Rebirth in 1984: Beginning with Han Card Development

What happens to the future when humanity loses its imagination?

That slogan created a sensation during the summer of 1984.

Back then, computers couldn't support Chinese input and co...

Chapter Twenty-Four: Establishment of the Hong Kong Branch

Installing WPS into a Chinese character card is feasible; the Founder Chinese character card of its predecessor did just that, and Lenovo later adopted it as well.

However, production costs will increase.

After considering it for a while, Zhao Ye decided to develop the technology first, so that he could produce a finished product as soon as the Lenovo Chinese character card was launched.

Installing WPS into the Chinese character card is not so simple; it presents certain technical challenges. However, for Zhao Ye, it was merely a matter of time.

...

Wang Anshi and Zhang Xuanlong soon arrived in Hong Kong.

“Manager Wang, you’re unfamiliar with Hong Kong, why don’t you stay at my place for a while?” Zhang Xuanlong invited.

"Then I'll accept it without hesitation, thank you very much, Boss Zhang!" Wang Anshi said with a smile and a nod.

Outside the airport, Zhang Xuanlong's family arranged for a driver to pick him up.

Without waiting, Wang Anshi and the others got into the car and drove directly to Zhang Xuanlong's house.

Along the way, towering buildings stand tall. If a mainland Chinese person who has just arrived in Hong Kong, they would definitely be amazed and unable to believe it!

However, Wang Anshi was a worldly man who had even visited Tokyo, Japan. He was quite impressed by Hong Kong's prosperity, wondering when the mainland would be able to reach Hong Kong's level.

Perhaps it's unlikely to happen for decades...

Wang Anshi sighed softly.

No one could have predicted the astonishing speed of China's development that would follow, drawing global attention!

China has created a miracle in history!

It even prompted the leaders of the Russian bear country to publicly express their envy!

Zhang Xuanlong's lips curled up slightly. Seeing Wang Anshi's shocked expression, he couldn't help but feel a slight sense of superiority.

This sense of superiority is something that most Hong Kong people feel to some extent when facing mainlanders.

An hour later, the car carrying Wang Anshi and others arrived at Zhang Xuanlong's house.

Upon arriving home, Zhang Xuanlong immediately began introducing his family members to Wang Anshi: "This is my father, this is my mother, this is my wife..."

"Hello, I am Wang Anshi. I apologize for disturbing you!" Wang Anshi said with a slight bow.

“Mr. Wang, you’re too kind. We are very happy to have you as our guest. Please forgive us if there is anything we haven’t done well in our hospitality,” said Zhang Xuanlong’s father, Zhang Kaiqing, with a smile.

After some pleasantries, Wang Anshi then brought up the topic of establishing an imaginative technology subsidiary.

“Mr. Wang, since you’re new to Hong Kong, I’ll have someone take you sightseeing tomorrow so you can see how Hong Kong differs from the mainland!” Zhang Kaiqing said.

"I'll pass on the sightseeing; there'll be plenty of time later. My boss wants me to establish an Imagination Technology branch in Hong Kong as soon as possible, so I'd really appreciate it if Mr. Zhang could help me find a company registration agency!"

“No problem, I’ve got it covered!” Zhang Kaiqing said.

The next day, through Zhang Kaiqing's introduction, Wang Anshi met a company registration agent and paid a small fee to have him handle the company registration.

The process of registering a company in Hong Kong is much simpler than in mainland China.

In just a few days, Hong Kong Imagination Technology Company was registered.

As for the company's office location, according to Zhang Kaiqing's introduction, they rented a floor in a building in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, and also rented a warehouse at the cargo terminal.

With everything prepared, Wang Anshi then called Zhao Ye.

"Boss, Hong Kong Imagination Technology Company has been registered and the warehouse has been rented. We can ship the goods now," Wang Anshi said. He paused, then added, "I've done some research here. The proportion of people in Hong Kong who own computers is higher than in mainland China, so there's a good market for Chinese character cards. Although I haven't gone to Taiwan to investigate yet, based on Taiwan's economy, it's not hard to guess that the market for Chinese character cards is huge!"

In the 1980s, the economies of Hong Kong and Taiwan took off rapidly, and there were far more wealthy people than on the mainland.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Ye nodded and said, "Thank you for your hard work. I will arrange for someone to ship the goods to Hong Kong immediately. You can stay there for now and get the branch office team up and running."

“Okay, boss!” Wang Anshi nodded with a hint of helplessness, knowing that he would be staying in Hong Kong for a while.

After hanging up the phone, Wang Anshi hailed a taxi and went to the Sing Tao Daily newspaper office, planning to place an advertisement in the newspaper to recruit some employees for the branch office.

After finishing this matter, Wang Anshi began conducting market research in major shopping malls in Hong Kong.

"Hey, mainlander, are you buying? This RB-made M-212 typewriter is incredibly cheap, only HK$22,000! It's the cheapest one in our store, you absolutely can't find a typewriter this cheap anywhere else in Hong Kong!!!" A typewriter shop owner called out to Wang Anshi, loudly promoting the product.

HK$22,000 is cheap!

Upon hearing this, Wang Anshi was extremely surprised, as he felt that the price was even higher than that of some international brand-name computers.

If Imagination Technologies can develop Chinese typewriters, then it can certainly develop Japanese typewriters as well.

In the 1980s, Japan's economy was extremely prosperous, even surpassing the United States in some areas and threatening the United States' position at one point. Its market was naturally much larger than China's. If Imagination Technologies' typewriters could enter the Japanese market and earn yen, it would not only be a way to earn foreign exchange, but also an honor!

As evening fell, the sun began to set.

As Wang Anshi walked out of the shopping mall, he was momentarily stunned, thinking about the typewriter shop owner's quote.

"If Imagination Technologies could develop a low-priced Japanese typewriter that could undercut the price of Japanese typewriters, it would definitely sell like hotcakes in Japan!!!"

"Haha, that scene really makes me look forward to it!!!"

Wang Anshi couldn't help but laugh.

"Wait a minute, the computers used by the Japanese are the same as ours, and they don't support their native language either. Could our Imagination Technology Company develop a 'Japanese card'?" He had been to Japan on business before, and the computers back then didn't support Japanese.

"Besides, how could Japanese people not like a digital pager?"

"I should call my boss right now and tell him my thoughts and suggestions!!!"

Wang Anshi was immediately thrilled and rushed to the nearest public telephone booth.

...

As dusk approached, Zhao Ye just sat up, ready to leave work.

Just then, the phone rang.

"Hello, who is this?" Zhao Ye sat back down, picked up the phone, and asked.

Wang Anshi exclaimed excitedly, "Boss, this is Wang Anshi. I just had a sudden flash of inspiration and a few ideas popped into my head! I think these ideas might be useful to the company!"

"Oh, what's your idea?" Zhao Ye asked with a smile, his heart filled with curiosity.

Wang Anshi suggested, "Boss, when I went to Japan on business before, the computers used by the Japanese were similar to ours and didn't support Japanese. So, I suggest we develop a Japanese card product?"

"Daily pass?"

Zhao Ye was surprised; he hadn't expected Wang Anshi to give him this suggestion... it seemed rather unreliable.