Extraordinary Genius

Feng Yu turned to Jiang Wanmeng and said: “Bring him to our show flat.”

Jiang Wanmeng nodded. He was looking forward to seeing how this proud Dutch would react when he saw their show flat.

This show flat was suggested by Feng Yu. Feng Yu wanted a place to showcase and experiment with the future of home appliances. Almost all home appliances in the show flat were “invented” by Feng Yu. Many of them were simple but very practical. It includes Wind and Rain Home appliances products.

At the door, there was an electronic lock. Jiang Wanmeng keyed in 9527, and there was a beep to notify the user that the door was unlocked. The password was set by Feng Yu, and he likes this number.

Electronic locks were invented a long time ago, but it was still not widespread. It was because there were still many disadvantages to electronic locks. For instance, the keypad was not sensitive enough, and it could not be easily unlocked. The microchip was also easily decoded. But at Wind and Rain Electronics, most of the locks were electronic.

Thomas raised his brows when he saw the electronic lock. It’s just an electronic lock. What’s there to be surprised? We also have these at Philips. These people from Wind and Rain Electronics have been living in the mountains?!

But when Thomas saw the Wind and Rain logo at the door lock, he was slightly surprised. This electronic lock was invented by Wind and Rain themselves? Philips also can develop such locks.

“These are something our staffs invented in their free time.” Jiang Wanmeng said as he opened the door. He introduced the features of the show flat to Thomas. “This is our best room. It is set up like an apartment and had used all the futuristic concept suggested by Manager Feng. Manager Feng does not only own Wind and Rain Electronics. He also owns Wind and Rain Home Appliances. I am sure you have heard of the bladeless fans. It is one of the products of Wind and Rain Home Appliances.”

Thomas had a surprised look on his face. Wind and Rain Electronics, Wind and Rain Home Appliances, were own by the same person? Mr. Feng had so many businesses. Seems like it was impossible to use the government to pressurize them to give in.

But what do futuristic concepts mean?

Jiang Wanmeng picked up a remote control near the door and points it at the window. Beep. The curtains opened. He then points the remote at the TV, and the TV was switched on. He pressed another button, and the VCD player was switched on. The TV was playing a video of Elvis Presley.

“This remote control is used to control everything in this flat. You only need to point it at the home appliances, and you can control it.” Jiang Wanmeng explained.

But Jiang Wanmeng noticed that Thomas was not listening to him. His eyes were glued to the TV.

This was a flat screen TV using a plasma display panel. Although it was not as flat as the future flat screen TV, the thickness was only 10 cm. It was much slimmer than the traditional cathode-ray tube (CRT) TV.

“You all also knows about this technology?” It was the Japanese that were good at Plasma TV technology. Companies like Panasonic, NEC, and Fujitsu, were researching into this technology. Wind and Rain electronics also got hold of this technology?

Philips was also researching this technology and tried to introduce this type of TV. But it was not popular among the consumers as it was costly and the picture quality was about the same as regular TV. But Philips felt that these Plasma TV would be popular in the future.

“We cannot say we are good at this technology. We are currently researching Liquid-crystal-display televisions (LCD TVs). We are still deciding whether to focus on Plasma or LCD.” Jiang Wanmeng rubbed his nose and replied.

Jiang Wanmeng was lying. Wind and Rain Electronics still did not understand about this technology. They had only reversed engineered other people’s product and was still studying it. They can only be considered beginners in this field.

Thomas was shocked. Wind and Rain Electronics was also researching LCD monitors? This was what Philips was focusing on. But LCD resolution was not as high as Plasma TV. However, it was much cheaper, lighter, and thinner than plasma TV!

Why was Wind and Rain Electronics research direction similar to them?

The answer was simple. Because Feng Yu knew about the future of consumer electronics. Plasma Tv was very popular at the start, but when LCD TV’s resolution increases and the cost lowered, Plasma TV became obsolete.

This was why Feng Yu refuses to waste time researching into Plasma TV. When Jiang Wanmeng and his team told Feng Yu that they wanted to study Plasma technology, Feng Yu said them to consider LCD tv instead. He knew that before Plasma TV becomes widespread, it will be replaced by LCD TVs.

Also, LCD monitors were more suitable to be used for computer monitors, and the growth of this technology was rapid. It replaced Plasma TV and CRT TV within a few years!

Jiang Wanmeng switched on the air purifier in the corner. This technology was actually invented by Yadu. But when Wind and Rain Home Appliances exchanged technologies with Yadu, it was included in it.

This Air purifier also has the aromatherapy function in it. Soon, the whole room was filled with a mild fragrant.

“This air purifier has aromatherapy and humidifying functions incorporated in it. The air here is dry, and you will feel better if the air is humidified.” Jang Wanmeng explained.

“There is a computer here, and you can send emails to your company. You are also free to surf the net. Oh, this computer is equipped with an optical drive. There are some game discs here. If you are bored, you can play some computer games or watch a movie. Other than the monitor is smaller, the quality is as good as VCD players. With these earphones, the sound is better than watching from the TV.”

Computer with optical drives? What a crazy idea! If this were introduced to the market, it would inevitably replace the floppy disk. CD will be able to store more data than floppy disk!

“Is this computer also manufactured from your company? But the logo is not from Wind and Rain.”

“This is Lenovo. China’s best computer brand. Manager Feng also owns some shares in this company.”

Thomas had a disbelieving look on his face. Feng Yu also have shares in this company? How many businesses did Feng Yu have? How come he seems to do anything related to electronics and home appliances?

“Oh, let me show you the bathroom.”

Thomas was stunned. What’s there to show in the bathroom? You think I did not use a bathroom before? Don’t tell me that your bathroom is fully automated?

“This water heater adjust the water temperature automatically. You can set the temperature you want here, and there is an LCD display. The + sign means to increase the temperature and – sign is to lower the temperature. The highest you can set is 72 degree Celsius.”

“I think I do not need to introduce the hairdryer. This is the hand dryer. There is a built-in infrared sensor. It will blow out hot air to dry your hands. This will prevent your hands from getting germs when you come into contact with the towels or paper. If you are interested, you can experience it yourself.”

Automatic hand dryer technology was based on bladeless fan technology. It was small and could be hung on the wall. Wind and Rain Home appliances had applied patent for this technology. The Japanese company who owns this patent in Feng Yu’s previous life can only watch Feng Yu reap all the benefits.

“This is a robotic vacuum cleaner. It is also in-built with infrared sensors. After you switch it on and place on the floor, it will vacuum the floor itself. Look, after it touched the wall, it will change direction on its own. If you switch it on before you leave for work, your floor will be clean when you return home.”

“This is the kitchen. This is a light wave microwave oven. It combines the technology of microwave and light wave. It will heat up your food faster and save more electricity. This is a product which Wind and Rain Home Appliances will introduce later this year. This is an induction cooker. You should have used it before.”

When Jiang Wanmeng turned back to look at Thomas, he saw Thomas was still in shocked.

Thomas was stunned by all the home appliances in this show flat. Were these home appliances for average households? Wind and Rain Electronics and Wind and Rain Home Appliances were already so technologically advanced?