The restaurant Liu Yutong had chosen was hidden within a private club by the river, closed off to the general public.
Lan Die had already arranged everything flawlessly.
The core members of the Wanlong Society, dressed in uniform black suits, stood in neat rows on both sides of the path leading from the courtyard entrance to the main building's corridor, presenting a highly solemn atmosphere.
Liu Yutong stood gracefully before the foyer of the main building. She had changed into a milky-white silk dress, with a thin silver chain around her waist perfectly accentuating her slender figure. Her long hair was loosely pinned back, allowing a few stray strands to fall naturally against her neck. She wore no jewelry other than a platinum watch on her wrist, giving her a fresh and unearthly elegance.
However, the most striking thing about her was her face.
Having taken off the oversized sunglasses she wore at the summit, she now fully revealed her true appearance, making everyone who saw her unable to resist taking a second look. Her skin was a cool-toned white, like fine mutton-fat jade, and her features still held a trace of fading girlish innocence. Her eyes were incredibly bright, possessing a piercing quality. Her nose was straight, and her lips, a natural pale pink, were currently turned up slightly into a gentle smile.
"President Ma, welcome."
Ma Yunyun was the first guest to arrive.
The internet mogul, famous for his eloquence, had a clear flash of astonishment in his eyes the moment he saw Liu Yutong's face clearly. But he quickly recovered his usual demeanor, smiling and reaching out his hand. "Miss Liu, you are too kind to come out and greet me personally."
"It's only proper."
Liu Yutong briefly shook his hand before letting go, her composed demeanor completely unlike that of a girl around twenty years old.
"Please head inside first, President Ma. Yu Xin will take you to the private room to rest for a moment."
Yu Xin had also changed into a lotus-root-pink modern qipao, making her look even more sweet and gentle.
"This way, President Ma. Let's have a cup of tea first. We'll start the banquet once the others arrive."
As Ma Yunyun followed Yu Xin inside, he couldn't help but look back at the white figure standing by the foyer.
She was excessively young, yet also excessively composed, hiding a subtle sharpness within.
It was the first time he had ever seen such a contradictory aura in a woman.
Soon after, Pony Ma, Ding Sanshi, Li Yanhong... one heavyweight figure in the internet industry after another arrived.
Almost everyone's reaction was identical to Ma Yunyun's: first stunned by Liu Yutong's youth and beauty, and then intrigued by her unique aura.
Only after everyone had gathered did Liu Yutong finally enter the banquet hall.
The guests took their seats according to the pre-arranged nameplates.
Liu Yutong naturally sat at the head of the table. To her left were Ma Yunyun, Ding Sanshi, and Li Yanhong; to her right were Pony Ma, Cao Weiguo, and Chen Sheng.
Yu Xin and Zhang Dalong sat a bit further down on either side of her.
"Thank you all for honoring me with your presence."
Liu Yutong raised her teacup. "I am young and a latecomer to the industry, so I still have much to learn from all of you. Today, I'll substitute tea for wine and offer the first toast to everyone."
The guests all raised their glasses in polite response.
Ma Yunyun smiled. "You're too modest, Miss Liu. In the internet industry, age doesn't matter; it's vision and boldness that count. The success of Wanhui Youxuan and Weibo is obvious to all of us. Your future achievements will be remarkable."
"It was just good luck, catching the right timing," Liu Yutong replied humbly, signaling the waiters to start serving the food.
As the dishes were brought out one by one, the group started chatting about today's summit, gradually shifting to the state of the industry following the financial crisis.
Although Liu Yutong didn't speak much, every time she opened her mouth, she hit the nail on the head. Her deep understanding of each company's business secretly surprised these seasoned veterans, making them wonder if this girl had secretly planted spies in their companies. How else could she know their operations so thoroughly?
After several rounds of drinks.
Liu Yutong's expression grew visibly serious as she finally revealed the true purpose of inviting them today. "Actually, besides wanting to meet you seniors in the industry, I have a presumptuous request for you all today."
A momentary silence fell over the table.
"Please feel free to speak, Miss Liu," Ding Sanshi was the first to break the silence.
"It's like this: I'm currently preparing a wafer fab project, and I'd like to invite you all to join. To be precise, I'm hoping you can invest some money."
This was a decision she had made after careful consideration.
Everyone knew that a microchip project was incredibly difficult. Even though Liu Yutong had an overseas company, it would still be a tough endeavor. She needed to expand the project's influence, getting more people to pay attention, take it seriously, and even participate, so the success rate would be higher.
As for why she chose to invite these internet moguls to participate, the reason was simple.
Right now, pushing the chip industry to quickly catch up with advanced international standards on her own was extremely difficult. But if she could pull these top-tier internet companies together, it would be a different story.
In the future, these companies would inevitably need to design their own chips. Whether it was Ali's cloud computing or other operations, they could not do without the support of powerful, cheap, and abundant computing power.
The future expansion of every company essentially required the backing of more advanced chips.
So, couldn't everyone collaborate? If nothing else, they could at least place some orders, right?
Furthermore, the influence these internet companies brought could not be ignored.
When names like Ali, Tengda, Baidu, and Wangyi were linked to a national-level hard-tech project, the resulting public momentum, policy attention, and impact on the global supply chain would be unmatched by any single entity.
As soon as she finished speaking, a brief silence settled over the table.
Making chips?
Wasn't this girl being a bit too ambitious?
Was this really something they could just casually dabble in right now?
Li Yanhong pushed up his glasses and asked cautiously, "Miss Liu, I'm not questioning your judgment. It's just that the barrier to entry in the chip industry is too high. Capital, technology, talent—every single aspect is a hurdle, and it's hard to see returns in the short term."
"You're right, President Li."
Liu Yutong nodded. "That's why this isn't a short-term investment project. It might take five years, ten years, or even longer. But if it succeeds, the returns will be highly substantial. Moreover, this isn't just about financial returns; it's about whether our Dragon Kingdom's internet ecosystem can achieve autonomy."
"I believe none of you want to see us getting choked by outsiders in the future, right?"
Her voice was particularly infectious as she said this, almost making people forget that she was just a young woman around twenty years old.
Pony Ma was rather direct, suddenly asking, "How much funding do you need, Miss Liu?"
"Ten billion for the initial phase, but I've already secured five billion." Liu Yutong spoke so casually, as if treating ten billion like a mere hundred bucks.
The table fell silent once again.
Ten billion for the first phase—this number truly shocked them. Coming up with this amount was still somewhat difficult for them right now, even if it was just half of it.
"That's no small number. Moreover, a heavy-asset, long-cycle project like microchips is quite different from the light-asset, fast-turnover model of our internet companies," Ma Yunyun said.
"That's why I won't force it."
Liu Yutong smiled and said, "If any of you industry veterans believe the future of Longxin is worth a gamble, you are more than welcome to reach out to me for an in-depth chat anytime. If not, that is perfectly fine too. Even a friendly little investment is enough for me to consider you a friend."
"Oh, by the way. Actually, aside from Mr. Ma, I suppose I am already a shareholder in all of your companies. Wangyi, Baidu, Xinliang, Shengda, Souhu... I believe every one of your companies has incredible potential, so I bought some shares in each of them. You could say it is my way of showing a little sincerity in wanting to make friends."
