After a brief conversation, Luo closed the documents and contracts. Selling Hammer's patents was probably still about one billion RMB in debt.
He planned to go to Hang City personally to talk with Old Ma and see if he could sell himself along with the package for a good price.
If possible, he actually wanted to follow Dai Wei's example and just run away, but he simply couldn't escape.
Dai Wei had set a bad precedent—now people like them, high-risk individuals, were under strict surveillance.
Walking out of the reception room, Luo happened to meet Zheng Yaowen, who approached him with a smile.
Luo was relieved, feeling some consolation that his old colleague still knew how to greet him.
However, it was purely his own wishful thinking—Zheng Yaowen merely gave him a slight bow and briskly walked towards Lu Liang, all smiles, "Mr. Lu, hello, I'm Zheng Yaowen."
Yang Zhenyuan was very famous, and Lu Liang was even more so. Although he wasn't as lucky as Yang Zhenyuan, he wasn't doing too badly either.
Even if the outside world didn't think highly of Lu Liang's self-developed car systems, no one dared to question his ability to make money.
Faced with Luo, Zheng Yaowen wouldn't turn his back on him, but it was best to keep a distance from Luo in front of Lu Liang.
He was worried that Lu Liang might misunderstand.
Living as a Tianxing person, dying as a Tianxing spirit.
Luo? Hammer? Sorry, not very familiar.
Luo's face darkened, suddenly feeling stifled, "Mr. Lu, if there's nothing else, I'll be on my way."
Lu Liang nodded with a smile, then suddenly called Luo back, who was almost at the door—he almost forgot about Wang Chuting wanting an interview.
Luo hesitated for a long time, his expression troubled, "Mr. Lu, I'm afraid it's not quite convenient to accept interviews right now."
He planned to lay low for a while, feigning despair to gain his fans' sympathy, waiting for the Taobao guide mode to go online before really making a big splash.
Accepting an interview now would be contrary to his plan, leading to overexposure, which might diminish the anticipation when he reappeared.
Just like real actors do not like appearing on reality shows, like Lu Liang does not like being in the public eye, it's all the same logic.
"No problem, I'll just mention it to Mr. Zhang, they should also be happy to leverage Forbes to promote Taobao's new feature."
Lu Liang's expression remained amiable, his tone leaving no room for refusal. What Luo thought was his own business, but Lu Liang had already promised Wang Chuting.
Whether willing or not, since he had promised Wang Chuting, even if Luo didn't want to go, he had to.
Luo was silent for a long time, then forced a smile, "Oh, it's Forbes. That might actually be okay."
Now he was prey on the chopping block.
To refuse, he needed to consider the consequences.
A satisfied smile appeared on Lu Liang's face, "Thank you, they should contact you soon."
"Okay, Mr. Lu, if there's nothing else, I'll leave now."
Lu Liang watched Luo leave and then called over Wang Xiaofeng, Hu Weiwei, and the newly joined Zheng Yaowen.
Zheng Yaowen was a PhD from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, having worked at Baidu, Sohu, and Hammer, with thirteen years of industry experience.
He had participated in over ten major projects, including but not limited to the development of Baidu Maps and the Sohu search architecture.
Four years ago, Luo invited him to join Hammer Technology as the chief architect of Hammer OS by offering him a 10% share dividend.
"Baidu again," Lu Liang muttered.
No wonder it stood first among the BAT giants, contributing so many talents to the industry. It's no surprise it's known as the Pu Huang Military Academy.
Tianxing Technology invested one hundred million dollars, with twenty million going to the Huaqing Research Institute, leaving eighty million US dollars, equivalent to 512 million RMB.
Acquiring Hammer along with its research department cost just 250 million RMB. After subtracting the cost of leasing office spaces and other daily expenses, there was still 255 million RMB left.
Looking ahead, Lu Liang intended to shift his focus to Baidu—there was no reason Byte, Meituan, and Xiaomi could poach talents, but he couldn't.
After waiting for a while, Li Jiahui hurried over, his face full of admiration as he looked at Lu Liang. He had only made a slight suggestion, and Hammer was no more.
In less than a month, such efficiency was terrifying, perhaps even beyond what Ali Penguin could achieve.
The larger the enterprise, the more bloated its internal system becomes, and every important decision always required meeting after meeting.
In one month, others might not even have completed their planning.
Lu Liang smiled lightly, "Since everyone is here today, let's get acquainted and use the opportunity to have a small meeting."
He restructured again, Hu Weiwei's position remained unchanged, Wang Xiaofeng retired after his achievements, taking the position of deputy financial director, and for the director position, he planned to appoint someone else through an external hire to prevent Mobike System from taking shape.
The company's chief architect position was temporarily vacant, with the deputy chiefs being Li Jiahui and Zheng Yaowen.
The former had talent and the latter had experience; Lu Liang wasn't sure whether talent or experience was more important.
He decided to let them collaborate first, to transform Hammer OS into Tianxing OS and then port it to automobiles.
Whoever was capable would become the company's chief architect, enjoying an annual salary of fifty million dollars.
Besides Hu Weiwei's three-year 5% vested shares, Lu Liang did not plan to use stock incentives again, at least not for now.
Stock incentives were merely a method used by cash-strapped companies to tie down talent, or by companies at the development bottleneck, to motivate employees to break through their limits.
Although they were just starting, they were not short of money, and preferred to use less stock rights when money could solve the issue.
This round of adjustments had satisfied most, and Zheng Yaowen was particularly pleased, couldn't be more satisfied.
He thought that Lu Liang had poached him to serve as fertilizer for the new company, but now there seemed to be a chance for advancement.
Setting aside the future stock incentives, the mere fifty million dollars annual salary laid out before him was sufficient to drive him to work tirelessly.
Li Jiahui's face looked grim, his heart felt uncomfortable, yet he had no choice but to accept it.
He knew very well that his previous importance to Lu Liang was merely due to the lack of better generals from Shu, letting him take the lead.
Now that the entire Hammer research department had joined, there were more suitable people, and he had become less important.
Lu Liang, smiling, keenly noticed the change in Li Jiahui's expression but did not say much.
Then, he delegated some minor tasks, like targeting Baidu and poaching more talent from the Apollo project.
After the meeting, Lu Liang asked Zheng Yaowen, Hu Weiwei, and Wang Xiaofeng to leave, keeping only Li Jiahui.
He walked to the beverage station, "Jiahui, what would you like to drink?"
"Anything," replied Li Jiahui, distracted.
He had many things he wanted to say, but wasn't sure how to say them appropriately.
Lu Liang poured a glass of iced Coke, joking with a smile, "Still brooding over what I just said?"
Li Jiahui stared directly at Lu Liang, his eyes filled with a young man's indomitable spirit, "Yes."
He had initially agreed to take the lead on this project, but now there was a breach of promise.
Lu Liang suddenly found him kind of endearing, "Yaowen is different from you; after all, he's an outsider, and there are so many of his colleagues from Hammer outside. If we don't make him feel secure, showing him there's hope, how can he be wholeheartedly devoted in the future?"
"But you are different; I've always had high hopes for you, provided money when needed, more personnel if necessary; when have I ever treated you unfairly?"
Li Jiahui subconsciously nodded, his stubbornness gradually turning into confusion.
Lu Liang continued, "But you still lack experience, this is a great opportunity, learn well from Yaowen, and strive to stand on your own soon."
Li Jiahui, still young and enclosed in his ivory tower, couldn't be enticed by money alone; he still needed proper motivation.
Lu Liang's words implied a clear message, young man, I have high hopes for you, Zheng Yaowen is just a bundle of experience, the future still depends on you.
Li Jiahui was silent for a long time, then when he looked up again, his confusion had turned to emotion, and he said solemnly, "Mr. Lu, I'm sorry."
"Let's skip that topic,"
Lu Liang chuckled and patted his shoulder, "Jiahui, by mid-November, can you bring out the central control system?"
The impact of holding signs for Tesla was still fermenting, Li Bing was getting impatient, thinking of holding the new car launch meeting earlier.
There was still some time before mass production, but NIO hadn't made a statement in a long time; if they didn't make a peep, others might think they had gone bankrupt.
After pondering for a moment, Li Jiahui nodded heavily, "Yes, I can promise you that."