Chapter 376 The Last Meeting of the Three Giants
With Xinghai going public, Su Yuanshan's control over the company was inevitably going to weaken—after all, he had merely set the direction at the start. It was Carly and her team who had truly led Xinghai to grow and thrive.
Now, there was a well-established mutual respect between him and Carly. And this respect wasn't about capital—it was about technology and vision.
Because of that, Carly always followed his decisions without question or resistance.
Su Yuanshan felt it was best to maintain that kind of relationship.
As for the search engine project, which would touch countless significant domains in the future, he believed it should remain in the hands of someone who could fully execute his will.
...
"Alright, it's New Year's Day. Who does technical work on the first day of the new year... you guys are really something," Su Yuanshan said, tossing aside a file and standing to stretch. "Dinner's on me tonight. Where are we eating?"
"I'm good with anything," Seat Xiaoding said, standing up and reaching for the phone. "I'll call someone to join."
"Mm."
After the call, Su Yuanshan and Ye Rudai looked at him simultaneously.
"What's with those looks?"
"Just wondering... who's this Xiaoxuan?" Su Yuanshan winked at Ye Rudai and pulled her down onto the sofa, grinning mischievously as he looked at Seat Xiaoding.
"Xia Xiaoxuan," Seat replied without hesitation. "I owed her a favor a few days ago."
"What kind of favor?"
"Are you done yet?" Seat chuckled helplessly. "So I can't invite someone without being interrogated? You two want me to be a third wheel or what?"
"Oh... I see." Su Yuanshan burst into laughter and pulled Ye Rudai closer. "Yezi, let's pretend we're meeting for the first time, and help Brother Seat out tonight!"
Ye Rudai smiled, eyes crinkling. "Okay! You introduce us later."
Seat Xiaoding: "..."
...
Sure enough, Xia Xiaoxuan rushed over from the lab not long after.
She was still technically a graduate student from P University, on an academic exchange. With her experiment at a critical stage, she couldn't bear to take time off, even for the holiday.
"Hello, Senior Sister Xia. Let me introduce you—this is my classmate, Ye Rudai."
Su Yuanshan stood by the door, hands in his jacket pockets, looking bright and energetic. When he saw Xia Xiaoxuan, he played it up like a big shot and introduced them warmly.
"??" Xia Xiaoxuan paused when she saw Ye Rudai, then turned to Su Yuanshan with a puzzled expression. "What's going on? I've already met Yezi."
"Huh?"
"Huh what?"
Su Yuanshan turned to see Ye Rudai smiling mischievously.
Seat Xiaoding couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
...
After New Year's Day, Su Yuanshan waited at the Science Park for Zhang Xiaolong, Ding Lei, and Pony.
Originally, Ding Lei and Pony had planned to delay the company split until after the Spring Festival. But one comment from Su Yuanshan made them change their minds:
—If you attend the annual meeting and then leave right after, wouldn't that affect morale?
So the two decided to complete the split before the holiday.
Su Yuanshan accompanied the three as they walked along the artificial lake. The plum blossoms in the plum grove were beginning to bloom, and with the light winter breeze, their fragrance drifted gently through the air.
"Today might be the last time the three of you are here at the Science Park together," Su Yuanshan said cheerfully from the front. "Want to take a photo to remember the moment?"
"What for? I'll be back next year anyway," Ding Lei said nonchalantly. "I still have a dorm here—keep it for me."
Su Yuanshan nodded. "Alright, I'll keep it for you."
"I didn't even stroll around here during last year's annual meeting," Pony said from the rear, adjusting his glasses. "The scenery by the lake is nice. A few small boats would really complete the picture."
"Too risky. Small boats flip easily. Big boats just turn slowly," Su Yuanshan replied succinctly.
All three caught the metaphor instantly and stopped walking to look at Su Yuanshan.
They knew he liked walking by the lake to talk with valued colleagues—sometimes about work, sometimes just to chat.
He didn't like sitting in the office with rigid hierarchy.
"Come on, let's sit in the pavilion and talk."
Su Yuanshan walked ahead to the pavilion. On the round stone table was a scattered deck of playing cards left behind by someone. He picked up a few to cushion the stone bench before sitting down.
"Running a department and running a company are two very different things," Su Yuanshan said seriously, looking at the three—especially Ding Lei.
"Once you're running a company, the first pressure you'll feel is financial—even though internet businesses are hot right now and getting funding is easy, only if you're willing to open the tap."
"But you need to understand, capital doesn't care about your current profitability—it cares about whether you'll be profitable in the future."
"Or rather, even if no one knows how to make money now, once someone figures it out, will you be in a position to benefit?"
Ding Lei nodded. "So it's about market share and user scale, right?"
"Not entirely. For example, if the goal was only market share, then everything could just be free and open-source..."
"Uh..."
"Hehe, in the future, internet businesses will be like any other industry—some areas make money, others don't. It won't all be the same. Internet services and applications aren't like ISPs charging by the minute. Even in advertising, rates vary by location and demographic."
At that moment, Zhang Xiaolong, who had been quietly listening, suddenly spoke up. "Differentiation, offering differentiated value?"
"Yes, that's one direction." Su Yuanshan looked at him and smiled. "Another is storytelling."
"Tell the story well, and investment will follow."
"But you can't just burn money forever... At some point, it runs out," Pony said, eyes fixed on Su Yuanshan. "Director Shan, we still have to think about profitability."
Su Yuanshan was silent for a few seconds before speaking softly. "Memberships. Virtual currency—use game logic to make users value their ID and account."
"Then why not just do online games?" Ding Lei glanced at Pony, then hesitantly said, "I've spoken to Director Shi a few times. His ideas about online games—they seem very promising."
Su Yuanshan looked at Ding Lei thoughtfully.
In history, NetEase was the first among the three major portal websites to enter the online gaming space.
It seemed that the wheel of fate truly did keep spinning, always returning to the same track.
"Yes, online games have a future—a very bright one."
"But now... might not be the right time for you to enter."
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Chapter 377 Stay Passionate, Do No Evil
Ding Lei asked almost instinctively, "Why not?"
"Because if you stretch your legs too far, you might tear something," Su Yuanshan replied, recalling that the phrase might not have become popular yet—but who cared.
Su Yuanshan knew that Ding Lei had been at Yuanxin the longest. He had witnessed the company's rapid expansion firsthand. It was hard not to wonder whether Ding Lei's eagerness to leave came from a desire to build the 'Yuanxin' of the internet world.
"The expansion of internet businesses can't follow Yuanxin's model—especially not before you have stable revenue," Su Yuanshan said with great patience, looking at Ding Lei seriously. "Yuanxin has never raised capital or taken loans, yet it's been able to expand across multiple sectors. The main reason for that is its three major profit pillars."
"VCDs, mobile phones, and mobile base stations—including microcontrollers and chips. These departments not only bring in substantial profits but also ensure strong cash flow. But even so, Yuanxin wouldn't be able to go all out if that were all—because unchecked growth could easily break our cash flow."
"Mainly because you sold the EDA department and shares in Xinghai, right?" Ding Lei looked at Su Yuanshan.
"Exactly." Su Yuanshan nodded. "Right now, all of you have only single-business focuses. Your task is to grow the market and user base while maintaining sensitivity and innovation. As for online games—once you have a large internet user base, are you really worried about launching an online game?"
Ding Lei and Pony exchanged glances, then nodded.
But Pony, after thinking it over, asked, "Director Shan, how about this approach—we build a platform and start with small games like chess, Go, poker, etc.? Begin with casual games..."
"That's a viable strategy. You could even open the platform and attract more developers to join," Su Yuanshan said, nodding as he looked at Pony. "But let me warn you: casual games also have potential. Don't treat them as a slow way to nibble away at big games—otherwise you'll end up in direct competition with Custom, and you won't stand a chance."
Pony smiled sheepishly. "Custom's backing is too strong. I wasn't thinking that far ahead."
"It's not just their backing—though that helps. More importantly, Custom already laid the groundwork ahead of time and has acquired stakes in several game companies.
Challenging Custom head-on will require serious capital, or you'll find your path narrowing very quickly."
"That shouldn't be your direction." Su Yuanshan smiled. "I've always emphasized building platforms because I want Yuanxin to be big-hearted.
Don't use your scale and influence to stick your fingers into everything—especially after you gain a large user base.
At that point, succeeding with a product is far easier than starting from scratch. But that's also when you need to resist temptation..."
"We should build not only a successful company, but also one that earns people's respect."
Su Yuanshan paused, then looked at both men very seriously.
"Stay passionate. Do no evil."
...
Before they could finish walking around the lake, Su Yuanshan received a call from Xia Xiaoxuan and had to rush off to the lab.
The three continued walking around the artificial lake at a leisurely pace.
"So, what are your plans, Brother Xiaolong?" Ding Lei asked.
"Nothing in particular. Someone has to stay and keep an eye on the Internet Center," Zhang Xiaolong said with a chuckle. "Besides, I actually enjoy working on the technical side. Running a company is exhausting."
"Yeah," Ding Lei smiled and nodded. Since Zhang Xiaolong had taken over the email client project from him, he'd known Zhang was a born tech guy—his focus was unmatched.
Ding Lei had long pegged the three of them: he himself was good at operations, Zhang Xiaolong at tech, and Pony was somewhere in between.
"To be honest, Director Shan is really the kind of boss worth following. It's just that Yuanxin's temperament doesn't quite match the internet," Ding Lei said with a sigh.
"I'm starting to feel that Director Shan wants to turn Yuanxin into a blend of Intel, Microsoft, and Texas Instruments... maybe even add IBM on top of that."
Pony added, "So, basically, a ten-times-larger Apple."
Ding Lei nodded and looked at Zhang Xiaolong. "Exactly. Brother Xiaolong, you went to Shanghai recently, right? Probably to discuss the future of the Internet Center with Director Shan.
Let me guess—the Internet Center will continue focusing on foundational tech, right?"
"That's not even a guess..." Zhang Xiaolong smiled. "In the future, we'll specialize in providing technology and services for internet companies.
Even if you guys split off, there will still be opportunities for collaboration."
"Of course."
Ding Lei smiled and nodded, then slowly looked around the entire Yuanxin Science Park before finally fixing his gaze on the lab building Su Yuanshan had gone to.
Stay passionate. Do no evil—Su Yuanshan's words echoed again in his mind.
...
The Spring Festival arrived quietly amid all the busy work.
This year's annual meeting had fewer attendees than previous years, especially among the executives, who were now spread across the R&D centers in Shanghai, the Special Economic Zone, and the capital.
After a year of growth, those three centers had taken shape. It was no longer realistic to gather everyone together.
Particularly in the Shanghai Science Park, the wafer fab had originally been scheduled to hold its ribbon-cutting ceremony on New Year's Day, but various delays pushed the event to after the holiday break.
Even during the holiday, the fab workers only got five days off—and many top executives had to stay behind for round-the-clock problem solving.
Zhang Rujin, however, left Shanghai immediately after hosting the annual meeting and returned to his home island to celebrate the New Year.
...
On the third day of the lunar New Year, Su Yuanshan was lying on his sofa catching up on the movies he missed last year when his phone suddenly rang.
He picked it up, saw the caller ID, and paused the DVD.
"Uncle Zhang, Happy New Year."
"Happy New Year." Zhang Rujin's cheerful voice came from the other end. "I'll be back next Friday. Will you be free?"
"Hard to say... I think I will be." Su Yuanshan glanced around and realized it was still the holiday. Zhou Xiaohui had gone back to her hometown.
"But Uncle Zhang, since you're finally home, you should rest a few more days."
"Haha, once the New Year is over, it's time for the fab's ribbon-cutting. What's there to rest for..." Zhang Rujin laughed.
"I'm itching to fly back to Shanghai right now. And I've got someone to bring to you."
"Hmm?" Su Yuanshan immediately sat up, his excitement rising. "You got him?"
"Yup, he said yes." Zhang Rujin chuckled. "That's why I asked if you'd be free. You'll have to come to Shanghai."
Su Yuanshan burst into laughter. "No problem!"
Liang Mengsong—turns out he was easier to recruit than expected.
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Chapter 378 You Definitely Won't Be Disappointed
In a private room at a teahouse in Taipei, Zhang Rujin hung up the phone and gave a warm smile to the slim, middle-aged man sitting across from him. "Mengsong, you heard that, right?"
Liang Mengsong smiled and nodded. "There's still some handover work to take care of, but since I have some time during the holiday, going over to meet this famous young genius is something I've been meaning to do anyway."
Zhang Rujin burst out laughing. "Let me tell you, I've never seen anyone so sensitive to technology, so obsessively dedicated to it. And it's not half-baked knowledge either—when it comes to chip design, he truly understands it down to the core and has real skill."
"He's got chops in applied physics too," Liang Mengsong added. "I've read some of his independently published papers. Based on his word usage and formatting alone, you'd think he's a seasoned academic journal contributor."
"So, I can guarantee—you won't be disappointed."
...
Yuanxin's New Year holiday officially ended on the tenth day of the lunar new year, but Zhang Rujin was scheduled to arrive in Shanghai on the eighth.
Su Yuanshan thought it over and decided not to bother Zhou Xiaohui—he would go by himself.
"Mom, can you help me pack a suitcase? I've got to head to Shanghai on the eighth," Su Yuanshan called out from his phone.
Then it hit him—he didn't even know the number to call for booking plane tickets...
Did he really have to go to the airport in person to buy one?
After thinking it over, he decided to call Zhou Xiaohui to have her contact the airport and reserve a ticket for him to pick up at the travel agency.
Zhou Xiaohui told him she'd be returning to the provincial capital soon and would go with him...
"Don't bother—I can go by myself. I'll have Brother Jianguo pick me up at the airport. He stayed behind at the fab during the holiday."
"...Alright, I'll book the ticket first."
After Zhou Xiaohui hung up, Zhang Xiuyun, Su Yuanshan's mother, came into the study.
When she learned that he was planning to go to Shanghai alone, she immediately shook her head. "No way, you can't go by yourself. Let your father go with you."
"Mom..." Su Yuanshan laughed helplessly. He walked into the living room and saw his father, Professor Su Xinghe, chuckling on the couch. "Dad, talk some sense into her. She still thinks I'm three years old."
"I also don't think you should go alone," Su Xinghe said with a laugh. "But I'm not going with you either—it wouldn't look good."
"That's right... You're an academician now!" Su Yuanshan deliberately emphasized the title, then raised his eyebrows at his mom. "Mom, you know what status means? How many people in this world deserve to be received simultaneously by both me and Dad?"
Zhang Xiuyun was momentarily speechless, then gave him an annoyed glare. "Look at you, getting all cocky—how about we let your uncle go with you?"
"Forget it. I'll go alone... You two can just see me off at the airport. I'll have Brother Jianguo pick me up when I land. That should be fine, right?"
Su Yuanshan shrugged. "Or should I just buy a private jet?"
"..."
"You know, that's not actually a bad idea," Su Yuanshan muttered, rubbing his chin. Given how often he'd be traveling between Shanghai, the Special Economic Zone, and the provincial capital in the future, relying on domestic flight schedules could really slow things down.
...
On the seventh day of the lunar new year, Su Yuanshan followed his father down from their dormitory building, carrying his suitcase.
The moment they stepped outside, he spotted Zhou Xiaohui standing next to a black Mercedes.
"See? Told you there was nothing to worry about," Su Yuanshan said, gesturing toward her. "Sister Xiaohui hasn't even finished her holiday yet."
"She can make it up later," Zhang Xiuyun said with a smile.
Zhou Xiaohui was a regular guest in the Su household. Zhang Xiuyun waved to her and said cheerfully, "Xiaohui, thank you for your trouble."
"Auntie, you're too polite. This is my job," Zhou Xiaohui replied sweetly, approaching with Fu Zhenhua, and greeting Professor Su Xinghe as well.
Lowering the car window, Su Yuanshan grinned at the two. "Brother Fu, Sister Xiaohui—thanks for your trouble."
"No trouble for me. It's Secretary Zhou who had to travel a long way," Fu Zhenhua replied with a smile. He had bought a house in the provincial capital and moved his whole family there, so he no longer returned to his hometown for the holidays.
Zhou Xiaohui, however, was different. Her hometown was in a remote rural area, over twenty hours away by train.
And her parents, proud of their "phoenix from the mountain nest," refused to move away—instead, they built a three-story house in the countryside.
They had even postponed the traditional house blessing banquet until this year when Zhou Xiaohui could come home for the holiday.
"It's fine. Honestly, I couldn't wait to get out of there," Zhou Xiaohui said, resting her forehead in her hand with an exasperated look. "Just in a few days, I blew through a month's salary in red envelopes. And I had to deal with aunts and neighbors constantly probing me about whether I had a boyfriend, whether I wanted them to introduce someone..."
"Do you remember the county chief's dumb son?" she turned to ask Su Yuanshan.
"Yeah, I remember." Su Yuanshan laughed. "What, someone brought him up again?"
Years ago, Zhou Xiaohui had fled an arranged match with that boy, giving up a government-assigned job and running off to the provincial capital.
She started as a low-level logistics worker and eventually became assistant to the chairman of Yuanxin.
She never imagined her life would turn out this way.
"They weren't trying to arrange a match. Just gossiping. Some people in the village, who think they've 'seen the world,' were saying I'm just a secretary—no way I compare to the county official's daughter-in-law.
And they implied... never mind."
Su Yuanshan coughed.
Yeah... he got it.
This was the era when the word "secretary" was becoming tainted—
As in: "If there's work, the secretary does it. If there's no work..."
Well, that sleazy saying was just starting to circulate.
"That's how it is in the countryside. They hate to see people succeed. When you're poor, they look down on you. When you're rich, they envy you," Zhou Xiaohui said. "Mountain folks are supposedly simple, but even those old uncles selling vegetables at the market—
You see them looking pitiful, so you buy from them, and what happens? The veggies look good on the outside, but peel them and... heh..."
Fu Zhenhua, driving, chimed in as well. "Especially in certain places. They don't just favor boys over girls—they also want multiple kids.
I've got a few daughters and treat them all the same. But back then? People just wouldn't shut up about it."
Su Yuanshan smiled and shook his head.
He'd never lived in the countryside, so he couldn't really comment.
"It's mostly about poverty," Zhou Xiaohui concluded. "By the way, Director Shan—Project Hope wants to collaborate with us on a campaign after the New Year... Do you want to attend?"
"No, I won't go. If you have time, go. If not, don't. As long as the money's in place, that's what matters."
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Chapter 379 Liang Mengsong Arrives
Before Yuanxin even moved into the Science Park, they had already established their own scholarship fund for underprivileged students.
Back then, Yuanxin wasn't wealthy and was struggling with a shortage of talent, so the distribution of the scholarship was very strict—targeted only at "outstanding" poor college and high school students.
In essence, it was more about targeted support and talent reserves.
Now, with Yuanxin growing rich and famous, Project Hope had approached them for cooperation.
After discussing it, Chen Jing and Su Yuanshan decided to set up a dedicated department to handle various donations and scholarships.
Donating money wasn't a problem, but every penny had to be properly accounted for—that was the advantage of Yuanxin's size: they didn't need to worry about offending anyone.
"Later, notify President Chen to arrange it—the opening ceremony for the new year will be postponed until after the wafer fab's ribbon-cutting," Su Yuanshan said as he reviewed the post-holiday work schedule.
Thinking about how he would probably have to stay in Shanghai for at least ten days until the fab was inaugurated, he felt a little annoyed.
"And after that, I'll have to rush to the Special Economic Zone... and I still have to keep an eye on the lab.
Should I just buy a plane?"
"Huh? A private jet?"
"Yeah," Su Yuanshan said, closing his laptop and gritting his teeth. "But not a private jet—a business jet. And keep a low profile when buying it..."
Zhou Xiaohui's eyes immediately lit up. "Good, I support it—but isn't that a bit expensive?"
"Not really. A few tens of millions of yuan. It's mainly for convenience," Su Yuanshan said seriously.
"Think about it—we have four Science Parks now, and each one is entering a critical period this year.
We need to keep close watch everywhere.
And at this stage, time is more valuable than money."
Fu Zhenhua chimed in, "Wouldn't you also need to hire a pilot?"
"Yeah. Brother Fu, why don't you get a pilot's license?" Su Yuanshan joked.
"Heh, forget it. I'm better off sticking to steering wheels," Fu Zhenhua said, laughing.
Su Yuanshan laughed too and closed his eyes to rest.
With the big boss personally attending the fab's ribbon-cutting, it felt like a form of compensation for Yuanxin.
Su Yuanshan needed to think seriously about how to respond to the big boss's expectations.
...
Upon arriving in Shanghai, Chen Jianguo personally drove to pick him up.
"Senior Brother, where's Sister-in-law?"
"She went home for the New Year," Chen Jianguo replied, handling the car like a seasoned driver despite having only recently gotten his license.
"I thought the professor would come with you," he added.
"My dad will come separately in a few days," Su Yuanshan said, smiling.
Chen Jianguo had assumed Su Yuanshan had come early to prepare for the big boss's visit.
In truth, Su Yuanshan said, "This time, I'm mainly here to welcome Dr. Zhang and meet Liang Mengsong."
"The one from TSMC?" Chen Jianguo looked at him through the rearview mirror, visibly surprised. "Dr. Zhang managed to poach him?"
"You know him?"
"I met him once by chance when visiting UMC. He had just left AMD—not sure if he was job-hunting or had already secured a new post," Chen Jianguo said, turning his eyes back to the road, smiling slightly.
Su Yuanshan became even more interested. He had been the one to arrange Chen Jianguo's team trip to UMC, but hadn't known about this encounter.
"So tell me—how's his skill level?"
"How would I know? I was still a nobody back then," Chen Jianguo shrugged. "We only chatted casually, didn't talk about anything technical."
"But he definitely talks big. No idea whether he can back it up," he added with a grin.
"If someone only talks big, they don't last long in pure tech fields," Su Yuanshan said, reclining against the headrest with a smile.
"If he's still working on wafer technology in his forties, he must have some real skills.
Anyway, you free tomorrow? Let's meet him together."
"What's he coming over for?" Chen Jianguo asked instead of answering.
"Dr. Zhang has most positions at the fab already assigned."
"He's coming to lead process technology breakthroughs."
"In other words, my direct boss?"
"Pretty much," Su Yuanshan laughed.
"You okay with that?"
Chen Jianguo chuckled. "Why wouldn't I be? He's got a 10-15 year head start on me—experience matters a lot in this business.
Besides, having someone to mentor me would be a huge bonus."
"Don't sell yourself short, Senior Brother. I know your strengths," Su Yuanshan said.
"If you keep focusing on copper interconnects, you'll definitely succeed."
Chen Jianguo laughed wryly. "You sound like my elementary school teacher."
Su Yuanshan and Zhou Xiaohui burst out laughing.
That night, they stayed at a hotel.
To avoid drinking, Su Yuanshan didn't notify others like Jiang Tao, who were already settled in Shanghai.
The three of them had a simple dinner and then rested separately.
Their group from the Electronics Institute often got together when schedules allowed anyway.
The next day, Chen Jianguo once again drove them to the airport.
...
Stepping forward, Su Yuanshan shook Liang Mengsong's hand with a bright smile.
"Dr. Liang, I'm Su Yuanshan. Welcome to Shanghai."
"President Su, nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you," Liang Mengsong said, smiling as he lightly shook hands with Zhou Xiaohui.
Then he spotted Chen Jianguo standing behind them and paused briefly before exclaiming, "Xiao Chen?"
"Yes, Dr. Liang, hello." Chen Jianguo grabbed Liang Mengsong's hands with both of his and smiled. "I thought you might not remember me."
"Of course I remember. Your work on photomask patents was very inspiring," Liang Mengsong said warmly.
After exchanging pleasantries, they all climbed into Chen Jianguo's Santana sedan from the fab.
Serious topics were avoided during the car ride.
Instead, Su Yuanshan and Zhang Rujin introduced Liang Mengsong to Shanghai's local culture, architecture, and so forth.
After settling into the Hilton Hotel, the group of five found a private room in the tea lounge.
"Dr. Liang, I won't ask about TSMC's future strategies," Su Yuanshan said after they sat down. He glanced at Chen Jianguo and smiled.
"I just want to ask your opinion—how do you view the prospects of transitioning from aluminum to copper interconnects?"
Liang Mengsong licked his lips and replied almost without thinking,
"From a process technology perspective, copper interconnects are inevitable. TSMC has corresponding plans too.
But right now, process improvement is still the top priority.
Just look at how Xinghai's 0.5-micron CPUs are crushing Intel's performance."
"And for copper interconnects to happen, we need major progress in chemical vapor deposition technologies—that's still a major bottleneck," Liang Mengsong said, turning to Su Yuanshan.
"Wait—has Yuanxin already started working on copper interconnects?"
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Chapter 380 Hollowing Out TSMC
Su Yuanshan and Chen Jianguo exchanged a smile.
"Slow birds have to start early," Su Yuanshan chuckled. "We are indeed working on it, and as you guessed, the defect issues after chemical vapor deposition are very hard to solve. Right now, we're searching worldwide for solutions."
"That... will probably take a long time," Liang Mengsong nodded. "But if you can time it right with a process node launch, the advantages will be significant. And if you hit a bottleneck, the advantage will be even greater."
"Exactly. Yuanxin's philosophy has always been to get ahead of the bottlenecks, not wait until we hit them to start scrambling," Su Yuanshan said, smiling at Liang Mengsong. "As the side that's technically behind, industry bottlenecks are our chance to overtake on the curve."
Liang Mengsong smiled faintly. "But before a bottleneck appears, we don't know where it is—or even which direction to head in."
"We do... For example, I already know that light sources will hit a bottleneck," Su Yuanshan smiled back. "Current process technology is still driven by lithography machines. From g-line to i-line to today's UV fiber, as long as lithography advances, everything else is just process refinement."
Liang Mengsong opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but finally kept silent.
Because Su Yuanshan wasn't wrong—today's process technology improvements really were mainly thanks to advances in lithography light sources.
Simply put: the finer the light, the finer the etching.
"But Yuanxin now has two departments dedicated to light source research. Their latest explorations have already reached the deep ultraviolet range, and both departments agree: the wavelength and linewidth of deep UV light have hard limits, and as you approach those limits, breakthroughs become harder and harder.
Thus, future process improvements will revolve around manufacturing processes themselves."
In plain terms, the benefits from lithography would eventually be exhausted.
At that point, the challenge would be: how do you build the finest chips possible with a fixed lithography system? Purely through process innovation.
Hearing this, a bright smile appeared again on Liang Mengsong's face.
Su Yuanshan's words had struck directly at his heart—he too believed that manufacturing processes were the real core competitiveness of a fab.
Because these were, in essence, not patented knowledge, but trade secrets—something you couldn't just learn or buy unless you stole it.
The afternoon passed quickly.
Su Yuanshan lived up to his "genius" reputation—maybe he was an amateur in fab operations, but once the conversation touched chip design and manufacturing process theory, he displayed astonishing talent.
More importantly, he showed an extraordinary passion for technology.
And Liang Mengsong didn't hold back either.
Once he was convinced that Su Yuanshan was truly willing to invest in advanced process technology, he boldly declared that he was confident they could surpass Intel, Texas Instruments, and other top fabs in manufacturing technology.
Since everything was now laid out on the table, there was no need for further hesitation.
That very evening, with Zhang Rujin present, they officially decided that Liang Mengsong would become the Chief Technology Officer and take full responsibility for Derun Semiconductor's process R&D.
At the same time, Liang Mengsong presented a "poaching list"—saying that if they wanted to move fast and get process improvements done, they needed to recruit these people immediately.
Even though TSMC was still small at that time, it had plenty of potential talents—these were Liang Mengsong's own words.
...
After dinner, Su Yuanshan and Chen Jianguo returned to their hotel rooms.
"I thought he would insist on a VP title before agreeing to come," Chen Jianguo said as he sat on the sofa, slightly flushed from a little wine, holding his teacup and looking puzzled.
"That was the original plan," Su Yuanshan said.
He too had recently started drinking more tea—mainly because too much coffee made him constantly run to the bathroom.
Blowing on his tea, Su Yuanshan smiled and said,
"But handing him the VP title would be tricky for Old Zhang. He worked so hard to recruit our Italian friend.
It wouldn't look good to demote the current Technical VP before the fab even officially opened."
"So how did you convince him?" Chen Jianguo asked, knowing that Su Yuanshan had spent half an hour talking alone with Liang Mengsong.
Su Yuanshan narrowed his eyes and said softly,
"A guy like Liang Mengsong... Giving him a platform is one thing, but you also have to let him work freely, without too much oversight.
If you put a Technical VP over him, you must compensate elsewhere."
"And so?"
Su Yuanshan smiled. "So I gave him a Yuanxin technical title."
"..."
Chen Jianguo exhaled lightly and laughed. "Turns out he's not just a tech maniac—he knows exactly what matters."
"Yeah, who doesn't have some ambition?" Su Yuanshan chuckled.
Giving Liang Mengsong a technical position at Yuanxin meant he was officially affiliated with the Yuanxin Science Park—just like Zhang Rujin.
The dual system of Yuanxin brought extra honor, belonging, and benefits to its top tech leaders.
Thus, they could hold relatively "lower" positions in subsidiaries without feeling slighted.
For example, Chen Jianguo himself.
Despite being one of Su Yuanshan's earliest senior brothers to join Yuanxin, he only held a modest managerial role at the fab.
Yet, within the Science Park hierarchy, he held the same title and rank as other senior figures, and his salary was the same too.
The only difference was in responsibilities and the number of people managed.
Most importantly, the big names with Science Park titles were all founding team members of Yuanxin.
As a founding member, being CTO of Derun Semiconductor—a technical management position—was perfectly acceptable to Liang Mengsong.
"But you know," Chen Jianguo said after laughing, becoming serious again,
"Old Liang really is something. I just learned today that TSMC even has a dedicated talent-scouting department."
"Yeah, that department is basically their internship program—ranking and categorizing students based on ability.
But TSMC runs it far more professionally.
And because Liang Mengsong is so well-rounded technically, he's excellent at spotting talent too."
Su Yuanshan thought of the "poaching list" Liang Mengsong had handed over and smiled faintly.
"Our first shovel's going to dig deep...
We might just hollow TSMC out."
"It's just a small company anyway. Hollow it out if we want," Chen Jianguo said casually.
"No..." Su Yuanshan narrowed his eyes, staring into the distance.
"History has been changed, Senior Brother."
Chen Jianguo paused, immediately grasping what "changing history" truly meant.
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