two cups of tea.
"So, Yang Sheng," Li asked, "you walked around the campus this morning. What did you think? Be honest—I'd really like to hear your feedback."
"Actually, I think it's quite good," Yang Wendong said with a smile. "We have to be realistic—Hong Kong can't build schools like those in Europe or America. But compared to Taiwan or some Southeast Asian institutions, this is much better.
The only downside is the space. I noticed the sports field is a bit small."
"Haha, land is incredibly scarce in Hong Kong. How can we afford a large sports ground?" Li Zhuoming laughed. "But do you have any other suggestions?"
"I'm no expert in education, so I won't say much there. But from an industrial perspective, I hope Hong Kong's universities put more focus on the sciences. Only with strong scientific disciplines can our factories compete internationally—and that, in turn, supports the whole of Hong Kong's society and even its education system."
"I understand that logic," Li Zhuoming nodded. "But resources are still limited. And this school, after all, is called the Chinese University. It was founded through the efforts of several liberal arts colleges. While we won't only focus on the humanities, we do need to continue supporting them. Our long-term strategy actually centers on business education."
"Business is important too. Hong Kong needs those kinds of professionals," Yang Wendong agreed. "But if funding is an issue, I have a suggestion."
"Please, go ahead," Li Zhuoming said.
Yang Wendong explained, "First, my charitable foundation can establish a loan fund specifically for students from low-income families to study in science majors. After graduation, once they're working, they can slowly pay it back—just like student loans in the West. But ours will be low-interest and not for profit."
Student loans in Western countries often came with crippling terms—some were even worse than future mortgage debt in the mainland. That was not what Yang Wendong wanted. He didn't plan to profit from this at all. Even if he got into finance, he wouldn't start there.
"That's actually a great idea," Li Zhuoming said. "The government has a similar policy, but the funding is tiny. And sometimes it's... you know."
"I do," Yang Wendong smiled. "My factories are always in need of talented people. If students who take out these loans perform well, they can work for me after graduation. That way, the whole system becomes much more streamlined."
"That's a full-service pipeline," Li Zhuoming laughed. "If I were a student, I'd be tempted myself. I definitely agree to this kind of partnership."
For an ordinary student, joining the Changxing Group meant lifelong financial security. Life wouldn't be luxurious, but it would be stable and decent.
Of course, university students weren't exactly "ordinary," but once they joined Changxing Group, they would certainly be valued and given real opportunities.
Yang Wendong continued, "Secondly, I know your school still lacks a lot of basic electronic equipment. I can donate some in the name of Glory Electronics. That way, your electronics students can get more hands-on experience."
"That would be fantastic," Li Zhuoming said happily. "We've been worrying about equipment lately."
"But I can only provide basic tools and machines," Yang Wendong said. "For more advanced tech, we have it at the Glory Electronics lab. Your students can visit to observe and train there. They can also visit the factory itself."
"Excellent idea. Practical experience is extremely important," Li Zhuoming nodded.
"Then let's tentatively settle on that for now," Yang Wendong smiled. "I'll have my staff handle the specific details and logistics with your team."
"Very good. I look forward to working together," Li Zhuoming said with a handshake.
"Likewise," Yang Wendong replied, shaking hands.
To successfully develop electronics—or any real industry—in Hong Kong, collaboration with local universities was essential.
At first glance, it might seem like Yang Wendong was giving more than he was getting. But long-term? He stood to gain far more. Plus, it helped with taxes.
PS:
Some readers have said the protagonist should just train his own people instead of relying on universities. Let me be blunt—that's simply not realistic. Even company training programs depend on graduates. You're not going to train middle school students all the way through theory, design, and management until they're university-level. No company does that.
Unless the company builds its own university—and even then, those are usually state-regulated and funded—most of the time, enterprises work with universities.
Education is the responsibility of the government. Businesses only train talent to serve their own interests.
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