Chapter 30: That Huge Amount?!
In the Philippines, Tondo Manila.
Timothy just returned from his trip from Los Angeles, United States. He breathed a sigh of relief, relieved that he was finally home after that tiring trip.
In his mind, the offer of NVIDIA lingered in his mind. They were serious about getting the chip in his hand. Well who wouldn’t? Imagine one chip could do the work of 20,000 H100. Every company would scramble for it.
"Oh, Timothy, you are already home," his mom greeted.
"Good evening mom," Timothy said.
"How was your vacation?" she asked.
"It was productive mom," he replied and then looked around his house and then realized. He was a man being offered a multi-million dollars for a chip and yet he resided on a squatter site in Tondo? This should change.
"I have been thinking mom, what if we move out from here?" Timothy suggested.
"Move out?" she tilted her head to the side. "You mean moving to a different house? As much as I would but I can’t son. I don’t have the money."
"Money is not the issue mom, I can take care of it," Timothy said. He has the money from his car dealership business. With ten million pesos or about 176,000 USD, he could buy a decent house in the Philippines.
"My son..." his mother froze, her voice catching on the words. She set down the mug she was holding and looked at him more carefully. "You don’t have to do that..."
"No mom, this can’t be done. I don’t want us to live in this place anymore. Not that I don’t like it. It’s just the environment of living in this place. I have the capability, I will even send Angela to a private school. Look I will take care of it mom."
Without waiting for a reply from his mother, Timothy went straight to his bedroom on the second floor.
Timothy pushed open the creaking wooden door to his bedroom and let out a sigh. The small space that had once been his sanctuary now felt cramped, unworthy of the weight he carried. He sat down on the rickety chair in front of his desk, opened his battered laptop, and typed into the browser:
"Houses for sale in Manila."
Dozens of listings popped up. He clicked through them one by one—suburban subdivisions in Quezon City, townhouses in Pasig, gated communities in Parañaque. Each photo made his chest tighten with possibility. Clean streets. Spacious living rooms. Real kitchens. Bedrooms where his little sister Angela could study without the noise of tricycles and karaoke bleeding through the walls.
A house in Antipolo with a balcony and a view of the city. ₱9.8 million.
A townhouse in Alabang with three bedrooms, a garage, and a small garden. ₱11 million.
A newly built home in Cavite, gated community, near schools and malls. ₱8.5 million.
"Not bad..." Timothy murmured, scrolling further. For the first time, the dream felt within reach. His dealership income, combined with what he already had saved, made moving out realistic.
He bookmarked a few listings, leaning back in his chair, imagining his mom cooking in a modern kitchen, Angela laughing with new friends in a safer neighborhood. For a moment, life felt simple.
Then the laptop pinged.
New Email Notification.
Timothy frowned, clicked it open. The sender line froze his breath:
[From: NVIDIA Research Ops
Subject: Revised Proposal – Confidential
His heart hammered as he opened it. The message was short, precise, and heavier than anything he’d ever read.
Dear Mr. Guerrero,
Following our recent discussions and in light of further internal evaluations, we wish to present a revised offer.
NVIDIA is prepared to purchase the prototype GPU currently in your possession, along with its schematics and complete blueprints, for a sum of $500,000,000 USD (Five Hundred Million United States Dollars).
This represents a substantial increase from our preliminary draft and reflects the extraordinary potential of your work. The offer includes:
– Immediate transfer of $500M upon execution of the agreement.
– Additional royalties on future products derived from the technology, subject to negotiation.
– Legal protections and confidentiality terms under U.S. and international law.
We urge you to consider this offer seriously. The opportunity to collaborate with NVIDIA will not only provide you with financial security but also ensure that this technology is developed responsibly and at scale.
Kindly respond within seven business days.
Sincerely,
Dr. Ethan Kwan
Senior Scientist, NVIDIA Research Division]
Timothy stared at the glowing numbers on the screen. Half a billion dollars.
"HALF A BILLION DOLLARS?!" Timothy repeated in a shocked tone. "Wait...shit...how much is that in Phillipine Peso?"
He checked the conversion rates, and it was around 28,435,500,000 pesos. How to read that? Twenty-eight billion four hundred thirty five million and five hundred thousand pesos.
He clutched his hair with his hands. "Shit, they are serious about giving that much money?"
Of course they will, the chip was a technology from the future, and it came from just a reconstruction system by turning a second-hand GPU into that. It’s life changing money, and NVIDIA is willing to spend that much money, a company worth trillions of dollars.
"Should I just give it to them? I was just trolling with the reconstruction system to see if I could make a futuristic GPU. And since they already know, they will poke me until I agree to their offer."
"I have to think about this, this is a lot of money. If I accept their offer, I will give them the chip and I will receive that money. And with that money, I can live a more comfortable life. But what if I don’t? Make a business out of that chip and instead of NVIDIA having that technology it will be me?"
He considered that thought but since NVIDIA learned of the technology, they won’t let him conduct business in peace. He was starting to regret sending an email to the company.
Well, if may be the case, but he still has his reconstruction system. He could just open a business in a different enterprise. That five hundred million dollars is a huge capital and the potential is limitless.
"Okay okay...what should I do?"