The second half of 1999.

Big and small things kept happening.

The twentieth century was coming to an end, and people were already looking forward to the twenty-first.

At the end of September, talk about the "Millennium Bug" crisis was rampant.

This crisis was also known as the "Year 2000 Computer Problem." The main issue was that computers only used two decimal digits to represent the year. Therefore, when the system performed date processing operations across centuries, errors could occur, leading to various system malfunctions or even crashes.

It seemed like a strange explanation, but it successfully led some investors to withdraw their funds, and Nasdaq also experienced a slight drop.

Su Yehao had some impression of this matter. Experiencing this part of history firsthand, he only felt it was absurd.

While he didn't take it seriously, he felt that the reason this small storm could affect the stock market was that Nasdaq had been in a bull market for some time. Investors were gradually realizing that stock prices were too high, and market confidence was beginning to waver.

He only had one Yanwenzi Group listed company, and its stock price was slowly rising. In early October, its total market value successfully exceeded $11 billion.

This meant that even if only this part of the assets was calculated, it was worth more than $8 billion.

Just overinflated value, full of water.

Yanwenzi Group had just gone public in April of this year, and the lock-up period for the original shares had not yet ended. Su Yehao purely enjoyed it, indulging in being a member of the billion-dollar club. He didn't dare to really treat the bubble as money, lest he feel sorry for it in the future.

However, gradually cashing out stocks from companies he had previously invested in, such as Amazon and Oracle, brought him another $1.63 billion.

The small treasury that had just shrunk had once again exceeded the HK$20 billion mark.

Until mid-October.

Except for leveraged stock options and futures, he completely cleared his financial account. The daily trading volume in the market was still huge, and the cashing out process was quite smooth.

With this part of the assets safely in his pocket, the future market trend could no longer have much impact on him.

The principal used for leverage only totaled about $400 million, which was managed by Dai-Ichi Kangyo Securities of Japan. It was a small gamble for fun, and even if it was all lost... it would only sting a little.

In mainland China.

Due to rumors spreading about Microsoft's Windows 98 operating system, which supposedly had a backdoor that shared information with US intelligence agencies.

In addition to the black history of Intel's Pentium III processor at the beginning of the year, which had a serial number to identify user identity, the authorities successfully began to pay attention to the field of network security.

This matter escalated.

Mr. Ni, who had always advocated independent research and development of operating systems and chips, entered the upper echelons' sights. He not only received the 200 million RMB provided by Su Yehao, but also secured new projects and research funds, and was hired by the University of Science and Technology of China.

Having this layer of protection saved Su Yehao a lot of trouble.

...In the future, if something was really developed, it would be credited to the University of Science and Technology of China, and it would have nothing to do with Su.

It is worth mentioning that.

On the first day of October, when Su Yehao accompanied his father to the ceremony in Si Jiucheng, the mainland's internet access fees were reduced again that day, almost directly by half.

This led to Huang钻 (Huang Zuan) Computer's products instantly opening up a new market. Relying on their quality and low price, as well as providing professional gaming models, they suddenly became popular in the eyes of customers.

Huang钻 (Huang Zuan) Computer's exclusive stores have only entered eight cities. It is said that some merchants have specifically gone to purchase in bulk, and the retail price is even cheaper than the price they get from the Liangxiang (Lenovo) distributors.

The scalpers had the motivation to make money, and spontaneously promoted Huang钻 (Huang Zuan) Computers.

The total sales volume in October reached 32,000 units, nearly half of which were official procurement orders.

With the help of Pengcheng, a document was specially issued to organize hundreds of units and schools to uniformly bid for a total of 14,000 computers, which was simply like tailor-making a bidding conference for Su Yehao's Huang钻 (Huang Zuan) Computers.

Not only that.

Under the banner of promoting internet development and stimulating consumption, an additional 5% consumption subsidy was provided for computers priced below 7,500 RMB, which was quite targeted.

In fact, this was to support local enterprises.

Su Yehao's investment in Pengcheng was so amazing that, out of consideration for human relationships, the local government naturally had to show something. It was a pity that the 5% consumption subsidy could only be used to purchase with a Pengcheng local household registration book, and was limited to one unit per household.

Even so, Huang钻 (Huang Zuan) Computer's production line was running day and night. After all, it was a new company that had just been founded, and its production capacity was really unable to keep up. A long line of trucks was parked on the roadside outside the company, all waiting to pick up goods...

————————————

November.

Su Yehao accompanied Yin Liuli to Kanas, which was both a charitable endeavor and a trip. When they left, they donated 30 million RMB to Project Hope for the renovation and construction of teaching buildings in the surrounding area.

In mid-November, he accompanied Nangong Tian and Jiang Yu on a vacation to the Maldives, and also brought along Mother Tang, who was taking a break from her busy schedule.

Su Yehao's mother had watched both of these "daughters-in-law" grow up since they were young.

This mother was very two-faced. She couldn't stand Su's father's behavior, but was delighted that her son was so capable. In private, she even mentioned wanting grandchildren, saying that other people's grandchildren were very likable.

Su Yehao didn't care because he had a thick skin.

Nangong Tian and Jiang Yu, however, felt restricted and sensed that something was strange about this trip, making it difficult for them to let go and have fun.

At the end of November, they parted ways in the Maldives, and Su Yehao went to Silicon Valley for another ten days.

The international version of Weibo, newsmicroBlog, had quickly surpassed 350,000 active users in the two months since its launch. Compared with iCQ and tvt, newsmicroBlog covered a wider range of social interactions, and in 1999, it was clearly a new trend.

The Yanwenzi Group, which promoted it, successfully made a name for itself by supporting third-party companies, and therefore benefited greatly. The advertising prices on the platform broke new highs, and it actually turned a profit that month, allowing the Yanwenzi Group to make a small profit of more than $4 million.

Countless physical enterprises are expanding their business online, and the Yanwenzi Group's promotion effect is extremely good. Even luxury goods companies such as Rolex, Dior, and Chanel have spent money to buy advertising space, trying to attract traffic to promote their official websites.

This shows that the previous idea was correct, and selling advertising is indeed very promising.

All projects are developing in an orderly manner. Although Su Yehao was not idle, he could not be said to be too busy. After leading Google's financing in Silicon Valley, his shareholding ratio was reduced to 75%, and a total of $500 million was raised.

In this way, both Google and Yanwenzi Group have the capital to survive the winter.

On December 6th.

Su Yehao took a plane back to Hong Kong, and sitting opposite him was a gentle old man he had tricked.

The other party's name was Lin Baojian. He had been in contact with Su Yehao's people many times, and finally agreed to go to Hong Kong to develop and be responsible for the demonstration and research of a new generation of lithography machines.

In fact, due to language barriers, Lin Baojian wanted to return to Bao Island to retire, and agreed to the invitation of TSMC.

However, Su Yehao gave too much, and his钞能力 (chaonengli, money power) worked again.

In addition to the $1 billion R&D funding over ten years, he also offered an annual salary of $2 million, which was more than five times Lin Baojian's current salary, and three times the salary offered by TSMC's headhunters.

Not only that, once the research is successful, Su Yehao also promised to give him a luxury house worth more than HK$40 million, which is the top-floor suite in Nong Qingying's Shangfeng Shangshui residential area, which will be provided to Lin Baojian for free temporarily.

It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone, both avoiding Nong Qingying from moving back and luring talents to join...