Chapter 208 - 148: Zhang Liang: ? What Are the Names of Those Two!?

"This is the contract regarding the shares."

Zhang Niu said.

Wang Chao was surprised and confused, but after a quick look, he understood what it was.

It was a kind of investment contract. If Xu Huo’s ideas were adopted and proved successful, he would receive a certain percentage of shares in the future.

It was like a royalty fee of sorts.

"Why do mobile phones have to be controlled with a keypad?"

Xu Huo suddenly added after he finished signing.

’Why...’

’What do you mean, why? If not a keypad, what else could you use?’

The two men were stunned.

"Take the laptops on the market. Without a keyboard and mouse, is there no way to move the cursor?"

"The touchpad? You mean the touchpad?" Wang Chao faltered.

"Merge the touchpad with the phone’s screen, and use a wireless network to connect to the internet."

Xu Huo said slowly.

"The rest is just a technical problem."

And as for the technical problems...

Any technical problem is derived from a concept, a means to realize that concept.

Technology can be developed through study and research, but a concept... can’t.

At that moment, it was as if an atomic bomb had detonated in Zhang Niu’s mind. With a mental BOOM, his entire head was buzzing.

"That’s right, why does it need a physical keypad..."

"Combining the touchpad and the screen, using your finger to touch it... it would take the place of the mouse..."

Zhang Niu’s scalp tingled as a rush of adrenaline surged through him.

"Portability means sacrificing performance, but portability itself doesn’t require high performance..."

"Performance is just a later stage of refinement."

"Get rid of the bulk that comes with high performance, remove the keypad and mouse, adopt an all-in-one design concept..."

Zhang Niu grew more and more excited as he spoke.

In that instant, the mental block was shattered.

Wang Chao was also frozen in place, staring blankly at Xu Huo.

It was an incredibly simple idea...

Merging a laptop’s touchpad with its screen, completely getting rid of the keypad and mouse...

Such a simple concept, yet it had stumped countless people!

Xu Huo didn’t waste any time.

He took the pen and paper and immediately sketched the design of a future smartphone.

As Zhang Niu and Wang Chao watched, their amazement grew.

"This exquisite design..."

"This novel concept..."

"It’s completely different from any phone on the market produced by any other company!"

Zhang Niu’s excitement mounted, his chest heaving.

Suddenly, he shot to his feet.

"This won’t do. I have to get to the R&D department. I’m going to the R&D department!"

"We need to create the first-generation prototype as soon as possible! No matter what it takes, as long as we can merge the touchpad and the screen!"

With that, he paid no mind to Wang Chao or Xu Huo and headed straight for the R&D department.

Zhang Niu stormed out in a great rush, seemingly oblivious to anyone he passed.

「Inside the office.」

Xu Huo and Wang Chao looked at each other.

"What are you looking at?"

"Let’s go!"

Xu Huo raised the contract in his hand and said with a smile,

"Time to go get some food!"

With that, he headed out.

Now that he had the contract, he couldn’t care less about their attitude.

Wang Chao was utterly dumbfounded.

"Damn, bro! How come you never told me you had an idea like this?"

"Do you have the money for it? Do you have the money for R&D and production?" Xu Huo retorted with a laugh.

"I could take out a loan!"

Wang Chao’s face flushed red.

"Loan my ass."

Xu Huo cursed, giving him a light smack on the butt.

"Any loan you could get wouldn’t even make a ripple!"

Wang Chao had to admit he was right, so he didn’t dwell on it. In any case...

Xu Huo had secured the contract for their plan.

And he’d even scored an extra one!

...

...

「That evening, at 8:00 PM.」

The company’s R&D department had, quite unusually, not closed for the day. Instead, all of its top technical engineers had stayed behind. They each signed a non-disclosure agreement so strict it could bankrupt their families for eighteen generations to come.

Afterward, Zhang Niu gave them a diagram.

And up until this very moment...

"It’ll work! It’ll really work!"

"If we just sacrifice some performance, we can make this thing a reality!"

"I think we can do it. The concept of a combination touchpad and display is a fucking stroke of genius!"

"Use a wireless network? That would require base stations... Shit, that’s our bread and butter! We can totally do that!"

"With an idea this good, the technical hurdles are nothing... We just need funding! We need funding!"

The entire R&D department descended into a state of frenzied excitement.

This was a brand-new concept, and an achievable one at that!

What’s more, for them, the technical challenges posed by this new product concept weren’t difficult at all.

All they needed was sufficient funding and a bit of time...

...and they could bring it to life!

"Can you do it!?"

Zhang Niu suppressed his surging excitement, his heart pounding like a drum.

"We can!"

After receiving their confident affirmation,

Zhang Niu checked his current cash flow.

Then, gritting his teeth, he walked over to a deserted corner.

BEEP BEEP BEEP...

He dialed a number.

"Hello? Old Zhang! Holy shit, I’ve found a genius! He’s shown me the future!"

"The technology needed for this future isn’t difficult. Someone overseas might already be working on it, so we have to beat them to the punch. You need to talk to the higher-ups and get me a round of funding..."

"I need a lot of funding!"

Zhang Niu said, his jaw tight.

...

...

「Meanwhile, in a secure area in the Capital City.」

Zhang Liang was in his office, just finishing the last of the wrap-up for several special cases that involved Xu Huo.

Listening to the voice on his private phone, he raised an eyebrow and teased,

"Old Niu, where’d you dig up another ’genius’ this time?"

"Why are you always shouting about geniuses?"

An urgent voice shot back from the other end of the line.

"This time, he’s a real genius!"

"It’s an epoch-making idea! Absolutely revolutionary! I met this person in Linlan City. Once this thing is out, it’ll absolutely become an indispensable, mainstream part of the internet’s future development!"

"Funding! I really need a massive amount of funding! Even releasing this a single second before anyone overseas would be a landmark victory!"

’Hmph, another genius,’

Zhang Liang chuckled to himself.

This Old Niu was always claiming he’d found some genius who would make his company strike it rich, and he’d wasted a ton of money on such ventures.

Now, he’d apparently dug up some other unknown ’genius’ from Linlan City...

Hm?

Suddenly, Zhang Liang paused. He had a keen sense that something was off, and his expression suddenly froze.

’Wait a minute...’

"Old Niu..."

"What genius?"

"Internet geniuses! Two of them! One who predicts the future, and one who defines it! The two of them are fucking geniuses among geniuses!"

"Two of them!?"

The corner of Zhang Liang’s eye twitched. He took a deep breath, his voice turning low and heavy.

"I was asking for their names."

"Those two... their names..."

"What are they!?"