HLnovel Chapter 349 Dell's Neutrality
Chapter 349 Dell's Neutrality
At 11 o'clock, Lingyun made an appointment with Dell.
Dell drove himself in a silver-gray Porsche, which he parked downstairs at the company. He got out of the car wearing a dark jacket and no tie, looking much more casual than Anderson.
The two went to an Italian restaurant not far from the company. Dell chose the place, saying it was one of his favorites; it wasn't crowded, and they sat in a corner.
After ordering, Dell picked up his water glass and took a sip.
"Did Anderson contact you?"
"I've looked for it."
"What did he want to talk to you about?"
"They told me to be the COO."
Dale laughed. "He knows how to lay the groundwork."
"Do you know what they're going to do?"
"I have a general idea." Dell put down his water glass. "Those people on Wall Street have huge appetites. Your company is doing well, so they want a bigger slice. Many people can't get on Microsoft's big ship, so they want to take advantage of you."
The waiter brought over two salads, and Dale picked up his fork and poked at them.
"What did you reply?"
"I told them they wanted shares and that we could talk about it."
Dell paused, his fork hovering in mid-air. "Are you serious?"
"Seriously."
"and then?"
"Then he said this matter wouldn't just end like that."
"Definitely." Dell started eating his salad, chewed a few bites, and then asked, "What are you planning to do?"
"have no idea."
Dell glanced at him but didn't say anything. He continued eating.
When the main courses arrived, Dell ordered steak, and Lingyun ordered fish. After a few bites, Dell put down his knife and fork.
"Ling, to be honest with you, they came to me too. I wasn't involved, but I know the general situation. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley reached some agreements with Microsoft. Goldman Sachs's pressure is more on Microsoft's side. Microsoft wants to kick you out."
Ling Yun looked at him, waiting for him to continue.
"But I won't help you, and I won't side with them."
"I'm in the middle." Dell picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth. "I'm a businessman. Businessmen don't choose sides; they choose profit."
Ling Yun smiled and said, "If you're choosing between interests, you should stand on my side. If I lose and Microsoft wins, then Microsoft will be the only one left in the operating system market, and you'll still be the ones being manipulated."
"There's nothing you can do about being manipulated. They have more people, more money, and more connections. You're all alone. If you fight them head-on, you can't win. Even if I join the fight, you still can't win."
"So you're just going to lie low and not put up a fight? Like, acquiring my shares, or having a go-ahead with Microsoft or something?" Ling Yun just smiled calmly.
"I know a Chinese story, 'Two peaches kill three warriors.' Such a simple scheme won't harm me," Dale said smugly, exposing Ling Yun's plot.
Ling Yun cut a piece of fish and put it in his mouth. "This isn't a conspiracy; it's a perfectly legitimate, open strategy. From your perspective, are you really willing to give up like this? You finally had Xingchen providing you with room to maneuver, and after just two good years, you're about to fall back into the shadows where Microsoft is controlling you. Are you really going to accept your fate?"
Dale paused, holding his knife and fork. "No matter what you say, I won't stand against them. It's too dangerous. When you're calculating your own strength, don't include me. I'm already being lenient by not standing against you."
The two ate in silence for a while. The background music in the restaurant was Italian, with an accordion playing a slow tune.
Dell finished the last piece of steak and put down his knife and fork.
"Ling, do you know why I'm not on their side?"
Ling Yun looked at him. "Why?"
"Because you are different from others." Dell picked up his water glass. "I have seen what you have done in the past three years. Not everyone can do this from scratch."
"so what?"
"So I'll leave you some room to maneuver," he said, taking a sip of water. "If you ever come to your senses, give up, and don't want to play with them anymore, you can come find me."
Ling Yun looked at his face, expressionless. "What do you mean by that?"
"It's nothing." Dale stood up, took out his wallet from his pocket, pulled out a few bills and put them on the table. "I just wanted to tell you that no matter what happens, there's still a possibility that we can cooperate."
He patted Lingyun on the shoulder and left.
Ling Yun remained seated, gazing out the window. Dell's silver-gray Porsche drove out of the parking lot, turned onto the main road, and disappeared into the traffic.
He picked up his fork and finished the last piece of fish.
I finally understand. I'm relieved to know the reasons behind Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley's actions. At least I know who the opponent is. Although the problem is still very thorny, at least I'm not completely clueless.
They were all as cunning as monkeys. Dell seemed to be telling Ling Yun that Microsoft was the mastermind behind it all and warning him of Microsoft's strength, but in reality, he was stirring up trouble. Although Ling Yun was weak, he was fighting on his home turf, so he wasn't without a chance of winning. After all, Ling Yun had the advantage in shares in Xingchen.
Lingyun controls 32% of the shares, and together with Dell's shares, that's over 40%. The board vote already has more than half the votes, so wouldn't that be a sure win? Dell clearly doesn't want Lingyun to win so easily. If they don't stir up trouble, how can they fish in troubled waters?
At 3 p.m., Lingyun returned to the company, where Fiona greeted him.
"Mr. Ling, Anderson called and said he wants to move tomorrow's meeting to 4 pm today."
"Reply to him, I'm busy today."
"What about tomorrow?"
"I'm not free tomorrow either."
Fiona paused for a moment, nodded, and turned to leave.
Fiona had just left when Eric knocked and came in. Ling Yun was looking at emails. He looked up and saw Eric holding a stack of papers, stapled together, about a dozen pages long.
"Mr. Ling, there's something I'd like you to see." Eric walked over and placed the stack of papers on the table.
Ling Yun picked it up; the cover read "Operating System Architecture Management Optimization Solution." He opened it; the first page was an abstract, the second a table of contents. The rest was full of technical details, flowcharts, architecture diagrams, and code snippets.
"What is this?" Ling Yun asked as she flipped through the pages.
"A proposal for adjusting the architecture management." Eric stood beside him, not sitting down. "Recently, our codebase has been getting bigger and bigger, making maintenance a bit difficult. I'm thinking of breaking down a few core modules so that different teams can maintain them independently. This will improve efficiency considerably."
Lingyun continued flipping through the document. The plan was very detailed, listing which modules were broken down into which sub-modules, which team each sub-module belonged to, the development cycle, and the test plan.
"Whose idea was this?" Ling Yun asked.
"It's my own," Eric said. "I've been thinking about it for a long time, and I only recently wrote it down. Take a look first, and we can discuss it further if you think it's okay."
Lingyun closed the plan and placed it on the table.
"Okay, let me see."
Eric nodded, then turned and left.
Ling Yun sat there, staring at the cover: "Operating System Architecture Management Optimization Plan." He picked it up and opened it again. He read it from beginning to end, which took him twenty minutes.
The plan is indeed well-written. The logic is clear, the steps are well-defined, and it appears to have no problems.
But Lingyun always felt that something was wrong.