The prototype machine, assembled with heavy investment, is undergoing stability testing.

These things rarely yield results in a day or two.

However, reaching this stage means there are basically no major issues. According to Dr. Lin Baojian, only minor problems need adjusting, which isn't difficult.

Even after the prototype succeeds, mass production takes time. No matter how fast, official delivery will have to wait until at least half a year later.

Su Yehao had already placed an order, signing for forty immersion lithography machines in advance, contingent on the success of the research and development.

He deliberately didn't stipulate any penalty for breach of contract, to avoid any trouble with AsmL.

By securing AsmL's production capacity, he estimated they could stay ahead of the competition by about half a year.

That time difference would be enough to do a lot of things, providing an opportunity to snatch back a batch of foundry orders, truly putting Qianxin International and Hong Kong Microelectronics on the fast track.

Not many areas need advance planning; just a slight adjustment.

Su Yehao told his assistant, Zhuang Wei, to use some funds to increase leverage and rebuild several long positions.

The expenses would only increase in the future, making the "hard times" in the short term difficult to endure. His wealth on paper kept increasing, but the cash on hand continued to decrease, so he wanted to earn as much as possible whenever he had the chance.

Before, he was merely following market trends. This time, the super-good news was caused by Su Yehao himself. With great confidence, he could invest a bit in companies like Qualcomm, AMD, and Nvidia, establishing medium- to long-term positions in the options market.

Additionally, there was the Nasdaq index.

He had been bottom-fishing since September, and so far, it had already generated nearly $270 million in profit.

Unfortunately, he hadn't been decisive enough at the time, not daring to bet heavily, only using $100 million with ten times leverage to try out a small $1 billion position. He hadn't expected it to float up by more than twenty percent in just over two months.

Some investors were still waiting for the stock price to correct before entering the market to bottom-fish.

Su Yehao felt that missed opportunities were like ex-girlfriends who had married someone else, or a fat duck that had entered the oven; it was difficult to recover them.

However, a long-term layout in the Nasdaq should have a pretty good return. Coincidentally, in the middle of last month, the north side relaxed some restrictions on QDII funds, allowing them to launch several new QDII index fund types.

…

Baoya Jun and the others were still playing mahjong at Su Yehao's house.

Seeing Su Yehao finally return after being busy, He Shaofan complained, "Wow… Are you kidding me? I thought you were just answering a phone call and asking us to wait. We've been waiting for almost an hour and a half! It wouldn't even take that long to go to Tsim Sha Tsui to buy a pork chop bun. Wait! Pong!"

Su Yehao said with a smile, "There's a big deal. I'm about to make a fortune again. You guys play your mahjong. It's not like you're short of players anyway."

Earlier, when Su Yehao was busy, Jiang Yu had taken his place.

Baoya Jun's wife couldn't play mahjong and obediently sat beside the table, watching the game. She asked curiously, "Brother Hao, what kind of business is it this time? Even you said you're making a killing, so it must be a lot."

Baoya Jun looked at her speechlessly, saying helplessly, "Are you out of your mind? Why would you ask such a self-deprecating question? After hearing it, we'll be happy for Brother Hao, but we'll have to suffer and be miserable for days, silently lamenting how big the gap between people is. There are too many examples like that. Zhugan and I have experience. We usually don't ask if we can avoid it."

"That's right! He left us here wasting our lives, and he secretly made money himself. If I wasn't still hoping that Brother Hao would lead us to get rich, I would definitely spit on this kind of person who doesn't play by the rules!"

It was He Shaofan who spoke.

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Yu chimed in, "You still have the nerve to say that? Your family found you a beautiful and wealthy young lady, allowing you to work less for decades. Baoya Jun and the others already have children. You should hurry up too."

"What decades? It's not even enough for Brother Hao to sprinkle. Don't laugh at me, you rich woman."

He Shaofan's position in his family was still neither high nor low. He had been allocated some more family property than a few years ago, but the bulk of it would still be left to his brother.

Whether it was a lot or a little, it was enough to spend anyway. Su Yehao had previously led them to invest in Hong Kong Hao Tourism and Biguiyuan Real Estate, which was now also a considerable income. They certainly wouldn't have to worry about their livelihood.

After listening to them chattering, Su Yehao said, "I'm not sure how much I'll earn yet. The news needs to be kept secret for the time being. You'll know when you see the news in a while. Anyway, all kinds of assets are appreciating together. At least ten billion U.S. dollars in the short term, and it might become a trillion U.S. dollars in a few years."

"I'm knocking… Is there something wrong with my ears? When did doing business reach the point where the profit can be described in terms of tens of billions of U.S. dollars?"

Baoya Jun was dumbfounded and silently looked at his wife, blaming her for being nosy and asking questions, now it was stabbing his heart.

He Shaofan took a few deep breaths and said,

"This time it's stable. Brother Hao, you'll definitely be able to beat the old stock god and become the richest man in the world!"

"Hurry up and say '呸呸呸' a few times! You jinx, good things don't come true but bad things do. What I'm most afraid of now is that there will be problems in the research and development stage, and in the end, it will all be for nothing."

Su Yehao felt that the probability of success of the immersion lithography machine was already over 98%, and the remaining two points depended on luck.

Take the 157nm lithography machines launched by Canon and Nikon, for example. They did take a big step forward on the basis of 193nm, but the stability of the machines was not good. They often had to stop production to replace parts, which led to an increase in production costs.

Fortunately, several companies on the island and in the United States placed orders first, and it was not Su Yehao's turn to purchase.

It was estimated that because of the unpleasant incident, or because of being bought by a certain TSMC, Canon deliberately delayed Su Yehao's order until the second half of 2004. At that time, Dr. Lin Baojian also had some breakthrough progress, so Su Yehao was not in a hurry to place an order.

Looking back now, he almost fell into the trap.

If the salesmen of Canon and Nikon were slightly more proactive and enthusiastic, Su Yehao might have paid a deposit in advance to avoid being behind his competitors in production technology, and he wouldn't have dared to put all his chips on AsmL and Lin Baojian.

Now the tables have turned.

Dr. Lin Baojian's team helped Su Yehao have better technology, and he felt that his luck had always been pretty good.

From a metaphysical point of view, even the best luck is afraid of being jinxed.

He Shaofan's face darkened when he heard this, and he said "呸呸呸" towards Su Yehao a few times, clearly launching a personal attack…