After Divorce, I Can Hear the Future
Chapter 391: Hydrogen Energy

"Mr. Lu, should we contact LG and Hanwha too?”

Wen Chao asked quietly. They were the party with the upper hand, capable of choosing among many options; there was no need to hang on to one tree.

Before reaching out to Hyundai’s Li Xuanhong, they had also engaged with LG’s Park Yongjun, and Hanwha’s Li Zaizhi.

"Let’s meet with Zheng Xuanyi tomorrow, see what the situation is, and then decide whether to contact them,” Mr. Lu responded.

Apart from Samsung, Lu Liang was most optimistic about cooperating with Hyundai because it was a Korean enterprise much like Mitsui Sumitomo.

Not everyone wished to be a lapdog to the United States—at least the Zheng Family wasn’t keen, otherwise, Samsung wouldn’t dominate alone.

But they had no choice. The financial crisis of 1997 took not just wealth but also their dignity.

From a macro perspective, looking at that financial crisis, the assets swept away by Wall Street institutions led by Quantum Fund were but a drop in the ocean.

Back then, the Korean Won almost collapsed; nations, enterprises, and individuals all faced bankruptcy. At that time, the United States extended a helping hand, assisting in the recovery of the post-disaster economic environment.

This help was not without cost. Leading conglomerates like Samsung, LG, Hanwha, and Hyundai were all invaded and controlled by American capital.

Millions of Koreans seemed to be working for these conglomerates when, in fact, these chaebols were just working for American interests.

Among these conglomerates, only Hyundai still held a bit of sovereignty, qualifying as a national enterprise.

The enemy of an enemy is a friend, and Lu Liang was more inclined to cooperate with Hyundai to avoid any leaks.

Wen Chao nodded and started to recount his insights on that past financial danger, “If the whole country hadn’t mobilized to save Xiangjiang back then, it would have just switched from British colonialism to American economic colonialism, and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau would not have developed so quickly.”

Mr. Lu chuckled, “Indeed, not everyone has the audacity of Golden Emperor, killing oligarchs one by one and not taking exchange rates seriously, doing whatever they pleased.”

"So now they are also tasting the bitter fruit; their domestic economy has never developed, and externally people keep singing their downfall every day.”

"Soros nearly lost his underpants that time; how could he not talk down on it?”

Mr. Lu couldn’t help but laugh. Scholars fear warriors—an apt description of the financial crisis in 1998.

By pulling fast ones, they directly caused Quantum Fund to burst, losing 5 billion US Dollars, nearly bankrupting them.

Wen Chao laughed as well.

Suddenly, the car was filled with cheerful laughter.

By nightfall, Lu Liang returned to the hotel.

After freshening up, he picked up his phone and saw that Lu Ya had sent him a message—a series of ‘beauty’ photo collections.

The baby girl had turned one week old; her red, wrinkly skin had faded, now she looked as soft and white as an egg.

Her eyes tightly closed, her long eyelashes and her little fists clenched tight like lotus roots, it made one’s heart nearly melt at a glance.

"Are you asleep yet? I can hardly keep it a secret anymore.”

Originally, Lu Ya used the excuse of her best friend’s divorce, needing her for emotional support, to deceive the old folks at home.

Now nearly a month had passed, Dabao and Erbao had started school, and she hadn’t returned yet; the elders were already suspicious.

Lu Liang dialed back, chuckling, “Mom and Dad suspecting isn’t a problem, as long as your brother-in-law doesn’t suspect, we’re good.”

"How could your brother-in-law not suspect? His wife has been out for a month, who wouldn’t inquire?”

Lu Ya was indignant, but she shifted her tone, “But I’ve already explained the situation to him; he won’t blab about it.”

Mr. Lu laughed, thought for a moment, and then said, “Then let’s plan for before Mid-Autumn Festival. I’ll come over and take you back.”

Bitcoin and the Panda listing were small matters, the key was the unknown crisis at the Hongmen Banquet.

Until now, he hadn’t thought of a better method than to sacrifice Little Wang to the gods.

"That’s good, you should also rest early.”

Lu Ya glanced at the time; it should be a little past one in the morning in her time zone, so she didn’t want to take more of her brother’s rest time.

Before hanging up, she asked with a laugh, “How is it now? Much prettier, right? Just like a porcelain doll.”

"Porcelain dolls aren’t as pretty as she is.”

Lu Liang reopened the photo, his eyes filled with tenderness; his daughter was truly beautiful, soft and plump.

The next day at noon, Lu Liang was dining in the hotel restaurant.

Li Xuanhong ran up, his face showing a smile that all men understood, “Mr. Lu, did you have fun last night?”

"It was alright.”

Mr. Lu smiled; Li Xuanhong asking this meant last night’s companions hadn’t returned home.

They might find a hotel outside to stay temporarily, planning to leverage his influence for some peace of mind.

Lu Liang didn’t mind, because he had anticipated this possibility even before making the charitable gesture.

"Mr. Lu, there are still a few hours left, maybe I could show you around a bit first?”

Li Xuanhong smiled apologetically, having already succeeded last night, his only task now was to keep Lu Liang busy until the chairman returned.

"Then let’s go check out Hyundai Motors.”

Lu Liang raised an eyebrow. He had visited BYD, and poached a few dozen employees, so he could not afford to ignore Hyundai when it came knocking.

Li Xuanhong was delighted to hear this. His main task was to get Lu Liang out of Han City, so he quickly suggested, “Ulsan’s main plant is a bit far, on the other side of the strait. How about we go to the research center in Bright City instead?

It’s just fifty kilometers outside of Han City, and Mr. Chairman will also be going there later.

How about we meet there later?”

Lu Liang smiled and nodded, “If Mr. Li has arranged it, then that’s great.”

Wang Chuanfu and Zhang Yiming guarded him like they were guarding against a thief, not even allowing him to visit the research departments, even refusing him passing by the entrance.

Li Xuanhong was undoubtedly a very good person, bringing him over so forthrightly. It would be almost rude not to reciprocate by scouting some talent.

Korea is small, and Han City even smaller, with just over six hundred square kilometers. Ten Han Cities put together would only be the size of Modu.

Several cars entered the intercity highway, and after a ten-minute drive, they had already left the city and were heading southwest for a half hour, soon arriving in the neighboring Bright City.

Bright City was even smaller than the main city of Han City, covering just over thirty square kilometers, roughly the size of Macau Island.

Despite its modest size, the Hyundai Motor Center located here was anything but small, sprawling over 3,000 acres, and even from the elevated road, it was impossible to see its full extent.

Li Xuanhong expressed pride, “Mr. Lu, everything you see here belongs to our Hyundai Motors.”

"Magnificent, grand. I’ve inspected General Motors in Detroit before, and they probably aren’t much different.”

Lu Liang expressed admiration, liberally praising, since he still hoped that Li Xuanhong would take him to the core department to have a look.

"General Motors is a century-old enterprise. It’s perfectly normal that their equipment and buildings are aging. Our Bright City base, on the other hand, was built less than ten years ago.”

Li Xuanhong squinted his eyes, his tone modest, but the corners of his mouth were more difficult to restrain than even AK.

Among the car manufacturers in East Asia, probably only Toyota could go toe-to-toe with General Motors.

But everyone likes compliments, and Lu Liang comparing them to General Motors, even if they lost, was still a great honor.

It took about 50 minutes from Han City to here.

Li Xuanhong had notified the responsible person here in advance, and they had prepared flowers and a red carpet.

Several business-class Mercedes made their way across the red carpet to the research base of Hyundai Motors.

"Mr. Lu, this is Mr. Park Zhixun, the head of Hyundai Motors.”

Li Xuanhong introduced them, and their main business was car manufacturing and engineering construction, with other industries as secondary.

Park Zhixun was the head of the automotive department and the second-in-command of the Hyundai Group, just behind Zheng Xuanyi.

"Mr. Park, hello, I am Lu Liang.”

"Mr. Lu, I’ve long admired your reputation.”

Lu Liang followed the two into the research building, observing many automotive-related advanced technologies.

Park Zhixun sighed, “Mr. Lu, East Country developing electric vehicles is truly irrational. In my view, hydrogen energy is the real clean energy and the future mainstream market.”

He knew Lu Liang’s visit wasn’t purely for sightseeing, but he also wanted to use Lu Liang to relay thoughts to the high level of East Country.

Because Lu Liang not only invested in many electric vehicle companies but also spent a lot of money in this industry and was a board member of the World New Energy Vehicle Conference.

His words should carry some weight.

"The future market, which energy will become mainstream, who can say for sure now.”

Lu Liang smiled, not arguing, but also not agreeing.

Hydrogen is indeed cleaner and more environmentally friendly, but pursuing hydrogen would be like jumping out of the tiger’s den into the wolf’s lair.

Japan and South Korea have invested too much in hydrogen power and hold many essential technology patents.

Developing hydrogen would mean working for them, as any investment now would later become a boomerang hitting right back.

The best strategy was to keep them at bay. East Country is the world’s largest market. As long as they don’t develop hydrogen power, Japan and Korea, on their own, absolutely cannot succeed.

Only when they give up on research and related patents expire, might there be thoughts of developing hydrogen power domestically.